Food Mamma

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vegetables

maple roasted carrots

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We bought some maple syrup on the weekend and I’m resisting the urge to pour it on everything. I figure roasting carrots with it would be okay though, seeing as how its veggies. That’s good justification, right? This was a hit with the kids and we will need to make it again very soon!

The syrup caramelizes the carrots making them sweet and delicious while the salt makes them a bit savoury. This makes the perfect vegetable side dish for turkey dinner. 

Maple Roasted Carrots

1 bunch carrots
1 TB olive oil
1 TB maple syrup
few sprigs of thyme
salt

Place the carrots on a baking sheet. Drizzle the oil and maple syrup on the carrots and let them roll around. Sprinkle with salt and add a few sprigs of thyme. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

carrot cake

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Today is my mom’s birthday. She is a special person, always doing what she can for all of us. She doesn’t ask for anything. The least I could do was make her a cake.
This moist cake is warm from the cinnamon and packed with nuts
because that’s what she loves. And since there’s carrots, we can
convince ourselves that it’s okay to eat because we are eating our
veggies.

Carrot Cake

2 cups carrots, grated
1 cup oil
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup almonds, chopped

In a blender, mix together the carrots, oil and eggs. Transfer to a bowl and add the dry ingredients. Carefully fold in the nuts. Put batter into a 9″ cake pan and bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes.  Top with cream cheese icing and nuts.

green papaya and carrot salad

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It seems like everyone lately has been spiralizing their veggies. Who could blame them? Any way to make veggies a little more exciting, especially to the kiddos, is always welcomed around here.

I received the Microplane Spiral Cutter recently and was excited to play with my food.  It was like a big sharpener but for your veggies. Zucchini made nice long noodles to substitute for pasta. Long strands of carrots were more fun to eat than a big carrot stick.

This is my submission for their blogger recipe contest. This green papaya and carrot salad makes the perfect side to accompany pretty much anything. We paired it with some bbq’d beef and it was fresh and flavourful.

Green Papaya and Carrot Salad

1/2 green papaya, spiralized
3 large carrots, spiralized
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 cup green beans
1 1/2 TB fish sauce
1 clove garlic, grated
1 lime, juiced
2 TB palm sugar
1/4 cup peanuts

In a large bowl, combine the spiralized papaya, carrots, tomatoes and green beans. In a separate bowl, combine the fish sauce, garlic, lime juice and sugar. Pour over the vegetables and combine until incorporated. Top with peanuts and enjoy!

beef pot roast

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Life is busy. Our days are spent running from one activity to the next. We try and keep Sundays free, a day to spend at home and putter around the house. Sundays seem like the perfect day to have something cooking for a few hours, filling the house with aromatic smells.

Yesterday we spent our Sunday enjoying the smells of a roast while we hung around the house. Cooked alongside lots of veggies and topped with a creamy gravy, this pot roast gives a sense of comfort. The perfect Sunday Supper.

We love beef around here. Since we love it so much, I felt I had to enter the Canadian Beef Blogger Ambassador Contest. I am up against 9 other competitors and would love your votes. Thanks for your help! Click here to vote.

Beef Pot Roast

1 small roast (3 to 4 pounds)
3 carrots, cut into chunks
2 onions, cut into large chunks
handful brussel sprouts, halved
1 pound mini potatoes, halved
6 cloves garlic
1 cup red wine
4 cups beef broth
salt
pepper
thyme
olive oil

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Heat oil in a pot on the stove. Add the onions and cook for a couple minutes. Remove and place on a dish. Add the carrots and brussel sprouts. Cook until there is a bit of colour. Remove and place with the onions.

Coat the roast with salt and pepper. Sear on all sides until there is a nice crust. Remove from the pan. Add one cup of red wine to deglaze the pan and scrape up all the bits. Place the roast back in along with the vegetables (including the potatoes) and cover with beef broth. Add a couple sprigs of thyme, throw in the garlic and place in the oven for approximately 3 1/2 hours.

Gravy

Remove the roast and cover with foil. Remove the vegetables. In a small pot, melt 2 TB butter and add 1/4 cup flour. Slowly add the drippings from the roast and stir until smooth.

bibimbap

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One of my favourite Korean dishes is bibimbap. Bibimbap is a dish with steamed rice topped with vegetables, meat, a runny egg and a red pepper paste sauce. Any dish topped with a runny egg is a winner in my books. The best part of this dish though (besides the name) is the sauce. It’s made with gochujang, a red pepper paste with additions like garlic, soya sauce and sugar. We love this sauce so much that lately there has been a batch in the fridge to top off any meal.

The components of bibimbap are cooked separately and placed on top of the rice. It is usually stirred together right before eating. The combination of the rice, veggies, meat, egg and sauce is tasty and comforting.  This is the perfect dish to use up leftovers. Just use what protein and veggies you have and you’ve got dinner!

Bibimbap

Chicken:
1 pound chicken thighs
3 TB soya sauce
1.5 TB sesame oil
2 tsp crushed ginger
2 tsp crushed garlic
salt pepper

Marinate for at least an hour. Stir fry in a little bit of oil. Remove from the pan and cook your vegetables.

Veggies:
Whatever you have on hand. I used mushrooms, zucchini, carrots and bok choy

Rice:
Steamed rice.

