Main Dish

Cauliflower Steaks with Walnut Caper Salsa

Happy New Year, Friends!

Here’s to a happy and healthier year ahead. With that in mind comes lots of new healthy recipes and in 2018, I am definitely going to focus on more plant-based eats. I came across this amazing recipe a few weeks back from Bon Appetit and finally got around to making these delicious cauliflower steaks. Wow wow wow!! It is a new favourite that I’ll make again and again.

Check out the dish below (with a few modifications) from one of my favourite recipe sources – Bon Appetit

Cauliflower Steaks with Walnut Caper Salsa (yields 2-3)

Walnut Caper Salsa

  • ⅓ cup walnuts (toasted)
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 3 tbsp drained capers, patted dry
  • 1 chile pepper or hot pepper of your choice, seeds removed, finely chopped
  • 3 tbsp coarsely chopped parsley
  • 1 tbsp dried currants
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
  • Himalayan Salt

Cauliflower 

  • 1 small head of cauliflower
  • Himalayan salt
  • 1-2 garlic cloves, finely grated
  • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp tahini
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp earth balance all natural spread or butter
  • 2-3 sprigs oregano
  • 2-4 strips lemon zest
  • Lemon wedges (for serving)

Salsa Prep:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Toast walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing once, until golden brown, 7–10 minutes. Let cool, then coarsely chop.
  2. Heat oil and capers in a small saucepan over medium, swirling often, until capers burst and are golden brown and crisp, about 8 minutes. Carefully pour oil and capers into a small heatproof bowl; let cool.
  3. Mix in walnuts, chile, parsley, currants, vinegar, and lemon zest; season with salt.** Salsa can be made 1 day ahead, covered with plastic, pressing directly onto surface. Bring to room temperature before using **

    FullSizeRender (10)

Cauliflower Prep & Assembly:

  1. Remove the toughest outer leaves from cauliflower (leave on any tender inner leaves). Trim stem to create a flat base. Resting cauliflower on stem, cut in half from top to bottom, creating two lobes with stem attached. Trim outer rounded edge of each piece to create two 1½”-thick “steaks” (the stem should hold the florets together); set steaks aside. Very coarsely chop remaining florets.
  2. Cook florets in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until very tender, 6–8 minutes. Drain well, then process in a food processor with garlic, lemon juice, tahini, and 1 tbsp water until smooth; season with salt. Set aside. **Purée  can also be made a day in advance and heated before plating**
  3. Heat oven to  425° for roasting cauliflower.
  4. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add earth balance spread or butter, swirl until melted, then add cauliflower steaks, oregano, and lemon zest. Cook, gently lifting up cauliflower occasionally to let hot fat run underneath, until steaks are deep golden brown (if oregano or lemon start to burn, place on top of steaks). Turn steaks and season with salt. Transfer skillet to oven and roast until cauliflower stems are fork-tender, 10–15 minutes.
  5. To serve, spoon about 1/4 cup cauliflower purée onto plates and place steaks on top. Spoon salsa over and sprinkle with salt. Serve with lemon wedges.

FullSizeRender (12)

Bon Appetit! xx

Tom Yum Soup

Well it has been quite some time since I have posted, my sincerest apologies. 2017 has been a very exciting and busy year, from becoming engaged, planning a wedding, getting married and then honeymooning! It has been the best, but I have missed being in the kitchen and connecting with all my dear followers, but now I am back. 🙂

I promise 2018 will bring lots of new things and I will post an update soon on all the fun we have been having, but in the meantime, I am finding inspiration again in the kitchen and wanted to share. Even though, there was some debate in my head on whether to post with pictures or without as my camera is donezo and these photo’s aren’t great, but this dish is too good not to share.

For the month of October, we were away in Bali, enjoying all the honeymoon bliss and boy, were we ever inspired with all the delicious food and drinks that were had. We were absolutely blown away in every way. From their local Indonesian fare to some of the best Italian food we have ever had, the food in Bali was incredible. Wow wow wow! Not to mention all the local and plant based food they served; it really inspired me to pay more attention to my food consumption and habits.

Last week, we were hit with a cold spell in the city and I was craving warm and spicy dishes to warm the soul. I decided to finally give one of my favourite Thai dishes, a try. Tom Yum,  was super easy to make and turned out amazing that I found myself going back for seconds and could have gone back for thirds. This is definitely becoming part of our weekly rotation.

The ingredients in this soup easily blend together for some amazing flavour. One thing to note is do taste test as you go, add a little bit of this and a little bit of that if you need, don’t be shy here, this is how I developed such an amazing soup. If you want it more spicy add in more chilli, prefer it less creamy skip a can of coconut milk, if it is too sour add in more sugar. The great thing about this dish, is once you get the broth portion to your liking, you can add in whatever you like in terms of veg or protein. Don’t be scared off by the number of ingredients, it is SO GOOD!! I also chose to make mine extra brothy, so feel free to add more veg or less liquid if you prefer.

