Basic Citrus Salad Dressing

It's always handy to have a couple of salad dressings in the fridge to toss on your favourite veggies...you don't even need lettuce. This basic citrus dressing is fresh and light and goes with so many different cuisines. The biggest mistake people make with salads is over-dressing and then the veggies lose their flavour and turn into a sloppy mess. So start with an over-sized bowl to toss the salad and add a tbsp. of dressing at a time until you get familiar with how much dressing you like on your salad.

Basic Citrus Salad Dressing

3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp. lemon/lime or orange juice (freshly squeezed)
1 tsp. mild honey or maple syrup
1 tsp. dijon mustard

Whisk all of these ingredients together or use your hand/immersion blender. Double or triple the recipe to keep some for later. Store in the refrigerator.

For a large salad that serves 4 as a side or 2 as a meal choose 8 cups from the following options:

2 heads of lettuce (romaine, butter or red-leaf)
sliced cucumber
sliced celery
diced red pepper
dried cranberries
nuts & seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sliced/slivered almonds etc.)
cheese (goat's feta or feta)

Toss it all together and you're done....

Basic Quinoa Recipe

Quinoa contains more protein than any other grain...on average 16% protein. And, it's nutty and delicious.

Basic Quinoa Recipe

1 cup Quinoa
1 1/2 tbsp. corn or peanut oil
1 small onion, diced
1 tbsp. grated ginger (or 1/2 tsp. dried ginger)
2 cloves garlic, diced
optional 1 cup small cauliflower florets
1 tbsp. curry powder (or combination of cumin, coriander, turmeric)
1 3/4 cups of water or vegetable stock
optional 1 cup frozen peas
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a heavy saucepan. Saute the onions on medium high heat for four to five minutes.
Add the ginger root, garlic, spices and cauliflower if using. Cook for one minute stirring constantly.
A fine, white spiral appears around the grain as it cooks.
Stir in the curry and/or spices. Cook for one minute stirring constantly.
Add the water and bring it to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.
Stir in peas. Cover and cook for four or five minutes or until peas are tender and all the water has been absorbed.
Fluff with a fork before serving.

Serve Hot or Cold.

Variations:
1) Cajun - instead of curry spice use cajun spice and use 1 cup of diced red pepper instead of cauliflower and/or add frozen corn instead of frozen peas.
2) Asian - instead of curry spice use Chinese 5-spice and use 1 cup of snow peas instead of cauliflower and/or the frozen peas and or 1 cup of brocolli florets.

Basic Vegetarian Chili Recipe

Chili is so versatile and there's a bunch of "secret ingredients" to make it your own. The only essential spice is chili powder.

You can also jazz it up with some grated cheese and/or sour cream on top to serve.

 Basic Chili Recipe

3 tablespoons corn oil
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
6 large garlic cloves, chopped
optional 1 cup thinly sliced celery
1 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes in juice
3 tablespoons chili powder
choose a total of 2 tbsp. (mix and match) oregano, cumin, coriander, thyme, or Astraya Cajun Dry Dip
optional 1 tsp. of crushed red pepper or 1/2 tsp. of cayenne pepper
2 15- to 16-ounce cans (mix and match) rinsed black beans, rinsed kidney beans, rinsed pinto beans
optional 2 red bell peppers, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
optional 3 cups frozen corn kernels
optional 2 cups sliced zuchini (about 1/2 inch slices)

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic (and celery if using); sauté 5 minutes. Add tomatoes with juices, chili powder, and spices of choice. Cook 10 minutes to blend flavors. Add beans, bell peppers (if using), corn (if using), zuchini (if using). Add water as needed to immerse ingredients. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until chili is thick, stirring occasionally, about 35 minutes. As the chili cooks, check back to see if you need to add more water especially if you are using a lot of additional vegetables. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Secret Ingredients

To add at spice stage of recipe: 1 tbsp. cocoa or 1 tbsp. instant coffee or 1 tbsp. turmeric or 1/4 tsp. allspice
To add with beans: 2 tbsp. maple syrup or 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar or 1 sliced jalapeno pepper or 1 tbsp. molasses
To add with water or in addition to water: brewed coffee or vegetable stock or beer

Basic Rice Salad

As promised, here's the Basic Rice Salad recipe, a great way to use left-over rice and add your favourite crunchy vegetables. Also,  it's an excellent lunch item to take with you to school or work or whatever.

Basic Rice Salad

2 cups cooked brown rice
1 1/2 cups of crunchy vegetables
choose from: diced carrots, diced red/green pepper, diced celery, small brocolli florets, small cauliflower florets
1/2 cup of green onions or 1/3 cup diced red onions
optional 1/4 cup of cilantro or 1/4 cup of parsley
optional 1/2 cup of slivered almonds or pine nuts or chopped hazelnuts or chopped pecans

dressing:
3 tbsp. of olive oil and 1/4 cup of lemon juice OR 4 tbsp. of olive oil and 1 1/2 tbsp. of apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. curry powder or basil or mint
1/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper

Whisk all the dressing ingredients together (or use a fork or hand blender) and set aside while you chop the remaining ingredients. 

