Rhubarb, oh Rhubarb

 I'm obsessed with rhubarb. Utterly obsessed. I think it's because I discovered the tangy, fruity goodness of rhubarb only recently. I was never exposed to it as a child -- only in those horrible commercial strawberry rhubarb pies that had a goopy thick filling that was pretty much all sugar and very little fruit. When I first picked up the beautiful green and red stalks at the market, I baked them up into this crumble with raspberries. Ever since then, I was hooked. Last year, I made orange rhubarb madeleines that were fragrant and spongey. I even sneaked a little into last year's strawberry preserves. So this year, when I saw them for $1.99/pound at the market, I indulged .. several times. The most recent, being this roasted strawberry rhubarb upside down cake. It's a combination of two different recipes, and the secret is a big splash of balsamic vinegar mixed in with the fruit as it's roasted.

This cake is awesome. It's simple to make and beautifully moist and lemony. It's the kind of cake that you can whip up for unexpected company, or to cheer you up if you're having a rough weekend. It's probably also perfect for Dad tomorrow and brought over the top with a little dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I enjoyed mine plain, usually as an after school treat, and when I brought a slice to my stressed-out colleague, she said it made her day a little bit brighter.

There's still rhubarb out there and the local berries are just starting to get beautiful, ripe, juicy and cheap.  Roast your fruit, beat your eggs, pick out some interesting whole wheat flours and find a beautiful organic yogurt to put into this cake. Make someone's day a little bit brighter.

Roasted Strawberry Rhubarb Upside Down Cake
adapted from Joy the Baker and Everybody Likes Sandwiches

1 large, or 2 small stalks of rhubarb, washed and chopped
1 cup of strawberries, washed, hulled and halved
1.5 tablespoons of natural cane sugar
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar

2 eggs
1/2 cup of brown sugar
zest and juice of half a lemon
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/4 cup of canola oil
1/4 cup of plain yogurt
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 cup of spelt flour
1/2 cup of whole wheat flour

1. Combine the fruit, cane sugar, and balsamic vinegar in a 9 inch baking pan. Toss well. Roast in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until the fruit gets soft and the juices start to bubble and thicken ever so slightly.

2. While you're waiting for the fruit to roast, make the cake. Mix the eggs, brown sugar, lemon juice and zest, vanilla, oil and yogurt in a large bowl. Mix until everything is well-combined. Sift in the flours and baking soda. Mix until just combined.

3. Pour the cake batter over the roasted fruit and pop it back in the oven. Bake for 30ish minutes or until the cake gets a beautiful golden brown and a cake tester inserted comes out clean.

4. Let the cake cool completely. Run a knife along the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Invert a plate on top of the cake. Now flip!  Carefully lift off the baking pan and admire your work. Enjoy in the sunshine.

Enchiladas: Pantry Cooking

I know it's spring and it's hardly a time to cook from your pantry -- what with all the asparagus and rhubarb floating about the market, not to mention the first strawberries of the season?  Summer is around the corner and fresh salads and local fruits and veggies should be a staple.  But sometimes, even in the middle of a lovely spring harvest, we need our pantries.

Maybe it's a rainy weekend what you can't get out to market, and a quick dash to the convenience store down the street is all that you can manage. Or maybe it's that crunch time of the year when you can't get organized enough to shop for the week and you find yourself home from work without having stopped for groceries. It's a good time to pull out those pantry recipes. You know, those recipes that you can put together in a snap that are filling and pleasing and leave lots of leftovers for tomorrow?  Here's a good one for you. You probably have everything you need in your pantry or freezer right now.  Yes, there's canned and frozen veggies instead of fresh, but sometimes, convenience rules and you don't have to feel guilty about that.

I've made these simple black bean and rice enchiladas twice, inspired by a post at That's So Vegan. It's got bold, spicy flavours and comforting carbs, plus a little cheesy topping that goes a long way. The best part is that it make a whole lot, so you can totally entertain with it, or keep it in the fridge for a few more meals to come. A squeeze of lime and a hit of fresh cilantro, or some diced avocado on the side would make this dish even better, but don't sweat it. It tastes wonderful even without the added goodies. Can't get tortilla wraps easily?  No problem. Skip the rice in the filling, and steam it up on the side.  Serve your filling over the rice like a chili. Done!

Don't feel bad about cooking from your pantry in the spring.  Sometimes we all need a bit of pantry love. Wishing you lots of sunshine, spring veggies and yummy suppers!

Easy Black Bean and Rice Enchiladas
inspired by That's So Vegan

serves 3-6 depending on appetite sizes!

