Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

I haven't had many baking exploits in my life—mostly just seasonal impulses to make cookies shaped like things. But last night I wanted to bring a snack to a gathering of friends, so I whipped out the apron and got domestic. Not wanting to alienate the sweet-lovers or the savoury peeps, I found a diplomatic solution: salted chocolate chip cookies. You can believe me when I say the cookies are good, because technically this a third-generation recipe, pinched from two bloggers before me (Kyla Roma and the originator, Sweet Savory Life). It's like survival of the fittest; the shitty recipes fall to the wayside and the good ones get passed on and morph into even better versions of themselves. Speaking of better versions, I might try this next time with peanut butter chocolate chips.

Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
1 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
12 oz all-purpose flour (if you don't have a scale, it's roughly 2 and 3/4 cups)
1 tsp. smallish-medium coarse sea salt (table salt is a no-go, the sea salt is what gives the cookies their unique flavour)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
16 oz (2 1/4 cups) of semi-sweet chocolate chips
Parchment paper for the pan (only use wax paper if you want your cookies to suck and the paper to burn)

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar until creamy, light, and fluffy – approximately 3 to 5 minutes on medium speed. Check out the pictures on Sweet Savory Life.

3. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat for an additional 2 minutes.

4. Add baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour until cookie batter is fully incorporated.

5. Finally, add chocolate chips until well distributed. The cookie batter should be somewhat thick.

6. Drop about 2 tablespoons of dough or use a medium cookie scoop and plop the batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the edges are nice and golden brown.

7. Remove from heat and allow the cookies to stay on the cookie sheet for an additional 2 minutes. Pick up the parchment paper with the cookies still on top and transfer to a cool non-porous surface. Allow the cookies to cool on the paper for at least 3 minutes before serving.

Don't waste your time putting them on a platter like I did, you're going to eat them really quickly!

A great lunch sandwich

I got this recipe from Jennifer at Sweet on Veg—she tweeted it and I made it the next afternoon for lunch. It's called the Avocado Dream Sandwich, and it's magnificent. I made a few small changes to suit my tastes, and here's how it looks:

Ingredients:
1 Avocado (that's enough for 2 people)
Chips (I favour Miss Vickie's Sea Salt & Malt Vinegar)
Spinach
2 slices of bread or a ciabatta bun
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Mayo
Salt and pepper to taste
(and tomato slices if that's your thing—it's not mine!)

Spread a thin layer of mayo on one piece of bread (or both) so your spinach has something to cling to.

Mash your avocado in a bowl with the olive oil and salt. I like to add some balsamic as well.

Spread your avocado mixture on one side of the bread.

Sprinkle your spinach leaves on the other side.

Drizzle the avocado mixture with balsamic and top with chips.

Et voila!

Beef and Bean Chili Topped with Avocado

I found this recipe while browsing an issue of Real Simple on the flight home from our honeymoon. I made a few small tweaks to the ingredients (added carrots and red peppers) and spices.

Beef and Bean Chili

2 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 large carrots
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lb ground beef
1.5 ounces tomato paste
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 15-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed
1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 avocadoes

-Heat the oil in a large pot over medium. Add the onions, bell peppers, carrots and garlic, stirring occasionally, until tender for about 10-12 minutes.
-Add the beef, increase heat to medium-high and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until it's no longer pink, for 8-10 minutes.
-Add the tomato paste, chili powder and cumin, cook, stirring for 2 minutes.
-Add the diced tomatoes (with their juices), beans and chocolate. Also add 1/2 cup of water, salt and pepper to taste.
-Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
-Stir in the vinegar and serve topped with thick avocado slices.

For me, the avocado was what really made this special. It seemed unusual at first, but now I can't imagine the chili tasting as good without it!

Decadent Summer Salad for Two

This recipe is a mixture of a few favourite salads of mine. I made it for my girlfriends last weekend and again tonight for Luc. Since Luc isn't much of a salad guy, I know I've done well when he eats the whole thing and doesn't end up rummaging through the kitchen cupboards afterwards.

2 handfuls of strawberries
1 mandarin orange
1 avocado
1 large handful of pecans (candied, if you like them sweet and crunchy like me)
1/4 red onion
1/2 tube goat cheese
1 small head of butter lettuce
Raspberry vinaigrette salad dressing (I use Kraft Raspberry Vinaigrette)

-Rinse butter lettuce and tear into bite size pieces
-Slice strawberries length wise
-Peel mandarin and cut slices in halves
-Cut avocado into slices or chunks (whichever you prefer)
-Dice red onion
-Arrange butter lettuce on two plate and toss with red onion
-Top with the cut up fruit and avocado
-Sprinkle on pecans
-Break up goat cheese into small pieces and top salad
-Add as much salad dressing as you like and enjoy!

