Mediterranean Yoghurt Dip

We are forecasted to have an absolutely beautiful weekend in Halifax. Whenever nice weather comes our way I feel there are a few activities one must partake in. Now that the patios are out I totally support your decision to drink margaritas, sangria or beer by the pitcher on a patio at any fine Halifax establishment. If you don’t feel up to heading downtown for any reason (heads up the Blue Nose Marathon is this weekend) you should instead plan a BBQ, or a picnic. Invite some friends, or family or your neighbours and just relax with good people and food outside. Growlers from Garrison Brewery or Propeller Brewery should be invited, just sayin’.

When you do plan a BBQ this weekend, or get invited to one, remember that BBQing can be hard work, especially when you have a few hungry and slightly buzzed people hanging around you. To prevent ‘vulture’ syndrome, as I like to call it, make a dip before people come over so you have something to snack on while you sip on drinks and get to work cooking food.

I know what you are thinking, well what is a quick and easy dip, right? Why not try something new, something fresh and low in fat and calories and high in flavour like this Mediterranean Yoghurt and Feta Dip. You can choose to make labneh with 0% yoghurt and also use light feta to cut down on the calorie and fat count in this already good option. The lemon juice and zest adds zing, straining the yoghurt to make labneh makes it thick and creamy as cream cheese without the extra fat and the fresh veggies mixed with the salty feta and olives to give this dip bite.

If you are short on time you can use plain Greek yoghurt however it won’t be as creamy and thick as if you strain it the night before.

Mediterranean Yoghurt Dip

• 1 recipe of labneh, yields approximately 1+1/2 cups
• 1 green onion, sliced thin
• 1/2 lemon, juiced (about 1-1 1/2 tbs)
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 1/3 cup finely diced mix of peppers
• 4-6 black olives, pitted and diced
• 1/4 cup of crumbled feta
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp olive oil
• freshly ground pepper and sea salt to taste
• extra green onion and olive oil for garnish

Method

Make the labneh the day before you want to make this dip.

Prepare the vegetables, thinly slice the green onion reserving some for the garnish. Finely dice any peppers, pit and dice the black olives and place in a medium sized bowl with all the labneh. Zest and juice your lemon and add to the yoghurt along with olive oil, oregano, garlic salt and pepper. Stir all the ingredients together, and then add the crumbled feta and combine.

Check for seasoning, you may need a bit of sea salt. Let rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving to let the flavours marry.

You can absolutely make this the night before you want to serve it. Garnish with more olive oil and green onions, serve with rice crackers or grilled Greek pita and veggies.

Not ready for something new? Why not try an old favorite like guacamole and pico de gallo that is great served with corn chips. Hummus of all kinds are welcome served with fresh veggies and pita. Dill dip goes great with thick pretzel sticks, or pretzel crackers but if you are craving a rich cheesy dip try my garlicky nacho dip. 

Artichoke and Spinach (dip) Hummus

It was a super beautiful day yesterday (and today). The first day of spring, and it was 22 C in MARCH!!! March people! Be excited already! I was excited, in fact, I believe I still am a little excited but this warm weather has me thinking.. I’m soon going to be wearing less layers, so I need to shed a few internal layers as well. So far my dreams of getting fit has not recently been put into action but there is a glimmer of hope. That hope is in the form of delicious hummus. If artichoke and spinach dip and lemony hummus had a vegan baby it would be this.

Artichoke and Spinach (dip) Hummus

• 1 can of low-salt chickpeas
• 3 tbsp of tahini
• 1  jar of marinated artichokes
• 2 green onions
• 2-3 cups of baby spinach
• 1 clove of garlic
• juice of one lemon
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/s tsp of garlic salt
• water( to thin according to preference)
• salt and pepper
• olive oil for garnish

Method

Peel garlic and process/chop well in food processor.

Wash, trim and chop green onions separating the green part from the white part.  Add the green parts to a food processor with the garlic and add the artichokes (reserve marinade the artichokes come in and set aside). Process the remaining  for a few pulses leaving some texture to the artichokes. Spoon into bowl and set aside.

 

Heat a sautee pan over medium, add 1-2 tablespoons of the artichoke marinade. Add the whites oft he green onions, spinach and salt and pepper to taste. Once spinach is wilted through, set aside.

Wash and drain the chickpeas. Add chickpeas, tahini, remaining artichoke marinade, lemon, garlic salt and Italian seasoning to the food processor and blend well. If needed add water or oil to thin out to desired consistency.

 

Add hummus and spinach mixture to the same bowl containing the artichoke mixture and combine well. Season with salt and fresh ground pepper. Serve drizzled with olive oil and with brown rice chips, pita or pita chips. If you want a cheesy flavour be sure to add some nutritional yeast in with the hummus, if you are wanting a more creamy texture, process the artichokes for longer, add more tahini and olive oil instead of water.

Creamy Onion and Garlic Kale Chips

My Birthday weekend has come to a close. Thank you to everyone who made it such a special day for me.

Thursday I was surprised at work with a cheesecake from my Mom and multiple gifts from my coworkers. I spent Friday day at the spa, followed by a delicious lunch at Brussels with AJ, his Mom and my Mother.  Saturday, the dogs and I had a great walk and ran into a few friends along the way. Later that night a few of us ventured out to Cosmic Bingo and while we won no money at the actual game we got a price for best costumes as a group! 

