chickpea, rice & pasta soup

I made this a day or two after I made this brown rice bowl and needed to use up the extra rice I had leftover. Normally I make fried rice but we had just recently had some, so I made some soup and called it dinner. And oh, it was good and simple....and very economical! Just root around your fridge/cupboard for those wayward items you don't know what to do with and throw 'em in a pot. This is pretty much how many of our meals come into being since I hate letting things go to waste. The soup has rice, beans and even some alphabet pasta, so it's definitely hearty and filling, and the salsa and chilies help to give it a nice kick for a perfect weeknight meal.

chickpea, rice & pasta soup
1 T olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
500 g fresh salsa or diced tomatoes
4c vegetable stock
1 T cumin
1 t red chili pepper flakes
1-2 c cooked leftover brown rice
1 can chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1/4 c tiny pasta (I used alphabets)
salt & pepper
fresh parsley sprigs, chopped

In a large pot, heat up olive oil over med-high heat and add in onion, garlic, and celery. Let them get soft and translucent and then add in the salsa and the spices. Add in rice, chickpeas and pasta and cover with vegetable stock, adding more stock if needed. Let simmer until the pasta is cooked through. Taste and add in salt and pepper if needed. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with parsley.

condiment city: strawberry salsa & burgers with simple guacamole

Summer seems to be the perfect time to endulge in a little condiment action. With all those picnics and bbqs it seems that mustards, ketchups, salsas and relishes abound. A squirt here and a plop there. Once tomato season rears it's head, I plan on trying my hand at a tomato ketchup and I'm definitely interested in trying out the deliciously simple english brown mustard posted at bread & honey.


Last week I grilled up some hamburgers for dinner and instead of slapping on some cheese or mayonnaise, I whipped up a super simple guacamole for our burgers. Just a mashed avocado, a generous squeeze of lime juice, chili powder, hot sauce and a bit of chipotle powder. Yum! Fresh delicious and way better than the $16 hamburgers we ate recently at a local restaurant.

For burgers, I like them simple. Not a lot of complex flavours or anything that is highly seasoned as I like to taste the meat. For the burgers, I just added some salt, pepper and dash of Worcestershire sauce. Using a spoon to mix about the meat (you don't want to over mix), I then quickly formed them into patties and grilled them on the bbq. After toasting the buns, I added a big smear of the guacamole, along with diced onions, a tomato slice, and some mustard. It was burger perfection!


This past weekend, I went strawberry picking at a local u-pick farm. While the farm we went to wasn't organic, they do use controlled pest management and only spray as a last resort. The berries were amazing and I managed to pick just over 17 pounds worth. When I got home with my haul, I wanted to make something immediately but didn't want to have to turn on the oven since it was so hot outside. So I tried my hand at a strawberry salsa to top some cod that I would be barbecuing later on. I had some leftover slices of tomatoes and diced onions from the burgers the night before, so I added that into the salsa. It was pretty simple to whip up and it had that refreshing mix of sweet and hot flavours that I love. It was super fresh and the berries were super red and colourful.


strawberry salsa
1 c diced strawberries
1/2 diced tomato
1/2 diced red onion
1 finely diced jalapeno
juice & zest of 1 lime
a handful of fresh chives, chopped
a handful of fresh parsley & cilantro, chopped
salt & pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Toss lightly and serve over fish or chicken.

breakfast? i can do that.

Moving and unpacking has been a bit trying. Even though we now have twice the space, the new kitchen is so much smaller than our old one and our new stove is electric and not gas. We just can't understand it when the butter in our cast iron skillet doesn't immediately start melting! And there is still so much of our stuff still in boxes and I'm not used to all the clutter and it's so hard to find things. So needless to say, I haven't been doing a whole lot of cooking lately and I haven't even attempted baking yet. The other night I did make some fantastic baked chicken breasts seasoned with cumin, coriander, Mexican chili powder and cinnamon. So good served with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli...but that's about it for my culinary adventures. Most of our meals have been quick pasta and take-out Pho from the Vietnamese restaurant around the corner. The one thing I have been making from scratch is breakfast. We've had some damn fine oatmeal, some deliciously sour grapefruits and some lovely Italian bread toasted up right and smeared with butter. But one of my favorite breakfast meals this week has been scrambled eggs. Really, why am I writing a recipe post on something as simple and a breakfast mainstay as scrambled eggs? Well, I've made it twice this past week and they make our new place feel a bit more like home and that's a feeling I can definitely get used to.

