Foodstr

If you’ve ever enjoyed a hearty handful of caramel popcorn, you’re going to adore this amped-up recipe. Not only is a pot of fresh-popped popcorn covered in caramel, it’s also spotted with cinnamon chips, pecans, and teensy bits of toffee. Drooling yet? Toss in a handful of dried apple chips and you’ve absolutely arrived!

This recipe makes a perfect teacher gift, party snack, or afterschool treat. Of course, it works equally well as a midnight snack. And maybe even a breakfast if you’re anything like me … incapable of denying the scrumptiousness that is this popcorn. Enjoy!

Prep Time: 10 min

Total Time: 30 min

Serving Size: 10 servings

Ingredients

12 cups popped popcorn

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup cinnamon chips

1 cup toffee bits

1 cup whole pecans

1 cup dried apple chips

1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. Place the brown sugar, light corn syrup, salt, and butter in a microwave safe bowl.

2. Microwave for about 1 minute, just until the butter is melted, then stir together until well mixed.

3. Return to the microwave and cook for 2 minutes, stir, then cook for an additional 2 minutes.

4. Add the baking soda and vanilla to the caramel. Stir until well mixed.

5. Place your popped popcorn in a large bowl and drizzle the caramel over the popcorn.

6. Sprinkle the cinnamon chips, toffee bits, pecans, and dried apple chips over the popcorn. Toss lightly. Allow to cool before serving.

Who says nachos have to be made out of chips? Wedges of sweet, juicy watermelon drizzled with yogurt, sprinkled with dried cranberries and toasted almonds and dusted with cinnamon makes a great, summery snack – especially on those days when you can’t take the heat.

Watermelon Nachos

12-16 1/2-inch thick watermelon triangles with 3-inch sides

2 cups (500 mL) Greek vanilla yogurt

1/2 tsp (2 mL) vanilla extract

Few drops almond extract

1 cup (250 mL) dried cranberries

1 cup (250 mL) white chocolate chips

1/2 cup (125 mL) sliced toasted almonds

1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground cinnamon

Arrange the watermelon triangles on a serving platter, set aside.

In a small bowl mix yogurt with extracts and drizzle mixture over the watermelon to give the appearance of nacho cheese sauce. Sprinkle dried cranberries, white chocolate chips and almonds over the yogurt and dust with cinnamon.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Per serving: about 400 cal, 8 g pro, 11 g total fat (5 g sat. fat), 73 g carb, 4 g fibre, 10 mg chol, 65 mg sodium. %RDI: iron 10%, calcium 20%, vit A 70%, vit C 80%

(Source: blogs.babble.com)

Serve with crackers or bread slices. If you can’t find Gruyère, substitute raclette, fontina, or Swiss cheese

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups chopped onion

2 ounces Gruyère cheese, shredded and divided

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, divided

1/3 cup canola mayonnaise

1/3 cup fat-free sour cream

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

3 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled 

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°.

2. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan lightly with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; sauté 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low; cook 20 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly.

3. Reserve 2 tablespoons cheese. Combine remaining cheese, caramelized onion, 1 tablespoon chives, and the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Transfer the mixture to a 1-quart glass or ceramic baking dish coated lightly with cooking spray. Sprinkle with reserved 2 tablespoons cheese. Bake at 425° for 20 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon chives

(Source: myrecipes.com)

Hunters Stew ~ Ciabatta croutons

Hunters stew

An odd thing for a vegan to recreate

When making this stew, I was thinking of what it would be like to live in a cabin in the middle of the woods with a wood stove to cook over and a perfectly seasoned cast iron Dutch oven and frying pan

 I think I would like to live like this - I think this until I remember:

a. I don’t like smelling like wood smoke

b. I don’t like lugging firewood

A perfect stew for cold winters - a warm satisfying weekend meal you can share with friends with or without the wood burning fireplace

 

 Traditionally, hunters stew features sausage, rabbit & chicken. I opted for sausage only - feel free to use any meat substitute you have on hand any & all would work equally well. The potato and yellow split peas thicken the stew without the need of added fat..  

Baby bellas add an earthiness that I can never get enough of. Garlic & onion - well, no stew would be complete without them. Parsley adds a bit of color to the final dish.

