tahini ginger slaw

Sorry, I forgot to take a photo of the slaw pre-demolition. All I have left is a dirty bowl. Proof that the slaw was indeed delicious. I had been seeing a few coleslaw recipes popping up lately and I decided that I would use up whatever was in my crisper and make one big bowl of salad.

Throwing in the vegetables was easy. If I had it laying about, in in went. But for the dressing I was stumped. I didn't want to make a vinegar based dressing and a mayo-based one just didn't excite me. So after a bit of digging around, I found a small nub of fresh ginger and a half empty jar of tahini. I could definitely work with this! And oh boy, this dressing has some kick. The ginger adds a nice bite, the tahini makes it all creamy while the lemon juice adds some much needed sunshine. It was a slaw to be proud of!

I didn't use up all the dressing...just a tablespoon or so. The remainder of the dressing I covered with plastic wrap and into the fridge it went. But don't worry, I got some great use out of the remaining dressing. For what? Well, you'll just have to wait until my next post. So if you make this coleslaw, make sure to save your dressing. I promise another great dinner!

tahini ginger slaw
1/2 small head of red cabbage, shredded
1 jumbo sized carrot (like a really, really, really huge carrot - or several normal sized ones)
1/2 small, red onion, sliced thinly
1/2 red pepper, diced

dressing
1 T tahini
juice of half a lemon
1 t minced fresh ginger
1 t agave syrup
1/4 c olive oil
salt & pepper, to taste

Mix together all the vegetables into a large bowl. In a mixing cup or small bowl combine all the dressing ingredients. Pour dressing over salad (not all of it!) and let sit for a few minutes or just dig in!

Interested in more cabbage salads & slaws? Check out my archives:
Creamy Asian Slaw
Kitchen Sink Salad
Lemon Coleslaw
My Waldorf Salad
North Carolina Coleslaw
Peanutty Coleslaw

warm lentil & butternut squash salad with tahini dressing

Normally when autumn arrives, it arrives with a shove. There's rain every day and grey skies day in and day out. However, this fall, we Vancouverites seem blessed. It's sunny, there's a nip to the air that I find refreshing, and the leaves have just been so incredible lately. Oh, the colours! I'm finding beauty in almost everything. Even the humble butternut squash.

I saw this recipe for a warm chickpea and butternut salad with tahini dressing on Molly's blog and it sounded too perfect. So I cut the squash, put it in to roast and noticed that I didn't have a can of chickpeas after all. Instead, I took out a can of lentils and hoped all would be well. After I had mixed all the ingredients and poured myself a glass of wine, the mess in the bowl did not look very pretty and it certainly it didn't look as composed as Molly's photo. I had my fingers crossed as my husband took his first bite. But I had no need to worry, he loved it (and he normally doesn't even like squash!) and so did I. It was tangy and had a lovely lemony bite that worked so well with the nuttiness of the tahini. This recipe is a keeper and even if it's not a beauty on a plate, it definitely will make this fall seem sweeter.

warm lentil & butternut squash salad with tahini dressing
(adapted from Orangette)
1 medium butternut squash (about 2 to 2 ½ lb.), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 ½-inch pieces
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 t ground cumin
½ t red chili flakes
½ t ground allspice
2 T olive oil
salt & pepper
One 15-ounce can lentils (or chickpeas), drained and rinsed
¼ of a medium red onion, finely chopped
¼ cup coarsely chopped parsley (or cilantro) leaves
½ t sumac

For tahini sauce:
2 garlic cloves, finely minced with a pinch of salt
juice of 1 lemon
3 T. tahini
2 T water
2 T olive oil, plus more to taste

1. Preheat oven to 425F. In a large bowl, toss butternut squash with olive oil, salt, pepper, cumin, allspice, cumin, garlic and red chili flakes. Once it's all well coated, dump onto a baking sheet and roast for about 25 minutes until soft and golden.

2. Meanwhile, make the dressing by combining all the ingredients and whisking until smooth. Taste and add more water or olive oil if needed.

