These waffles are... weird. The batter uses an unusal ordering of ingredients. The flavour profile of the salsa is bizarre. And the overall effect, while not bad, is quite unusual.

Hawaiian Waffles with Tropical Salsa

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

Salsa

• 1 c. diced mango
• 1 c. diced pineapple
• 1/2 c. chopped bell pepper
• 1 jalape&ntile;o, seeded and minced
• 2 green onions, minced
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 tsp. red wine vinegar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Waffles

• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 c. butter, melted
• 1 3/4 c. milk
• 275g flour
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 4 tsp. baking powder, sifted
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 c. chopped macadamia nuts
• 1/2 c. unsweetened coconut

Directions

1. Combine all of the salsa ingredients, stir, and chill for 1-2 hours.
2. Preheat waffle iron.
3. Beat the eggs until foamy.
4. Drizzle in the butter and continue beating.
5. Mix in the milk.
6. Add the flour, sugar, and salt and stir to combine.
7. Stir on the nuts and coconut.
8. Scoop a portion of batter into the preheated waffle iron and cook according to manufacturer directions.
9. Repeat with remaining batter.
10. Serve topped with maple syrup and/or tropical salsa.

I went slightly off-script for this one. The recipe calls for banana, pineapple, and mango for the fruit and then vanilla yogurt and orange juice as the liquid. I found a bag of frozen "tropical fruit blend" at the grocery store yesterday. It did contain pineapple and mango, but it also had a lot of strawberry and honeydew in the mix. I figured that sounded tasty and let me buy only one bag of frozen fruit rather than two, so I just rolled with it. As for the liquids... We already had a bunch of really nice honey yogurt, so I opted to use that with a little vanilla extract mixed in. And for the orange juice... I did juice the orange that we had, but it didn't produce quite enough, so I just rounded it out with a bit of milk and called it a day. So, not quite the smoothie of the recipe, but good nonetheless.

Tropical Smoothie

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 banana
• 2 c. frozen fruit (preferably a 3:1 mix of mango and pineapple)¹
• 1/2 c. honey yogurt
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2-3/4 c. orange juice and/or milk

Directions

1. Combine ingredients in blender and purée until smooth.
2. Add more liquid as needed to achieve desired consistency.
3. Pour into glasses and serve.

---

¹ I think mine was more like 8:6:3:3 strawberries to honeydew to mango to pineapple. ^Back

This was really, really good! The passionfruit curd was incredibly delicious. And the meringue and fresh fruit complemented it very well. I would 1000% make this again. (Although I'd try to be a bit more careful with the meringue next time. The curd burst through the side of the meringue this time and made a bit of a mess. It was still delicious, just not very aesthetic.)

Mango-Passionfruit Pavlova

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

Meringue

• 4 large egg whites
• 1/2 tsp. malt vinegar
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch (cornflour)

Curd

• 2 large eggs
• 4 large egg yolks
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter
• 1/2 c. passionfruit juice¹
• juice of 1 lime

Assembly

• 1 1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 2 mangoes, sliced
• 3 passionfruit

Directions

Meringue

1. Preheat oven to 165°C (325°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
2. Place the egg whites in a clean bowl with the vinegar and whisk until frothy.
3. Continue whisking on high speed while gradually adding the sugar (~1 Tbsp. at a time).
4. Beat until stiff peaks form.
5. Beat in the cornstarch.
6. Spoon the meringue onto the prepared baking sheet and shape into a large bowl.
7. Bake at 165°C (325°F) for 3 minutes.
8. Reduce temperature to 120°C (250°F) and bake for another hour.
9. Turn off oven and let meringue stand in hot oven for 2-3 hours.

Curd

1. Combine the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar and mix well.
2. Combine the butter and passionfruit juice over medium-low heat and cook until the butter is melted.
3. Gradually stir in the egg mixture, whisking constantly.
4. Stir in the lime juice.
5. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon (10-20 minutes).
6. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours.

Assembly

1. Transfer the merginue to a serving platter.
2. Pour the curd into the meringue.
3. Spoon the yogurt on top of the curd.
4. Arrange the mango slices on top.
5. Cut the passionfruit in half, scoop out the pulp, and spoon it onto the pavlova.
6. Serve immediately.