Homemade Kale Chips

This afternoon I went to the West End Farmers Market with my friend Liz. We checked out all of the cute dogs, sampled some of the best pickles I've ever had the pleasure of crunching into, bought some fresh veggies for lunch...and I picked up some great spice from a company called Maison Cote.

I used it while making some homemade kale chips...and the results....crispy, salty, and super delicious!

To make your own...
Wash and dry the kale - Rip into bite-sized pieces - Sprinkle with olive oil & seasoning - Bake at 350 for about 25 mins

#30 - Everything tasty has coconut milk

30: Come up with 12 healthy "go to" dinner recipes (6/12)


If you love coconut milk as much as I do, do yourself a favour and avoid the nutritional information. Go straight to the light coconut milk- it's just as tasty and wayyyyy less fattening. This recipe is really great served with pita bread and a glass of Gewurztraminer. A nice, light, spring dinner, if I might say so. 

African Curried Coconut Soup

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 large red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
• 1 jalapeño chili, seeded and finely chopped
• 2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes, canned 
• 1 tablespoon curry paste (or powder)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 (14-ounce) can light coconut milk
• 1 cup cooked basmati or brown rice

In a medium-large stockpot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and chili; cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. 

Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Add the broth, chickpeas, tomatoes, curry paste, salt, and black pepper; bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to ensure curry paste is mixed in well. Reduce the heat and simmer gently, uncovered, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients (coconut milk and rice) and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 5-7 minutes. 

(Editor's note: due to a white onion shortage I had to use red onions....yellow would have been even better)

#30 - Basically using whatever is left in the fridge

30: Come up with 12 healthy "go to" dinner recipes (5/12)


Chunky Salad on Rice

Salad:
2 coarsely chopped avocados
1 coarsely chopped red Pepper
3/4 of one long english cucumber coarsely chopped
1/4 cup coarsely chopped white onion (or more if you're a big onion person)

Toss ingredients (delicately) in a bowl

Dressing:
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/8 tsp paprika
dash of salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in a container with a lid that won't leak. I like to use one of my magic bullet containers and the screw on lid. Once all of the ingredients are inside, throw that lid on and shake like hell.

*You can play around with the portions of dressing ingredients - I always just wing it, eyeball it, whatever you want to call it.

Basmati Rice
*I like to use basmati rice and cook it with slightly less water so it turns out light and fluffy.

Serve the salad on top of a pile of rice and drizzle (or dump on!) as much dressing as you prefer. I don't dump, but I drizzle until it's smothered...

My voracious appetite got in the way of remembering to take a photo of the finished product, but I'll be sure to snap some next time around and post the photos here.

#30 - Something the whole family can enjoy

30: Come up with 12 healthy "go to" dinner recipes (4/12)

This is definitely one of my favourite recipes, not only because it's easy, healthy and deliciously mouth-watering, but because you can take the finished product and do whatever you want with it. Don't feel like eating healthy? Smother it in mozzarella and mayo and cheddar and as many condiments as you can stand to put on one bun. Or eat it open faced, eat it on bread, eat it with no bread at all, just a naked burger on your plate, begging to be eaten and spared the humiliation of sitting undressed in front of all the other burgers with the nice buns. And FYI, they heat up really well the next day for lunch at 

work. You can take my word on that one. I even had one for dinner tonight that was left over from last night. Just now. I literally just finished eating it, and that's why I'm writing this because I remembered, "oh yeah, I was going to post this recipe..." sooooo, here we go!

Tarragon Turkey Burgers

1 lb lean ground turkey

1/2 cup coarsely shredded zucchini

1/4 cup chopped red onion

1 tbsp fresh (or dried...I use dried) tarragon leaves

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp salt

3 grinds black pepper

2 large eggs

Preheat broiler or grill.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and shape mixture into patties.

Cook 5 minutes per side or until browned. 

I like to cook for 5 mins on each side, then flip for one minute, then flip again and add a bit of shredded mozzarella cheese. Once the cheese is melted, I take them off and eat them on whole wheat hamburger buns with mayo and iceberg lettuce.

 

#30: Winging it

30 - Come up with 12 healthy “go to” dinner recipes (3/12)

The past two recipes were my slightly modified versions of other recipes that I found. The recipe that I am posting today is my own creation. It's called: making something with all the shit in my fridge. Enjoy!

