the best tzatziki ever

Slowly but surely, I'm taking the cucumber plunge. You see, I've never been a big fan of them to begin with. A couple of years ago, I decided that I liked them in sandwiches...but only in sandwiches. Then this past summer, I tried them dipped into hummus. Uh, hello, it was yummy! Emboldened by this new found cuke-love, I decided that I would try my hand at tzatziki. You know, that Greek dip filled with cucumbers. See, when I get into something, I really dive in.

Initially, I was worried about texture. Slimy wasn't what I was looking for. I was also determined to make it to my own tastes which meant a lot of garlic and lemon and spice to enhance the experience. I said enhance not mask in case you are taking note. So I got started and strained my own plain low fat yogurt using a coffee pot and paper coffee filters. I've done it before and it works really well. Or you can just go ahead and use Greek yogurt which is thick and rich and pretty much perfect. Then you grate and drain the cucumbers of their excess moisture. After that, all the hard part is done. A bit of lemon here, a bit of dill and garlic there. Add in some kosher salt and spice to balance everything out and there you go. A dip of champions. Please note, that the photos were taken on New Years eve and I had a few Amaretto Sours alongside, so things aren't quite so photogenic - but don't let that turn you off. This tzatziki is amazing and I'm not just saying that because me and the cucumber are bffs 4 ever.

the best tzatziki ever
500 g tub of Greek yogurt, or strain a 900 g tub of plain yogurt (discard the liquid)
1/2 large english cucumber, seeds removed

2 T olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 of a red onion, finely minced
1 t kosher salt
lots of freshly ground pepper
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/4 t paprika
1 T dried dill
juice & zest of 1 small lemon

1. If you are using regular yogurt, you'll need to strain it through a coffee filter for about 2 hours to remove all the excess liquid as you want the yogurt to be nice and thick. If you are using Greek yogurt, no worries, you are good to go.

2. Grate the cucumber and place it in a mesh strainer and position the strainer above a bowl. Use a large spoon to press out all the water from the cucumber. Sprinkle a bit of salt over top the cucumber to let the water out quicker or just wait it out.

3. In a small mixing bowl, combine the olive oil, garlic, dill and spices together. Add in the thick yogurt and stir well. Next, stir in the cucumber and lemon zest. Add in the juice of half of the lemon, stir and taste. Want more tang? Add in more juice. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Now go and dip to your hearts content.

toasted oats with berries & yogurt

I know, I know, it's hot outside and all I want to do is drink slushies. Now that it's the weekend, maybe I should slug back a couple with a jigger of rum or two. But sometimes breakfast comes first. And an easy breakfast without a whole lot of fuss would be best.

This morning I was seriously craving some granola. The unfortunate thing was that my granola jar was empty and I only had one cup of old fashioned oats on-hand. So I tried my hand at the next best thing, toasted oats. I toast steel cut oats before I boil 'em so why can't I toast regular old oats and just eat 'em as is? No reason at all! So that's what I did...but I added a bit of this and a bit of that to, you know, jazz things up. The result? It was so good that I declared myself a genius on the spot!

The oven was barely on, so it didn't heat up the house which is always a nice bonus for summer. We ate this topped with vanilla yogurt and fresh raspberries and it really hit the spot. The oats aren't as crunchy as granola and because everything is slightly toasted, it has more flavour than muesli. I'm heading to the store shortly to stock up on oats, as I can see this getting regular play in my kitchen.

toasted oats with berries & yogurt
1 c old fashioned oats
1 T brown sugar
1/4 t cinnamon
2 T shredded coconut
1 T walnuts, chopped
2 c yogurt
1/2 - 3/4 c raspberries (or any fresh berry you have on hand)

Turn on your oven's broiler. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a bowl, combine the oats, cinnamon and brown sugar, then spread it evenly over the baking sheet. Bake for 2 minutes on the top rack, checking frequently so that nothing burns. Remove from oven and sprinkle with coconut and walnuts and bake again for another minute or so...again checking frequently. You want golden, not burnt. Remove from oven. Add yogurt to 2 bowls, divide oat mixture evenly between the two and top with raspberries.

low fat granola with millet

Didn't I mention something about cake? Cookies? Something toothsome, gooey and sweet? I swear this isn't turning into a breakfast/vegan blog (not that there's anything wrong with that), but this is how I've been eating lately. It's spring outside...or at least it's trying to be and I think it's time for a dietary shake up for a bit. The cake and cookie recipes will come, I promise! Last week I picked up Mark Bittman's hefty cookbook, How to Cook Everythingand found myself at his granola recipe. It intrigued me since it required no oil and there was a suggestion to throw quinoa or millet into the mix. It got me thinking, and just a few minutes later I found myself heading to the cupboard making up a low fat granola recipe.