Chop your crunchy vegetables and then mix them with all the remaining ingredients before adding the dressing and mix well. Add more salt and pepper to taste if desired.

Easy, peasy and delicious!

Basic Fried Rice

The secret ingredient to Chinese Fried Rice is egg but it is optional to this recipe. The great thing about fried rice is being able to use leftovers or just what ever is in the fridge.

Basic Fried Rice
1 tbsp. corn oil or butter
1 cup sliced leeks (white party only) or 1/2 cup diced yellow onions
optional 1/2 cup of diced celery
1 tbsp. grated ginger
1 garlic clove, diced
optional 1 tsp. Chinese 5-spice blend
optional 1 small zuchini chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
optional 3 carrots diced into 1/4 inch pieces
3 tbsp. soy sauce or Bragg
optional one beaten egg (only 1 tbsp. soy sauce if using egg)
optional 1/4 cup of vegetable stock or water

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the leeks and/or onion and/or celery saute for five minutes and then add the ginger and garlic (and Chinese 5-spice if using) and saute for another five minutes or until the onions are soft. Add the zuchini or carrots and the soy sauce (or the beaten egg and soy sauce blend) as well as the rice. Stir until the zuchini is cooked through and serve. Add a little stock or water if the zuchini or carrots aren't cooking quickly enough.

As mentioned previously, if you want it a little spicy add some cayenne pepper at the end. You probably won't need any salt because soy sauce is salty.

Yummm!

Brown Rice...and Leftovers!

The rice cooker in our kitchen is one of the most-used appliances. One cup brown rice to two cups water, put it in the rice cooker and voilà, in about thirty minutes you have perfectly cooked brown rice.

Not only is it a delicious accompaniment to almost any vegetarian dish but you can add some spices, herbs or vegetable stock when you're cooking it to make it even better. In general, I would add about 1 tsp. of herbs and/or spices to every 1 cup rice. Try dill, mint, basil, or even saffron and adding some nuts like pine nuts, sliced almonds, chopped hazelnuts or pumpkin seeds after you've cooked the rice for added scrumptiousness (is that a word?). Don't forget a little salt and pepper.

And for leftovers, there are so many options. You can make all kinds of fried rice with it. But our favourite is fried rice with zuchini and leeks. Recipe to follow.

Additionally, you can make rice salad. So many to choose from but one of our favourites is Curried Rice Salad. Recipe to follow.

Wholesome Goodness!

Epicurious - My favourite on-line Recipes

Until your pantry and refrigerator are well-stocked with some advanced ingredients you might find this site a little intimidating. But the beauty is in the advanced search page.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipesmenus/advancedsearch

You can search up "Quick and Easy", "Vegetarian" (or "Vegan") along with many other options and even choose some ingredients. Perhaps best of all is that you can read the reviews and decide whether this recipe is worthy. And don't forget to create a profile so you can keep the recipes you like and delete those that don't work out so well.

Epicurious also has a mobile-app that enables a shopping list to be created from the recipe you want to make.

Pretty sweet!

Superstore Frozen Food

Ideally we should be eating fresh, local food but time and money don't always allow us to afford this luxury.

I work with a basic guideline of at least one freshly prepared dish per meal but I like to throw in one or two other dishes. Either leftovers, one of my own frozen soups and stews or a frozen meal from Superstore.

I like Superstore Frozen Food because they offer many healthy choices that do not include chemical preservatives, MSG or Trans Fats...at reasonable prices.

Here's a list of some of my family's favourites. The Brand is either President's Choice or PC Blue Menu.

1. Samosas
2. Spanakopita
3. Four Cheese Pizza
4. Indian Hors D'oeuvres
5. Herbed Mozzarella Fingers
6. Portabello Mushroom Burgers

Herbs and Spices

Herbs and Spices are what make good meals great!

In general, I double the herbs and spices in any recipe I'm making to give it that extra punch. The only spice you might want to be careful with is cayenne pepper or crushed red peppers. Alternatively, if you like spicy food, add the peppers at any stage of cooking. Cayenne pepper can even be added to salads for a nice surprise.

When you are cooking with herbs and spices you usually want the spices added when you are sauteing the onions and garlic (and/or ginger and celery) and the herbs are added when you add the stock so they can release their flavours.

For salad dressings the herbs and spices should sit in the dressing for at least an hour so they can release their flavours.

The fun part comes in when you experiment with different blends. You can find some great herb and spice blends at your supermarket. Just make sure to watch for filler ingredients like chemical preservatives, hydrogenated oils and msg.

