Cheap and easy to make snack November 28, 2009

Nothing fancy or very original here. But it’s cheap, tasty and healthy! All you need are some tortillas for the wrap and some veggies for the filling. You’ll need 1 pack of tortillas (try the small ones, 110 calories each from Superstore), 2-3 lettuce leaves, 1/4 red pepper, 1/2 avocado, 1-2 green onions, feta cheese and, if you’re a meat lover, any deli cold cuts.

Instructions:
1. Cut avocado in half, place half (with seed inside)in a plastic bag and refrigerate. Scoop the other half and mix with a bit of feta cheese.
2. Cut green onion. Add to avocado mix. Set aside.
3. Prepare lettuce and red pepper by cutting them into very small pieces.
4. Put one tortilla on a plate and spread some avocado mix. Add some lettuce, pepper and meat. Then wrap and use two toothpicks to hold it in place.

These quantities should be enough for three wraps. Yummy…

Appetizers on my plate November 13, 2009

Here’s a plate of appetizers we had about a week ago. Nothing fancy, just:

• Tomatoes (pesticide free, Farmers’ market)
• Cucumbers (pesticide free, Farmers’ market, $3/ bag)
• Feta cheese (best feta cheese in town, called the Macedonian feta, in a huge yellow bucket from Kalamata, $30/3kg)
• Kalamata olives (Superstore, bulk foods)
• Hummus (Superstore, deli section – not impressed, if you have a chance get the canned one from the ethnic food section and mix with smashed garlic, olive oil, paprika, salt, pepper, lemon juice and parsley).
• Roasted peppers dip (Kalamata, $6)
• Red peppers (Superstore)
• Mortadella with Caciocavallo and Grapes (Lina’s Market)
• Hot Pastrami with Small Bocconcini and Tomatoes (Lina’s Market)

Baked apples October 24, 2009

Bake some apples for a yummy, healthy sweet treat! First, soak some raisins into rum for 15 minutes. Peel and core apples (I confess that taking the core out was quite a challenge).

In a plate, mix 2-3 tbsp brown sugar with 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg and cloves (powder). Roll apples through the mixture, then fill them with raisins. Bake in oven at 359F for 1 hour or until tender. Serve warm with plain yogurt and social biscuits.

Crab Flakes Phyllo Pastry June 9, 2009

If you like pastries, this might be your thing. It’s similar to spankopita – except there’s no spinach. So we could call it crabopita…  You’ll need 1 pack of pollock flavored crab flakes, 1 pack of phyllo sheets (the ones they sell frozen in Superstore, Safeway or Coop), some 250 gr. Philadelphia cheese, 3-4 mushrooms, 1 grated carrot, 1 celery stick, salt, pepper, basil (or any dry spices you like with seafood), 3-4 tbsp melted butter, 1 egg (beaten).

Instructions:

1. Prepare the filling: in a bowl, mix crab flakes with the grated carrot and the mushrooms and the celery stick cut into small pieces. Add salt, pepper and the spices. Add the cheese and mix well.
2. Spread the phyllo sheets and cut them into squares (or into any shapes you want to use for the pastry).
3. Melt the butter, and use it to brush the phyllo sheets (I find that using 3 -4 of them per pastry is the best). Then spoon some of the crab mixture onto the phyllo sheets, and using your hands roll them (I prefer doing them like spring rolls, but you may choose other shapes, like triangles).
4. Brush each pastry with the egg then put on tray.
5. Heat the oven (350F) and leave them for 15 minutes or until the phyllo pastry is crunchy.

Crab Flakes Oriental Salad June 8, 2009

This salad is so easy to make and so tasty, that you’ll wanna eat it all at once! It’s also rather cheap to make, since you’ll need 1 pack of crab flakes (the ones you find in Superstore or Safeway, it’s really crab flavored pollock), 2-3 potatoes, 1 celery stick, 300 gr. olives, 1 carrot, 4-5 cherry or grape tomatoes (for decoration and as a side), mustard, dry basil, dry parsley, oil, salt, pepper.

