Greek Layered Dip with Pita Chips

 

I have been wanting to develop this recipe for my Foods 9 program for awhile, but like most of my ideas have needed some time to try it out.....I finally found some time!   (that is why the measurements are all in metric...sorry....)  The ideas have come from a few soirees that I have attended over the years.  I have made a similar item before, but I have used homemade baba ganoush (a roasted eggplant dip) instead of the tzatziki.  Believe it or not, this was the first time that I have actually made tzatziki.  I combined ideas from various recipes and came up with the following ratios for my dips and chips.   Feel free to play around as well - have fun!

 

Basically, you make pita chips and serve them with a layered dip of hummus, tzatziki, chopped parsley and then crumbled feta - DELICIOUS!!   This is also very awesome layered with hummus, baba ganoush (homemade, of course), fresh parsley, and crumbled feta.  (I think eggplant is a tough sell with Grade 9s, so I will ease in with tzatziki).   I have had a few different groups sample this in the last few days, and the feedback has been VERY positive.  I gave a sneak preview taste to one of my grade 9 classes, and they are VERY excited to make this in a few weeks.  This is a great make ahead appy for company or to bring to a social gathering.  Alternatively, you can whip this up very easily by purchasing pre-made hummus, tzatziki, and pita chips.....but not as cost effective!  I guess it is up to you at that time.  What is your priority at that time...time, money, or having yummy homemade food?  Besides priority, what other factors influence your food choices???  Some categories are:  wellness, security, belonging, enjoyment, family, friends, media, money, location, season, time, knowledge, abilities, equipment, a place to buy food, lifestyle, values, emotions, culture, and religion.   Some food for thought......

                                                

Hummus

Ingredients:

250 mL chickpeas

15-30  mL water

1 garlic clove

30 mL lemon juice

15 mL tahini

 

Procedure:

 

1)   Warm chickpeas in a bowl in the microwave.

2)  Puree warm chickpeas, water, lemon juice, and garlic in food processor until smooth.

3)   Add tahini and puree until smooth.

4)  Spread on base of bowl or plate.

 

Tzatziki

Ingredients:

125 mL Greek yogurt

½ cucumber, peeled and grated

5 mL salt

1 garlic clove, minced

15 mL lemon juice
15 mL fresh dill

 

Procedure:

1)   Peel and grate cucumber.  Place in colander with salt for 5 minutes.  Rinse well.

2)  Meanwhile, combine the yogurt, garlic, and lemon juice into a small bowl.

3)  Squeeze out extra moisture from the cucumber and stir into yogurt mixture.

4)  Spread on top of hummus layer.

5)  Place desired amount of chopped parsley and crumbled feta on top.

 

Pita Chips

Ingredients:

4 pita bread, cut into 6 to 8 triangles EACH (whole wheat, of course!)

10 – 15 mL olive oil

2.5 mL each of basil, oregano, garlic powder

Dash of salt and pepper

Procedure:

1)   Preheat oven to 400 F.

2)  Cut each pita into 6 to 8 triangles with a bread knife.

3)  Toss in a bowl with oil and spices.  Coat well.

4)  Spread out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

5)  Bake for 7-12 minutes until golden brown.  Turning the pita half way through baking is recommended.

6)  Serve with Layered Greek Dip.

 

 

 

 

Greek Layered Dip with Pita Chips

Lemon Poached Shrimp with Pistachio Dukkah

Delicious!  Spectacular!  Fun!  Just frickin' awesome!!  These are a few words to describe this recipe. 

http://www.alive.com/recipes/view/1220/lemon-poached_shrimp_with_pistachio_dukkah

Of course, I had to try a variation.  I wanted to see what would taste better in the dip:  Greek yogurt or sour cream.  The jury is still out on this one.  Both are great.  I loved the creamy taste of the sour cream with the buttery flavour/richness of the prawns and felt that the sauce coated better as it was thinner.  The Greek yogurt, although thicker,  was very tangy allowing the flavour of the prawn to pull through.  I felt that overall there was a bit more balance with the sour cream (although my mind was loving that the Greek yogurt was healthier!).

