"Ode to Mango".....Mango Shrimp Salad with Quinoa, Avocado, Feta and Almonds

Ohhhh Mangos. So magical. So delicious. Nectar of the Gods...Biting into a perfectly ripe mango you question for a moment whether there is anything tastier in this world....
Funny story about mangos. When we go to the grocery store my husband and I each have to buy our own mangos. We are explicitly clear about who owns the mangos we put in our cart. If I place a mango into the grocery cart it by effect becomes my sole property - it is not a communal mango, no no. To violate this order by touching another's mango is pretty much on par with sacrelige in our household (A lesson I had to learn the hard way....)
That being said, today was one of those days I was lucky enough to have my own mango sitting in a bowl on our kitchen counter. For anyone who has ever seen the movie Sideways, a mango is like the pinot noir of the fruit world, in the sense that it is finicky. You can't eat it when it is too green, and yet wait a day too long to eat it and it will have peaked, its fruity goodness turned to overripe mushiness. 
My mango was fantastically, irreverently, perfectly ripe, which inspired me - instead of selfishly gobbling up its delectable contents and hiding the peels deep within the garbage -  to make my husband one of our favourite summer salads, a little number I like to call "Ode to Mango." 
This salad is delicious. I have made it twice for my husband, and both times he has complemented me on what a long way I have come (by this he means explicitly since that one time I made him Campbell Soup Mushroom Balls for dinner....). Both times he has eaten this salad he has complemented me and said, and I quote: "You are really starting to come into your own in the kitchen."
Now thats pretty high praise period, but its definetely high praise when you make your hungry husband only salad for dinner, one that contains quinoa at that - which he doesn't even like. So I would definetely urge you to try this one...It will definetely impress.

"Ode to Mango".....Mango Shrimp Salad with Quinoa, Avocado, Feta and Almonds

Salad:

1 perfectly, delectably ripe mango cubed
2 cups spinach
2 cups romaine
1 small avocado cubed
1 carrot grated
1/2 yellow pepper julienned
1/4 cucumber sliced
1/2 cup feta cheese
1 cup quinoa (cook according to instructions and cool).
3/4 cup roasted almonds (see recipe below)

1) Prep the above ingredients and assemble your salad (this salad is a little prep-heavy but its worth it I promise :)

Dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 TBSP honey
1 TBSP rice vinegar
1 tsp lemon zest
1 TBSP fresh lemon juice
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp salt
A few shakes of hot sauce

2) Drizzle dressing over salad and don't skimp on it.

Shrimp:

200 g pre-cooked shrimp tail removed
1/4 cup barbeque sauce

3) Toss your pre-cooked shrimp in bbq sauce and heat them in a pan until warm (or if you are more ambitious fire up your bbq and give them a quick sear). Top your salad with the warm shrimp and serve.


Brown Sugar Roasted Almonds Recipe 

2 tsp egg white
1/2 tsp water
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup brown sugar

1) Preheat oven to 275 degrees
2) Mix ingredients together and toss almonds with until coated
3) Line cookie sheet with parchment or aluminum foil and cook almonds 45 minutes.

Sweet Beet, Goat Cheese, and Brown Sugar Roasted Walnut Salad (Mother-in-Law Approved)

My Mother-in-Law invited us over on short notice and my well-meaning and helpful hubby volunteered me as the bringer of salad. I panicked. With two little ones at home a last minute grocery trip was out of the question and my refrigerator was literally almost empty with the exception of a few ingredients.
Somehow, it is always the times that I am working with limited ingredients that I am the most creative. I literally threw this salad together, inspired by some month-old beets I found in the bottom of my refrigerator. This salad was sooooooo delicious. My Mother-in-Law loved it, but I'm sure she thought I was putting her on with fake modesty when I told her I scraped it together with the last few ingredients left in my refrigerator....

P.S. Don't skip the nuts or even substitute pre-roasted ones as making them yourself a few hours before you serve the salad makes them the secret ingredient.

