Tuna Pasta Fasta!
Category: Food in a Hurry
Eat More Vegetables!
We love veggies. But one of the things we learned when we lost weight was: eat less, move more. The second thing we learned was: eat more fibre. And finally: eat veggies with everything. So we’re always looking for ways to tuck in a few more vegetable servings.
Take the humble tuna sandwich, for example. We made it on 100% whole wheat bread, just the regular old grocery store kind. We didn’t spread it with anything, to keep the fat content down. For the tuna filling, we used a can of tuna (makes 2 sandwiches), plus a diced yellow tomato (we hear you, it’s a fruit!), a tablespoon (15ml) of light mayo and a tablespoon (15ml) of Dijon mustard. We put it on the bread, then added a few leaves of mixed lettuce and arugula we’re growing out back on the urban farm.
Sound good? It tastes even better.
Cool as a Cucumber
Last week I tweeted about the cucumber watermelon salad we were making – some folks wanted a recipe. It’s not much of a recipe, really, but here it is:
Peel some English cucumber and cut into thick chunks. Cube some watermelon about the same size, and remove the seeds. Place these in a bowl.
In a small prep bowl, whisk together 15ml (1T) olive oil and 30ml (2T) cider vinegar. Drizzle this over and give it a toss. Grind on a few good grinds of pepper. Then julienne some basil leaves and sprinkle over the top. We’re lucky enough to have lots of fresh basil growing on the urban farm, but it’s plentiful in stores right now, or in farmer’s markets.
Put the whole thing in the fridge until it’s well-chilled. It’s a sure-fire solution to cool you off on a sultry summer day.
Poached Perch Dinner
Dinner in a hurry! We had a long day yesterday, and needed dinner, fast. In the freezer were a package of perch fillets we had picked up earlier this summer.
There were a couple of potatoes in the bin, and some yellow and green beans we found at the farmer’s market. Here’s what we did:
We peeled the potatoes and put them to boil in the bottom of a steamer pot. Then we put the zest and juice of a lemon, with half a cup (125ml) of water in another pot, and set it to boil. We snipped the beans and added them to the top of the steamer. Finally, we put the frozen fillets in the pot with the lemon, and turned it down to a point where just the occasioal bubble arose from the pot. Within 10 minutes, it was all done. Deliciously!
Chili Artichoke Pizza
By now you’ve figured out that we ea
t pizza at least once a week. One of our favourites is Artichoke Pizza. But you can’t eat the same thing every day – it would get a little boring. So we like to switch up the ingredients a little.
This version uses basically the same recipe, but I had some rye flour which I substituted for the whole wheat. I also used homemade chili sauce from last summer as the base. It was raining, so I didn’t want to wander out to the shops. 
So a few re-hydrated chanterelles, a bit of diced red bell pepper, some artichokes from a jar and a few black olives were pressed into service.
For cheese, I had some Canadian sheep’s milk feta (yes, I know in the EU that we wouldn’t be allowed to call it that, but it was delicious). A sprinkling of part-skim mozza finished things off. In a little over half an hour, we had a delicious pizza, ready to eat, without ever using a phone or the internet to get it.
What to Eat When the World Didn't End Yesterday?
Well, I can’t say I was surprised that the world didn’t end yesterday – too much advance warning. And I’m pretty sure The Book says we won’t get any of that.
So before heading out to Church we ate nature’s perfect food, dressed up a bit. Starting with toasted whole-wheat English muffins, we topped each slice with a slice of fresh hothouse tomato. Can’t wait until the “outdoor” local crops are in the market.
On top of the tomato, some Herbes de Provence Sheep Camembert from Fergus (by way of Leslieville Cheese Market).
Top this with a poached egg, which will melt the cheese. A sprinkle of cayenne, and you’re set!
The Potato BBQ Thing
Baked potatoes are nice. And all sorts of side dishes are great. But there are lots of days when you just want to put something on the grill, slice up some tomatoes (maybe dress them up “Jamie style”) and eat.