---

¹ I couldn't find any straight-up passionfruit juice. They had passionfruit "drink" (which appeared to be cut with applejuice) and passionfruit-mango juice (which had mango juice and mango pulp added to it along with the passionfruit juice). I decided that since it was going to be topped with mango anyway, the passionfruit-mango blend would be the better match. And I think that was the right choice! It was so, so good. Like I said, would absolutely make this again! ^Back

Maangai Morekootan (Keralan Green Mango Curry)

I don't tend to make mango curries very often. They usually call for green/unripe mangoes, which can be hard to find here unless you buy them frozen. Unfortunately the frozen ones come pre-chopped but not peeled. Given that, I tend to just avoid the mango curries altogether unless I happen to see some nice-looking unripe mangoes at the grocery store. Which is exactly what happened here.

The mango that I used probably wasn't as green as it should've been. But I actually kind of liked that. It wasn't ripe, but it also wasn't quite as tart as a fully green one would've been. I thought it worked very well!

Maangai Morekootan

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. skinned split pigeon peas (toovar dal)
• 2 c. water, divided
• 1 green (unripe) mango, peeled and diced
• 1 c. fresh shredded coconut (or 1/2 c. dried shredded coconut, reconstituted)
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 25 fresh (or frozen) curry leaves, divided
• 3 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies
• 1 Tbsp. coconut oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 tsp. skinned split black lentils (urad dal/mapte beans)

Directions

1. Rinse the pigeon peas well.
2. Add 1 c. of the water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
3. Discard and foam that forms on the surface and reduce heat to medium-low.
4. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until peas are tender (~20 minutes).
5. Meanwhile, combine the remaining 1 c. of water with the mango and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
6. Reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, until water has almost entirely evaporated and mango is tender (~15 minutes).
7. Once the pigeon peas are tender, transfer them (along with any remaining cooking water) to a blender.
8. Add the coconut, cumin seeds, 15 of the curry leaves, and the chilies and purée to make a slightly gritty paste.
9. Pour the purée into the pan with the mango.
10. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
11. Add the mustard seeds, cover, and cook until they've stopped popping (30-60 seconds).
12. Add the black lentils and stir-fry for 20-30 seconds.
13. Remove from heat and add the remaining 10 curry leaves.
14. Pour the mustard seed mixture over the curry and stir to combine.
15. Cook the curry, uncovered, over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for ~5 minutes longer.

Aamras (Sweetened Mango Purée)

I was still a bit peckish after dinner and felt like I could go for a sweet treat. But I didn't really want to get back in the kitchen and bake anything and, even if I did, I knew that I probably shouldn't due to the effect it would have on my waistline. Luckily I had a can of mango purée in the pantry, so this was an easy two-minute dessert that was relatively healthy and low-guilt.

Aamras

From 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 3 c. canned mango purée or 3-4 ripe mangoes, peeled and diced
• 1 c. half-and-half (10%) cream
• 1/4 c. sugar

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in blender and purée until smooth.
2. Serve chilled or room temperature either as-is or with pooris.

I've never really gotten on board with the whole green smoothie/puréed vegetables for breakfast thing. Mixing a little bit of wheatgrass or whatever in is one thing, but if you're putting in enough greens to make it look like a St. Patrick's Day special, I am immediately dubious. It starts seeming like one of those health food fads that tries to pack in "superfoods" and forgets that food is actually supposed to taste good. So, I generally avoid the recipes that call for you to drink a kale-spirulina-avocado-superfood-of-the-month slurry sweetened with positive energy and sunshine. But... I'd already made all the other smoothie bowls in the book. And this one at least called for a decent quantity of banana and almond butter. So it seemed like those would hopefully end up as the dominant flavours, with the spinach and avocado just lending a bit of colour and bulk. And, I have to say, it did work out rather nicely! I was quite happy with the results and would definitely make it again.

I did add a bit of honey to my smoothie. And I also bumped up the quantity of almond butter a bit. And I think it did need that to get the flavours balanced right. But, having done that, it was great!

I also decided to add a little bit of toasted coconut to mine (not pictured). Which I think was a good combo. I think pineapple would also work well as a topping if you happen to have some on hand.

