Kale Pasta w Creamy Avocado Tahini
I had less than thirty minutes and needed a healthy, filling, dinner.
Instead of doing what we all wish we could do every night (duh, order pizza), I decided to whip up this simple pasta dish.
It’s also spring and I really enjoy cold pasta dishes (at least the healthy ones), so I cooled off the leftovers and guess what?
Oh, and there’s like, 0.5 ingredients. There’s really no excuse.
Make this because: Eating pasta with pasta sauce from a jar doesn’t cut it anymore. You’re better than that.
Ingredients:
2 servings of a small Pasta
1/4 bush, Kale
1 Avocado
4 T, Tahini
1/2-1 Lemon (or lime if thats what you have)
2 cloves, Garlic
4 T, or more, Water
S&P
(optional) sprinkle of Chili Flakes
(optional) Olive Oil
Directions:
Cook pasta as per instructions.
In blender, mix everything else (minus Kale & chili flakes)).
Add water, S&P as needed, until you have a nice creamy mixture, with a garlicky bite.
Once pasta is done, strain and return to pot with a small drip of olive oil. Add in sauce and stir, keeping pot on low.
Cut the stems from your kale and discard, then cut leaves (make sure they’re washed), into small, bite sized pieces.
Add to pasta and mix well. Top with a sprinkle of chili flakes if you want. I always do, and I’m awesome.
Now for the fun part.
EAT IT!
Or chill the whole darn thing. Whatever makes you happy, bb.
Enjoy!
Dave
SPICY GREEN WINTER SOUP
I’m going to Austin, Texas next week to take part in the annual SXSW music festival. While the main portion of the week will be spent working (trying to find clients for my new, super-amazing job at Ticketfly), I plan on partying hard and seeing as many bands as possible. More importantly, I will be enjoying the beautiful weather. And I’m sure you can relate. The winter here in Toronto has been less than hospitable and I’m ready for some sun!
Which brings me to my latest recipe. A thick, hearty, vegan soup, made out of only a few ingredients, which only took me about 30 minutes to make. Because it may be cold, but we sure as hell don’t have to be.
Sound like your kind of meal? I thought so too.
Make this because: We all need an excuse to vigorously blend things once in a while. Plus, you can have 1,000 pieces of bread with it and nobody will judge you.
Ingredients:
1 head, Cauliflower
1 head, Broccoli
1 Shallot
3 ounces, Spinnach
2-3 cloves of garlic
2 cups, broth (low sodium if possible)
1/4 Cup, Nutritional Yeast
1.5 Cups, Unsweetened Rice Milk (or alternative)
1 Avocado
1 t, nutmeg
2 T, Vegan Butter
1 T, Red Chili Flakes
1 T, Flour (omit if GF)
Cracked Black pepper
Directions:
On low heat, melt butter. Add chopped up onion and garlic and sauté for a good few minutes. Once translucent, add pepper and nutmeg, and stir it in.
Cook for another minute before adding your flour, Spinach, Cauliflower and Broccoli. Mix well, and raise heat to med. Add broth and cover for 10-15 minutes or until the veggies are nice and soft.
Add milk, chili flakes, nutritional yeast & remove from heat.
So far, we’ve spent a total of 20-25 minutes in the kitchen.
You’re doing great.
Now, you can either hand blend this, or use a traditional blender. But whatever you do, make sure you only pulse it, and never fill your blender to much because soup is hot and it will explode.
Trust me.
Now, pour your soup back into your giant pot to heat, carve some bread, and get ready for a delicious homemade meal. Garnish with more pepper and your avocado (and vegan sour cream if you so desire).
For my cheese loving friends. You might not have Nutritional Yeast on hand, or you might just prefer real cheese in your soup. If that is the case, you can omit the N.Yeast and at the very end, add a few cubes of mozzarella. It will melt and be all gooey and you’ll be all like, “daaaaaamn.” or whatever your popular catch phrase is this week.
Enjoy, lovelies.
Jalapeño, Avocado & Brie Poppers
I read the back of a box of jalapeño poppers the other day. Needless to say, I was sorely disappointed in what I read. There was a ton of ingredients I couldn’t even make out (anything with a number in it is normally a bad sign), but more importantly, I don’t even think they were vegetarian. Sigh.
