AVogel How do you Herbamare?

It's officially June!  That means it's time for the AVogel Herbamare challenge.

They asked a handful of Canadian Food Bloggers "How do you Herbamare?" and this June, in my upcoming posts I'm going to share with you all how I responded to that question using the delicious seasoning salts.

Herbamare is such a versatile product that you can literally use it on EVERYTHING!

Just as salt enhances the flavour of foods of ingredients it's sprinkled on Herbamare adds an extra savoury punch with all those delicious dehydrated infused vegetables.  It's a truly unique, all natural and interesting product and I hope you all give it a try.

Head to your local health food store or health isle at the supermarket and test it out, let me know what you think.

Don't forget to hashtag #Herbamare on facebook, twitter, Instagram and other means of social media to participate and see my posts as well as the other bloggers using Herbamare. 

Now for this recipe.

This recipe is in two parts and the first part must be made the day before, however it's super simple so just boil 'em and forget about it. 

Ingredients:

Medium to Large Russet potatoes (as many as you wish)

Wash the potatoes and boil in a large pot of salted water until tender, just until a knife can be inserted easily. 

Drain and cool, now place in the fridge overnight. 

The next day: 

Gently slice the potatoes with a sharp knife in wedges, leave the skins on.

Remaining ingredients:

AVogel Herbamare Original

Olive oil

2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley

1 1/2 tsp Garlic butter or evoo or homemade version 

(Homemade garlic evoo/butter) 

Grate a ton of garlic and sautee in some butter and evoo in a small saucepan. When it smells like garlic bread it's ready, remove from heat and chill in fridge, you can use this in many recipes. 

Heat the oven to convection roast or bake on 420 F and toss all the wedges of potato with some EVOO until well coated. 

Lay flat on a piece of parchment on a large baking sheet. 

Sprinkle Herbamare Original generously over all the potatoes, bake until crispy and brown, you may need to flip them half way through if you're not using convection roast setting in your oven. 

Once they're all brown place them in a bowl and add the garlic butter/evoo with the parsley. Toss until they are all coated and serve immediately!

Feels like Summer :D

Watermelon Juice!
Love, love, love it! It's all the rage but I've been making it for the last couple of summers. Super easy

Blitz a bunch of watermelon flesh in a blender.
Run the juice through a sieve to strain out the lumps and crushed seed
Pour in glasses, and enjoy!
Add a splash of lemon or lime if you want or turn in into a mojito ;)

Mango salsa! I just adore mangoes, they've been some of my favourite fruit since my early days growing up in Pakistan.
They've consistently maintained their delicious taste even when other fruits have become tasteless these days *sad*

Easy mango Salsa, perfect to accompany some chicken or beef tacos!

2-3 mangoes, peeled and flesh cubed

juice of 1 lime

1/2 red onion, finely diced

A big sprig of cilantro, chopped

Salt 

It's that easy!
Add some strawberry in for a variation.

A delicious trick for Lasagna is to throw on some blue cheese, I used Blue Haze here from Country Cheese Company and the tang really balances out that richness from all the cheese and sauce, just what I've been looking for!  Inside this lasagna is a layer of oven roasted zucchini and eggplant between red meat sauce and creamy white sauce with layers of smoked fontina. So good!

Roasted vegetables:

 (chop zucchini and eggplant in medium sized cubes, toss with salt, let it sit for about 30 minutes, squeeze out excess liquid, drizzle with EVOO from Olive That! and bake on 400 until nice and roasted)

Cilantro Dressing:

This is perfect on ANYTHING

Lots of fresh cilantro

Lemon Juice

EVOO

Salt
Fresh garlic

Blitz! And enjoy on warm boiled or roasted potatoes or for a "Fancier" option, fish!
A couple of drops of Styrian Gold Pumpkin Seed Oil. MMMM... 

.. and last but not least, the humble Celery, I forget how perfect (and healthy) a snack if can be.

Dip in some Lebneh turned into a quick little sauce with the addition of lemon juice and fresh garlic, sprinkled with Aleppo peppers, healthy and delicious!

Moroccan inspired Haddock bowl!

Today I'm sharing a recipe that is super easy and elegant, it's perfect for summertime or Autumn!

.. it's basically just my lunch when I'm inspired to whip something quick and healthy...

As always I'll be using my favourite Highliner Flame Savours which are already pre-seasoned and just go directly from freezer to oven for 20 minutes on 400 F.  I use these so often that you may be wondering if Highliner is paying me to do these posts but the truth is they're not and I simply adore these!

Who would't love how easy, convenient and healthy without the hassle of thawing fish in the sink, seasoning and cooking.

I've highlighted key instructions that need to be prepared first with a (*) beside it so everything can run smoothly.

The elements of this dish are a saffron couscous with a lentil and vegetable medley and then the fish. Really super easy!

*Lentils: Use canned but I prefer to use dry.
1/4 cup lentils, washed and boiled in a saucepan in lots of water. Season water with salt and simmer until tender.  Drain and set aside.


