Cobb Salad

A yummy salad recipe to help you clean out your fridge. Just about anything could go in this salad. I will put the recipe I found but below, under "My Experience" you will see that I did not follow it to the tee and just used what I had. On the plus side, salad means I do not have to cook which is perfect in this heat!

The Recipe:
1/2 head iceberg lettuce, cored and shredded
1/2 head romaine lettuce, chopped
1/2 bunch watercress, some of the stems trimmed, chopped
2 oz, blue cheese, crumbled
6 strips cooked bacon, roughly chopped
3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2"cubes
1 boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked and cut into 1/2" cubes
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and cut into 1/2" cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tbsp. minced chives

The Dressing:
3/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
3/4 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire
1/4 tsp. sugar
1 clove garlic, mined
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Make the dressing: combine the canola oil, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, Worcestershire, sugar, and garlic in a blander. Puree the ingredients to make a smooth dressing and season with salt and pepper. Set the dressing aside (or refrigerate, covered, for up to 1 week).

2. Make the salad: On a large platter, combine the lettuces along with the watercress.  Arrange the blue cheese, bacon, eggs, tomatoes, chicken, and avocado on top of the greens in neat rows. (Alternatively, you could toss everything together in a bowl.)

3. To serve, drizzle salad with dressing, season with salt and pepper, and top with chives.

Serves 4-6

My Experience:
So cobb salad is yummy but I only used this recipe as a guideline and for the dressing (which I also totally didn't follow... oops).

Dressing: I didn't have red wine vinegar and did not feel like buying a bottle simply for this recipe so I used balsamic vinegar which was still really good. Makes a great dressing for any salad!

Greens: I didn't use watercress because I didn't have any. Instead, I used a lettuce from my in-laws' garden which looked similar to what you would find in a mixed green salad (to be honest, I am unable to name the exact kind it was). I also used romaine and iceberg like the recipe called for, but only because I happened to have it. USE WHAT YOU HAVE! Spinach would also be nice to mix in.

Cheese: We are not HUGE blue cheese fans so I grated some swiss cheese, simply because that is what we had. I am sure any kind would work. If it crumbles, great. If not, grated works too, or chunks.

Bacon: Although bacon would have been FABULOUS, I was too lazy to cook some. Would be a good salad to have for supper after you have a nice brunch with some bacon.

Eggs: That I did because, well, you can't really have a cobb salad without eggs. And perfect timing because mine were getting close to the expiry date so the meal helped me use them up. PS: eggs are easier to peel when they are warm, but they are better in the salad cold. Might want to plan this part out.

Tomatoes: I put some in my boyfriend's salad but not mine because I do not like tomatoes. So I only used a bit of one tomato.

Chicken: Although chicken would be good, we really wanted ham. So we bought one of those hunks of ham and just cubed some of it for the salad. Leftovers will be good for sandwiches.

Avocado: A must! But I only used about 1/4 of an avocado per person. Depends how much you want.

Additional items: I also added cucumber and mushrooms, both sliced. I had some in the fridge that I wanted to use up. Mixed both in with the greens on the bottom layer.

So there are all the places where I strayed from the original recipe. Still REALLY good and a nice salad to heat on a hot night (did I mention there was a crazy heat wave here and I did not feel like cooking?).

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Working 8 hours a day plus 3 hours travel time on the bus... I'm getting A LOT of use out of my slow cooker. And here is another of the wonderful recipes I have stumbled upon.

The Recipe:

1 beef roast

1 lipton savory herb with garlic recipe, soup and dip mix

1 can of coke or similar cola

baby carrots

potatoes halved

1 can of corn, drained

1. Spray with Pam or grease slow cooker

2. Place roast in the slow cooker

3. Pour the lipton mix over the roast

4. Pour the coke over the roast

5. Put the carrots on the side of the roast, where they will be covered by the coke if possible

6. Put potatoes on top of roast

7. Pour corn on top

8. Cook on Low (8-10 hours) or High (5-6 hours)

My Experience:

Oh how the roast is tender after cooking on low for 10 hours! So phenomenal. The potatoes are soft but not mushy and sooooo flavourful from the lipton mix and coke.

Best part is that your entire meal is all cooked in the slow cooker so you don't have to worry about anything else. Just come home to a yummy smelling kitchen and enjoy!

The amount of potatoes and carrots you use is totally up to you. Because I wanted leftovers (and my boyfriend LOVES potatoes) I used 5 potatoes and 2 good handfuls of baby carrots. In hindsight, I should have put more carrots (because I LOVE carrots). Regardless, you just need to cook the amount you want to.

