A 'Wolverine' Worthy Meal

M. and I decided on Sunday morning that we would go see The Wolverine that afternoon. Problem is, we wouldn't be home until 6pm and despite the XL popcorn dripping in butter that we couldn't wait to consume, we knew we would be starving and I didn't want the junk-food-train to follow us home. So, what's an easy recipe that you can start in the morning and finish off in the afternoon? That's right folks; burgers! Nothing like good ol' burgers on a Sunday afternoon... even if you don't own a grill. That's okay! Work with what you got is what I always say. You end up surprising yourself.

Best part about this burger recipe that I am about to share is that not only are they vegan but also gluten-free! Bonus marks!

I also wanted some mint iced tea like M. and I tried out when we went to Integrity farms a few weeks back. Needless to say, the mint, kale and cucumbers that I picked up from the River Heights Farmers' Market this past Friday will help me round out this Sunday night meal quite nicely.

Sure enough, the movie was awesome (not a X-men fan but the movie was really great) and making dinner took less than 30 mins to prepare when we got home since I made the burger patties in the morning.

Voila!

Cucumbers with salt and pepper, black bean with corn burgers, kale chips and steamed cauliflower. To drink, iced mint tea with agave syrup. 

For the mint iced tea, all you need to do is pick up some fresh mint, put a handful of leaves in a large tea kettle and make tea. Simple! You can put as much or as little amount of leaves as you wish as it depends how strong you like it. I tasted the tea (when it was still hot) and added leaves after it steeped for 10 minutes until I was happy. I let the tea cool over night. The next day, I added 3 tablespoons of natural agave syrup until I achieved the amount of sweetness that I liked. You really need to play with it.

Now, onto the burgers! (Are you salivating yet?)

Corn and Black Bean Burgers

Ingredients:

• Package of Yves Ground Veggie Beef
• 1 14oz can of Black Beans
• 1 tbsp of vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp of Liquid Smoke
• 1tbsp of Tamari
• 1 cup of Panko (there are gluten-free options)
• 2 tbsps of Whole Wheat Flour (or all-purpose)
• 1/2 cup of canned or frozen Corn
• 1/2 tsp of Cayenne Pepper
• 1/2 tsp of Cumin
• 1/4 tsp of Celery Salt

Directions:

• You require a large bowl to mix all of the ingredients.
• First, take the veggie ground beef and black beans and smash them together. It's okay to leave a few black beans in tact.
• Add the rest of the ingredients to the mixture. 
• Mix well- use your hands!
• Take about a 1/4 cup of the mixture and form them into patties.
• You should get about 8 or 9 patties depending how large you make them. 
• You can use a frying pan or cast iron pan (like I did).
• Set the stove top element to medium high and add 2 tbsp of canola/ vegetable oil to your pan.
• Once the oil is warm (crackling, not smoking- you can test this with water droplets) add your patties and cook them for approximately 5- 7 mins on each side. I like mine crunchy on the outside so I let them sit closer to 7 mins each side.

Here are some shots from the prep to the final product:

How to make the kale chips you ask? Well...

Grab some kale and de-vine it and then clean thoroughly and spread it out on a cookie sheet:

 (picture of it pre-cooked)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the oven rack to the centre. 

For this recipe, I added some garlic powder, salt and pepper. Put a small quantity of each at first (I would start with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the garlic powder, 1/2 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of pepper) because you can always add more after it's in chip form. I then drizzled olive oil on top and then took tongs and turned the kale to get an even coat on all the leaves. 

Once the oven is preheated, put the kale in the oven and check on it every two minutes. It can burn easily. Once you notice it is wilting (as if you sauteed it) and it's starting to crisp up on the edges, then change your oven setting to broil. If you notice that the kale is sticking to the bottom of the pan, add a bit more olive oil and evenly coat the kale again. 

To check out the final product, take a look at this picture again! Don't they look deletable? Because they were! I never make enough. 

Actually, tonight, M. and I were still craving kale chips (obviously there weren't any left last night) that I decided to make some kale chips to go with our avocado and quinoa sushi!

Does this look familiar? I shared this sushi recipe a couple months ago. Click here for the recipe. 

Aw man! Looking at this recipe makes me want to make more... if you don't know about the health benefits of kale- check out a previous post, by clicking here.

I think Wolverine would approve of my meals since there is high protein and low carbs with nutrient rich veggies. 

How did your burgers and kale chips turn out?

Treat Yourself to Some Carbs

With the unseasonably cool weather Winnipeg is experiencing, this is the perfect time to get back into some baking! Hence... time to make some cookies, cakes and muffins oh my!