Now, I'm no slouch when it comes to making granola. My recipe archives contain recipes for peanut butter granola, cocoa-coconut granola, vanilla almond granola, and my no-fail granola. But despite my granola cred, I've never added millet. And dear readers, millet is a granola god-send! It adds such a snap, crackle, pop for the perfect bite of crunch. As for the no-oil, I couldn't detect much difference between this one and my normal granola, so why not choose the low fat version instead? It's delicious, filling and healthy breakfast and if you prepare a batch every Sunday evening then you have something to look forward to all week long.

low fat granola with millet
(Inspired by Mark Bittman)
6 c organic oats (not quick)
1/2 c millet (regular, uncooked millet)
1 c dessicated coconut
1/2 c sunflower seeds
1/4 c flax seeds or ground flax
1/2 c wheat germ
1 c pecans
1 generous T cinnamon
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1/4 t ground cloves
1/2 t ground cardamom
dash of salt
1/2 c dried cranberries
1/2 c raisins
1/2 - 1 c maple syrup
orange juice

Heat oven to 300F. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients from the oats down to the salt. Drizzle in the maple syrup and stir well with a wooden spoon to get everything coated. Needs more liquids? Add in some more maple syrup or a bit of orange juice.

Spread the mix out into a large baking dish and bake for 30 minutes, checking and stirring occasionally so that nothing burns. Add in the raisins and cranberries and bake until the granola turns golden and crisp, again making sure things don't get too "golden". Remove from oven and cool. Store in a sealed container. Serve with fresh fruit and yogurt.

coconut yogurt pancakes

I made these pancakes for Shrove Tuesday because I've always eaten pancakes for "pancake day". It's tradition. When we were kids, my mom would always make pancakes for dinner and as a kid, that was so exciting because breakfast for dinner was awesome. This time, I didn't make these for dinner. They were breakfast and a weekday breakfast no less. Just one of the reasons why I love working from home? Breakfasts like this. Luxury!

Traditionally, pancakes are made with buttermilk. Since I didn't have any, I went to the tub of yogurt I had in my fridge which happened to be my most favorite yogurt....Liberté's Coconut Yogurt. If you haven't had this stuff, it's pure flavour gold. Just the right amount of sweetness and packed with a coconutty punch. I knew it would be great in pancakes. If you can't find this flavour at your market, I would imagine an easy sub like vanilla yogurt + light coconut milk instead of, or for part of the skim milk would be just as well. And the addition of dessicated coconut is great here, adding not only more coconut flavour but a nice bit of texture too. These pancakes are light and fluffy and perfect topped with maple syrup and a bit of extra butter. Luxury, indeed.

Want more pancake recipes? Check out my archives:
apple cinnamon pancakes
cinnamon chocolate pancakes
cornmeal pancakes
lemon yogurt hotcakes
orange ricotta pancakes
perfect pancakes
pumpkin pancakes

coconut yogurt pancakes
1 c whole wheat flour
1 c ap flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/3 c brown sugar
1/2 t salt
1/4 c dessicated coconut, unsweetened
1 1/4 c coconut yogurt
1 1/4 c milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 T melted butter + more for pan

In a large bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar, salt and coconut. In another bowl, combine the yogurt, milk, eggs and butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and let sit for 10 minutes so the batter can do it's magic. In a large pan, melt a bit of butter over med-high heat and drop in a spoonful of batter. When bubbles appear on the surface, flip. When the underside is golden, remove and repeat process. Serve with more butter and syrup.

green and crunky: raw vegetable salad with yogurt-feta dressing

I recently posted that I wasn't a fan of raw broccoli. A few days later after making that statement, I made a raw broccoli salad. Crunky or not, I went with it and I liked it. I guess that means that I'm fickle and to take what I say with a grain of salt. Whatever, a girl has the right to change her mind!

