Tuscan Bean Dip

From Joy Bauer's Food Cures

PrintableRecipe

Hands on time: 5 minutes

Makes 1½ cups

Ingredients

1 can (14-16 oz/398-540 ml) cannellini or navy beans, rinsed & drained

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp-1 tbsp olive oil ( I used avocado oil this time)

2 tbsp fresh basil, thinly sliced (I used baby arugula this time)

½ tsp fresh sage or rosemary, chopped (I used both)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 pinch red pepper flakes

¼ tsp kosher salt (optional)

Ground black pepper (optional – I found the red pepper flakes & garlic added enough heat)

Directions:

1. Place everything in a food processor and pulse until smooth.

Serve immediately  with vegetable sticks (Ruth’s note:  I found it very thick, so either dilute with a little water or do as I did… fill celery sticks, scoop out center of English cucumber or small sweet red peppers to stuff.  Another option, fill small whole wheat pita halves with a spoonful or “butter” a tortilla wrap and roll it up. 

Quick Veg Chili Quesadillas

From Healthy Starts Here

Printable Recipe

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 6 minutes
Serves 1 Just multiply by hungry faces

Ingredients
1 large trans-fat free 100% whole wheat tortilla (I used Ancient Grains)
½ cup family style vegetarian chili (I heated mine up for a minute in the microwave first)
2 tbsp shredded light Monterey Jack cheese or whatever you prefer
2 tbsp salsa (I used store bought President’s Choice Smokey Chipotle Salsa)
1 tbsp fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1 tbsp light sour cream (optional)

Directions:
1. Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat. Place the tortilla flat in the skillet. Spoon the warm chili over half the tortilla and then sprinkle with the cheese.

2. Fold the tortilla in half over the cheese and press down gently. Cook until the cheese melts and the tortilla is golden on the underside (about 3 minutes).

3. Carefully flip the tortilla and cook the other side until golden (another 3 minutes or so).

4. Remove from skillet and cut in half. (If you are making more than one, keep the cooked ones in a warm oven.

Serve with salsa, cilantro and sour cream (if using).

Spicy Swiss Chard Tahini Dip

Spicy Swiss Chard Tahini Dip
Adapted from Healthy Cooking for the Jewish Home

Printable Recipe

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Makes 1½ cups

Ingredients:
½ lb/225g Swiss Chard, stalk removed (the book uses spinach, great, but any lovely green
veg would work well – kale, comes to mind)
2 cups water
½ cup tahini paste – stir well before measuring
2 cloves garlic
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp hot sauce (I used Cholula’s Chili lime sauce)

Directions:
1. Heat water to boiling in a small saucepan. Add the Swiss chard and boil, uncovered over high heat for 2 minutes or until the chard is tender. Transfer to a colander, drain the greens and reserve ½ cup of the cooking liquid, letting it cool.

2. Rinse the chard under cold water and drain well, pressing excess water out of the chard.

3. Drop the garlic cloves through the feeding tube of a food processor with the motor running. Add the chard to the bowl of the food processor, scraping any garlic into the bowl as well.

4. In a small bowl, combine the tahini, lemon juice and hot sauce. Taste and adjust to your preference. If you like things mild, you might want to start with a teaspoon of hot sauce and work your way up.

5. Add the sauce to the food processor and pulse until it’s the consistency you like. If it’s too thick, add some of the cooking liquid.
Serve with pita or tortilla chips or crudités – or all three.

Seasoned Tortilla Chips

Seasoned Tortilla Chips

Printable Recipe

Prep time: 5 minutes
Baking time: 5 minutes

Makes 60 chips

Ingredients:
5 large tortillas = 60 chips
Extra virgin olive oil to brush on tortillas
Mixed Italian herbs – or whatever your favorite dried herbs are – oregano works well with tortillas
Garlic powder
Paprika – your choice – sweet, hot, smoked

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C and line baking sheets with foil for easy clean up.