1 medium carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 small green pepper, diced (optional)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon of smoked paprika
salt and pepper to taste
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup of frozen corn
1 large can of diced tomatoes,
1 cup of water or stock
1 large handful of basmati rice
6-8 tortillas
1/3 cup of grated cheese (I use mozzarella)

1. In a large pot, saute the carrot, celery, onion, green pepper and garlic in olive oil for 5-7 minutes, or until they start to soften and become fragrant. Add the cumin, paprika, salt and pepper and mix well.

2. Add the black beans, corn, tomatoes, stock and mix well.  Bring to a boil and add the rice.  Cook, covered for about 10-12 minutes or until the rice is tender and the liquid is thickened.  Turn off the heat and let it cool slightly while your oven heats up.

3. In a 9'13 pan, add a thin layer of your filling mixture to the bottom. Now it's assembly time! Take a tortilla in your hand and put some of the filling in the middle -- I would say about 1/4 cupish -- just eyeball it.  Now, wrap up the filling nice and tight (better than I did!) and lay it seam-side down on the pan.  Repeat until you fill the pan. I got 6 the first time I made it, and 8 the next.

4. If you have more filling left over, spread it over the top of the enchiladas . Sprinkle it with cheese and pop it in your 350 degree oven for about 15ish minutes -- just so the cheese gets gooey and the tortillas get a tiny bit crispy in the edges.

5. Serve with your favourite toppings (sour cream, diced green onion, avocado) or just plain is a-ok.

Roasted Tomato Orzo Salad

Make this NOW!  If you're buried under work and don't have time to cook, but still want to taste that sunshine outside in your kitchen, make this salad.  Make a big batch and let it sit in your fridge. It only gets better with time.  Eat it all week for lunch, or supper.  Add some chopped raw cucumber, blanched broccoli or a nice green salad on the side and you're totally set.

The first time I made this salad, I totally fell in love with it. The second time I made it, I added chopped red onion and it was even better.  You could totally play with it -- add chopped roasted or raw red peppers, zucchini, roasted garlic, whatever you like.  Or keep it simple and enjoy it just as much.

Don't sweat it.  It's easy.  Take 30 minutes out of your work-at-home time and make this salad.  You'll be so glad you did.  Make it even if you're not busy, and spend the rest of your time biking outside, having coffee or beer on sunny patios or planting the garden.  It's THAT good.  Go for it!  Happy eating!

Roasted Tomato Orzo Salad
serves lots!

1.5 cups of uncooked orzo
4-5 ripe tomatoes, or couple pints of cherry tomatoes, chopped or halved
a big splash each of olive oil and balsamic vinegar
1 big pinch of salt
1 few good grinds of pepper
1/2 red onion, diced
3-4 basil leaves, chopped
a few sprigs of oregano (or use thyme, or parsley .. anything you've got on hand!)

1. In a large pot of water, cook the orzo for about 15 minutes, or until tender and/or al dente.  Drain and set aside.

2. While the pasta is cooking, toss the tomatoes in the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.  Spread it out on a baking sheet and roast on high (under the broiler) for about 15-20 minutes, or until the tomatoes break down and the juices get kind of sticky.

3. Put the pasta in a large bowl and add the onion.  Toss with the tomatoes and their juices.  Add in the chopped herbs and toss again.  Let it cool in the fridge, if you can wait, or just dig in.  It's ten times better when you pull it out a few days later.

Blueberry Crisp for Grandma

I love making treats for my Grandma.  She's usually not a sweet dessert kind of person, but she enjoys treats and today was the perfect day to make something in her honour.  Every year on mother's day, my Mom is usually away on vacation, so we celebrate mother's day and father's day together when she gets back.  But on mother's day, we also take the time to chill out with our Grandma -- a very special person indeed.  She raised us when we were little and our Dad was working the night shift and our Mom had to go back to work. She picked us up from school, made us breakfast and lunch, and played silly games with us during our summer vacation.

My Grandma has been feeling sick lately, so she didn't feel like going to a restaurant for mother's day brunch.  We brought brunch to her this year, and this fresh blueberry crisp was the perfect way to end it. Truth be told, I really wanted to bake something with rhubarb, but our local markets didn't have any, so I settled for nice pints of sweet, floral blueberries.  I wanted to maintain the freshness of the fruit -- I've tried too many crisps and crumbles where the fruit is jammy and super sweet, not something my Grandma would appreciate.  So I kept everything simple -- no cornstarch or thickeners, just fresh fruit, lemon juice and zest and a sprinkling of sweetness.  The crisp topping baked up in nice lovely crumble chunks with an added nuttiness from the use of spelt flour.  It was a lemony, fresh, just sweet enough crisp, perfect to end mother's day brunch.  It we had a bit of fresh thyme, I'd throw some in for sure, and it were Ontario peach season, I'd definitely consider a peach and blueberry crisp.  But it's perfect as it is, and Grandma loved it, which was the most important part.

