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