RECIPE: Coconut-Orange Pancakes

Is there anyone who doesn't love pancakes? They seems to delight everyone, young and old(er). And they are so easy to prepare, it doesn't take a lot of effort to bring a round of smiles to the breakfast table. Much as I love pancakes, I was in the mood to try something a bit different from our standard recipe and came up with this tasty variation.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp canola oil (for frying)

Instructions:

In a medium bowl, combine the flours, sugar, baking powder and soda. In a small bowl, beat together the egg, orange juice, coconut milk and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture, stirring gently until well combined.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Pour about 3 tbsp of batter into the pan for each pancake. Cook about 1 minute, or until bubbles form on the surface and the bottom is golden brown. Carefully flip pancakes and cook just until the bottom browns. Serve with syrup and fresh fruit. 

Makes approximately 12 pancakes.

I shared this recipe at Frugal Food Thursday,  Recipe Swap Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, 
Fat Camp Friday, Friday Favorites and the GCC Recipe Swap.

Make it from Scratch: Zesty Cheese Sauce

 Image by Suat Eman/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I'm starting a new series today featuring basic recipes that all frugal cooks should have in their repertoire. This cheese sauce can be used in a variety of ways (I'll show you two of them once we get through the basic recipe).

Zesty Cheese Sauce

1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
2 cups milk
1 tsp dry mustard powder
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
2 cups grated cheese (we use either all old cheddar or half cheddar and half mozzarella)

In a medium sized, heavy bottom saucepan, saute the onion and garlic in butter until tender. Add the flour and stir until well coated with butter mixture. Slowly add the milk, stirring as you add it to prevent lumps from forming. Add dry mustard,Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Stir over medium heat until sauce thickens, then add cheese and stir until completely melted into sauce.

That's it! (Wasn't that easy?)

Two great ways to use it:

1. Mac and cheese:

Cook 2 cups of macaroni noodles until al dente (you should have about twice as much once they're cooked). Stir into cheese sauce and pour into glass lasagna dish. Mix about 1/2 cup breadcrumbs and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese together in a small bowl. Add about 2 tbsp or so of olive oil or melted butter and mix well with a fork until crumbs are all well moisted (add a bit more fat if you need to). Sprinkle bread crumb mixture evenly over top of macaroni (I smooth the top out gently with a fork afterwards). Bake at 350F for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

2. Cheesy Vegetable Bake:
When making the cheese sauce, saute 1 diced red pepper along with the garlic and onions. Finish the sauce as directed. Cook about 4 cups of vegetables or so (a broccoli/cauliflower combo works great, but you can use carrots, peas, green beans, corn or any leftover cooked veggies you've got hanging around in the fridge). Stir the cooked vegetables into the sauce, pour into lasagna dish and top with breadcrumb mixture as described above for mac and cheese. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

What are your favourite uses for cheese sauce?

RECIPE: Grilled Flatbread

Whew! We are in the middle of a brutal heatwave here in Southern Ontario. We often don't see temperatures like this until mid-August around here. When it gets this hot, even a foodie like me doesn't feel interested in much more than ice water, popsicles, and ice cream, lol!

By dinner time yesterday I just wanted to lie down on a bed of ice cubes and really didn't care what we ate!! None of us were feeling like a heavy meal in this heat. But I figured I better come up with something. No way was I turning on the oven and preferably not even the stovetop as I was already dripping with sweat.

My solution? Grill some flatbread up on the barbecue, whip up a batch of hummus, and pull the leftover Creamy Cucumber Salad out of the fridge. There was plenty of fresh fruit stashed in the fridge for nibbling on, too (blueberries, pineapple, cherries, and cantaloupe).

How to Make Grilled Flatbread

(Makes 6 single-serving size flatbreads)

You will need:
1/3 of a recipe of Whole Wheat Refrigerator Dough (1 loaf worth)
Olive oil

Preheat both sides of your barbecue on high for a few minutes. While the barbecue's heating up, divide the bread dough into six equal pieces. Roll each piece out to about 1/4" thick or so. You may need to sprinkle the dough with some flour to make it more manageable if it's gotten a bit sticky. You can make the flatbreads round or oblong, whatever floats your boat :) Mine always turn out a bit misshapen (wait, that would be "rustic hand formed" wouldn't it? ::grinning::) Brush one side of the flatbreads generously with olive oil (I use a pastry brush to do this) and place them on a large platter or cutting board to carry them out to the barbecue.

