Roasted eggplant and artichoke salad

Someone once told me "No one makes friends with salads". Well, summer is the time for salads and last night I made the friendliest salad in existence. I dare you to find any qualms with this guy! Just look at him (^^). Roasted eggplant, toasted slivered almonds, crumbled goat cheese, and fresh artichokes, how can you possibly exclude him from your friend circle?? Impossible.

What you need:

• 2 cups lettuce, spinach, or other favourite leafy green
• 1 eggplant (or 2, depending on how big they are)
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• goat cheese (as much as you'd like...I'm usually generous)
• 2 tbsp toasted slivered almonds
• 4 artichoke hearts
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 squirt of honey (or agave)
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 fresh lemon
• 1 tbsp soy sauce

What to do:

1. Preheat the oven to 400C. Slice the eggplant into dice-sized pieces, season with a bit of salt and pepper, and set aside in a large serving bowl.
2. Mix together olive oil, apple cider vinegar, agave, garlic, cumin, and paprika in a bowl. Coat the eggplant with the mixture, and then place in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet.
3. Bake for about 40 minutes, mixing every 15 minutes, until the eggplant is a nice golden brown. Let cool.
4. While baking, mix the juice from one fresh lemon with the of soy sauce.
5. Mix the roasted eggplant with lettuce, tomatoes, onion, and sliced artichokes. Add the lemon juice mixture and top with slivered almonds and crumbled goat cheese. Add fresh parsley to make this salad look extra pretty.

More friends for this little salad coming your way soon. 

Happy Friday!

A.C

Tilapia with mustard chive sauce

Tilapia is probably my favourite of the white fishes but a lot of (crazy) people find it bland once it's cooked. SO, on a quest to appease these strangely-pallated folk, I looked into sprucing up the ol' tilapia recipe. Giada came to the rescue with this light and fresh mustard chive sauce. The sharp mustard, sour yogurt, and sweet agave, all blend together perfectly in an obscenely simple topping. 

What  you need:

• 4 (5 to 6 oz) tilapia fillets
• extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• 1/4 cup plain, Greek yogurt
• 2 tsp honey (I used agave)
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tbsp freshly chopped chives
• salt and pepper to taste

What to do:

1. Preheat a broiler. Spray a small baking sheet with vegetable oil and set aside.
2. Drizzle the tilapia fillets on both sides with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the fillets in a single layer on the baking sheet and broil until cooked through and the flesh flakes easily, about 5-7 minutes. Don't overcook! Dry tilapia tastes somewhat like chalk dust.
3. For the sauce: mix yogurt, agave, and mustard together in a small bowl until smooth. Whisk in the lemon juice and chives, and season with salt and pepper.
4. Drizzle tilapia with sauce.  

I'm keeping this sauce in my back pocket as a secret weapon for other white fish.

On an unrelated note, it's Summerlicious in T.O - anyone check out some sweet eats?

Happy Monday!

A.C

Greek marlin

Marlin! Not just a professional baseball team it seems. We had some marlin steaks the other night and before I could figure out how to cook it, I had to figure out what "it" was. This saltwater white fish is similar to swordfish, just sliiightly tougher. It's best served grilled or fried but in an attempt to keep things a tad healthier, I found a recipe that involved baking. As a general rule of thumb, baking time is 10 minutes per inch thickness (so 5 minutes/side for a 1 inch thick piece). Don't overcook or you'll end up with a dry, tasteless, sad little fishy! I tweaked this Greek marlin recipe (found here) to make my own delicious concoction.

What you need:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 tomatoes, cubed
• 4 oz chopped fresh basil
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1 tbsp minced garlic, divided
• 1 tbsp feta cheese
• 2 (6 oz) Marlin steaks

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place 1/4 cup butter and 1/2 tbsp garlic in a medium pot, over medium-low heat. When the butter is melted, stir in the tomatoes, basil, and lime juice. Just before the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low. Toss in feta cheese about a minute before serving.
3. In a small pot, melt the remaining butter, and mix in remaining garlic.
4. Arrange the marlin steaks in a baking pan, and drizzle with the butter and garlic mixture from the small pot.
5. Bake the fish for 7 minutes in the preheated oven. Turn fish, and continue baking 7 minutes, or until easily flaked with a fork. Spoon the tomato mixture over the fish to serve. 

fresh veggies 

 limes

stewing sauce

buttery garlicky tomatoey goodness

marlin steaks

serve with your favourite veggies

This fish was so flaky and tender, and the greek topping was perfect - light and flavourful, with a hint of saltiness from the feta. Next time I'd add black olives to the mix and make it a full-on greek style...Opa!

Happy Monday!

A.C

Indian-spiced potato salad

A quick post about an easy, tasty, spicy little salad I found in the Fresh Juice magazine. I'm always looking for new non-lettuce based salads to make in bulk so I don't have to worry about lunch in the morning. I often find potato salad recipes use cream and mayo (read: fat) as a taste enhancer, but the mix of spices in this one gives off bold flavours while still remaining super healthy. 

What you need: 

• 2 lb small red potatoes, cut into small chunks
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 can (540 mL) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 6 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro/parsley
• salt and pepper, to taste

For the vinaigrette:

• 3 tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp grainy Dijon mustard
• 2 small garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
• 3/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp salt, ground coriander, curry powder, and pepper
• 1/3 cup olive oil

What to do:

1. Toss together potatoes, oil, salt and pepper. Arrange in single layer on foil-rimmed baking sheet. Roast in centre of 425F/220C oven, stirring once, for about 30 minutes or until tender and golden, then transfer to a bowl to cool. 
2. For the Vinaigrette, whisk together vinegar, mustard, garlic, ginger, cumin, salt, coriander, curry powder and pepper. In a thin stream, gradually whisk in oil. 
3. Toss half of the vinaigrette with the now-cooled potatoes. Stir in chickpeas, green onions and cilantro. Toss in remaining vinaigrette just before serving, or to taste.

lil tators

green onions (bad breath city)

curry, coriander, cumin, ginger powder

mix it up

I added a can of peas because why not?

Hint: Pair it along side a spice-rubbed pork or chicken dish to really impress at a backyard summer BBQ.

Happy Friday!

A.C