Crackers - for those of us on a tight budget

We make sandwiches and toast at the cafe where I work. Every morning, we get fresh loaves of multigrain and sour dough bread delivered to our door from Tall Grass Prairie. Since we can't sell the ends (or, as I like to call them, the "bums") of the loaves, and hardly anyone ever eats them, I take them home and freeze em'. When we have company over, I thaw out the bread bums and cut them into small, triscut size squares. I arrange them on a baking sheet and give them a light sprinkling of vegetable oil, and then I sprinkle them with salt, and dried oregano, basil and rosemary. I bake them in a hot oven (about 400) for just a few minutes. I flip them part way through, and then bake them for another few minutes. They're really crispy when ready, and great served with hummus, baba ganoush, or a dip of your choice. Cheap and delish.

The Hummus Among Us

To avoid studying last Friday, I made hummus. I quite enjoy store-bought hummus too, but it always has a ton of oil added, not to mention the fact that it comes in a plastic container. And you can only reuse so many of those containers before your tupperware drawer is too full. This was my version of hummus:

Hummus
1 can chickpeas
2 cloves garlic
1/4 to 1/3 c natural peanut butter
sprinking of salt
dash of paprika

Blend it all together and voila.

Quinoa & Red Lentil Veggie Burgers

I made another type of veggie burger the other day. This recipe yields 12 burgers that fare just fine in the freezer. To warm them up, I put them in the toaster, and then once they pop, I microwave them for a minute. I "decorate" the bun with whatever is in the fridge. This time it was hummus, a pickle and a slice of New Bothwell marble cheese. Mmmm. And, they're extrodinarily healthy, too.

Quinoa and Red Lentil Veggie Burgers

2 cups cooked quinoa
1 cup cooked red lentils
Set aside in large bowl, and place in fridge until cool enough to handle.

1 large carrot, chopped finely
1 small yellow onion, chopped
5 or 6 buttom mushrooms, chopped
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic
Sautee in 1 Tbsp vegetable oil until carrots are fairly soft. Make sure not to add the garlic until the very end (garlic burns easily). Add the vegetables to the lentils and quinoa.

3Tbsp ground flax seed
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
curry, cayenne, salt and pepper (as much as you like)
Add to mixture, and stir. If burgers seem too runny, add more bread crumbs.

Form into 12 burgers and bake for 20 minutes (10 minutes per side) at 375 degrees on greased pan or parchment paper.

Cavena whaaat?

Cavena Nuda = Naked Oats. For Christmas this year my mom gave me a large container of this new grain called "Cavena Nuda". The label calls it "rice of the prairies," because it's grown in Arborg, Manitoba and it certainly has a rice look and a wildrice texture. Wedge Farms, where the grain is grown, claims that the oats are "naturally hull-free, resulting in less processing and a reduced carbon footprint" (http://www.wedgefarms.com/).

Josh and I were invited to a potluck so we decided to make a dish with this grain, and advertise it a little bit. Josh ended up making the entire thing while I was at work, and after high praise from everyone at the potluck, I wish I could've taken credit.

Coconut Milk Curry and Cavena Nuda:

Prepare the grain:
2 cups of dried Cavena Nuda
3 cups of water
Bring ingredients to a boil together in a saucepan, and reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes. Allow it to rest for 10 minutes before using.

For the sauce:
1 can of coconut milk
1/3 cup natural peanut butter
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp curry paste (or more if you like)
dash of chilli powder
dash of cayenne pepper
In a saucepan over low heat combine the above ingredients. Set aside.

The veggies:
1 large potato, cubed
1/2 an onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic
1Tbsp vegetable oil
Stir fry the above veggies until poatoes are softened. Add mixture to pot of Cavena Nuda, and then pour sauce over mixture. Enjoy.

So Long, Farewell! (for a little while)

I'll be away until the middle of December. I'm going to China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, then Germany and Switzerland. I doubt I'll have much of a chance to update my recipe blog. But, when I return, I'll have been inspired by new things, and perhaps they will affect my recipe ideas.

Goodbye for now!

Veggie Burgers - Numero Dos

These are some of my lovely friends. They're always enthusiastic when it comes to food (as you can see), and they're very supportive of my cooking/baking experiments. One evening I made two types of veggie burgers for everyone to try. My friend, Ben, says he really likes making the one recipe that I've listed already, so maybe he'll give this one a try, too.

Veggie Burgers - Recipe #2

About 5 mini or 1 larger potato boiled drained and mashed
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 a white onion
1/2 cup mushrooms
1/2 cup bread crumbs (or more if mixture is too wet)
generous sprinkling of curry powder
a bit of cumin

Mix and mash the above ingredients in one bowl. Then in a separate bowl, whisk the egg, and add it to the above mixture. Form into patties (about 8), and then bake for 8 minutes a side at 375 or until toasty on each side.

Taste best if you serve them on a sesame seed bun with curried mayo (mayo mixed with curry powder).

Morning-of-the-Wedding Biscuits

These biscuits are made with dried cranberries and orange zest, and they taste heavenly with a touch of strawberry jam. I obtained this recipe from my favourite cookbook, a 2006 edition of Better Homes and Gardens; a book that has a recipe for every occasion, and it even gives you little cooking and baking lessons at the beginning of each chapter. I baked these lovely biscuits for the wedding party of my sister's wedding on the morning of the big day. On a normal day, I would have used whole wheat flour instead of white, and I may have thrown in some flax seeds for good measure. But, because it was important to feel sleek and ungassy in our fancy dresses, other than the dried fruit, very little fibre was included. Change the recipe as you wish.

Cranberry-Orange Biscuits (from Better Homes and Gardens)

2 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp finely shredded orange peel
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup shortening (I used margarine)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 6-oz container yogurt (I used some Activia, and then added some extra soy milk to make it 6 oz)
1 tbsp milk
1 recipe orange glaze

1) preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, orange peel, salt, and baking soda. Cut in shortening (or margarine) until mixture is crumbly. Add dried fruit, and mix. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and add yogurt and milk all at once. Using a fork, stir until moistened.
2) Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough by folding and gently pressing it for 10 to 12 kneads or until it's about smooth. Pat or lightly roll dough until 1/2 inch thick. Cut with a floured biscuit cutter (or in my case, a knife works too).
3) Place the 11 circles (or rectangles) on an ungreased baking sheet. Place them close enough to each other that they are touching, and that way they'll be softer when you pull them apart after they're baked. Bake them for around 10 minutes. After they've cooled, drizzle orange glaze over top of them.

Orange Glaze

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp finely shredded orange peel
3-4 tsp orange juice (to reach glaze consistency)