 

I almost forgot the carrots - thankfully I remembered

 

Homemade veggie broth is best, but, in a pinch organic store bought works just as well

 

 

ciabatta bread croutons - need I say more? Well yeah - seasoned to perfection with nutritional yeast & all-purpose seasoning. After the soup was gone, I ate all the croutons straight outta the bowl

 

 

Sautéed with a bit of butter and olive oil

 

 

Wonderful. A perfectly crunchy garnish for a perfectly fabulous stew

 

 

 

A stew that warms your belly and your heart. A hunter’s stew that does not require hunting. That my friends, makes me smile

 

 

 

Hunters Stew ~ Ciabatta Croutons

Serves 4

 

You will need:

·   1 tsp. olive oil

·   1/4 cup diced onion

·   15 baby bella mushrooms, quartered

·   8oz light life gimme lean ground sausage

·   2 cloves of garlic, minced

·   2 medium red skinned potatoes, cubed

·   2 medium carrots, sliced into rounds

·   1/2 cup yellow split peas

·   32oz veggie broth

·   salt

·   ground pepper

·   parsley for garnishing

For the croutons:

·   1 square ciabatta roll - about 1  1/2 cups cubed

·   1tsp butter

·   1tsp olive oil

·   1tsp nutritional yeast

·   1tsp all-purpose seasoning

·   pinch salt

Assembly:

·   in a medium soup pot heat olive oil over medium heat - sauté onion until translucent

·   add baby bellas and a pinch of salt - cook until mushrooms begin to turn golden brown

·   sausage and garlic are added next, cooking until the sausage begins to turn golden brown

·   Potatoes, split peas & carrots are added to the pot along with the veggie broth - season with salt & pepper. bring to a boil

·   reduce heat to low, place the cover askew (to allow steam to escape) onto the pot & simmer for 30 minutes

·   meanwhile, cube the bread for the croutons

·   in a medium sauté pan, over medium heat add butter, oil & bread - sprinkle with nutritional yeast, seasoning and salt- tossing to evenly coat all sides of the bread cubes

·   Cook over medium heat tossing frequently until all sides are golden - about 10 minutes. remove from heat (I think this would equally work well baked in a 350* oven if you do not want to make on the stove top)

·   allow the soup to sit for approximately 10 minutes prior to serving

·   ladle finished soup in bowls, garnish with ciabatta croutons & fresh parsley

Enjoy!

 

(Source: sundaymorningbananapancakes.blogspot.com)

* You can substitute the Pancetta with Bacon :). Gonna make these tonight! YUM! 

Baked Chicken Meatballs

I don’t think there is anything WORSE than a dry, flavorless meatball. I love the concept of meatballs however, I do not like red meat (steak, hamburger, veal I won’t eat it.) I just simply don’t like it. I did have some ground chicken that I needed to use up so I thought hmmmmm…..Chicken meatballs??? It sounded good but I was afraid it wouldn’t taste as good as it sounded. Ground chicken can become very dry, fall apart and at times be just blah. I researched chicken meatballs to find that 90% of the complaints in reviews were either the meatballs were “to dry” or “flavorless”. So I was very skeptical of trying to make them. THEN friends THEN I found a recipe….BAKED CHICKEN MEATBALLS!!!!!! And this recipe was on several other popular blogs so I figured if it’s good enough for them it is good enough for me. I whipped these babies up in no time and had them baking in the oven pronto. They are super simple, super easy and honestly fairly healthy for a meatball. I prepped and made these in the later part of the morning. Lets just say by the time dinner rolled around, well there weren’t to many of these left. (yes they were THAT good!) Even reheated the next day they still tasted exactly the same if not better. This is DEFINATLY my new go to recipe ! ps…I took these photos of only the meatballs so that you could see how they turned out. Once they were done baking I simmered them in marinara sauce for about 20 minutes then served over pasta. YUM!

Baked Chicken Meatballs
Adapted from Gourmet & summershutter

Ingredients

3 slices Italian bread, torn into small bits (1 cup)
1/3 cup milk
3 ounces sliced pancetta, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 small garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 large egg
1 pound ground chicken
2 tablespoons tomato paste, divided*
3 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preheat oven to 400°F with a rack in the upper third of the oven. Soak bread in milk in a small bowl until softened, about four minutes.

Cook pancetta, onion, and garlic in one tablespoon oil with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a large skillet over medium heat until onion is softened, about 6 minutes. Cool slightly.

Squeeze bread to remove excess milk, then discard milk. Lightly beat egg in a large bowl, then combine with chicken, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, pancetta mixture, bread, and parsley. Form 12 meatballs and arrange in another 4-sided sheet pan or roasting dish.

