Turkey meatballs in a dill sauce

Today I made turkey meatballs in a dill sauce. Dill sauce and dill soups are very popular in Poland and are some of the favourite meals of Polish kids.

This recipe was inspired by the school menu I received from one of the Polish schools.

You can use this sauce with meats and with a small modification with fish. For fish I would add 1-2 tbsp of lemon juice.

Ingredient:
1. Meatballs
500 g ground turkey
1 large carrot, finely grated
1 cup of fresh parsley
1 medium onion
4 garlic cloves
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp sea salt
1 tsp pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
Optional bread crumbs

2. Dill sauce
1 cup of vegetable stock
3/4 cup of cream
1 pack of fresh dill (about 1 cup)
1 tsp turmeric
2-3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
Sea salt, pepper to taste




Making meatballs
1. Blend fresh parsley with olive oil
2. On a small heat saute finely chopped onion and crushed and finely chopped garlic.
3. Mix all ingredients for meatballs together.
4. Form balls of similar size for even cooking.
5. Heat the pan with ghee or some oil using moderate heat. Place the meatballs and let them acquire some color, while gently stirring them.
6. When ready, set them aside.


Making dill sauce
1. Heat the stock on a low heat.
2. Add butter, dill, cream, and spices. Mix well. Allow to cook for  about 7 minutes.
3. Mix in flour to thicken the sauce.
4. Transfer the sauce to the pan with meatballs and gently cook on a low gas mark for 10-15 minutes.

Dining Vegan: Okra Curry

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating

One of my favourite vegetables is okra. I fell in love with this little green seedy veggie years ago when I stumbled across it in the supermarket. Being me, I had to buy it and explore it from all angles.
I discovered that it is works wonders in curries. In curries, okra sliminess that might put some people off, works extremely well as a source thickener. What can I say, I have yet another recipe to offer to my gluten free followers! My son unexpectedly devoured the whole bowl so it might be kids friendly too.

Ingredients:

200gr okra

0.5 large onion

2 garlic cloves

4 medium tomatoes

1 inch fresh ginger

1 red chilli

1 tbsp Garam masala

1 tsp fenugreek 

1 tsp turmeric

2 tbsp grape seed oil (or any other oil or fat you want)

1. Chop the onion very finely, press garlic cloves, finely chopped chilli (you can deseed it if you want) and grate ginger.

2. Heat the oil in the pan (gas mark 3), add spices and onion, garlic, ginger mix.

3. Chop the tomatoes into very small pieces (or you can peel them), add to the pan. Add a pinch of salt.

4. Cut okra,  cut off the ends. I find that cutting it across under an angle speeds up cooking.

Add it to the pan, add 0.25 cup water. Cook for about 25 minutes on gas mark 2.8.

5. Serve hot.

6. Enjoy!

Vegetarian Moussaka

#healthyeating #easyfoodcreationg #vegetarian #moussaka

One of my favourite dishes is moussaka. However, with meat prices, especially lamb, are going through the roof lately. I decided to find an alternative cheaper and healthier option.
I successfully replaced lamb with beans, mushrooms, yellow pepper and tempeh mix.

Ingredients:
2 larger potatoes
1 large eggplant
4 tbsp olive oil
250 g tempeh, cut into smaller chunks
250 g mushrooms
0.5 yellow pepper
150 g mixed beans (I used leftover beans I had on hand - chickpeas, cannelloni, kidney), cooked or canned
1 medium onion
2 garlic cloves
4 tbsp tomato paste
1tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp allspice
Cheese sauce:
1 egg
0.75 c milk
0.5 c cheese (I used smoked cheddar)


1. Thinly slice potatoes, spread some olive oil and a little bit of salt. Bake at 175c for 12-15 minutes.
2. Slice eggplant into thicker slices, spread some olive oil. Bale at 175c for 10-15 minutes.
3. Boil water; add tempeh. Boil for 2-4 minutes; drain and set aside.
4. In a meantime, chop mushrooms, pepper, onion, garlic.
5. Heat the pan and fry on a medium heat onion and garlic, then add mushroom, pepper. When mushrooms are getting soft add tempeh.
6. In a cup mix tomato paste with 0.5 water and herbs and spices. Add to the pan with vegetables and tempeh; mix well.
7. Arrange baked sliced of potato at the bottom of the baking dish; then add a layer of baked eggplant slices, then add about half of the vegetable mix. Follow by another layer of potatoes and eggplant, and remainder of the vegetable mix. On the to place any left over potatoes and eggplant.
8. Prepare the cheese sauce by blending milk with egg, then mix in the cheese. Pour on the top of the baking dish.
9. Bake at 175c for 40-45 minutes.
10. Serve hot.
11. Enjoy!

