Tag Archives: easy

Guilt-free Fish and Chips

Fall is here and it’s come on quite suddenly this year. Instead of the warm summer/fall transition we’ve been used to, this year it’s cold! With this sudden cold weather, we’re craving comfort food in a big way. While at the St. Lawerence market this weekend we picked up some Talapia fillets and brought them home to make fish and chips. While occasionally we crave a greasy, deep fried meal we usually like to keep things as light and healthy as possible.  Looking at these fish and chips, you can barely tell they were done in the oven instead of a deep fryer.  When you taste them, you won’t want to ever go back!

 

INGREDIENTS

FISH

  • 4 Talapia Fillets
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp garlic salt
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 1/2 tsp dried corriander
  • 1/2 tsp tumeric

CHIPS

  • 4 large Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into strips, leave skin on
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • chili powder

DIRECTIONS

FRIES

  1. Preheat oven to 425F
  2. Wash & Cut Potatoes into fry shapes
  3. Place into a large mixing bowl and drizze on 1 tbsp of olive oil, salt & pepper & toss to coat.
  4. Place fries in rows on a non stick baking sheet being careful not to over lap.
  5. Bake for 25 min until golden brown, remove from oven and let cool for 5 min.
  6. Using a spatula, carefully remove fries from baking sheet and return to mixing bowl.
  7. Toss fries again in remaining 1tbsp of olive oil, sprinkle with a dash of chili powder.
  8. Return to baking sheet and cook for another 10 min until crispy.
  9. Remove fries from oven and let stand while fish cooks.

FISH

  1. Switch oven to broil.
  2. Mix together spices & oil and brush onto both sides of fish.
  3. Place fish on parchment paper on a baking sheet.
  4. Broil for 5-8 min until cooked through and slightly browned, do not flip.
  5. Enjoy!

 

 

Peach, Apricot and Cherry Crumble

Taking full advantage of all of the wonderful local fruit in season now (but not for much longer!), we decided to whip up something sweet. For our spin on a classic fruit crumble, we chose ripe Niagara peaches, sweet apricots and juicy red cherries to be the stars in this sweet treat. Make this for the long weekend and we promise you’ll impress your friends and family with very little effort at all!

It may look plain when it first comes out of the oven but wait until you cut into it.

Beautiful, colourful bursts of flavour in every bite. What started out as an experiment has actually become one of our faves! Isn’t it great when that happens?!

We hope you enjoy! Recipe below.

INGREDIENTS

for the filling:

  • 3 apricots, pitted and sliced
  • 3 peaches, pitted and sliced
  • 2 handfuls of cherrys, stems removed,  pitted and sliced
  •  1/2 cup white sugar
  • a couple dashes of cinnamon
  • splash of vanilla
for the crumble on top:
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • dash of cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup of butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, loosely packed

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 375F
  2. Mix all of the ingredients for the filling (listed above) in a large mixing bowl.
  3. Pour contents of mixing bowl into a pie plate or baking dish
  4. Add all of the ingredients for the crumble (listed above) into a medium sized mixing bowl and mix throughly with your hands to combine.
  5. Spread crumble on top of fruit mixture with your hands, covering the entire top of the dessert.
  6. Bake in the oven for about 60 min or until crumble is golden brown on top.
  7. Enjoy on it’s own or with ice cream.

Summer Quinoa Salad with Peaches, Cherry Tomatoes and Basil

Living in Ontario we are so lucky to have such an abundance of local fruits and vegetables readily available, especially at this time of year. Our Summer Quinoa Salad is made with ripe peaches from Niagara, Cherry Tomatoes and Basil from our own urban garden here in downtown Toronto , organic quinoa and balsamic vinaigrette. It’s great by itself  but can also be served on top of mixed greens to make it a meal on it’s own.

