Don’t forget your shovel.

You need…

*red onion — peeled, cut in half, and then cut 2-3 slices and then cut the slices into small pieces.

*hand full of dried cranberries

*hand full of pepitas OR sunflower seeds

*some kind of lettuce (any kind, except iceberg, but something tasty is better)

**put all this stuff into a salad bowl**

For the dressing:
in a jar (which has a lid) put…

*3 spoons of olive oil.

*1 spoon of vinegar (use herb vinegar or red wine vinegar)

*a pinch of salt

*fresh ground pepper

*a small amount (1/4 teaspoon roughly) of dijon mustard (optional)

close lid, shake jar vigorously

JUST before you are ready to eat:

Pour dressing on salad and toss to combine.

VARIATION:
*leave out the dried cranberries and pepitas/sunflower seeds.

*replace them with some blueberries and cubes of feta cheese or another salty cheese (you can leave the salt out of the dressing if you wish and also find salt reduced cheese and/or rinse it off a bit before putting it in the salad)

I’ve been working on this for awhile and it is almost perfect. Slightly adapted from this healthy strawberry-blueberry crumble, but different. Summer is a time when a lot of berries get eaten at my house and some weeks, they just aren’t finished, so this is what you can do with it. As usual, amounts are approximate because I do not always measure them.

Ingredients:

Mix of sliced fresh strawberries, blackberries and blueberries. Amounts will vary depending on size of your dish and how many your family has left behind in the fridge.

zest and juice of one lime

1 scant teaspoon of white sugar

dabs of margarine (optional)

Crumble Ingredients:

1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup whole wheat flower
c. 1/4 cup walnut pieces
c.1/4 cup (or even just a tablespoon) unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)
1/4-1/2 cup margarine.
couple tablespoons of brown sugar

Directions:

1) heat oven to 350º.
2) In an ovenproof glass dish or pie dish (I use a Pyrex dish) , spread the berries. cover them with lime zest, lime juice and sprinkle the white sugar on them. You can add a few dabs of margarine if you wish.
3) Place all the crumble ingredients in a separate bowl and rub the margarine in until you have a crumble mixture.
4) Sprinkle the crumble mix on top of the berries.
5) cover with foil and place in oven for about 30 min (convection oven)
6). Take the foil off and allow it to brown in the oven for 10-15 more minutes.

Serve warm with coconut or vanilla ice cream/frozen yoghurt.

By special request from my reading eating audience.

Ingredients:
2-3 T. heaping or so… low-fat Gelatin-free Yoghurt (plain!)
1T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Juice of 1 lime
small pinch of salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste (I like a lot)
good sized pinch of dried basil

Method:
1) I make this in a small old jam jar which I’ve cleaned out and keep on hand for making dressings.

2) Put all ingredients in the jar. If the lime is cold (ie was in the fridge) heat for 30 sec. in the microwave before you slice in half and then squeeze juice. Why? I dunno … but this trick makes lemons and limes jucier.

3) tightly close jar with lid.

4) shake vigorously until mixed.

5) Let stand while you make a green salad/the rest of dinner. If it has to stand for a few hours, put the jar in the fridge. This helps to make the flavours blend.

6) taste and adjust seasoning.

7) At the last minute, pour on salad, toss and then serve.

Variations:
As you wish:
*Use a lemon instead of a lime, but you’ll only need half.
*add a clove of crushed garlic;
*add other dried herbs or a combo e.g. oregano and thyme;
*for that classic “ranch” taste, add dried dill;
*add a little cayenne to give it some snap!
*Use vinegar instead of lime/lemon (I like to use a herbed vinegar that I make using herbs from my garden, but you should try any mild (i.e. not strong tasting) vinegar. Or be nice to me and I’ll give you a bottle of herbed vinegar from my garden!

OK, so, this recipe comes from Nava Atlas’ 5-Ingredient Vegetarian Cookbook. It is simple, fast, and frankly… I get far too much appreciation for this recipe given how damn easy it is. Perfect for feeding kids — big, small, and inbetween.

Ingredients:
1 package of wraps (I use whole wheat) — i need about 5 for this
1 can of refried beans
1/4 cup water
2 scallions chopped
hot sauce to taste
about 1 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese grated or finely chopped in the food processor

Directions:

*Open the can and put the refried beans in a bowl. Add 1/4 cup water (or thereabouts to thin it out), chopped scallions, and hot sauce. Combine.

* In a pie dish, layer: one wrap, 2-3 heaping tablespoons of the bean mixture, a little of the cheese. Place another wrap on top and repeat the layers until finished. (End with a wrap.)

*Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Feel with your hand, if not warm enough, microwave for a few more minutes.

*Serve cut in wedges with sour cream and salsa. I also serve with some “Mexican” rice and a salad.

So, I’ve been doing online research for some months on the humble soufflé and searching for other recipes beyond the one I made for my 40 Days of 40 — the adapted cheese soufflé. And last night I had my favourite “eater of clevergirl’s experimental food” at home, so I tried it out and it rocked. Using two cheeses takes the edge off the blue cheese, but still allows it’s distinct taste to shine through. If your audience are all strong blue cheese eaters, then leave out the mozzarella and use only blue cheese. Here it is:

Ingredients
Butter or Marg, room temperature, for greasing the souffle
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) butter/Marg.
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 1/3 cups milk, hot
4 large egg yolks (2 1/2 ounces by weight)
6 ounces sharp Cheese (or thereabouts) — 1-2 ounces blue cheese and the rest use part-skim mozzarella
2 cloves garlic crushed
1/4 red onion finely chopped
4-5 white mushrooms finely chopped
1/2 t dried thyme or 1t fresh thyme
5 egg whites plus 1 tablespoon water (5 1/2 ounces by weight plus 1/2 ounce water)
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions
Use room temperature butter to grease an 8-inch souffle mold. Add the grated Parmesan and roll around the mold to cover the sides. Cover with plastic wrap and place into the freezer for 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a frying pan, melt some butter/marg, add the red onion & mushrooms. Sauté until most of the water has disappeared and then add the garlic and thyme. Stir until quite dry.

