Spicy, Creamy Green Lentil Casserole - Featured on Savour The Senses

On Friday January 13th, I was honoured to be a featured guest blogger on Jenny's Savour The Senses Blog.   Her blog is spectacular and has given me so much inspiration.  My Featured QlinArt recipe is here which I am posting in my own blog now.  It's perfect timing with the snowy and icy weather outside, in Montreal.  This lentil dish is rich in protein and in flavour.  The spice mix and cream make this meal incredibly savoury.  It's so easy that you can make it blind-folded (well not literally).  Just to say that it's like cooking an egg.  If you haven't cooked an egg before, I suggest you start your culinary experiments with the egg first before you try this recipe.

Preparation : 10 minutes, Cooking time : approximately 10 minutes

Ingredients:

19 oz pre-cooked canned green lentils (unsalted if available) or 3 cups dry green lentils cooked in 6 cups boiling water for about 15 minutes

4 garlic cloves, finely minced

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 tsp red chill paste

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp ground Garam Masala

1/4 cup vegetable or chicken stock

1/4 cup heavy cream (I used 15% cream)

3 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp garlic butter (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

handful of freshly chopped coriander to garnish

Method:

Heat large sauce pan on medium high and add olive oil.

Stir in immediately the tomato paste, chili paste, ground turmeric, ground Garam Masala for about 1 minute.

Stir in the garlic for about 30 seconds.

Add in the lentils and stir well for about 3 minute.

Pour in the chicken stock and stir for about 30 seconds.

Turn off heat, pour in the cream and stir for about 1 minute, cover and let it sit.

Add salt and pepper to taste (optional).

Sprinkle chopped coriander.

Serve hot with steamed white Basmati rice.

Serves 4 people.

Toss Aside Boring Summer Salads...Give Way to Savoury Ones

On a hot summer's day, I often feel like doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, including cooking. Going for a good swim, or lounging around the terrasse with a refreshing drink, is just about the only thing I'm able to do when the temperature hits above 35C. However, eating is not an activity that goes away easily when the temperature rises, especially when I decide to have an active day - going for a swim to divert myself from the heat. Doing laps can certainly stimulate hunger as quickly as a snap of your fingers. But when it's scorching hot, I don't feel like eating anything hot and heavy, but something refreshing, yet gratifying. A salad is the least gratifying food on my list when I'm famished.

If I were to be at a buffet, a nice green salad would always be on my plate, not for the enjoyment of eating it...but more to settle a guilt-free conscience. In my earlier years, I grew up in a family who would indulge in meat dishes, sweet drinks and rich desserts like pastries or ice cream. Salads or raw vegetables would always be served, but they were the last thing we would consume at dinner time. We were people whom you would call "de grands gourmands" . Glutton is a strong word, but we weren't far off. Fortunately, as we're all aging and growing more health conscious, I've been noticing that my family and I gradually changed our eating habits over the years. We've all taken the righ turn to maintain a well balanced diet, without sacrificing the pleasure of eating luscious foods. Food that will please our belly, food with lotsa flay-va....

All that to say that a salad doesn't have to be boring. We can all make it more interesting. It can be both tentatlizing and satisfying. This beautiful and delicious-looking salad is incredibly tasty and healthy. It's packed with protein, from the beans. It's nutritious, from the brown rice pasta and greens. Most importantly, it's so yummy, from the added spices. Tumeric/curcuma, paprika, salt and pepper are the spices, nutritiously sufficient for our bodies, mixed in this salad for added flavour. These words are coming from a meat lover. It can be prepared with chicken or shrimps, or simply as a vegetarian dish. A complete meal for a hot day like today.