The other night, the goal was to make some banana muffins with flax seed. I wanted to add flax seed to pump up the health factor. My friend from Ottawa, Mo., shared with me one of her banana chocolate chip muffin recipes. I love this recipe so much that it's become a little tradition of ours that every time I or she either makes the flight to visit, she always makes this muffin recipe for me. Well, tonight I wanted to revamp it and ditch the chocolate chips, add some nuts, flax seed and, instead of using enriched white flour, use whole wheat flour instead.

I invited my friend K. (not from Ottawa) for a visit and help me whip up a batch. She is also a health nut, so I knew this experiment would be up her alley.

While talking about the recipe, K. mentioned how she made some banana bread off of allrecipes.com that included nuts, whole wheat flour and no sugar. I have never baked without sugar... so I was evidently intrigued. What do you use instead of sugar? Honey!

So, we decided instead of making banana muffins... Why not put the mixture in a loaf pan instead for some banana bread? GENIUS!

K. found a similar recipe to what she tried on allrecipes.com that included mashed bananas, pecans, whole wheat flour, honey and wheat germ. We also wanted to try and add 1/3 cup of flax seed into it.

Unfortunately, we got a little too into the talking than paying attention to the recipe and I missed the flax seed entirely. I was very, very, very disappointed.

BUT! The recipe turned out beautifully... except for the part of the chunk that stayed attached to the pan... but... if you were going to cheat and have some carbs, this would be a perfect treat!

Yeah... I guess the pan wasn't greased up enough... still good! Still good.

Despite the sugar being replaced with honey, the loaf was sweet, moist and just overall yummy! I would definitely make this again.

I can't share the banana bread recipe but here is the recipe for the banana chocolate chip muffins that K. and I intended to make. (So, instead of putting the mixture in a loaf pan... make muffins! Makes sense!) I found a picture in the archives when I had made this recipe previously. One day...the flax seed will make its entrance but why mess with a classic right?

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup of vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup of mashed banana
• 1 cup of chocolate chips
• 1 cup of flour
• 1 tsp of baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 tsp of cinnamon

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Use a large mixing bowl and add the oil, sugar, egg and the banana and then mix.
• Add the rest of the ingredients and then mix again.
• Fill up the muffin pan up with the mix at about 3/4 of the way
• bake for 12-15 minutes.

If you decide to make mini muffins like I did, it only needs to bake for 8mins. I hope you enjoy these delectable morsels as much as I do. 

How to choose...

Here is a look at some desserts that M. and I picked up from Lilac Bakery found on Grosvenor ave.

We picked up a red velvet cupcake (my favourite!), blueberry and coconut macaroon, a dream bar, lemon bar, brownie and imperial cookie! The dream bar, lemon bar and brownies were a good chunk and the reason why you are seeing tiny pieces is because M. and I were trying to pace ourselves by having a sampler platter... well,  don't ask me how long the dessert lasted in my house before my sweet tooth really took over because I am still trying to deal with the answer. I guess that's why we have cheat days right :)

This neighbourhood gem has delectable desserts with an eye appealing selection. Red velvet anything is difficult to achieve because it can easily be too dry or flavourless but that is not the case here. You guys know that I am all about presentation so besides the fact that the cupcake was moist, the idea of putting a crumble of red velvet on top of the cream cheese icing (genius!) and that icing... drool... I have tried making regular red velvet cupcakes, red velvet cake and vegan red velvet cupcakes and they do not even compare to Lilac Bakery's treasure.

What about that imperial cookie! How cute is that? It doesn't even look real. Well, it tastes just as lovely as it looks!

The macaroons were also out of this world. The blueberry was definitely my favourite but at $2 a piece, I could only afford to pick up two. That being said, if I wasn't picking up other treats I would have bought another 10 because they are worth breaking the bank for... and the diet for. :)

If you ever find yourself on Grosvenor, make sure to stop by this bakery. It is a little more pricey that i am used to because the entire plate that you see (remember, the bars were actual a good chunk of dessert) was $19 on the dot. But, everything I tried was flavourful, mouth watering and I just wanted more.

The bakery also has gluten-free options. Bonus!

Check them out at http://www.lilacbakery.com/

Farmers' Market Delight and Vikings!

This past Friday (over a week ago, guess i'm late on this post!), I went to the River Heights Farmers' Market and Crampton's to pick up some local produce for dinner that night.

The green beans, cupcakes and red potatoes are from the market. The saskatoons, corn and broccoli are from Crampton's. I also picked up some cinnamon swirl bread from Crampton's that a friend recommended and holy cannoli! Is it ever addictive! 

This was my within 100 miles dinner. Mighty tasty!

This was my Sunday morning breakfast! French toast with what is left of the cinnamon swirl bread (that's right, bought on Friday, gone by Sunday) along with some saskatoons and good ol' coffee with a little cream and vanilla syrup in my treasured Guinness cup. 

