Month: April 2015

There's something fishy about this curry…But we're bananas for it!

   We’ve been in “use it up” mode at our house lately, finding creative ways to avoid the grocery store and use what’s on hand. This includes working down things we have in the freezer, in anticipation (hope?) of another season of garden bounty. Also, I was once again fooled into buying bananas. Here in Nova Scotia, even if the bananas look as green as grass, they won’t last more than a day or two. So here’s what we did – enough for last night’s dinner and lunch today…

Dice a large carrot, an onion, and two peeled white potatoes. Put on to boil in some vegetable broth, then simmer 10 minutes til tender.

Chop up half a pound or about 200g of fish, or use leftover cooked fish, and add to the veg along with a couple of large spoonfuls of dried unsweetened coconut and a tablespoon (15ml) of curry powder. Simmer until fish ish opaque and stir in a cup or so of milk. 

Heat through…and here’s the surprise: in each bowl, slice in half a banana. Top with the soup and some chopped herbs – we have basil and Vietnamese coriander growing in the window. 

It was delish, and we hope you enjoy it.

How much time do we need to save, really?

  

Don’t be fooled into thinking this is a long-simmered soup. It’s not. Around our house, we are continually amazed by now many smart, talented people believe it is easier to order takeout or open a high-sodium canned or frozen food and nuke it, than to just simply cook. 

Here’s what we did to make today’s lunch:

Put 2c/500ml (or so, not an exact science!) of veggie broth on to boil. We always have some in the fridge, made from the parings and leftover bits of carrots, onions, and other veg.

Chop up into 1/4″ dice, two carrots and half an onion. The onion was left from another recipe, otherwise we could have used a whole one if we wanted. Put these in the broth with a diced tomato. Simmer, covered, 10 minutes. Purée with an immersion blender.

Add a splash of milk and some leftover rice and beans (potatoes would work, or baked beans, pasta, or even cheese). Stir another minute or two, until hot.

Sprinkle with a few croutons and enjoy.

15 minutes from fridge to plate. So yes, perhaps the microwave is faster, but his is high vitamin, high fibre, and low in sodium – not to mention delicious.

Bake on Saturday, Loaf Around Sunday

After a quick trip to the T-Dot to visit the kids and the in-laws, life is getting back to normal, food wise, at least. Yesterday I baked an updated version of English muffin loaf, with multigrain flour instead of white. It’s a fast mix, no kneading, and you can ignore it and do other chores during the rising. Here’s the recipe:

2c plus 1 T/265 ml  multigrain flour (make your own or try a mix including bran, rye, oat, spelt, kamut, or cracked wheat, and flax or sesame seeds if you like)

1T/15 ml or 1 packet active dry yeast

2t/10ml brown sugar (or honey or maple syrup)

1c/250ml lukewarm 1% milk (any milk will work, including nut milk)

1/4t/2 ml baking soda

Mix dry ingredients (except soda) in a large bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon to make a thick batter, then for 15-20 seconds more until it looks stretchy. 

Cover with a tea towel in a warm place and let rise for about 45 minutes til double.

Dissolve soda in 1T/15ml water and stir vigorously into batter, continuing just until it looks stretchy again. 

Grease or spray an 8″ loaf pan. Scrape batter in, cover with towel and allow to rise again about 40 minutes.

Bake in a 375 oven 45-55 minutes until it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove from pan right away.

Tastes best when toasted.

We had ours with a pepper and mushroom omelette. The sun is finally doing its work and the snow is beginning to recede. Thankfully, we just might see spring after all.