Sweet Beet, Goat Cheese and Brown Sugar Roasted Walnut Salad

1 medium raw grated beet
2 sliced small scallions
4 oz crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 peeled and diced apple
4 cups baby spinach
1 cup brown sugar roasted walnuts (recipe below)

Dressing:

1/4 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP rice vinegar
1 TBSP honey
1 tsp lemon zest
1 TBSP lemon juice

Brown Sugar Roasted Walnuts

2 tsp egg white
1/2 tsp water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt

1) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 275 degrees
2) Mix above ingredients together
3) Toss with 1 cup of walnuts (or other nut of choice)
4) Bake for 45 minutes

Assemble salad - topped with roasted walnuts - and drizzle the dressing on top a few moments before serving. This salad goes fantastic with a simple piece of broiled or pan-fried salmon, and is Mother-in-Law approved :)

Muffins that Don't Kill Your Husband

Okay I'm not like a huge baker, but I feel that as a stay-at-home Mom baking is something that I should do...I took a break there for awhile after I had my second baby. I was running short on time and discovered that for $5 a pop from Wal-Mart, instead of making them myself I could get 9 muffins for my husband's lunch. I would take the box, divy it up and put a bunch in ziplocs in the freezer so I could take them out on demand (and also so I wouldn't eat them).
Pure brilliance in my mind...
So here I am feeling all self-congratulatory...until one day I read the nutritional information and realize I have been slowly killing my husband - like 40 g of fat in each muffin (most of it saturated), or almost 50% of your daily fat intake. OMG, I'm killing my husband! So, I figure that its probably time to start baking again.
There are some that will argue that the muffin is an intrinsically unhealthy food and that I shouldn't be putting them in his lunch in the first place...To the naysayers I say "Hey, I can put carrot sticks in his lunch until the cows come home, but he's just going to be hitting the gas-station for a pack of hostess cupcakes every day." Everyone needs a treat in their lunch. Besides, he's going to start thinking "What good is a stay-at-home wife if she is going to pack me a crap lunch everyday?"
So back to my muffins. I figure at least if I am making the muffins at home, I know what I am putting into them. So I went on the quest for the moderately healthy, but still tasty muffin and this is what I came up with.

Pumpkin, Walnut Cranberry Muffins

1 cup white flour
1/4 cup whole wheat
1/2 cup oat bran
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup E.D. Smith pumpkin pie filling
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped walnuts


1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2) Stir together your dry ingredients
3) Mix together your wet ingredients
4) Add the pumpkin pie filling and cranberries and walnuts to your wet ingredients
5) Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients (mix it together, but don't overstir it)
6) Spoon into muffin liners in a muffin tin and place in oven.

This recipe will make about 10 - 12 muffins and these babies take about 30 - 33 minutes to cook. You can do a toothpick test for doneness, but the edges should spring back when you touch them and they should be a nice golden brown.

I don't know what the nutritional information is on these (I'm sure you could do the whole applesauce for butter substition, egg whits etc. and really get into it). Regardless I feel better about eating these than a muffin from MacDonalds or Tim Hortons, with unknown ingredients that I can't pronounce and added preservatives.

Plus you can feel good about the fact that you're not killing your husband.

The Cultured Cobb Salad

On Friday nights, I like to make a bit of an indulgent meal. I also play jazz music while I cook and feel very French (I'm not sure how the jazz inspires the French feeling). Friday nights always inspire me to celebrate the beginning of the weekend. What better way than with Cobb Salad? Blue cheese, chicken breast, bacon, egg and avocado ALL at the same meal simply makes it feel indulgent. We do a "make your own Cobb Salad night" where we prep all of the toppings and make our own salad at the table depending on what we are in the mood for (sometimes its a half pound of bacon kind of night). This makes it fun, kind of like taco night - but obviously like way more culturally elevated.

The Cultured Cobb Salad


Ingredients to prep for salad for 2:

4 cups romaine or iceburg lettuce
1 sliced tomato
1/4 cucumber sliced
1/4 spanish onion sliced
1 avocado diced
200 g crumbled blue cheese
2 sliced hard-boiled eggs
Crispy cooked bacon (I leave the amount to your good judgment)
Sliced cooked chicken breast seasoned with steak spice

Dressing:

1/4 cup plain yogurt (I always use greek or balkan style)
1/8 cup mayo
1 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP chopped fresh dill
A few good shakes of hot sauce
1 clove diced garlic
1 tsp sherry vinegar
Salt and pepper

A honey mustard vinegarette is a popular dressing for this dish, but its not my personal favourite. I find that this creamier dressing complements the romaine or iceburg quite nicely, and the dill flavour adds an extra "je ne sais quoi" to the simple ingredients. If you wanted to do obviously healthier spring greens or spinach I would probably suggest using a vinagarette (you can modify this recipy, simply substitute the plain yogurt and mayo with extra olive oil and some lemon juice). We like to serve this salad with fresh corn in season. To keep the crunchy fresh flavor of this summer delight, simply bring a pot of water to a boil, put in the corn, cover and turn off the burner and let it stand for 5 mins. Serve with butter and salt and pepper, and "Voila!"

A Midsummer's Night Dream - Summerside Chili

My hubby must be really taking my blog posts to heart, because my meat loving counterpart created this good for you and vegan-friendly chili. This colorful chili is supremely simple to prepare, relying on the flavour of delicious summer vegetables in season. It is beautiful to look at, fresh and filling - the perfect meal to be enjoyed at a picnic table in the backyard on a summer's eve. White navy beans add a great pop of color and complement the lighter summery flavor of this chili. When you serve such an uber-healthy meal, you don't have to feel guilty about topping it with a dollop of sour cream, or pairing it with a fresh-from-the oven delicious homemade biscuit. Happy eating.

Summerside Chili:
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 chopped red pepper
1 chopped green pepper
1 cup broccoli
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1 cup chopped zuchinni
1/8 cup chopped basil
1 small can kernel corn
2 large cans diced tomatos
1 can navy beans
1 heaping tablespoon of chili powder ( or more to taste if you like spicy)
1 TBSP olive oil
Season with salt and pepper to taste

Simmer covered on the stove for 30 mins. If you like, top with sour cream, cheddar cheese or green onion.

Super Simple Country Biscuits

My mother-in-law gave me this recipe. Fresh baking always adds that special touch and I love to have something ready for company, to perfectly complete a meal or to add a treat to my husband's lunch. This is an easy, FAST recipe that you always have the ingredients for, that you can have in the oven literally in 2 mins. without destroying your kitchen. This is also a versatile recipe that you can modify by adding ingredients like scallions and cheese, raisins and a touch of honey or cinnamon - wherever your imagination takes you. They are a yummy bite on the go in the morning as well, served with fresh jam or cheese and butter. Yum!

2 cups flour
3 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil (or butter if you prefer)
3/4 cup milk

1. Mix together dry ingredients
2. Fold in wet ingredients (don't overstir but make sure everything is mixed together)
3. Make "hamburger patties" out of the dough (4-6 biscuits) and place on lightly greased pan
4. 350 degrees for 17 - 20 mins.

Steak Salad with Blue Cheese, Apple, and Creamy Basil Dressing

Threw together this meal last night with ingredients I found in my refrigerator. It was a delicious treat and a little more of a celebratory affair for a Friday night. The blue cheese and apple and basil really work together in a flavour combination I can't get enough of. The basil dressing was divine and I will definetely use it again. We kept the steak simple, a little salt and pepper and pan-seared.

With such a delicious salad, your really don't want the meat competing. A really flavourful meal and the perfect way to cap off a busy summer week. Bon Appetit!

Salad for two:
2 cups romaine
2 cups spinach
1 diced apple
1/4 cup spanish onion
1/4 sliced cucumber
1 sliced tomato
200 g crumbled blue cheese
1/8 cup pine nuts

Slice steak and top salad with it.

Dressing:
1/4 cup yogurt
1/4 cup mayo
2 TBSP fresh basil
1 tsp red wine vinegar
Salt and peper to taste.