Recipe "au pif":

Soy or brown rice pasta (available in most supermarkets), cooked al dente

14-19 oz can of cooked mixed beans (kidney, lima..etc.), drained and rinsed

leftover chicken strips (I used chicken seasoned with garlic and lemongrass)

fresh baby spinach

cherry tomatoes, diced

handful of fresh coriander, coarsely chopped

2 tbsp low-fat and low-sodium mayonnaise

2 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tsp ground tumeric/curcuma

1 tsp ground paprika

2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients and refrigerate for about 20-30 minutes

Serve fresh.

Share and enjoy!

My Recipe to Riches Audition Experience in Montreal!

I don’t think I’ll ever forget February 19th 2011. It all began last Monday Feb. 14th, on Valentine’s day, at exactly 8:03pm, when my phone started buzzing, letting me know that I had an email waiting. I checked it immediately, as we were finishing our luscious seafood dinner, and to my disbelief, I had just received a casting audition call from a TV show coordinator asking me if I would be interested in participating in the open casting for an upcoming TV show, on Saturday Feb. 19th in Montreal! I reread the email, making sure I hadn’t misinterpreted it, or if it wasn’t a scam. But no…all the information was there in the email with the website url http://recipetoriches.ca/. This coordinator happened to have stumbled upon my blog and was complimenting me about a plum tart recipe which I had posted last summer. This new TV show called Recipe to Riches, is calling out for Canadians with great recipes and stories airing on Food Network Canada and Global Television this fall! My heart started thumping as I couldn’t believe the opportunity that was presented before me. I replied right away that I was definitely interested without thinking about anything else. She was pleased to receive my quick response and asked me to pre-register first to have a better chance of meeting with the judges to present my dish!

Then, it hit me later that evening that I only had less than a week to pick and test a dish among my numerous recipes! I really didn’t have much time to go through my entire archive and didn’t want to rack my brain over the ‘perfect’ dish to present on Audition day. I decided to sleep on it.

As soon as I arrived at the office, I shared the exciting news with my friend Farah. I think she was more excited than I was. She started Googling the show and read through the site very quickly. Instantly, the ‘Oh my God, what are you going to do, what dish are you making, are you doing it, I have to forward this to my friend….’ words rambled from her mouth with such enthusiasm! I looked at her with an amused and appreciative smile. She was behind me all the way. At that point, I still wasn’t sure what I was going to prepare and thought that if I couldn’t come up with anything by the end of day, I would have to bail out. That is right. I was that close to giving up. On the other hand, my intuition was telling me to go for it, just for the fun of it!

*

When the evening came, I felt agitated and contacted most of my close friends to tell them about this great occasion to show Canadians what I love to do…cooking! My two very close friends Eddy and Lisa were my strongest supporters. Eddy was emphasizing more on the fun experience this opportunity would bring me. Lisa was bringing laughter and creating fun with her infectious chuckling and her silly humour during our conversation. Their energy was so positively reinforcing that I was now determined to take part in Saturday’s audition!

*Since I was running out of time, my mind was set to go with the plum tart which seemed to appeal to the show coordinator.

It was Wednesday, and I couldn’t focus on my work at the office. I also started to be a little nervous as I hadn’t started testing the recipe or hadn’t even pre-registered yet. To complete pre-registration, it’s required to submit an accurate recipe. Pre-registration did not guarantee a spot to meet with the judges. Only the ones receiving a follow-up call would have a chance. Wednesday evening, I started working on the sweet pastry crust. I wasn’t satisfied with the recipe that I’ve been using for this tart the past year, so I decided to call my friend Fabienne to come to the rescue. Fabienne is a great baker and when it comes to French cooking, she knows exactly what she’s talking about. I kept her helpful tips in mind for my first baking test the following day. This time, I was ready to complete the online pre-registration. To my dismay, the application form displayed the message ‘MONTREAL AUDITIONS CLOSED’, when I selected the Audition place on the form. I thought, ‘F---, no!’. Why wasn’t I given more time to know about this contest! Surprisingly, I was still able to submit my application. I was hoping for the best.