The recipe made a lot of sauce and dukkah, so I was able to poach more prawns the next evening as well.  I do recommend NOT serving all of the dukkah and reserving some so as to not get it moist with prawns, etc.  The dukkah is very versatile.  For example, it is a great coating for other meats and is an excellent salad topper!  I am excited to research many other things to do with this as the flavour and textures are spot on!

Where next with this recipe?  I WILL be making this a regular part of my appy collection.  It is just plain fun to eat.  It is very hands on and allows for easy mingling and eating.  I love that it is served cold, so it is very easy to make ahead to have ready for when your company arrives.  I am wondering what other options there are to dip instead of prawns....roasted baby potatoes, blanched carrots, raw cucumbers, scallops?  I am also curious in experimenting with the dip flavour as I have found a few variatons on-line, such as a chili lime sauce.  One thing must remain as is - the DUKKAH.  It is fabulous!   This recipe has been filed in my appy section and will be making regular appearances - maybe even at our camping happy hours!  Thank you, ALIVE magazine, for another great recipe!

Lemon Poached Prawns with Pistachio Dukkah

 

Sour Cream vs. Greek Yogurt

 

Breakfast Pizzas: To scramble or not to scramble

 

 

This week's inspiration came from a desire to change recipes in my grade 9 Foods and Nutrition program, specifically this month in the eggs unit.   The idea of making a breakfast pizza came to me one day.  I had a student volunteer from the high school help me search out some ideas last week.   We took ideas from a few different sites and combined them.  This weekend, my home kitchen became a test kitchen for my Foods classes.

 

The dough is from my grade 9 recipe that I do with a regular pizza.  I figured that part would be a nice review as they have made homemade pizza already.   I then put some sauce as the base with some grated extra old cheddar (as I didn't have mozza or fresh mozza at home).  Then, I added some sliced tomatoes, fresh basil, sautéed onions and peppers.  Then came the experiment.

 

Pizza #1 then got some partially cooked bacon.  At this point, the pizza gets baked at 425 for 5 minutes.  Then, you remove it from the oven and place some raw eggs on top, using a custard cup to ease them on.  The baking continues until the eggs are done to your liking.

 

Pizza #2 baked for 5 minutes.  Then, I added some cooked turkey sausage and scrambled eggs and continued baking for about 7 minutes.

 

Both pizzas were garnished with fresh parsley when they came out of the oven.

 

The winner was pizza #1!  Of course, it was better as it had bacon on it, but the fun factor of cooking the eggs in the oven was an added bonus.  It was neat to place raw eggs on and trust that they would cook properly.   Next time, I would add four eggs and spread them out more so that there was egg in more bites and pieces. 

 

Pizza #2 was still good, but the scrambled eggs made it messier.  My grade 8s do a similar recipe with English muffins, so I felt that this wasn't much of a change.

 

I will make pizza #1 at home again, but I will do some of the prep the day or night prior to lessen the prep all at once.

 

As for Foods 9, this week, 30 breakfast pizzas will be prepared in my two full year Foods 9 classes.  The eggs will be placed on top raw, not scrambled.   There will be options for the meat and veggies.  I wonder how many groups will choose bacon???



 

 

Pizza #1 prior to baking

Pizza #1

Pizza #2

Margarita Chicken Lollipops

Super Bowl Sunday!  Although I am very much a HUGE CFL fan, Super Bowl still offers a reason to get together to enjoy some yummy appetizers and excellent company.  The recipe I chose to bring to my Super Bowl gathering was Margarita Chicken Lollipops found on page 68 of a Company's Coming cookbook entitled, Small Plates for Sharing.   (Paré, Jean, and Laurie Stempfle. Small Plates for Sharing. Edmonton: Company's Coming Pub., 2008. Print.).  Super Bowl and chicken wings seem to go together, and I loved the idea of a more elegant chicken wing.

I was able to find the exact recipe online for those of you who like to bring your electronic devices into the kitchen.

http://www.familycookbookproject.com/recipe/2618370/margarita-chicken-lollipops.html

I have NEVER tried the technique of French drumetting, but the photo in the cookbook made the drumettes look so cute and easy to serve as the result gives you a nice little handle to lift and hold while you are eating.   This proved to be true.  They are cute and are very easy to serve and eat.