Happy Mother's Day!

Lemony Blueberry Crisp
serves 4-6

1 pint of fresh blueberries, washed
juice and zest of 1 lemon, divided
1 tablespoon of natural cane sugar
1/2 cup of spelt flour
3/4 cup of rolled oats
3 tablespoons of honey
2 tablespoons of canola oil

1.  In a baking dish, combine the blueberries, sugar and half the lemon juice and zest.  Toss lightly.  Set aside.

2.  In a bowl, stir together the flour, oats and the other half of the lemon zest.  Add the lemon juice, oil and honey and mix well.

3.  Crumble the oat mixture over the fruit and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until the fruit just starts to bubble and the topping gets nice and golden.

4.  The dessert begs for ice cream or whipped cream, but if you eat it on it's own, you could definitely call it breakfast!

Cool Treats for Cinco de Mayo

I don't know much about Cinco de Mayo.  I never knew what it was all about.  I only knew that it meant the 5th of May, which was yesterday.  I learned that it commemorates the Mexican resistance against French occupation.  Inspiring indeed.  Although Cinco de Mayo isn't really recognized in Canada, I feel compelled to mention it because somehow, it's been on my mind all weekend.  There are hosts of Mexican-inspired recipes I've been waiting to try, like this roasted pineapple and black bean bowl, these sweet potato and black bean enchiladas and these Mexican hot chocolate cookies.  But they'll have to wait.  It was biking weather, which meant not too much time in the kitchen, but I did make these creamy and cool mango lime popsicles to commemorate the occasion. 

They are a perfect after-biking treat when you're not sure whether you're more hungry or thirsty. The yogurt gives it a creamy protein boost while the mango and lime still manage to quench your thirst.  It tastes tropical and inviting and it's impossible to eat just one.  But that's ok.  There's no added sugar -- just fruit and 100% juice are enough to sweeten it, provided that you have a nice juicy ripe mango.  If you use greek yogurt instead, you'll up your protein content for sure.  If you have it on hand, buttermilk is a handy replacement for the yogurt.  And if you want a super grown up treat, a shot of tequila might be good.

I'm not going to pretend to speak Spanish and type something that I got off a translator, so Happy Cino de Mayo!

Creamy Mango Lime Popsicles
makes about 16, depending on the size of your popsicle molds.

1 large mango, diced
1/4 cup of 100% juice -- mango would be ideal, orange would work in a pinch, I used Ceres pear juice
juice and zest of 2 limes
1/2 cup of unsweetened coconut water
1/2 cup of skim milk yogurt


1.  In a small pot, combine the mango and fruit juice and heat until boiling.  Reduce to simmer and then cook, covered for about 10 minutes, or until the mango softens and starts to break down.  Blend the mixture using an immersion blender, or transfer to a regular blender.

2.  Cool the mixture to room temperature.  Add the juice and zest, coconut water and yogurt.  Whisk until well-blended.  Pour into popsicle molds and freeze overnight.

3.  Enjoy!

Lemon Picnic Loaf

It's May!  Almost time for rhubarb and strawberries, fiddle heads and asparagus, long bike rides and picnics.  Do you like picnics?  I confess that I've probably never planned a perfect picnic with little containers or mayo-free salads and glass jars filled with lemonade.  But we've had lovely coffee + scone breaks in the park, PBJs from plastic lunch containers pulled from our bike packs, and lots of ice cream (cones and cups) and icy drinkings while strolling or lounging on grassy, hilly areas of the park.

I love the idea of picnics and one day this summer, perhaps I'll plan the perfect picnic with a perfect picnic menu, one that includes the perfect picnic dessert -- a dessert that's fuss-free, not to sticky or melty and one that definitely won't get squished on the way to the park.  A dessert like this lovely lemon loaf.  It's refreshing and lemony and just sweet enough to be called dessert.  Add a little glaze on it, and it would definitely be a great contender next to those chocolatey treats that we sometimes need a break from.

This loaf is sturdy, but not stodgy.  It has a nice, tender crumb, and even though it's vegan (meaning no eggs to keep it together), it does not fall apart when you bite it.  The flavour is lemony and zingy with just a little bit of nutty from the spelt flour.  I know this is not sounding like dessert, but trust me, one bite -- maybe two-- and you'll be addicted.  It's the kind of dessert that packs well and is great at finishing off a meal on the road, but if you had it at home, it would beg for blueberry sauce, ice cream or a sweet sticky glaze. 