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 cups of cooked quinoa
  • 2 large, ripe peaches- pitted and sliced
  • 2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes – sliced in half
  • 1 BIG handful of basil -roughly torn up
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
  1. Combine quinoa, peaches, tomatoes and basil in a large mixing bowl.
  2. In another small dish, mix olive oil, balsamic and salt and pepper until combined.
  3. Drizzle dressing onto salad & mix to combine ingredients.
  4. Enjoy on it’s own or on top of mixed greens or baby spinach.

 

Baba Ganouj

Our friend Rachel visited last week and brought us fresh garlic, lots of Italian eggplant and fresh herbs from her Dad’s vegetable garden in Niagara on the Lake. With the abundance of eggplant, fresh garlic and a craving for a savoury snack, we could think of nothing better to make than Baba Ganouj. It’s perfect for dipping and spreading on veggies, crackers, pita, even sandwiches.

Usually Baba Ganouj is made with the typical pear/oblong shaped eggplant but we thought we would give it a try with the Italian eggplants Rachel brought instead. The result ?  A creamier than ever Baba Ganouj that’s light and almost mousse-like in texture. We loved it! Thanks Rach!

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 Italian Eggplants
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 tbsp tahini (sesame seed paste)
  • 3 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
  • juice of 1 whole lemon
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 400F
  2. Slice eggplant in half and place face up on a baking tray
  3. Place tray in oven and cook eggplant for 30 min or until soft
  4. Once soft, remove from oven and let the eggplant cool down.
  5. Remove flesh from eggplant skin and place into food processor.
  6. Add remaining ingredients to food processor.
  7. Blend until smooth.
  8. Enjoy as a dip for veggies, pita, crackers etc or spread on a sandwich.

Tomato Gazpacho (aka Cold Tomato Soup)

It’s mid summer and our tomato plants are growing like weeds! Not all of them are ready yet but it inspired us to grab some fresh local tomatoes at the market down the street. We are both tomato soup lovers but we just weren’t feeling it with the hot muggy weather outside. We thought about making tomato sauce but slaving over the stove and heating up the apartment wasn’t appealing either. Instead, we decided to try making Gazpacho (aka cold soup) to satisfy our tomato craving and cool us off in the heat. We invited some friends over and enjoyed this tomatoey treat outside served in little shot glasses with some other simple aps.

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 lime, juiced
  • 8 large tomatoes, cored and diced into cubes
  • 2 garlic cloves finely minced
  • 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • s & p to taste
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
..and for the garnish
  • 1/2 red onion, diced
  • 1 cucumber cored, cubed and seeded but not peeled
  • 1 bell pepper, cubed
  • 1 large tomato, cored, cubed and seeds removed.

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the first 4 ingredients into a blender or food processor (depending on size, you may have to do it in batches). Blend until smooth or until at a texture you desire.

2. Add cumin and salt and pepper and blend to incorporate.

3. Combine all garnish ingredients into a bowl and mix.

4. Serve in shot glasses or in bowls. Garnish with mixed veg and top up with cold soup.

 

Peach Mango Smoothie

Smoothies are the best! In our opinion, there’s no better way to start your day than with a sweet, fruity drink packed with almost all of your daily fruits and vegetables. Enjoy it while reading your morning blogs or take it to go in a re-usable cup for a commuter friendly on the go breakfast. Since Ontario peaches are perfectly in season, we threw some ripe ones into the blender with mango, banana,  yogurt and almond milk for a peachy start to our day (recipe below).

INGREDIENTS: makes 2

  • 4 soft, ripe peaches, pitted and peeled
  • 1 large mango, pitted, peeled and diced
  • 1 banana
  • 1 cup almond milk
  • 1/2 cup plain organic yogurt (or yogurt of your choice)
  • 1 tbsp honey (or to taste)

DIRECTIONS

  1. Peel and pit all fruit (For the peaches do your best.  If you can’t get all of the skin off, don’t sweat it !)
  2. Place fruit in blender with all remaining ingredients.
  3. Blend away!
  4. Serve and enjoy!