BBQ TIME!

Oh my goodness me. Make this sandwich. Do it. Run out and get any missing ingredients you don’t have (because you don’t want to miss a single part of it) and then fire up that BBQ.

We just put together our new BBQ and today was the second time firing it up. It’s been a crazy few months, moving to a new apartment, getting wedding stuff organized, and…oh yeah, that whole residency thing and being on call all the time! I have a presentation to finish for tomorrow, but this sandwich was too good not to write about first.

I saw this recipe on Sandwich King, on the Food Network on one of my post-call days when I was in a post-call delirium (as per usual) and it sounded delicious. The good thing about moving to our new place is that there’s a huge patio which we didn’t previously have, which means space for a BBQ! I bought the last few ingredients today and we had the grilled vegetable naan-wiches for supper. I cannot say enough good things about it…it’s to DIE for. And healthy! Maybe other than the goat cheese. But otherwise it’s loaded with veggies, everything’s grilled, and even the naan bread we bought was Superstore’s PC Blue Menu. Try it out, it’s a super easy sandwich to assemble…though there are a few steps to it.

Grilled Vegetable Naan-wich (as seen on Food Network w/ Jeff Mauro)

Marinade for vegetables:

~1/2  C olive oil (I used a little less)

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp dijon mustard

2 tbsp thyme (I used dried and added 1.5 tbsp, but if you have fresh, even better!)

Pour the marinade over two large portabello mushroom caps, 2 zucchinis sliced lengthwise, and 2-3 discs of red onion. Mix it by hand to get everything nice and coated.Add the onions last to the mix so you don’t break them into the individual rings (makes it easier to grill if they’re all together in one disc).

Grill on the BBQ. I won’t lie, I have no idea what goes on in this step because I don’t know how to operate the barbeque and Joffre was in full charge of this step.

Then lightly brush two pieces of naan bread with olive oil and grill for a few minutes to warm them up/toast a little.

While all the grilling is happening (hopefully via your partner so you don’t have to worry about it), take a couple tablespoons (or more if you’re glutenous like me) of goat cheese and put in a small bowl. Take a handful or two (eyeball it out based on your taste preference) of sundried tomatoes in oil and chop into finer pieces. Mix well with goat cheese to make the spread.When the veggies are ready, take them off the grill and slice the mushroom caps.

Then assemble! Naan bread. Then a layer of sundried tomato goat cheese spread. Then a layer of portabello mushroom. Layer of zucchini. Throw on the onions. More mushroom/zucchini if you’ve got it. Banana peppers (toss these around in the marinade for extra flavor). Add some fresh basil or spinach leaves. Put another layer of SDT goat cheese spread on the other piece of naan bread. DELICIOUS!

On the show, Jeff also grills up some whole banana peppers that he slices in half. You could do that or just add the banana pepper rings like we did. He also grilled some yellow squash, which I’m sure would be tasty in the sandwich too. Use your imagination! Eggplant would probably be pretty fabulous. If you don’t like goat cheese? Maybe just cream cheese. But really…who doesn’t like goat cheese?

Curry Salmon Cakes

Call is slowly killing me. This post-call delirium usually lasts for at least the next two days after a call shift, and then just when I’m starting to feel human again, I’m on call again in another couple days.

For anyone who hasn’t been on call before, basically you spend 24-26 hours in the hospital, working…continuously. Every once in awhile you luck out and get a couple hours sleep here and there. With my luck, I get paged every half an hour to an hour all night long. The post-call feeling is a hard one to fully describe if you haven’t experienced it before. You feel partially hungover, like a night of hard binge-drinking…except without the binge-drinking fun. Nauseated, sick to your stomach, dehydrated…you also start to feel a little delirious. Sometimes walking home post-call, I actually stumble and trip a few times and people look at me judgingly for being drunk at 9:30AM. It’s one part of medicine that I’d rather be without.

The only perk to being sleep deprived, exhausted, and feeling terrible for a night is that you get a glorious post-call day of no-work. And because of the aforementioned delirium, usually any kind of productive work (like studying or extra reading) goes out the window because I can’t even focus on one spot for long enough before I drift off into space. So instead I spend my post-call days shopping, cleaning, and cooking.