*Thursday morning, I received a call from an agent from Recipe to Riches letting me know that she received my pre-registration request and that I was eligible to meet the judges! The story behind my plum tart seemed to have intrigued her! I had to fill in last-minute forms within the hour followed by a short chat with her. It was a fun pre-audition interview which pumped me up for the big day! That evening, I rushed home after work to buy all of the ingredients needed to make the tart. Because I was in such a rush, I wasn’t paying close attention to the size of the only available plums at the local fruit and vegetable market. It’s not the season to find a selection of sweet and ripe plums. But I had a technique in mind that would help remedy that particular problem. I started testing in my kitchen. Everything was going wrong. It was nearly midnight and I couldn’t get the dough right…it was crumbly and dry, and I didn’t have enough plums…the plums were too small! I hadn’t made this dessert since last summer that I had completely forgotten how big, plump and juicy the plums were in the summer. But I had managed to make a few samples for my co-workers to taste-test Friday morning.

*Friday morning, five of my co-workers (Tharah, Gene, Morocan from Nice, Mongolia and Masala, thank you!) were sampling the tart slices I had brought to the office. They gave me their brutal honest opinion just as I had requested. Their feedback? The crust required more butter and the plums needed to be less sour and a little sweeter. I took note of their critiques and right after work, I went home to get a lot more plums and more butter. Off I was, preparing the plums by coating them with sugar for a couple of hours, to remove the sourness and give them more sweetness. The crust turned out superbly. It was worth staying up until 1am! As Julia Child would say, ‘there never is too much butter!’ The tarts were ready. I had made three, two for the audition and one to taste-test and pre-cut that morning.
*Audition day, February 19th, 7am. I am up and feel much incitement to see the tarts after being chilled overnight. They looked fabulous! I cut and tasted the ‘test’ tart. I couldn’t be happier. I started getting ready, do a bit of yoga exercise and meditation to calm my nerves. I had less than 4 hours before my scheduled time. Eddy couldn’t accompany me due to professional obligations, but he did drop me off at the audition place. Lisa was to meet me a little later. With my tarts packed carefully in my practical cooler bag, I entered the audition waiting room. As soon as I stepped in, I felt the electric and passionate energy of home cooks like me, nervously and patiently sitting and waiting. That energy ultimately changed my nerves to a more serene state of mind. I was happy that my tarts had made it safely. They were immediately taken away from me to refrigerate after I signed in. I was given my number, sat down amongst the pool of competitors and quietly observed my new and exciting surrounding. Unfortunately, I can’t share with you any more details on the audition process from that point on, but I can share with you the emotional experience most of the contestants, including myself, went through that day.

*The atmosphere was filled with an incredible joy to participate in this contest or to have that possibility of sharing with the nation our passion…..food. Some were very talkative, especially the ones who brought along their cheering squad, and others were more quiet and kept to themselves. A few were not smiling at all, so much they were stressed! Nonetheless, one thing brought us all together…nerves. Waiting for hours can make one’s mind wander towards confidence or even self-doubt. But seeing a couple of contestants walk out with a gold ticket, a ticket to the next round of the competition, created hope and cheerful thoughts!

*

My friend Lisa had finally arrived. She was all smiles (up to her ears) which contagiously cheered me even more! She introduced me to another contestant, Joe, whom she knew through her husband. He found out about this audition only after the day I had told her about it. He had prepared an Italian fish soup/stew in a bucket. What a unique idea! I was getting a tad hungry despite the nervousness, and I didn’t want my stomach to growl on television! I think I would have asked the judges to give me a piece of their pie! During break time, I offered Lisa and Joe some of my grilled cheese sandwiches. Joe said ‘no thanks, I think I’ll puke, but it’s ok I have my bucket’. We were all laughing and in good spirits. I was glad to have my cheering buddy with me and a funny Italian contestant. It just made the experience even more fun.