Stir together remaining tablespoons of tomato paste and oil and brush over meatballs , then bake in upper third of oven until meatballs are just cooked through, about 15 to 20 minutes

 

 

One of my most enduring childhood memories is of watching my bà nội, or grandmother, shaving corn – the clean, confident stroke of her knife, and the tumble of sweet, juicy kernels released from the cob. If we were lucky, she’d stir the kernels into a pot of coconut milk to make chè, a delectable Vietnamese pudding.

I can think of few better treats than chè on a summer afternoon. Both refreshing and comforting, these Vietnamese puddings or sweet soups may be served warm or cold and often contain ingredients like tapioca, glutinous rice, beans, and fruit.

Several variations of corn chè (called chè bắp in the South and chè ngô in the North) exist, from those with sweet rice to yellow mung beans. This one combines juicy corn with the chewy texture of tapioca pearls and creamy coconut milk. If you can findpandan leaf at an Asian market, this adds a beautiful aroma, but the pudding is just as delicious without it. I personally prefer eating it chilled with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds.

Chè Bắp (Vietnamese Sweet Corn Pudding)
Serves 8-10

3 large ears corn, shucked
3 cups water
2 pandan leaves, tied together and knotted (optional)
1/4 cup small tapioca pearls
2 (14-ounce) cans coconut milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Pinch salt
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Stand each ear of corn up in a bowl and, holding it sturdy, run a sharp chef’s knife down the length of the ear to shave off the kernels. Set the kernels aside.

Combine the corn cobs, pandan leaves (optional), and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, place tapioca pearls in a small bowl, cover with cold water by 1/2 inch and let stand.

Remove corn cobs and pandan leaves from the pot and discard.

Add coconut milk, corn kernels, sugar, and a pinch of salt to the pot and stir to combine. Return to a boil and then simmer until corn is tender, about 10 minutes. Taste and adjust sugar and salt, if desired.

Stir tapioca pearls into the pot and simmer for 2 minutes.

Remove from heat to cool. Can refrigerate for up to 2 days. If it gets too thick and gloppy, thin it with water.

Serve warm or cold in bowls or glasses. Garnish with sesame seeds just before 

 

Broccoli Salad is an incarnation of broccoli even the most stubborn of broccoli haters can’t hate. The reason for this is 70% due to the presence of bacon, 15% due to the sweet, creamy, tangy dressing that one could lap off a plate (I said “one”, that was not a confession… nor was it not a confession… hmm), and 15% due to the fact that your mom probably made it, and you’re probably at a barbecue.

Yes, every summer barbecue, especially those of the potluck persuasion, have (or SHOULD have!) a broccoli salad. The classic is broccoli + raisins + red onion + sunflower seeds. Mine has cashews. Only because my sunflower seeds were rancid. Which, in an unusual twist, I discovered prior to putting them in the salad. What a concept!

Anyway, the cashews were a delicious swap – you can use either. Or even sliced almonds. But the salty, toasted sunflower seeds are the tops.

Do you want to know a secret? You can toast nuts in the microwave. Yep. Spread them on a plate, high power for 1 minute, shake ‘em around, back in for another minute… and TA DA!! Beautiful toasty nuts.

Toast your nuts. They taste way better.

I add thinly sliced bell peppers to my broccoli salad, not just because they add a gorgeous pop of colour against the green landscape, but also because that’s how Calhoun’s does it. If you went to university in Vancouver, you know Calhoun’s. It is a 24 hour coffee shop 10 minutes from campus. Crappy coffee, crappy food, crappy lighting (sorry Calhoun’s, if you happen upon this…) – but it’s packed with studiers, always.

And yes, I was among the Calhoun’s crowd for 5 years (that’s how long my program was, I didn’t do a “victory lap”…). When I wasn’t devouring a stale rice krispie square the size of my face, I was virtuously spearing soggy spears of broccoli from the pool of dressing in their crestfallen rendition of the broccoli salad.

Funny, regardless of how bad it was, here I am, adding peppers to my mom’s revered broccoli salad with a sigh of nostalgia…

Okay, I’ve shown you the broccoli, now I want to show you some behind the scenes cuteness.

See this face? This is the face that was staring at me from my photography perch (surfing the back and arm of the sofa with one white-knuckled fist clutching the blinds, in case you were curious). This face says: BACON? The maple kind?

Now this, this right here is the intense focus face, the target is honed in on, and the eyes start to cross. ADORABLE, right?

And now we have arrived at the launch of operation thief-the-bacon. This is him looking me directly in the eye while he sloooooooooowly inches his open mouth toward the bacon hoping it will fall in at a rate so gradual that my weak human eyes won’t notice.

The bacon didn’t fall in. I’m sure he is still hopeful for the next time, though.