This salad is crunchy from all the raw vegetables and toasted pecans and sweet-tart from the Granny Smith and the dried cranberries. The feta adds the salt and the lemon and yogurt add tang. It's kind of like a Waldorf Salad, but much more colourful. Plus, it's easy to whip up and downright healthy to boot. What's not to love?

Want more raw? Then check out my latest post for Food Network Canada where I review Gorilla Food, a raw, vegan, organic cafe in downtown Vancouver. The owner/chef used to be the personal chef for Beastie Boy, Mike D and the food is totally delicious and uber-healthy in a very tasty way.

raw vegetable salad with yogurt-feta dressing
1 head of broccoli, torn into florets and then chopped relatively small + stalks peeled and sliced
1 carrot, diced
1/2 orange pepper (red, yellow or green would be fine too)
1/4 red onion, finely diced
1 Granny Smith apple, diced
3 T plain yogurt
3 T crumbled feta cheese
juice & zest of 1/2 lemon
1 garlic clove, minced
freshly ground pepper
2 T dried cranberries
3 T toasted chopped pecans

In a serving bowl, combine the first 4 ingredients, broccoli through apple. In a small bowl, mix together the yogurt, feta, lemon juice & zest, garlic and pepper to create a dressing. Taste and adjust ingredients, if needed. Toss dressing with vegetables and sprinkle with cranberries and pecans.

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.

the contessa's voluptuous breakfast: orange yogurt

A couple of weeks ago, I had company for brunch and I wracked my brain trying to figure out what to make. After consulting recipe books and perusing my blogroll, I decided to keep things familiar. I made some almond & cherry scones, whipped out my apple butter, put out my huge glass jar of homemade granola and I fancified some yogurt. You see, last year (when I had cable tv), I saw the Barefoot Contessa make a fancy brunch for her fancy friends in her fancy kitchen. I was impressed. But I was most impressed by her tricked out orange yogurt. It seemed so easy....drain store-bought yogurt overnight and then throw in some add-ins. She transformed a runny breakfast stand-by into something voluptuous, decadent and still healthy.

So the night before my morning guest was to arrive, I set up my coffee pot and filter and drained my yogurt in that. In the morning I was rewarded with thick, really thick, yogurt. I added in some honey, coconut and of course fresh orange juice to rehydrate and zest. Because I was serving this with granola I didn't want to add in the nuts and raisins the original recipe called for. It didn't lack for a thing...it was amazing as is!

Yesterday morning, I decided to try the yogurt again, but since I was planning on eating it with some fresh fruit, I stayed on the Contessa's side and added some dried fruit and nuts for a bit more depth. Once again, I was blown away! Sure, it requires some advance planning to drain the yogurt, but the results are truly outstanding. I use my favorite 0.3% local Fraser Meadow organic yogurt and you'd never guess it was low fat by how it looked. Spoonable and swoonable, indeed.


orange yogurt
1 large container of plain yogurt
1 orange, zested and juiced
1/4 c coconut
1/4 c almonds, roughly chopped
2 T dried cherries, chopped
1-2 T honey

Line sieve with cheesecloth and suspend over a bowl — or just use a coffee pot and filter like I did. Add yogurt and let drain 3 hours or overnight. Throw out liquid and place the thickened yogurt in a bowl and add remaining ingredients, stirring well. Serve plain or top with granola and fresh fruit.

playing breakfast catch-up

I'm trying to catch up on all of my recent recipes and figured a 2-recipe breakfast post would be a nice little bonus on this dreary day. Apparently Vancouver is in the midst of a wind and rain storm, charmingly called a "pineapple express". Such a sweet name for something so foul. There's nothing but grey clouds, darkness and enough rain to make me worry about our roof caving in. So what better way to spend the morning but baking muffins. I originally got this recipe off of Baking Sheet, but I made a few changes to the recipe. Although they do contain maple syrup as the sweetener, I didn't find them very maple-y tasting. They are still very delicious and very light in texture, even with the whole wheat flour.

whole wheat & yogurt cranberry muffins
1/3 c milk
2/3 c plain yogurt
1/3 c vanilla yogurt
1 large egg
1/2 c maple syrup
1 c whole wheat flour
1 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t cardamom
2 T dried cranberries
2 T walnuts or sunflower seeds

1. Preheat the oven to 375F and lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin. In a large bowl, whisk together milk, yogurt, egg and maple syrup.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together flours, baking soda, and spices. Pour the dry ingredients into wet ingredients and blend gently. Add in the cranberries and nuts/seeds.

