Pasta Primavera

I'm usually a fan of the creamy, cheesy pasta dishes, so I've never been much of a fan of pasta primavera, and even the ones I've tried usually have contained cream or some type of sauce in with all the veggies. This one, with a bit of cooking water to keep it moist and a bit of cheese, is different. The veggies, blanched lightly in the pasta cooking water, are fresh and bright, leaving you feeling that you are eating something healthy and not a heavy pasta dish. With all the fresh veggies coming out at the farmer's markets in the coming months, you'll have no problem swapping around veggies to what you really enjoy. I didn't have any goat cheese, and truth be told, nobody in my family really likes it all that much so I subbed what I had on hand-a good sprinkle of mozzarella.

Adapted from Food Network Magazine

12 oz fusilli or other corkscrew pasta
1/2 pound sugar snap peas, or broccoli florets
2 carrots, julienned
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh mint
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 oz goat cheese (or Boursin), crumbled

Add the pasta to a large pot of salted boiling water and cook according to package directions. About two minutes before the pasta is finished, add the peas, carrots, and peppers.

Ladle out about 1/2 cup of the cooking water and set aside before you drain the pasta and veggies, then return them to the empty pot and set aside.

Meanwhile, cook the garlic in a medium saucepan with some oil, stirring, until lightly browned. Stir in the hot pepper flakes and tomatoes, continuing to cook and stir until the tomatoes just begin to wilt. Pour in 1/4 cup of the reserved cooking water, then pour the garlic mixture over the veggies and pasta that you cooked previously. Toss well. Gently toss in the chopped mint and Parmesan, then half of the goat cheese until it's all combined.

Serve in bowls and top with remaining goat cheese.

Makes 4 servings

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Crockpot Pinto Beans and Rice

I've been on a bean kick lately. Chick peas, pinto beans, black beans, kidney beans...I'm buying them canned, dried, in prepared hummus, you name it. I think I love beans so much because they are something that everyone in my family will will eat, plus they are so cheap that they help keep my grocery bill down. I kind of blame Katie, since I sort of mentioned trying dried beans and then she bugged me, and bugged me, and then I felt all sorts of bean guilt like maybe I was missing out on something. Are they really fantastic? Is there some crazy dried bean secret that I don't know?

(Edit: The word bugging doesn't really fit. I meant Katie was so enthusiastic that I was trying them out that she'd ask, and I hadn't gotten to it, so eventually I began to feel guilty that the beans were in my cupboard and I was ignoring them! How could I ignore the awesomeness that is dried beans?!? But no, not bugging. Gentle prodding that made me giggle.)

Well, sort of. They are really tasty. Crazy cheap. And there's no salt added, which is a huge bonus. If you don't buy dried beans, why not? They aren't any more work, and you can just soak, boil them up, and throw them in the freezer. Easy! Not sure? Check out Katie's great post on How to Cook Dried Beans.

This recipe from Merry intrigued me because she's from Alabama, and a recipe from her childhood would be completely different from my own, having grown up in central BC. Beans and rice? What would they be like?

Delicious. Oh, SO delicious. Kevin doesn't even really love baked beans, but he snarfed these down right away, took some for lunch, and declared that they were very, very tasty.

Now, hint about the dried beans. I did this recipe differently than Merry, mostly because I was a little short on time. I put the dried beans in a container and covered them with water, then soaked them overnight. The next day I drained and rinsed them, put them in a pot, then covered them with water again and brought to a boil. Once at a boil, I turned them down and let them simmer for a good long time until they were soft.

I didn't time how long it took. Generally, it was more than an hour, and I just kept puttering in the kitchen and tasting the beans every now and then to see if they were soft. Make sure to taste more than 1 because often, 1 or 2 would be good and then I'd have a 3rd or 4th and they'd be a bit hard. Once they were cooked, I actually didn't have time to make the dish right away so I then put the beans in the freezer. When it was time to make this, I thawed the cooked beans and then tossed them into the crockpot with all the other ingredients, but I only put in 4 cups of water. Even at that, they were a bit soupy and I had to put the beans in a pan and under the broiler to get rid of some of that excess sauce, so when I make it again I'd go the same route and reduce the water to 3 cups. The original recipe had 8 cups of water, which included the cooking time (which would obviously reduce the amount of liquid), but when I made it I didn't read the recipe right through so I had to improvise a little. See Merry's instructions if you aren't sure what to do.

Adapted from Merry With Children






2 cups dried pinto beans
3 cups water
4 slices of bacon
1 onion, diced
1/2 lb kielbasa cut into bite sized pieces (for a spicy version, use Chorizo sausage, chopped)
1 can ranch style or bbq beans
1 (6oz) can of tomato paste
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt (you can always add more)
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp ground paprika

Put the beans in a container and cover with about 3 inches or so of water, giving the beans lots of room to swell. Set aside overnight. The next day, drain off the water and rinse the beans. Get a large pot on the stove and bring the water to a boil, then add the beans. Simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour until the beans are tender. Take off the heat and drain.

In a skillet over medium heat, fry up the bacon. When it's cooked through remove to paper towel to drain, and drain off all but about 1 Tbsp of the bacon fat. Add in the onions and continue to saute them, stirring, until they are translucent and soft.

Put all the ingredients in your crockpot-everything from the beans to bacon, sauteed onions, spices, you name it. Give it all a stir so that it's mixed, then simmer it all on low in your crockpot for 8-10 hours, adding more water if it seems to be a bit dry. I don't like my beans too soupy, so I preferred less water. You may add more if you think you need it.

We served this with a bottle of hot sauce and some steamed rice at the table, and everyone just ate it right up!

Serves 6

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Pecan Marshmallow Cookies

Do you like s'mores or rice krispie squares? These cookies take elements of both and roll them all into one. Crammed full of chocolate, nuts, rice cereal, and marshmallows, they are over the top rich. The original recipe calls for milk chocolate chips, but I only have semi sweet in my house so that that's what I used, and I think I'd stick with that.

You do have to be a bit careful when using marshmallows in cookies. Firstly, if you can air dry the marshmallows for a day or two before you use them to make them stale, it keeps them from dissolving in the cookies and leaving pockets of sugary nothingness. This is hard to do because if your house is like mine, someone will continually walk by the exposed marshmallows and grab a handful to nibble on.

Secondly, use parchment paper. With marshmallows in cookies, it's really not optional, because otherwise the marshmallow in the cookies will glue to your cookie sheets and you will be chiseling these babies off. Even when you use parchment, it's better once you remove the cookies from the oven to let them stand for a minute or two for the melted marshmallow to harden up a bit, otherwise it sticks to your spatula and then hardens, making it all messy.

I also noticed there was no salt in the recipe, which I thought was a little strange. I personally would add about 1/4 tsp to the recipe next time, but maybe it doesn't need it at all.

Once I finished making these and the entire span of counter was covered with chocolate drizzled cookies, both John and Kevin stopped in the kitchen and stared, practically wiping drool from their chins. The finished product is a sight to behold. They taste pretty awesome too.

Adapted from Food Network Magazine

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups quick cooking oats (not instant)
1 1/4 cup crispy rice cereal
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup mini marshmallows (*stale)

Topping:
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup mini marshmallows
1 tbsp heavy cream
pinch cayenne pepper
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans

Pre-heat oven to 350 F and line the cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda together in a large bowl and set aside. In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter and both sugars until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one and a time, and then add the vanilla, continuing to beat on medium speed until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, pour in the flour mixture and then mix on low speed until combined.

Stir in the chocolate chips, oats, cereal, marshmallows, and pecans with a wooden spoon. It will seem like not enough dough to incorporate them all, but it does work. Drop the dough by heaped tablespoons onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets and bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until set.

When you remove them from the oven, allow to sit on the cookie sheet for about 2 minutes to firm up before you remove them to a cooling rack.

Once all the cookies are baked, you can move on to creating the topping.

Over medium low heat in a small saucepan, melt the marshmallows, stirring. When they are melted, remove the pan from the stove and add the chocolate chips, continuing to stir. You may have to put the pan back on the stove over low heat to get the chocolate to melt into the marshmallow but continue to stir until it's all smooth. When it is, add the pinch of cayenne, 1/3 cup of finely chopped pecans, and 2 1/2 tsp cream. I only had whipping cream, so I used that. If the mixture is too thick, feel free to add a little more more cream and stir well until it loosens up. My topping turned out too thick to drizzle, so I improvised and used a ziplock bag as an icing bag of sorts.

Once the cookies are cool, roll out a strip of waxed paper on your counter and transfer the cookies to it. Get a ziplock bag and line a mug with it, then pour in the topping mixture. Seal the top of the bag, and clip a hole in one corner. Use the bag like an icing bag to drizzle the topping all over the cookies. It's far less messy and very quick this way, plus you have some more control over how much chocolate drizzle ends up on the cookies.