The meat is so tender (as I have already said but am still drooling as I write it) and can just be torn apart (no need for a knife with this recipe). You could easily use the leftover meat for sandwiches, sort of like a pulled beef sandwich or even just use the slices.

When serving, I would suggest putting a good spoonful or two of the sauce on top of your beef slices. Although liquid-y, the sauce is really flavourful! I added it after I took the picture because my boyfriend did it and said the sauce made it taste that much better.

Hawaiian BBQ Chicken

Even got Sam to help me with this one (he had to throw it all in the crock-pot and turn it on at lunch time). Nice and easy slow cooker recipe!

The Recipe:
4-6 frozen boneless chicken breasts
1 bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's Original BBQ Sauce
1 20oz can of pineapple chunks, drained

1. Place the frozen chicken breasts in the crock-pot.

2. Add entire bottle of BBQ sauce, covering the chicken.

3. Add drained can of pineapple chunks on top.

4. Cover and cook: 2-3 hours on HIGH or 4-6 hours on LOW.

Yes, I realize that this isn't the best of pictures. 

It is of the leftovers because I was far too hungry 

to take a picture of a plate before serving.

My Experience:
Super easy! Three ingredients that you just throw all together, you don't even have to thaw your chicken!

For the BBQ sauce, I'm sure any original sauce would do. I actually got extremely lucky and Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce was on sale for $1.50 off when I was at the grocery store.

The chicken was also really moist and would just tear apart. Would probably be good in a bun as a pulled chicken sandwich.

I was super lazy when I got home so I only served this with jasmine rice. So nothing fancy but it was really good. You can even pour a bit of the extra BBQ sauce on top of the rice.

Make sure when you serve the chicken that you get some of the pineapple with it.

Mushroom Pork Chops

Mom always used to make something similar but I stepped it up a notch.

The Recipe:
4 pork chops
4 cloves chopped garlic
1 onion, chopped
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced (which is one of the little blue containers, 227g)
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 can of milk
Fresh terragon
Fresh ground pepper
salt and pepper to taste
flour

1. Season pork chops with salt and pepper to taste.

2. In a large skillet, saute half the garlic in olive oil. Add the pork chops and brown over medium-high heat. Remove from skillet.

3. Saute the onion, mushrooms and garlic (other half) in olive oil.

4. In a bowl, whisk soup and milk. Add a bit of terragon and pepper.

5. Return chops to skillet. Pour soup mix over chops. Cover, reduce temperature to medium-low.

6. Simmer 20 to 30 minutes, or until chops are cooked through.

7. Once chops are removed, whisk a bit of flour into the sauce to make a thicker gravy. (optional)

My Experience:
The only part that I did not follow, were the last two steps. While cooking, I realized that the only skillet I have with a lid was not nearly large enough to cook everything in. Instead, I placed some of the sauteed mushroom mixture in a roast pan, placed the chops on the bed of mushrooms, covered with the remaining mushrooms, and finally topped with the soup mix. I covered the pan with aluminum foil, sealing tightly. I baked in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes. Turned out very well!

I served this meal with white rice, which you can top wonderfully with the gravy. It would also be good with mashed potatoes or noodles. I didn't serve any other vegetables because I figured the mushrooms were enough. You can of course serve it with something else.

Hope you like it if you try it because we all liked it (even the cat who got some of the left overs).

Mussels in a Saffron Cream Sauce

Oh my yummy! We wanted to have mussels tonight so I used this recipe from In the Kitchen with Stefano Faita. Tonight's supper was FABULOUS!

The Recipe:

4 1/2 pounds mussels

2 tbsp. chopped parsley

1 tbsp. chopped rosemary

1 tbsp. dried oregano

4 cups white wine

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves

2 shallots, chopped

2 cups whipping cream (35%)

1 tsp. saffron threads

2 egg yolks

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Loaf of crusty bread, for serving

1. Scrub mussels if needed, and remove any beards. Discard any mussels with cracked shells and that do not close when tapped.

2. Add the mussels, herbs and wine to a large pot. Cover and bring to a boil. 

3. Reduce heat to medium and let simmer. Cook until mussels begin to open.

4. Remove the mussels from the pot and keep warm. Strain the cooking juices and reserve for the sauce.

5. In a large skillet, saute whole garlic cloves and chopped shallots in olive oil over medium heat until the shallots begin to soften.

6. Remove the whole garlic cloves and discard. Add the cream, saffron and reserved cooking juices from the mussels. 

7. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let sauce simmer until reduced slightly, about 10 minutes.

