These high-protein pancakes remind me a lot of the Weight Watchers pancakes that I tried a while back. Although, unlike the Weight Watchers version, this one does include flour. And quite a bit more milk than their version. I do think I like the idea of adding some mashed banana to the batter next time though. Just to add a little fruit and sweetness.

For the version below, I have swapped out the white flour with whole wheat, added a mashed banana, omitted the oil, and added some vanilla and cinnamon. I know that sounds like quite a few tweaks. But I think it still keeps the spirit of the original recipe.

Cottage Cheese and Yogurt Pancakes

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 140g whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 c. milk
• 1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 3/4 c. cottage cheese
• 2 large eggs
• 1 banana, mashed
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Sift the baking powder and baking soda into the flour and mix.
2. In a large measuring cup, combine the milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, banana, vanilla, and cinnamon, and mix well.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into dry and stir to combine.
4. Heat a tawa or skillet over medium-low heat and oil as needed.
5. Once the pan/tawa is hot, pour a few 1/4 c. portions of batter into the pan.
6. Cook until bubbles form in tops and sides begin to look dry, then flip and continue cooking until nicely browned on both sides and cooked through.
7. Repeat with remaining batter.
8. Serve with maple syrup, jam, butter, yogurt, and/or fresh fruit.

I needed bread in a hurry last night. I had intended to give the chocolate bread a try when next I was baking, but I didn't have time to make the sponge. So instead I flipped a bit further through the book and settled on this high-fibre quick bread recipe.

Using chemical leaveners rather than yeast meant it was ready in about an hour. And, while it does have quite a bit of sugar in it, it also contains a hefty quantity of wheat bran and no added fat. So it comes out sweet, but quite lean. And the molasses makes it pleasingly dark and fragrant.

Hilo Bran Bread

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• 375g flour
• 150g wheat bran
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 1/2 c. milk
• 6 Tbsp. molasses

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour two 20x10cm (8x4") loaf pans.
2. Combine the flour, bran, sugar, and salt.
3. Sift in the baking powder and baking soda and mix well.
4. In a large measuring cup, combine the milk and molasses and mix well.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and let stand for 10 minutes.
7. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 40-45 minutes.
8. Turn out onto wire racks to cool.

I probably could've gotten away without making anything for breakfast this morning since we had plenty of bread. But I'd already forgotten that I made it! So I groggily leafed through my cookbooks upon waking and settled on some gingerbread waffles as a relatively quick and easy option. I decided that they needed some sort of sauce to go on them, so TF helped me put together this simple apple sauce.

Personally, I think the cranberry-pineapple sauce actually complements them better, but the chunky apples are good in a pinch. (Cinnamon cream cheese would also be good!)

Chunky Apple Sauce

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfasts by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• ~700g apples
• 1/4 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
• dash (~1/16 tsp.) of ground cloves
• dash (~1/16 tsp.) of ground nutmeg
• a few grinds of salt

Directions

1. Peel, core, and slice apples.
2. Combine apples, water, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until apples are tender (20-30 minutes).

I think there are going to be a lot of feijoa recipes on the blog for the next few weeks!

We spent the day out in Te Awamutu today, so I didn't have much time for baking. But I did at least manage to get a feijoa loaf done before we left.

This is a relatively plain one, but that's not a bad thing here. I like that it's just feijoas. Without any other fruit, no butter or oil, and not too much sugar either. I made it with a mix of plain and whole wheat flour this time, but I think it would also be good done as a 100% whole wheat loaf.

Recipe as written, this only makes a fairly small loaf. I think the pan I used was ~18x8cm (7x3"). And the loaf just filled the pan nicely once it baked up. So, if you're happy with a pint-sized loaf, then this is perfect. I would recommend doubling the recipe for a 23x13 (9x5") pan however.

Feijoa Loaf

Slightly adapted from My Kids Lick the Bowl

Ingredients

• 225g whole wheat flour
• 60g ground almonds (almond flour/meal)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 60-90g brown sugar
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 250g feijoa pulp, mashed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a small loaf tin.
2. Combine the flour and almonds and sift in the baking powder.
3. Add the sugar and mix well.
4. Beat the egg with the milk and vanilla.
5. Add the wet ingredients and the feijoa pulp to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared tin.
7. Bake at 180°C (350°F) until done (~45 minutes).
8. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

We had a bunch of leftover pumpkin tagine for dinner tonight, but not much in the way of protein. Luckily, we still had a chicken in the freezer, so I was able to roast that up and combine it with some bread and veggies to make this "salad". It is a salad without lettuce or leafy greens. But I guess the inclusion of a vinaigrette makes it a salad nonetheless? Either way, it was tasty and rounded out the meal nicely.