Now, you and I both know how amazing the combination of brie and avocado is. But add in Jalapeño and we’re talking next level.
But I didn’t want to “recreate” poppers today. No, today I had my creative juices flowing. So I took it up a notch. I made a mexican bean and seitan chipotle dough, stuffed it with Peppers, Avo and Brie, and fried/baked those suckers into golden deliciousness.
And before we get started, I’d like to tell you that I made these in under an hour. Seriously.
From Scratch. Prep and cooking time - UNDER 60 minutes.
Make these because: Nothing in the world will make you as happy as putting these poppers down your pie hole.
INGREDIENTS:
1 Can (19fl oz) red mexican beans
1 Cup Gluten Flour
1 t, chipotle, cumin, garlic
1 T, Tomato paste
1 Cup, Broth
1/2 Cup, Breadcrumbs
1 Avocado
1 Jalapeño, cut into small pieces
Brie
lil’ milk
lil breadcrumbs
Oil for frying
DIRECTIONS:
Prepare broth.
Preheat oven to 400•
Preheat a frying pan with oil (enough to cover the bottom, but not too much).
Rinse Beans (and smash them soooo good).
Mix spices in with Gluten flour. Add to beans and slowly stir in half your broth.
Mix together well until you have a dough like substance. Add more broth, paste, and breadcrumbs.
You’ll now have a beany, seitan, crumby dough. And it’s going to be awesome.
Dice up your Avo, jalapeño and brie.
Separate a handful of dough and roll it out as thin as possible.
Put a pile of Avo/Brie/Jal in the middle of your seitan dough, and wrap up as tight as possible. If there are holes or cracks, fill them in with more seitan mix.
They should end up being about the size of a yoyo, or smaller.
Now, time to dredge.
On a small plate, pour out some milk (I use rice or almond).
Next door, pour some breadcrumbs on to another plate.
Anyone else starving right now?
Roll your seitan balls in the milk, then the crumbs, and toss into the hot oil. I say toss, but really, carefully place them in the oil.
Cook on all sides until brown.
Now, put them in your preheated oven for 20 mins or less. When they are piping hot and starting to ooze cheese…. remove.
Note: if you roll them properly, your cheese will not spew.
Full disclosure. I hate that word. *Spew*
Serve with a salsa, or get creative! And don’t forget to place on some paper towel to get rid of the excess oil. Because nobody needs that.
Guacamole is super simple which means it’s pretty hard to screw up.
But there are thousands upon thousands of variations,
all of which can be considered ’good’ (but not necessarily the best).
My guac has won many awards including:
‘Best Superbowl Dip’ & ’Munchie Party Must have of 2010.’
And so what if I made both of those up- It’s seriously that good.
Follow these simple instructions to improve your guac.
Ingredients:
Avocado (3)
3 strips of an onion, diced
1.5 limes
2 cloves garlic, diced
S&P
Dirrrrections:
Squeeze lime juice into bowl with onion and garlic. Add two grinds of salt.
LEAVE IT FOR TEN MINUTES.
Keep waiting, seriously.
That’s it. That’s the secret.
‘Cook’ the onion and garlic by leaving it in the lime juice and salt for about ten minutes. Now, add your avo and pepper. Maybe more salt if you want, and you’re done. NOTE: Do not actually cook the garlic and onion. Just let it sit in the lime juice. This will soften it. ;)
Now, Take the party master award for being an epic guac maker. You’re welcome.
Avo-Scramble-Cado
Avocados make the perfect bowls for a light breakfast.
Toss your Scrambled Tofu (or eggs) right into your Avo halves, and top it off with a quickly made Guac.
Easy, right? Serve with some PB on toast and some fresh fruit.
Have a great breakfast. And an even better day.
MEXI BOWLS
Cool, right?
I got to thinking that as much as I love corn, and corn tacos, and whole wheat tortillas and all that jazz, there was an element missing.
Okay, I’ll be honest, I was in the mood for pizza and mexican, and didn’t know what to do about it. I couldn’t make tacos AND pizza, could I?
Insert Mexi Bowls.
I took a simple dough recipe, and made cute little bowls.
Alright. I lied. I folded the edges of my pizza dough up and it kinda resembled a bowl. Same thing.
Anyway, I took all of my fav taco toppings, made a quick chipotle/tomato sauce, and baked these giant mexi bowls for the perfect combination of deliciousness and gluttony. And no regrets.