3. Pour batter into muffin tins and bake for 15 - 18 minutes until muffins springs back lightly when touched. Carefully remove from tin and cool on a wire rack.



I'm not sure why it looks like this plate of crepes is sticking out its tongue at me but it got eaten up anyway! The next recipe I tried was again from my "hmmm, what am I going to make" blog favorite, Baking Sheet. During my last year of university, my roomate at the time used to make crepes as a weekend breakfast treat. She filled them with raspberry jam and cottage cheese, rolled them into cigar shapes, packed them into a baking pan and then covered the whole thing with coffee cream and baked them in the oven until they got all warm and creamy. It was a delicious breakfast treat that I made a few times but somehow I managed to forget all about them. Lately, tho, crepes seem to be popping up all over my radar. There are several crepe places downtown that serve up nutella filled crepes and other sweet concoctions. I've always been able to resist their lure because, hey, it's just a rolled up pancake...what's the big deal? But then the other week, I stumbled onto Thimble's post about her portabello & asparagus crepes and I had to do a double take. Although I still haven't gotten around to making a savory dinner crepe yet, this past weekend I did take the crepe plunge and came up with these beauties. They were "scrumptious" (Cornelius' word for them) and kinda fancy which elevated our Sunday breakfast to extraordinary without much of an effort.

crepes with fresh apple filling
200 ml. milk
100 ml. water
3/4 c plus 2 t all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1/4 t salt
1 t vegetable oil
1 t vanilla

apple filling:
2 granny smith apples, sliced relatively thinly into half moons
2 t butter
2 t rum
2 T sour cherry jam

1. Place flour in a large bowl, add milk and water gradually, whisking until the mixture is smooth. Beat in eggs, salt, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Make sure batter is very smooth, then set aside to rest for at least 20 minutes.

2. In a small skillet, melt butter for the filling. Add apples and saute for a couple of minutes over medium heat. Add rum and cherry jam and stir about until the sauce thickens somewhat. Turn off heat and set aside.

3. Heat a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly grease and pour batter onto the skillet, about 1/4 cup. Pick up the skillet and swirl the batter around until it even coats the entire bottom of the pan. Cook until the edges come away from the pan and the top of the crepe looks almost dry, about 3 minutes. Turn and cook the other side for about a minute.

4. Fill crepe with filling, roll or fold, and serve immediately. Makes about ten 10-inch crepes.

sicko

There was a time when I got sick constantly. It probably didn't help matters that I lived with a roommate who had a disease that left her immune system weak and was always having colds & sniffles or that we lived in a damp basement suite or even that I was living a rock n' roll lifestyle. No really! I was working days at a record store and I played bass in a power-pop-punk band at night. Being sick was just something I dealt with every few months. But when I moved out on my own and got a career and finally started living my life with just a sprinkling how adults are supposed to live, then the sickness stopped. Now, I can proudly boast that I get sick once every two years which I think is a pretty nice record.

Unfortunately, that 2 year window closed on me a couple of days ago. On Monday I went to bed with a sore throat and a bit of random coughing. The next 2 days were worse with aches and pains that left me with just enough stamina to hit the forward button whenever the theme song or credits would play on Season Four of the Gilmore Girls DVD. I was hurtin'. Needless to say there was not much cooking being done in this household. The only real treat I could muster up was my morning breakfast smoothie. Really, there are no hard to find ingredients or complex instructions in this one. Which surprises me as to why there are smoothie blends found in grocery store freezer sections. Are people really struggling with the concept of a smoothie? Fruit + Yogurt + Juice + Spinning Blades = Smoothie. It's not a complex equation. Here's my top secret "recipe":

pretty in pink smoothie
frozen strawberries*
orange juice
vanilla yogurt

1. Take a handful of frozen strawberries and put them into a blender. If you are lucky, you will have a beautiful actual vintage model beehive style Osterizer found at Value Village for $4.