Green Smoothie Bowls

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 55g baby spinach
• 1/2 an avocado
• 2 bananas
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 3-4 Tbsp. almond butter
• 1 mango, sliced
• 150g blueberries
• 2 Tbsp. pumpkin seeds (pepitas), toasted
• 1 Tbsp. oat bran¹, toasted
• 1-2 Tbsp. toasted coconut (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the yogurt, spinach, avocado, bananas, honey, and almond butter in a blender and purée until smooth.
2. Divide the smoothie into 2-4 bowls depending on how big you want your servings to be. (I found 1/4 of the batch to be plenty for me.)
3. For small bowls: top each with 1/4 of the mango, ~35g of blueberries, 1/2 Tbsp. of pumpkin seeds, 3/4 tsp. oat bran, and ~1/2 Tbsp. of coconut. For large bowls: double all the topping quantities.

---

¹ I couldn't find my oat bran, so I just omitted it. The Kidlet probably wouldn't have liked it anyway. ^Back

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.

---

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

---

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 is another parfait recipe from The Breakfast Bible. Or, at least, it's based on one of the recipes in there; I ended up modifying it a fair bit. The original called for pinepple and papaya as the main fruits. I'm not crazy about papaya, so I swapped it out for mango. I also added a bit of shredded coconut because that seemed like it would go well. And a touch of honey because my pinapple was a bit on the tart side. I also just bumped up the overall proportion of fruit a bit. I had about twice as much fruit as the recipe called for, but I didn't end up using it all. I think I ended up using ~50% more fruit than specified in the original recipe, so I've written up my version to reflect this.

I've given ranges for some of the ingredients. Use more or less honey and lime depending on how sweet or tart your fruit is (and how sweet you'd like the finished parfait to be).

Pineapple-Mango Parfaits

Adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• ~2 c. chopped pineapple (fresh, not tinned)
• ~2 c. chopped mango
• 1/4 c. dried currants
• 2-3 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1-2 Tbsp. honey
• 3 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 c. unsweetened dried coconut¹
• 8 tsp. wheat germ

Directions

1. Combine the pineapple, mango, currants, 2 Tbsp. lime juice, and 1 Tbsp. honey and stir to mix.
2. Taste fruit mixture and add more lime juice and/or honey to taste.
3. Place 6 Tbsp. of the yogurt in the bottom of each of four glasses or jars.
4. Add ~1/2 c. of the fruit mixture to each jar.
5. Top each with 6 more Tbsp. of yogurt, followed by another 1/2 c. of fruit.
6. Add 1 Tbsp. of coconut to each parfait.
7. Top each with 2 tsp. of wheat germ.

---

¹ I think fresh grated or shaved coconut would be even better here, but I didn't have any, so I just used dried. Toasted coconut might also be nice. ^Back

Salatat Fawakeh (Fruit Salad)

I had been intending on making a peach coffee cake for dessert last night. Only to check the recipe and find out that it calls for peach preserves in addition to actual peaches. I didn't really feel that any of the preserves that we had would make a good stand-in for the peach ones, so I set that plan aside for now and started flipping through cookbooks for other dessert ideas.

I'd initially thought to make a carrot cake. But, after examining the amount of sugar and oil called for in the recipe, I couldn't bring myself to make it. Plus, I didn't have the buttermilk for making the soaking syrup anyway. (Yes, this cake calls for a huge amount of sugar in the batter and then soaking it in a buttermilk-sugar syrup before icing it with cream cheese frosting.) So that was out...

I considered a few different cookies. There were some interesting, not-too-sweet-looking, yeasted ones in the Italian cookbook my mom got me for my birthday this year. And the anise and nigella cookies from the Syrian cookbook were also tempting. In the end though, I decided to go for this fruit salad. We didn't quite have all the ingredients it called for, but we came close enough that I felt like I could make a reasonable approximation of it.

The original recipe (which is what I've given here) called for apples, bananas, mangoes, kiwi, and strawberries. I had the apples, bananas, and strawberries, but was bereft of kiwi and only had mangoes in frozen form as part of a "tropical mix" with pineapple, coconut, and dragonfruit. I realize that this wasn't exactly the blend that the recipe was calling for, but I decided to give it a go with the "tropical mix" standing in for the kiwi and mango.

The dish is meant to be topped with "milk curd" -- a soft, fresh, Syrian cheese. The author notes that ricotta makes a reasonable substitute if you don't feel like making your own cheese for this. I decided to try it with fat-free cottage cheese since I that is a "zero Point" food for me. The cottage cheese was fine with it, but I think the saltiness of it clashes a little bit with the fruit. Next time I think I'll follow the Kidlet's example and have it with plain Greek yogurt instead.

