Zucchini Noodle Shrimp Scampi

I love how zoodles (zucchini noodles) are everywhere.  Most grocery stores now carry a selection of spiraled veggies, like squash or beets.  My favorite, however, are definitely zoodles.  Mostly because they are fun to say.  Oodles and oodles of zoodles, zoodles!  I smell a children's song coming on.  

A couple of weeks ago I made a shrimp scampi dish using zoodles and it was so good, I've since made it a few more times.  I used this recipe, omitting the scallops (although I have had the dish WITH them and it's delicious).  It's the perfect light and vibrant spring dish!

I hope you all have super weekends.  I have something to share with you soon, and I can't wait :)

Spicy Chicken Rice Bowls

HELLO BLOGGING WORLD!  

Ok, how did I do this again?  This blogging thing?  I would type nonsensical thoughts, you would read them, chuckling loudly while slapping your knees, there were food photos, recipes... ok, it's all coming back, it's all coming back to me now.  There were moments of gold and there were FLASHES OF LIGHT.  

I haven't forgotten about you, it's just we were out west for eleventy days (my favorite not-a-number), and as my kids get older it seems to be taking them longer and longer to adjust back to their accustomed time zone.  My son becomes a teenager, staying up too late and playing dead in the morning (like seriously, I know you can feel that I've just ripped the blankets off your body and I know you can see the sunlight burning through your closed eyelids as I've just violently opened the shades).  My middle child decides to pick 8pm to run laps around the house, wearing three winter coats (??), until I finally decide to give her a leeeeeeeeetle Benadryl (hahahahahahahaha, kidding).  My toddler keeps waking up with night terrors... first, there was a "bird" in her bed and the next night a "crab" (I won't go there).  Needless to say, I am a walking asleep person...

...but I haven't forgotten about you.

In fact, I've made the same dinner the last 3 nights in a row in an attempt to get more photos so I can post the recipe, but somehow I just have one?  Remember how I said I was a walking asleep person? 

Alas!  It's time for me to just POST it already.  Because it's so delicious, and because you deserve it.  It's basically a chicken and rice bowl on top of arugula and topped with various yummy things, and it's based on a dish called 'Le Bowl' from a restaurant called Zinque in Los Angeles.  I toss the chicken in a little mayo and sriracha, which is why I'm calling it spicy, and if you watch "Sing" as much as I do, then you just heard Gunther the pig in your head.  Enjoy!

Spicy Chicken Rice Bowls

Servings: 2 bowls

Printable Recipe

2 cups arugula

2 cups cooked brown rice

2 cups roasted chicken, shredded

Sriracha sauce

Mayonaise 

Shaved Manchego cheese (or Parmesan)

1/2 avocado, diced

Cherry tomatoes, diced

Corn shredded off the cob

Divide the arugula and brown rice among two bowls.  In another small bowl, add chicken and desired amounts of mayo and sriracha (I do about 1 Tbsp mayo and 1 heaping tsp sriracha), stir together.  Top each bowl with chicken, cheese, avocado, tomatoes and corn.  Drizzle some more olive oil and more hot sauce (if desired) on top.  Season to taste with salt and pepper!   

Vote for your Future: May 9th

All Candidates Meetings Near You

Come join Burnaby Food First and like-minded community organizations concerned with the well-being of our municipality. Take this opportunity to meet your provincial candidates. Bring your questions and your vision for Burnaby and British Columbia.

It is a honeyed life on CBC's Weekend Morning Show

 This morning on CBC's Weekend Morning Show with interim host Nadia Kidwai, I presented dishes that featured honey.  Please support both the bees in our Manitoba environment, when considering the impact of cosmetic pesticides on human and environmental health, and consider the bee keepers and their hard work to produce excellent honey for our enjoyment.

The gorgeous cutting board is made locally by Silverbirch Designs. 