scrambled eggs with salsa
For something so simple, a recipe seems so counter intuitive. What you do is this:
Crack 4 eggs into a bowl. Whisk with a fork and add in a few drops of water. This makes them extra fluffy. Trust me. Throw in a pinch of salt and a few good grindings of black pepper and gently whisk again. In a cast iron pan, throw in a small knob of butter and melt. When it's nice and bubbly, slide in the eggs. Using the same fork, toss the mixture around. When it's congeals slightly, add in about 3-4 large spoonfuls of salsa....the good fresh stuff (nothing from a jar or can!) and whisk again with the fork. Grate in about a tablespoon of sharp cheddar, mix again and then divide the mixture equally onto 2 plates. Serve with buttered toast and hot coffee.

photographic evidence

I'm always a little bummed out when I don't have a photo post for every yummy recipe I make. And because there is no photo in sight for this post, please do not make the mistake that the recipe below is hum-drum, bland or just plain ugly. Not so! This week I made some great vegan dinners but I am lacking the photographic evidence. Don't worry, the proof is in the pudding, as the saying goes.

When my friend arrived onto Vancouver soil, I had made up a butternut squash and chickpea soup flavoured with ginger and orange. You'll have to trust me when I say that it was tasty! The next night I made a veggie yakiudon with tons of ginger and cauliflower...oh my! However, it was Tuesday night's dinner that was the true stand out. Fretting over what to make, I came up with a Mexican salad with a grapefruit juice dressing, crushed tortilla chips and blackbeans served over mixed greens that I made up on the fly. This was my crowning salad achievement of the week and alas, no colourful photo. I guess I'll have to make due with happy memories. My recipe is a bit fuzzy since I'm recounting ingredients and measurements from a couple days ago rather than just a few hours. I'm sure it will be great. Trust me.

mexican black bean & tortilla salad
1 can of black beans, rinsed & drained
1 rib of celery, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced fine
juice of half a grapefruit
olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 t cumin
1 t dijon mustard
1 t red wine vinegar
salt & pepper to taste
salad greens
tortilla chips, slightly crushed
fresh salsa

1. In a medium sized bowl, add the black beans, celery, red pepper and onion and combine.

2. In a small measuring cup, add the grapefruit juice and red wine vinegar. Add an equal part of olive oil and stir. Mix in the cumin, dijon, garlic and red wine vinegar and mix well until combined. Pour dressing over black beans and let sit for a few minutes, tossing occassionally.

3. In your own individual salad bowl, add in some salad greens. Crush some tortilla chips over top and drop in a couple big spoonfuls of the black bean mixture. Top with some fresh salsa. Eat and repeat, if necessary.

I can't talk, my mouth is full

Yikes! I'm swamped with 9 to 5 work and freelance work combined. I've been slack in responding to emails and I barely have the time to keep up with reading my blogroll. My life will return to normal in about a month, but until then, I will be pushed and pulled in all directions. Dear readers, please forgive me in advance!

Between bike rides along the seawall and eating burgers on a sunny patio, on Saturday I managed to head over to the treasure trove of Granville Island to pick up some dinner fixins' at the market. So I offer you this short post now as a token of appreciation for all of you who keep on reading this lil' space of mine.

This lamb marinade works wonders on lamb chops but I decided to mix things up a little bit and create some lamb tacos. The smokey cumin flavour mixed with the cardamom was incredible and these tacos were pretty much gobbled up instantly.

lamb tacos
1/2 lb leg of lamb, cut into small bite-sized pieces
4 cloves of garlic, minced
juice of half a lime
2 T cumin
1/2 t ground cardamom
1 T olive oil

1 tomato, diced
1/2 small red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t cumin
1/2 t cayenne pepper
juice of half a lime

corn tortillas

1. Toss the first 6 ingredients into a ziplock bag, making sure all the spices and flavours blend. Marinate for 1 hour.

2. Prepare salsa in a small bowl by mixing the next 6 ingredients together.

3. In a very hot cast iron skillet or grill pan, add the contents of the ziplock bag. The lamb should brown very quickly. About 1 minute should do it.

4. Heat the corn tortillas over a gas flame to soften and slightly char.

5. To each tortilla, add some lamb and top with the salsa. Eat and watch everyone fall in love with you.