Mrs. Dash is an easy-to-find blend for salads, soups and stews, but buy the variety without salt because it can mess up your recipes if it's too salty for you.

And the ethnic blends like curry blends, Chinese 5-spice, Cajun, Mexican, Middle-Eastern etc. are great to have on hand so you don't have to spend your valuable cooking time mixing the spices.

Basic Tomato and Cucumber Salad

Every great meal includes a fresh salad! Here's a basic recipe that you can keep in the fridge for up to three days to accompany your favourite soup, stew or main course.

Basic Tomato and Cucumber Salad

3 tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 medium cucumber, sliced lengthwise, then thinly sliced
10 green onions, sliced (including the white parts)
2 tbsp. olive oil
1-2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice (to taste)
1 tsp. dill (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
lemon zest, for garnish (optional)

Place all vegetables in a non-reactive serving bowl.
Mix the lemon juice and olive oil together and add the dill (or herb of choice, mint is very good too) if desired as well as salt and pepper to taste.
If you want, you can add a sprinkle of lime zest for garnish.

Notes:
You might want to double the recipe if you really love it so you have lots of left-overs!
You can also mix this salad with some fresh greens especially if it's been in the fridge and is well marinated.

Enjoy!

Basic Lentil Soup Recipe

I love Lentil Soup because it's hearty and can be adapted to so many different cuisines.

Here's a basic recipe that you can customize with your favourite spices.

Basic Lentil Soup Recipe

1 tbsp. corn oil or butter (don't use olive oil for cooking)

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 rib celery, finely chopped

1 tbsp. curry powder (or spice blend of choice)

1 pound dry green lentils, well-rinsed and drained

8 cups of water with equivalent stock mix

salt and freshly ground pepper
optional 1 tbsp. of apple cider vinegar

optional 1 small bunch chives/green onions, chopped

Warm the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, celery and garlic. Cook for 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender but have not browned. Add the curry powder (or spice blend of choice) and cook for 1 more minute. Add the lentils and stock. Season with salt and pepper and apple-cider vinegar if desired. Bring to boil.

Reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 1 ¼ hours, or until the lentils are very soft. Keep an eye on the lentils, stir every fifteen minutes or so and make sure you have enough water, add water if needed.  Sprinkle chives/onions over the top before serving.

Notes:

You can also add herbs of choice (ie: dill) but add them with the stock rather than cooking them with the onions and garlic.

For a faster version of this recipe use red lentils and you will only need to cook them for about 1/2 the time and you'll only need about 6 cups of water. Again, keep an eye on the soup and stir every fifteen minutes or so to prevent the soup from burning.

You can freeze this soup! Just cook for about 3/4 of the time and then let the soup cool and put it in a glass or metal container and freeze it until you want to eat it. Just make sure to put the soup in the fridge a day before you want to warm it up. Alternatively, you can take a portion of the soup out before it is fully cooked to freeze and leave a portion for immediate consumption.

Have Fun!

The Basic Vegetarian Tool Kit

Here's a shopping list for at least a week's worth of Healthy Vegetarian Meals. Watch for updates on easy recipes to use all of these ingredients.

Basic Vegetarian Toolkit

Pantry

Canned Chickpeas (1)

Canned Black Beans (1)

Canned Pinto Beans (1)

Canned Diced Tomatoes (2)

Brown Lentils 1 lb.

Red Lentils 1 lb.

Quinoa 1 lb.

Brown Rice 1 lb.

Olive Oil (500 ml)

Corn Oil (500 ml)

Apple Cider Vinegar (500 ml)
Soy Sauce or Bragg (500 ml)

Dijon Mustard (small jar)
Maple Syrup (at least 250 ml)
Vegetarian Soup Stock (powdered concentrate...I like Nutrimax Chicken because it is Vegetarian and delicious)

Fresh

Yellow Onions (2 lbs)
Green Onions (1 bunch)

Garlic (3 bulbs)

Ginger (5 inch finger)

Celery (1 lb.)

Carrots (3 lbs.)

Tomatoes (2 lbs.)

Cucumber (1 large)

Zuchini (2 lbs.)
Leeks (2)

Lettuce (organic mixed greens or baby romaine)
2 lemons (preferably organic)
Fruit (lots of fruit for dessert and snacks)

Dairy

Feta (1 pint)

Butter (1 lb.)

Spices

Sea Salt

Black Pepper

Cayenne Pepper

Curry

Astraya Cajun Spice or Tex-Mex Blend
Chili Powder

Dill
Cumin
Oregano

Frozen

Peas

Corn

Notes: It's a good idea to have your basic measuring spoons and measuring cups to start to familiarize yourself with amounts. When you start getting brave in the kitchen you can eyeball some of these measurements.