Roast Chicken and Bread Salad with Green Beans

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 chicken (~1kg), cut into pieces¹
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 3 thick slices of bread, cubed
• 250g green beans, trimmed
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 1 shallot (or small red onion), minced
• 2 Tbsp. red wine or cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. grainy mustard
• 2 Tbsp. dried currants
• 250g strawberries², hulled and quartered

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Season chicken with most of the salt and pepper (reserving a little for the beans).
3. Roast at 200°C (400°F) until chicken is done (45-60 minutes).
4. Remove from oven and reduce oven temperature to 180°C (350°F).
5. Toss the bread cubes with 2 Tbsp. of the oil and spread out on the (now empty) baking sheet.
6. Bake at 180°C (350°F) until lightly browned and crisp on the outside (~15 minutes), turning once or twice during cooking.
7. Meanwhile, blanch the beans in some water seasoned with some of the reserved salt and pepper. Cook until just barely tender (2-3 minutes).
8. Shock the beans in cold water, drain, and set aside.
9. Whisk the winegars with the mustard, currants, and red onion.
10. Drizzle in the remaining 1 Tbsp. of oil while whisking vigorously.
11. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (I used a bit of the reserved salt and pepper from above.)
12. Add the beans and toss to combine.
13. Top with chicken, strawberries, and croutons and serve.

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¹ The original recipe called for the chicken skin to be left on, but I chose to skin my chicken and just baste it with a little of the rendered schmaltz instead. ^Back
2 I wasn't impressed by the strawberries this week, so I gave them a miss and just tossed some leftover peach salsa onto this salad instead. I think it worked quite well! ^Back

I've been doing a lot of cooked breakfasts lately, but we got off to a slow start today so I took a slightly different tack and went with these smoothie bowls instead. The original recipe was for a banana-date smoothie, but I just added some extra banana and dates and a bit of yogurt to make a somewhat thicker smoothie and then topped them with almonds, coconut, and granola for an easy, no-cook breakfast.

Chocolate-Banana Smoothie Bowls

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 3 bananas, frozen
• 12 pitted dates
• 1/4 c. almond butter
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 c. milk or almond milk
• 1/3 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp. honey
• 1 Tbsp. Dutched (alkalized) cocoa
• 3-4 Tbsp. toasted almonds, chopped
• 3-4 Tbsp. shredded coconut
• 3-4 Tbsp. granola

Directions

1. Combine bananas, dates, almone butter, cinnamon, milk, yogurt, honey, and cocoa in a blender and purée until smooth.
2. Divide the smooth among two or three bowls.
3. Top with almonds, coconut, and granola. Sliced bananas, dried cherries, and/or chopped dark chocolate would also make excellent toppings.

These are pretty simple, but really good! They're just simple baked meringues with a bit of cocoa and dark chocolate stirred in. But they're pleasantly crisp on the outside and soft in the centre, with just a bit of chew to them. I suspect that comes from using a Swiss (rather than French) meringue as the base. You can get French meringues that are crisp on the outside and soft in the middle, but in my experience, they're normally more fluffy than chewy.

I always find Swiss meringues a bit trickier to get right and somewhat more difficult to get to the stiff peak stage. They never seem to have quite as much structure as a good French meringue. And, of course, mixing them over the double boiler is always a bit of a faff. But sometimes it's necessary to get the desired result. And I was quite happy with the results I got here! Although I did have to adjust the sugar a fair bit. This seemed to be another case of compounded rounding errors. The measurements for the sugar were given as 1 3/4 c. (14 oz./440g). But 14 oz. is only ~392g. And, unlike flour (which can vary a fair bit based on how you measure it), sugar tends to be a fairly consistent 200g/cup. So, 1 3/4 c. should be a neat 350g, not 440 or 392!