1 spaghetti squash

1 tbsp olive oil
3 chicken breasts, cubed
1 tsp rosemary
2 red peppers coarsely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 handfuls of green beans cut into 1 inch sections
salt to taste

Sauce:
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup dry white wine
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
1 tbsp dill weed
1 tsp lemon juice

Cut the squash in half length-wise and scoop out the seeds. Put both halves (open side facing up) in a casserole dish with an inch of water and microwave on high for 10-15 mins (my feeble microwave needs 15 mins). Remove from microwave, cover and let stand for 5 mins.

Saute the chicken in half the olive oil (1/2 tbsp) until it is almost fully cooked (about 10-12 mins). Drain some of the liquid from the cooked chicken and add the other 1/2 tbsp of olive oil, rosemary, green beans, red pepper and garlic. Salt to taste and cook for another 10 mins, or until the green beans are tender. I like to cover the pan with a lid to speed up the cooking process of the green beans.

Sauce:
Melt the butter on med-high in a saucepan and add the flour, stirring for 1 min. Gradually whisk in the milk, whipping cream, white wine and salt, stirring until the sauce boils and thickens. Add the mozzarella and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the dill weed and lemon juice, mixing well. Sauce is ready to serve once thick.

Run a fork across the flesh of the squash, pulling up the strings. Pile spaghetti squash strings on a plate and top with chicken mixture and desired amount of sauce. Voila! This will serve 3 hungry people. Or as I prefer, it will serve 2 and the remainder will wrap up nicely in Tupperware for lunch at work the next day.

*I made this last night and completely spaced out and didn't take any pictures. So if you're curious to know what it looks like in the end...I'll make it again next week and post the results!

#30: Spicy Adventures with Turkey Chili

30 - Come up with 12 healthy “go to” dinner recipes (2/12)

This recipe took a significant amount of experimentation - specifically with the spices. The first time making it we had to chase each bite with a mouthful of bread and a douse of milk to put out the inferno. I'll list the original measurements for the spices, and those of you brave enough can try it the way the recipe intended...everyone else, follow me, here we go...let's make chili!

Ingredients:
2 tsp butter
1 lb lean ground turkey
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 and 1/4 cup coarsely chopped red bell pepper
3/4 cup coarsely chopped white onion
2/3 cup coarsely chopped celery
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp chili powder (original: 2 tsp)
1 tsp paprika (I do just a pinch less than 1 tsp)
1 tsp ground cumin (again, just a pinch less than 1 tsp)
1 pinch of ground hot cayenne pepper (original: 1/8 tsp)
14 1/2 oz plum tomatoes, chopped (canned with juice is best)
1/2 cup chicken stock

-Heat 1 tsp butter in a saucepan over high heat
-Add the turkey and season with salt & pepper
-Break up turkey and cook until browned thoroughly
-Remove turkey and keep in a covered bowl

-Reduce heat to med-low and heat 1 tsp butter
-Add red pepper, onion, celery and garlic, cooking for approx 5 mins or until vegetables begin to soften
-Add chili powder, paprika, cumin and cayenne pepper and cook, stirring for 1 min
-Increase heat to med-high and add tomatoes and chicken stock, stirring
-Bring to a boil over high heat
-Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 15 mins
-Add the browned turkey, stir and simmer for 5 more minutes

-Serve with toasted english muffins (or at least that's what we like to do!)


*I would also like to point out that the recipe says "serves 4".....this is definitely only enough for 2 people!

#30: Squash Curry, Number One

30 - Come up with 12 healthy "go to" dinner recipes (1/12)

Just to clarify...when I say "come up with", I don't necessarily mean "invent"....just find and tweak! For this recipe I would recommend using a wok:Saute in canola oil with a touch of sesame oil for 3-4 mins:
4 green onions, diced

4 cloves garlic finely chopped or pressed

6 fresh whole kaffir lime leaves

2 Tbsp. fresh grated ginger

Add:

2-3 Tbsp. red curry paste (I prefer 3)

1 can coconut milk

4-5 cups squash cut in large chunks (butternut or mexican squash)

1/2 can water (basically enough water to just cover squash)

Mix gently so that the curry unclumps. Cook on high for about 15 mins or until squash is nearly done.

Add:

One bunch of fresh basil leaves, chopped to desired size (I like very finely chopped)
2 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 large handfuls of fresh baby spinach

Mix gently until all spinach is wilted

Add:

1 -14oz can chick peas, drained and rinsed

squeeze in juice of 1 lime

chopped cilantro (optional)

*Be sure to salt as you go to your taste

Mix for about 5 mins, pick out the kaffir lime leaves and serve on rice (I like to use basmati rice).