8. Whisk egg yolks. Temper the egg yolks by slowly whisking in 1/2 cup of the hot sauce. 

9. Stir the tempered egg yolks slowly into the sauce over low heat. Continue to stir and gently cook sauce until lightly thickened, about 1 to 2 minutes.

10. Remove from heat. Season the sauce with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over mussels and serve with lots of crusty bread.

My Experience:

So fair warning: saffron is really expensive (it is actually the most expensive spice in the world... each flower that it is cultivated from only has 3 stigmas (threads), which are picked and dried by hand. It takes tens of thousands of individual strands to produce one ounce of saffron. That is your spice lesson of the day!). I shopped around a little and found that Bulk Barn had the cheapest: 1g for $8.99. For comparison reasons, Loblaws had 0.5g for more than $12. That is more money for half the amount! So crazy. And if you are a student or senior citizen, remember that Bulk Barn has 10% off on Wednesdays!

Besides the expensiveness of the saffron, at least the mussels only cost me $5 and this meal would feed 4 people. And to be honest, maybe the sauce would still taste good without the saffron - but I'm not sure. Speaking of mussels, if you just go to the fresh fish section of your grocery store, they probably have pre-packaged mussels on ice. You just need the one bag. You also would want to buy the mussels the day you are cooking this recipe. I'm pretty sure you can keep the mussels in your fridge for a day or two with a damp cloth on top of it (ask your fish expert to be sure though and exactly how to store it!). But to be safe, I would suggest same day.

For the wine, it depends on your budget. The wine I bought was Cesari Chardonnay Delle Venezie at the LCBO and it was for the LOW LOW price of $7.50 for 750ml (I had a bit left over from a previous recipe to top me off). Remember, you need 1L of white wine. If you don't know what kind to buy, just ask someone at the wine store for a suggestion based on your price range and mention that it is for cooking (you don't want anything fruity!!). And you can always serve the meal with a glass of the same wine! Too bad I don't drink wine.

Other than that, this is a really easy and tasty recipe. I wouldn't have it every time I have mussels, but every now and then (or once in a blue moon as they say...) would be good. I hope you try it!

Golden Garlic Chicken with Sweet Potatoes

I love garlic. This recipe is very garlic-y. I love easy recipes. This recipe is easy. This recipe is amazing :)

The Recipe:
3 chicken legs
3 chicken breasts
3 sweet potatoes
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp crumbled dried rosemary (just rub the rosemary between your fingers)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
4 whole heads garlic, unpeeled
1tsp extra-virgin olive oil
8 fresh rosemary sprigs

1. Trim chicken and cut into pieces, severing legs at joint and cutting breasts in half, crosswise.

2. Peel potatoes; cut into 1/4-inch thick slices.

3. In bowl, combine potatoes, chicken, lemon juice, vegetable oil, rosemary, salt and pepper.

4. Arrange potatoes in single layer in 13- x 19-inch glass baking dish; arrange chicken, skin side up, over potatoes.

5. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours.

6. Trim tops from garlic heads; brush with olive oil; nestle, cut side down, into chicken and potatoes.

7. Roast in 425F oven, basting occasionally, until juices run clear when chicken is pierced and potatoes are tender (about 1 to 1-1/4 hours).

8. Halve garlic heads lengthwise to make 8 portions.

9. Garnish with rosemary sprigs.

My Experience:
Warning: must love garlic to enjoy this recipe. As long as you like garlic, this recipe may be for you.

The recipe is super easy, very little actual ingredients. You don't need to use both breasts and legs, but the variety is nice to have, however, if you prefer one over the other, just use the one type and double the amount.

I didn't refrigerate for 4 hours and it was still good. The flavours probably would have been stronger had it sit in the fridge. I also didn't use any fresh rosemary sprigs, they are really just for looks. Other than that, I followed the recipe.

When you halve the garlic after cooking, serve one half with each plate. You can remove the roasted garlic easily and mash it with your fork to eat with your chicken and sweet potatoes. Because the garlic has been roasted, the garlic flavour is much more mellow and very yummy (if you like garlic).

By the way, this recipe is from Best Recipes Ever. (Can you tell I love this show?)

Nutritional Info:
cal                       402
pro                        35g
total fat                  15g
sat. fat                     3g
carb                      32g
fibre                        2g
chol                     116mg
sodium                 402mg
%RDI                      -
calcium                    8%
iron                        16%
vit A                    158%
vit C                      38%
folate                     10%

Breakfast Burritos

Made these for supper but good nonetheless! Once again, this lovely recipe is from Best Recipes Ever. Man I love that show!