Artichoke Tart

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating

I managed to grab some of the archicokes we bought on the weekend, finally! They vanish super fast in my household. I had the artichoke tart on my mind for quite sometime but usually I waited too long to make it and no artichokes were left to make it.

Ingredients:

Crust

0.75c all purpose flour

0.75c spelt flour (or whole wheat) 

50-100g of butter, depending how buttery you want it. I like it quite buttery.

1 tsp salt

0.5c water

Filling

About 12 Artichoke hearts

0.5 larger onion, thinly sliced

1c Mix of grated cheeses (I used smoked cheddar and Danish blue, about 50-50)

0.5c milk

1 egg

1 tsp rosmary 

Salt, pepper

1. Mix all crust ingredients in the processor its dough mixing bit. It takes about 5-7 minutes. You can melt the butter to s up the process.

2. Roll the dough and place in the baking form. Place in the fridge for about 30 min. 

3. In a meantime sauté onion with a little bit of butter for about 5 min or until it is soft and lightly brown. Add artichokes and cook for further 3 minutes.

4. Bake the tart at 200c for about 5-7 minutes.

5. Mix milk with egg, rosmary, salt and pepper. Then mix in cheeses and add artichokes with onions.

6. Place artichoke mix in the tart pan. 

7. Bake for about 30 min at 200
8. Enjoy!

Chilling with Lamb Chilli

#healthyeating #easyfoodcreations #lamb

Lamb is one of the few meats that I really like. Today I made a chilli with it; I made different variations of lamb chill in the past but this one came out really good.. 

Whenever I am working with meat dishes I make sure to increase the amount of Fabre rich foods to help in meat digestion.

Ingredients:

500g ground lamb

100g kidney beans, cooked

100g green beans

1 medium onion

3 garlic cloves

5 mushrooms

Allspice

Ground cumin

3 tbsp red lentils

Cayenne or chilli powder

1tbsp butter
500 g canned chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste

1. Chop green beans, mushrooms into smaller pieces, finely chop onion and garlic.

2. Melt the butter and cook onion and garlic for a couple of minutes, then add lamb and cook for further 7-10 minutes.
3. Move meat mixture into a larger pot, then add all of the remaining ingredients, mix well.
Cook on the medium low heat (gas mark 3) for 10-15 minutes stirring frequently, then lower the heat (gas mark 2.8) and cook for further 30-40 minutes.
4. Serve hot over rice or on its own.
5. Enjoy!

Dining on the budget: Lima beans cakes

#healthyeating #easyfoodcreations #onthebudget

I hear over and over again that you have to spend a fortune if you want to eat healthy. It is a myth!

You have to smart about your grocery shopping, get deals where you can. Also, I use the practice of one luxury item each weak (except holidays), which I call everything that cost over $8 per kg. 

Although I am not great with coupons, as I tend to forget about them, I see more of them for fresh produce in the supermarkets. I am trying hard to change my habits and start using them.

I make frequent visits to the bulk stores - Bulk Barn in Canada is the place where I get all my dry food - beans, lentils, grains, spices, even some tea. Again, each week they have specials so I time my visits accordingly. Two or three times a year they have coupons (they keep them in the store!), so that brings additional savings.

Canned food, I only buy when it is on sale - tuna, corn, tomatoes, tomato paste or at Costco if it turns out to be cheaper. Right now I have a good understanding how many cans I need until the next discount period, but I had to experiment for a little bit. 

I find a lot of pleasure in finding deals, having those luxury items each week, and keeping holidays extra special with food that I try to reserve just for these days. 

