I've moved the blog!

Hello wonderful friends and followers! 

You may have wondered why I have been so lazy and not posted in a few months. It is because I moved and redesigned my entire blog. I've successfully transfered over all the old recipes and will post all new ones! Please check it out: www.theloveofood.com

Join me as I explore all things delicious. 

All the best,
-Mandy

Pad Thai- Raw!

Raw? "What on earth does that mean?" You may ask.  I was first made aware of raw foodists when I myself was vegan. It is exactly what it sounds, a raw food diet consists of raw, uncooked, unprocessed foods. I will first tell you the reasoning behind it and then show you that eating raw doesn't mean eating salad with no dressing day in, day out. The coolest thing about this recipe? Its use of kelp noodles.. I had never even heard of them before. They do not need cooking and are very low in calories.

I hate to break it to you but that delicious gas station doughnut isn't actually food. The dictionary definition of food is "A nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink, in order to maintain life and growth." Unfortunately, the sugars, flours, preservatives and food dyes of our 99 cent doughnut are so far from their natural states that the body actually doesn't know how to process them and if enough of these processed foods are consumed, our bodies get sick. Sick with obesity, heart disease, diabetes, metabolic disorders, and even general exhaustion and moodiness. The food we eat should nourish us in the long term, not make us sick and fat.

Basically, the western diet can lead to many people being "Over fed and under nourished." And that's where raw food comes in. Raw, uncooked, unprocessed ingredients are as close to nature as they come. A bell pepper grew on a bush, not a doughnut. Eating things as close to their natural form is that they are likely to be rich in enzymes, vitamins, minerals, essential fats and fiber. The very things that make food, FOOD. These micro-nutrients aid in cell repair, help maintain energy levels and are anti-inflamatory. Raw foodists keep food raw because even the cooking of vegatables can break down the enzymes and nutrients. I'm not sawing never eat a delicious pastry ever again but minus the 3 minutes of satisfaction you get while eating it, it can be harmful to your health, making you sick and tired. And I personally ,want you to have an amazing, healthy, energy full life. So indulge but balance it out and eat lots of the good nourishing stuff.

Pad Thai- RAW 

Marinated Mushrooms (my favorite part) 
       1 tablespoon agave or other liquid sweetener
       2 tablespoons olive oil
       2 tablespoons Tamari or soy sauce
       2 cups mushrooms, sliced (shitake are amazing)

Pad Thai Sauce 
      1 cup almond butter
      1 cup coconut milk
      2 teaspoon ground tamarind (red paste in Asian section of most stores, omit if you can't find it)
      2 teaspoon  pureed ginger
      1 teaspoon siracha
      1 clove garlic
      2 teaspoon Tamari or soy sauce
      1 tablespoon agave
      1 lime, juice from

Veggies
      1 carrot, shredded 
      1/2 red pepper, diced
      1 cup sliced pea pods
      2 cups mung bean sprouts
      2 scallions, thinly sliced
      1 mango, diced
      2 cups kelp noodles
      marinated mushrooms (from above)

 

Marinate Mushrooms: Mix together sweetener, olive oil, and soy sauce. Pour over sliced mushrooms and marinate. This can be done the night before for more flavor. Set aside. 

 

Place all sauce ingredients in high-speed blender or food processor. Blend until smooth **Alternatively you can whisk with a fork (that's what I did) Drain and pat dry the mushrooms. Mix together with the rest of the veggies in a large bowl. Mix in sauce, 1/2 cup at a time to taste. Enjoy! Nourish your body!

*For more raw food recipes check out the site I got the recipe from: www.rawmazing.com

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

   

 

I've often told people that if I were to have my own stand in a farmers market it would be a sauce, marinade and dressing stand. I mean a life without sauce isn't a life worth living. My only critique of this tasty meal make or braker is that making sauces homemade can be time consuming and difficult. This recipe is one of the exceptions. And even better? It is versatile- you can put it on fish, chicken, veggies, potatoes etc. You can also mix it with olive oil and balsamic vinegar (2 parts olive oil to 1 part vinegar) to make a salad dressing. 


Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

1 cup roasted red peppers (from water-packed jar)
1 cup reduced-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a blender, combine the red peppers, broth, vinegar, and oil and process until smooth. Transfer mixture to a small saucepan and set over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, partially cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the basil. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot or room temperature. Enjoy!

Nicoise Salad with Seared Ahi Tuna

I'm a firm believer in two things: 1) that eating healthy can be incredibly delicious 2) pulling culinary inspiration from around the world is the best way to achieve 1).  I love scouring through international recipes or better yet, cooking with friends from other countries. I had the pleasure of being raised in Hawaii by my Canadian mother and French nanny. For this reason, French cooking is particularly close to my heart and for this blog post I've chosen Salad Nicoise with Seared Ahi Tuna.