Chocolate Meringues

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 7 large egg whites
• 350g sugar
• 30g natural cocoa powder
• 125g dark chocolate, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
2. Bring a pot of water to a simmer.
3. Combine the egg whites and sugar in a heat-proof bowl.
4. Place the bowl over the simmering water and beat vigorously until sugar dissolves completely and mixture becomes opaque.
5. Remove from heat and beat until stiff peaks form.
6. Sift in cocoa powder and add dark chocolate. Carefully fold ingredients together until mixed.
7. Spoon large dollops of meringue onto the prepared baking sheets.
8. Bake at 180°C (350*deg;F) for 9 minutes.
9. Rotate and swapt the trays and bake for another 9 minutes.
10. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

Miso Soup with Shrimp

This was supposed to be miso soup with shrimp and pea sprouts, but I didn't have any pea sprouts and I didn't feel like trying to go out and get some when TF and I were already hungry. I just wanted something quick and easy that I could throw together for lunch. So, I just did the miso soup without the pea sprouts. (I had intended to get some sprouts from Noki Farms to add to the leftovers when I was downtown later in the day, but then ended up meeting up with TM instead and didn't make it to the mall to get my sprouts in the end.)

Miso Soup with Shrimp (and Pea Sprouts)

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 (~15cm) piece of konbu
• 3 c. cold water
• 15g bonito flakes
• 2 Tbsp. white miso paste
• 125g shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 10g pea shoots (optional)

Directions

1. Bring the konbu and water to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Remove from heat and remove and discard the konbu (or reserve for making second dashi).
3. Add the bonito flakes, stir once, and let stand for 5 minutes.
4. Strain the broth and discard the bonito flakes (or reserve for making second dashi¹).
5. Combine 1/4 c. of the hot broth with the miso paste and stir until smooth.
6. Pour the miso mixture into the rest of the broth and warm over medium heat until almost (but not quite) boiling. Do not let the broth boil!
7. Add the shrimp and cook until shrimp are pink and cooked through (3-4 minutes).
8. Stir in the pea shoots and serve.

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¹ To make second dashi: Take the konbu and bonito used to make the first dashi (which is what you've just made for this miso soup) and add it to another 3 c. of water. Bring nearly (but not quite) to a boil and gently simmer for 15 minutes. Strain and reserve the broth. Discard the solids. Second dashi is good in dishes with other strong flavours where the dashi stock is not front-and-centre. ^Back

Masala Bhindi Tamatar (Spiced Okra and Tomato Curry)

We had ragada samosas for dinner last night. They're tasty, but not really a complete meal on their own. You've got protein and starch from the chickpeas, but it's a little light on the veg. Unfortunately, my fridge is also a little light on veg right now, so I had to have a dig through the freezer to see what I could do with that.

Masala Bhindi Tamatar

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 400g okra¹
• 1-2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 2 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies
• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground cayenne or Kashmiri chilies
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 c. diced tomato
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

¹ The recipe calls for fresh okra, but I had a bag of frozen okra on hand, so I just used that. The frozen okra was already chopped and ready to go, but if you're using fresh, you'll need to rinse it, carefully trim off the caps, and cut them into 2cm pieces. ^Back

Another one of symbol's savoury cottage cheese bowls! This one used salmon that they got for me which I then forgot to eat. symbol attests that it was tasty, but not as good as the chicken and olive version.

Smoked Salmon Cottage Cheese Bowl

Ingredients

• ½ C cottage cheese
• ¼ C diced cucumber
• 3 Tbsp diced tomato
• 2 slices smoked salmon, chopped
• 1 Tbsp capers
• 1 Tbsp chopped chives or green onions
• 1 tsp chopped fresh dill (or ½ tsp dried)
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
• ½ tsp dried garlic
• ½ tsp dried onion
• ½ tsp poppyseeds (optional)
• ½ tsp furikake (optional)
• ¼ tsp black pepper, ground

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients, in listed order, in a bowl.
2. Eat.

Back when I was first trying to adjust my diet and lose a little weight, I tried a few different cottage cheese bowls. Mostly sweet ones involving fruit and nuts, maple syrup, chocolate, granola, etc. But I did give one savoury recipe a try. I didn't really care for it, so I've stuck to the sweet versions since then. My go-to involves apples, cinnamon, pecans, raisins, and a bit of maple syrup or stevia. And that's honestly been really great. It's tasty, it's filling, it's easy, and it can be made with staples that I basically always have on hand.

Unfortunately, I wasn't really feeling it this morning.

I had a green smoothie bowl for breakfast yesterday and that was really nice. But I'm pretty sure we're all out of mango now and I know that we don't have any pineapple. I think it would also be good with peaches or nectarines, but we won't have any of those until our produce basket arrives later today. And I wasn't feeling super enthusiastic about any of the other possible toppings I could think of. So I wrote off the smoothie bowl for this morning. But that left me drawing a big, ol' blank for breakfast today.