Ingredients:

3 cups, cooked Lima beans (I soak and cook them myself, but you can use canned)

3-5 tbs Scottish oats

Salt, pepper

2-3 tbsp dried herbs (I used czubryca which I got in Poland, but any mix of herbs will work)

1 onion, chopped

3-5 garlic cloves, pressed

6 tbsp breadcrumbs

Water, as needed

Little bit butter

Oil for frying 

 1.  Melt the butter and sauté onion and garlic for a few minutes.

 2. Use a blender to blend Lima beans with onion. You may need to add some water to help it blend.

 3. Mix in the bowl blended beans with onions, add remaining ingredients except breadcrumbs. Mix everything well with a spoon. You should have a fairly dense consistency so you can form patties with your hands. 

 4. Roll patties in breadcrumbs.

 5. Fry for a few minutes on each side. 

 6. Enjoy!

Polish Pierogi

#easyfoodcreations #PolishChristmas #pierogi

Pierogi, one of the most famous Polish dishes. They can be stuffed with vegetables, meat, fish, fruits, or any combination of these. Polish pierogi dough is quite a bit different than Ukrainian dough, it resembles more Chinese dumplings dough. 

Traditional Polish Christmas pierogi are stuffed with either cabbage and mushrooms, or just mushrooms. This year I made three stuffings - cabbage and mushroom, salmon dill, and spinach and feta.

Ingredients:

Dough:

All purpose flour

Hot water

proportions are 2:1 (flour to water)

Filling 1:

0.5kg  of sauerkraut
650 g of fresh mushrooms
100 g dried mushrooms
Cook all finally chopped ingredients for about 4 hours.

1. Make the dough in the food processor. It goes really fast as you can use boiling water; doing the same by hand takes more time as your water is much colder. The dough is fairly hard to work with by hand; even rolling it I find to be quite a workout.

2. Divide the dough into manageable sections, keeping the remaining dough covered so it does not dry out. Roll the dough into thin sheet (about 2 mm), then cut into round shapes with a cookie cutter. You an use pierogi making gadgets that would take the whole sheet at once.
3. Stuff each round sheet with about 2/3 teaspoon of filling.
4. Boil a large pot of water. Cook pierogi in a boiling water for about 5 minutes until start floating on top.
5. In Poland, generally we do not fry them. We serve them with a little bit of fried onion with butter or just butter or olive oil.
6. Enjoy!

Planning ahead: mushroom sauce with spinach

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating

I started planning meals for the first two weeks of January as my work schedule is completely crazy then and I know that finding even 20 min to prepare a meal is a luxury that I might not be able to afford on many days. During these days I want to make sure we have something healthy on hand, ready in a few minutes, so we do not need to resort to packaged food that we try to avoid as much as possible.

I made a batch of mushroom sauce with spinach, which can be served with potatoes, kasha, barley, pasta, or kopytka, to add some variety.

Ingredients:

680g fresh mushrooms

100g fresh spinach, you add more or less

1 onion, chopped finely

2-4 garlic cloves

4 tbsp butter

2 tbsp dried thyme

1 tbsp dried majoram

3-4 tbsp whipping cream (you can use soft goat cheese instead)

1-2 tbsp lemon juice

Salt, pepper

1. Melt the butter and cook onion and garlic on a low heat for about 5-7 minutes.

2. Add finely chopped mushrooms and spinach, cook for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

3. Add remaining ingredients, lower the heat to 1.8 and cook for another 40 minutes.

4. Enjoy!

Polish Christmas Eve: Barszcz (vegan beet soup)

#easyfoodcreations #Christmas #healthyeating #PolishFood

Barszcz takes a little bit of time to cook that is why we always make a big batch; It never lasts too long.
I love anything with beets - soups, salads, smoothies, juices, cookies - but peeling beets is one of my least favourite activities as it severely stains your skin and it is extremely difficult to remove. Hence when handling beets I use latex gloves which effectively solve the problem.

Important note - never cover beet soup while cooking it as it will become brown; you want to maintain beets beautiful ruby colour.

Ingredients:

4 carrots

2 parsnips

0.25 large celery root

9 medium sized beets

1 leek

1 onion

3 garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half

3 whole allspice

10 black pepper corns

3-4 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice (helps in preserving the colour)

10 dried mushrooms

1. Peel and clean carrots, celery root, parsnip, leek, onion. Cut into large chunks, it will be taken out later and used in a Polish Vegetable salad.

2. Soak dried mushrooms for about 15 minutes.

3. Place carrots, celery, parsnip, leek, onion, dried mushrooms, and all spices (other than garlic and lemon/vinegar) in a large pot, add 2-3 litres of water. Bring to boil then lower the heat to gas mark 2.4 and cook for about an hour.

