I never would have thought that summer BBQ’s would match up so well with Asian inspired salads.
I’ve tested this recipe a few times now at a few outdoor gatherings and I have to tell you, it held up pretty well beside the best of potato salads.

I’ve had this rice in my pantry collection for a while, you see I have a nasty habit of food shopping. Yes, admitted, I have more varieties of grains than summer sandles, which is so goes against all that is womanly. I just can’t help it though. Who knew there were so many types of quinoa, couscous or rice to be had and to hoard?

Black, or Forbidden Rice is an Asian heirloom variety of rice that is not glutenous and is very high in fiber as well as iron. It’s Forbidden name comes from it traditionally being served to the Emperors of Ancient China, thus being restricted from common consumption. Now, of course it can be found and even trademarked by a few different rice producers, sold in popular grocers and heath food stores.

Word to the wise though, check over your rice as you would lentils for forbidden objects, like pebbles. It’s heirloom and wholesome, right down to the ground it’s grown and what can get into it.

FORBIDDEN ASIAN BLACK RICE SALAD

2 Cups Black Rice, picked over
3 Cups Water
1 Yellow Pepper, finely diced
1 Red Pepper, finely diced
1 Large Carrot or a Handful of Baby Carrots, cut into matchsticks
3 scallions (green onions), finely chopped
Handful Thai Basil, about 10 leaves chopped

DRESSING

1/4 Cup Sesame Oil
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Freshly Grated Ginger, about a 1 inch knub
1 Clove of Garlic, finely minced
Zest of One Orange
Juice of One Lime
3 – 4 Tablespoons Agave Nectar, or to taste depending on how sweet you like things

Combine the sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, zest, lime juice and agave with a whisk or a hand immersion blender until smooth. Reserve.
Check the rice over for pebbles or other impurities.
Rinse the rice, then leave it to soak for about 5 minutes. Drain well and add to a large sauce pan with a tight fitting lid.
Cover the rice with the 3 cups of water and bring it to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Reduce the heat for a low simmer and cover for about 25 minutes.
Remove from the heat and leave it covered for another 5 – 10 minutes.
Fluff with a fork and transfer the cooked rice to a large mixing bowl.
Drizzle over the prepared dressing then add the diced pepper, carrot, scallions and basil.
Toss well to combine the vegetables with the rice.
Garnish with additional citrus zest or basil leaves if desired.
No need to cool. Best served at room temperature, making it a perfect summer outdoor salad.

Have a kid who won’t eat crusts? I do. So instead of having it continuously irritate me, I’ve decided to please both parties.

I was inspired after reading this New York Times article about wasted food. Where I’m really happy I live in an area which makes us separate so they can collect our organic waste, I was still annoyed at the pile of crusts at the end of most every lunch.
Determined to end the fight but win the battle, I started cutting the crusts from my Darling’s cucumber sandwiches. This little princess must have thought she’d died and gone to heaven, but dare she know that I was storing the crusts in the freezer and watching them accumulate.

Knowing they wouldn’t go bad in the freezer, like the brown bananas, and vegetable scraps before them, they were ready and on hand for anything I might be ready for like, crumbs, croutons or bread pudding.

Bread pudding that her highness had little trouble polishing off for dessert.

Now I just have to plan for those cherry pits.
For other great grocery money saving tips, check out the article put together over at Everyday Food.

CHERRY CHOCOLATE BREAD PUDDING

4oz Semi Sweet Chocolate, roughly chopped
2 Cups Bread (Crusts), any kind, whole wheat, flax, oat, just be sure it’s at least a day old and chopped into 1/2″ cubes
1 Cup Soy Milk
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
1 Tablespoon Brandy
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Tablespoon Arrowroot Powder, cornstarch will work as a substitute
Pinch of Salt
1 Cup Fresh Cherries, pitted & roughly chopped – dried may be substituted when out of season
3 Tablespoons Cocoa Nibs, very optional but quite delicious

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Cube the bread and set aside in a large bowl.
Melt chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water (or in a double boiler), stirring occasionally until smooth.
Measure milk in a pourable measuring cup.
Add the vanilla, brandy, sugar, salt and arrowroot powder, stirring well to incorporate and dissolve the arrowroot powder.
Pit the cherries, I used the flat side of my chef’s knife to pop the cherry open and the pit little more than a flick from your fingertips.
Roughly chop the cherries, reserving as much of the juice as possible.
Pour the milk mixture over the cubed bread, then add the cherries and their juice along with the cocoa nibs, if using.
Toss well to coat the bread and to soak up the liquid.
Drizzle over the melted chocolate, stirring well to combine.
Pour mixture into a short baking dish or divide between 4 – 1 cup ramekins.
Bake for 15 minutes.

Best served warm and with just about any ice cream you like.

I’m guessing these would go great with these Scallion Pancakes and just about anything grilled. Give it a try.

ASIAN PEA & CARROT SALAD

1/2 Lb Snow Peas, thinly sliced lengthwise, julienne
1 Lb Baby Carrots, thinly sliced lengthwise, matchsticks
1 teaspoon Freshly Grated Ginger, peeled
4 Tablespoons Toasted Sesame Seed Oil
2 Tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar
Pinch Sugar
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons Sesame seeds, black if you can find them

In a small bowl, whisk together the sesame oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper.
If using regular white sesame seeds, lightly toast them in a dry pan until they just become golden over a medium-high heat. If using the black sesame seeds, you may skip this step.
Wash and thinly slice the vegetables. Toss them together in your serving bowl with your fingers to mix.
Drizzle and toss the dressing over the peas and carrots.
Sprinkle over the sesame seeds to serve.

So, I’m guessing there could be worse things do be addicted to, right?

While I’m preparing to admit that I am a marmalade junky, I find this breakfast muesli bread. I’ve suddenly become like a child who only singly eats mac and cheese or pb&j for weeks straight.

Breakfasts, lunches, midnight snacks are spent longing for the next time I can glob juliennes of sticky zest over my raisin stuffed sunflower bread.

As I’m leaving my local unnamed bigbox store with the oversized package of my next fix and realizing I have issues, I decided to stick to my personal claim of not buying what I can quite easily make on my own. I just couldn’t rightfully keep forking out five bucks for a bag of bread.

A little while back, with a few leftover minneolos, a cup of o.j, water and sugar, I had the marmalade covered. So now, it was on to the bread. The store bought, of course, had it’s yummy je ne sais quoi mixed in, so I was left to pick out my favourites, the first of those, being sunflower seeds. The next to impossible task was finding any that weren’t hulled, apparently they are only good for spitting but after an exhaustive search, I found some. They were salted, but beggers can’t be choosers, right? I figured I’d either rinse them or omit the extra salt.
Thanks to my son, I always have raisins, and we’re talking the big fat ones too. He just won’t accept those puny shriveled ones. – Left from the last trip to the health food store, was his half eaten bag of plump organic jumbo flames. They’re about the size of his knuckle, so I was headed for a good start. I had an apple, cinnamon oatmeal and flax, all the good müesli things.

The bread recipe is pretty basic. Taking the knowledge from Mark Bittman and his book How to Cook Everything, I keep my whole wheat bread ratios to 3:1 all purpose flour to whole wheat; doing this keeps a good crust. And that’s just what it needed to keep all the good stuff in and my globs of marmalade on safely top.

MÜESLI BREAD

1/3 Cup Flax Seeds
1/2 Cup Sunflower Seeds
1 Cup Organic Jumbo Flame Raisins
1/3 Cup Steel Cut Oats (precooked), or add 1/3 Old Fashioned Oats, uncooked
3 Cups Water (divided)
4 Cups All Purpose Flour (divided)
1 1/2 teaspoons Yeast (divided)
2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/3 Cup Maple Syrup
1/4 Cup Safflower Oil
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Granny Smith Apple, peeled & finely diced

Cook the steel cut oats as to the package directions, set aside.
Cover the flax, sunflower seeds, raisins and oats with 1 1/2 cups of warm water. Stir to combine and leave 1 hour or up to overnight.
In another bowl, combine 2 cups of the all purpose flour with 1/2 teaspoon of the yeast along with the remaining 1 1/2 cups of warm water. Stir well to combine and leave the sponge to prove 1 hour or refrigerated overnight.
Combine the seed mixture along with the sponge.
Add the remaining 1 teaspoon of yeast granules, maple syrup, oil, salt and cinnamon.
Once well mixed, add the remaining all purpose and whole wheat flours, in stages.
Knead for 5 – 7 minutes or until the dough is springy, soft and elastic.
Transfer the dough to a clean, slightly oiled bowl. Let the dough rest and rise for about 30 minutes.
Divide the dough into two pieces. Shape into two traditional or rustic loaves, placing into two slightly greased loaf pans or onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Allow the dough about another hour to rise.
Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
Place a pan of hot water on the lowest rack of the oven along with the loaves on the center rack.
Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 400ºF, remove the pan of water and continue to bake for an additional 20 – 25 minutes, until the loaves are golden and hollow sounding when tapped from underneath.