While this recipe can easily take on any ingredients, based on your own preferences, I will share with you what I made, and let you decide what creation you’re going to whip up.
Ingredients:
1/2 pack, Ground Round (Yves)
1/2 Cup, Corn
1/2 Green pepper, chopped
1/4 small onion, chopped
1 Avocado
1/2 small jar, Artichokes
Shredded Cheese
1/2 glass jar, strained tomatoes
2 heaping T, tomato paste
1-2 T, Chipotle (depending on your heat tolerance)
Paprika & Oil
Dough:
4 cups of white sifted flour
1 1/2 cups, plus 2 tbsp of water
2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of dry active yeast
1t honey
Mix all ingredients by hand until dough forms.
Leave for 1.5 hours, covered. Once done, make into smaller balls (one one large one if you want a giant pizza) and let rest for another 30.
Directions:
Make the dough above.
Heat the ground round with onion, green pepper and corn, on medium heat unitl cooked, maybe 6-8 minutes.
Mix together Tomato and Chipotle (this will be your sauce).
Chop remaining ingredients (again, you can use whatever you’d like)
Mix together about 1/2T of paprika and 2T of Olive oil, to spread along the outside of your bowl.
Roll out your dough into small singe serving pizza doughs (about a med) and add your sauce, 1/2 the cheese, ground round mix, the toppings, saving some cheese for later.
Leave about 1n inch of dough around the edges and fold it up, around your mix.
Remember, this is a giant bowl of delicious food, so don’t skimp out.
When the edges are folded up, press them tightly against the toppings so it doesn’t move.
Brush the outside with your oil and paprika and toss in the oven at 400 for 20-30 minutes. Add the remaining cheese during the last few minutes.
I’m so thankful I made these. You will be too.
The Best Tofu Scramble I’ve Ever Had
Breakfast, amiright. Not always the easiest to make. Especially with limited time.
But I have done a few things for you to make your next meal quick, easy and satisfying.
First, I have created the best tofu scramble, perhaps, in the world.
Secondly, I have made it without many ingredients, so you can whip this up in no time.
Finally, see number 1. Seriously amazing tofu scramble.
Make this tofu scramble because: it’s a healthy & delicious alternative to the same breakfast crap you eat every day.
Here’s what you need:
1/2 brick, tofu
1 T, Braggs (or low sodium soya sauce)
1/4 t, turmeric
1/8 t, chipotle
1 strip , red Onion
Garlic (2 cloves)
2 T, nutritional yeast
Salt
3 T, Salsa
1 Avocado
Heat onion and garlic in pan. Press your tofu (drain the water).
Now, in a bowl, mash your tofu with a fork until all of the pieces are broken up.
Add turmeric and chipotle (+ a teaspoon, salt), mix, then add to pan with garlic & onion.
After a few minutes, add your nutritional yeast and braggs. Mix well. Add salsa in the final few minutes.
Now, You’re done! Top with avocado and grin like you’ve never grinned before. You deserve it.
Serve with hash browns, toast, or in a wrap (with lettuce, cheese, ranch or whatever)!
For serious though. This is the most epic of meals.
We just sat down and demolished them in seconds.
Well worth your time, and it costs next to nothing to make.
Another Vegan Day
People often think changing your diet means giving up on the foods you love, but that isn’t the case. Creativity in the Kitchen often leads to amazing meals that can include all of things you normally enjoy… just with a twist.
When I decided to go Vegan for the month, I knew I’d need to stock up on some of my favourite dairy treats; specifically cheese.
Now, there’s no way around it. Cheese is amazing. And the substitutes out there don’t quite cut it, yet. But Daiya is the closest, so I suggest you give it a try if you’re interested.
Yesterday I also made a Cashew Cheese which I will share later (final photos being taken today), and decided to use it to make grilled cheese (and salad) for lunch.
Now, I wanted to include some of my fav things because when you’re cooking, you’re in charge. Never forget that.
Carrot? Wanted it. Avocado? For days. BBQ protein? Totally Tofu. Cheese? I used Cashew AND Daiya. Forget about it. And most importantly, I can keep to my vegan challenge without sacrificing the things I love… cheese.
