Honey-Balsamic Roasted Strawberry Parfait

My smoothies, while delightful, look like dirty snow blended with compost, thanks to less-than-perfect blending technology. I have a decent blender, but it doesn't pulverize my ingredients like our nation's most coveted blender, the Vitamix Pro Series 300 (one day....one day).  I end up with bits of green and seeds floating in a purple-grey fog. I drink these little numbers at the office almost daily, but get odd looks and a number of questions from passers by. I also get all sorts of stuff in my teeth.

This weekend, as I was perusing through my favorite recipe resource, Tastespotting, I found a delightful looking snack that became a contender as an alternative to my compost smoothy. I put these into jars so they were portable and had one today following my cardio-intensive, morning email review. Two words: Deeee-lish.  Wait..just one: Yum.

From: http://www.2teaspoons.com

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 lb fresh strawberries, sliced
• 2 T honey
• 2 T balsamic vinegar
• 2 cups plain, Greek yoghurt
• handful of oats and/or chopped nuts to top

Method

Preheat oven to 350 F. Toss the strawberries in honey and balsamic vinegar and pour onto a baking sheet. Roast for 25 minutes, remove from the oven and allow the strawberries to cool completely. Layer bowls or jars with a few dollops of yoghurt, then the strawberries and repeat with both ingredients. Top each serving with chopped nuts, oats or a combination of your choosing.

Cottage Cheese Pancakes with Raspberries in Syrup

It's now just after 6 am and I am currently sinking my teeth into some delectable pancakes, my craving now satisfied. As an eggs and bacon advocate, I tend to go for the savoury breakfasts with the exception of my once-a-year attempt at pancakes. I tried a banana recipe last year and while delicious, I don't think I bothered posting it. My photos of these charred, lumpy-looking turds didn't sell it. But these, when smothered with fruit and yoghurt, hide the charred spots that I can't help but get every time I make pancakes. If I wasn't lazy, I'd wipe down the pan with each round to avoid getting darker pancakes each time. I also learned this time to make small pancakes so I have better control over how they cook. 

Oh yes...the other reason I don't make pancakes that often is because they don't sustain me for very long. There isn't enough in the way of complex carbs and protein to keep me going. Well, after having spotted a number of cottage cheese pancake recipes, I thought I might have a go at one of them. This one in particular looked easy and after having read some Martha Stewart versions, I wanted one that took less effort (Martha, I'm just not up for foraging for elderflowers at 5 am). The protein in cottage cheese, just might help bridge that energy gap I need and today is no exception. We're cycling 100kms just north of Edmonton today and I need energy. Let's see how this breakfast holds up compared to my Sunday egg on toast.

A bit less turd-like than last year's batch.

Adapted From: http://weelicious.com

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1 t vanilla
• 2 T honey or agave syrup
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• cooking spray or vegetable oil for the fry pan
• Container of frozen raspberries in syrup (shockingly lazy, I know)

Method

Whisk the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another. Add the wet to the dry again, mixing well. Heat a non-stick fry pan on medium heat and coat with either cooking spray or vegetable oil. Spoon a few tablespoons of the batter on to the fry pan (I seemed to have better luck cooking three pancakes at a time). Cook pancakes for 2 minutes on each side and set aside on a plate. 

Serve with fresh fruit, the thawed raspberries and a dollop of thick yoghurt.

*After having eaten I thought these might be even more hearty if I were to add a fistful of thick cut oats to the recipe. I might have to adjust my wet ingredients to balance out the extra dry. Just a thought!

Bison Cherry Burger with Sweet Potato Fries

Treats, treats, treats! Tonight's meal was about capitalizing on those last few weeks of summer. I'm on my second beer as I reminisce about this great combination of flavours. All components were made in less than an hour and we have just enough left over for a second meal. I get a kick out of taking a meal that we're all familiar with and messing with it. Ketchup and mustard on our burgers have been replaced with peach salsa and avocado slices and sweet potatoes replace old russets. This reconfirms my suspicions: Food is fashion, food is trend, food is art.

Bison Cherry Burger

Serves 4

• 500 g ground bison or lean ground beef
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1/3 cup chopped dried cherries
• 1/4 cup red onion, minced
• 1 T Worchestershire sauce
• 2 t grainy mustard
• 1/4 t salt

Preheat barbeque to medium.

Combine ingredients either with your hands or a fork. Be careful not to mix the ingredients too much as this can toughen the meat. Shape into four 1/2 in thick patties.

Brush or spray grill with vegetable oil or cooking spray. Barbeque burgers with lid closed, until cooked through, 4-5 min per side. Top with avocado and peach salsa.

Peach Salsa

Serves 6

• 1 large peach finely chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper finely chopped
• 1/4 cup red onion, minced
• 2 T chopped cilantro
• juice of half a lime
• 1 t olive oil
• salt to taste

Combine ingredients and serve.

Sweet Potato Fries with Rosemary Yoghurt Dip

• 3 sweet potatoes
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1 t cumin
• 1/2 garlic salt
• 1/4 t cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup Balkan style yoghurt
• 1 t dried rosemary
• 1 t lime zest

Roasted Leg of Lamb with Tzatziki & Pomegranate Tabbouleh

I was going to use any lamb leftovers in a stew, but had so much tzatziki left that I used both in souvlaki pitas.  Good little lunch idea if you're bored of sandwiches.


Serves 8
Adapted from: http://www.joanne-eatswellwithothers.com


Leg of Lamb

• 6 shallots, minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 T sugar
• 2 T coriander
• 1 1/2 T salt
• 1 T red chile flakes
• 1 (6 lb) leg of lamb (bone-in)

In a large bowl, mix together the shallots, garlic, rosemary, sugar, coriander, salt, and red pepper flakes.  Rub onto the surface of the lamb.  Set the lamb in a large glass baking dish and refrigerate over night, covered in plastic wrap.

Preheat the oven to 375.  Remove the lamb from the fridge and rinse it off.  Pat it dry.  Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Brown the lamb on both sides.

Set the lamb in a roasting pan and roast, fat side up, until it reaches an internal temperature of 140-150 degrees, about 1 1/2 hours.  Transfer to a platter and let sit for 20 minutes before cutting.

Tzatziki
Makes about 2 cups

• 2 cups Greek yogurt
• juice of 2 lemons
• 1 cucumber, peeled and diced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
• 1 T minced garlic
• 1 T minced shallots

Stir together all the ingredients in a bowl until thoroughly combined.

Pomegranate Tabbouleh Salad
Serves 4, adapted from

• 2 cups water
• 1 cup bulgur
• 1/2 cup parsley, chopped
• 1/4 cup mint, chopped
• 1/4 cup green onions, chopped
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup cucumber, chopped 
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
• 1/4 cup feta
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 T lemon juice
• 1 1/2 T honey
• 1 t dijon mustard
• salt and pepper to taste

Bring the water to a boil.  Stir in the bulgur.  Cover and turn off heat.  Let sit for 20 minutes.

Toss the bulgur with the parsley, mint, scallions, tomatoes, cucumber, almonds, pomegranate seeds, and feta.

In a separate bowl, stir together the olive oil through mustard.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Toss with the bulgur mixture until it is coated.