These salmon cakes were a product of a post-call day. They are DELICIOUS!!! While they’re a little messy and involved, they take a surprisingly small amount of time to make. Do it on YOUR next post-call day. You won’t regret it.

The picture is of my salmon cakes, some left over thai curry from a restaurant, the curry-tartar sauce, and some plain rice.

Curry Salmon Cakes (From my Food Network cookbook – Great Easy Meals)
1 pound skinless salmon fillet, halved crosswise (I used 1.5 fillets and it made 5 cakes)
2 tsp curry powder (preferably hot)
salt and peper
8 tablespoons store-bought tartar sauce
1/4 cup cracker meal/crushed saltines plus more for sprinkling
2 tablespoons grated peeled ginger (I just used ground ginger instead)
1 bunch scallions, finely chopped
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Mango salsa – I didn’t make this, but you can if you want!
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 mango, peeled, pitted, and diced
juice of 1 lime

1. Combine the salmon, 1 tablespoon water, 1 1/2 tsp curry powder, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper to taste in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave until the fish is opaque (2-3 min). Flake with a fork and cool slightly. Stir in 1 tablespoon tartar sauce, the cracker meal, ginger, and half of the scallions and the egg. Form into 5 patties and freeze until firm, about 10 mins.

2. Meanwhile, whisk the remaining 7 tablespoons tartar sauce and 1/2 tsp curry powder in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix 1 tbsp of curried tartar sauce with bell pepper, celery, mango, scallions, and lime juice.

3. Heat 1/4 inch of vegetable oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle the patties with cracker meal on both sides and fry until golden, 2-3 min per side. Drain on paper towels, serve with mango salad and curried tartar sauce. Be careful flipping them, they can be quite fragile!

You can also turn these salmon cakes into burgers by serving them on crusty rolls with tartar sauce as a topping!

Chicken enchiladas for one…really fat person.

Well, in two days I’ll have officially been a “Haligonian” for a month. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been here that long, but at the same time I almost feel like I just got here. I’ve started to settle into my new apartment and so far I love it. It’s a ton of space and I’ve been slowly getting it set up the way I want to. The walls are still a little bare and ugly, but I’ll be able to add artwork and things once I’ve got a couple paycheques!

Residency has been a total whirlwind to start. Just getting thrown in and all of sudden having responsibilities after not using our brains very much for the past two months is extremely disconcerting at first!! Especially in a new health care system with new computer health records systems, different paperwork, and different people. So far I think I’m managing to tread water and just keep my head above water.

Being on call is definitely one of the things to get used to, what with not having any call in fourth year. There’s good nights, and there’s bad nights, and then there’s terrible nights (like last night). But I’m slowly discovering that the worst part of call is when your partner is also a resident…and also doing call. Last weekend he was on home-call all weekend and we couldn’t go anywhere because he kept getting called into the hospital. I’m on call three out of the next four weekends, and he’ll have to go into the hospital for two of the four. I barely get to see him!!

What this story is leading up to is that last saturday night, I had planned out a delicious meal for us, since I had time to cook and I figured he wouldn’t get called in all night for home call. How wrong I was. I ended up cooking these delicious enchiladas and he got called into the hospital right at 5 when I started making them and didn’t come back til 10PM. So I had a whooole lot of chicken enchiladas to eat all by my lonesome! Such are the perils of residency. This recipe makes 12 of them. Good thing they’re still delicious as leftovers for lunches. So enjoy them with a big crowd if you can, there’s definitely enough food for everyone!

Chicken Enchiladas (adapted from Annie’s Eats)
Yield: 12 enchiladas
Ingredients:

For the sauce:
1 tsp. canola oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. sugar
1 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce/pasta sauce (I had leftover pasta sauce)
½-¾ cup water
Salt and pepper

For the filling:
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp. canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2/3 red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped fine
1/2 small zucchini, halved lengthwise, seeded and chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1½ cups enchilada sauce (above), divided
1 cup finely crumbled feta cheese
1 pre-cooked chicken breast (diced or shredded)
Salt and pepper

For assembly:
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Lime wedges, for serving

Directions:
To make the enchilada sauce, heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, chili powder, cumin and sugar and cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomato sauce and water, bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat the oven to 450˚ F. Transfer half of the black beans to a bowl and mash with a fork until almost completely smooth. Set aside. Add the oil to a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook until slightly softened, 5-7 minutes. Add the zucchini and cook just until tender, 3-5 minutes more. Stir in the garlic and cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the mashed beans mixture, whole beans, and diced chicken and cook until warmed through, about 2 minutes.