Salad Niçoise (pronounced nee-suaz) is to France what Cobb Salad is to North Americans. It offers substance and diversity that puts a common green salad to shame. Salad Niçoise hails from Nice, on the Mediterranean Sea and packs its punch with tuna, eggs, green beans, olives and potatoes. Traditionally the Niçoise are made with canned tuna. It might be the Hawaiian in me but I personally find this boring and not very delicious. If you're in a time crunch cook the green beans, potato, eggs and make the salad dressing ahead of time. You can also use canned tuna to save time and/or money. 

Vinaigrette

4 tablespoons chopped olives
2 tablespoon chopped roasted red peppers
2 clove garlic chopped finely
2 anchovy chopped 
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar 
Juice of one lemon 
10 tablespoons olive oil 
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Whisk ingredients together; season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.

 

Nicoise Salad with Seared Ahi Tuna
  
2 ahi tuna steaks* (8 oz each) or 1 large 16oz (or 2-3 cans of tuna)
4 hard or soft poiled eggs peeled, either halved or quartered
10 small new red or white potatoes
1 box micro greens or 2 heads of lettuce
2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes
1 small red onion, sliced very thin
8 ounces green beans, stem ends trimmed
1/2 cup niçoise olives

Prep all veggies and marinate tuna steaks in a little olive oil for an hour.
Bring potatoes and 4 quarts cold water to boil in a large pot. Add 1 tablespoon salt and cook until potatoes are tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer potatoes to a medium bowl with a slotted spoon (do not discard boiling water). Toss warm potatoes with a little olive oil, set aside.
Bring water to boil; add 1 tablespoon salt and green beans. Cook until tender but crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain beans, set aside. 
Place eggs a medium sauce pan covered by 1 inch of water. Bring to boil then lower heat slightly and boil for 3 minutes. Remove from pan and place in a bowl of cold water. Remove shells, set aside.
Heat a large skillet on medium high heat. Sear tuna 1.5 minutes on each side until browned. Cut tuna into 1/2-inch thick slices.
Assembly! Scatter the lettuce on place. Cluster green beans, potatoes, olives, tomatoes and tuna as desired. Cut eggs in half and put    Drizzle with dressing and serve immediately. Bon Appetit!

Thai Pumpkin Curry

Nothing warms the heart and body like a good curry. Curries come in all shapes and sizes: from a Japanese curry made with stock and wheat flour to Indian dal whose beans act at thickeners. "Curry" is a blanket term for a saucy or stew like dish that is rich in ground spices and herbs. Most curries slow cook so the ingredients (typically vegetables and meat) have time to absorb the flavors and spices.

 

The "heat" in curries has several health benefits. First and foremost, studies show that the main compound in chilies (called capsaicin) has a thermogenic effect that boosts metabolism. Chili peppers can reduce the damaging effects of bad cholesterol and capsaicin may fight inflammation. And my personal favorite: spicy foods boost production of feel-good hormones, such as serotonin. So they may help ease depression and stress AND make you feel more satisfied at the end of your meal. Eat curry for these reasons or eat it because it's just plain delicious. 
 

Thai Pumpkin Curry 

1 tablespoon extra virgin Coconut Oil or Vegetable Oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ginger, grated or minced
1 white onion, diced
1 15oz can of Coconut Milk (I used Thai Kitchen's Light)
1 ½ cup pureed pumpkin
2-3 tablespoon curry paste (I used Thai Kitchen's Green Curry Paste) 
1 tablespoon fish sauce or soy sauce
½ cup raw cashews
1 head broccoli, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped  
1 head bok choy, chopped
*other veggies: cubed butternut squash, eggplant, cauliflower, bamboo shoots etc
* Optional Protein: 1lb chicken, cut into cubes; 8 jumbo prawns
 
pinch of cinnamon
salt and pepper, to taste
Garnish: basil, shredded coconut, cashews 


Melt the coconut oil in a large pot set to medium high heat. Saute the onion and garlic until fully cooked. Add the coconut milk, curry paste, soy sauce and pumpkin. Heat until well mixed. Add the veggies, cashews and optional protein (chicken or prawns-add 5 minutes earlier). Simmer till veggies are tender but firm (and protein cooked). Serve with brown rice or quinoa and enjoy!

The Famous 4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

Call me American but I love most things Peanut Butter. Left to my own devices I would eat it straight from the jar.. maybe even drizzle it with honey. What's not to love about Peanut Butter? It is voluptuous, creamy, wholesome, fatty and sinfully delicious. Put it on toast, in sandwiches, dip veggies in it, make it into a sauce.. or put it in cookies, cakes, brownies. Alright enough.