The salad is also meant to be topped with raisins, whole almonds, and honey. Conveniently, we still have a partial jar of whole mixed nuts packed in liquid honey, so I just used those -- along with a few raisins -- to put the finishing touches on the salad. I went with ~4 almonds, 1 tsp. of raisins, and a teaspoon or so of honey (estimating how much came with the nuts) for each portion. I think I probably could've gotten away with a little less for the raisins and honey, but it's certainly very tasty that way! (Just a little more calorically dense.)

Salatat Fawakeh

From Our Syria by Dina Mousawi and Itab Azzam

Ingredients

• 1 mango, peeled and cubed
• 1 apple, chopped
• 1 kiwi, peeled and sliced
• 1 banana, sliced
• 8 strawberries, hulled and quartered
• 200g ricotta, cottage cheese, or plain Greek yogurt
• 16-20 whole almonds
• 4 tsp. raisins
• 4 tsp. honey

Directions

1. Toss the mango, apple, kiwi, banana, and strawberries together.
2. Divide into four equal portions and top each one with ~50g of cheese, 4-5 almonds, and 1 tsp. of raisins.
3. Drizzle each with 1 tsp. of honey and serve.

Another batch of fresh pasta and a second tiramisu left me with more egg whites to use up so, naturally, I made another pavlova. The last one was delicious, but I wanted to try out something different this time. My original plan had been to do a vanilla meringue topped with coconut yogurt, passionfruit, and peaches and mangoes. Unfortunately the grocery store was all out of passionfruit, so that plan was out the window. But I still had the mango and the egg whites to use up. TF suggested just doing the same pavlova minus the passionfruit, but it felt a little lacking to me so I went hunting for inspiration.

Most of the mango recipes that I found didn't really appeal to me, but I did hit upon a couple that paired mango with ube (purple yam). Now that sounded like a good idea! And I loved the look of the pretty purple meringues. Of couse, that required either ube powder, ube extract, or both, neither of which I had. What I did have though, was frozen grated ube.

Some quick Googling said that I should be able to dry out the frozen ube in the oven and then just grind it into a powder for baking. It meant adding an extra day of prep time to the pavlova while I waited for the yam to dry, but now I have a bowl of ube powder, so I'd say it was worth it!

Ube Pavlova

Inspired by some recipes I saw online, but not actually following any of them

Ingredients

• 6 large egg whites
• 330g sugar
• 2 Tbsp. ube powder
• 2 Tbsp. cornstarch (cornflour)
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (or ube extract if you have it)
• 8 drops blue food colouring (optional)
• 6 drops red food colouring (optional)
• 500g coconut Greek yogurt¹
• 1 ripe mango, peeled and sliced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 120°C (250°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
2. Beat the egg whites until foamy and beginning to thicken.
3. Continue beating the egg whites while adding the sugar 1 Tbsp. at a time.
4. Add the ube powder and cornstarch 1 Tbsp. at a time while still beating.
5. Beat in the cream of tartar, then beat in the vanilla.
6. If you would like a stronger purple colour, beat in the food colouring at this point.
7. The meringue should be at the "stiff peak" stage by now. If not, continue beating until it forms stiff peaks. (This can take up to 10 minutes.)
8. Scoop the meringue out onto the prepared baking sheet and shape it into a thick disc with a deep depression in the middle.
9. Bake at 120°C (250°F) for 90 minutes.
10. When done, turn off the oven and leave the meringue in until completely cooled. (Overnight works well.)
11. Just before serving, top the meringue with the coconut yogurt and fresh mango. (Add a bit of toasted coconut as well if you'd like.)
12. Serve immediately!

---

¹ I found the coconut to be the weakest component of this pavlova. I think next time I'd try making some sort of coconut-flavoured custard and garnishing with toasted coconut. ^Back

Moppalah Gosht Kootan (Moppalah Beef Curry)

Full disclosure: I do not remember this curry at all. It's checked off in the book, so we apparently made it at some point, but I have no recollection of how it came out. Maybe we'll make it again one day. For now I'm going to write it down for the sake of feeling like I'm at least making a dent in the recipe backlog.