Turn the heat on the barbecue down to medium. Carefully place two of the flatbreads, oiled side DOWN, on the grill. Close the lid and let them cook for about 3-4 minutes or so, then open the lid to check how they're doing. They should have some "bubbly" spots on the surface of the dough (I would have taken a photo of this but it started raining pretty hard while I was barbecuing last night!). Brush the tops with olive oil, then flip the breads over and cook 2-3 minutes on the other side. Remove to a clean plate and repeat with remaining dough.

You can serve these whole, or slice them into strips. Last night I cut ours into strips for spreading with hummus. Lots of delicious possibilities for these yummy grilled treats! If you want to get really fancy, you could mix some herbs or spices in with the olive oil before you brush it on the dough, but these are fabulous without any embellishment, too.

I shared this recipe at Friday Feasts, Friday Favorites, Foodie Friday and the GCC Recipe Swap.

RECIPE: Lentil Dal Burgers

 One of my favourite frugal tried-and-true recipes is my Lentil Dal. Dal (also spelled Dahl, Daal or Dhal) is a thick stew made from lentils, peas or beans and is a staple food in countries like India and Pakistan. It's a staple food in my home too, because it's inexpensive, nourishing, easy to prepare and delicious!

This lentil dal is particularly versatile. You can serve it hot over rice, or chill it and serve it as a dip or spread (much like you'd serve hummus). I like it on wedges of pita or rolled in a flour tortilla with some cheese and veggies. I've taken this to many potlucks as an appetizer, and always get asked for the recipe.

Last week I had about half a batch of dal sitting in the fridge that needed to be used up, and I decided to try and make burgers with it. My experiment turned out quite well and received rave reviews from all members of my family.

Basic Lentil Dal
1 cup dried red lentils
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth (use water if you don't have either on hand)
1 tbsp canola oil or other light vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp whole mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp tomato paste (if you don't have tomato paste, you can sub 1/2 cup or so crushed tomatoes, you'll just need to simmer it a bit longer to thicken it up)
1/2 of a 13 oz can of coconut milk
2-4 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

In a small saucepan, cook lentils in broth until tender (about 10 minutes). Saute onion and garlic in oil until they begin to soften; add spices and cook one minute. Add lime juice, tomato paste, coconut milk and cooked lentils. Simmer until thickened. If you're a cilantro lover, stir in the cilantro for the last few minutes of cooking (personally, I can't stand the stuff).

That's it for the basic recipe! Very quick and easy. If you're going to make burgers with this, I recommend starting with thoroughly chilled dal.

(What to do with the other half a can of coconut milk? It freezes well, so you could save it to make another batch of dal. Coconut milk is a delicious addition to any kind of curried dish. You can also add it as part of the liquid when cooking rice, or use in smoothies or homemade popsicles.)

Lentil Dal Burgers:
1/2 a batch of Red Lentil Dal
1 carrot, grated
1/2 a yellow or red pepper, chopped fine
3/4 cup or so rolled oats

In a medium bowl, combine the dal, carrot, and pepper. Add oats 1/4 cup at a time until the mixture is firm enough to shape into patties (you may need as much as a cup of oats but probably not more than that). Shape into 6 patties.

I pan fried these in a little bit of olive oil; topping them with cheese for the last couple minutes of cooking so the cheese could melt. The patties ended up being a bit on the "squishy" side (i.e. oozing out of the hamburger buns when you took a bite). They may have been a bit easier to eat served in a pita or wrapped in a flour tortilla! I think next time I'll try baking them in the oven at 350F for about 15 minutes or so, which I expect will make them a bit firmer.

I'm always looking for more ways to use red lentils, so if you have a favourite recipe to share, please leave a link in the comments.

This post is linked to Tasty Tuesdays, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and the GCC Recipe Swap.