*

Every time a contestant would come out with a gold ticket, Lisa would hilariously say ‘Oh my god, it’s like we’re on American Idol!!’ We were having good fun. As I was getting closer to my turn to present, I was moved to another part of the room. Lisa was telling me that in order to be closer to me she had to ask a lady, who was anxiously waiting her turn, if the seat beside her was taken. That lady had told her ‘yes it is, but if you sit here, you’ll have to talk to me’. It’s funny how stress can turn a complete stranger to a funny conversationist! Some, as Lisa observed, were even almost hyperventilating and shaking like leaves.

*My turn was up, I felt the adrenaline kick in immediately. Lisa and Joe crying out ‘Good luck!’ I was focused but found such an enjoyment in the frenzy backstage area with the culinary staff, the camera men, the microphone guy, and the coordinators. I felt it was MY moment to enjoy and to experience it to the fullest. As I walked in front of the camera and the judges, I was surprised to see that I was more comfortable than I had anticipated. Surely, I was a little clumsy on my words and on where to look, but I think it went really well for a first-timer being filmed for a national television show.

I didn’t get a gold ticket because my plum tart was not sweet enough for the North American market, but I did get two great comments from the judges : ‘I also like desserts that are not too sweet…it would be too bad to let this one go...’, which put a huge smile on my face, and ‘... great story!’. I won’t lie. I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t go through the next round. When I walked out and returned to the waiting room to see Lisa, I carelessly mumbled ‘Can you believe that, more sugar!…do they not realize that there are so many diabetics out there!’. Lisa smiled and laughingly said, ‘oh my, thank god they didn’t catch that on camera!’ I then chuckled and realized that I was definitely tired and needed to say ‘ok, it’s done and over with. I had fun’.

*One thing I realized after this amazing experience is not only I really enjoy meeting people who share the same passion for food as I do, but I also tremendously enjoy being on TV, for shows related to food. The adrenaline, the disorder, the frantic energy….is loads of fun!

Good luck to all participants for the Toronto Auditions! And remember…..have fun!!!!!

"Popotte-Santé" Club : Quinoa and Lemongrass

I can't complain about the workplace where I spend 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. My team mates are friendly and so easy to get along with. The best part is that I discovered that a lot of them love cooking, exploring new foods and would love to know how to use uncommon exotic products in their kitchen. Uncommon to North Americans that is....
Our department's executive assistant, Linda, had the marvelous idea of starting a "Popotte-Santé" club, French Canadian slang for "Healthy Cooking" club. It's created for those who like to share recipes, introduce unknown and unfamiliar foods or simply eat together and talk about good eating, during our lunch break. The main focus is on healthy eating. Stress is one of the major factors causing different health issues such as diabeties, anemia, heart diseases and others. Not only are some of our colleagues affected by these health issues, but so are their loved ones. These hurdles help us to become conscious of the way we eat, our fast-pace lifestyle and the time we ignore to stop, sit back, breathe and eat well.
Our "Popotte-Santé" club takes places the first Mondays of every month. We are a group of about 8 people. We've had our second lunch meeting this week and we're starting to understand what we want to get out of this club. We want to enjoy sharing food and understand how certain foods are beneficial and how some aren't to our health. It's great to have a group of people of different ethnic backgrounds with interesting cooking experiences with whom we can learn and share new culinary ideas. The best part is that we are having a lot of fun, especially tasting and eating the delicious and healthy foods prepared by the club members.
This week my colleague Jean-Pierre brought a wonderful quinoa pilaf dish, seasoned with tumeric, cumin, garlic, mixed with raisins and a little bit of orange juice. I never really tasted quinoa until he introduced it to me a few months back. It was delicious but I didn't really know how to cook it. This week, he shared a bunch of recipes with us and I was amazed on how many ways quinoa can be easily and quickly prepared. It's also not considered to be part of the wheat family but considered more as a grain, which has no gluten.

Here is the quinoa pilaf recipe:
Preparation time : 10 minutes, Cooking time: 25-30 minutes.