 I was 100% surprised on how easy it was to prep this recipe.  To prepare 25 drumettes, make the marinade, and clean-up was all done in 30 minutes!  Sold - I will be doing this technique every time I make drumettes, which might be more often now that it is so fun.  Gotta love when food can be well presented with minimal time invested!!

As far as the actual flavours went, I was a bit disappointed.  The cumin was very overpowering and made them taste more like a curry wing.  I was hoping for a zesty, tangy, lime, tequila, salt combo, similar to what the title suggests - a margarita!  Don't get me wrong, this recipe is VERY good, but I had a different expectation for the flavour.

I also thought that the oven made the drummettes too soft.  I prefer them a little more crisp, so I will bbq them next time to crisp them up.  I will also try some type of marinade on them as my google search for 'margarita chicken lollipops' produced many variations on the theme.  I am determined to perfect this recipe or even create a new one!  Thank goodness I have some time, as Grey Cup is 10 months away.....

Margarita Chicken Lollipops

Lettuce Wraps: what type of lettuce is best?

 

One of our favorite things to have for dinner is lettuce wraps.  When starting this journey, I really wanted to try a new lettuce wrap recipe.  Lo and behold....I discovered this recipe while watching an episode of "The Biggest Loser" while channel surfing one night.

 

http://www.biggestloser.com/lifestyle/recipes/jennie-o-luau-turkey-tacos

 

 

This recipe was interesting as it was something different from what we usually make.  It was a lot of prep work, so it would be nice to have a prep partner or to make the salsa ahead of time next time.  The recipe uses a LOT of cilantro, which I like, as I am always struggling to use up my cilantro before it starts to turn bad.  The salsa was GREAT!  We loved how refreshing it was and loved the mint.  I think that half of the salsa recipe would suffice or just plan to use it in other recipes in the next few days.  All in all, this recipe was good, but we think we may like my recipe just a little better (see below).  Perhaps a combo of the two would be fabulous!  For example, we prefer to garnish with grated carrot and grated cucumber instead of chopped spinach as there is more crunch.   I am also not quite sure of the rice vinegar flavour, yet, either.  It confused my taste buds as I am used to my flavours.  Using the salsa and lettuce from this recipe with my meat mixture and garnish might just be perfect.

 

Now...the lettuce debate....We have always used iceberg lettuce as our wrap, with the occasional use of romaine.  Butter lettuce and radicchio lettuce were completely new as lettuce wraps for us.  I loved the sweetness of the butter lettuce with this recipe.  I found the radicchio a bit too bitter.  However....the radicchio was sturdier and offered more texture in contrast to the soft, messier butter lettuce.  The best combo was butter lettuce with a layer of radicchio inside to help each other out.   The radicchio offered more physical strength to the wrap while the butter lettuce toned down the bitterness of the radicchio.  Sorry iceberg, you may have been replaced as the wrap for our lettuce wraps.  Out with the old...in with the new!

 

 

 

 

Lettuce Wraps (or turkey tacos)

Radicchio vs. Butter Lettuce

 

 

 

 

Korean Beef Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

1 garlic clove, minced

¼ red pepper, chopped

250g ground beef

2.5mL minced gingerroot (1/2 tsp.)

30 mL soy sauce  (2 tbsp.)

5 mL chili sauce (1 tsp.)

2.5mL sesame oil  (1/2 tsp.)

½ head lettuce

Garnish:  lime wedges, hoisin sauce, chopped green onion, shredded carrot, shredded cucumber, and/or chopped cilantro

 

Method:

 

1) Cook garlic, gingerroot, and ground beef in large frying pan until beef is brown.  Add red pepper and sauté.

2) Add soy sauce, chili sauce, and sesame oil; reduce heat to low and simmer 3-4 minutes.

3) Transfer to bowl.

4) Arrange garnish on platter. 

 

5) Place filling and garnish on lettuce leaf.  Wrap and enjoy! 