Let the cookies sit for a few hours for the chocolate to firm up. Store in an airtight container, with waxed paper between layers so they don't all stick together.

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen cookies

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Spinach Strawberry Salad with Honey Poppy Seed Dressing

Photo credit: Jessica Tam

With strawberries all over at the grocery store, it just makes sense to make strawberry spinach salad. Sweet, yummy, and topped with a really great home made dressing, I could eat a huge bowl of this salad for lunch. We also really loved the dressing on a chopped green salad. You don't really need measurements for the salad, just toss it all up in a bowl and let every one put dressing on their own.

Dressing:

adapted from Canadian Living

1/2 cup Greek yogurt
2 tbsp liquid honey
4 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp paprika
pinch salt

Combine all in a bowl and whisk together until combined. I pour my dressings in a jam jar, screw on a lid, and keep them in the fridge. This one will last up to 5 days.

Makes 2/3 cup

Spinach salad:

Washed, trimmed spinach
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
washed, cored, and sliced strawberries
handful of pecans, toasted

There's no recipe for this really. Fill up your bowl with spinach, then toss with the onion and strawberries. You can adjust this to taste, really. Sprinkle with some chopped pecans and serve with the dressing.

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Dreamy Chocolate Ice Cream With Camino Espresso Chocolate Bits

You can't see the chocolate bits because they are all hidden in that delicious creamy scoop.

Some time ago Kevin went on a field trip and while they waited at the ferry terminal, he wandered into a Baskin Robbins. All the other kids were drooling over the ice cream, but he explained to me later, "Mom. You have made the best chocolate ice cream in the universe-I'm so spoiled I can't even imagine eating something else."

This ice cream is hands down the very best chocolate ice cream I have ever eaten. Creamy, incredibly rich, it is the epitome of delicious ice cream. The best part is there are no weird additives or things you can't pronounce, but rather just amazing ingredients that come together to make something decadent. Kevin and I were inspired to stir in a chopped Camino Espresso chocolate bar, thinking that the coffee flavor in the chocolate would be a nice contrast and it was. The coffee flavor was very mild against the chocolate, but still there as an after note. If coffee and chocolate aren't your style, try the 70% dark chocolate bar, which would add a bit of texture and tasty chocolate bits.

Adapted from The Perfect Scoop

2 cups heavy cream (I used whipping cream)
3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (in Canada, Fry's is good)
5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (I used Baker's bittersweet)
1 cup whole milk
¾ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 Camino espresso dark chocolate bar, chopped into tiny pieces about the size of chocolate chips. (or other high quality chocolate if you don't have Camino where you are)

Using a saucepan over medium low heat, warm up 1 cup of the whipping cream and whisk with the cocoa until it's blended together. Bring to a low boil, then reduce the heat and whisking constantly, allow to boil gently for 30 seconds before removing from the heat.

Stir in the chopped chocolate until nice and smooth, then add the remaining 1 cup of cream.Pour the chocolate and cream mixture into a large bowl, scraping every last bit out that you can. Resist the urge to lick the spatula. Okay, don't. Go ahead. I sure did.

Using the same saucepan, heat up the milk, sugar, and salt. Stir constantly with a heatproof spatula. Now here is where I find my large glass pyrex mixing cup to be invaluable. You can use a bowl, but I find the measuring cup makes it so much easier to pour and handle.

Put your egg yolks in the bowl/measuring cup and whisk. Now take your warmed milk/sugar mixture and dribble a bit into the eggs, a tiny bit at a time, whisking all the while. You don't want the eggs to cook on you and make scrambled eggs. Keep dribbling in the warm milk and whisking away, bit by bit, until all the milk is mixed in and everything is happy. Then pour that mixture right back into the pot.

Stir the milk/egg mixture over medium low heat constantly (and I mean constantly), until it thickens up and coats the spatula. The original recipe said that you want the temperature of the mixture to get to 170 F, so I dug out my candy thermometer and double checked the heat. Once it is hot enough, pour the milk/egg custard into the sieve over the bowl of whipping cream and chocolate you have set aside.

The sieve will catch and bits of egg that cooked while you were whisking it and adding the hot milk. Add the vanilla and stir everything all together, then cover the custard by laying a piece of cling wrap right on the surface and up the sides of the bowl. You don't want to have some rubbery skin forming on the top.