2. Place tortillas on a cutting board. Brush with oil, sprinkle herbs, garlic powder & paprika. Cut into wedges. Place on baking sheet in one layer.

3. Bake in the middle rack for 4-5 minutes, or until crispy and starting to golden. Remove to cool.
Great served on their own or with hummus or other spicy dips

Empanadas de Pino

Empanadas de Pino
Recipe from my daughter Sharron's Chilean friend taken from a google search

Note: Chile has much higher elevation than Toronto, so cooking is different; the person who made them used a recipe taken from a Google Search, so timings might be off; a lot of conversation and taking notes, meant some key elements might be missing...like exactly how many are in a batch, and what temperature/time it takes to make them.

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: (Filling - 15-20 minutes; empanadas - 30-60 minutes)
Makes more than 1 dozen, less than 2 dozen

Ingredients:
Filling:
4 large eggs, hardboiled
1 large onion, diced
2 large packages ground beef (maybe 2lb/1 kilo total)
2 beef bouillon cubes dissolved in 350 ml hot water
paprika, chili flakes, oregano and salt to taste
2 garlic cloves, minced

Dough:
4 heaping tbsp’s Crisco (actually she used soup spoons)
2+ cups hot milk (really she used a teacup)
1 large tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
pinch or two paprika
8 cups + white flour
2 egg yolks

1 more egg yolk to mix with water for basting the empanadas before baking

Instructions
For the filling:
(Don’t start the dough until the filling is totally done.)
Fry the onion in olive oil on med-hi heat until golden. Add some chili flakes to the onions as they cook. When the onions are soft and translucent, add the beef, break it up and turn heat down to med-low. Add the garlic, a bunch of salt, lots of dried oregano and the beef broth, stir and let it cook, covered, until the beef is cooked through. Add 3 or 4 heaping tbsp’s white flour and stir it in to thicken the sauce. Remove from heat and allow to cool (actually by the time you've kneaded the dough, the filling is cool enough).

Start the dough:
1. Melt the Crisco in a small pot over med heat. Put the 8 cups flour on a flat working area, mix in the baking powder, salt and paprika and form a bowl shape in the middle of the mound.

2. Heat one cup of milk and pour it along with the melted Crisco into the mound of flour and mush it around with your hands. Add 2 egg yolks and another cup of hot milk.

3. When it’s solid enough, start kneading, adding more milk and flour as needed. When it’s nice and firm (this could take a while), break off manageable pieces at a time and start rolling it out quite thin (3mm? maybe thinner). Keep what you’re not rolling wrapped in plastic wrap to keep it moist.

Baking the empanadas:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F/175C degrees. (Maybe try 400F/200C. Cony’s recipe was 350 for 30-40 minutes and they were nowhere near ready. We turned the heat up and baked them an extra half hour.)

2. Use a small plate to cut out rounds of dough. Peel the boiled eggs and cut them into quarters. Take one round, roll it out a tiny bit. Put one quarter egg, one whole olive (with pit), and a big spoonful of the meat mixture. Keep a cup of warm water nearby to moisten the edges with your fingers. Fold it over and press the edges to seal them, pinch, fold over and pinch again.

3. Place on a lightly floured baking sheet. Keep going with the rest of the filling and dough rounds. Baste with milk and egg yolk mixture.
Bake until golden (30-60 minutes?)

Serve with Pebre (a delicious, spicy condiment)

Pebre also excellent on grilled meat, chicken & fish

Ingredients
2 peeled tomatoes, diced
1 medium onion, diced
4 tbsp chopped cilantro, chopped fine
1 jalapeno chopped finely
½ tbsp salt
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp oil

Directions:
Mix it all up and serve it as a condiment for empanadas

Baked Eggplant Chips with Sumac & Yoghurt

Baked Eggplant Chips with Sumac & Yoghurt
From Donna Hay Magazine

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20-30 minutes (depending how skinny the wedges and how crispy you like them)

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
2 long Japanese eggplants, NOT peeled
½ cup olive oil (actually, I just drizzled over until I thought all the wedges had a little)
To serve:
2 tsp sumac*
Coarse sea salt (just a sprinkling over hot chips)
Lemon wedges
Plain yoghurt

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C and line a rimmed baking sheet with foil for easy cleanup.