Transfer the big mixture to a large bowl and stir in ½ cup of the enchilada sauce and the feta cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble, warm the tortillas in a damp cloth, then place some filling mixture down the center of a tortilla. Roll up the tortilla and place in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining filling and tortillas. Pour 1 cup of the sauce over the enchiladas, spreading it evenly. Sprinkle the shredded cheddar over the top of the sauce. Cover with foil and bake until the enchiladas are heated through, about 10 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake until the cheese is melted, 3-5 minutes more. Sprinkle with additional feta and/or cilantro for garnish, if desired. Serve warm with lime wedges.

Enjoy (maybe with some margaritas)!!

On Bruschetta and Boyfriends

My friend Ryan’s girlfriend has a blog. Her name is Leslie, and her blog is Leslie Chomps!. She had a yummy post on making Boyfriend Bruschetta sandwiches. Why are they called that? I’m not sure. But I had some almost-overly-ripe tomatoes from the Farmer’s Market in my fridge, some chicken breasts, and a boyfriend to feed…so I thought it was a perfect occasion to try them out for myself.

Deliciousness! I haven’t made bruschetta before, but it seems to be a staple appetizer to order in restaurants. I don’t know if I want to order it at restaurants anymore because it’s so simple to make!

I googled “bruschetta” and put the following things in mine:

Bruschetta
– 1 clove garlic (if you like it more garlicy, put more in! I didn’t want too strong of a garlic flavor this time)
– spoonful balsamic vinegar
– spoonful grapeseed oil
– dash of basil (I only had dried, fresh would be fairly good I imagine!)
– dash of salt and pepper

– chopped up tomatoes
– 2 slices of red onion, diced

Mix it all together and let it sit for at least 10 minutes. Mine got really juicy, so I took a strainer and got rid of some of the juices. Then I toasted two baguettes with a slice of cheese, baked up a chicken breast and sliced it in half, and topped the sandwich the bruschetta! MMM. Tasty and healthy dinner. =)

East Meets West Comfort Food

Chili is one of my favorite comfort foods. I have gotten increasingly picky with my chili these days those. Wendy’s chili just won’t cut it for me anymore. I like my chili hearty, full of goodness, and served with something complimentary. So I decided to make my own!

I’ve been reading up on different chili recipes, and took bits and pieces from each one and made up my own recipe. This makes a HUGE quantity (as you can see). Joff came to visit, so I thought it would be okay to make a big batch…but we had it for dinner, and then I’ve had it for 3 meals since, sent Joff off with a big container of it, and there’s still a fair-sized container of it left. It’s absolutely delicious though. Hearty enough for my liking. You could add ground turkey if you don’t like the idea of a vegetarian chili, but it doesn’t need it! Mix and match vegetables too…I think eggplant, other types of squash, more carrots, different kinds of peppers, jalapeno peppers…lots of stuff would work well!

Vicki’s Chili
1 medium zucchini
handful of baby carrots
2 celery stalks
1/2 red pepper
1/2 large onion
2 garlic cloves
1 can (19 oz) white kidney beans
1 can (19 oz) red kidney beans
1 can (12 oz) corn
1 can (19 oz) black beans
1 can (19 oz) crushed tomatoes/tomato sauce

Spices:
1 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp chili powder (feel free to add more!)
2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp cocoa powder

Dice up all your vegetables as you like them. In a large sauce pan, cook onions in small amount of vegetable oil until they start to become translucent. Add zucchini and cook until they start to soften a bit. Then add in the rest of your vegetables (carrots, celery, red pepper) and finely chopped garlic. Stir-fry a little longer, mixing together your spice concoction while you wait, and then add it to the vegetables.

Transfer your veggie mixture to a slow cooker or a large pot and add in the canned stuff (beans, corn, and tomato sauce). Let it cook on low for at least 1-2 hours on the stove (stirring occasionally) or in the slow-cooker.

Yummy! It tastes even better the second day, when the flavor’s had a chance to sit for a bit. We made my mom’s green onion cakes to go along with it. This was my first time making them without her, and they turned out pretty well! Joff seems to think so too =)

Life in Lloyd

Hello friends!