3. To assemble the salad, gently toss the lentils, the warm roasted squash, red onion, and parsley in a serving bowl along with most of the dressing. Reserve the remaining of the dressing to serve at the table.

don't knock the small fry: falafel plate

The luck I've been having in the kitchen lately, has not carried over into amazing photos, sadly. It's difficult to take decent photos at 9:30pm (when we ate dinner the other night) with only low wattage bulbs for illumination. At least the food was amazing....Cornelius told me that we should eat this more often. I obliged since we had leftovers and we ate this meal twice in a row. I heard no complaints.

I love Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food. This city has a couple really great restaurants, but when I can make my favorite dish at home, it's even better. Now, I would love to tell you how I made my own falafels from scratch...not so. But I'm okay with that because I'm pretty satisfied with the ones I get from a mix. I'm not going to mess with a good–and totally easy thing.

The instructions below are less of a recipe and more of a general how-to. It's a falafel plate, not an opera cake. And yes, I tackle "deep frying" for the first time. Actually, this isn't really a deep fry, per se, but more of a shallow frying method. The falafels aren't submerged into the oil, nor do they even float about, but I used more oil cooking these babies than I've ever used to cook anything. And trust me, it's a good thing. I've baked falafels and cooked them using only a spoonful of oil but have never been truly satisfied with the results. Frying in oil is really the only way to make them jaw-droppingly good. Crispy, crunchy and light in texture, they aren't greasy either–just make sure your oil is hot and you won't go wrong.

falafel plate how-to
salad greens
grated carrot
diced purple onions
diced tomato, seeded
crumbled feta
a dill pickled, sliced thinly
sprinkle of sumac
hot sauce (optional or necessary, depending)

falafels
1/2 box falafel mix
canola oil (lots but not too much)

tahini-lemon-garlic sauce
2 heaping spoonfuls of tahini
3/4 c plain yogurt
2 cloves garlic, minced
juice of 1 small lemon
water

1. Start by preparing falafel mix according to package directions. Let it sit for at least 1 hour. Shape into small patties. Set aside.

2. Make the sauce by combining tahini, yogurt, garlic and lemon juice together. Too thick? Add water to thin down sauce. Set aside.

3. Prepare vegetables. Wash, dry and tear lettuce if need be. Grate carrots. Chop tomatoes. Dice onion. Slice pickles. Have your feta crumbled and ready. Place ingredients in individual bowls.

4. Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a heavy cast iron skillet or whatever pan you've got, heat up enough oil so that it freaks you out by just how much oil you used....I'd say about 1/2 inch deep. Let it get hot. Start by adding in the falafel patties and flip them when they get all crispy and brown. Place fried patties on baking sheet and put into oven so that the falafels stay hot while you prepare the rest of the batch.

5. Place lettuce on your plate. Sprinkle with grated carrot, tomatoes and onion. Place a few falafels on top and drizzle with tahini sauce. Add some more tomatoes, pickles and feta cheese and top the whole thing off with a sprinkle of sumac. Squirt on some hot sauce, if using. Dig in.

millet by a landslide: broccoli, chickpea & millet salad

I love salads that are meals in their own right. And a salad that looks like springtime? Well, even better. Better because while the calendar says spring, the weather outside isn't co-operating. We have cherry blossoms but unfortunately, this week, we've had an attack of winter. Yesterday, we even had a brief hail storm! March came in like a lamb but is leaving with a lion's roar and I don't like it one bit.

But back to the springy salad. I made a stripped-down version of this salad from 101 Cookbooks a couple of weeks ago and loved it. Instead of quinoa, I used a new-to-me grain, millet. I wasn't sure I'd like the grain since while I like quinoa, I'm not mad about it. But there was no reason for me to be hesitant...because millet is the bomb. Way better than quinoa in my opinion and even Cornelius (who is a bonefide quinoa-hater) loved this salad too. Millet has a great texture and a really great flavour. This time around, I made the salad with broccoli and liked the results even better. It makes a great lunch and is quite simple to put together. The lemon-tahini dressing has a nice bite and helps to bind everything together in a nice flavourful package. So not only does this salad look pretty on a plate it tastes delicious too.


broccoli, chickpea & millet salad with tahini-lemon dressing
1 c millet
2 c water
1 head broccoli, broken into florets
1 can chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1/2 red onion, finely diced
zest of 1 lemon
romaine lettuce leaves, torn or spring mix baby greens

dressing:
1 garlic clove, minced
2 T tahini
3 T olive oil
1 T hot water (more if necessary)
juice from 1 small lemon
salt & pepper

1. Toast millet in a small saucepan until it starts to crackle. Add water, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to low heat and let simmer until water evaporates.