The Recipe:

12 oz Italian sausages

12 eggs

1/4 tsp pepper

1 pinch salt

1 cup shredded old cheddar cheese

1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander

6 large flour tortillas

2 cups mild salsa

1 half sweet green peppers, diced

1. With tip of knife, slit casing down length of sausage; push meat into large skillet. 

2. Cook over medium-high heat, breaking up with spoon, for about 5 minutes or until no longer pink; drain off fat.

3. Lightly beat together eggs, pepper and salt ; pour into pan with sausage and cook until beginning to set. 

4. Gently draw spatula across bottom of pan to form large soft curds; cook for about 3 minutes or until eggs are thickened and moist but no visible liquid remains. 

5. Stir in half each of the cheese and coriander.

6. Spoon egg mixture down centre of each tortilla; top with 2 tbsp of the salsa. 

7. Roll up. Arrange, seam side down, in greased 13- x 9-inch glass baking dish. 

8. Sprinkle remaining cheese down centre of tortillas. 

9.  Bake in 400°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until heated through. (Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day; increase baking time by 10 to 15 minutes.)

10. Meanwhile, stir green pepper and remaining coriander into remaining salsa. Serve with burritos.

My Experience:

So I didn't quite follow this recipe exactly. 

1: I used ground pork instead of sausages because, well, the pork was on sale. Who can pass up a sale? It probably would have been that much better with the sausage because those have tons of spices already in it, but oh well. (By the way, you can also use either mild or hot sausages or try bratwurst, farmer's or breakfast sausages instead of the Italian if you want.)

2: I also used a panini press instead of baking it because I figured that would be easier for me. 

3: So since I did that, I did not sprinkle the remaining cheese on the top (that would have made a big mess). Instead, I added the cheese to the burritos before I rolled them up to melt in the panini press.

4: I also didn't have any coriander on hand so I didn't put any in and it still tasted great. 

5: I used marble cheddar cheese, not old. Because that is what I had (why buy more?)

6: Finally, I used red peppers instead of green because I had some left over from a meal a few days ago and I wanted to get rid of it.  

Wow it really looks like I didn't follow this recipe at all lol! But the main ingredients were there: pork, eggs, cheese, tortillas.

Sam added some hot sauce to his because, to be honest, he adds hot sauce to everything. All in all, this was a very good and fairly quick meal. For extra taste, you can top your burrito with guacamole and/or sour cream.

Orecchiette with Broccoli and Garlic

I was watching Best Recipes Ever today and this wonderful recipe was on and I just so happened to have all of the ingredients except for 2 (and I was headed to the grocery store anyways) so I just HAD to try it! If you love garlic, you may just love this recipe like we did.

The Recipe:
1 bunch broccoli
4 cups orecchiette pasta
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
8 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
6 anchovy fillets, chopped (or 1 tbsp anchovy paste)
1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Cut broccoli into small florets; chop stems.

2. In large pot of boiling salted water, cook broccoli until tender-crisp, about 2 minutes.

3. With slotted spoon, transfer to bowl of ice water. Drain and set aside.

4. In same pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until tender but firm, 8 to 10 minutes.

5. Reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid, drain and return to pot.

6. Meanwhile, in nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat.

7. Fry garlic, anchovies, hot pepper flakes and salt until garlic is fragrant and anchovies begin to break down, about 2 minutes.

8. Add broccoli to skillet; cook until heated through and garlic is beginning to turn golden, about 2 minutes.

9. Add to pasta along with reserved cooking liquid; toss to coat. 10. Serve sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.
 

My Experience:
Just a note to begin with, I have never bought anchovy fillets before. After searching for a very long time in the canned fish section, I had the genius idea of looking at the fresh fish counter. So as an fyi, look for the anchovy fillets with the fresh fish because although they are canned, they are kept cold in the fridge. But it looks just like a can of sardines.

Now for the recipe, YUM! I love garlic and there is definitely a lot of garlic in this recipe but it is phenomenal, easy and worth a try. A tip for the garlic: to get it thinly sliced, try using a peeler (a potato peeler) to save some time and when you get near the end and can't quite hold on to the garlic anymore, then slice with a knife.

I wasn't able to find orecchiette pasta (I have no clue where to find it but they kind of look like shell pasta) so I just used some egg noodles. So if you can't find it, just use what you have for pasta.

Here is some nutritional info per serving for you!
cal                 305
protein            13 g
total fat             7 g
sat. fat              2 g
carb                48 g
fibre                  4 g
chol                   7 mg
sodium           699 mg
%RDI:               -
calcium            11%
iron                 16%
vit A                 2%
vit                   97%
folate              54%