Without further adieu, grab some broccoli, secure your fork, and eat your veggies. The delicious way. You know, with bacon.

Broccoli Salad

·         1 head broccoli, chopped into bite-sized florets

·         1 red pepper, cut in thin slices

·         1/2 red onion, cut in thin slices or minced

·         1/2 cup raisins

·         1/2 cup cashews, toasted

·         4 slices bacon, cooked and chopped

·         1/2 cup mayonnaise

·         1/4 cup sugar

·         2 tbsp vinegar (I used white wine vinegar, but you could just use white vinegar)

In a large bowl, combine broccoli, onion, raisins, cashews and bacon. Whisk together mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar. Pour over broccoli mixture and toss well to combine. Lasts 2 days in the refrigerator.

 

In the central province of Saraburi in Thailand there is a temple that houses the Buddha’s footprint.

This is where I had my first experience with the all-American camping phenom, the Mighty S’more.

Strangeness & randomness to the infinite, people.

Image Courtesy Wikipedia

So – it was junior high. Not a very fortunate phase in anyone’s life. Although when you’re actually IN junior high, everyone else seems normal except you.

You, naturally, stick out like a sore thumb.

Wrong clothes. Wrong hair. Wrong braces. Wrong everything.

And no clue whatsoever why the hell anyone would ever want to go camping.

It was a field trip arranged by the international school in Bangkok where I spent the first half of my life.

My American teachers and American classmates were like – rockin’ out full on camp-town USA, fully equipped with tents and graham crackers, marshmallows, Hershey’s chocolate bars, hot dogs and burgers and buns to go with.

I was utterly confused.

I bought beach shorts just for the occasion. Because somehow I thought large-print multi-colored beach shorts were the thing to wear on a camping trip.

I was wrong.

Someone handed me a hot dog on a stick the first night by the camp fire and I stared at them blankly.

I am mortally afraid of bugs.

Thailand has a LOT of bugs.

I believe this trip was also my first experience with Off! Bug spray which the American quotient also managed to secure, presumably from the American embassy, along with the marshmallows.

Day 2, we had the option to go on an early, early morning trek up to the temple to see the Buddha’s footprint.

I didn’t go because I was too frazzled trying to make sense of my beach shorts, my hair, the bugs, the hot dogs and the whole American camping experience in general.

The Buddha would have to wait.

That night, they broke out the S’mores.

And all, as they say, was forgiven.

But I tell you, if you are an indoorsy soul like me, you needn’t go camping anywhere, whether in Thailand or Texas, to enjoy a S’more.

You can mash everything up into a cookie right at home, right in your trusty oven, bug-free, frizz-free, beach-shorts-free.

And happy.

S’mores Cookies

Adapted from Eleanor Klivans’ Big Fat Cookies

These cookies are out of control. They are not very pretty to look at. But they are out of control in the taste department.

We know marshmallows get soft and gooey in a regular fireside S’more.

And we know marshmallows get caramelly and sticky from making Rice Krispies.

These cookies are the best of both those Utopian worlds.

Gooey, melty, sticky, chewy, chocolately, graham-crackery goodness.

The original recipe calls for using graham cracker crumbs, but I went with buying the sheets then crumbling them up myself. I like the texture of having a few bigger pieces of graham crackers dotted throughout the cookie. Because there is so little flour used here, you really get full on graham cracker flavor.

If you under-bake them a little, you get maximum gooeyness, but they are going to tend to fall apart. I found them to be most delicious this way.

If you’re more into having them look cohesive (these are not pretty suckers), then make sure to bake them longer so that they hold together. They will be a little crispier, and the marshmallows will have melted into that clear, sticky caramelly thing around the edges.

Either way, they are phenomenally delicious.

Ingredients

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

18 sheets (2 packets) graham crackers

¼ cup flour

¼ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 ½ cups miniature marshmallows

Method

Place the graham crackers in a food storage bag and bash with a rolling pin until you have mostly crumbs with a few larger pieces. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Crack in the egg and pour in the vanilla extract. Beat until well incorporated.

Gradually pour in the graham cracker crumbs, flour and salt. Mix until combined.

Add the chocolate chips and marshmallows and mix well.

Using an ice cream scoop or ¼ cup measure, drop rounded balls of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet, 4 inches apart. Flatten the tops of the cookies slightly so that they are about ¾ of an inch thick.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. The edges of the cookies will look clear and caramelly, while the centers may still have bits of white marshmallow peeking out.

Cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack using a big spatula.

Makes 15 bug-free, campfire-free cookies.

 

(Source: bakingepiphanies.wordpress.com)