2. Steam broccoli until bright green, drain and rinse under cold water. Add chickpeas, broccoli, red onion and millet into a large bowl and toss.

3. Make dressing by combining all ingredients, adding more hot water if necessary to get proper dressing consistency. Add half of dressing to millet mixture and blend.

4. Add a base of lettuce or baby greens on each serving plate and add a few large spoonfuls of the millet mixture over top. Drizzle with remaining dressing and add a sprinkling of lemon zest for colour.

i like it hot in here

The weather has been HOTT and I'm not complaining. I like an early summer which means only good things like popsicles, bbqs and hanging out at the beach. Last night I had a friend over and I didn't want to turn on the oven or do anything that would increase the already HOTT temperature in my kitchen, so I made a meal out of 2 dips and a very hearty salad. As my friend Kristen can attest, the meal was flavourful and delicious and can definitely stand up to repeat makings in the HOTT summer weather.

simple hummous
Dip number one was my simple hummous recipe, which is simply a drained and rinsed can of chickpeas dumped into a blender along side 3 plump cloves of garlic, 3 heaping T of tahini, 2 T cumin, a pinch of cayenne pepper, a few large drops of hot sauce, juice of 1 lemon, salt & pepper, 1-2 T water and 1-2 T olive oil. Blend. If it's too thick, add a bit more water. Done!

---

Dip number two, was the very delicious white bean dip posted by poco-cocoa. I followed the recipe pretty closely, except that I used less oil and more garlic. Beyond tasty!!

white bean dip
2 T plus 2 T olive oil
1 t dried oregano
1/2 t salt, plus more to taste
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 c (loosely packed) fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 T fresh lemon juice (from about 1 lemon)
4 garlic cloves

In a blender, combine beans, parsley, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper. Add in the olive oil until the mixture is creamy and smooth. Season the puree with more salt and pepper to taste.

---

The salad I conjoured up was a bit unusual since I never use pearl barley except in soups. Here, it's the main grain and works nicely. Colourful, a bit different and so good.

white, red & green barley salad
6 c water
1 2/3 c. pearl barley
1 red pepper, chopped
1 bunch parsley, chopped
1/4 of a red onion, choppped fine
1 granny smith apple, chopped
1/2 c raisins

Dressing:
1 lemon, juiced plus grated rind
3 T olive oil
salt & pepper
1/2 T cumin
1 t dried dill

1. Boil water in a large pot and add barley. Turn down heat and cover until barley is tender about 45 minutes. Drain and rinse barley until water runs clear. Barley should still be warm to help absorb the dressing.

2. Add barley to large bowl and add red pepper, red onion, apple, raisins.

3. In a small bowl, mix dressing ingredients together until thickened. Add to salad and mix well.

Serve at room temperature or chill until ready to eat.

a successful experiment

After being at the gym, I wanted a nice healthy lunch and I wanted my favorite dressing on my salad. Alas, my fridge didn't have any Annie's Goddess Salad Dressing and I didn't feel like a bike ride in the pouring rain to the store and back for some of Annie's goodness. The website lists the ingredients being: expeller-pressed canola oil, water, tahini, soy sauce, lemon juice, salt, garlic, toasted sesame seeds, parsley, chives, and xanthan gum. I don't know about the xantham gum, but I had many of the same ingredients in my own cupboard and decided to come up with my own look-a-like blend. The results were surprisingly similar and I'll definitely keep this recipe on hand for all my salad needs & wants. Tangy, fresh and I don't need a cold, wet bike ride to get the salad dressing I want! Perfect.

i'm the goddess salad dressing
4 T tahini
4 T olive oil
6 T water
juice of 1 lemon
2 T soy sauce
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 t chopped fresh ginger
6 drops of toasted sesame oil
dash of salt

Mix all ingredients in blender. Blend until combined. Pour over salad.