A pal of mine did a veggie week challenge not long ago and realized that most restaurants are less than adequately prepared. Veggie Burger or Pad Thai. That’s it. But give yourself some credit and prepare a meal at home. I know he did, and thanks his lucky stars that he didn’t have to consume another dried out veggie patty from the pub.
Get cooking, kids. And see what you can come up with.
Dave
FANCY “GROWN UP” GRILLED CHEESE
This new grilled cheese shop opened up across the street from my apartment and I’ve been dying to try it.
The unfortunate thing is that the hours are weird and unless I have a grilled cheese for dinner (not always the best option), then I likely won’t get the chance in the near future.
But since I walked past it the other day, I’ve been craving a fancy grilled cheese like nobodies business. So i’m pulling out a classic post and sharing it with you.
This isn’t so much a recipe as it is a combination of delicious items that all work well together.
Go buy a thin baguette from your local bakery and pick up a red onion, some Brie, and avocado.
Add all together and grill. Oh, and instead of butter, I suggest you try using mayonnaise instead. That’s an old trick my pal, Bobby K taught me, and I’ve never looked back.
Enjoy!
Egg-Baked-Avocado with asparagus
Hey pals.
I saw a picture on Tumblr a few weeks ago that was basically an egg baked into an avocado. Let’s just say that food-porn is an understatement. After I went away to the cottage last weekend, we made a million delicious thing (including the infamous quinoa wraps & deep friend avo) - but I couldn’t stop thinking about that picture.
So I went to bed early last night, got up with the sun this morning, & decided to test out a new recipe. My typical Saturday morning thoughts are a little more simple. Get breakfast, make it greasy, go back to bed. Gatorade. Repeat.
This on the other hand, takes a bit of patience. So hang in there, kiddo.
Ingredients:
1 egg for 1 avocado
2 tbls Milk (I used soy) per egg
S&P as needed
Some chopped up veggies (I used green pepper, garlic, and spinach)
-
2 spears of asparagus (bottom inch removed) per avocado
Garlic
Lemon
Salt
Directions!
Hey Hey now! Take a knife and cut a teardrop out of your avo (then scoop it out). Obviously after you’ve cut it in half.
Mix your egg, milk, veggies. As if you were about to make scramble.
Carefully spoon your mix into the teardrop (emo much?) and toss it in the over for 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees.
I know this takes a while but whatever. Totally worth it. It’s egg baked avocado, yo.
Now, boil your asparagus for a few minutes until tender and super green.
Toss in a pan with your garlic, lemon juice (and maybe oil if you’re down).
Oh, I also tossed a few hashbrowns in the oven because I love potatoes.
Anyway, keep checking on your avo-eggs. Once they’re done - eat them. Maybe you want to add cheese too? I made two servings (for my roomie and I), but ate them both. Luckily I’m full and she’s going out for lunch so it’s no biggie.
I’d like to dedicate this post to the avocado.
Dave
Quinoa Breakfast Wraps
How delicious does this sound?
I used to make these all of the time at my old place but forgot they existed until this past weekend. Jer and I whipped these up for our final morning at the cottage, and both agreed that they were unbelievable (especially because they were so easy).
The ingredients are simple, the outcome is dangerously good, and the ability to switch things up makes these wraps perfect for anybody. In fact, you could make a ton of this stuff, keep it in your fridge, and simply spoon some out onto a wrap every morning for a week. In fact, in a few weeks, I’m going to see just how many people I can satisfy with this recipe. I’ll let you know the results (i’m hoping 20+).
Quinoa is super healthy for you, so don’t be naive. Go buy some, cook it up, and then write me a really nice email thanking me for posting this recipe. Remember; Manners first.
Okay okay okay. Let’s blog.
Ingredients:
1 tbls, Paprika
1 tsp, Cumin
1 tsp, Garlic powder (you can use real)
1 tsp, Onion powder (you can use real)
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 cup, Quinoa
2 cups, broth
1/4 cup, Nutritional Yeast (optional for vegans to substitute cheese)
1 can, Organic beans of your choice (I used Pinto, but black beans work too)
Whole wheat wraps
Lettuce, Avocado, Salsa, Green onion, other toppings of your choice…
Directions:
Gently toast the Quinoa in a heated pan for 5 minutes.
Add broth and continue cooking. As water starts to evaporate, add spices, Nutritional Yeast and beans.
Continue stirring as Quinoa needs a little love and attention. It’s needy like that.