Moppalah Gosht Kootan

From 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 1 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 450g stewing beef
• 2 Tbsp. coconut oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 c. thinly sliced shallots
• 2-4 dried red Thai, cayenne, or arbol chilies, stems removed
• 2 Tbsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 c. coconut milk
• 1 tsp. tamarind concentrate
• 1 large unripe mango, peeled and cubed
• 15 fresh (or frozen) curry leaves
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Combine ginger paste, garlic paste, and turmeric and mix well.
2. Add beef and toss to coat.
3. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes (up to 24 hours).
4. Melt oil over medium-high heat.
5. Add mustard seeds, cover, and cook until they've stopped popping (30-60 seconds).
6. Add shallots and chilies and stir-fry for 4-5 minutes.
7. Add the beef, coriander, and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-12 minutes.
8. Whisk tamarind concentrate into coconut milk.
9. Pour coconut milk mixture into pan and deglaze the pan.
10. Add mango and curry leaves.
11. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 12-15 minutes.
12. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

I've been trying out a few more recipes from my Filipino cookbook. We had chicken adobo for dinner tonight and I needed a couple other dishes to round out the meal. I opted for a cucumber salad and a mango salad. For the cucumber salad, I followed a recipe that I found online. For the mango salad, I was pretty much just winging it. I ended up stirring together a couple tablespoons each of some other dressings I had on hand and stirring together a few other ingredients with some sliced mango and a little bit of palm sugar and calling it a day. I was slightly worried that such a chaotic approach would result in a disappointing dish, but it was actually amazingly good! TF and I both had seconds. I would definitely make both this and the cucumber salad again in the future.

Mango salad (top right) picture with cucumber salad (bottom right) and chicken adobo with rice (left).

Mango Salad

Ingredients

• 1 mango, sliced
• 1 shallot, halved and sliced thin
• 1 fresh red Thai chili, sliced thin on bias
• 1 tsp. palm sugar¹, pulverized
• 2 Tbsp. dressing from cucumber salad
• 2 Tbsp. dressing from salad crêpes
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and toss to thoroughly combine.
2. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
3. Top with chopped dry-roasted peanuts if desired.

---

¹ My mango was a bit under-ripe and not very sweet. If you have a very sweet, ripe mango you may wish to omit the sugar. Make it to whatever level of sweetness you prefer. ^Back

I've been looking for a good way to use up an extra daikon and hit upon this recipe. It's a bit lacking in protein, so I made a simple picadillo (Filipino ground beef stew) to go with it. You could also cook up a few shrimp or maybe some tilapia or sole to go in the crêpes themselves if you wanted to add protien without having to make a separate dish.

Filipino-Style Salad-Crêpes

Slightly adapted from Food & Wine

Ingredients

Crêpes

• 1 large egg
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. oil

Dressing

• 1/2 c. lite coconut milk
• 1/2 c. natural peanut butter (no added sugar or salt)
• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 tsp. cane or coconut vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Filling

• 1 c. julienned daikon
• 1 c. julienned carrot
• 1 c. julienned cucumber
• 1/2 c. julienned unripe (green) mango
• 1/4-1/2 c. chopped fresh mint
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Assembly

• 2-3 Tbsp. unsalted roasted peanuts, chopped
• butter lettuce, separated into leaves

Directions

Crêpes

1. Beat egg with salt and water.
2. Gradually whisk in flour.
3. Mix in oil.
4. Heat pan over medium heat and brush lightly with oil.
5. Pour a very thin layer of batter into the pan, swriling the pan around to spread the batter.
6. Cook until lightly browned on one side, then flip and cook until other side begins to brown.
7. Repeat cooking process with remaining batter.

Dressing

1. Combine all dressing components and mix well.

Filling

1. Combine all filling components and toss to mix.

Assembly

1. Place a crêpe on a plate and top with a lettuce leaf.
2. Pile some of the veggie filling onto the lettuce.
3. Top with chopped peanuts and dressing.

Steel-Cut Oatmeal

I've posted recipes for both baked and stove-top steel-cut oatmeal before. It's been a while though and I've tweaked some of the recipes. I figured it'd probably be good to write an updated post and try to collect all the various flavours and variations in one place.

