Food & Drink

Wild Mushroom Freekeh Salad

Freekeh is the new grain on the block and I can see why! This ancient super grain offers a ton of nutritional value and an earthy, smoky flavour that is super delicious.

When compared to other ancient grains, Freekeh ranks high in protein and fiber. Offering almost twice as much as our beloved quinoa. It’s also low in fat, low on the glycemic index, packed with iron, calcium and zinc – it really is a super grain! It’s versatility also offers you the ease of swapping out the other grains in your favourite dishes whether they are savoury or sweet and adding in this nutty substitute. Seriously, give it a try! I don’t think it’ll replace quinoa any time soon, but it is a very nice change. 🙂

A salad that I am super obsessed with this summer is this Wild Mushroom Freekeh Salad that I cam across on Canadian Living. So simple and so tasty, it was an instant household winner. Plus, it was a major bonus that the only thing I had to buy for this recipe were the mushrooms. Everything else I had on hand or growing in the garden – ahh the perks of summer!

While this recipe was perfect the way it was, I did make a few tweaks based on what I had on hand, and whenever I cook mushrooms I always add garlic and white wine (it just naturally  happens!). Here’s the  dish with a few of my modifications below.

Wild Mushroom Freekeh Salad

Wild Mushroom Freekeh Salad

Lemon Vinaigrette:

  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon liquid honey
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • pinch pepper

Salad:

  • 1 cup freekeh rinsed
  • 1 teaspoon earth balance or butter
  • 2-3 cups oyster mushrooms torn
  • 1-2 cups shitake mushrooms torn
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 4 tbsp of white wine
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups diced vine-ripened or plum tomato
  • 4 cups packed baby arugula

Ingredients

  1. Lemon Vinaigrette – In large bowl, whisk together oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, salt and pepper. Set aside.
  2. Salad –  In large saucepan of boiling salted water, cook freekeh according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water until cool. (Refrigerate in airtight container for up to 2 days.)
  3. In large nonstick skillet, melt earth balance or butter over medium heat; cook mushrooms and salt, stirring often, until softened, 5 to 6 minutes. Add in garlic and white wine and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
  4. Add freekeh and tomatoes to vinaigrette; gently toss to coat. Gently stir in mushrooms and arugula.

Wild Mushroom Freekeh Salad

Get Freekeh. xx

Raw Key Lime Pie

“You attract what you are.” – Dr. Wayne Dyer

And I’m happy to say many of my friends are like minded when it comes to food, lifestyle, interests and health. We spend A LOT of our time exchanging views, best practices, hidden gems and favourite recipes. With that being said, I would be remiss if I didn’t share their best ideas. 🙂

Which leads me to introduce, my friend Kieran Darcy, who I’m thrilled to say will guest blog with some of her favourite dish’s, along with some of her beautiful photography. You’ll quickly notice, her skills are much better than mine (she is a very talented photographer) and gets it right every time. Please check  out more of her amazing work here.

Kieran had my mouth watering when she first told me about her Raw Key Lime Pie recipe. And with each week she had a new variation to share and that’s when I knew I had to have her dish about it!

Without further ado, here’s Kieran’s Dish –

A few months ago I decided to make a key lime pie for my dad’s birthday. I don’t know why, but I’m glad I did. I started googling ‘raw key lime pie’ to find something that would suit his celiac & diabetic needs and came upon this. The amazing thing about this recipe is that it’s really just a launching pad for any dessert you want to make. For any of you who don’t like following instructions or baking, this is the dessert for you.Raw Key Lime Pie

Let’s take a moment and appreciate the fact that the main ingredient in this dessert is cashews. Maybe I’m just ignorant, but I had no idea what they were capable of. Sorry cashews, I underestimated you. Since mastering the key lime pie I have adapted the recipe to make pumpkin, chocolate-orange, chocolate-raspberry, and lemon pies. With the lemon pie I added some Astarte blueberry-lavender preserve to each slice when serving – Sooo good!Raw Pumpkin Pie

This dessert has become a staple for every family gathering and I get to pretend I’m a really great baker when all I’ve done is blended. Easy, healthy, and delicious. I will say that attaining all of the ingredients is a bit pricey but you won’t need to buy them every time.  So take this recipe and make whatever you want with it. Cover it in nuts, fruit, add peanut butter, make different flavour layers, increase the crust measurements…Do whatever you want.Raw Chocolate Orange Pie