1.Honey Miso Grilled Chicken Thighs

1 inch fresh ginger, minced
3 tbs miso
1 green onion, finely chopped
3 tbs honey
3 tbs Mirin
a drizzle of chili oil
4-8 skinned and boned chicken thighs

Combine first 6 ingredients until well blended. Mix with the chicken pieces and let marinade for at least one hour. Grill, broil or saut� until done, about 4-8 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the chicken. Serve immediately or enjoy cold.

Enjoy!

2. Tuscan Squash Salad

1 lb squash (butternut, hubbard, or any small firm variety except spaghetti), peeled, seeded and cut in 5-inch slices
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbs honey, warm and divided into two parts
� cup chopped walnuts
2 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs walnut oil
� tsp kosher or sea salt
� tsp ground black pepper
~ 6 cups mixed baby greens, lightly packed
� cup crumbled feta

Preheat oven to 400�F. Toss the squash and olive oil in a large bowl. Spread on a parchment-lined  baking sheet and lightly brush with half of the honey. Bake for 15 minutes. Turn and brush with the remaining honey. Bake for another 15 minutes or until the squash is cooked through. Some varieties  take longer to cook.

While the squash is baking, toast the walnuts lightly. Whisk together the lemon juice, walnut oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl.

Toss the greens with the vinaigrette in a large bowl and place on serving plates. Top with 3-5 slices ofsquash. Sprinkle with the walnuts and feta, season and serve while the squash is still warm.

3. Honey drizzled on Chevre with herbs

On a cheese board, place amount of chevre. Sprinkle your favourite dried herb mixture on the cheese,

such as Herbes d�Provence, Za�atar, Sumac, etc. Drizzle liquid or warm melted honey over cheese and

herbs. Enjoy with breads or crackers.

Crispy Cracker Coconut Mounds

Alternate title: Dipping Things in Chocolate is Hard.

I recently learned that the reason a lot of people don�t like coconut (according to two people I know who don�t like coconut) is the texture. I don�t really get it. Do these people just not like sweetened shredded coconut? What about desiccated? What about fresh? Or big dry flakes? I feel like there are way too many coconut types and applications to just give it a blanket dislike. I�m the kind of person who loves coconut, both in flavor and texture. I truly think it makes everything better. I was the kid who wished for Almond Joys at Halloween, who requested chocolate cake with coconut pecan frosting for every birthday, and who poked a hole in the bottom of every chocolate in the box, until I found the coconut one. I�m that person.

These little treats taste a lot like an Almond Joy�gooey sticky sweet coconut filling, crunchy almonds, and a chocolate shell. But then there�s the added salty, buttery crunch of the Ritz cracker, just for fun. I was originally planning on making little shortbread egg-shaped cookies, then doing the topping and the chocolate coating, but got lazy. Hence the Ritz. I�m pretty ok with it though, these fun treats are tasty and come together in a snap, and I actually really like the flavor of the Ritz here. The hardest part is the chocolate. Why is it so hard to get a nice, even, smooth shell? In my mind, these were the perfect little mounds, with perfectly smooth chocolate. What are your chocolate-dipping secrets? Tips? Tricks?

Oh well, I suppose I�ll never be a professional chocolate dipper. Sigh.

I�m calling these Coconut Mounds, because that�s what they are and I couldn�t think of a more appropriate name, but it�s kind of silly, because as we all know, Almond Joys have nuts, and Mounds don�t. But these do. It�s a confusing world we live in.

Crispy Cracker Coconut Mounds

Makes approx 15.
Note: I also made a batch using almond-based non-dairy cream cheese, which were excellent, but did need a bit of flour to thicken up the mixture enough to scoop.

4 oz cream cheese (half a brick) 1 cup confectioners / powdered sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut 1/2 cup chopped almonds (I use roasted salted) Ritz-type crackers 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips + a tiny bit of coconut oil

Mix together cream cheese and powdered sugar (with stand or hand mixer) until combined and creamy. Add vanilla, and mix. Stir in coconut and nuts. If mixture seems super soft and too loose, you can either add a tad of flour and stir to combine, or pop in the freezer or fridge for a few minutes. Scoop mixture onto Ritz crackers (I used a 1.5 tablespoon scoop, not filled all the way) in mounds Melt chocolate in microwave, with just a bit (1.5 teaspoon -ish) of coconut oil, just to thin it Dip mounds in chocolate, being careful to not dislodge mound from cracker Chill to harden chocolate, can be stored in fridge

Good Nutrition Makes A Happy Person

Eating healthy nutritious food is the simple and right solution.