Egg:
Sunnyside up

Bibimbap Sauce (From Food.com):
2 TB gochujang (red pepper paste)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 TB rice vinegar
1 TB soya sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp sugar

Mix all ingredients together.

spicy fried potato balls (bateta wada)

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I really love getting food in the mail so when The Little Potato Company sent me a few bags of potatoes, I was excited. Using these nuggets to create a dish or two, well the possibilities were endless.

When I saw the little Baby Boomer potatoes, I knew the perfect thing to make! With my mom’s help, we made one of her specialties – fried potato balls with a spicy centre aka bateta wada.
These potato balls were surprisingly easy to make. The potatoes were boiled and peeled and cut in half. Each half was then dipped in chili powder before being pressed back together. The potatoes were then covered in batter before being fried.
These make a delicious appetizer or are perfect for tea time!
Spicy Fried Potato Balls (Bateta Wada)
1 lb little potatoes
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup gram flour
Water
Oil for frying
Boil and peel the potatoes. Put the chili powder and salt in a plate. Cut each potato in half, dip the cut side in chili powder and put them back together.
In a bowl, add the gram flour and add enough water to make a batter. Cover the potatoes with batter and fry until golden. 

gluten-free vegetable pakora

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I am excited to be participating in the Hidden Valley Gluten-Free Challenge. Using Hidden Valley Ranch dressings, I was to come up with a gluten-free recipe for the holidays.

The first thing that came to mind were vegetable pakora. Using chick pea flour and the Spicy Ranch dressing for flavour, I coated vegetables like cauliflower, red pepper and onions with batter and fried them until golden brown. The resulting pakora were a hit and even got my 6 year old to eat his veggies without complaint!

To make the dressing go even further, I added some garlic chili sauce to the Spicy Hidden Valley Ranch dressing. This was the perfect dip to serve with the pakora.

This would be a great appetizer for holiday entertaining because it caters to not only those who are looking for gluten-free items but also the vegetarians in your life.


Hidden Valley Ranch products and other promotional consideration were received in exchange for providing the above recipe as part of a submission in a contest sponsored by Hidden Valley Ranch.

Vegetable Pakora

1 cup chick pea flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 cup Hidden Valley Ranch Spicy Dressing
1 cup water
vegetables (anything you prefer, like cauliflower, peppers, onions, potatoes…)

Mix all the ingredients together except for the vegetables. Once combined and the batter is nice and thick, coat the vegetables and fry until golden brown.

mexican pasta shells

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In the last few weeks, Q has decided that Tuesdays are for tacos. Since they are quick and easy and loved by us all, we are happy to indulge his desire for Taco Tuesdays. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to put a spin on things – Mexican Pasta Shells. Inspired by K, my former co-worker, large pasta shells are filled with seasoned taco meat, covered in salsa and cheese. The baked dish is then topped with everything you would put in a taco.

I wasn’t sure what Q’s response would be. He is sometimes finicky with pasta, usually choosing other things over it. This dish, however, was a hit! I’m always thrilled anytime he goes back for seconds of anything.

There’s not really a recipe for this per se. I use taco seasoning when browning my meat. I stuffed the cooked shells with meat and layed them in a dish on top of salsa. I put more salsa on top and then covered it with cheese. Bake in a 350 degree oven until the cheese is melted. In K’s recipe, the taco meat is mixed with cream cheese. Hubby is lactose intolerant though, so I held off on the cream cheese. His portion of shells were also not covered in cheese.

Once out of the oven, top with onions, tomatoes and avocado and serve with sour cream. An easy and filling dish that’s everyone’s favourite.

shrimp fried rice

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Hard to believe the little one is already six and a half weeks old! He’s now in that stage where he’s smiling and cooing and it’s just so fun!
When it comes to dinners, I’ve been pretty lucky! I had made a few dishes that I froze, lasagnas, bananas bread, even taco meat which came in handy for cinqo de mayo. 
Our moms have been awesome, sending food every week, stocking my fridge leaving me one less thing to worry about. 
Last week, I realized there were a few containers of steamed rice. There was only one thing to do – make fried rice!
Super easy to make, it transforms leftover steamed rice into a new meal that’s tasty and flavourful! With rice and shrimp, it became a favourite for Q.

Shrimp Fried Rice

Oil
1/2 pound shrimp
3 eggs, beaten
3 green onions, chopped
2 carrots, grated
1/2 cup frozen peas 
2 TB soy sauce 
1 tsp sesame oil
3 cups steamed rice
Salt
Pepper
In a hot wok, add a little bit of the oil and stir fry the shrimp until opaque. Remove from the heat. Add a little more oil and cook the egg, scrambling while it cooks. Remove and keep with the shrimp. Add a little more oil and stir fry the onions and carrots. Add the rice, peas, soy sauce and sesame oil. Season with salt and pepper.  Add the shrimp and eggs until combined and enjoy.

meatless monday: butternut squash curry

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After a weekend of chocolate bunnies and candy eggs, we definitely need to implement Meatless Monday. This is one of our new favourite things – butternut squash curry. Made with roasted squash, and tossed with some Indian flavours, it definitely hits the spot.

Once the squash is roasted, the curry comes together in minutes, making it the perfect dish to use up leftover squash.

Butternut Squash Curry

1 medium squash, cubed and roasted
oil
3 TB crushed tomatoes
2 tsp tomato paste
3 TB fried onions
1 tsp crushed ginger
1 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
coriander for garnish

Heat a pan and add a little bit of oil. Add the
tomatoes, onions and spices and cook for a few minutes.  Add the squash and water and
let simmer for 10 minutes.