2. Add a few generous spoonfulls of yogurt overtop the strawberries. I use a delicious organic vanilla yogurt from Vancouver Island that is so tasty that it actually converted me to liking yogurt in the first place.

3. Then, pour some orange juice over everything and hit blend. You may need to add more orange juice if everything churns to a crawl.

Pour into a fun glass and drink with a straw (or not).

* If I make this for Cornelius, I add a frozen banana too. I hate bananas, so I don't add it in mine.

Gâteau au Yogourt à la Bluets

It's going to be a much more productive week on the homefront, I can feel it. I've got a cake in the oven made with things I had already in the pantry and fridge. All morning, I had planned to bake a gingerbread cake since I had some leftover coffee from breakfast, but then came across Clotide's recipe for Gâteau au Yaourt à la Myrtille (but since I've never called a blueberry a myrtille, I went with the good ol' fashioned Quebecois word "bluets" and the French Canadian spelling of yogurt. I hope Clotide won't mind). I had summer blueberries in the freezer and my favorite vanilla yogurt in the fridge and the recipe seemed like a snap. It was. I reduced the amount of sugar in the recipe from 1 cup to just under a 3/4 cup, since I was using a sweetened yogurt. It's in the oven now, it smells heavenly and I can't wait to bite in. It will be a nice treat for both Cornelius and I as we work through the afternoon on our freelance projects. Time to throw on the tea kettle and take a break!

Gâteau au Yogourt à la Bluets
2 eggs
1 c of vanilla yogurt
scant 3/4 c sugar
1/2 c vegetable oil
2 c flour
1 T baking powder
1 t vanilla extract
1 T light rum
1 c frozen blueberries

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter and flour a 10 inch cake pan or a bundt pan.

2. In a large mixing-bowl, gently combine the yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla, oil and rum. In another bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Add the flour mixture into the yogurt mixture, and blend together -- don't overwork the dough. Once batter is combined, add the blueberries and gently stir til combined.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean. Let stand for ten minutes, and transfer onto a rack to cool.

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EDIT: The cake came out lovely and perfect! Not too sweet...in fact, I dusted the cake with icing sugar just to pump up the sweet factor. Cornelius and I ate up our very generous slices and I can't wait until dessert to have another piece!

easy peasy snacks

Last night we had some friends over. They brought over the 1958 Newport Beach Jazz Festival dvd and the Monterrey Pop Festival dvd. We promised them snacks. Because it's been so hot, I didn't really want to do any serious cooking or baking, so I came up with 2 tasty and super-easy snacks.

Snack no.1: Popsicles
Start this one early in the day, so you can eat them by nightfall. In a blender, put in the following: a handful of frozen strawberries, homemade lemonade to cover berries and then some, and 2-3 tablespoons of vanilla yoghurt. Blend at high speed until mixed. You may have to add some more lemonade if it's too thick. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze. Ultra delicious.


*note: You can substitute any kind of berry or juice to this "recipe". I've made it with orange juice, cranberry juice, pineapple juice, etc. and have used blueberries, black berries, bananas (for cornelius only, cuz i hate them!), or peaches.

Snack no. 2: Lemony-Garlicy Green Beans
1 lb of fresh green beans, trimmed
2 cloves of garlic, minced (1 clove if you aren't among friends)
2 lemons, juiced
2-3 T of olive oil
rock salt

Steam the green beans until bright green and crisp. You don't want to over cook these. Crisp = delicous! Drain and rinse in cold-cold water. At this point, I put the beans in the freezer just to get extra cold while I mixed the dressing. For the dressing, mix the garlic, lemon juice and olive oil together. Transfer beans into a nice serving dish and pour dressing over top. I tossed the beans and the dressing together with my hands. Sprinkle generously with rock salt and serve. It's better than chips. Seriously.


* these are the left over beans from last night. the lemon juice "cooked" them so they aren't so crisp or green, but they still are tasty! also, you may find them too lemoney, and if so, cut down on the lemon juice.