Family Room Dinner

 Sometimes I just want to cook something that almost has the feeling of a good, filling snack, perfect to share around the family room while we watch a movie or a documentary.

Hummus is a perfect anchor to this meal.

My hummus is a little different because I don't use tahini, typically a main ingredient of the dish.  I don't care for the taste of tahini, to me it has a bitter undertone.  I substitute hemp hearts and sunflower seeds.

Hummus, Tahini-Free

Half cup each of hemp hearts and sunflower seeds, processed to a fine crumble.
Add a 14oz can of drained and rinsed chickpeas AND
1 clove garlic
Quarter cup of fresh lemon juice
Quarter cup of olive oil
Dash of ground cumin
Further process all until you reach a lovely smooth consistency.
Tip into a bowl, swirl the top with a spoon, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with paprika.
Leave to sit at room temperature please, it's much nicer that way.

I made an olive flatbread to pair with the hummus, using Polestar Hearth's delicious pizza dough.

 Roll out the dough, press in loads of pitted kalamata olives, sprinkle with herbes de Provence and a little olive oil, bake at 375 until puffed and golden:

Perfection

 I have been endlessly reading carrot recipes online and I found this really nice carrot and seed loaf that is in fact delicious.
HERE is the recipe.

 It's so simple, very few ingredients, and as I was preparing it I was thinking, how is this going to turn into a loaf-type thing?  But indeed it does.  It makes brilliant leftovers too, it's even good cold for lunch!

 I'm definitely cooking it up for Easter lunch, where I will serve it with potatoes, a vegetarian gravy and lots of side vegetables.

Family Room Dinner
Hummus, olive flatbread
Carrot loaf, celeriac and parsley salad

It's so nutritious too, packed with protein and mineral-rich seeds and nuts, all of those good fats combined with the carrots: yummy.
If you are a vegetarian or a lover of carrots I encourage you to try it, once again here is the brilliant recipe.
Have a good day today Tooties,
xoxDani
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Mop Philosophy Monday

Sweet Violets Bouquet

 Now that I'm recovered from the Plague it's time to catch up on all the stuff I didn't get done when I was ill.
It's a long list!
I have several hours of admin to do this week at my desk, never a task I look forward to.  I'll have to take frequent housework breaks, just to cheer myself up.
Cooking any easy dinners?  I think I'll put a butter bean gratin on our menu this week.

 This is so easy when served with some whole wheat couscous.  The butter beans themselves are from a can (very cheater-like) and if you see this Italian brand in your grocery store I recommend them.  The beans are steam-cooked before canning and they have a perfect texture.
I had a lovely large bunch of Swiss chard, and after sautéing it with shallots and mini sweet peppers I added the rinsed butter beans.

 Add some cashew cream...

 ... and top with my favourite mixture of ground nuts and nutritional yeast.  I posted the recipe for this nut mixture at the end of this post.

How's your week shaping up?  Any big projects to tackle?  Lots of eye-crossing admin to get done?
Whatever you're dealing with, I hope it goes well.
xoxDani

PS it seems I'm taking the week off blogging... not my intention to do so and I hope to be back by Friday/Saturday with a party-prep post. xxx

Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

I remember trying spaghetti squash back in the days when I was on a gluten-free diet and it was just all too depressing:  this was meant to be a substitute for beautiful pasta?
 Now that I'm back into eating real pasta  I thought I'd try spaghetti squash again, and think of it as the healthy vegetable it is, rather than a substitute for something quite different.

This is a great recipe because it's basically a loaded half of a spaghetti squash that requires no cooking besides roasting the squashes themselves.  Considering that this only involves cutting them in half and shoving them in the oven, it really is a no-fuss meal.

 I did brush some olive oil on the tray, and after scooping the seeds out of your spaghetti squash you'll want to sprinkle them with some sea salt.  Then lay them face down on their tray and roast for 45 minutes at 375.
Once you've taken them out of the oven you'll want to carefully turn them over (they'll be hot and steaming as Hades) and gently pull the squash apart into spaghetti-like strings.

I then filled them with raw kale, finely chopped (place this in the centre of the squash, right down in the hollow where you removed the seeds, the heat will wilt the kale a bit) and a very satisfying mixture of julienned sun dried tomatoes and whole walnuts.

I topped this with pitted kalamata olives and a squeeze of lemon juice.

The original recipe came from a digital cookbook of "reset" recipes I bought from Simple Green Smoothies (you can see their website here).

The recipes are part of a seven day "cleanse" type program that is actually quite nice.  I'm not really doing the program (nothing comes between me and my morning coffee) but there are plenty of really terrific smoothie recipes and delicious plant-based dinners.

One recipe I will take away from the collection for sure is one for a "vegan cheeze" topping.  I used it to top this spaghetti squash, and it added some protein as well as flavour.
Basically you get out your food processor, add a cup of raw cashews, a cup of raw almonds, half a cup of nutritional yeast and a teaspoon of large, flaky sea salt (such as Maldon sea salt).  Give that several pulses in your processor until it looks like fine breadcrumbs and voila, a lovely topping for this dish and all sorts of grain dishes, soups and vegetable dishes that would benefit from a sprinkling of "cheeze".
I've got mine stored in a big jar (which you can see above on the left), and I'll keep it in the fridge to be sure it stays fresh.