For whatever reason I really wasn't feeling the sweet cottage cheese bowls this morning, but the idea of cottage cheese itself wasn't unappealing. So I decided to see if I could put something together that hit the right notes for me.

We had some ground chicken and leftover zeytoon parvardeh (Persian marinated olives) in the fridge, so I decided to try to do something that would incorporate those. That said, I think this would also work with green olives and walnuts (and maybe a few extra seasonings) in place of the marinated olives. And you could probably get away with substituting chicken lunch meat for the ground chicken in a pinch (although I think the ground chicken is better here).

I may play around with the exact ingredients and proportions a bit if I make this again. But I think this was a good starting point.

Olive and Walnut Cottage Cheese Bowl

Ingredients

• 100g ground chicken (chicken breast for low-fat/diet-friendly option)
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ras el hanout
• 1/2 c. cottage cheese (fat-free for low-fat/diet-friendly option)
• 1/4 c. diced cucumber
• 4-5 green olives, halved
• 1 Tbsp. chopped walnuts
• 1 Tbsp. fried onions
• 2-3 tsp. pomegranate molasses
• 1/2 tsp. za'atar
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1-2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Directions

1. Season the chicken with the salt and ras el hanout and cook over medium heat until no longer pink.
2. Place the cottage cheese in a bowl and top with chicken, cucumber, olives, walnuts, and fried onion.
3. Drizzle with pomegranate molasses and sprinkle with za'atar and pepper.
4. Garnish with fresh parsley if desired.

We had a surplus of mint and strawberries were on sale this week, so this low-effort dessert seemed like a natural fit.

Macerated Strawberries with Lemon and Mint

From Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 450g strawberries, hulled and quartered (or sliced)
• 2-4 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp. lemon zest
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint

Directions

1. Add all ingredients to a bowl and toss to combine.
2. Let stand for at least 15 minutes, then serve.

I finally got around to making the last parfait recipe in the Breakfast Bible. It's pretty simple, but I don't often keep nectarines on hand, so this is the first time I've actually had the ingredeints available.

I liked the citrus notes with the nectarines in this parfait. Unfortunately I think my nectarines were a little underripe, so it came out a bit bland and tart overall. Adding a bit of maple syrup helped, but having properly ripened fruit would obviously have been better. But I was worried that if I waited I'd never get around to it. So I fiugred I'd give it a go with the slightly firm nectarines and just adjust as needed to compensate. Not ideal maybe, but it got the job done.

Honey-Lime Nectarine Parfaits

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 4 nectarines, halved and sliced
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• zest of 2 limes
• 3 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 c. granola
• maple syrup or extra honey, to taste (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the nectarines, honey, and limes and mix well. Set aside.
2. Get out four jars or glasses and put 6 Tbsp. of yogurt in the bottom of each.
3. Add ~1/8 of the nectarines to each jar.
4. Repeat the layers with another 6 Tbsp. of the yogurt and 1/8 of the nectarines in each jar.
5. Top each portion with 1 Tbsp. of granola.
6. Drizzle with maple syrup/honey (if using) and serve.

Tropical Smoothie Bowls

I gave the Kidlet the choice of waffles or smoothie bowls for breakfast this morning and she chose smoothie bowls.

The suggested base for these tropical smoothie bowls is either strawberry-banana or banana-mango. The blended mixture then gets topped with a combination of banana, mango, pineapple, strawberries, and toasted coconut. (Personally, I don't really think the strawberries fit the "tropical" vibe, but they're tasty and the Kidlet loves them, so I actually doubled down on the strawberries and used them in both the base and the toppings for this one.)

As with the other smoothie bowl recipes in this book, the recipe claims to make two servings. I contend that one of these bowls is way too large for any reasonable person to eat in a single sitting. (The Kidlet usually manages it, but, then again, she's not a reasonable person.~) This actually works out well for us since I can just give the Kidlet one bowl and TF and I can share the other one. But for folks who don't have ravenous, smoothie-devouring spawn, it may make more sense to actually divide this into four bowls to make more reasonable portions.

Strawberry-Banana Tropical Smoothie Bowls

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 3 bananas, divided
• 1 c. frozen chopped strawberries
• 2 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 pineapple, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 mango, sliced
• 8 strawberries, sliced
• 4 Tbsp. toasted sliced or flaked coconut

Directions

1. Place 2 of the bananas, the frozen fruit, and the yogurt in a blender and purée until smooth.
2. Divide the smoothie among bowls: two bowls for large servings, four bowls for smaller portions.
3. Slice the remaining banana.
4. For small bowls, top each one with 1/4 of the banana, 1/4 of the pineapple pieces (ie. ~1/16 of the whole pineapple), 1/4 of the mango slices (~1/8 of the whole mango), 2 strawberries, and 1 Tbsp. of the coconut. For large bowls, double all the quantities.