Recipe "au pif":
1 1/2 cup quinoa
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small onions, finely chopped

2 carrots, cut in thin round slices

1/2 cup good quality raisins

1/2 cup fresh coriander, finely chopped

1 tsp ground tumeric (aka curcuma)

1/2 cup of fresh orange juice

2 cups cold water

In a large sauce pan, heat olive oil and brown onions, carrots, and stir in raisins and tumeric.

Stir in the quinoa, coriander and mix well for about 2 to 3 minutes.

Add 1/2 orange juice, water and stir until you reach boiling point. Immediately, reduce heat to low and let it simmer for about 12 to 15 minutes or until the liquid has completely been absorbed by the quinoa mixture.

Reduce heat to low and cover, let it simmer for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat, and let it sit for about 5 minutes, enough time for the quinoa to expand.

Serve immediately, with tofu, meats, fish or any foods of your choice!

Bon appétit!


Next on the list was the dish I prepared for the group; lemongrass chicken strips.

I know, they kinda look like frog legs on this picture. Which is also an interesting food!

This recipe is so easy. The chicken strips were so tasty that my colleague Farah brought back the sprig of lemongrass I had brought for demonstration to our club meeting, so that she could try out the recipe that same evening for dinner. Unfortunately, there was not enough lemongrass for the amount of chicken she had, so the lemongrass taste was less prominent than the chicken strips she had tasted at lunch.

If you'd like to try them out, here is the recipe and please make sure to adjust the quantities of marinade ingredients accordingly, if you are using less or more chicken:


Preparation time : 5 minutes, Cooking time : 15 minutes

Recipe of lemongrass chicken strips "au pif":

1/2 lb pre-cut chicken strips, rinsed with water and lemon to eliminate any bacteria and pat dry with paper towel
1 sprig of lemongrass, remove outer shells and end (you should have about 3 inch of lemongrass inner root), chopped and sliced, then grinded in a food processor until finely minced.
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 tbsp of fish sauce, to taste
1 1/2 tbsp canola oil

Mix the lemongrass, garlic and fish sauce in a salad bowl. Then coat the strip in the marinade and mix well with your hands. Set aside.

Heat medium-sized sauce pan on medium high. Wait until the pan is very hot for about 5 minutes.

Slowly add 3-4 strips at a time. They should sizzle right away. Let them brown for about 2 minutes on each sides.

Repeat above step until you run out of chicken strips.

Lay the chicken strips on a plate covered with paper towel to absorb the oil away.

Serve hot as finger food or with steamed white rice.

Share and enjoy!


Last but not least, Linda brought this interesting long pepper which can be found at "Olives et Épices" at "Marché Jean-Talon" in Montreal or any other stores that sell spices in bulk, "marché en vrac". This is a very hard type of pepper that you would need to pound first using a mortar and pestle before adding it to your pepper mill. The difference between this pepper and regular black pepper corn is the fragrance. This long black pepper had a sweet and subtle lemony fragrance. It's worth a try.

Stay tuned for our next meeting. But before that, I'll make sure to share more recipes with you as the days are getting longer, I can take pictures later in the day now that natural lighting will be available late afternoons.

Hope you enjoyed this post.

Healthy Power Bars Made Easy

I’ve been wanting to share this recipe with you for a long time now. Before seeing Heidi Swanson’s blog post and video on ‘Big Sur Power Bars Recipe’ from her famous and appealing food blog 101 Cookbooks, I never really liked eating cereal/granola bars. The only cereal bars I’ve tasted were the ones I bought at the local grocery stores. Despite the marketing pitch found on every box of these cereal bars claiming that they’re made with real fruit, or contain Ginkgo biloba or Ginseng, these bars always tasted too sweet. Because I tasted more sugar than cereal, I questioned myself if there really was any of that healthy Ginkgo Rocky Balboa or Biloba …whatever extract. I personally view them as boring candy bars.

But now that I’ve tried Heidi’s recipe and tasted her Sur Power Bars, I can only recommend that you try it out for the following reasons:
1) EASY and QUICK to make, max 10 minutes, I swear.
2) Tasty
3) Crunchy
4) Crispy

I never go to work without grabbing a couple of these bars for emergency snacks or a quick breakfast treat.

I recommend that you watch Heidi’s video in which she shows us how easy it is to make this in her very serene kitchen. Little details like the “crisp” sound that Heidi’s partner Wayne made when he took a bite of the treat and said “mmmmh”, just sold me out. That small "crisp" sound reminded me of one of my favourite childhood sweets, rice crispies squares. Remember those? So good. When I found out that rice crispies were part of the recipe, I headed out to the market and bought all the ingredients to make these wonderful treats that same day.

Preparation: 10 minutes, no baking.

Because you can add just about anything (chocolate chips, dried fruits..etc.) in this recipe, I added cocoa powder instead of ground expresso beans, as well as dried cranberries. The result; light, chewy, crispy and delightfully crunchy cereal power bars.

Recipe of Heidi’s Sur Power Bars:
If you can't find the crisp brown rice cereal, no worries - just use regular rice cereal for ex: Rice Crispies - just stay clear of "puffed" rice cereal, it will throw the recipe off. Feel free to substitute other types of nuts, seeds, or whatever little goodies you can dream up.

1 tablespoon coconut oil (or regular butter)

1 cup pecans, chopped

1 cup slivered almonds

2/3 cup (unsweetened) shredded coconut

1 1/4 cups rolled oats

1 1/2 cups unsweetened crisp brown rice cereal

1 cup brown rice syrup

1/4 cup natural cane sugar

1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt

2 tablespoons ground espresso beans

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking pan with the coconut oil. If you like thick power bars, opt for an 8 by 8-inch pan; for thinner bars, use a 9 by 13-inch pan.

On a rimmed baking sheet toast the pecans, almonds, and coconut for about 7 minutes, or until the coconut is deeply golden. Toss once or twice along the way. Mix the oats, toasted nuts, coconut, and the cereal, together in a large bowl and set aside.

Combine the rice syrup, sugar, salt, espresso, and vanilla in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly as it comes to a boil and thickens just a bit, about 4 minutes. Pour the syrup over the oat mixture and stir until it is evenly incorporated.

Spread into the prepared pan and cool to room temperature before cutting into whatever size bars you desire.

Makes 16 to 24 bars.

Enjoy at work, at home on a hiking trip, wherever you like.

Kombucha tea and Hatha treats

I remember one day arriving to yoga class feeling extremely bloated and heavy. I had eaten a huge meal about 4 and half hours before class, but still felt uncomfortable. I was afraid of being unable to keep up with the class or feel nauseous. But my yoga instructor gave me half a glass of sparkling tea called Kombucha and told me that my bloating would be gone during the yoga practice after drinking the tea. Being a skeptic about organic or miracle-drinks, I wanted to try it since I didn't want to miss the class. Surprisingly enough, after my first downward dog pose, my bloatedness quickly went away. I felt fine for the rest of my yoga practice!

Kombucha is a sparkling tea also called the 'miracle cure-all'. It boosts our own natural defence system and increases our energy levels. Some of the benefits from drinking Kombucha tea on a regular basis are relief of migraines, poor digestion and Eczema. Because it's probiotic, this drink is known to detoxify our body, strengthen our immune system and fight sickness like colds and flus. Not only that, it doesn't taste bad at all! It tastes like a good apple cider, without the alcohol. For some, it's an acquired taste.

I do have to add that after a strenuous yoga class, it's quite the thirst quencher, which continues the detoxifying process from the yoga practice!

This drink can be purchased usually in health food stores, but it's readily available at the United Yoga Montreal studio, downtown Montreal

Another healthy treat available at the yoga studio are Hatha balls. They're like granola bars except they're round and full of good stuff like spirulina and flax seed.

Namaste.