Raw Key Lime Pie

Crust:
  • 1 cup dried dates
  • ½ cup whole almonds, coarsely chopped
  • ½ cup whole pecans, coarsely chopped
  • Âź cup unsweetened shredded dried coconut
  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil
  • Pinch of sea salt
Filling (Key Lime):
  • 2 cups cashews
  • ž cup fresh lime juice
  • ½ cup maple syrup
  • ⅓ cup melted coconut oil
  • 1 tsp matcha powder (optional for color only)
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  1. Put all the crust ingredients into a food processor, and process until the ingredients can just stick together. Pie Crust
  2. Press the crust mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9­inch pie dish
    Pie Crust
  3. Place all the filling ingredients in your high-speed blender or food processor and blend until the filling is completely smooth and creamy.
  4. Pour the filling evenly over the pie crust, smooth with a spatula.
  5. Place the pie in the freezer covered to set for at least 3 hours, or overnight if possible.
  6. Let the pie sit at room temperature for 10 minutes and garnish before serving. I used coconut and lime zest on the Key Lime variation.Raw Pumpkin Pie

Enjoy!

Coconut Matcha Pops

Transferring your warm Matcha Latte into something cooler for summer.

  • 1 400ml can of full-fat coconut milk
  • ½ cup of alternate milk- I used almond/coconut blend
  • 2-3 tsp. Matcha powder
  • Up to Âź cup agave nectar (other sweeteners will also work)
  1. Mix matcha with couple tbsp of your alternate milk to create a paste. 
  2. Once the mixture is smooth, add remaining milk.
  3. Mix agave, matcha mix and coconut milk and freeze up to 4 hours.

These Pops are a great way to keep cool on those hot summer days without the guilty feeling. Coconut Matcha Pops are a sweet treat you can indulge in while still giving yourself the healthy goodness of our beloved Matcha. YUM!

Rose Gin & Grapefruit

Happy Weekend!

What better way to kick off the weekend than with a refreshing summer cocktail. Right now, I am loving Dillon’s Rose Gin and wanted to share this special find with you all. And for those of you in the GTA/South Western Ontario region – it’s a great opportunity to buy and support local, so go grab Dillon’s!

Uniquely infused with rose hips and rose petals, this traditional London-style gin offers a complex blend of aromas with an added sweetness perk up your traditional Gin & Soda or Gin & Tonic. I personally prefer the soda version, but it really works either way.

Dillon’s Rose Gin, topped with soda, a squeeze of grapefruit and a slice of cucumber – I will bet that you won’t have just one! Rose Gin & Grapefruit

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FullSizeRender-23 Cheers! xx

 

Grill On

Spring is here and we’ve been graced with warmer weather this season, putting me in total BBQ mode. Peppers, zucchini, beets, asparagus, any protein, pizza, peaches  – I’ll grill just about anything! And it’s no surprise that most items taste better on the BBQ, that summery taste of the grill comes so easy and leaves for little clean up – huge bonus!

Over the Spring/Summer season, I thought I would share some of my favourite picks for grilling, to help excite and inspire your grilling game. 🙂 Don’t mind the iPhone shots, I was serious multi-tasking when I thought this would be a good one to share. Hope you enjoy and please share what you’re grilling up this season! 
Most recently, I have been obsessed with grilled Kale. The flavours and texture add a unique twist on a regular salad. I love a raw kale salad and have found that adding in a few grilled leaves makes it even more amazing. It puts an interesting spin on a classic dish and helps change things up from salad to salad when you have a garden full of Kale – which I can’t wait for!
My Classic Kale recipe is oh so simple:
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 2 parts olive oil
  • 1 part lemon juice
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • salt, pepper
  • parmesean
  1. Mix together olive oil, lemon juice, zest, garlic, salt and pepper.
  2. Massage dressing onto the raw kale. The longer it sits, the more delicious it gets.
  3. Grill a couple plain leaves and tear into the dressed salad and enjoy!
  4. Add toppers if I have them on hand, currants, pine nuts, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, whatever might be in the cupboard.
Kale Salad
Next up, which has become a new favourite summer appetizer/snack of mine is from Canadian Living’s Summer Best special issue. Their recipe for Grilled Sesame Edamame is ahhh-mazing!!! As soon as I came across this one I knew it would be a winner, seriously so YUMMMM!!! Grilled Sesame Edamame
Grilled Sesame Edamame
  • 500 g edamame (defrosted)
  • 2 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp toasted sesames
  • 1/2 tsp himalayan sea salt
  1. Skewer defrosted edamame, heat grill to medium-high heat.
  2. Grill edamame until golden 8-10 minutes.
  3. Toss in sesame oil, top with sesame seeds and salt.
  4. Serve warm.
    Grilled Sesame Edamame

Stay tuned for more of my favourite BBQ picks and don’t forget to share yours on instagram – #delsdish #delsgrill

Get Grilling! xx