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Variations

Banana-Mango Tropical Smoothie bowls

Ingredients

• 3 bananas, divided
• 1 c. frozen chopped mango
• 2 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 pineapple, cut into bite-sized pieces¹
• 1/2 mango, sliced
• 8 strawberries, sliced
• 4 Tbsp. toasted sliced or flaked coconut

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¹ I was all out of pineapple, so I swapped in som fresh blueberries for this rendition. Not as tropical, but much more visually striking. ^Back

This was a last-minute addition to the dinner menu. We already had an uncut loaf of bread in the bread box, but I wanted to make some fresh bread for an acquaintance who is currently convalescing at home and the recipe made two loaves... It seemed a shame to cut the older loaf when we had one that was fresh and warm out of the oven right there! (Besides, I needed to taste test it and make sure it was suitable for gifting! That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

This is a nice, simple, easy loaf to make. It rises quickly and doesn't need any special handling. I mixed a little sourdough discard into my batch, but it doesn't need it. It was just a nice way for me to keep the started happy and fed.

I adjusted the baking time and temperature a bit because I didn't trust the recipe, but I should have just gone with it. I think the original baking instructions would've been just fine! And my adjustments caused to to come out a little too dark on top. Oh well... It still tasted lovely. It just wasn't the nicest aesthetically.

Cuban Bread

Slightly adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Ingredients

• ~700g all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 Tbsp. instant yeast
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 c. hot water (~50°C)
• 125g sourdough discard @ 100% hydration
• 1-2 Tbsp. sesame seeds or poppy seeds (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt and mix well.
2. Make a well in the centre and pour in the hot water.
3. Mix vigorously by hand for 150-200 strokes or 2-3 minutes with an electric mixer.
4. Mix in the sourdough discard.
5. Cover and allow to rest for ~10 minutes.
6. Work in additional flour ~50g at a time until the dough achieves a good consistency. I needed ~150g for this and ended up working in another 50 or 60 more during kneading. You may find you need somewhat more or less than that.
7. Once the dough comes together, turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10-20 minutes¹.
8. Shape into a smooth ball, cover, and let rise in a warm place (~30°C) for ~30 minutes².
9. Once the dough is fully risen (test with your finger), knock it back and divide into two equal portions.
10. Round each portion of dough, cover, and rest for 5 minutes.
11. Meanwhile, put a kettle on to boil, grease a baking sheet, and dust it with cornmeal.
12. Transfer the dough rounds to the prepared baking sheet and brush each one with water.
13. Sprinke with poppy seeds or sesame seeds (if using).
14. Slash a large, fairly deep X into the top of each loaf.
15. Pour 2-3cm of boiling water into a large roasting pan or similar vessel and place it on the bottom oven rack.
16. Put another oven rack directly above this and put the baking sheet with the bread on this second rack.
17. Now turn the oven on to 200°C (400°F) and set a timer for 30 minutes. The loaves will complete their second rise while the oven preheats.
18. Once the timer goes off, check on the loaves. If the crust looks nicely browned, remove the water pan and reduce oven temperature to 180°C (350°F) and bake for another 10-20 minutes. If the crust is still pale, leave everything as it is and check again in 10 minutes.
19. In either case, check the loaves for doneness after the first 40 minutes of baking. (They will likely need 50, but it could be more or less depending on hydration and proofing.
20. Once loaves sound done, turn off oven and allow loaves to rest in hot oven for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool.
21. Ideally you should let the bread cool before slicing, but it's great served fresh out of the oven with a bit of butter!

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¹ Kneading may also be done by machine with a dough hook. It shouldn't need more than 4-5 minutes worked this way. ^Back
2 The recipe called for a fast, warm rise. It actually specifies temperatures up to 37°C for as short as 15 minutes! I generally prefer longer, cooler rises. Normally I might let this bread rise for an hour or more at a cool room temperature (18°C), but I was pressed for time today, so I set the oven to "proof" and gave it a quick rise. Which worked great. It just didn't develop quite as much character as it might have with a longer rise. Luckily it got a bit of a boost from the sourdough discard anyway, so it still had a pretty nice flavour. ^Back

I got some zucchini for another recipe recently and accidentally overshot slightly and ended up with one extra one left over. Unfortunately, a lot of the zucchini recipes that I was looking at to potentially use it up called for more than one zucchini. Eventually though, I did find a few that called for more moderate squash quantities. Technically this recipe actually wanted a yellow summer squash, not a zucchini, but I figured it was close enough. And it sounded tasty. And looked reasonably healthy. Bonus!

