fruits & veg soak

Lets be realistic here, as much as I would love to buy all our produce organic, it would cost a lot as we buy the following on a weekly basis just for juicing plus more for actual meals

5 pounds of carrots
1 or 2 bags of apples
Package of Asian pears
Bag of oranges
2 lbs strawberries

And that's just for breakfast, if we do lunch juices, we also get spinach, parsley, kale, cabbage, beets, etc

As you can imagine, it would be a whopping grocery bill at an organic store. Instead, we go to Costco, buy what they do have in organic and the rest, soak the heck out of them when we get home to hopefully get rid of whatever gunk is on them.

First start with a clean sink, plug it and turn on the cold water. The mixture is about ten parts water for one part vinegar. I don't bother measuring and just add what I estimate is on part of vinegar.

I soak all the fruits except oranges and bananas. And most veggies unless they are pre washed.

veggie burgers with salad

This is what we call a "we have veggies in the fridge we need to use up" kind of meal. Enough to make a salad - check. Nothing thawed - whoops. Veggie burgers are cooked frozen - check. Something to go with it, umm no bun; oh, mushrooms and spinach - check.

Assemble everything so the end result is:

Salad consisting of mixed greens, pecans, dried cherries, cherry tomatoes, bacon bits, Brie, left over maple dressing

Burger topped with brie and a medley of cooked spinach and mushrooms topped with sliced cherry tomatoes, pea shots and chopped pecans.

Surprisingly, it was quite delicious and we'll likely have it again, maybe mix things up and have the veggie burger with rice or couscous..

sweet & sour stir fry with tofu

I absolutely live properly fried tofu in a good stir fry. I still haven't gotten the process down path but am getting there as I experiment with different oils and tofu firmness. At suggestions would be greatly appreciated as would a decent sweet and sour sauce that is more Thai than the stuff from the bottle. As I keep trying and improving this, I'll keep updating this post.

fried Thai tofu

Organic tofu (I'm leaning more towards medium firm or softer)
7 tablespoons of sesame seeds
6 tablespoons of cornstarch
6 tablespoons of flour (or rice flour)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of sugar (optional, said to help eliminate bitterness)

Heat canola oil on medium heat in a frying pan or pot (i use a pot as it's a bit sturdier), you'll need about an inch deep of oil. Prepare a plate with paper towel and take out a slotted spoon. Press and drunk the tofu. Cut into cubes, slightly smaller than an inch. Mix the dry ingredients in a pie plate. Toss the tofu until well covered, I do this in small batches, about 1/8 to 1/4 of the tofu at a time. Test if oil is hot enough, using the slotted spoon, gently place a covered cube of tofu in the oil, if it sizzles and starts cooking, it's ready.

Turn the heat down slightly and slowly place some of the covered cubes in the oil. When they are light golden brown on all sides, remove from oil and place on the paper towel to drain and cool.

Repeat until all the tofu is cooked.

sweet & sour stir fry

This stir fry is super simple and you can put in whatever you like. Here's what I use:

1 onion
2 peppers (usually to different colours)
Mushrooms
Pineapple chunk (save the juice)

Occasionally, I also use
Zucchini
Tomatoes
Or whatever is in the fridge

(While doing this, start your rice, I personally like basmati or jasmine). Heat olive oil, chopped garlic and a bit of ginger in a wok. Add in onions, when translucent, add in mushrooms. After 2-3 minutes, add in remaining veggies other than the pineapple. Sautée for about 10-15 minutes. When almost done, add in the pineapple chunks along with 3-4 tablespoons of e pineapple juice. Add in your sauce (I use the bottle stuff usually but next time I will try one from scratch). Sautée for about five minutes. When done, gently incorporate the tofu and mix well.

wild mushroom risotto

We love this risotto! We have been making it since I received the Jamie Oliver Meals in Minutes cookbook for Christmas in 2011. I don't make it with the salad as suggested, I simply add two slices of prosciutto as garnish on top as it provides a nice salty contrast.

wild mushroom risotto

Olive oil
Salt & pepper
1 large white onion
2-3 celery stalks
1 cup dried porcini mushrooms (or wild mixture)
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/2 glass of white wine
1 organic vegetable or chicken bouillon cube
1.5 pounds mixed mushroom (I usually use bellas and white)
1 clove of garlic
Small bunch of thyme
Large pat of butter
2 oz chunk or Parmesan cheese
1/2 lemon

Fill and boil the kettle. Put the standard blade in the food processor, halve and peel e onion, then put into the food processor with the celery and dried mushrooms and pulse until finely chopped. Drizzle olive oil into the Dutch oven and scrape in the veggies, stirring regularly.

Pick and finely chop the rosemary leaves and add to the Dutch oven with the rice. Stir well for 1 minute, then pour in the white wine and crumble in the bouillon cube, stirring until the wine is absorbed. Season with salt and pepper then add a cup of boiling water and stir well.

Te trick now is to keep coming back to the risotto and adding good slugs of boiling water (or broth, I use water, about a quart is suggested but I use likely closer to 1.5 quarts), every mine or so of around 20 minutes. To make it oozy and lovely, you're going to message the starch out of the rice and stop it from sticking. If, for some reason, some did stick, pour a good slug of boiling water and gently unstick it.

While doing that, put a large oven proof frying pan on medium heat and turn the broiler on high. Tear half of the mushrooms into the risotto and half into the frying pan with a good lug of olive oil and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Add in a clove of chopped garlic. Pick the leaves from a few sprigs of thyme into the pan, stir them in, then take off the heat. Put the frying pan under the broiler on the top shelf to crisp up.

Keep stirring the risotto.

Check on the mushrooms and remove when crispy.

At is point, the risotto should be oatmeal like. Stir in the butter, finely grate most of the Parmesan cheese and add in a good squeeze of lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and add a splash ore of water or broth if needed to make oozy and delicious.

Serve topped with the crispy mushrooms and a slice or two of prosciutto.

Hint - I like my risotto super ooey gooey and add in more water than suggested.