Tag Archives: easy

Gluten Free Zucchini Chocolate Dream Bread

23 Feb

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After a long hiatus, I am back to cooking again.

My love of baking has not subsided!  I have experimented with many types of gluten free flour . I’ve come to the conclusion that the best thing to do is to blend flours together to try and achieve the same consistency found in regular yummy bready things. Keep in mind it will never be the same. It just can’t. Once you make peace with that, the door into a yummy gluten free baking world will open!

So I had these ‘meh’ looking zucchini’s hanging out in my fridge as well as huge bag of dark chocolate chips. Combine that with a huge hankering for something sweet and voila its time to bake up a storm. I searched the web and found many recipes and took the best of the best each and came up with this.

Ingredients

Dry:

1 1/2 cups gluten free flour mix ( 1 part chickpea/fava bean flour, 1 cup of arrowroot or cornstarch and 1 part tapioca starch)

1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips

1 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 tsp of baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp of salt

Wet:

2/3 cups of light brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/4 grapeseed oil or coconut oil

1/2 applesauce

Other:

2 medium small zucchini shredded (about 1 1/2 cups)

Directions:

1, Preheat oven to 350 F

2. Grease large loaf pan

3. Mix sugar and oil

4.Combine the rest of wet ingredients in a large bowl with mixer or by hand

5.Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients

6. Fold shredded zucchini into mixture

7. Bake for about 50 minutes to an hour

The loaf should be nice and moist and just plain yummy. The recipe makes about 12 servings or 10 generous slices. I would suggest pairing this with some nice mate green tea, or even some nice chamomile if your having a late night snack. Or if your feeling very decadent with an amazing hot chocolate.

Happy eats!

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Shrimp, Shrimp, the magical food….

2 Feb

I love shrimp! I love the way they look and I love the way they taste. Shrimp are extremely versatile, not to mention you can add them to any recipe and all of a sudden, it seems exotic to your taste buds and above all yummy! I usually like preparing a bunch of shrimp and saving some for later. I add them to salads or even in my morning omelet. It’s great if you’re in a rush and feels like you don’t have time to eat healthily.

The other thing that I love is how great they are for you! Shrimps are full of minerals and omega-3 fatty acids as well as vitamin B12. So in essence this is a great combo! Good to eat and yummy too. Who would have thought they were packed with such good healthy stuff. What’s great about this Easy Tiger Shrimp Recipe, is how easy it is. I will give you a little intro on how to de-shell shrimp after that you should be set. Are you ready for some shrimp?

Easy Tiger Shrimp Recipe

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups of shrimp (uncooked and shells removed)
2 cloves of garlic minced or pressed
1/3 cup of dry white wine
1/2 tsp of chili flakes
1 tsp of butter or coconut oil
salt and peppers to taste

Instructions
1. If frozen soak your shrimp in water at room temperature;
2. Once fully thawed, de-shell them by finding the spine of your shrimp, where the shell meets and creates a gap;
3. Pull the shell off but leave the tail on;
4. Set pan to medium heat add oil/butter;
5. Add chili flakes and garlic to pan and cook for about 5 minutes or until garlic is golden;
6. Add shrimp and spread evenly on pan surface;
7. When shrimp begin to get pink turn up the heat to medium and add the wine;
8. When most of the wine is gone it is a good sign because your done!

I like placing the tiger shrimp on a bed of curried quinoa. The best thing about them is that they are great to have in your fridge because they are ready for any occasion! Healthy and yummy this early preparation will take off added stress of the “what to have for dinner” factor… or at least it will give you something to munch on while you make dinner. So try this easy flavorful shrimp recipe!

If you have any questions drop me a line!

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A Lovely Montreal Lady & A Singing Spring Asparagus Salad, what a duo.

29 May

This lovely Montreal lady is a good friend of mine and the one who introduced to me many recipes. This lady and I love going to the Jean Talon market to buy some market fresh seasonal ingredients. We make it into an adventure whenever we go, ask her about the time we bought some pepper plants! Her name is Teo, she is a fearless cook, who can throw herself into any recipe with a sense of enthusiasm and adventure that is almost enviable. I have invited her to share some of her recipes and she so graciously agreed! Here is Teo’s Singing Spring Asparagus Salad.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Wild rice is actually a seed, not a grain, so it’s a great go-to for
those of you eating paleo or staying away from refined carbs. [So is
quinoa, actually, but more on that later if Helen wants to invite me
back.] Asparagus is synonymous with spring, and whenever I see it in
big bunches at the market I get a little giddy. It’s everywhere now,
so try to get your fill before it’s gone. If you go to the Jean-Talon
market, there’s a man selling bunches of wild Québec asparagus, for
pennies (South side, next to the fresh eggs and where, later, the
awesome garlic will be). Mental. If you get wispy thin stalks
(smaller than a pencil) then you should chop them in
two-centimeter-ish long pieces. Anything little-finger sized and
bigger should be chopped very thin. You might want to do them on the
thickest setting of your mandolin, if you have one…ie, about the
thickness of an earlobe would be good. Enjoy!

For this recipe you will need
Ingredients
4-6 leaves of fresh sage, slivered (tarragon would be good too)
1 french shallot (or a few tablespoons of onion), diced very very finely
1 bunch of asparagus, sliced as per headnote
1 handful and a half of hazelnuts
1 to 1 1/2 cups of wild rice
1-2 lemons, juiced (depending on how juicy your lemons are and how
tart you like your dressing)
1 small dollop of dijon mustard (3/4 of a teaspoon-ish)
Salt and pepper
Touch of maple syrup, agave, or raw honey
4-5 tablespoons of sunflower oil (or olive, if that’s what you’ve got)

Directions
1. Cook the wild rice, with a ratio of 1:3 rice:water. You might
want to do this the night before, it takes a while. Let it cool.
2. Roast your hazelnuts for a few minutes under the broiler or in a
pan. Once they darken, you can remove them and roll them around in
your hands if you want and the skins will rub right off. Not
necessary, but its up to you. This is especially good if you are a
notorious forgetter of nuts under the broiler, like I am. If you’ve
all about the raw, you can skip this step…but you’re missing out on
a little flavour.
3. Crush the nuts. If you’ve got a mortar, bust it out. If not, put
the nuts in a sandwich (or vegetable) bag, place it on a cutting
board, and hit it with a knife handle until you get the right
consistency. You are going for pumpkin-seed sized pieces. Stop or
you’ll get to flour.
4. Toss the salad ingredients together. Enjoy the colour combo.
5. Whisk your lemon juice with the mustard until frothy. Add your
sweetener. Your goal is to take the edge off, here, so be careful and
just use a touch. You don’t want to taste it in the final product.
6. Season to taste. Add the oil and whisk some more. Sunflower is
preferable because it is lighter and has a more muted flavour. Since
the flavours in this are subtle, you want to let them shine as much as
possible. But olive works, so don’t worry about it if that’s what’s
on hand.
7. Toss it all up! It’s a good idea to let this sit for a few
minutes before you eat it. The time to pour yourself a drink or get a
good book to read in the sun while you eat…

Enjoy! And thanks for having me.

Variations: if you’ve been to the market and have found some fresh
sweet green peas, you might try tossing them in here. If you do, I
recommend skipping the sage and opting for fresh mint instead. Fresh
mint and fresh peas is a marriage made in heaven…

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You better eat those green beans!

25 May

a phrase I would hear a lot from my mother when I was younger. Lucky for me, I love green beans now. My trick as a child was thinking of them as green french fries my trick now is knowing how to prepare them. My favorite way is by making a green bean salad. I like going to ‘the PA’ as most Montrealers refer to it, to get some of the cheapest produce in the city. They lists their specials online and even have recipes to look at, a reason why its worth the trek. Anyways back to the easiest green bean salad ever… and here we go….


For this recipe you will need
Ingredients
1 pound of green beans ( really as much as you want)
1 small garlic clove finely chopped
1/2 a cup of sliced almonds
olive oil
apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper

Directions
1. Steam the green beans once you have removed the ends
2. While steaming check to see if they are bright green
3. take a bite and see if they are crispy ( don’t burn yourselves)
4. Once they are ready throw the green beans into a bowl of ice cold water
5.Let them cool!
6. In the meantime, toast your almonds set oven at 250 c.
7. wait till the almonds begin to faintly smell, at this point they are done.
8. take the green beans and cut them into slices about 2 inches in length.
9. Add almonds, green beans, garlic, a generous shake of olive oil, about 1 TBS of apple cider ( cider can be added to your liking), salt and pepper to taste.
10. Finally, TOSS TOSS TOSS.

This salad is easy and versatile you can add other ingredients such as walnuts or even raisins to make it a bitter sweeter. What I think makes a huge difference with this salad is the type of ingredients used. The type of olive used can really enhance the taste of your salads as well as do nothing for it. This however deserves a whole post onto itself! So until then, enjoy the salad!

If you have any questions drop me a line!

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