Instructions:

1. Cut potatoes and carrot into cubes and boil.
2. When water is boiling, sink the celery stick for 2-3 minutes to tenderize. Remove and cut into pieces.
3. Drain potatoes and carrot, put in a bowl, add celery stick pieces, olives, and the crab flakes (cut into small pieces).
4. In a small bowl, put 1-2 tbsp of mustard and 1 tbsp of olive oil. Mix thoroughly, add salt, pepper, parsley and basil.  Pour over the potatoes and mix well.
5. Serve with tomatoes.

Another quick snack: Bocconcini and Tomatoes Salad April 24, 2009

This one’s another easy snack: a simple tomatoes salad with Bocconcini cheese. Got a small container of Bocconcini cheese from Linda’s Market for around $3, which was good for a 4 portions salad.

Ingredients: 200 gr. Bocconcini cheese, 4 tomatoes, 2 green onions, fresh basil, salt, pepper, olive oil, balsamic vinegar. Optional, 2-4 Kalamata olives, 1 boiled egg, 4-5 lettuce leaves.

Instructions:

1. In a small container, mix 1-2 tbsp olive oil with 2 tsp balsamic vinegar. Finely cut 2-3 leaves of fresh basil, add salt and pepper to taste, and mix well.
2. In a salad box, mix sliced tomatoes with the green onion (finely chopped). If using lettuce, toss that in as well.
3. Add oil and vinegar mixture and mix well.
4. Add Bocconcini cheese (cut in halves), Kalamat olives and the sliced egg.

Quick Snacks: Bell Peppers with Ricotta Cheese and Dill April 23, 2009

For a quick bite, cut a bell pepper into four slices and fill it with Ricotta cheese.

Ingredients: 1 bell pepper, 4-5 tbsp Ricotta cheese, 1 tbsp sour cream, fresh dill finely chopped, salt, pepper. Optional: green onion on side.

Instructions:

1. Mix Ricotta cheese with sour cream, fresh dill, salt and pepper.
2. Fill each quarter of the Bell pepper with the mixture. Serve with green onion on side.

Fresh Pineapple and Whipped Cream Dessert February 20, 2009

Lila at Lime and Lemon inspired me for this easy and delicious dessert (her version here). Pineapples are very good these days, and you can find lots of them in Safeway, Superstore and Coop.  The version I made last night included: 1/2 pineapple, 1 banana, 250 ml whipping cream, some 6-8 social biscuits, raisins and a bit of rum.

Instructions:

1. Peel and cut the pineapple. Use 1/2 (if pineapple is big).
2. In a bowl, break the biscuits, pour a bit of rum, and add the raisins. With a fork, mash them thoroughly. Add as much of the pineapple juice as you have available (if you have some juice in the house, that would work too. Or just a bit of water).
3. Add the sliced banana and the pineapple.
4. Beat the whipping cream and add as much as needed.
5. Put everything in small serving dishes and leave in the fridge for some 10-15 minutes to cool down.

As I said: fresh, quick and delicious!

Spanakopita – quick and easy February 9, 2009

I just love the puff pastry rolls available in the grocery stores! You can do so many things with them… like this

Spinach by Gaetan Lee

spanakopita. All you’ll need is 1 pack of puff pastry, 1 pack of frozen spinach leaves, some 300 gr feta cheese and  bit of nutmeg.

Instructions:

1. Unroll one of the puff pastry rolls on the baking sheet.
2. Squeeze the water out of the spinach leaves. In a bowl, crumble the feta cheese and mix it with the spinach leaves. Add a bit of nutmeg.
3. Evenly spread the spinach-cheese mixture on the pastry roll.
4. Cover with the second pastry roll.
5. Brush with some milk or one egg (beat it well).
6. Put in the oven (350F) for some 20 minutes. Remove, then cut into squares.

Deviled Eggs with Pickles January 30, 2009

Quick and easy: deviled eggs with pickles. You’ll need: eggs, olive oil, paprika, salt, pepper, basil, mustard, parsley, pickles.

Instructions:

1. Boil eggs (boil them well, then put them under cold water for a couple of minutes).
2. Remove shell, cut in half and scoop the yolk out.
3. Mash all yolks with a fork, then add 1 tsp olive oil and 1 tsp mustard. Mix well
4. Add paprika, salt, pepper, basil, parsley and pickles cut as thinly as possible.
5. With a teaspoon, put the mixture back into the whites. Serve cold.