RECIPE: Build a Cucumber and Bean Salad

I've seen a lot of cucumber salad recipes flying around the internet lately - must be a sign of spring! Everyone in my family adores cucumbers, and we finally have local, reasonably-priced ones available again (after a loooong winter!), so I figured I'd whip up a cucumber salad of my own. One of the recipes I saw used chickpeas, and since I still have a lot of chickpeas in the freezer from the last time I cooked up a batch from dried, I decided to start with a cucumber and one can's worth of chickpeas and see where I went from there. Since we also had sweet peppers (also for the first time since fall!) I couldn't resist throwing some in for colour and crunch. Before I knew it, I had a gorgeous-looking salad that ended up being a huge hit with my family. This is definitely going to be a spring & summer staple around our house from now on!

To make the salad as pictured:

1 seedless cucumber, sliced and quartered
1/2 a red pepper, chopped
1/2 a yellow pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 can, drained and rinsed)
2 green onions, chopped

Dressing:
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

In a medium sized casserole or serving dish, combine the cucumber, peppers, chickpeas and green onions.

In a small bowl, combine the dressing ingredients and stir until well blended. Pour over cucumber mixture, and stir gently until well blended.

That's it! Super easy, but super delicious (and really, isn't that the best kind of recipe?)

You could easily vary the ingredients, using what you have on hand, and come up with a winner every time! I've made this salad twice already, and the second time I tossed in some chives from my garden and some diced-up mozzarella. YUM! Feta would also be fantastic in this salad. When I had it for lunch the next day, I threw in some chopped avocado (no-one else in my family likes avocado, lol!) You could use white beans in place of the chickpeas, and tomatoes in place of (or in addition to) the peppers. For a Southwestern variation, use black beans instead of chickpeas, corn instead of yellow peppers, and lime juice instead of white wine vinegar. And throw in some avocado, too, unless you, too, have a family of avocado haters! You could sprinkle a bit of cumin and chili powder into the dressing as well, to give it a bit of a spicy kick.

There are enough possibilities for this salad to keep me experimenting all summer long. I'd love to hear what variation of this recipe becomes your "family favourite"!

An Early Summer Feast

This week's share of the harvest included asparagus, zucchini, mushrooms, spinach, lettuce, salad mix, radishes and potatoes.

We had quite the early summer feast for dinner last night:

Turkey Burgers
Baked Potatoes
Sauteed *mushrooms and onions
Moroccan-Inspired *Carrot and *Parsnip Salad (recipe below)

*from our CSA share

Local strawberries with vanilla ice cream
(I was dismayed to see that the local strawberries were priced $1.00 higher than the U.S. imports!! Please buy them anyway!)

I will use the spinach to making more Lemony Chicken and Spinach Pasta - for which my husband will thank me profusely! I think the zucchini may become zucchini bread - or possibly chocolate zucchini cake, depending on how ambitious I feel on the weekend.

Moroccan-Inspired Carrot and Parsnip Salad
This is mildly spiced - if you like it hot, add more paprika and cumin. I used green onions in this dish because I still had plenty on hand from last week's CSA share, but you could use 1/4 of chopped fresh parsley instead.

Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4-6 as a side dish

5 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into coins
2 parsnips, peeled and sliced into coins
3 green onions (scallions), chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp orange juice
1-2 cloves garlic
1 tsp honey mustard
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

Preparation:

1. Cook carrots and parsnips in boiling water until carrots are tender-crisp (don't overcook the carrots - they should still have a bit of "crunch" to them; the parsnips will be a bit softer). Drain.

2. While carrots and parsnips are cooking, combine remaining ingredients. Pour dressing over cooked vegetables and mix well.

3. Chill before serving (tastes best if refrigerated overnight to allow flavours to blend).

RECIPE: Freeform Supper Salad

We had this for dinner last night. This is the perfect summer meal for times when you want to pull together a quick dish that's cool and refreshing (yet still satisfying). There are endless variations on this - use whatever you have on hand!