I’ve been shipped out to Lloydminster for 2 months for my rural family rotation. It’s about a 2.5 hour drive from Edmonton. Lloydminster is not quite rural, but not really a big city either. I don’t count it as rural when there’s a big superstore, walmart, and 3 tim hortons! It’s nice out here…RPAP has set me up in a little house. I have my own bedroom, ensuite bathroom and closet…and most importantly a big kitchen! I think I might suffocate if they put me in a place without a kitchen.

There’s not a whole lot to do out in a small town. But I played cricket for the first time last week. It was fairly embarrassing, as to be expected. Ball-sports and I don’t get along very well. But I didn’t get hit in the head, thankfully. I also discovered that I have the food network. And I hauled along my waffle maker amongst other things. I’ve been baking a couple times for the nurses in Emerg. They are all really friendly and don’t complain about the cookies and muffins =)

Here’s one of my go-to muffin/cupcake hybrid recipes. I love this recipe. You can use it in a pinch, when you want to make something fast but have run out of eggs. Or if you only have one banana left and it’s rapidly deteriorating so you can’t eat it OR make banana bread. Or just make it when you feel like because they’re moist and delicious.

Chocolate Banana Muffins (adapted from theppk.com)
Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar)
1/4 cup applesauce + 1 tbsp oil (original recipe uses 5 tbsp butter – but they are so much healthier this way and super moist!)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 banana, mushed well
1 cup flour (I use 1/2 AP and 1/2 whole wheat)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk (original calls for soy milk, but I didn’t have any on hand and regular is fine)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350.

Combine applesauce, oil, sugars, and vanilla extractin a large bowl, mix well. Add banana, stirring well to combine. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cup and level with a knife. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with 1/2 cup milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix after each addition.

Spoon the batter into 12 muffin cups lined with paper liners. (I used my new silicone muffin cups which works great, and then you save cupcake lines and don’t have to grease any cupcake tins) Bake for 20 minutes or until cupcakes spring back easily when touched lightly in the center. Allow to cool, and frost if desired.

I just spread peanut butter on top of these suckers and they are absolutely lovely. You could make a fancy peanut butter frosting, or a peanut butter cream cheese frosting. But with just peanut butter, I can pretend that they’re healthy. ENJOY!

Not living at home means I have to cook for myself. It’s been fun, but also time-consuming and takes some creativity when you’re only cooking for one person. I always used to like to make big batches of stuff in baking, but when I make normal portions for meals I end up eating too much and still have leftovers. It’s tricky! One of the things that I have found myself a fan of: spaghetti squash. Such a cool little squash, that one is.

All you do is slice it in half, pop it in the microwave for 15-20 minutes in a bowl with some water, and then pull out the shreds with a fork comme ca:

It totally does look like spaghetti! I wouldn’t say the texture is the same. It’s crunchier. But it’s a really healthy substitute and easy to make too. Then just whip up whatever sauce you want. I just stirfried veggies and junk and added some pasta sauce:

Then toss it into your spaghetti squash, and voila! Yummy and fast! If you want, you can even put it back into the shell, sprinkle cheese on top and bake it. But I’m too lazy and hungry for that…

I just use my *heart* Magic Bullet *heart* to whip up all sorts of smoothies to go with it. My freezer is full of bags of frozen fruit. Mangoes, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries. I love love love it.

So Lloyd’s treating me pretty well so far. Although I miss Edmonton a little. I definitely miss all my friendsies. And I miss the shopping! And I miss my double oven. ❤

Chicken!

The maritimer’s flight finally got in an hour and a half late. We made butter chicken!

I ❤ the food network. I don't remember exactly where I saw this recipe first, but it's from the Food Network’s website. Mmm mmm is it ever delicious! Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures of it this time. You’ll just have to make it to see how pretty the green peas contrast the red/creamy background! If I were to make it again (which is a strong possibility, it was pretty
yummy!) I’ll probably double the amount of spice put in. Or half the recipe, because it makes TONS! Enough to feed 4 people for sure.