It's delicious straight up, but added fresh berries would be an awesome treat, as would some lemon curd (I found an awesome recipe for vegan lemon curd that I'm dying to try) layered in the middle, or even dried fruits.  I had it plain the first time, and then the next, I added dried blueberries.  Totally awesome. 


Vegan Lemon Spelt Loaf
makes one small loaf
adapted from Liz Lemon Nights

juice and zest of 2 medium-sized lemons
3/4 cup of almond milk
1/2 cup of natural cane sugar
splash of vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of canola oil
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
2 teaspoons of cornstarch
1.5 cups of spelt flour

1.  In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice and zest, almond milk, sugar, vanilla and canola oil and whisk to combine.  Set aside.

2.  In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and soda, and cornstarch.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients slowly, mixing gently during the process.  The mixture will be quite runny.  Let it sit for about 5 minutes or so while the oven preheats.

3.  Pour the batter into a prepared loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes, or until the loaf gets a lovely golden brown colour, and a cake tester inserted comes out clean. 

4.  Enjoy!  Happy picnicing!

Silky Smooth Asian-Style Brown Sugar Custard Tarts

I know some people who get inspiration to cook from the food they eat at restaurants.  My Auntie used to re-make restaurant dishes at home all the time.  We'd go out to eat and she'd taste something she really liked, and then soon, she'd be concocting her own version at home.  She found it a real challenge to try to make something taste authentic.  And I loved watching her and asking a million annoying questions.

When I bake and cook, it's usually something I've seen on blogs, or something I have a craving for.  I've rarely, until recently, tried to re-make restaurant food at home, but now I see how satisfying it can be.  It was awesome when I made Chinese steamed sweet red bean buns at home -- like having dim sum without the grease and the wait!  I've also made baked barbecue pork buns with the help of my Dad (who made the filling) and this lovely, easy bread recipe.  I even glazed it and everything!  Most recently, I tried my hand at making Chinese custard or egg tarts.  Ever had them?  They're a sweet, smooth, barely flavoured custard baked with a flaky crust that's a cross between savoury and sweet.  I used to have them all the time when I was little, and never imagined I'd be making them myself at home.

But I did!  I wanted something special and cute to bring to my Mom as a surprise treat one day, and these tarts were just the thing.  They're relatively easy to make, and the custard feels so silky and lovely in your mouth, especially good when you eat them warm.  The recipe I used seemed odd at first -- measurements of liquids in grams and the half an egg yolk really threw me off!  It was also a recipe that made 7 tarts -- an odd number, I thought.  But I pressed onward, changing grams to milliliters, and carefully adding in just half an egg yolk.  It turned out fantastic!  And because I used brown sugar, it got an added caramel taste you won't find in the tarts at the Asian bakeries.

A few notes about the recipe.  It calls for evaporated milk, but not too much of it.  If you don't feel like opening a whole can just a few tablespoons, I think it's safe to say that regular whole milk or non-dairy milk (as long as it's not the lite kind) will work find.  Light cream (like the cream you might have for your coffee) would probably also be good.  Also, you'll need to get those tin foil tart shells to press the crust in. They're about 3'1.5 inch shells. You could try doing it in a muffin pan, but be extra careful when pulling them out, as the pastry shells are quite delicate.

Asian-Style Brown Sugar Custard Tarts
adapted from The Missing Lokness
makes 7 tarts

Crust:
1/4 cup of Earth Balance margarine (or salted butter)
3 tablespoons of powdered sugar
3/4 cup of all purpose flour
1/2 a large egg yolk
2 teaspoons of evaporated milk

Custard:
9 tablespoons of water
1/4 cup of brown sugar
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons of evaporated milk

1.  To make the crust, cream together the margarine and powdered sugar until well combined.  Add the egg yolk and mix well.

2.  Add the flour and mix, slowly, adding the milk as you mix.  Keep mixing until you get a nice soft dough.  You might need to add a few extra drops of milk.  Form the dough into a ball and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

3.  Meanwhile, make your custard.  First add the water to pot and bring to a boil.  Add the sugar and cook until the sugar has dissolved.  Set aside to cool.

4. In a large bowl, beat the eggs and evaporated milk until well-combined.  Add in the cooled sugar syrup and mix well.

5. Take your dough out of the fridge and divide it into 7 little balls.  Press them into the tart shells and fill will the custard mixture, making sure to leave a bit of room at the top.

6.  Bake your tarts in a 375 degree oven until the custard jiggles slightly when tapped.  Serve warm.