On Saturday, M. and I decided to spend the day at Gimli this past weekend for two main reasons:

1. Take in the sights
2. Go to the local pub for some cheap pints of Guinness and a deluxe veggie platter replete with a variety of cheeses and pickles.

There is a third reason, but those are the main two. Well, the third reason is to go to Integrity Farms for some wood fired oven pizza... yeah, that's another really good reason to go as well. *smiley face*

We made our way to Gimli by 1pm. We first walked around its Farmers' Market and then along the seawall.

We then went around the town to explore where we found this little gem!

Organic? (check!) Gluten-free? (double check!) Vegetarian? (Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?) A health foods store in Gimli? I am all over it! 

They had this cute set up where they sold veggie burgers (with gluten-free buns available) and gluten-free snacks. They also had a couple of these signs around for promotion.

 (Next time...)

I was not really expecting to find something like this in Gimli. I was very happy to see that this store was accessible for not only the town but for the cabin dwellers. They had an extensive selection of fresh fruit and vegetables (all organic!) along with various grains, cheeses, beans (even cannellini which always seems so difficult to find in Winnipeg) and the standard health snack foods like sea weed or kale chips! I was really impressed. Even if you are a meat eater, they had tons of frozen meats (all organic) and I think I saw some bison and elk in there. They have been open for less than a year and you can find them on Facebook. If you are in the area, I highly recommend that you check it out. 

We finally made our way to the pub (remember, beer and ice cream don't mix!) and we found out that there were new owners of the Ship and Plough (cool!) but unfortunately that meant new menu and higher priced beer (boo!). Still a good selection on tap (alright!). I ended up getting a pint of St. James Pale Ale and a salad. My pint of Guinness would have cost me ($7.50) which is not bad and it was on tap. But, on a hot summer day, Half Pints was all I wanted. 

M. and I ended up playing a couple card games that included crazy eights and speed while having a couple pints before we moved on to...

Integrity Farms! 

Integrity Farms is located 10 mins North of Riverton (approximately 30mins North of Gimli) where they have wood fired oven pizza available every Friday and Saturday night over the summer. We went a couple years ago and we had a wonderful time. M. and I really like it because they have what is called a 'garden' pizza where you go into their garden and pick any herb, vegetable or edible flower that your little heart desires and they then put that on your pizza. 

How romantic! You can eat your pizza in the garden!

M. and I picked up a zucchini, spinach, rosemary, sage, basil, broccoli and a jalapeno. They didn't have tomatoes in the garden or garlic but they added that to our pizza. 

Bye pizza! See you in 20 mins or so... 

Off to see the animals!

Mama Lama

Our pizza had arrived and for a large at $22.50 it was very much worth it. They also used a whole wheat crust and they had refreshing lemon mint iced tea available for all. 

Yes, it takes an hour and a half to get here but we were well fed and we got to hang out with a lama. All in all, we were two very happy campers. 

Summer Field Trips

At the beginning of spring (was there a spring this year?), M. and I make a list of places we would like to visit, explore, or simply try (read: new restaurants) each summer. Some of the locations are within Winnipeg while others are just outside of the city. One adventure even brings us outside the country.

This year our list included:

• Trip to Gimli/ Riverton
• Bothwell, Manitoba
• Oak Hammock Marsh
• Gunn's Bakery
• Shelmerdine's Green House
• Pine Ridge Hollow Farmers' Market
• A l'Epi de Ble
• Tallest Poppy
• Mondragon (I am reeeealllly embarrassed that I haven't been yet)
• Minneapolis

So far, we have visited Gimli/Riverton (post to follow soon), Oak Hammock Marsh, and Shelmerdine's. 

We went to Oak Hammock Marsh in May for its 20th anniversary. It was really informative and entertaining place to visit, and we even went on a wagon ride around the marsh, taking in the motley sights and cacophony of sounds the animals offered. (Fun fact about the marsh, courtesy of our tour guide: the office building has a unique architectural feature so that the windows do not reflect the sky. This limits bird fatalities.) 

Also, to celebrate this milestone, the marsh had a reptile petting zoo (whose idea was that?! Seriously?!) and they even had a falcon you can pet. I, of course, avoided it all since they scared the heck out of me! I did manage to take a picture of this little guy before I ran away behind M. 

I still get the willies when I see this picture. Ugh!

I also went to Shelmerdine's this past Friday. My friend came along, and we loved the environment. They are having a Farmers' and Craft sale type Market in August that I definitely want to come back and check out. Since I already have my little garden in the apartment, it was more to check out and explore. Well, many people warned me  not to bring any major credit cards with me, and I wish I had listened. I picked up some fake Birkenstocks for $70 (eeep!) and this little guy:

Apparently this cactus ($6.99) will love my very humid, hot apartment. 

