Tuesday 17 July 2012

Quinoa, Corn & Scallion Salad


I recently borrowed a recipe book from Tara I've been meaning to go through for a long time, "Home Made"by Yvette VanBoven. There are so many awesome recipes I still want to try! But the first thing that caught my eye was this twist on tabouleh. I made a couple modifications to the recipe (due to a cheese-choice mistake and limited funds), but overall it is quite similar to what is displayed in the book. Definitely scrumptious and packed with NUTRITION.. which is something I've kind of been lacking lately. Needed some sort of salad to reverse this trend, and this happened to be the perfect pick.


Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
4 fresh ears of corn or 1 large can of corn kernels
6 scallions
1 bunch flat leaf parsley
2 small heads baby romaine (I just bought a bag of pre-cut romaine)
1 1/4 cups aged goats cheese (YUM! However, I screwed this up and ended up adding shredded gruyere to try and self-correct)

Dressing
2 tbsp prepared mustard (I have this vinaigrette dijon that is delish- brand is "maison orphee")
1 clove garlic
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 white wine vinegar
2/3 cup grape seed oil

Make sure quinoa is either already cooled or run it under cold water in a sieve to cool it down, let drain. Cut the scallions into rounds, finely chop the parsley, cut the cheese into small dice. Mix everything together well.

To make the dressing I used my blender (magic bullet)...combine everything and pulse it until smooth. Pour over salad and mix well.

Monday 16 July 2012

Cookie Dough Pops


I'm not sure my apartment has ever been this hot. That being said, I think it's time for a popsicle post. My favourite flavour of ice cream is cookie dough, and this is a close second- except much easier to make than ice cream. So what makes a popsicle taste like cookie dough? Surprisingly, not much.


Ingredients
2.5 cups whole milk (a bit heavy in my opinion but necessary to ensure creaminess)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
pinch of salt
3 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup choco chips


In a saucepan, dissolve sugars, salt and vanilla into milk at a low heat.

Allow to cool.

Put your chocolate chips in the popsicle molds.

FILL THE MOLDS.


Freeze. Enjoy cookie dough popsicles. Rob and Jeff did.

Tuesday 3 July 2012

Watermelon Goat Cheese Bites


Hey, it's been a while since my last post- partly out of distractions from the real world, partly out of laziness. But here's a new one, finally! The most perfect, easiest thing to bring to a summer BBQ. "Watermelon and goat cheese?" you're thinking. Trust me it works. The juicy sweetness of the watermelon fits perfectly with the salty and creaminess of the cheese, plus a refreshing kick of basil to add to the complexity of all-around amazing tastes.

I don't think you need me the list the ingredients or the method of preparation. But as a side note, I just used a cookie cutter for the watermelon (which was cut into inch thick disks). I also made others with a slice of jalapeño pepper on top instead of basil, for some of the more adventurous party-goers. However, as much as I love jalapeño pepper, it just couldn't beat the basil.