Coffee Break Cookies (and Bars!)

Wow. I can't believe that there's less than a month left until I get ripped free of my little "safety cocoon" of school and let loose into the working world. Granted, there's a lot of work left to do in these last few weeks - between school, articles for Nutrition in Motion and Total Cleanse, and all 4 of my co-ops, there's hardly any time left to sleep - let alone blog! Having just finished writing presentation notes for one of my co-op boss' presentations (a 3-hour one on healthy eating on a budget, complete with some of my recipes!) I figured I'd take a few minutes to let you in on some of the goodies I whipped up during some of my fits of "I can't sit anymore".

So I guess it's no surprise that the main flavours that came into play over the past few weeks were two of my old "stress relief" foods - coffee and chocolate. Quite possibly the most potent of all my past comfort foods (and chocolate still is in the form of cocoa powder in warm oatmeal!), I knew that almost everyone that would be partaking in either treat would fall just as hard as I did - coffee lovers or not. The espresso hounds were thoroughly sated by the end of their snack break - but the chocolate fiends were just as pleased (especially with the cookies - cocoa, chocolate chips and cacao nibs? Puh-leeeze!).

So, while I'm burning the midnight oil with a cup of green tea, enjoy a couple shots of espresso on me. Trust me... you've earned it.

Inspiration + Impulse = A Totally Different Dinner

Wow! Another dinner post! I guess you can’t fault day trips out of your borough for a lack of inspiration. I actually went down to Kensington a few weeks back with a mission to buy one of the ingredients that came into play with this spicy seafood meal of mine, but believe it or not I came home with it (after searching a few stores) but without a clue why I chose to buy it in the first place! Thankfully, achiote is a fairly common ingredient in the foodie universe, especially with the Mexican and South American crowd, so although I bought the annatto seeds ground to a powder and not make into a paste, a few quick searches and some stitching together of recipes gave me a viable substitute that was perfect for a whole different meal.

I can’t believe how well the spicy paste mixture meshed with the sweet shrimp in this cobbled-together crapshoot of an idea. In all honesty, it would be a killer use for grilled steak, mixed into burgers, stirred into veggies and rice or smeared onto BBQ’d jumbo prawns (mmm, shrimp on the barbie!). I can’t wait to try it out with tofu, too – I’m betting that with a good, couple-days soak in the mixture it would convert any meat freak! The sweet and sour slaw was a refreshing, crunchy and cooling accompaniment, balancing out the entire meal. In short, it was nothing less than a perfect Summer supper.

Now if I could only figure out what I bought the achiote for in the first place!

Achiote Shrimp Slaw
Serves 1

Sweet and Sour Slaw
9 oz bag coleslaw mix
5 tbsp rice vinegar
3 tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp mustard seed
¼ tsp celery seed

Marinated Shrimp
1 tbsp achiote powder
½ tsp cumin powder
¾ tsp black pepper
pinch chipotle pepper
pinch allspice
pinch oregano
pinch cinnamon
½ tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
1 ½ tbsp white vinegar
2 tbsp water
1 clove garlic, pressed
½ tbsp grated orange zest
1 can (106g) small salad shrimp, drained well, OR 3.5 oz cooked small shrimp

Slaw

1. Mix rice vinegar, sugar, salt and mustard seed in a small cup.
2. Pour over the slaw mixture and toss well. Let sit 1 hour.

Shrimp and Assembly

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together achiote powder, cumin, pepper, chipotle, allspice, oregano, cinnamon, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, white vinegar, water, fresh garlic and orange zest.
2. Add shrimp and stir to coat thoroughly.
3. Taste and adjust seasoning, then top slaw mix and serve.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 253.1
Total Fat: 0.0 g
Cholesterol: 70.0 mg
Sodium: 492.8 mg
Total Carbs: 43.2 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.1 g
Protein: 20.7 g

Spices for Dad

I’m always at a loss for ideas when it comes to gifting occasions with my parents and grandparents. I’m old enough that hand-made clay paperweights and painted rocks don’t cut it in reality, but with a few exceptions I don’t have enough income to buy them things they either really want or really need. Wine has been my default gift with my parents for a few years, but now that both my mom and dad have decided to cut down on the alcohol in their diets (not that it was a lot anyway – a glass of wine with dinner or a beer with a BBQ’d burger), it’s been morphed into a special-occasions-only beverage. In a family that appreciates good wine (and with a wine hoard to match) it’s not overly prudent to buy them any more! I usually default to a more-or-less “trinket” gift accompanying something homemade, but even that can cause problems too when trying to pick something!

A VERY Late Harvest

I know – what am I doing posting a fall-ish recipe in the middle of June? Well, I figure that cake is a universal food... who needs to play by the seasonal rules when freezers are invented and apples are always around? I actually was inspired to make this after I – ahem – overbought a host of Red Prince apples because they’re delicious. But being the only apple eater around, I had a few that got a bit past their prime and not being enough to warrant sauce-making I got my bake on! I knew that we had a half-bag or so of cranberries in the freezer (left over from Christmas) and I had ground some of that season’s roasted squash seeds into a coarse flour that was very popular with my peers at school when I used it in banana bread a few months back. I also discovered in the midst of my “pantry rooting” some candied pineapple I had baked into biscotti in December. Everything came together nicely when I found a recipe in an old copy of LCBO’s magazine, and though it totally wasn’t what I expected (the batter is more a dough!) it was even better than I imagined with my “veganizing” and flour additions! The tasters at school loved the mysterious hint of coconut, mesquite and banana flavours, the pop of the cranberries and of course the pumpkin seed meal.