For the vegetable medley: 

*1 zucchini, diced and salted in a colander for about 15 minutes, squeeze the excess liquid out with hands and rinse under cool water then squeeze again. Set aside

Olive Oil

1/2 large red onion, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced

1 tomato diced
1 heaping tsp tomato pasta

Salt & black pepper

Turmeric

Paprika
2 tbsp water
1 tsp apple cider vinegar (or sherry vinegar)

Heat the olive oil and add the vegetables all at once, stir and add the spices then tomato pasta and fry it around a bit. Add water, vinegar and cover then simmer on low.  Half way through remove all the veggies to one side of the pan and add the lentils to keep them warm. Cover and wait for the fish to be ready for serving.


At this point you can bake your Highliner Flame Savours Haddock fish according to instructions! 

Meanwhile.... prepare the couscous! 

Couscous:
Ahead of time I prepare the couscous, 1/2 cup serves 2 people.

In a bowl add:

(The rule of thumb is to add equal parts couscous and water, never mind the instructions on the box that says add double the amount of water - it's simply too much!!)

*Presoak (even the night before if you wish but about 15 minutes is ideal if you're in a hurry, want to extract as much flavour as Saffron is an expensive ingredient)

1 tbsp warm water and a couple of threads of saffron

For the couscous

1/2 cup dry couscous

1 tsp olive oil

Salt 

Lemon zest

Mix all this up with a fork and then add 1/2 cup of hot boiling water, cover with a cling wrap and set aside for 5 minutes.

Drizzle the saffron water over the couscous once it's done and after fluffing with a fork, set aside.

Serve!
To serve layer the couscous on a plate and add lentils and the veggies over top then a piece of fish with a squeeze of lemon juice.
You could garnish with cilantro or add cilantro into the chopped medley if desired.

Enjoy!

Buckwheat Banana Oat Pancakes with warm Pecan Apple Maple Syrup

Buckwheat Banana oat pancakes:

2 eggs

1 Tbsp maple sugar

3 Tblsp oil or melted butter

1 1/2 cups milk (use as much as needed) 

2 mashed bananas

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup AP flour

2/3 cup buckwheat flour or spelt

2 Tbsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp salt

(oats for sprinkling, optional, use regular oats or spelt flakes)

Blend it all together without over mixing, lumps are ok. Allow to sit for 10 minutes. 

Heat some butter in a pan and begin to ladel about 1/4 cup of batter into a pan or on a griddle and cook flipping halfway through until done. 

Serve with maple syrup 

I used apple maple syrup, warmed in a small saucepan with toasted pecans added in. 

Lasagna!!

Since I find that I've got a lot of times on my hands during Ramadan I attempted to try my hand at fresh pasta lasagna for the very first time!   The only other time I recall having a lasagna with fresh noodles is when I was really young, and it was mostly due to the fact that we were begging my mother for lasagna when we lived in Northern Iraq where they did not sell dry lasagna pasta sheets.  My mother made the dough and I vaguely remember having pasta sheets all over the front guest living room where it was half drying.

Elements: 

- Meat sauce
- Noodles/Pasta

- Bechamel Sauce
- Roasted vegetables

- Tomato sauce (for top)
- Cheese


Meat Sauce: 

This sauce contains very little tomato, so here it goes

- 2 tbsp good olive oil

-1 1/3-1/2 lb ground beef (your choice of blend, I used one pound lean and another 1/3 of medium) 

- 2-3 tomatoes (cut X in the bottom, place in a metal strainer and in the sink. Add boiling water from the kettle over them)  remove skins and core, dice to a medium chop.
- Salt & black pepper

Heat olive oil and brown the meat nicely on medium high then reduce to medium low allowing them to develop brown bits at the bottom of the pot.  When it can't brown any more (after about 15 mins) add chopped tomatoes and all the liquid from the tomatoes, this should create steam that will remove all the delicious brown bits off the bottom of the pot and create a nice sauce.  Lower heat while adding the tomatoes so it doesn't splatter on you or remove hot pan from heat completely.

Cover and set aside.


Roasted vegetables: 

- 3 Zucchini - slice in thick rings 

- 3 Eggplant - sliced into thick rings 

- 2 Red onion - chop into thick wedges

Salt the eggplant heavely and set in a strainer in the sink. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes.
Salt the zucchini lightly over a large casserole.  Set onions aside.

Preheat over to 400 F and set out a large baking tray lined with parchment.

Squeeze the eggplant with your hands to remove any moisture, rinse with water to remove excess salt and continue to squeeze the liquid out until they look grey (and kinda ugly)

Set all the vegetables in a bowl and toss with olive oil.  Place on a tray in an even layer and roast until nice and golden (turning them from side to side often) 

Bechamel sauce: 

Follow this recipe 

Set the bechamel in a bowl and cover with cling wrap until ready to use.

Cheese:

- Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano (about 1 1/2 cups!)
- 1 mozarella de buffala (fresh mozarella), totally optional! Thanks Country Cheese Company!

* Do not worry about the fresh mozarella, the liquid from this cheese will be absorbed by the fresh pasta so it will not be watery as it would it a traditional lasagna.