Peaches and Cream Steel-Cut Oatmeal

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 c. steel-cut oats
• 1 (3") cinnamon stick
• 3 c. water
• 1 c. milk
• 1/4 c. vanilla sugar + a few empty vanilla pods
• 1 c. diced peaches

Directions

1. Melt the butter over medium-high heat.
2. Add the oats and cinnamon and toast for a few minutes.
3. Add water and milk and bring to a boil.
4. Stir in sugar, vanilla pods, and peaches.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes or until desired consistency. (It will thicken slightly as it cools.)
6. Serve topped with peach jam and heavy cream.

Cherry-Almond Steel-Cut Oatmeal

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. slivered almonds
• 1 (3") cinnamon stick
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 c. steel-cut oats
• 4 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1 Tbsp. cinnamon sugar
• 1 c. sweet cherries, pitted and quartered

Directions

1. Toast almonds and cinnamon stick over medium heat until almonds are just starting to get a bit of colour.
2. Add butter.
3. Once butter is melted, add oats and increase heat to medium-high. Toast oats for a few minutes until they begin to smell nutty.
4. Add water.
5. Stir in honey, cinnamon sugar, and cherries.
6. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes or until desired consistency. (It will thicken slightly as it cools.)

Cherry-Coconut Steel-Cut Oatmeal

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. sliced almonds
• 2 Tbsp. unsweetened dried coconut
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 c. steel-cut oats
• 4 c. water
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 c. sweet cherries, pitted and quartered
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract

Directions

1. As above, but wait until oatmeal is off heat to stir in extracts.
2. Serve as is or topped with a few squares of dark chocolate.

Apple-Cinnamon Steel-Cut Oatmeal

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 apples, diced
• 2 (3") cinnamon sticks
• 1 c. steel-cut oats
• 4 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/3 c. raisins

Directions

1. As above, adding the apples and cinnamon sticks along with the oatmeal.
2. Serve sprinkled topped with heavy cream and a little cinnamon sugar or a touch of extra brown sugar.

Peanut Butter and Jam Steel-Cut Oatmeal

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 c. steel-cut oats
• 4 c. water
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. peanut flour
• 1 c. sliced strawberries
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. As above, stirring in the vanilla after the oatmeal is off heat.
2. Serve topped with a little peanut butter and strawberry jam.

Tropical Steel-Cut Oatmeal

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. unsweetened dried coconut
• 1 (3") cinnamon stick
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 c. steel-cut oats
• 3 c. water
• 1 c. coconut milk
• 1/3 c. sweetened condensed coconut milk
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/16 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. As above, stirring in vanilla extract once oatmeal is off heat.
2. Serve topped with cinnamon sugar and pineapple and/or extra mango.

Mulled Apple Cider Steel-Cut Oatmeal

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 apple, diced
• 3 (3") cinnamon sticks
• 1/2 star anise
• 5 cloves
• 1/4 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 3 green cardamom pods
• 1 blade of mace
• 1 c. steel-cut oats
• 3 c. water
• 1 c. apple cider
• 2 Tbsp. chopped prunes
• 1 Tbsp. candied orange peel
• 3 Tbsp. jaggery

Directions

1. Follow the usual procedure of toasting the oats in the butter, adding the spices along with the oats.
2. Add the water, fruit, and jaggery and reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Serve topped with apple pie filling or, if you have some cider left over, make a reduction, stirring in a bit of butter and sugar at the end of cooking and top your oatmeal with that!

Banana Steel-Cut Oatmeal

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 c. steel-cut oats
• 1 banana, sliced
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 4 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. spiced rum
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Melt butter over medium-high heat.
2. Add oats and toast for a few minutes.
3. Add banana and brown sugar and cook for a minute or two.
4. Add water and rum and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes or until desired consistency is reached.
6. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
7. Serve topped with crushed banana chips and caramel sauce or dulce de leche.

Cranberry-Orange Steel-Cut Oatmeal

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 (3") cinnamon stick
• 3 cloves
• 1 c. steel-cut oats
• 3 c. water
• 1 c. orange juice
• 2 Tbsp. candied orange peel
• 1/3 c. dried cranberries
• 1/3 c. fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1/4 c. vanilla sugar

Directions

1. Follow the usual procedure.
2. Serve topped with cranberry sauce and/or marmalade.

Mango-Coconut Muffins

The last batch of muffins I made were a huge hit, so I figured maybe another batch was in order. I was tempted to just make more lemon muffins, but we got a couple mangoes in our produce basket this week, so this seemed like a nice way to use up some mango and test a new recipe. The mango was slightly under-ripe, but hopefully the muffins'll still come out okay.