4. Peel beets, but into 6-8 pieces each. Set aside.

5. Take out all vegetables from the soup leaving mushrooms in. Set them aside to cool.

Add beets, vinegar and garlic. Cook on a low heat 1.8 - 2.0 for another 3-4 hours. Add more water if needed. If you use too high heat you will lose the ruby colour of beets. 

6. Take beets and all other spices and vegetables out. Since we don't like wasting food we keep the beets and use them in salads.

7. Serve clear soup in a cup or a bowl.

Beet soup can be served with uszka - Polish dumpligs with mushrooms. This way it would be served in a bowl.

Other alternatives are pasztecik - yeast cakes, or kulebiak - cabbage cake. This way we serve it in a cup as a drinking soup.

8. Enjoy!

Christmas: Caramelized Beets

Beets are a very common ingredient during Christmas time in many countries around the world. In Poland we eat a lot of beets in form of soups, salads, juices, and even main dishes.

In this dish we are using leftover beets from barszcz/borscht/beet soup or whatever else you might call it.

Food waste has always been on my mind as I grew up during communism time and back then food was very valuable, many ingredients were scarce which contributed to our economical living.  We used almost as much as possible of each ingredient throwing out very little. This type of economical cooking is quite evident in our Traditional Christmas dishes. We use leftovers from one dish in another - vegetable salad is a great example of it.  

Important note: when cooking beets do not cover them as they will become brown. Even though I knew that I put them in the oven to reheat - the result were delicious beets but they did not look too appetizing so no photo this time.

Ingredients:

0.5 large onion, sliced very thinly

2 pressed garlic cloves

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

3 tbsp brown sugar

1 glass red wine

around 300 g of beets left over from Barszcz/Borsch

2 tbsp butter

1. Sauté onion and garlic with butter for about 3-4 minutes.

2. Add vinegar, sugar. Cook for another 2 minutes, then add wine. Cook on a low heat, gas mark 2.2 for 20-30 minutes.

3. Add beets, glaze them in the onion and wine reduction. Cook on gas mark 2.2 for 15 minutes.

4. Serve warm.

5. Enjoy!

6. If you made this recipe share it and tag it @healthywithjoanna

Winter time: chicken pie

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #chickenpie

Here is an easy chicken pie with one of my top secret ingredients - Boursin Cheese. I often use Boursin if I need a quick sauce for some veggies and pasta. Minimal effort, maximum taste!

Unprocessed goat cheese works well as an alternative. 

Ingredients:

5 chicken thighs, cut into small pieces

1 medium carrot, grated

6 small potatoes with skin on, cut into small pieces

0.5c peas

1tbsp dried thyme

1 garlic Boursin (or you can use goat cheese with pressed garlic)

2tbsp butter

Crust:

1.5c all purpose flour

8tbsp butter, cut into smaller chunks

5-6tbsp ice cold water

1. Preheat the oven to 220c.

2. To make crust, put all ingredients in the processor and pulse until it start sticking together. Divide into two. Roll one part, fill the pie dish. Place in the fridge for 30 min or so. Roll the other part and place in the fridge.

3.  Melt the butter, add chicken and vegetables. Cook for about 20 minutes. Add Boursin, still well until melted. Cook for another 10 minutes.

4. Take the pie crust out if the fridge. Add the chicken filling. Prepare the top layer of pie crust with your own designs.

5. Bake for 40-50 minutes.

6. Serve warm. Enjoy!

Fishes Friends: Fresh Hake with Garlic Lemon Butter Fennel

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #hake

I discovered that the best days to find fresh local fish in the local market are Wednesdays and Fridays. Yes, I live in the port city yet it is not that easy to find a fresh local fish if you don't have an insider information. Putting flavour and freshened aside; I support local food as I want local businesses to thrive, local food is more economically sustainable, and also local fish is usually much cheaper than any kind of "travelling" fish. Cost of today's dinner for 3 people came to about $7 total; that includes everything you see on the plate times three.