Cut up your lettuce, veggies, etc.
Once water has completely evaporated, add the lime juice (add more if needed), spoon into wrap, add your toppings and eat up.
I have just made this so incredibly easy to do. In fact, if you were to make this before going out Saturday night, your ‘stay in bed’ Sunday would be that much more impressive. Imagine taking a big bite from a healthy, tasty, wrap, as soon as you can stomach food. Cold crisp lettuce, warm quinoa and spicy salsa. It would melt your heart and cure what ails ya. No joke. Eggs are good, but they’ve got nothing on this wrap.
Enjoy
Dave.
Beer Battered Avocado Taco’s
So Jer Tompkins and I both have a mutual interest in cooking. We often meet up and prepare a ton of food for our friends. Oh, and always surprise ourselves.
This past weekend we decided that Avocado should be our main ingredient and set out to make a unique (and not too unhealthy) taco. We also had the NFL playoffs in the background and an incredible Dwayne Gretzky show to attend later that evening. Life was good.
Then we made the tacos. And let’s just say this… life got a heck of a lot better. Real fast.
Check it.
Ingredients:
1/2 tsp Salt & 1 tsp paprika
3 avocado
1 1/2 cups Flour (+ 1 cup, dredging)
12 oz. Beer (We used Rickards Red but any delicious ale will do)
1/2 of one Shredded Beet
Lettuce
Salsa
I can, black beans
1x Lime
Green onion, cut into small pieces
Vegetable oil (enough to cover an inch or 2 of your pot)
Small wraps
Grated cheese
Directions:
Mix 1.5 cups of flour, salt, paprika and beer together. Mix well.
Cut avocado into 6-8 pieces, each.
Heat oil in giant pot. And please, be very careful - this stuff gets very hot.
Dredge avocado in a separate bowl of flour, then beer mix. Drop into oil and cook.
I suggest keeping a plate in the oven at 170 to keep them warm afterwards. Once they are all compete, I covered them in the juice of a lime.
Shred beat, cut onion, lettuce, cheese, etc.
Drain Black beans and warm in pan with a bit of oil. While it’s cooking, break apart by mashing them with a wooden spoon.
Stack all your ingredients into a wrap, then eat it up.
Do yourself a favour and experiment. Try it with some mango, red onion (instead of green), fresh salsa, or whatever you like. The most important thing is the avo, obvs.
Enjoy your taco night. Your friends are going to loveeeeee you.
Special thanks to Jer for creating this with me.
Dave
“Go Stuff Yourself” Shells
It is freezing cold. Last night we all gathered together to watch the winter classic and instead of taking the streetcar home with two borden babes, I decided it would be a good idea to get some exercise and walk (Front to Bloor on Spadina). Needless to say, it was a terrible decision. Today was no different. I walked home from work in minus 1,000,000 degree Toronto weather with no gloves (why?) and no scarf (why?). Dumb.
But when you’re in that kind of cold, you start to think. And I was thinking about dinner. Something hot. Something new. Something filling.
I didn’t want to make a soup, and I didn’t want to spend my night in the kitchen.
So I decided to go sans recipe and make stuffed pasta.
This is incredibly easy to make (do all the steps at once) and didn’t take me more than 40 minutes (rice takes time, ya know).
Make this. My new roomie Kate was super impressed.
Ingredients:
2 cloves Garlic
Half Onion
1/3 green pepper
One Carrot
3/4 cup rice (add water and cook per instructions)
Half pack of Yves ground round
One Pack of Giant shells
One Jar, pasta sauce
Lemon Juice
Goat cheese (optional)
Avocado (optional
Directions:
Boil pasta, cook rice. Preheat oven to 350.
Once pasta is done, run under cold water and separate all shells. Leave to cool.
Heat oil in a frying pan, sauté onion and garlic.
Add Grn pepper, Yves ground and carrot. Once rice is done, toss it all in and add lemon juice. Just enough to give it a taste. And salt if needed.
Fill each shell with 1 tablespoon (approx) of mix and add sauce to top. If you are using avocado, add a slice to the top of each.
Place on baking sheet and bake for ten minutes.
Remove and cover with more sauce (if needed) and goat cheese.
Eat them up. Eat all of them up. Maybe share them if you’re a nice person like I am. But if not, just eat them all up.
