Colourful Asian Inspired Quinoa Salad

This salad tastes as good as it looks! So bright and pretty.

Ingredients:
1 Cup dried quinoa
1/4 Head red cabbage
2 Kale leafs
1 Cup edamame
1 Yellow pepper
1/4 Cup green onions
1 Celery stalk
1 Carrot small chunks
1 Cup diced cucumber

Dressing:
1 Tbsp fine grated ginger
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp soya sauce
1 Tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp Siracha sauce
1 Tsp maple syrup
Half lemon juiced (or lime)

Garnishing with sesame seeds would be perfection! This makes a BIG bowl.

Sweet and Tangy BBQ Pizza (V)

You know when you create food in your head and then finally have to make it?

Ingredients:
Homemade pizza dough (re: Mary's First Pizza recipe)
BBQ Sauce (store bought - cheat!)
Fresh pineapple chunks
Mushrooms
Yellow pepper diced
Half a large red onion soaked in balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Put as much of everything that you want on the pizza and bake until done! (25-30 minutes).

Enjoy!

Salad Rolls w/ Spicy Peanut Sauce

You could stuff it with anything pretty much...

Ingredients:
Rice paper
Vermicelli
Green onions
Cucumber
Carrots

Peanut sauce:
Peanut butter
Soya sauce
Sriracha
Maple syrup
Hot water (to thin)

Directions: Cut to textures you like, I thinly sliced the fresh veg, cooked the noodles and rolled in rice paper. So easy! Just a little assembly line. The sauce (for one serving) was probably a tbsp peanut butter, 1 tsp soya sauce, 1/2 tsp maple syrup, tsp Sriracha squeeze some fresh lemon and a little hot water to thin. Taste and go (could add fresh grated ginger too...)

Warm Beet and Potato Salad

Admittedly an Atlas Cafe knock-off without the goat cheese. So simple and satisfying.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
Romain lettuce
1 Beet
1 Yukon potato
1/2 Cup edamame
Balsamic dressing

Directions: Peel and slice potatoes and beets to similar sizes. Toss with olive oil and generously season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 25 minutes at 350, flipping sides halfway through roasting. Wash and chop salad (I used a market fresh head of romain) and top with edamame (I used defrosted frozen). Add the potatoes and beets while still hot and drizzle a homemade balsamic vinegar (mine had balsamic, olive oil, dijon, maple syrup and salt and pepper).

Gnocchi Corn Chowder

I've never made a chowder before so what better inspiration does one need than "nothing to bring for lunch" tomorrow? Delicious!

Ingredients:
1 Onion diced
2 Stalks of celery diced
2 Medium carrots diced
1 1/2 Cups of mushrooms diced
2 Cloves of garlic minced
1 Cup frozen corn
1 Cup frozen peas
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
1/3 Cup all purpose flour
4 Cups of chicken stock
2 Cups milk
1 Tsp Italian seasoning
1 Package small gnocchi


Directions:
Saute onion, carrots, celery and mushrooms in melted butter and olive oil until soft. Add garlic then flour. Cook for a couple minutes then slowly add stock. Add corn, peas, gnocchi, seasoning and milk. Bring to a simmer until gnocchi is done and serve! Chowder for days...

The Best Teriyaki Sauce

Holy SH!T I made Teriyaki sauce!!! I don't even know how to spell it without autocorrect. It's so simple, so quick and honestly better than any teriyaki sauce I can remember having. Recipe makes 2 cups.


Ingredients:
1 Cup of water
1/4 Cup of soya sauce (or Tamari)
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
1 Large garlic clove minced
2 Tbsp corn starch
1/4 cup of water







Directions:
In a. small pot combine 1 cup of water, soya sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic and bring to a boil. In a small cup combine corn starch and 1/4 cup of cold water until dissolved then add to the boiling mixture. You can turn the heat off or down and keep mixing until the sauce thickens which doesn't take long. Enjoy!

Mary's First Homemade Pizza

OMG I made pizza!!! It's actually pretty quick and simple! The toppings could vary but I used fresh pineapple, ham, yellow pepper, mushroom (store bought) pizza sauce and marble cheese.

Dough:
2 Cups of flour
1 Packet of quick rising yeast
3/4 Tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Cup warm water

Directions: Combin flour, yeast and salt then add olive oil and warm water (closer to hot). I mixed it with a fork until combined and added a little extra flour until dough was soft. Placed in an oiled bowl and let rest for 20-40 minutes. I then rolled out on a floured surfaced and baked for 10 minutes. Take out add toppings and bake for another 10-15 minutes at 350.

Everytime I make something homemade I wonder why I ever bought it before? So good!