Serves: 3

Ingredients:

1 large fillet of fresh hake, cut into 3 pieces

1 small fennel

Juice from 0.5 lemon

5 tbsp butter

5 garlic cloves

Salt and pepper

1. Melt 4 tbsp butter with pressed garlic on a gas mark 2.8, cook for 1-2 minutes.

2. Add fennel cut into thinner stripes, cook for 5 minutes.

3. Add lemon juice and cook for further 15 minutes.

4. In the other pan melt butter and place hake pieces. Add salt and pepper as desired. Cover and cook on a gas mark 2.8 for 10 minutes or until fish looks done. There is no need to turn.

5. Serve hake pieces with fennel garlic lemon butter on top.

6. Enjoy!

Lazanki with cabbage

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #PolishCooking

Today I made a Polish village food -lazanki. Cabbage is everywhere and is one of the cheapest food items you can find in Polish markets. My grand mother learnt how to make lazanki during the war when she was staying with one of the Polish village families. During the war they used just cabbage and pig fat but I made a more luxurious version by adding a local sausage, dried mushrooms, and onion.

Pasta lazanki is so quick and easy to make that I would never be able to justify buying it.

Ingredients:

1 small head of local green cabbage 

0.5 large local onion

2 sausages (I used chili, garlic and rosemary sausage made by our local butcher)

1 tsp whole caraway seeds

2 tbsp butter

For lazanki pasta:

2 cup all purpose or bread flour

2 eggs (you can go anywhere between 1 to 3 eggs depending on your preference, or you can use egg substitute of your choice)

4-6 tbsp water

1.  Chop onion and sausage and fry them with caraway seeds for a few minutes.

2. Chop cabbage and cook with butter on gas mark 3.

3. Add fried sausage and onion to the cabbage pot, stirr every 10 minutes. Turn heat to gas mark 2.8.

4. Set pot of water with salt to boil for lazanki.

5. Mix flour with eggs and slowly keep adding water to make a dough. The dough should be fairly smooth - it takes about 5 minutes of kneeding by hand.

6. Split into 2-3 parts and flatten it. If you have a pasta making machine you can use it or you can use rolling pin. Cut flat dough into squares or any other shape and size you like. To cut dough I use pizza cutter, but you can use pasta knife or regular knife, even cookie cutter.

6. Place cut lazanki in a boiling water and cook only to the point when they float up, it is almost instatenious. They should be still slightly hard when taken out. You don't want to overlook ithem as we will be cooking them for additional few minutes with cabbage. You don't have to cook them right away, you can store them for later. Just let them dry and then place them in the air tight container.

7. Add cooked lazanki pasta to the cabbage mix and let cook for another 3-5 minutes. Serve warm.

8. Enjoy!

Fibrous Bean Cakes

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #beans

Ingredients:

540 ml canned beans, I used Lima 

0.5 medium onion

1 clove garlic

0.5 red pepper

1 egg

1 tbsp milled flaxseeds

3 ryvita or wasa bread

3 tbsp oats

0.5 tsp turmeric

0.5 tsp salt

O.5 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

Handful of finely chopped fresh parsley

1-3 tbsp check pea flour (if needed)

Oil for pan frying

1. Take onion, garlic and pepper and process until smooth

2. Mash beans (I used potato masher)

3. Add all ingredients to mashed beans and mix well.

4. Form into balls then flatten forming small cakes.

5. Shallow fry on a medium low heat (gas mark 3) for up to 5 min per side.

6. Enjoy!

Pasta with veal and zucchini tomato sauce

Over the last couple of months I had been investigating what types of food are appealing to my 2.5 year old son who refuses to eat any fruits and vegetables. The hate for all colourful food items is relatively new and is not caused by true dislike but a simple refusal to put them in the mouth. Faces made out of tomatoes, cucumber and corn did absolutely nothing, in fact they made a matter worse as he would refuse to eat anything after seeing them on a plate. I knew a different approach was required. I found the secret, it lies in finding those few accepted ingredients and building an increasingly healthy food repertoire.

#easyfoodcreations #toddlerapprovedrecipes #healthyeating

Ingredients:
500 g canned chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
5 prunes, chopped
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 chopped zucchini
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
500 g ground veal
3/4 medium onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic (optional)
3 tbsp oat bran
3 tbsp flax meal, mixed with 6 tbsp water
1 tbsp ghee, butter, or oil
1 -2 tsp allspice
Salt, pepper
4-5 dried wild mushrooms rehydrated and finely chopped

1. Melt butter in a sauce pan and add onion and garlic. For a few minutes until softened.
2. Add meat and dried mushrooms and cook for another 4-5 minutes.
3. Add remaining ingredients and let them cook on a gas mark 2 for 30-40 minutes. If you want you can hold off with adding meat and blend all other ingredients after about 15 minutes of cooking.
4. When the sauce is almost ready cook pasta.
5. Serve warm with some sprinkled cheese (optional) of your choosing (I used naturally smoked cheddar in this dish).
6. Enjoy!