For the topping:

- 1 cup passata (strained tomato puree) 

- Salt & black pepper

- 1 tbsp good fresh olive oil (From Olive That!!)

Pasta: 

This is a fresh pasta lasagna so either you can purchase the sheets from the store or you could make them like I did!

2 cups flour

4 eggs

Pinch of salt

In a large bowl add the flour and salt, mix, create a well in the center. Crack the eggs in and blend with hands bringing in the flour slowly to incorporate with the eggs.

Knead until it's a nice smooth dough, form a disk and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rest for about 15 minutes.

Using a pasta machine or a rolling pin and large work surface dust the dough and begin rolling it as flat as you can (you should be able to almost see through it)

Depending on what shape your casserole dish is either cut long strips or in a square/rectangle (or even circles like I did! Circles can be wasteful though, just a heads up)

You will need several layers of dough to create your lasagna, at least 5.


To assemble: 

Reserve some cheese by setting it aside. 

Add meat sauce to the bottom of the pan (a thin layer) 

Lay in a sheet of fresh pasta and from that point layer on everything else: 

- Meat sauce

- Pieces of roasted vegetables

- Grated cheese ( including soft pieces of mozarella de buffala lightly torn by hand or cut into slices)
- Bechamel

..... do several layers like this until you end with a piece of pasta and  pour over the passata fresh tomato puree.  Drizzle with the olive oil, season with salt & black pepper and sprinkle with cheese.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree F oven for about 45 minutes to an hour.

I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Turkish Borek Appetizer (using Cookin' Greens)

I want to express my excitement for this product that I recently discovered, it's called Cookin Greens and it's basically all those good healthy greens that you should be eating but might be too intimidated to try, or maybe like me you're just too inconvenienced by the process of buying those large bunches of wet leaves from the supermarket and then having to shove them in the fridge somewhere and wash/chop/blanch whenever you have a moment in your busy life!

Who has time for all that? I'm sure those are some of the reasons that people are less encouraged to buy them regularly!  .... so you can imagine my excitement when I saw this bag of frozen greens on tv, I mean flash frozen greens which are at the convenience of your fingertips, just open the bag and throw it into soups, pasta dishes, casseroles, blanch, steam, make dip, whatever you fancy but you can at least sleep at night knowing that you've had your GREENS! Those greens that we keep hearing about as cancer fighting and probably the healthiest of all the vegetables.

I will be buying these, for sure! They are available at the organic frozen freezer in Metro, and Loblaws Superstore as well as other stores, check their site www.cookingreens.com for more details.   I think it's totally worth it because you're getting the healthy and fresh greens which you sometimes can't even get in the regular produce department.
I wanted to make something that is fun for parties so a Turkish borek was perfect, we make it regularly in our household and it's a hit with guests because it's crispy, delicate, fancy and vegetarian too but healthy all at the same time!  Normally we make it with spinach but adding the greens will just bump up the nutrition.  You can do it with just greens or greens and feta cheese.

Turkish Borek Appetizer  (using Cookin' Greens Designer mix instead of plain spinach)

Filling:


- 1 pack Cookin' Greens designer mix (it containers spinach, rapini, collards, onion, yellow wax beans)  I dumped it all into a shallow pan and picked out the wax beans then threw them back into the freezer for another use.

Blanch greens: Place in a pot with 1/2 cup water, pinch of salt and 2 cloves of garlic whole, steam for 5-10 minutes.  Strain the greens from the water really well and place into shallow pan.

Use the water for soup or just add some salt and drink it! It's healthy :)



- 1 cup feta cheese
- 1-2 tbsp lemon juice (optional)

Shell:
- 1 package phyllo from freezer, thawed overnight in fridge.

Batter, mix in a bowl:

- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup yogurt
- 1/2 cup olive oil (or melted butter) You can use another oil if you'd like.

- 2 eggs

Pinch of salt



Preheat oven to 350 F

Open phyllo package, lay the pieces flat.
Take 2 layers and place in pan, if the pieces are larger than the pan it's ok, crinkle them up a bit to make it fit.

Add a ladle or so of batter and spread over the phyllo layer, using hand make sure to cover all areas so the phyllo isn't dry.

Do another 2 layers, then batter, then another 2 and batter and another 2 then you would have achieved 8 layers.  No batter on the top here.

Add the greens, spread out.
Grate the feta with a large grater over top, sprinkle with lemon juice and begin with another 8 layeres, two at a time adding batter over top each 2 layers.  If you want them more crispy use less batter, you could have 2 ladle fulls leftover like me.

Score almost all the way through into long finger shapes or into squares, if making appetizers do them smaller.

Bake, and check in 35 minutes. Broil on top if needed for a golden layer (it boils in seconds so stay close to the oven)

Recipe adapted from this lovely video by Turkish Mother and Daughter duo cooking in the kitchen.

Enjoy!! :)
.. And there is no excuse when it comes to entertaining... I threw together this little party grazing station in seconds!!   Thanks to the mounds of stuff I collect from my favourite places like IKEA/ Chapters/Indigo and HomeSense as well as some small treats I had laying around (dry nuts/cookies, kettle corn)  it all came together.