Chill the custard overnight. Okay, you don't have to chill it THAT long, but in my ice cream making experience, the custard seems to turn out far more creamy if you do that. I have no idea why. When you are ready to make the ice cream, remove the cling film and whisk the custard for a few minutes to thin it out. Process the mixture in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions for about 25 minutes until it is thick, creamy, and frozen. In the last five minutes, add the bits of the Camino espresso chocolate bar.

Scoop into an airtight container and put in the freezer so the ice cream can harden up, as it will be a bit soft. To make it easier to scoop later, just take the container out and let it sit on the counter for a couple of minutes.

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Rhubarb Ginger Muffins

When I was a kid growing up in a remote town in central BC, we didn't have a lot of places to buy a lot of fruit. Gardens were common, and in our garden was a bunch of rhubarb. My Mom made good use of that rhubarb-from jams to pies, stewed or baked into squares with crumble topping, we ate it often, even ripping the stems right out of the garden and sitting on the lawn with a dish of sugar in hand, dipping the rhubarb into it and crunching the ends off.

We ate rhubarb so much that eventually, I began to hate it and in the last 20 yrs, rhubarb hasn't so much as touched my lips.

These muffins intrigued me. They are from Jamie Oliver, and being a food writer now I should be writing about things that are seasonal, with rhubarb being on the list at the moment. I scored some rhubarb at the store since I don't have a garden, pulled out my kitchen scale, and whipped these babies up.

Brown sugary with a hint of lemon and ginger, with some tart rhubarb in there to make it moist, these muffins are absolutely delectable. You must try them! If you don't have a kitchen scale, don't worry- I have included the original measurements and then converted them to cups for you. I did make a few changes, as noted in brackets in the recipe.

Adapted from Jamie Oliver

3 cups (350 g) flour
1 1/4 cups (225 g) brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (250 ml) milk (I used buttermilk)
zest of 1 orange (I used a lemon-SO good!)
2 pieces of stem ginger, finally chopped (with the lack of measurement here, I took a wild guess and used 1 tbsp of finely chopped fresh ginger)
7 tbsp (100 grams) butter, melted
1 large egg
2 cups (300 g) fresh rhubarb, chopped finely

Topping:
1/2 cup (100 grams) brown sugar
1 Tbsp butter, melted
2 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F and line your muffin tin with paper liners.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, and lemon/orange zest in a large bowl. Make a well in the center.

In another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, ginger, egg, and melted butter together. Pour into the flour mixture. Fold gently with a wooden spoon-usually I'd say until just moistened, but the rhubarb adds a lot of moisture so add that in after you stir it a bit too.

Divide the batter among muffin cups.

In a small bowl, combine the topping ingredients. Sprinkle some over the muffin batter-not a lot, maybe about a teaspoon or so. What I found happened is the brown sugar melted all over the top which on one hand, tastes delicious, but on the other, makes a bit of a mess. There was brown sugar all over my muffin pans and it seeped down and covered the paper muffin cups which at first seemed like a nasty sticky mess, but turned out okay because the muffins were delicious. So just be careful about how much sugar you top those babies with, you don't want an oven full of melted brown sugar. It's possible that my issue with it was simply because I had my measurements a little off.

Bake for about 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean. Remove from the muffin tin immediately to a rack to cool (otherwise if the sugar seeped down into the tin, you may have to chisel them out).

These freeze really well kept in an airtight container, and make a nice lunchbox treat when you need one.

Makes 12

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The Best BBQ Chicken Legs

We do not own a barbecue. I'm not kidding. At one time, when I first met my husband 20 years ago, he had some old barbecue that the foster kids living with him used, but as the years went by and we married then moved, it died in there somewhere. We never did replace it because even though I like the idea of having one, we always needed to spend the money somewhere else.

Instead I have coveted other people's barbecues and the food that comes off of them.

Awhile ago I featured these chicken legs in a meal plan and then, so intrigued by the picture, I decided to make them. It's difficult having a husband who only eats chicken-I swear that I can convert almost any recipe that uses ground beef to one with turkey, and have tried 1001 and one ways to cook poultry. A possible cookbook, perhaps? I can see the cover now-all of us would be covered with feathers.

These chicken legs are hands down the very BEST chicken legs I have ever tasted, and thankfully for people like me who don't have a barbecue, you make them right in your oven. Barbecue sauce typically is pretty high in sugar and sodium, but the beauty with this is that you can tweak it to your heart's content. No pre-made barbecue sauce even comes to close to this recipe, plus it's so easy, you'll never miss the bottled stuff at all. This recipe also halves beautifully. Please read through the entire recipe before you start, because I have included some food safe advice about sauces and chicken in the method. I don't want you guys getting sick!