So while it might not be July yet, you can enjoy a summery “Christmastime” with all the yummy treats the cold, dark months also bring. Call it “extending the harvest”, call it crazy, or just call it what it is – plain good food.

Harvest Cake
Serves 10
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oat flour
2 tbsp mesquite flour (optional, but GOOD!)
½ tsp powdered stevia extract
1/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
¼ cup coarsely ground, toasted pumpkin seeds (from 1/3 cup whole)
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 large, over-ripe banana
½ cup dark brown sugar
1 tbsp agave nectar
1 tbsp vanilla
zest of 1 orange
¼ cup canola oil
¼ cup cold brewed apple herb tea
2 medium apples, peeled and diced
3.5 oz candied pineapple, diced
¾ cup cranberries, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 325°F, line an 8" springform pan with parchment and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together flours, stevia, coconut, pumpkin seeds, baking powder and salt.
3. In a large bowl, mash banana with sugar, agave, vanilla, orange zest, oil and tea.
4. Add the dry mixture and fold in. Dough is slightly stiff.
5. Spread two-thirds in bottom of pan and top with an even layer of apples, pineapple and cranberries.
6. Pull off small pieces of remaining dough, flatten slightly and lay on top of fruit, allowing some to peek through.
7. Bake for 75 minutes or until tests done.
8. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes; then remove from pan and finish cooling on the rack.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 260.6
Total Fat: 7.9 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 28.8 mg
Total Carbs: 50.8 g
Dietary Fiber: 4.6 g
Protein: 3.6 g

Dinner

It’s been a while since I put up a savoury post of any kind – not since my to-die-for pizza recipe! I am still on that pizza kick, by the way – but once in a while everyone needs to jazz things up. Somehow, though I had never eaten it before in my life, I got it into my head that I wanted to try one of the ugliest fish in the ocean – monkfish. It’s called a “wolf fish” too, for good reason: the whole animal is one Hell of a scary looking thing (if you’ve ever seen the “Money, Money, Money” scene in Mamma Mia!, you’ve seen one), and the only part of the beast that’s commonly thought to be edible is it’s massive tail. It’s also one of the leanest fish out there, even though the meat is as hearty as tuna loin or halibut and grills, sears and roasts remarkably well.

Flavour-wise, though it’s often called “poor man’s lobster”, I on no level tasted that type of sweetness or butteryness. In fact, the overall taste is fairly mild, almost like a muted tuna, and while apparently it (and it’s liver) are used in sushi and sashimi I wouldn’t recommend it raw to the squeamish or the overly sensitive. Even as fresh as possible (it was practically still swimming when I bought my fillets in Kensington market) the smell and texture is... odd to put it mildly. Unlike any “fish” smell I’ve ever experienced, it is pungent and lingers on your fingers even after washing, although that disappears with even quick cooking. However, it is one of those creatures of the sea that will stink up your house for hours if you steam or microwave it (for God’s sake, don’t microwave any fish!). No matter how frugal-minded you might be, resist the temptation to try and skin it yourself (unless you have a wicked-sharp knife and experience with them). They aren’t your typical scaly fish, but have a thick skin and a slimy membrane coat underneath that that’s creepy enough just touching, let alone trying to remove. Besides, monkfish is one of the cheaper fish out there – it’s worth your while to have the skilled professionals do the work for you this time.

I mentioned that monkfish will give your home an oh-so-lovely aroma when you choose to steam it. Well, it was never mentioned to me, and so what do you guess I did with the first round of my catch (I froze the other 2 portions)? Yup, I steamed the sucker. Thankfully, the meal tasted absolutely fantastic – a little salty (I would reduce the tamari by ½-1 tbsp and definitely use low-sodium broth), and the “fishy” smell infiltrated the vegetables a little bit – but it wasn’t obtrusive. Next time I’d probably just pan-sear the fish, poach the veggies and combine them at the end in the bowl with a nice side of brown Basmati.

Steamed Asian Monkfish with Poached Vegetables
Serves 1
½ cup vegetable broth
2 tbsp tamari
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp grated ginger
3.5 oz broccoli, chopped
12 green beans, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
5 oz raw monkfish, cubed
1 tbsp minced green onion (I used the green parts of my Egyptian onion)

1. In a deep saute pan, bring broth, tamari, honey and ginger to a boil.
2. Add all the vegetables, cover and cook 3 minutes.
3. Drizzle lime juice over monkfish cubes and season with pepper.
4. Lay fish on top of the vegetables, cover and cook 3 minutes.
5. Remove vegetables and fish with a slotted spoon and keep warm.
6. Bring liquid to a boil and reduce for 5 minutes, until thickened.
7. Spoon vegetables into a bowl, pour hot sauce overtop and garnish with minced green onion tops (and Siracha if desired).

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 276.1
Total Fat: 2.7 g
Cholesterol: 50.0 mg
Sodium: 2,604.9 mg
Total Carbs: 37.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 7.3 g
Protein: 29.7 g