I made a few small tweaks: reduced the sugar; added a chile, a bit of shaoxing wine (绍兴酒), and some toasted sesame seeds; swapped out the yellow summer squash for green zucchini, and reduced the oil slightly.

I think next time I'd change the order of the ingredients slightly. The recipe calls for adding the aromatics, carrots, and bell pepper together and then cooking the onion, zucchini, and peas as a separate batch before combinging everything. I think, if I were to do it again, I'd do the aromatics separately, then add the carrots and onion, then the bell pepper and zucchini, and then the peas (and maybe a green onion). It's not a huge deal though. Either order should work fine.

Vegetable Stir-Fry with Tofu

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day

Ingredients

• 340g extra-firm tofu, cubed
• 2-3 Tbsp. cornstarch (cornflour)
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
• 1 fresh red chile, minced (optional)
• 3-4 carrots, sliced diagonally
• 1 onion, sliced lengthwise
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 zucchini, quartered and sliced
• 225g sugar snap peas (or snow peas), cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1-2 green onions, chopped (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. Chinese five-spice powder
• 1/4 c. chicken stock
• 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
• 3 Tbsp. hoisin sauce¹
• 1/2 tsp. light soy sauce
• 3/4 tsp. rice vinegar
• 1 tsp. shaoxing wine (绍兴酒)
• 2 Tbsp. canola or peanut oil, divided
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• ~1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1. Do all your mise en place and get your ingredients ready.
2. Dust the tofu with the cornstarch.
3. Mince the garlic, ginger, and chile (if using) and set aside.
4. slice the carrots and onion, place in a separate bowl, and set aside.
5. Chop the zucchini and bell pepper, place in yet another bowl, and set aside.
6. Chop the peas and set aside.
7. Combine the chicken stock and five-spice powder and set aside.
8. Combine the sugar, hoisin said, soy sauce, vinegar, and wine, mix well, and set aside.
9. Heat wok over medium-high heat.
10. Drizzle in 1 1/2 Tbsp. of the oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the wok.
11. Add the tofu and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes.
12. Transfer tofu to a bowl or plate and set aside.
13. Return the wok to medium heat and add the remaining 1/2 Tbsp. of oil.
14. Add the garlic, ginger, and chile and stir-fry for 30-60 seconds.
15. Increase heat to medium-high, add the carrots and onion, and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.
16. Add bell pepper and zucchini and stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes.
17. Add peas and green onions (if using) and stir-fry for 1 minute.
18. Add the five-spice powder and broth and return the tofu to the wok and cook for 2-3 minutes.
19. Drizzle in the hoisin mixture and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
20. If mixture is too dry, add a little more broth or some water. If it's too wet, cook for a minute or two longer.
21. Remove from heat and sprinkle with sesame oil and sesame seeds.
22. Serve over rice or egg noodles

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¹ We ran out of hoisin, so I made up the difference with oyster sauce. It's not quite the same flavour, but it's still a thick, sweet, umami-rich sauce, so it worked well enough for my purposes here. ^Back

This dessert is given as the recipe for December 30th in my Dish of the Day cookbook. the idea is that it's meant to be something light and refreshing to offset all the rich, heavy foods that tend to get eaten over the holidays. I lightened it up slightly more by swapping out the whole milk ricotta for low-fat ricotta. I also halved the pistachios. The original recipe called for equal parts ricotta and nuts! I think next time I might double the ricotta and orange as well. I like the idea of having those two elements making up the bulk of the dish with the pistachios, honey, and pomegranate acting as highlights.

This was a pleasant dessert. It's definitely not going to become a go-to favourite or anything, but it was easy and it did taste nice, just not amazing. And it also let me use up most of the leftover pomegranate I had sitting in the fridge plus some of the blood oranges from the freezer. (Although I accidentally grabbed one blood orange and one navel orange, so only half of my little ricotta pots had actual blood orange in. Whoops! Oh well...) So, overall, glad I tried it and I might make it again sometime, but it probably won't be a regular occurance.