Vegan Mango-Coconut Muffins

Slightly adapted from Love & Lemons

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. ground flax
• 3 Tbsp. water
• 7/8 c. lite coconut milk¹
• 2 tsp. lime juice
• 300g whole wheat flour
• 1/2 c. cane sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 c. coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. finely diced ripe mango
• 1/2 c. sweetened flaked coconut

Directions

1. Combine flax and water and set aside. (You're basically making a flax egg here.)²
2. Combine coconut milk and lime juice.
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together, buttermilk mixture, flax egg, coconut oil, and vanilla.
5. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix until combined.
6. Fold in diced mango.
7. Spoon into greased muffin tin. (This should make 10-12 muffins.)
8. Sprinkle coconut on top.
9. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 18-20 minutes.

---

¹ The original recipe called for a non-dairy coconut-almond milk blend. I still had some vanilla almond milk left over from making the lemon muffins yesterday, so I just used that. That said, I think coconut milk would make an even better choice here! I think full fat coconut milk might be too thick, but lite coconut milk should be just about right. And it would add a little more coconut flavour. ^Back
2 If you don't have ground flax easily to hand, ground chia should also work. Alternatively, if you don't need these to be vegan, you can use one large egg in place of the flax or chia egg. ^Back

Bhel Poori Chaat

The crisp, tart unripe mango in this really makes everything pop. I've tried making it with ripe mango when unripe mango couldn't be found and it was alright, but really did feel somewhat lacking. If unripe mango isn't an option, I'd actually suggest tossing diced cucumber with lime juice and using that in place of the mango.

Bhel Poori Chat

From 660 Curries

1 russet potato (or floury potato of choice), diced

1 large, unripe mango, peeled, seeded, and diced (should be rock-hard)

1/2 c. minced red onion

1 (14-oz.) package bhel mix

1 tsp. chaat masala

2 Tbsp. mint-yogurt sauce with chiles OR store-bought cilantro-mint chutney

2 Tbsp. red chile, garlic, and shallot sauce OR store-bought hot sauce

1/2 c. tamarind-date sauce OR store-bought tamarind-date chutney

1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped

1. Add water to potatoes to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

2. Drain potatoes and rinse under cold water.

3. Combine the potato, mango, and onion in a large bowl.

4. Immediately before serving, add the bhel mix, sauces, and chaat masala.

5. Toss, sprinkle with cilantro, and serve.

It's also worth noting that this recipe requires three of the four sauces needed for Dahi Chaat as well as the chaat masala spice mix so the two do dovetail quite nicely. If you make one and have sauces left over, making the other is a great way to use them up! (Aloo Chaat also works very well for this purpose.)

Tropical Fruit Smoothie v2.0

I wasn't planning on making any smoothies yesterday, but the toddle-bot had other ideas. Sifting through the freezer, I realized that I had most of the bits for a tropical fruit smoothie, so I figured I'd give that a try. Using coconut yogurt instead of plain really upped the deliciousness quotient though!

I didn't really do a lot of measuring for this one and I made it again today with slightly different proportions, but it turned out to be one of my favourite smoothies so far, so I figured I'd jot something down anyway.

More Delicious Tropical Fruit Smoothie
1/2-3/4 c. coconut Greek yogurt
1/2-1 banana
~1/2 c. frozen pineapple
~1/2 c. frozen mango
~1 Tbsp. honey
0-4 Tbsp. cashew milk

1. Blend and enjoy!

Tropical Fruit Smoothie

Still working my way through the smoothie recipes from the most recent Cook's Country. I didn't like this one quite as well as the Cherry-Almond one, but it was still pretty good nonetheless.

Tropical Fruit Smoothie
Slightly adapted from Cook's Country April/May 2016
1/2 banana
1 Tbsp. honey
tiny sprinkle of salt
1/2 c. frozen pineapple
1/2 c. frozen mango
1/2 c. plain yogurt
2 Tbsp. coconut water (pineapple juice or orange juice would also be good options)

1. Puree banana with honey and salt.
2. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth, scraping down sides as necessary.