 

 

 

A New Kitchen Tool: The Spiralizer

One of weekly habits is to look through the flyer from my favorite grocery store.  I happened to stumble across a new kitchen toy at a very good price.  Long story short, I have been looking for a spiralizer for a reasonable price for over three years.  I couldn't resist the deal.   Once the purchase was made, you guessed it...so began my research for a new recipe.  I had made raw zucchini noodles many times with a smaller kitchen tool, so all those were out.   I didn't want to use beets on my first time using my new toy as I didn't want to stain it on the first use.  Then, I found this site:

http://www.inspiralized.com/

To my surprise, not only could I use my spiralizer for raw veggies, but I could use it to prep them for cooking.  Seemed obvious, but I honestly never thought of that!  Where to begin?  The recipe that spoke to me for this week was Spiralized Paleo Eggs “Benedict” with Roasted Sweet Potato Noodles, Avocado and Chipotle Hollandaise.

http://www.inspiralized.com/2015/01/07/spiralized-paleo-eggs-benedict-with-roasted-sweet-potato-noodles-avocado-and-chipotle-hollandaise/

Before you stop reading, don't worry if you don't have a spiralizer.  You could still make this recipe by cutting up the sweet potatoes and baking them. (I must admit spiralizing was a lot of FUN, so if you find one at a good price - BUY IT!).   Again, I loved the contrast of the spicy flavour of the chipotle sauce against the sweetness of the sweet potato.  I usually toss my sweet potatoes in chili powder prior to baking them, but the chipotle offered a whole new dimension.  I must admit that I was not a fan of the cooked avocado.  When I make this recipe again, I will serve it with the avocado raw.  The clean-up for the sauce was tricky as the coconut oil hardened in the blender as I left the sauce in the blender until the end.  I will DEFINITELY be making this sauce again as my husband did not get the chance to try it and is very curious of all the possibilities with just the sauce alone!  So, next time,  I will remove the sauce from the blender immediately and then soak the blender in hot water for an easy clean-up.  If your spice tolerance is low, you might want to consider using half a chipotle pepper in the sauce.  I personally love the sauce as is but could see how some would find it too spicy.   The best part of this recipe is that I made it for dinner.  Who doesn't love breakfast for dinner?  I had enough made that I had a yummy breakfast ready on a weekday as I just had to prepare my eggs in the morning.  I actually hard boiled the eggs in the morning for a time saver!  With my new lessons in place, I will be making this recipe again, and again...and again! 

The Spiralizer

Spiralizer in Action

Breakfast for Dinner

To Roast or Not to Roast: Curried Carrot Soup

 

 

This week's recipe is killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.  After receiving a gift card to a book store as a Christmas gift, I told myself that I am NOT allowed to buy a cookbook with it until I make more recipes from the ones I currently own plus I have always wanted to make a curried carrot soup but just surprisingly have never gotten around to it.

 

I found the exact recipe I wanted to try on page 133 of The Best of Clean Eating cookbook. (Editors Of Clean Eating Magazine. The Best of Clean Eating: Over 200 Mouthwatering Recipes to Keep You Lean and Healthy. Mississauga, Canada: Musclemag International / Robert Kennedy Pub, 2010. Print.)

 

Then began my thoughts....should I roast the carrots first or make the recipe as is without roasting the carrots first?  Guessing that the former would most likely taste better, I wanted to try to actually follow a recipe.  I compromised.  I decided to try both and do a comparison of the two.

 

Hands down, roasting the carrots first made a way better soup.  Don't get me wrong, just using raw carrots and using those in the soup was good if you are crunched for time. (Roasting carrots takes about 45 minutes at 400 degrees F, so some planning is needed for that.)   Had I not made the roasted carrot soup, I would have thoroughly enjoyed the original recipe.   

 

Basically, roasting the carrots added a sweetness to the soup that toned down the spiciness of the ginger, cumin, and curry powder.   The roasted carrot soup was thicker in texture and deeper in colour.  I was very surprised that roasting the carrots also took away the flavour of the coconut milk - maybe they were fighting to be the sweet taste?

 

I will be making this recipe again with roasting the carrots first.  Next time, I would probably use less ginger and try roasting the leeks and the garlic first as well.  As an added bonus,  I could see this recipe making an appearance in my Foods 9 program later this winter or next fall.  It is a great recipe to demonstrate that healthy eating isn't expensive, and to use one of my favorite expressions, ....nutritious can be delicious!

 

 

Can you spot the difference?

(the one on the right was made with roasted carrots)