Poverty and Food Security

�The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison.� 

Ann Wigmore

Local Beef Shank Osso Bucco for CBC's Weekend Morning Show

This morning I presented the following recipe for CBC's Weekend Morning Show with interim host, Nadia Kidwai.  The beef shank is a beautiful product, full of flavour, and this recipe is easy to prepare.  The trick to this and most recipes, is to prepare your Mise en Place, or, have everything ready to go.

Osso Bucco:
1 cup all-purpose flour
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 pieces Beef Shank (I used Wildfire Farms and Manitoba Beef shanks available at St. Norbert's Farmer's Market)
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 lemon, zest peeled off in wide strips with a vegetable peeler
1 head garlic, cut horizontally through the middle
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 bottle dry red wine
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can low-sodium beef broth (I had homemade chicken broth on hand instead)
1 (28-ounce) can whole San Marzano tomatoes, hand-crushed (I used 6 frozen garden grown Roma Tomatoes)

Put the flour in a large shallow platter and season it with a fair amount of salt and pepper. Dredge the meat in the seasoned flour and then tap off the excess (extra flour will burn and make the dish off-tasting).

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat and hit it with a 3-count drizzle of oil. Add the butter and swirl it around the pan to melt. Sear the meat, turning carefully with tongs, until all sides are a rich brown caramel color. Drizzle with a little more oil, if needed. (Do this in batches if the shanks are large and look crowded in the pot.) Remove the browned meat to a side plate. There will be a lot of flavor left over in the bottom of the pot. You're going to use that to create your sauce.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Using the same pot, saut� the onion, celery, carrots, lemon zest, garlic, bay leaves, and parsley over medium heat. Cook the vegetables down until they start to get some color and develop a deep, rich aroma. Season with salt and pepper; add a little oil if needed. Nestle the meat back in the pot. Pour in the wine and let it simmer down for 20 minutes, until the wine has reduced by half. Reducing is key for intense flavor. Add the beef broth and tomatoes and stir everything together. Cover the pot and put it in the oven. Braise for 1 and a 1/2 hours. Then remove the cover and continue to cook for another 30 minutes. The sauce should be thick and the meat tender and nearly falling off the bone.
Remove bay leaves.

Enjoy!

Pull Apart Pizza Bread

Over the weekend I made this ridiculous, absurd, out-of-this-world, cheesy, gooey, flavorful pull-apart pizza bread.  Should I even keep talking?  Writing?  Blogging?  Whatever it is I'm doing.  Basically, you should probably make this as soon as possible.  It requires a little effort, but it's not hard.  Added bonus?  Your children will totally want to help, and by "help" I mean they'll want to sprinkle flour all over their bodies and the floor like the fairies do.  The pizza bread dough only has to sit for an hour, so the whole thing comes together relatively quickly.  Once it's ready, you stuff little circles with a cheesy, saucy mixture (one you could add any of your favorite pizza toppings to!), and then you shove them all into a bread dish and bake.  Oh, and you top it with a buttery chive sauce because it's not sinful and delicious enough as is.  (Sarcasm)    

You can find the recipe HERE.  Enjoy!  

{Mozzarella, Parmesan, pizza sauce, sliced pepperoni, Italian seasoning}

{My little helpers, flour EVERYWHERE}

{Pockets stuffed, ready to bake...}

{Voila!  Topped with a chive butter sauce}

Also, Pull Apart Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Bread!

Sat, April 8 - Garden Build & Volunteer Lunch

Join us to build a garden at Burnaby Village Museum & stay for a free lunch! Registration information below: