Image courtesy of www.biggirlssmallkitchen.com

The internet is a great source for all things foodie, and we’re constantly bookmarking, starring, and emailing intriguing recipes, food porn, and inspiration. Here’s a selection of clippings we think are worth checking out.

Ohhhhh…another (gluten-free!) way to use masa! AREPAS.

And to wash them down with? DIY horchata.

Blueberry pancakes. Yes, those are good. But I’m more interested in the roasted cardamom vanilla rhubarb compote part.

S’mores pudding. If only I had a blow torch!

I love parsnips, and I came home from Turkey with some za’atar. Perfect combination?

Photo courtesy of www.joythebaker.com

The internet is a great source for all things foodie, and we’re constantly bookmarking, starring, and emailing intriguing recipes, food porn, and inspiration. Here’s a selection of clippings we think are worth checking out.

I’ve made rice pudding with brown sugar a few times, but this recipe makes me want to do it again, risotto-style.

Ahhhhhhhhh…monster cookies! These remind me SO much of the 80s. I want some. Now.

This sandwich seems to make good use of the often overlooked nectarine.

More drool-worthy pudding. With millet? Go figure. (Still in Turkey pudding obsession mode.)

Candied jalapenos. I’m totally intrigued.

Cooking for others has become the most tangible way for me to tell them that I love and care for them without directly saying, “I care about you and want to do something to show you that I do.”  It’s done not by thinking those words, but by feeling them.  This is hardly revolutionary.  But as someone who is trying to put that caring toward herself (Solo Suppers Beyond Cereal), I need to regularly remind myself.  It’s not about keeping up with the Culinary Jones’, but keeping on top of making my special peeps feel as special as I can make them.  Food is nourishment.  For the body and the heart.  The act of sharing it with another person or showing a little love to yourself is so basic, yet so important.  It is nourishment for the soul.

The act of making a simple supper made me happy, made me busy.  The simple supper made someone else happy after a long week.  Thus, it was one of the best of recent memory.

Cornmeal-Crusted Tilapia

3 bowls:  One, about 0.5 cup of flour, salt and pepper.  Two,  a beaten egg.  Three, about 0.5 cup of cornmeal.
Dip tilapia fillets (washed and dried) in flour, then egg, then cornmeal.  Place on greased, tinfoil-lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees.  Then broil for about 3 minutes until lightly browned.
Serve with sauce made with 0.75 cup of plain yogurt, 1 minced garlic clove, 1/4 cucumber, seeded and chopped, juice of 1 lemon, salt and pepper.

Shaved Asparagus and Fennel Salad

I skipped the capers, topped with shaved Piave Vecchio.

Last-Minute Salad

8 halved cherry tomatoes, 3/4 cucumber, seeded and thinly sliced, 1 sliced mango, few teaspoons of chopped mint.  Dressing of 3 parts sesame oil, 1 part rice vinegar, 1/2 part honey, 1/2 part Sriracha.

Rice pudding and Blueberry-Lime Compote

Compote:  1 cup of frozen blueberries, zest and juice of 1 lime, 2 teaspoons of sugar.  Simmer everything together for about 20 minutes. Cool completely.

There are times in life when loving Me is important.  And as attractive as that easy lever can be, I know that putting a little elbow grease in for tonight’s dinner might just make life a little rosier.

I can easily go overboard on my lust for carbohydrates, so I’ll just say that my white bread needed to be on the menu.  Pasta could be an obvious accompaniment, but that screams  emotional eating.  Especially when I had decided that I would make rice pudding for dessert.

Soup, then.

I wanted something healthy and hearty.  Not a cream soup.  And not a puree.  I just wanted to dump everything into a pot and wait.  This barley, lentil and chard soup from Bon Appétit did the trick.  I halved the recipe, but kept the same amount of tomatoes and topped up the red chard I was using. 

It was delicious.  The fresh dill was a nice change from a more expected herb like basil.  The lentils added a hidden body, and the barley gave the substance I was after.  You feel no guilt about a meal when it has something like red chard in it.  The soup nicely coated my bread when dipped—coat rather than soak is to me the mark of good bread and appropriate soup thickness.  The crusts served their purpose of pre-cleaning the bowl before dishwashing later.

I ended with what I can only call a Quick ‘n’ Dirty Rice Pudding.  Not much thought, only the effort of stirring, and hardly perfect.  But it was what I wanted:  sweet and creamy and chewy and vanilla-y.  And after being completely cooled in the fridge, it also had the sticky, glutinous texture I (maybe not you) love in rice pudding.

I sat at my table alone eating dinner, listening to Carlos Gardel, and reading a magazine.  I lit a candle and enjoyed the sunshine of the longer Alberta days.

I felt the warmth of the soup in my body and the love that was made just for me.

Quick ‘n’ Dirty Rice Pudding

Makes two generous servings.

0.5 cup Arborio rice

2 cups milk

3 tablespoons sugar

Pinch of salt

Seeds of one vanilla bean

1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon butter

Bring rice, milk, salt, sugar, vanilla seeds, and now-empty vanilla bean to a boil.

Reduce heat to low and cover, stirring often, until rice is tender and pudding is to desired thickness—more milk may need to be added.

Take pudding off the heat.  Remove the bean pod.  Continually stir the pudding as you slowly add the egg yolk, which further thickens the pudding.  Stir in butter.

Enjoy warm or cool completely in the fridge (with plastic wrap pressed onto pudding for skin prevention).

I finish with a little cream as I like my pudding extra thick.