Ricotta with Blood Orange, Pistachios, and Honey

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 c. ricotta
• 4 blood oranges
• 1/4 c. pistachios, chopped
• 1/4 c. pomegranate arils
• 1/4 c. honey

Directions

1. Place 1/4 c. of ricotta in each dish/jar/cup.
2. Use a knife to remove the peel and pith from the oranges. Segment or slice as desired.
3. Place 1/4 of the orange pieces (1 orange worth) on top of each portion of ricotta.
4. Top each with 1 Tbsp. of pistachios, 1 Tbsp. of pomegranate, and 1 Tbsp. of honey.

Blueberry-Bran Panakes

I ended up making a fair few changes to this recipe, so I just want to write down what I did before I forget.

The original recipe called for 3/4 c. of bran flakes cereal, but I only had OG all bran -- the one that comes as little bran sticks -- so I swapped that in, but used a bit less since I figured it probably had a higher packing fraction than the flakes did.

The original also called for two eggs whites and 2 tsp. of canola oil. I decided to just use one whole large egg instead. I figured that the original was probably written that way because 2 tsp. of oil came out to less points than an egg yolk did under the old points system. But now eggs (not just egg whites) are "free" and I liked the idea of egg in the batter better than oil. So I just rolled with that and left out the oil.

For the sugar, I decided to toss in 1/2 Tbsp. of the Splenda brown sugar blend that I got a while back rather than the 1 Tbsp. of granulated sugar called for.

And I opted to use a mix of different berries rather than just blueberries. Mostly because I had a bag of mixed berries in the freezer and I didn't particularly feel like trying to pick through it to get enough blueberries to make my pancakes. So most of them actually ended up being blackberry-bran pancakes. But I did end up doing a few blueberry- and mixed-berry-bran ones as well.

I also greased my pan with butter rather than using cooking spray. I didn't use much. I figure there was probably only ~1/2-3/4 of a tsp. used for the whole batch of pancakes.

Oh, and I guess the last little change I made was to top them with a "no sugar added" syrup in place of the icing sugar-- And, as I type that, I am reminded that I acutally meant to top them with fat-free cottage cheese and no sugar added syrup! Whoops! That probably would've solved the these-are-tasty-but-not-really-very-filling issue. Because I just ended up eating half a banana afterward to try to fill myself up a bit more since I was still pretty hungry even after 3 pancakes. Maybe next time I should top them with banana slices and cottage cheese and syrup...

Blueberry-Bran Pancakes

Adapted from Weight Watchers

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. All-Bran cereal
• 1 1/4 c. buttermilk
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1/2 Tbsp. Splenda brown sugar blend (or 1 Tbsp. brown sugar)
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• ~1/2 tsp. unsalted butter
• 1/2-3/4 c. frozen berries (preferably blueberries)
• 2 bananas, sliced
• 1/2 c. (fat-free) cottage cheese
• 2-3 Tbsp. "no sugar added" syrup (or maple syrup)

Directions

1. Combine the cereal, buttermilk, egg, and sugar and let stand for 5 minutes.
2. Sift in the flour, baking powder, and baking soda, then whisk to combine.
3. Heat a pan over medium-low heat.
4. Very lightly grease the pan with some of the butter.
5. Scoop a scant 1/4 c. of batter into the pan and press a few berries into it. Repeat to form as many pancakes as will comfortably fit in the pan.
6. Cook until the undersides are golden-brown and the top starts to look less wet.
7. Flip and cook on the other side until golden-brown.
8. Transfer cooked pancakes to a plate and repeat cooking process until you run out of batter. (Should make 10-12 pancakes.)
9. Top pancakes with banana slices, cottage cheese, and syrup and serve.

I've picked up a few cookbook bundles from Humble Bundle over the years, but I haven't ended up using them much. To be fair, that's true of a lot of my hardcopy cookbooks as well. The problem is that -- between the Internet, the curry cookbook, and our collection of Cook's Country magazines -- I already have a massive pile of easy-to-access recipes that I haven't tried yet. So it can sometimes feel a bit awkward or difficult to pull things out of other books and sources.

But, I kind of wanted to mix things up a bit this week. So I decided to leaf through some of my Humble Bundle books. I started out looking for good sweet potato recipes, but then ended up branching out and just looking for anything that looked like a good way to use up ingredients on hand.