Did I mention I have a lovely bunch of co-workers? I mean extremely lovely. They are so lovely they bought me a dehydrator for my Birthday. I may or may not have went around work that day saying ‘DE-hy-dra-TOR’ I was so excited. They knew that I probably wouldn’t buy one myself even though I did want one but I feel deep down inside they wanted these. Kale Chips. Perfect crunchy, salty, creamy and packed with flavour… oh did I mention they are raw and vegan? The dressing you make would make an amazing vegan creamy salad dressing as well, I was gleefully licking my finger tips every chance I got.

Creamy Onion & Garlic Kale Chips

• 1 bunch of curly kale, washed stemmed and dried well

Dressing

• 1 clove of garlic
• 3 green onions
• 1/3 cup tahini
• 1 tbs apple cider vinegar
• about 1/3 cup of water
• salt and pepper to taste (optional)

Method

Wash, stem, and pat dry an entire bunch of kale and set aside.

In a food processor combine green onions and garlic and blend well. Add vinegar, tahini and pulse a few times. Slowly add in water until you have the consistency of ranch dressing. You may need less or more than 1/3 cup water to do this. Season with salt and pepper. If you want a more sour cream and onion taste omit the pepper.

 

Tear kale roughly into 2″ squares and add to a mixing bowl. Pour all of the dressing over the kale and mix very well to coat all the kale.

 

Set your dehydrator to 105 degrees. Carefully lay out kale as flat as possible and try not to overlap. Leave for about 12 hours. Enjoy!

 

Spicy Sticky Sweet – BBQ Baked Tofu

Who says vegetarians can’t have soul food? 

I really don’t know what has been stopping me all this time other than the fact (as Sue and I were discussing) tempeh would be the best suited for BBQ flavours. Unluckily for me tempeh lives at the health store not in my everyday grocery store, so me and tempeh have a long distance relationship. Feeling neglected and needy I fell back on my old love, tofu.

I thought I’d give my Mom’s tried and true recipe for rib sauce a go. The result was extremely delicious and addicting. Unfortunately it’s been super grey out so my pictures are a little dingy but I hope it looks as good to you as it tasted to me!

And remember….It’s all about the sauce. 

 BBQ Baked Tofu 

• 1 package of firm or extra firm tofu, drained over night

Ribless Sauce

• 1/2 cup of ketchup
• 1 clove of garlic, grated
• 2″ piece of ginger, grated
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp smoked paprika or liquid smoke
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tbsp rub seasoning or chili powder (good substitute)
• 1/2 jalapeno, sliced into rings
• 1 medium onion, sliced into rings
• 4 cloves of garlic peeled and smashed
• salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Method

Drain tofu overnight. I usually wash it, wrap in a few paper towels then a tea towel and leave in the fridge overnight with a container of juice or can of tomatoes on top.

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut tofu in half length-wise. Cut each of those pieces in half width wise, then cut into thirds so you have 12 pieces about 1″x1″1+1/4″ x 3+1/2″.

Prepare onions, whole garlic cloves and jalapeno. Heat olive oil in a medium sized pot and stir fry veggies over medium. Mix ketchup, ginger,  grated garlic, ginger, vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, and spices.

  

When veggies are browned, add ketchup mixture to the  same pot.Season with salt and pepper if needed. Add sliced tofu to coat. Pour into a prepared 9×9 pan. Bake for about 40 minutes, turning half way. The sauce will really brown and caramelize, the tofu will absorb all the flavour.

The best texture is after the tofu has cooled, but there is no stopping you from eating it right away. Serve with greens and grits or mashed potatoes and biscuits…. yummm.

  

Linguine with Arugula and Avocado Cream

Hello everyone, sorry about the delay it’s been a very stressful but happy ending week. I worked hard last weekend getting photos and recipes together but somehow the odds worked against me to get any of them posted. Last weekend Josh stopped by for some wine and some chats and I turned out some of this pasta in a few minutes. Its a quick and easy meal, it’s relatively cheap and healthy. 

It’s a vegan recipe however I did add rennet free parmesan cheese at the end which is totally optional and easily replaceable with nutritional yeast or toasted pine nuts. This recipe really feels like spring to me, and I think replacing the arugula with spinach would be a fine idea or adding fresh peas would be divine.

I have seen a  lot of avocado cream sauces popping up lately and a lot of them say not to reheat them but I reheated this for lunch and it was fine.  I got 4 servings out of this using about 1 1/2- 2 tbsp of sauce and about 1 – 1/2 cups of pasta per serving. If you are hungry though you could easily only serve two people so doubling the recipe for the sauce may work in your favor if you like a lot of sauce!

Linguine with Arugula and Avocado Cream 

• a regular sized box of linguine pasta
• 1 avocado, pitted and skinned
• 3 green onions, trimmed and washed
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1/2 juice lemon
• 2 tbsp olive oil (extra for drizzling)
• a few leaves of fresh basil or 1 tsp of dried basil
• salt and pepper
• 1/2-3/4 cup of arugula per serving
• Parmesan, nutritional yeast or toasted pine nuts (optional)

Method

Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. I used linguine but spaghetti or any long noodle pasta will do. Cook according to the directions and taste preference.

When pasta is half way through it’s cooking point, add garlic and green onions to a food processor and mince. Peel and pit an avocado and add it to the food processor with the lemon juice, olive oil, basil and blend until creamy. Season with fresh cracked pepper and salt.

To prepare the pasta remove a serving of it from the bowl so it’s not completley drained and add a handful of arugula over each serving stirring each bowl to just wilt the arugula. Add about 2 tbsp of avocado cream sauce, turning to coat. Top with a drizzle of olive oil, more fresh pepper, grated parmesan, toasted pine nuts or nutritional yeast.