When that happens, we fall back on the “BBQ Potato Thing” as a real go-to dish. This recipe originally came from our friend Helena, but it’s been changed and adapted a bit over the years.
Start with two large pieces of foil, laid out on the counter in a cross (probably about 24″ long, each).
Onto these, slice up some red potatoes, skins on, about 1/4″ thick. (Peel them if they’re unsightly old potatoes!). I use one potato per person. Add a sliced onion (or two, as you like) and a diced bell pepper (or two, depending on the number of people. Give it a good grinding of pepper, and a little salt. Toss in chopped herbs if you have some (the other night, when we took this photo, we used tarragon). Drizzle with olive oil – not too much, maybe a couple of tablespoons at the most.
Toss this together, then wrap – fold one piece of foil and roll the ends together, then use the other piece and do the same, the opposite way, to form a strong package.
Put this on the gas grill while you’re preheating, turning once. Leave it on the grill while you prepare some chops or chicken breasts, turning occasionally. By the time the meat is done, the Potato Thing will be, as well – and when you serve it up, it will look like you worked a lot harder than you did.
Change of Plans
Sometimes in a busy household a change of plans can make the day’s meal plan impractical. Or fresh foods can spoil a little faster than anticipated. In our case, some spinach that ended up not being used on Sunday, became the basis for dinner on Monday.
It was one of our usual go-to meals: some vegetables and beans (or cheese) tossed together with a whole-grain pasta. In this case, some spelt penne was the pasta star. While it cooked we sauteed an onion, and added half a dozen mushrooms. A splash of red wine, a packet of baby tomatoes, and the spinach in question came next, followed by a couple of cups of cooked beans. This simmered over low heat until the pasta was done. Then we tossed everything together and covered it, on low heat, for 4-5 minutes just to let the flavours come together. Finally, a sprinkling of feta for a salty-sharp accent. A casual, comforting end to a long day.
Make Yourself Comfortable
Sometimes comfort food is what you need. I’d put tuna sandwiches on the menu plan, but it was a cold day. There were too many things on my plate.
Earlier in the week we had picked up some delicious Black River Cheddar at Better Bulk. It is creamy, crumbly, sharp, and completely awesome. It’s the kind of cheddar that makes anything better!
The melts started with some toasted whole wheat bread. For the topping (makes enough for four slices): 1 can of water-pack tuna, 1 tomato, diced, and a tablespoon or 15ml each of Dijon and light mayo. If you have some herbs, by all means, chop them in. I used dill. Mix this and put on the bread, on a broiler-proof pan. Grate on some cheddar. Under the broiler til bubbly, and you’re set. Don’t forget the pickle!
Leftovers for Lunch
One of the things about shopping and eating as locally as possible is (1) you need to learn to menu plan and (2) you have to be willing to adjust the menu plan.
We were all set to have a nice big Kitchen Sink Salad (more on this later!) for lunch today, because we’re working in the home office. But we had this great Chili Braised Beef last night, and there was some left over. You can’t just let a batch of slow-cooked deliciousness go to waste, so we halved the salad and used up the reheated beef. I admit it isn’t quite as pretty as yesterday…but like chili, it sure tastes great on the second day.
Now as for the Kitchen Sink Salad, it’s just what it sounds like – a big bowl of vegetable yumminess. Here’s what we featured today:
Start with the dressing – an acid, some mustard, and oil. In our case, the zest and juice of 1/2 an orange, 15ml/1 tbsp. sesame oil, and 15ml / 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard. Whisk this together. Then I grated in 1/2 a red and 1/2 a yellow heritage carrot I bought at Kelly’s. Next, some artisanal lettuce – curly endive and a bit of butter lettuce. There was a bit of broccoli – not enough for two, but enough for salad. I steamed it for a minute to take the edge off the crunch, but when I’m in a hurry I’ll just chop it a bit more. Peel and dice the remainder of the orange, and throw in a few black sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and almonds for good measure.
Toss it all together and start imagining – you can change the ingredients every time. Beans instead of nuts – sure! Vinegar instead of orange? Why not? Olive oil, or canola…yum!