Of course this time of year just about any spring greens from the market will be great, but baby spinach is something I always have on hand.
Where it’s not exactly your throw it together tossed salad, the onions are pretty much low maintenance to caramelize and this dressing is worth the wait.

CARAMELIZED ONION DRESSING

1 Onion, thinly sliced
1/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil, divided
Pinch Salt
2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 Cup Water
1 1/2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup

Turn heat to medium. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and sliced onion to a sauté pan. Once they begin to sizzle, reduce the heat to medium-low, toss and add salt.
Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft, sticky and golden; 20-30 minutes.
Add the balsamic vinegar and reduce slightly, about 3 minutes.
Remove from heat and cool.
Add onions along with the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil, maple syrup and water to a blender or a food processor and blend until smooth. (If your onion was large and you find that the mixture is too thick for your liking, you can add more water about 1 tablespoon at a time to thin.)
Taste and add additional salt if desired.
Serve from a squirt bottle, if you have one

Preheat the grill to medium.
Slice 2 bartlett pears into wedges and lay onto the grill, cooking for about 1 minute.
For the fancy-schmancy grill marks, rotate the pear slices 1 quarter turn, cooking for another minute.
Flip and repeat for the other side. Pears should be hot but not cooked through.
Toss greens, adding a handful of walnuts and dried cranberries. Top with the grilled pears and drizzle over prepared dressing.

It’s terrible but it’s the truth. I almost didn’t attempt to veganize this month’s Daring Baker Challenge.
Daunting to say the least when a cake has a dozen eggs in it to somehow replace. (…And that’s not including the other two that were in the buttercream recipe.)

After making the original version I had to share. I mean, what’s the point of this site if everyone can’t share good food together?

I halved the recipe (because the other cake was enormous) and started in on my trials. I stuck to the traditional recipe as close as I could without those eggs but having had the other I had a general idea as to what I was after. This cake is very light without too much flavour. It’s a perfect canvas to add your own and it this case we, The Daring Bakers, were able to get creative just as long as we kept it light in colour. Again having the other version I knew what I liked and didn’t so choosing a flavour this time around was pretty easy. In my traditional version, I really wanted to go give it a Taste of Yellow in honour of one great and Daring Baker, Barbara of Winos and Foodies, who hosts the Livestrong event. For that I made an Earl Grey with a lemon buttercream so for this version I wanted to keep the citrus but add some kick with just a little brandy syrup, and boy did my little cake sing.

L’OPÉRA CAKE

JACONDE

1 Cup Ground Almonds
1/4 Cup Confectioners Sugar
1/2 Cup Cake Flour
1 1/4 Cups Soy Milk
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 Tablespoon Vinegar

Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Line a 5 x 8 inch loaf pan with parchment then lightly spray with oil.
Add the dry ingredients together into a large bowl.
Combine the soy milk and the vinegar, then add to the dry.
Mix vigorously with a fork.
Once combined, consistency will be similar to a pancake batter.
Pour about 1/2 cup of batter into the prepared pan to cover the bottom to the edges.
Bake for 5 – 7 minutes or until the top appears golden, begins to dry and the edges come away from the sides.
Loosen edges with a knife, if necessary and top with an additional sheet of parchment or waxed paper.
Flip pan to remove the cake, cooling on a rack to room temperature.
Reline the pan and repeat with the remainder of the batter, baking three cakes.

COGNAC SYRUP

4 Tablespoons Sugar
1/3 Cup Water
1-2 Tablespoons Cognac

Add everything to a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.
(May be made in advance and kept covered in the fridge for up to a week.

ORANGE “BUTTERCREAM” ICING

2 1/2 Cups Confectioners Sugar, sifted
1/2 Cup Earth’s Balance Margarine, room temperature
Juice and zest of one large orange
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, combine half of the sugar with the margarine.
Add the orange zest and juice and mix on a medium-high setting.
Add the remainder of the sugar, half a cup at a time.
Once it has come together, then add the vanilla to incorporate.
Continue to up the volume with a higher speed until light and creamy.

ASSEMBLY

(Note: The finished cake should be served slightly chilled. It can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 1 day).

Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.

Place one cake layer on the baking sheet and moisten it gently with the flavoured syrup.

Spread about one-third of the buttercream over this layer.

Top with the second layer of cake and moisten again with the flavoured syrup.

Spread another third of the buttercream on the cake and then top with the third layer of joconde. Use the remaining syrup to wet the joconde. Spread the remaining buttercream on top of the final layer of joconde and then refrigerate until very firm (at least half an hour).

At this point a glaze of white chocolate may be made. I omitted this tradition but for a vegan white chocolate try this one from Bittersweet. Melt 7 oz of the chocolate with 1/4 cup of soy milk. Once it has cooled, pour/spread it over the top of the chilled cake. Refrigerate the cake again to set the glaze.

Trim the edges 1/2″ to reveal the layers.
Garnish with additional orange zest, candied or not, if desired.

Perfect for using up left overs on just on their own, these little triangles make a great appetizer or side for a soup.

It took me a while to dig into Palak Paneer, the Indian creamed spinach with homemade cheese.
It wasn’t until a friend of mine returned from an extended stay in India and reintroduced me to a few more traditional dishes, that I realized spinach is a very welcomed side to a spicy curry.
Of course for a vegan version, I make my “paneer” from a diced, fried, firm silken tofu which is soft and mildly flavoured, like the paneer which satisfied my cheese knowing tongue.

For the triangles I add just a little more to the flavour combination with minced red bell pepper and some fresh basil.

PALAK PANEER

5-6 Cups packed Spinach
1 Cup packed arugula (optional)
1/2 Package firm silken tofu
1 Medium Sized Onion, minced
2-3 Bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon Minced Ginger
1/2 teaspoon Minced Garlic
1/2 teaspoon Green chili paste
1/2 Cup Water
1/2 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp. Black pepper
1/2 Red Bell Pepper, finely diced
5-6 Large Basil Leaves, finely chopped
Vegetable oil as required

12 Sheets of Phyllo DoughMix ginger and garlic into a paste, add green chilli paste and water to combine.
Add the spinach and arugula to a large pan with a fitted lit.
Pour the ginger-garlic-chili liquid over the rinsed spinach and arugula.
Cover and steam for about 7-8 minutes.
Cool slightly and drain excess liquid.
Cut tofu into 1/2″ cubes.
Heat enough oil to just cover the bottom of a sauté pan. Fry the tofu pieces over a medium heat till they are slightly browned.
Remove tofu with a slotted spoon and continue to drain tofu on paper and set the aside.
Drain all but 1 tablespoon of oil from sauté pan. Fry bay leaves and cumin seeds. Add chopped onion. Sauté until the onions become tender.
Add salt, pepper, and garam masala. Stir well.
Remove bay leaves then add onions along with the spinach to a food processor.
Purée, adding tablespoonfuls of water as necessary until smooth.
Transfer spinach mixture to a bowl and stir in tofu, basil and red peppers.
Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Lay one sheet of phyllo on a cutting board and brush it lightly with oil.
Carefully lay another sheet on top of the first then cut into 3 strips, lengthwise.
Cover the remaining sheets with a dampened cloth to keep them from drying.
Scoop a heaping tablespoonful of the prepared spinach mixture onto the end of one of the cut strips.
Fold over once to cover then flip the left corner up and over to form a triangle.
Continue to fold the straight ends over to keep the triangle shape, finishing the length of the phyllo.
With a moistened finger, wet the last edge of the phyllo to seal.
Repeat with the remaining phyllo sheets, cutting them into strips, filling then folding over into triangles.
Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for 12 – 15 minutes or until crisp and golden brown.
Makes 18 triangles.

I know that Mother’s Day has come and gone, but I just had to share this perfect everyday, great with tea or Coffee Cake.

One of the many things that I’ve learned through my Nana and her baking is that men love coffee cake. It’s a crazy notion, but you can go ahead and quote me on this. So with all my motherly advice aside for now, I’d been eying this recipe handed down from my Nana. Originally called Sour Cream Coffee Cake, it’s moist and satisfying and it’ll wrangle afternoon peckishness like the dickens.

Seeing that I have a habit of buying up anything organic or that I’d want to see in stock at my local grocery store just to send a message, I was the new owner of some soy yogurt. I’m good with tofu but I won’t be eating the “soygurt” à la carte again. However, as an equal replacement for the original sour cream in this recipe, I know I’d buy it again.

Although a nice bundt pan would be pretty, my Nana is of the depression generation so you can put it in what ever pan fits. I used a square 8×8 and it worked out really well, just could have been bigger since, even with all the birthdays lately, this is about the fastest I’ve seen cake go around here in a long time.

NANA’S COFFEE CAKE

1 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 Cup Margarine, softened
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1 Cup Soy Vanilla Yogurt, plain is o.k. in a pinch, just add 1 tsp vanilla
1/2 Cup Plain Soy Milk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

TOPPING
1 Cup Walnuts, broken
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Toss the walnuts, sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.
Cream the sugar with the margarine, then add the baking powder and continue to mix until fluffy.
In a measuring cup, combine the yogurt, soy milk and baking soda.
Add half of the yogurt mixture to the creamed sugar, then half of the flour, mixing until each is combined, repeating with the remainder.
Lightly spray and dust an 8×8 cake or bundt pan with flour.
Add half of the cake batter to the pan. Add half of the walnut topping. Finish with the remaining batter, then evenly sprinkle over the last of the topping.
Bake in the center of the oven for 45 – 50 minutes.
Cool completely in the pan before turning it out to a serving plate.

You see, there’s this lovely event that takes place amongst some bloggers, so nicely organized by Stephanie at Dispensing Happiness. “Blogging By Mail” matches bloggers from around the globe to send a little something about where they’re from, their common culinary ingredients and their most favourite things. As my package was en route to Amrita in Singapore, Michelle was busy travelling from home to home town to jam pack the parcel she was preparing for lucky, little ol’ me.

Inside there were stuffed olives, beautiful fabric for me use in pictures, gouda, fruit snacks, ginger chews, note cards, Jordan Almonds and the cutest Heinz ketchup bottle, that I’ve always wanted but never had the courage to steal while on vacation in the States.:)

…And the chocolate, chocolate chocolate! As I pulled the items from what seemed to be my bottomless box of complete generosity, I found bars, sauce, biscotti, chocolate pretzels and it perfect breakfast match, coffee!!

As I drank my freshly ground Joe, I flipped through The Chocolate Deck, which Michelle also included!
It’s a deck of chocolate recipes so fantastically photographed by William Meppem and written by a former editor of Gourmet, Lori Longbotham. I was truly inspired by some of the recipes. Some for their beauty, others for their simplicity. Like this one; Bicerin.

Bicerin is described to have been a cafe favourite in Turin, Italy during the nineteenth century. Still enjoyed, it looked good and sounded better, plus with the help of Michelle, I had pretty much all the best ingredients to give my inspiration a go.

BICERIN
(as Adapted From Lori Longbotham)

2 Cups Plain Soy Milk
2 Cups Strongly Brewed, Hot Coffee
3 Ounces Bittersweet or Semisweet Chocolate, finely chopped
3 Tablespoons Sugar, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon Orange Flower Water, optional
or
2 Tablespoons Grand Marnier, optional

Over a medium heat, warm the soy milk to a low simmer and remove just before it begins to boil.
Meanwhile, in a heatproof pitcher, pour the hot coffee over the chopped chocolate and sugar, whisking until smooth.
Whisk the milk and Grand Marnier or orange blossom water, if using.
Taste and adjust sweetness, adding more if necessary.

Serves 4 – 6

Yesterday was my daughter’s birthday. It’s become a bit of a tradition and now her birthday dinner consists of her year’s list of favourite things. Apps, entrée, sides, beverage, heck, even the dinner music is chosen by said truly. Amazing thing is that the family lines up for it, listens to Raffi or Death Cab for Cutie and holds out their plates with a smile.

What was on the menu this year? We’ll pretty much the standard of the previous ones; Carrot sticks, chocolate soy milk, “Ringalos” (which were new for this year), strawberry shortcake and her BFF (bestest favourite forever): Mac and Cheese.

Since there are usually guest and family members for her birthday, this is of course the vegan version. I’ve seen dozens of version some which include cashews or tofu but I’d decided on a version that about as close to the real thing as you can get… just without the shredded cheese… or cream.

CHEESELESS MACARONI N’ CHEESE

250g Elbow Macaroni, about 1/2 Lb
1 Tablespoon Margarine, or butter
1 1/2 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour
1 3/4 Cups Plain Soy Milk
2 bay leaves
2 Cloves Garlic, peeled and broken with the side of a chef’s knife
Scant 1/2 teaspoon Salt, or to taste
1/8 teaspoon Tumeric Powder
Pinch Cayenne Pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 Tablespoon Nutritional Yeast Flakes

Cook the pasta as to package directions to el dente.
Drain, rinse and set aside.
Warm the milk over a low heat and add the bay leaves and garlic.
In a medium saucepan, melt the margarine then sprinkle over the flour mixing well to combine and smooth to make a roux.
Strain the milk and whisk into the flour mixture.
Add the spices and salt, continuing to whisk occasionally to remove any chance of lumps until saucy thick and smooth.
Pour over drained pasta, stirring to coat.