I knew I had some ground chicken in the freezer, so I figured I could do these meatballs over some pasta with some sort of salad on the side and call that dinner. My original plan had been to just serve them with spaghetti and maybe give the "French salad" from "The Cookbook" a try. But that was before I had a mix-up with the meal plan earlier in the week which left me with surplus radishes in the middle of the week. Thus, I swapped out the French salad for a celery and herb salad from one of the other Humble Bundle books. And then I ended up coming across half-off tortellini at the grocery store on Tuesday and figured no one would be sad if I swapped the plain spaghetti out for that. And, indeed, they weren't! (Although this change did mean that TF now needed a fist full of Lactaid to go with her meal, but it was still enjoyed by all.)

Despite the meal being a big success once I managed to get it to the table, I did experience a few issues during cooking. I don't know if my sauce was too thick or what, but the InstantPot just could not seem to get up to pressure. It steamed and rattled a bit, but never sealed. (And yes, I did check to make sure the valve was in the proper position.) Eventually it started beeping in distress and alerting me of a burn.

Luckily the burn didn't seem to be too severe; just a little light scortching at the bottom of the pot which I was able to scrape and stir in to no discernable detriment. And the meatballs seemed like they were pretty much cooked at that point, so I wasn't too worried. Just to be on the safe side, I put it on slow cook "high" for a bit while TF got a pot of water boiling and cooked the pasta.

As noted, the meal was still very good. I liked it a lot. But I am a bit disappointed that I wasn't able to cook it as directed. Maybe next time I'll try adding a bit more stock and see if that helps it to get up to pressure more easily. Barring that, I think that this would also work quite well as a "fast" slow cooker recipe provided you had the time to cook it for a few hours, rather than just a few minutes.

So, with that in mind, I have provided the recipe with the original cooking instructions here. Just be aware that they did not work as written for me. Keep an eye on your pot and if it seems to be having trouble sealing, turn it off and finish cooking your sauce by another method.

Turkey Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

Slightly adapted from Healthy Instant Pot by Alexis Mersel

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, minced
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 c. dried breadcrumbs
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh Basil
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 450g ground turkey or chicken

Sauce

• 1/2 c. (or more?) chicken stock
• 1 (800mL) can crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 c. tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning (optional)
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp. dried garlic
• 1 tsp. dried onion
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon or Roman mustard
• up to 1 tsp. coarse sea salt¹
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2-4 Tbsp. olive oil²
• cooked pasta or spaghetti squash, to serve
• extra basil and Parmesan, to serve

Directions

Meatballs

1. Turn the InstantPot on to sauté "low" and add the oil.
2. Add the onion and cook for ~5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the garlic and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
4. Turn off the instant pot and set aside.
5. In a large bowl, combine the egg, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, basil, pepper flakes, salt, pepper, chicken/turkey, and sauté mix and add well.
6. Shape mixture into small (2-3cm diameter) balls and set aside on a plate.

Sauce

1. Add the crushed tomato, tomato paste, basil, oregano, Italian seasoning (if using), pepper flakes, garlic, onion, mustard, salt, pepper, and oil to the Instant Pot and mix well.
2. Carefully drop the meatballs into the sauce and gently turn to coat.
3. Seal the lid and pressure cook "high" for 10 minutes followed by a 10-minute natural release.
4. When the sauce is done, toss it with freshly cooked pasta or spaghetti squash and top with additional Parmesan and basil.

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¹ You may not need the full amount of salt if using store-bought stock or broth. Taste your sauce before adding any salt -- or raw meat! -- and then add up to 1 tsp. of salt as needed. ^Back
2 The original recipe called for 1/4 c. of oil to be added to the sauce, but I halved this amount to try to make it a bit healthier and cut the calories. However, it's possible that the lower fat content also contributed to the scortching. I think that the most likely culprit is the thikness of the sauce, but I can't completely rule out the oil as a factor. Just something to keep in mind... ^Back

This is a quick and easy salsa recipe. Especially if you opt for canned diced tomatoes rather than chopping your own fresh!

It shows up in a couple of Simmons' dishes in The Good Egg, so I figured I might as well give it its own post for easy future reference.

It's a little mild for my taste. I think next time I'd leave the seeds and pith in the jalapeño to give it a little more kick. I'd also be inclined to add a little garlic. It's fine as is, but I do generally like a little garlic in my salsa. Simmons also calls for a bit of olive oil to be added. I omitted this as I didn't feel it was necessary and I'm trying to watch my weight. Feel free to try it with the oil if you're not counting calories though.

Tomato-Avocado Salsa

Slightly adapted from The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• 2 c. diced tomatoes
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil (optional)
• 1 jalapeño, (optionally seeded and) minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Combine everything in a bowl and mix well.
2. Cover and chill until ready to use.