The prices I found are slightly more expensive than other green houses but they certainly have more selection. They also have a housewares and clothing section that is also slightly more expensive. For a green house that is located outside of Headingley, it is just a small trip to go out there (hopefully gasoline doesn't spike to the rumoured $1.50 a litre) and you expect to pay a little more on average for all products, but, as I said, they have a vast selection. One day when I have a house with a garden, I will certainly return with more enthusiasm. However, I am very happy that I went and I ended up finding my latest ceramic animal planter ($12.99, gulp!) to join the rest of the family:

SO! To recap, we can now cross off a couple things off the list:

Trip to Gimli/ Riverton

Bothwell, Manitoba

Oak Hammock Marsh

Gunn's Bakery

Shelmerdine's Green House

Pine Ridge Hollow Farmers' Market

A l'Epi de Ble

Tallest Poppy

Mondragon (I am reeeealllly embarrassed that I have been yet)

Minneapolis

Does anyone else have summer wish lists to share?

Tonight's dinner?

A couple weeks ago, during our heat wave  of +30's with humidex with no end in sight, I thought I would save myself and M. some additional heat that our oven causes by making one big dinner. That way, we can avoid having 4 elements on at one time for a couple consecutive nights. Also, since we still live in an apartment that has no dish washer, I knew this recipe would create less dishes. In the summer, I try and avoid labor intensive dinners so that we don't sweat while making dinner OR sweat while washing dishes... too much info? EWWWW!

Well, I under estimated the time it would take for this dinner to cook in the oven but the results were very much worth it! We only had to suffer for about 3 hours (including pre-heating time) of almost 40 degree temperature in our little apartment.

Sausage, Green Bean and Rice Casserole
by Stephanie Barke

Ingredients:

• 1 19fl oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1 bouillon cube (any flavour) -TIP- We blend the tomatoes and bouillon cube together. Not necessary, however.
• A hand full of green beans (as much or as little as you like)
• 1 standard can of chickpeas
• 1 1/2 cup of sprouted rice and quinoa blend- Tru Roots (you could also use any type of rice but the directions below are based on using the rice blend)
• 3 large carrots
• 3 Tofurkey sausages - Italian style

Directions:

• Use a large and deep casserole dish with a lid.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Add all ingredients in the casserole dish. 
• Ensure that the chickpeas are drained and rinsed.
• Crumble the bouillon cube and scatter it in the dish (if you did not blend it with the tomatoes)
• Cut the carrots up in bite size pieces.
• Cut the Tofurkey sausage in bite size pieces. 
• Once all ingredients are in the casserole dish, add a full can (use the tomatoes can) of water and mix it around.
• Cook it in the oven, covered.
• After an hour of the casserole cooking at 400 degrees, reduce heat to 375 degrees for 30 minutes. The casserole should be done in an hour and 1/2. You know that it's fully cooked when the rice is cooked. I check on it every half an hour and give it a good stir.

Before:

After:

This dish lasted M. and I three days. The dinner was more delicious with each passing day. Also great to freeze and heat up later on!

As I mentioned, probably not the best idea to make this in an apartment with no central air and an oven that seems to heat the apartment more than the actual oven itself... but, it did save three days worth of major dishes. So, a win-win over all!

Bon Appetit!

Family Feast

It was M.'s brother-in-laws birthday last week and we were invited for a family gathering to celebrate! These family gathering always promise good company and amazing food. I will become a part of a family of un-discovered professional chefs, therefore, every time we get together, I wear the fat pants (you know, the ones that you wear at Thanksgiving to give yourself some room?!) because with M.'s family, you know that a feast is upon us and one that you want two even three helpings of!

For this gathering, we brought our signature smoked tofu dish (recipe to follow soon) and green beans, M's mother brought a beautiful salad where 75% of the ingredients were all from her garden including the herbs! All of the tomatoes and basil were from the garden and the cucumbers were from St. Norbert's Farmers Market.  She also put in some mozzarella to spice it up! I requested this exact salad for my birthday too! Too bad it's in October...

 

There were also some potatoes with local dill and some of the B-I-L's family made more beautifully delicious salads. Here's look at the table of food and my plate. Please ignore the meat :)

Have any of you seen any of these beauties? Looking for a conversation piece to add to your table? They make me giggle! They are called gurgle pots and they do, in fact, gurgle. I always giggle every time I hear it and it's definitely a fun piece to bring to your table when you have company over. It's hilarious when you see someone use it for the first time and the gurgle sound happens... ha!

This one belong's to M's sister and I have an aqua coloured one! Right now you can find them at The Green Scene on Lilac in assorted colours. Here is a link to the official website: http://www.gurglepot.com/. FYI- they don't ship to Canada.

Well, I am off to Gimli today for some cheap pints at the local pub, a nice walk on the boardwalk and some wood fired oven pizza from Integrity Farms. I'll tell you all about it soon :)

Enjoy your weekend.