This dinner was so good I'm going to buy more spaghetti squash today!
Hope your day goes as well as it possibly can,
xoxDani

A Good Dinner

 As promised I have a good dinner idea for you, and it really does take only a few minutes to throw together.
I haven't had any couscous in the house for months, and it was actually Lil Rascal who reminded me to buy some.  She's always loved couscous, she used to like it when she was little with grated cheese on top, very simple.
I wanted to create something super fresh and Mediterranean in feeling, so I bought some fresh herbs at the market (basil, parsley and oregano) and chopped them finely along with some colourful little cherry tomatoes.  I placed them in a bowl with some salt and left them to mingle with each other for about an hour.
Then it was on to the couscous, and this particular whole wheat version required measuring, then pouring boiling water over before putting a lid on it for a couple of minutes.  Done!

I layered the couscous on the bottom with the herb-tomato mixture on top, followed by a healthy drizzle of, once again, cashew cream,

I served this with a smoked salmon fillet from the market, it would be a little lacking in protein all by itself, but it does make a perfect main dish with a protein side dish.

Well, it's a Tuesday in February and there's nothing for it, I have to settle down to some paperwork today, it's time to start working on Year End.  I'm also getting a couple of care packages together today, mostly of food and vitamins, one to send to my Ole Rascal and the other to a friend.  Foreveruary is a good time for a treat!
Hope your day is a lovely one,
xoxDani

Best Pasta Ever

 I made a pasta dish this week that I've been thinking about ever since, it was so delicious.
I was inspired by these diced San Marzano tomatoes from Italy that were preserved with a big basil leaf.  I'm not always able to find these tomatoes but the Costco gods smiled on us last week and there they were... I'm kind of wishing I'd bought more so I could have hoarded them.
I wanted to put together a pasta dish that combined the richness of cashew cream with a savoury, red-wine tinged tomato sauce.
Three of the main ingredients can be seen above: the San Marzano tomatoes, some dried parsley and the homemade cashew cream (recipe I used for this dish here).

I also wanted to serve the pasta with a little something on the side, another vegetable yes, but something crunchy and salty: kale crisps!

 Kale crisps are so easy to make, but the key is the kale has to be super dry.  If you need to wash your kale be sure to do it the day before, you don't want any water droplets hanging on to the leaves, and in all of those curly crevices.
I place my kale on a parchment covered baking sheet before dusting it all over with nutritional yeast, some salt, and then finally drizzling it with olive oil.  Bake at 325 for about 20 minutes, oven depending.

The sauce I made was really simple, I sautéed one shallot in olive oil for a few minutes before adding a tablespoon of dried parsley and a bit of salt.  I gave those ingredients a quick stir together before adding the tomatoes and about half a cup of dry red wine.  Simmer for 20 minutes, while your kale crisps are in the oven.  Meanwhile get your pasta water boiling and cook up your favourite shape!

 Plate your pasta with a good dollop of sauce and some kale crisps perched on the side.

 Then add the piece de resistance: a generous drizzle of cashew cream.

Best Pasta Ever

I'm definitely cooking this tonight for dinner.
It's Saturday too, what could be better?  I hope yours is happy and fun.
xoxDani

Christmas Gnocchi

 Last summer my bestie K served up a spread for crostini that had a base of sun-dried tomatoes and pumpkin seeds.  It was so delicious that I've been thinking about it for months, trying to figure out how I could recreate it and transfer the deliciousness of it to a main course meal.
Turns out it was quite easy, although there are a couple of key tricks.  They involve soaking and using a food processor, both easy kitchen tasks (provided you have a food processor, I just bought one in September and it changed my life).  It's a perfect recipe for this time of year because it is filling, festive and has an almost decadent flavour due to a fairly humble (and healthy) ingredient: sun-dried tomatoes.
The key with using pumpkin seeds in a recipe like this is that they need to be soaked for several hours, I soaked mine for about six.  This softens them up and gives them an almost meaty texture.

Soak one cup of pumpkin seeds for six to eight hours.

 I have a soft spot for gnocchi because it is so filling and easy to cook.  A quality packaged gnocchi from Italy is an easy item to keep stocked in your pantry, and not an expensive one.  I bought this gnocchi for $1.79 a package at a discount grocery store. The other bonus?  It takes two to three minutes to cook once you have your water boiled.

I cooked up two packages of gnocchi for this recipe.

 The sun-dried tomatoes will want a soaking too, but a very brief one.  I poured hot water from the kettle over mine in their bowl while I was assembling the other ingredients, letting them sit in their bath for a few minutes.  Then you'll want to drain them and gently squeeze out any excess water.

Two cups of sun-dried tomatoes briefly soaked in hot water.

 Into the food processor you can then chuck the squeezed sun-dried tomatoes, along with the drained pumpkin seeds, two cloves of garlic, two tablespoons of nutritional yeast (you can see this ingredient takes the place of parmigiana in many of my recipes these days), three tablespoons or so of olive oil, salt to your taste, and a good grinding of black pepper.
Give that a good fine chop in your processor while on your cutting board you roughly chop up two medium zucchini and begin to saute them in olive oil:

 You'll want to give the mixture a good saute to bring out the flavour of the garlic and meld it with the pumpkin seeds.  All of those good fats in the seeds will bring about a delicious caramelized flavour to the whole lot.
Just when it begins to stick to the pan a little, add in a cup of good white wine (I used a Pinot Grigio).

I didn't do a very aggressive cooking of the zucchini, I wanted it to have some bite compared to those soft pillowy gnocchi!

Once your gnocchi have cooked their non-demanding two minutes, drain them well and add them to your festive mixture: voila, you have an easy, healthy dinner everyone will love.  This was a big hit with my Rascals.
We have a very special day planned today, Ole Rascal arrives home for the holidays and we're having a big Christmas lunch with the extended family.
Hope your day is festive not hectic, and if you try the Christmas gnocchi please let me know!
xoxDani