Tip: Leftovers are amazing in a lunchbox, but don't forget to include the napkins!

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

18 chicken drumsticks, with skin
1/4 onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup ketchup (you could use low sodium)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
4 Tbsp vinegar (less to taste-start with two and add more if you need it)
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup molasses
1-4 Tbsp Abodo sauce, to taste (the sauce that chipolte peppers are packed in. You can buy it by itself too if you can find it in the Mexican food section.)

Pre-heat the oven to 450 F.

Line a roasting pan with foil and place the drumsticks on the pan. Roast for about 20 minutes, turning half way through.

Meanwhile, add a little oil to a fry pan and saute the garlic and onion until they are soft. Add the other ingredients and stir well, then bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and allow it to simmer for about 15 minutes.

When the drumsticks are finished roasting and are cooked through, turn the oven to broil and move the rack a bit closer to the element, then watch the drumsticks carefully and turn them while the skin gets browned and crispy. Tongs are really handy for this.

When the skin is browned and crispy, remove the chicken from the oven. Using the tongs, dip each drumstick in the sauce so to coat it completely, and put back on the broiling pan. Once all the drumsticks have been dunked, turn the oven on to 350 F and put the chicken back in the oven. At this point, the sugar in the sauce will start to bubble and caramelize somewhat-I left the drumsticks in the oven for about 10 minutes, slathering them with more sauce if I felt they needed it and watching carefully so that they didn't burn. ** See food safe note below about the sauce**

Makes 18 chicken drumsticks, enough to serve 8 people

** Food safe note about the sauce: Once you have dunked your chicken in the sauce, you can NOT serve the sauce nor should serve the chicken with a final slathering of it unless you've put the chicken under the broiler for a bit until it bubbles for awhile. If you wish to have extra sauce on the side, remove some from the pan BEFORE YOU DUNK THE CHICKEN. ***

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Camino Lime Juice Jellies, and a Contest!

Awhile ago I heard someone make a comment about flavored gelatin.

"Sure, you could mix juice with gelatin instead of making jello, but why would you?" Why would you, indeed. Why would you make jello, with it's artificial flavors and colors, instead of getting some really fantastic juice and mixing it with a little plain gelatin to make your own? It's SO easy, I promise-and the possibilities? About as endless as the kinds of juice in your supermarket aisle.

My choice of juice for this experiment was Camino Limeade, so graciously sent to me to try. I admit I found it a little tart, but with a teesy bit of added sugar and some gelatin, it made this beautiful jellies that were so addictive to snack on! The great thing? No added flavors or colors, no weird additives, just organic juice, a little sugar, and gelatin.

Read more about Camino here-not only do they make great organic juices, but coffee, hot chocolate, cocoa, snack bars, and chocolate bars. What I love about Camino is that they are a Canadian company, and have organic, fair trade products. Plus, the products are delicious!

And did you know right now they are having a contest? Between May 1-15th, go here every day for Fair Trade Fortnight, where you can enter to win a prize! Email Camino the answer to the question of the day and you will be entered into the daily prize draw for products. I've tried many of them and let me tell you, they are absolutely DELICIOUS. My teenager especially loved their peanut butter chocolate bar.

Looking for more Fair trade products? Go to Fair trade.ca and check it out. Wait, there's more! You can also enter the show off your label contest on Facebook, where you could win $500 worth of Fair Trade products! (Go here for details)

How do you make fruit juice jellies? SO easy.

2 cups juice
2 pkgs unflavored gelatin
sugar, to taste (if your juice is like mine and kind of tart)

Stir the gelatin into 1/2 cup of juice in a large pyrex measuring cup, and set aside. Heat the remaining juice in a pan on the stove until boiling. Stir the hot juice into the cold juice and gelatin mixture. Stir well, adding sugar if you think it needs it. Pour the juice into mini muffin cups (will make 24) or in the bottom of a pyrex loaf pan. Chill for about 3 hours, then cut into squares.

Easy. Why would you ever want to buy the boxed flavored gelatin again?


Disclosure: I was generously sent a box of really great Camino products after I had bought some chocolate and raved about it on Twitter. Camino didn't pay me or give me the products to mention them or the contest, I only did because I loved their products.

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