2. Cut the eggplant, lengthwise into thin wedges. Because Japanese eggplants are so long, I also cut then in half across before cutting them into wedges

3. Toss the eggplant in a large bowl with enough olive oil to coat them. Start with ½ cup and add only as needed. The eggplant will soak up as much as you add, so don’t overdo.

4. Bake until the wedges are dark and crispy. The amount of time will depend on the size of the wedges and amount of eggplant on the baking sheet.

5. Once done, remove to a bowl and sprinkle with sumac and sea salt and squirt a little lemon juice. Toss and serve with some plain yoghurt on the side – Greek style is my favorite, but frankly, I like them straight - no yoghurt at all.

*Sumac is a Middle Eastern spice that I have come to love. If you can't find any where you live, substitute some Aleppo Chili Pepper or Chipotle powder...or whatever you think might add your favorite zing to these smoky fries.

Herbed Goat Cheese Dip

Herbed Goat Cheese Dip
From called The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life

Change up the herbs for different flavors; use instead of mayo on sandwiches and burgers; add milk or buttermilk and make a great salad dressing;

Prep time: 5 minutes
Chill time: at least 1 hour

Makes: ¾ cup

Ingredients:
6 oz/170g goat cheese
1 tbsp plain yoghurt
2 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup fresh flat leaf/Italian parsley
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
2 tsp fresh mint leaves
(of course you could change up the flavor by using different herb combinations)
Pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Put cheese, oil and yoghurt in a food processor and process until smooth. Stir in chopped herbs (actually I just put everything in at the same time). Season to taste.

2. Transfer to a bowl, cover and chill for at least 1 hour.

Cheesy Mushroom & Onion Quesadillas

Cheesy Mushroom Quesadillas
Every meal could have a different flavor, depending on which mustard, cheese or dried herb you add. Here’s my favorite combo. This is perfect as a Tapas dish, appetizer, or light meal

Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Baking time: 20 minutes for oven baked; 6-8 minutes for grill pan; 3-5 minutes for panini makers

Serves 4

Ingredients:
8 large flour tortillas (I like to use whole wheat, sundried tomato or spinach ones)

Filling:
4 cups mushrooms, sliced (I like cremini - brown mushrooms - best and for added earthiness - is that a word? - I add 1/2 cup reconstituted Porcini mushrooms - let the dried mushrooms sit in enough boiling water to cover them for 5-10 minutes. Discard the liquid or save for soup and chop the mushrooms)
1 large onion, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme or oregano
1-1 ½ cups grated cheese (Mozarella, cheddar, goat, Brie…. For South Beach Diet fans, use low fat cheese)
Your favorite spicy mustard to "butter" the tortilla

Directions:
There are a few ways to actually make the quesadillas – baking at high heat in the oven; using a non-stick skillet or grill pan on top of the stove; and a panini maker.

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C

2. In a large skillet/fry pan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Sauté the mushrooms and onions until the onions are limp and golden (about 5 minutes or so). Remove from heat and add the dried herbs and toss.
Oven baked:
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil wrap (for easy cleanups).

4. Spoon the filling on 2 tortillas, "butter" each with mustard, add half the mushroom onion mixture, sprinkle with ½ of the cheese. Top with the other tortilla and lightly press down. Repeat for the rest of the quesadillas. ( or put filling on half and fold the other half of the tortilla over the filling, creating a half circle)

5. Bake in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes or so (it will be golden and start to crisp) and flip. Bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cut into wedges to serve.

Grill pan or skillet on top of the stove: Fill the same way but for 3 minutes or so per side over medium high heat.

Panini maker: same as grill pan, but no flipping necessary.