Tom Yum (yields 6-8 servings)

  • 1400 ml no salt added vegetable broth
  • 2 cans coconut milk (1 regular and 1 light)
  • 1 tsp of sugar (your choice, I used cane)
  • 3 tbsp tom yum paste
  • 1 tbsp lemongrass paste or the lower third of lemongrass stalk cut into matchsticks
  • 1 tbsp ginger, grated
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tbsp chilli garlic sauce
  • 1 tsp Himalayan sea salt
  • 2-4 tbsp lime juice
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 small bunch of green onions, finely chopped
  • 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
  • 1 zucchini, sliced into half mooons
  • half a cup of cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
  • 8-10  mushrooms, sliced
  • Thai rice noodles
  • 2 cups of shrimp, I used cooked but raw would be best
  • handful of cilantro

Tom Yum IngredientsTom Yum Ingredients

  1. Pour broth and coconut milk into a large saucepan and set over medium. Whisk in sugar, tom yum paste, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, and chilli-garlic sauce.  Cover and bring to a boil
  2. Add onion, pepper, wait 5 minutes then add carrot, zucchini,  mushrooms, tomato and cook, stirring occasionally, until veg is cooked through, about 7-10 min
  3. Stir in lime juice, fish sauce and salt
  4. While the above is cooking, boil rice noodles in a separate pot for 5 minutes (according to package but not to fully soft), drain and rinse
  5. Stir in cilantro, rice noodles and shrimp, cook for 3 minutes
  6. Serve topped with fresh cilantro, and enjoy!Tom Yum Soup

Keep Cozy! xx

Chipotle Sweet Potato Noodles

I love Mexican flavours and try to often think of interesting ways to incorporate the flavour profiles outside of the beloved taco. Even though, I could eat taco’s every single day!

After a little inspiration from Pinch of Yum, this Chipotle Sweet Potato Noodle recipe is a new favourite dish added to the weeknight rotation!IMG_3283

Sweet, spicy, smokey, hearty and fresh; this noodle recipe is simple and healthy and an easy go-to recipe to whip up. The chipotle dressing and sweet potato noodles make for an amazing base that you can simply add any toppings of your choice and you are set for a delicious meal. I worked with what I had on hand, peppers, tomatoes, jalapeno, kale, avocado, pepitas, goat feta, and cilantro. However, this would be equally as awesome with some black beans and roasted corn. And you can easily omit the cheese to keep this vegan friendly.

Here’s the dish –

Sweet Potato Noodle Bowl (yields 4-6 servings)
  • olive oil
  • 2 sweet potatoes
  • 1 red pepper, diced
  • 1 jalapeno, diced
  • 1 tomato, diced
  • 1 avocado, diced
  • 1 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1 cup chopped greens – kale, spinach, arugula, etc (I love black kale!)
  • 1/2 cup raw pepitas
  • 1/4 cup goat feta or cojita (or opt for no cheese)

Chipotle Lime Dressing:

  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 2-3 tablespoons water
  • juice of one orange
  • juice of one lime
  • 2-4 individual chipotle peppers, canned in adobo sauce
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 teaspoon agave or honey
  • pinch of Himalayan sea saltFullSizeRender (8)
  1. Heat a little bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add chopped peppers and saute until soft.
  2. Pulse the dressing ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Taste and adjust to your liking.
  3. Remove, wipe skillet and add a little more olive oil over medium heat. Add the sweet potato noodles and toss for a minute or two until softened (no more than 5). Also, toss in a 2 TBSP of the dressing to coat noodles.
  4. Once slightly cooked, toss the noodles, peppers, kale, cilantro, and pepitas together.
  5. Toss with the salad ingredients and top with tomato, avocado and crumbled cheese.

FullSizeRender (7)

Dig In. xx

Chipotle Lime Shrimp Tacos

This taco dish comes together in a snap and is probably one of the most delicious tacos I have ever had! It will easily become a household fav, so don’t be shy to double up on this recipe as you’ll definitely want the leftovers.

Marinated to sweet and spicy perfection, these grilled shrimpy’s pair perfectly with just about any topping. I like to mix mine up with homemade pico de gallo, guacomole, mango, cabbage and extra cilantro.

Ingredients: (makes about 8 tacos)

  • 6 tbsp lime juice
  • 2 tbsp chipotle in adobo sauce
  • Salt & pepper
    1/4 c olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic.
  • 1lb shrimp
    1/4 c honey
  • Zest of 1  lime
  • corn or wheat tortillas

fullsizerender-13

  1. Marinade shrimp for 2 hours or more.
  2. Mix together, 1/2 cup fat free sour cream  , 1tbsp chipotle in Adobe sauce, 1 tbsp lime juice, zest of 1 lime , 1 clove garlic, make this while shrimp marinade’s so flavours mellow.fullsizerender-12
  3. Cut up avacodo, shredded cabbage , cilantro, mango’s , tomatoes etc. for garnishing taco’s.
  4. Cook shrimp till pink and then put together as taco’simg_1519

img_1520

Betcha can’t eat just one! xx

Blackened Tilapia

I’ll admit that I always get nervous each time I mix these spices together, in fear that it is going to be too much flavour in all the wrong ways but I always end up being blown away with how well they blend together.

To save yourself some time, mix up 4 x’s the amount of spice, that way you always have this spice on hand.

Blackening Spice:

  • 3 tbsp paprika
  • 1 tsp himalayan sea salt
  • 1 tbsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Blackening Spice

For the Fish:

  • 4 tilapia fillets
  • 3 tbsp coconut oil
  • lemon wedges

Blackened Fish

  1. Mix spices.
  2. Pat Tilapia dry, coat with spice mix, allow to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
  3. Heat oil on med-high heat, heat until hot.
  4. Cook fillets for 3 minutes per side or until fish is opaque and can be flaked.
  5. Plate and squeeze with lemon juice.

Blackened Tilapia

Keep it Spicy! xx