I'm also a big fan of delicious foods that are easy to make. I enjoy cookies but they typically require all these powders (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt etc), brown AND white sugar, eggs AND butter, then whatever else makes them delicious: chocolate chips, nuts, dried fruit. Makes me a bit tired just thinking about it. Worth the effort sometimes but why do it if you can have shockingly similar cookies with half the ingredients and half the time?

I found this recipe while nannying in university. I had the pleasureable challenge of cookie for kids that were Gluten Free. Much like my Easiest Banana Berry Muffins, I was a little apprehensive when I first saw this Peanut Butter Drop Cookie Recipe: "sugar, eggs, peanut butter" period. You've got to give everything a try once right? I'm happy I did. With chocolate chips, you can't tell they're simple or that they're gluten free. I made them for Valentines Day = success.

 For Smaller bight sized cookies that are a bit chewy, form the cookie dough into small balls using a rounded tablespoon  (picture above). For flatter cookies with a bit of crunch, form the balls above with a tablespoon more of cookie dough then slightly flatten out (picture below). It is very important that you don't flatten the cookies too much... unless you want wafer thin peanut butter chocolate crisps!

The Famous 4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
(Makes 12 to 20 cookies) 

1 1/2 Cups Peanut Butter (I used Martha's Organic Creamy Peanut Butter, stirred really well)
1 1/2 Cups Sugar (normal white baking sugar)
3 eggs 
3/4 to 1 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips
*Optional: add 1 teaspoon of vanilla 
*Other ideas: Add nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large to medium sized mixing bowl, combine the Peanut Butter, Sugar and Eggs (optionally vanilla), stir until it looks like delicious cookie dough. Add Chocolate Chips and mix till evening distributed. Butter two baking sheets. If you desire a chewy, bite sized cookie, form the down into small balls using a tablespoon. Place on baking sheet 1 inch apart (about 12 a pan). If you desire a crunchier, larger cookie form the dough into larger balls then slightly flatten out (See pictures above).  
Bake for 14-18 minutes (14 was my sweet spot with one pan and 18 with another).
Let cool on pan then use a spatula to scrape off. Then... Enjoy! 

Tasty Quinoa Fried Rice

Chance are, if you live in North America, you've heard of and even eaten the oh-so-popular super grain Quinoa.  This "seed" originates in the Andes of South America and was touted by the Incas as "chisaya mama," or mother grain. Quinoa is gluten free, low glycemic and has the highest protein content of all conventional grains. One cup contains 15% of the recommended daily intake of iron, 21% of the daily intake of fiber, and is an excellent source of magnesium, iron and copper.  Combine this with the fact that Quinoa cooks incredibly fast (approximately 15mins in boiling water) and it's no surprise that Quinoa is moving up the ranks in popularity. 

The one complaint that people have about Quinoa is its "bland" flavor. It is often boiled and served as a substitiute for rice, potatoes or pasta. There are several ways to boost the grains flavor: 1) Cook it in chicken, beef, mushroom or vegetable broth instead of water. 2) Mix coconut oil, olive oil, butter or dressing in with freshly cooked Quinoa. 3) Saute cooked Quinoa in herbs and spices like garlic, onions, basil, cilantro, chili pepper etc.  OR for something even more tasty-- make Quinoa fried rice. This vegetarian dish* is chalked full of veggies, spices and substance. To date it is the most flavorful Quinoa dish I've had.  

Quinoa Fried Rice:

3 Cups of cooked white quinoa

4 fried eggs, for serving

3 tablespoons olive oil 

1 large white onion

2 cloves of garlic, diced

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 head broccoli, cut into florets
2 baby bok choy, chopped
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 carrots, chopped
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1/2 Cup soy sauce mixed with 1/3 Cup water
2 green onions, sliced
*Optionally add 1/3 cup chopped ham or bacon

Cook Quinoa as instructed on package (1 1/2 Cup dry Quinoa should make 3 Cups cooked). In a medium sauce pan, scramble 4 eggs cooked lightly and set aside.   

In a medium skillet or Wok, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook, stirring often, until onions become translucent, about 4-5 minutes.
Add mushrooms, broccoli and bok choy. Cook, stirring constantly, until vegetables are tender, about 3-4 minutes. Add corn, peas, carrots, *ham and quinoa. Cook, stirring constantly, until heated through, about 1-2 minutes. Add ginger and soy sauce/water combination, and gently toss to combine. Cook, stirring constantly, until heated through, about 2 minutes.
 
Stir in green onions and eggs. Serve immediately and enjoy!