Summer Shrimp Salad

Yes, this blog is about vegetarian recipes, but my husband loves shrimp, so I do make it (and eat it) sometimes. Yesterday was beautiful outside, and salad seemed perfect for dinner. This absolutely hit the spot! It is so light and fresh.

Shrimp
About 20 shrimp
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp orange juice and lime juice
2 garlic cloves
1 ½ tsp chili powder

Salad
About 4 cups of lettuce of your choice. I used mixed greens
1 avocado, diced

Dressing
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lime juice and orange juice
1 tbsp rice vinegar
Salt to taste

In a medium frying pan on medium/high heat, heat up olive oil. Add shrimp and cook for a couple of minutes. Add juices, garlic and chilli powder. Continue to cook for a couple of more minutes, or until shrimp are fully cooked.

In a large bowl, combine lettuce and avocado. Top with cooked shrimp and dressing. Toss well, and serve.

Chocolate Brownies

These brownies are delicious! For something that is whole grain and low fat, I can’t complain. My husband and I ate them with strawberries and vanilla frozen yogurt – perfect on a warm spring evening.

Modified from Tosca Reno’s Eat Clean cookbook

¾ cup dark chocolate, melted in a double boiler
½ cup organic sugar cane
1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
3 egg whites
2 whole eggs
¼ cup regularly brewed coffee
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup spelt flour
¼ cup cocoa powder
½ tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine sugar, apple sauce, egg whites, whole eggs, coffee and vanilla. Once that is well mixed, add melted chocolate.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder and baking powder.

Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Let brownies cool before cutting.

Vegetable Fajitas

This makes about 8 small fajitas or 4 large fajitas

Sauce
½ cup salsa
½ cup sour cream
½ cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Filling
1 tsp olive oil
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
1 small red onion, sliced
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
Salt to taste
Hot sauce to taste

8 small (or 4 large) whole grain, soft shell, tortillas


Preparation:

1. In a bowl, combine salsa, sour cream and cheese. Set aside.

2. In a pan, heat oil on medium/high. Add peppers and onions. Saute for about 5-7 minutes, or until vegetables are soft. Add chili powder, cumin, salt and hot sauce. Cook for another minute.

3. While vegetables are cooking, warm tortillas in the oven at about 200 degrees for a few minutes. Remove from oven. The shells should just be warm, not starting to get crispy.

To assemble fajitas:
In each tortilla, add some of the vegetable filling and a couple spoonfuls of sauce, and wrap like a burrito.

These made for a delicious and very easy to prepare meal.

For an easy tutorial on how to wrap these up, check out this link - http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/techniques/ht/burritofolding.htm

Lentil Salad

This salad is super filling, and great as a lunch on its own, or as a side dish.

Salad
1 ½ cups green lentils, cooked according to package directions
3 tbsp crumbled goats cheese
1 avocado, diced
¼ cup red onion, finely chopped

Dressing
2 tbsp minced sundried tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp maple syrup
½ tsp salt

Additional Ingredients;
4 cups lettuce, any will do, I used mixed greens


Make dressing in a small dish. Combine salad ingredients in a medium bowl. Pour dressing over salad and toss well.

Refrigerate lentil salad with dressing for a couple of hours.

Serve on top of the lettuce.

Maple baked apples

½ cup oats
¼ cup spelt flour
¼ cup slivered almonds
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ cup maple syrup
2 tbsp butter, melted
2 apples, cut in half, and the core removed

Place halved and cored apples in an oven safe dish.

Mix together oats, flour, almonds, cinnamon, butter and maple syrup in a small bowl.

Fill the centre of the apples (where the core was) with the oat mixture. The mixture will overflow a little bit, but that is okay. Add about ¼ to ½ cup of water to bottom of dish to prevent apples from drying out.

Cook at 375 for 45 minutes. Serve with vanilla frozen yogurt.

Grilled Cheese with Apple

Okay, I will admit that there really isn't a recipe for this, but I do love it! It is great on those cold days with a bowl of soup - comfort food at its best.

This is enough to make one sandwich.

2 slices of whole grain bread
1/4 cup cheddar cheese (or your favourite kind)
Half an apple, cut into thin slices
1 tbsp dijon mustard

I use a panini press for this, but a frying pan could also work. Just make it like you would make a regular grilled cheese if using a pan.

In the panini press;
-drizzle olive oil on the grill
-spread mustard on one side of both slices of bread
-Pile half of cheese on one slice, followed by all the apple, and then the rest of the cheese
-Place the other slice of bread on top
-Let cook for about 5 minutes, or until bread is golden, and cheese is melted.

