Autumn Pumpkin Cream Cheese - Recipe

After a summer-long hiatus from the blogosphere, I have decided to kick this lovely season off with a very autumn-appropriate and delectable recipe. "Pumpkin cream cheese?! Woahhh," you say, with much uncertainty. I advise you to trust me, and succumb to the delicious flavours of fall, by stirring up these ingredients and spreading a thick layer of the stuff onto a toasted cinnamon bagel. Just...give in, okaaay! :)

Mash all ingredients together in a bowl, container, glass tupperware... Whatever vessel you please:

1 brick of Philadelphia light cream cheese
about 4 generous whopping spoonfuls of canned pumpkin puree
2 ish teaspoons worth of cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
just a spoonful of sugar (Mary Poppins style heheh)

Avocado Sushi Rolls - Recipe

All you need:

• Nori sheets
• 1/2 Avocado
• Sushi Rice (1 cup)
• 2 spoonfuls of Rice Vinegar
• Wasabi + Soy Sauce

I recommend using one of those sushi rolling things as well! I found one in my house. It's do-able though if you do not have one, just roll carefully and tightly
 
Firstly, bring 1 cup of sushi rice and 1 1/2 cups of water with the 2 spoonfuls of rice vinegar to a boil
Then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 12 min ish, stir every so often. After this, remove from heat and let stand covered for 5-7 min.

Place a nori sheet (seaweed) on your sushi roller, and throw down a layer of rice (not very much). Slice up your avocado. Place the innards of half the avocado on the side of nori closest to you, if you're rolling away from yourself. The rice should be sticky and thus be able to keep everything intact nicely.

Then roll away! It's so simple and you can basically put any ingredients you please in the roll... Serve with a dish of soy sauce and a bit of wasabi, depending how much wasabi flava you'd like!

Leftovers Soup - Recipe

Sunday was a day of weekend recovery before final exam week. The fridge contained limited ingredients and my body was overcome with laziness. When I spotted some potatoes, and onion, I knew what had to be done. I spent the midday making a sort of leftovers/peasant soup that turned out to be filling and tasty. Thought I'd share this super simple recipe I threw together!

Firstly, gotta peel them potatoes and onions.
Then you gotta chop em up and throw them into a bowl with a spoonful of olive oil along with some cumin and ground ginger powder.
Crush in a couple of garlic cloves as well. Set the oven to 300 F.
Mix the ingredients all up, then throw the contents of the bowl onto a baking tray.
Chuck it into the oven for about 20 min before putting them into a pot to boil with 1 cup of veg broth plus 3-4 cups of steeped Ginger Pu'erh Tea (David's Tea has the best!)
Serve that business with a dollop of nonfat plain yogurt, or else melt some cheese on top, I'm sure that'd be delicious too. Dash of pepper is always nice.
I like to rip pieces of pita bread and throw em into the soup.
Mmmmm! There's some Sunday soup for yah

Matcha Coconut Smoothie - Recipe

I have been back in Vancouver for a few months now, but I haven't been keeping up the blog. My days have been filled up with work and school, and my mealtimes have been primarily out and about around town. My mornings however are mostly spent in my kitchen (beautiful large room that allows for lots of light all day long!) with a cup of tea, or a smoothie. I have been feelin' creative with smoothies, and the uses of matcha in these creations. Matcha is finely-ground Japanese green tea leaves and is traditionally whisked up with warm water. This tradition of matcha preparation and drinking has been around for a very long time and its uses today are varied (baking, cooking). Matcha is chock-full of antioxidants which contain vital vitamins, and may thus help in preventing cancer, and even promote longevity in lifespan. It's also a great morning kickstart to your day; you basically drink the contents of the tea leaf, so you're loading up on energy. So drink up, everybody!