Middle Eastern Flavours: Chicken Marrakech

I decided to experiment a little with Middle Eastern flavours as they combine some of my favourite ingredients - chickpeas, lamb, cilantro and number of spices such as cumin, turmeric, cinnamon.
Chicken Marrakech is one of the popular dishes and is very easy to make. It has chickpeas in it so it is a major plus for me! I looked at a number of recipes for this dish and created my own version of what I felt would work best.
I just love chickpeas, it is my perfect main dish as well as a perfect snack; I cannot go long without chickpeas on my plate.
My son loved this dish. Judging by the quantity of the food he ate today, it is probably one of his favourites.

Serves: 6


Ingredients
5 chicken thighs (I prefer using thighs in dishes like that as they have more fat, hence add more flavour than chicken breasts)
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled
3 medium carrots, peeled
1c chickpeas, cooked (you can use canned if you want; I always cook it myself as it is very easy to do and is a lot cheaper)
1 medium onion
2 garlic cloves
1t cinnamon
1T turmeric
1T cumin
1t black pepper
1 red chilli, deseeded
500g canned diced tomatoes
2T tomato paste
fresh cilantro, chopped
1T olive oil
1c water

1. Chop sweet potatoes and carrots. Set them aside.
2. Roughly chop onion and garlic; then puree it.
3. Heat oil in the pan and add onion and garlic paste. Cook for 3-5  minutes on a medium heat.
4. In a meantime prepare chicken by cutting it into bite size pieces.
5. Add spices to the pan with onion and garlic paste and cook for another 3 minutes.
6. Add chicken to the pan and cook for 5-7 minutes until chicken is well coated.
7. Add chopped sweet potatoes, carrots, chickpeas, and tomatoes and tomato paste. Add a cup of water. Mix well and let it cook for about 40 minutes.
8. Once it is cooked serve with generous amount of chopped cilantro.
9. Enjoy!

Asian inspiration: Tofu sensation

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #tofu

This dish was brought from the need to increase the quantity of cooked greens in our diet. We eat raw greens quite often, but in the recent months cooked greens were not frequent guests on our plates. Cooked greens are abundant in a number of nutrients hence I made a commitment to have them back on our plates at least twice a week.

Serves 4

Ingredients

250g extra firm tofu (you want to use firm or extra firm)

0.3c soy sauce

1T sesame oil

1c stock (vegetable, mushroom, or chicken will work well)

2T sesame seeds, toasted (you can use white or black or a mix)

3 garlic cloves

1inch ginger root

3 scallions 

3 large bok choys

0.5 red pepper

2T olive oil 

1 packet of Soba noodles or bean noodles

1.5t cornstarch or arrowroot 

1. Remove tofu from packaging, dry it with a paper towel. If you want you can bake it for 30 min on 175c; I do it when I have time as it helps in absorbing marinate.

Cut tofu into thin slices (about 0.5cm in thickness). I cut the tofu block into quarters then slice them thinly (you can make them larger or smaller, whatever you like).

2. Mix soy sauce with sesame oil and add tofu slices. Mix it and let sit while you are preparing other items.

3. Put water to boil for the pasta. I like using Japanese soba noodles but Korean bean noodles would work really well too.

4. Julien scallions and red peppers. Chop bok choys.

5. Crash garlic and grate ginger.

6. Put half of the oil in the wok and fry tofu (reserve marinate for later) for a few minutes. If you baked it there is no need to fry it. Remove it from the pan leaving oil in.

7. Add garlic and ginger to the marinate, mix it and let it sit.

8. Stir fry bok choy, scallions and red pepper for a few minutes. Add tofu, stock and marinate with ginger and garlic. Cook for about 2 minutes.