Vegetable Panini

I LOVE panini's, so I started making them at home, and they are super easy!

This is enough to make one panini.

2 whole wheat panini crusts. I buy the ones from Coscto. They come in a pack of 12 (I think) but keep well in the freezer.
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, packed in oil. I rinse off the oil before putting them into the panini
3 canned artichokes, cut into quarters (can be found next to the olives, roasted bell peppers etc. in the grocery store)
Half a portabella mushroom, sliced
Large handful of fresh spinach
2 tbsp chopped red onion
1/4 cup roasted red pepper, sliced (jarred is the easiest)
1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated or sliced, whichever you prefer. I have also used Havarti, and it is VERY good.
1/4 cup hummus - I do have a recipe under snacks if you need a recipe. This is optional, and can easily be skipped if you don't like hummus.

Let your panini press heat up, and spray with an all natural oil spray, or drizzle a little bit of olive oil on the grill.

Place one of the panini crusts on the grill. Spread half of the hummus, and half of the cheese on the crust. Add all vegetables. Sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.

On the other crust, spread remaining hummus. Add to the top of the panini already on the grill.

Cook for about 5-7 minutes or until the crusts are golden brown.

Thai Curry (slowcooker)

1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 14oz can light coconut milk
1 tbsp red curry paste
1 tbsp minced ginger
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup all natural peanut butter
1 red pepper, julienned
1 orange pepper, julienned
1 small red onion, finely sliced into rings
1 ½ cups water
1 19oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2-3 cups roughly chopped bok choy
¼ cup chopped fresh basil
1 cup frozen peas
8oz brown rice noodles

In a slow cooker add all ingredients from soy sauce to chickpeas. Cook on low for 5 hours. At the end of the 5 hours, add bok choy, basil, peas and noodles. Make sure you stir the noodles in really well otherwise they will clump. Cook for another hour. Serve with more fresh basil if desired.
You can also cook the noodles in a separate pot just before serving to prevent any clumping.

Chocolate Cupcakes

I made these for my husband for his birthday yesterday, and he loved them! It is about as healthy as you can go with chocolate cupcakes...

Next time I might even add some frozen raspberries as well.


1 3/4 cups sifted spelt flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
¼ cup cocoa
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup organic sugar cane
½ cup egg whites
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup boiling water
½ cup dark chocolate chips


In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa.

In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar. Add eggs, and continue to mix for about one minute. Add vanilla, yogurt, and water. Mix well.

Add flour mixture to sugar mixture, ½ at a time. Once all the flour is combined into the sugar mixture, add the chocolate chips.

Divide evenly into a 12 cup muffin tin. The tin must be greased, or paper cups used.

Cook at 375 for 15 minutes.

I did top these with icing, but it isn't totally necessary. To be honest, I took a shortcut here, and used 1/3 of a box of organic chocolate icing, and then topped the cupcakes with coconut. They were delicious!

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

This is modified from "Eat, Shrink and be Merry".

1 19oz can white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
½ cup light vegetable cream cheese
1 cup cottage cheese
1 can artichokes, drained and roughly chopped
½ cup red onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic
2 tsp olive oil
½ cup Asiago cheese, grated
1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

On a greased pan, mix together chopped artichokes, onions, and garlic with the olive oil.Bake for 35 minutes.

While the artichokes and onions are cooking, in a blender, puree beans, cream cheese and cottage cheese. Add ¼ cup Asiago cheese.

Drain the spinach by folding 3-4 paper towels together. Place spinach in the middle, and squeeze out excess liquid. This is important, otherwise your dip will be too liquidy.

Once artichokes and onions are cooked, add them to the blender. Puree until smooth. Pour into an oven safe dish. Add drained spinach and mixed until well combined. Top with the rest of the Asiago cheese.

Bake in 350 degree oven, uncovered, for 30 minutes, or until cheese is golden brown.

Serve with toasted pita chips. To do this, cut whole grain pita into triangles. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle on salt. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes, or until they have browned.

Eggplant Parmesan

This is adapted from “Crazy Plates”.

1 Eggplant, sliced into 12 discs
1 cup whole grain bread crumbs
2/3 cup Parmesan Cheese, shredded (I didn’t have any, and used Asiago instead, but traditionally, Parmesan is what is used)
2 tsp dried basil
4 egg whites
½ tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil
2 cups of your favourite marinara sauce, homemade or store bought (I do have a recipe for Marinara sauce under Misc. if needed)
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese

In a dish, lightly beat together egg whites and salt.

In another dish, combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and basil.

Take sliced eggplant, and dip it into the egg white mixture first, followed by the breadcrumb mixture. Make sure to really press on the breadcrumbs. Place coated eggplant on a greased cookie sheet.

Once all the eggplant is coated, drizzle on the olive oil. Place in a 400 degree oven for 12 minutes. Take out the eggplant, and flip each one to the other side. Continue to cook for another 12 minutes.

In a greased oven safe dish, place 2/3 cup of marinara sauce on the bottom. Place 6 slices of eggplant on top of the sauce. Add another layer of marinara sauce, followed by the rest of the eggplant. Top with the rest of the marinara sauce, and the mozzarella cheese.

Cook at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until cheese is golden brown.

Butternut Squash Lasagne

Butternut Squash Filling
6 cups butternut squash, diced (I use the squash from Costco – it is already diced)
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and Pepper

1 500g container of ricotta cheese
1 cup 1% cottage cheese

-Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
-On a large roasting sheet, place butternut squash and garlic. Add olive oil and salt and pepper.
-Cook for approximately 20 minutes, or until squash is fork tender.
-Remove from oven, and mash until smooth. Add ricotta and cottage cheese

Carmelized Onions
3 medium onions, sliced in rings
2 tsp olive oil

-While squash is roasting, heat up olive oil in a large skillet on medium high.
-Add onions, and cook until carmelized and golden brown (approximately 20 minutes)

Béchamel Sauce
¼ cup butter
¼ cup spelt flour
2 cups skim milk
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
A pinch of nutmeg

-While onions are carmelizing, and squash is roasting, prepare the Bechamel Sauce.
-In a pot, melt butter on medium/high heat. Once butter is melted, add flour. Whisk for about one minute or until the butter and flour are well combined.
-Add milk, and continue whisking until sauce thickens. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Noodles
9 whole wheat lasagne noodles

-Cook lasagne noodles according to package directions.


In a 9x13 dish, layer squash mixture, onions and noodles. Once these are layered, add the Bechamel Sauce on top. Top with ¾ cup grated Asiago cheese.

Cook at 425 degrees for approximately 30-40 minutes, or until cheese is golden brown.

Raspberry and dark chocolate scones

¼ cup egg white
½ cup skim milk
¼ cup melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cups spelt flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ cup organic sugar cane
½ tsp salt
1 cup frozen raspberries
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

In a medium bowl, mix together the egg whites, milk, butter and vanilla.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.

Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture, and stir just until combined. Add the raspberries and chocolate.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Drop dough onto pan in 12 even balls.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until tops of scones are golden brow.

Banana and Oatmeal Brulee

Makes enough for two people.
This is a delicious breakfast. My husband loved it!

3/4 cup oats
1 1/2 cup water
½ tsp vanilla
2 tsp maple syrup
¼ tsp cinnamon
1 banana, thinly sliced
Granulated sugar for the top (about 1 tsp)

Preheat oven to 500 on broil mode.

In a pot, combine oats, water, vanilla, maple syrup and cinnamon. Cook for a few minutes, until liquid has evaporated and oatmeal is thoroughly cooked.

Place oatmeal in oven safe dishes (I used the same dishes that I cook French onion soup in, sort of like a ramekin dish). Put bananas on top of oatmeal, and sprinkle sugar on top of bananas.

Cook in the oven for a couple of minutes. Make sure that your rack is close to the burners up top, otherwise the sugar doesn’t caramelize as well. Watch closely, because it can burn fast!

Remove from oven, and let cool for a couple of minutes before serving.

Chickpea a la King

Makes about 4 servings
A vegetarian take on the popular Chicken a la King.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 medium carrots, finely chopped
3 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 portabella mushroom, diced
1 cup frozen peas
1 19oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
1 ½ cups skim milk
4 tbsp spelt flour
¼ cup freshly chopped parsley
Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large pot. Add onion, carrots and celery. Cook for a couple of minutes. Add stock. Cook for several minutes more, or until vegetables are tender.

While vegetables are cooking, combine milk and flour in a bowl. Set aside.

Once the vegetables are cooked, add chickpeas to the pot. Then add the milk mixture 1/3 at a time, waiting about a minute in between adding more.

When all milk mixture is in the pot, add the peas and mushrooms. Let it simmer for a few more minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Right before serving, add parsley and mix well into the stew. Serve with whole grain buns or bread.

I also added some diced, cooked chicken breast for my husband.

If you want to do this in the slowcooker, add all ingredients but peas, skim milk, flour and parsley. Cook for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low. About 30 minutes before it is ready, mix flour and milk together in a container until flour is dissolved. Add to slowcooker along with the peas. Top with parsley when serving.