Time: 20 minutes (quicker if you're using leftover meat)
Serves: variable

Lime and garlic chicken, sliced (or use any cubed/sliced leftover meat)
Salad greens (lettuce, spinach, salad mix)
chopped/sliced vegetables (cucumbers, sweet peppers, carrots, broccoli, etc)
crumbled bacon (about 1 slice per person)
cubed cheese
parmesan cheese
salad dressing of choice

For each serving, arrange salad greens on plate. Sprinkle chopped vegetables, bacon, and cheese cubes over greens. Arrange chicken slices on top. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Drizzle with dressing of choice.

RECIPE: Zesty Turkey Burgers

It's barbecue season and that means lots of burgers! If you buy a lot of pre-made patties, it can eat into your food budget in a hurry. This recipe uses only 1/2 lb of ground turkey to make six good-sized, flavourful burgers. You can substitute chicken or beef for the turkey if you want to shake things up.

Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 6

Ingredients:

1/2 lb ground turkey
1/3 cup salsa
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 egg
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
1/2 - 3/4 cup quick cooking oats

6 hamburger buns (I prefer whole grain ones!)

Condiments as desired

Preparation:

In a medium bowl, combine the turkey, salsa, onion, egg, cumin, salt and pepper. Gradually add oats until the mixture holds together well. Shape into 6 burger patties.

Grill or pan-fry patties until golden brown on both sides and cooked through. Serve on warm buns with your choice of condiments.

These burgers are great served with baked potatoes or oven fries and creamy cucumber salad.

Emergency Meals

Emergency meals are for those nights when you are just plain exhausted, overwhelmed, sick, or super-short on time. Every cook should have a few emergency meals in their repertoire for nights when the going gets rough. It's been a week like that around here. I was in bed with a virus for a few days, and when I finally started to feel better I had a lot to catch up on around the house, plus a couple of days with a fairly hectic family schedule. Emergency Meals to the rescue!

Here is one of our family's favourites:

Western Omelette Wraps

Time: less than 15 minutes
Serves: flexible

You can get these done in under 15 minutes if you're not feeding more than 4 people (it'll take a little longer if you need to make more than 4 omelettes).

INGREDIENTS (to make 4 wraps):
4 large flour tortillas (we like whole wheat ones)
4 slices bacon
1-2 tbsp canola oil
8 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup each chopped onion and red pepper
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper
mayonnaise, mustard, guacamole, or ranch salad dressing, as desired

PREPARATION:
Cook bacon until crisp, crumble and set aside.

In a small bowl, beat 2 eggs, 1 tbsp milk, 1 tbsp each onion and red pepper, 1/4 of the crumbled bacon, and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Heat 1-2 tsp of oil in a small frying pan or omelette pan. Add egg mixture to pan, making sure mixture evenly coats bottom of pan. Cover and cook over medium heat until eggs are set.

While omelette is cooking, heat flour tortilla in microwave or on "warm" setting of oven.

Spread warm flour tortilla with mayonnaise or desired spread. Carefully slide finished omelette out of pan and onto flour tortilla. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup cheese. Roll up tightly,tucking in ends, then slice in half. Repeat process 3 more times to make 4 wraps.

RECIPE: Lime and Garlic Chicken

This is one of my most favourite foods! It's super quick and easy to make, tastes great, and the leftovers (if you're lucky enough to have any) are incredibly versatile. You can use either boneless or bone-in chicken pieces for this recipe. Use as many as will fit in your large frying pan!

Time: 20 minutes
Serves:4

9-12 chicken thighs (or about half as many breasts), skin removed
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
juice of 1 lime
salt & pepper

In large frying pan, saute garlic in olive oil for about a minute or until it starts to turn golden (be careful not to burn it!) Add the chicken pieces in a single layer, and cover the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes, then flip over chicken pieces (they should be nicely browned). Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and pour lime juice over top. Cover again, and cook for 5 more minutes or until browned on the bottom and pieces are cooked through.

Lime-Garlic Chicken is great served hot or cold (perfect for picnics!) Use leftovers to make chicken wraps or fajitas, add shredded or diced chicken to soup, or dice finely to make a chicken salad.

We had this for dinner last night with Easy Oven Fries and Creamy Cucumber Salad and everything disappeared off the plates!