Throw these ingredients into a blender...
a banana
1/2 cup plain or vanilla nonfat yogurt (Olympia brand sooo good)
small handful of unsweetened shredded coconut
1 tsp matcha
1/4 cup or so of unsweetened coconut water
a spoonful of agave nectar (optional for sweetness)

The Greatest Sandwich in the World - Recipe

This is inspired by a meal I had last summer, when I was with my friends in Montreal. We were invited over to a friend-of-a-friend's farm in St. Jean sur Richelieu, a suburb of Montreal with lots of fields. Her family ran a cheese and bread farm, so we were in for a real treat. She made us this truly delectable sandwiches for dinner, that I still remember to this day. They had the creamiest Brie I had ever consumed, my mouth waters at the very thought of the texture of the bread, cheese, honey, and walnuts. I have since attempted to re-create this sandwich, not with complete success, but this is as close as I have gotten. Nothing compares to the cheese straight from the farm or the fresh bread, but we do what we can!

Take a baguette, slice it so the two faces are exposed
Cut a few hunks of Brie cheese and place them strategically upon the bread, but only on one slice
On the other face, drizzle some honey and break some walnuts upon it
Toast both sides in a toaster oven for a min or so (or for 8 secs in a microwave)
Place some arugula atop the Brie
Bring both slices into each other to create a sandwich
Bite, drool, delve, reflect, fall in love with The Greatest Sandwich in the World

Tahini Miso Quinoa Salad Extravaganza - Recipe

Since returning to Vancouver, I have resumed my addiction to shopping at Caper's Market. They have everything and more that I dream of, food-wise. It's a healthy addiction, however my wallet is not so pleased. They have this amazing salad bar, with an assortment of lovely dressings and toppings. The dressing for this salad was inspired greatly by Caper's Tahini Miso Dressing, and this is a sort of homage, if you will. Enjoy the deliciousness that is Quinoa and tasty sauce with some serious veggie action!

Firstly, gotta cook that quinoa. Boil 1 1/4 cup of water in a pot then pour in 1 cup of quinoa (This yields enough to save a bunch of quinoa for later). Turn down the heat a bit, and leave that business, covered, for 12 mins. Afterwards, you will take the pot off the heat and stir it a bit then put the lid back on to let it sit for about 5 mins.
Meanwhile, chop up some...
Red Pepper (or whatever colours you so please)
Red Onion
Various vegetables of your choice
Tofu
...and put those into a frypan with a drizzle of olive oil and throw down some oregano and pepper on there if you wish

Once those ingredients are ready, turn the heat way down and drizzle some of the dressing from the bottom of this recipe into the frypan, so the tofu is super flavourful

Put the frypan ingredients onto a bed of lettuce/mixed herbs in a bowl. Then you can put some additional toppings onto your salad!...
You could throw down some thawed, shelled edamame beans
Apple chunks are always a nice addition, I like to use Granny Smith
Raisins are cool, too
Feta cheese rocks my salad usually
Then, add your cooked quinoa and stir it all up real nice!


For the dressing, put the following ingredients into a food processor...
1/3 cup Tahini, or Sesame paste
juice of half a lemon
a small handful of cashews (optional, for thickness and yumminess)
a solid tablespoon of White Miso

Lemon Dill Tofu with Feta & Veggies - Recipe

Soo I haven't posted in a while, the reason being I was moving from Banff back to Vancouver. Since the return to the West coast, I have been spending lots of time dining around town at restaurants and breakfast joints and haven't been cooking a whole lot. Tonight, I decided to whip up a little dinner with the few groceries I have purchased. What to do with some tofu, serious veg, herbs, and feta cheese? Get funky and figure somethin' out, I say...

Chop as much firm tofu as you please into lil' cubes
Marinade with a solid squeeze of honey for an hour or more
Pour the honey-glazed tofu into a hot pan where 1/2 a tbsp of olive oil is already heated
Let those suckers crisp a bit and add chopped...
Red pepper
Red onion
Cucumber (I know, riiiight!)

aand last but not least
a smidgeon of grated ginger, for something fun
...throw in a hefty dash of dill too, and squeeze the juice from half a lemon into the mix as well

Once all the ingredients in the pan are cooked up and mixed well, pour that business into a bowl
Top it off with crumbled feta and enjoy hot or cold. Tastyyy!