Butter Chicken
Ingredients
Spice Blend:
• 1 tablespoon garam masala seasoning
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I forgot this at home, so we didn’t have any. Poop!)
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
Sauce:
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 2 teaspoons jarred minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes in juice
• 1 skinless rotisserie chicken, boned out and pulled into 1 1/2 by 1/2-inch chunks (This was a LOT of chicken, so I didn’t quite use the whole thing. I left out half a breast and a bit)
• 1 (10-ounce) box frozen peas, placed in a colander and run under hot water to thaw
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• Hot basmati rice, for serving (We were lazy so we made some whole wheat instant rice instead)
• Pita bread, warmed according to package directions, for serving
Directions:
To make the spice blend: Stir the ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until the pieces just begin to turn gold, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, tomato paste and spice blend, and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly to prevent burning. The spices will be fragrant. Add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes and stir will. Add the chicken pieces, spoon the sauce over the top and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low and cook, uncovered, until the chicken is warmed through and the sauce is flavorful, about 10 minutes. Stir frequently.
Shake any excess water from the peas. Add the peas and cream to the sauce in the pan, stir well and heat through. Do not boil.
Serve with rice and warmed pita bread.

That’s amore <3

I heart pizza. Tremendously. I love greasy, warm, gooey, thick fluffy-crusted pizza topped with artery-clogging cheese and pepperoni. I love thin, light, sparsely topped pizza with subtle flavours and interesting topping. And I love every kind of pizza in between.

Fortunately for my heart and adipose storage, I don’t get to eat pizza very often. But the cravings were too much to resist, and I gave in and made pizza on friday. Mmm…pizza.

The dough is possibly the easiest thing in the world to make, and a remnant recipe (unbelievably enough) from my grade 8 home ec classes. I think the seed was planted in that class for my baking obsession. I looked forward to it every week! The artichoke and tuna pizza is half-inspired from the artichoke pizza served at Leva. And the other one was a…let’s-throw-everything-in-the-fridge-that-I-feel-like kind of deal!

/drool.

OPA!

I love Greece. I went there a few years ago and absolutely fell in love with the country. The people, the gorgeous islands, the beaches, the white-washed buildings…and the food. OH the food…

One of my absolute favourite things in the world is Moussaka. It’s like a Greek sheppard’s pie, layers of eggplant, ground lamb/beef, a beschamel sauce, and lots of cheese. Mmmmmm…
Trouble is that it takes about 3 hours to make. So the labour-intensivity dictates a limitation to how many times I can have moussaka a year. Well, that and my desire to still fit in my clothes. It’s quite the heavy dish. But hey! It has…dairy…and protein…and vegetables…/cough

My friend Paul is going to med school in London, Ontario and only comes home for the summer. That seemed like a perfect excuse for a celebration and some moussaka!

Moussaka
(Makes one 9×12 inch pan, and an 8×8 square pan worth)

2 eggplants
salt

Meat sauce layer

2 lbs ground lamb or beef (we used 50/50 split)

1 tbsp butter

salt and pepper to taste

2 medium onions, diced

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 tbsp parsley

8 oz tomato sauce

1/2 cup red wine

Bechamel sauce

4 tbsp butter

4 tbsp flour

1 cup milk

1 cup whipping cream

3 egg yolks, beaten

salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp olive oil

1 lb monterey jack cheese, grated

Cut eggplant into 1 cm slices, sprinkle with salt and set aside on paper towel.

To prepare meat sauce, saute ground meat in butter with salt and pepper, onions, garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg, parsley, and tomato sauce. Add wine and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

To make bechamel sauce, melt butter and stir in flour. Gradually add milk and cream, stirring constantly until mixture thickens. Add egg yolks in a slow stream, away from heat and stirring constantly. Return to heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes longer. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.

Wipe eggplant dry and brown in olive oil. (This actually takes pretty long, so if you have a few extra hands, I’d reccommend someone do this while the other person makes the bechamel sauce). Set on paper towel to drain. In greased pan, place a layer of eggplant, then cover with meat sauce, sprinkle with cheese, cover with remaining eggplant, sprinkle with more cheese, then cover with bechamel sauce and cover with remaining cheese. Do the same in both pans.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour. Serves 6-8. Deliciousness, especially with our greek salad!

We topped it all off with puff pastry desserts, from the Dorie Greenspan’s Parisian Apple Tartlet recipe. I used peaches and raspberries instead!