In a small saucepan, heat the butter/marg. Allow all of the water to cook out.

Add the flour and 1/2 t of salt. Whisk this mixture into the melted butter. Cook for 2 minutes.

Whisk in the hot milk and turn the heat to high. Once the mixture reaches a boil, remove from the heat.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks to a creamy consistency. Temper the yolks into the milk mixture, constantly whisking. Remove from the heat and add the cheese and black pepper. Whisk until incorporated. Once the cheese is melted, add the mushroom mixture to the sauce and stir well.

In a separate bowl, using a hand mixer, whip the egg whites and cream of tartar until glossy and firm. Add 1/4 of the mixture to the base. Continue to add the whites by thirds, folding very gently.

Pour the mixture into the souffle. Fill the souffle to 1/2-inch from the top. Place on an aluminum pie pan. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes.

OK, I keep losing this favourite chocolate cake recipe — Anne Lindsay’s Easy Chocolate Cake with Buttermilk Icing. I think I’ve photocopied it from my Mum’s cook book a zillion times. Last time I tried to see if anyone had blogged it, I came up with nothing. But today I found it online here

(those dumplings with pesto don’t look half bad, either.)

This is my own made up recipe, which is why it’s not exact.

You will need:
Some potatoes
A handfull of chives (preferably from your garden!)
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed.
some butter or margarine
about 2/3 cup of low-fat gelatine-free all natural plain yoghurt (Organic even better)
salt & pepper to taste.

Instructions:
1) Cook the potatoes. I guess most people peel and then boil them, but I cook mine in the microwave using a Microwave Vegetable Cooking Bag that my Mum got for me at the One Of a Kind Show in TO. And I peel them while hot.

2) Either way, after you’ve cooked them, cut them in large chunks and place in a bowl with the butter or margarine. Get your good old potato masher out and mash by hand. Add the yoghurt. Continue mashing. (you may need to adjust the amounts a bit here it depends how much tang you want.

3) Hold the chives over the bowl and use scissors to cut them into small dice right into the bowl. Add crushed garlic. Mix. (** Alternatively, in stage 2 (above), you can add these to the bowl first and then mash right into the potatoes. I think it releases the flavours better… but you can also do this after mashing. It’s up to you.)

4) Add salt and freshly ground black pepper and mix.

I made it for company last night and two people said that they wanted the recipe. Try it…

I’ve tried (as in eaten) a lot of my relatives’ versions of this soup, but I think my Mum’s is the best… Yes, I’m biased. Unfortunately, this is one of those imprecise recipes that i learnt from hanging around the kitchen as a youngster. I bet if I asked my Mum, she wouldn’t be able to be more precise, either. You may have to experiment some.

saltibarsciai — cold borscht

Ingredients:
1 bunch of beets
About 1/3 of an english cucumber, peeled and diced/cut in small pieces
About 5-6 radishes (depends how big they are) cut into pieces (half moons is nice)
1 bunch green onions washed and chopped.
a good small handful fresh dill, chopped
salt and pepper
1 L of buttermilk

To Garnish (some combo of…)
*boiled egg(s) in wedges, slices or chopped
*hot white boiled potatoes with skins on (either those tiny new potatoes or if you can’t get them white potatoes cut in large chunks)
*more fresh chopped dill.

Directions:
1) Cook the beets. I use my pressure cooker for best results. Put about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of water (or whatever your pressure cooker asks for) in the bottom, scrub beets & leave skins, roots and a bit of the stalks on. Place beets in pressure cooker and cook according to your cookers instructions (about 10-15 minutes on the second orange ring for mine). Cool the beets (you may save the liquid for use in a hot borscht later)

2) You now need a large bowl.

3) peel and grate/shred the beets — I grate them in a food processor. If you have to grate by hand, I suggest wearing a pair of medical gloves just to keep your hands from getting to red. Place them in the large bowl with all of the other ingredients listed above (except of the garnishes).

4) Add the buttermilk last. Stir gently.

5) Cover and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

6) Stir again and Check seasoning before serving. It should be a deep bright pink colour.

6) Serve with some combo of the garnishes recommended above. (My personal favourite is to put some dill on top and then serve with a bowl of hot potatoes on the side. You put a few potatoes right in the soup and then use your spoon to break them into smaller bite sized pieces. The combo of hot potatoes and cold soup is divine.)

Note on Beet Greens:
I love beet greens! They make a great hot borscht in the winter. (I can post my hot borscht recipe sometime if anyone wants it) Or, just get some Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup and add them to that. Yummy! I keep the greens, esp. when I use organic beets, by cutting them into small dice/pieces, microwaving for a few minutes to wilt, cooling them and freezing.

Note on Buttermilk
When living overseas it was hard to find buttermilk, particularly the cultured kind available in Canadian supermarkets. So, I experimented some and came up with an interesting combo of yoghurt (Fresh homemade yoghurt), some water, and a bit of vinegar to add bite. It wasn’t the same, but it was OK.

The cheapest place I’ve found to get Beatrice’s buttermilk in Ottawa is Food Basics, for reasons unknown to me every other supermarket here wants nearly $4 a litre. Even at $2.79 +/- at Food Basics, it’s more expensive than in TO.