8. Add cornstarch mixed with cold water to the dish. Mix and take off the heat.

9. Your pasta should be ready now. 

10. Place pasta on plates and top it with stir fry veggies and tofu. Top it all with sesame seeds.

11. Enjoy!

Curry Time: Mung bean coconut curry

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #curry

Recent assessments for my food nutrition indicated that I need to add more potassium to my diet. I am doing my best to incorporate more bens and legumes in our dishes on weekly basis. Beans and cooked tomatoes are great sources of potassium and this recipe came out really good, so I am sharing it with you.

Serves: 6

Ingredients

2 c cooked mung beans (I soaked them just for a few hours; they cook for about 30-40 min)

1inch fresh ginger root

4 cloves of garlic

1T ground garam masala

1t turmeric powder

1T cumin seeds

1 green chilli (I don't remove seeds but it is up to you)

2c coconut milk

3c diced tomatoes (I used caned ones, but fresh would work too if you remove skin)

2T olive oil

0.5c fresh cilantro

1. Heat the oil on medium heat, add cumin seeds and wait for them to start popping before adding turmeric and garam masala. 

2. Add chopped garlic and fry for about 1 minute then add grated ginger root.

3. Add tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes.

4. Add beans and coconut milk and cook for further 10-15 minutes.

5. Before serving mix in chopped cilantro.

6. Serve by itself or with a naan bread or rice.

7. Enjoy!

Fibre Bomb: Fibre loaded meatballs with my signature tomato sauce served with zucchini noodles

This recipe is a result of another nutrition course I am taking on Coursera. The professor mentioned that most people only consume about 13g of fibre a day, which is only about 1/3-1/2 of the daily recommendation. When I did a review of my eating habits I discovered that I consume 45-50g of fibre a day so I decided to share some of my tricks how to incorporate more fibre rich foods into dishes that typically have no or minimal fibre content.

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #fiber #meatballs

Meatballs:

0.5kg chicken thighs without skin (you can use breast if you want lower fat option, I use thighs as they have more iron and there is not much extra fat added in this recipe)

2.5c  red lentils (I soaked them overnight but it is not necessary) cooked with some spices (cumin, paprika, dried garlic, dried oregano, dried onion). Blended until fairly smooth.

1 egg

1.5c oats blended into a flour

4 cloves of garlic, pressed

1 onion, chopped and lightly sautéed

1. Sauté onion and garlic, then blend them.

2. Mix all ingredients together.

3. Bring a pot of salted water into boil (if you add salt the water they cook faster as salt traps the heat hence increases boiling point, if you prefer you do not need to add it)

3. Form balls with your hand. You will have around 40 meatballs.

4. Cook meatballs until they start floating. 

Tomato sauce:

1kg of crashed tomatoes, I used canned as fresh ones are quite expensive so I prefer to eat them raw

10 prunes, finely chopped (sweetness from prunes will offset the sourness of the tomato sauce, also it will help thicken the sauce)

1 onion, finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped 

2T fresh basil

4T dried oregano

1T butter or olive oil

1. Sauté onion and garlic in butter for a few minutes, until they start browning.

2. Add crashed tomatoes and prunes, cook on a medium low heat for 10-15 minutes

3. Add herbs and cook for further few minutes.

4. Add cooked meatballs and cook with the sauce for about 5 minutes.

Zucchini noodles:

2 large zucchini

1. Use spiral slicer to creat zucchini noodles.

2. Bring a pot of water into boil.

3. Cook zucchini noodles for 30s to 2 minutes depending on the firmness and size of the zucchini. Do not overlook!

ENJOY!

Cabbage Mishmash (Bigos)

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #leftoversstation

This is another recipe for leftovers - today we are using leftovers meats, in my case Italian sausage, mushrooms and sauerkraut. This recipe  draws from my Polish roots where cabbage is frequently consumed.

Ingredients:
1.5c Fresh cabbage, grated
1.5c Sauerkraut
1t caraway seeds (you can use powder if you prefer)
2 Portobello mushrooms, chopped
leftover sausage, and any other meats, chopped
3T butter


1. Add a little bit of butter and cook caraway seeds until they start popping, do not let them burn. If you are using powder caraway add it in step 2.
2. Add cabbage, sauerkraut, and butter and cook on a medium low heat for about 15-20 minutes.
3. Add meats and mushrooms and cook for another 20 minutes.
4. Enjoy!

The best part is that you cannot overcook it, the longer you cook it the better it is. It tastes great the following day after being reheated. There is no need to add any other spices as your meats will already have some.