Nutella Banana Smoothie

Yesterday was such a beautiful and sunny day here in Southern British Columbia! We have been so blessed to have such a beautiful July and I hope this amazing weather continues through August as well! When the weather is this warm, we usually wait until later in the evening to walk the dog so he doesn't get overheated (and maybe so we don't get overheated too!!). After we went for our dog walk, I was craving something cold and creamy... something that was refreshing but could also substitute as dessert. After a quick check of what I had on hand, I came up with the idea for a Nutella Banana Smoothie! It is mostly dairy-free except for the small amount of dairy in the Nutella. You could substitute one of the dairy free nut butters or spreads for a truly dairy free beverage though (note I haven't tested this option though, so I'm not sure how it will taste).

Nutella Banana Smoothie
Recipe by A Tale of One Foodies Culinary Adventures

Ingredients:

• 1 banana
• 2 tbsp. Nutella
• 6-8 ice cubes (add more if your smoothie isn't thick enough)
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup almond milk (or more if your smoothie is too thick)

Method:

1. Combine banana, Nutella, coconut milk and almond milk in blender. Blend until smooth. Add ice cubes to blender a few cubes at a time blending until smoothie reaches desired thickness. Top with dairy free whipped topping if desired & enjoy!

I love how quickly this smoothie came together and it literally tasted like a decadent milkshake! I can tell this is going to become a regular beverage in our house. What is your favorite kind of smoothie to make? Feel free to share your favorite recipe or flavour in the comments below!

Cheers!

Lentil & Chickpea Curry

 

Happy Monday friends! I hope you had a fantastic weekend. I sure did! It was filled with yoga, spa time, and relaxation in the sun with a great book. And lets not forget some awesome time spent with some really good friends. All in all such a great weekend.

 

Today I've got such a great recipe to share with you! It makes a huge batch (for super cheap) but its so good you won't mind eating it all week like I did last week. The leftovers are almost better than the night you make it.

 



I found the recipe for Lentil & Chickpea Curry on this great blog called Sweet Sugar Bean written by a sweet gal from Saskatchewan. Since Saskatchewan is one of the world's largest producers of lentils, I figured Renee must know a thing or two about how to prepare them in a delicious, healthful way. I made a couple modifications to the original recipe, but by and large I stayed pretty true to the original.

 Lentil & Chickpea Curry
Minimally adapted from Sweet Sugar Bean

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp. fresh ginger, grated
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 3 tbsp. medium indian curry paste
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 540ml can diced tomatoes
• 1 540ml can coconut milk
• 1 cup red lentils, rinsed thoroughly and picked through
• 1 540ml can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 3 tbsp. honey
• 2 cups cauliflower florets
• 1 cup frozen peas
• vegetable stock
• handful of cilantro, chopped
• plain yogurt
• hot sauce

(Seems like a long ingredient list right? I know, I know... but the great thing about this recipe is a) you likely have more than half of this on hand already and b) the above listed ingredients are super cheap to buy and this recipe makes about a billion servings...)

Method:

1. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook til soft, about 5-8 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and stir til fragrant. Add the curry paste, carrots, spices and salt. Stir well and cook for a couple of minutes.
2. Stir in tomatoes, coconut milk, lentils, chickpeas and honey. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low to maintain an active simmer. Stir every ten minutes or so until lentils are cooked through (this takes approximately 40 minutes).
3. Once lentils are cooked, stir in cauliflower and peas. Cook til cauliflower is tender. If curry is too thick, add some veggie stock or water to thin it out. Stir in cilantro and adjust seasonings if necessary.
4. Serve topped with a dallop of yogurt and a few drops of hot sauce if you like it spicy. Some home made naan takes this meal over the top.

 

Happy Cooking my Friends! Hope you enjoy this one.

Coconut & Blueberry Mini Tarts {Dairy & Egg Free}

Lately a lot of my lovely readers (thats you!!) have been asking me if I'll share some healthier recipes with you - some have asked for gluten free, some asked for dairy free, and some asked for low fat. Well, I've been trying to find some recipes that incorporate those diet restrictions but still taste good. I have tried a few recipes that haven't made the cut to be shared here, but this one definitely made the cut - Coconut & Blueberry Mini Tarts! I found the recipe in Anna Olson's new cookbook - Back to Baking. I made one or two very slight changes and arrived at these little beauties. They are delish with or without the blueberries and you could substitute other berries if you wanted to (raspberries would be amazing!!).

And while my tarts don't look perfect, they were a breeze to throw together and tasted quite delicious too. I didn't particularly care for the texture of the custard  - so I've changed the recipe to use about half the original amount of cornstarch to thicken. So if you find your custard isn't thick enough for your liking, just double the amount of cornstarch. :)

Coconut & Blueberry Mini Tarts
Minimally adapted from Anna Olson's Back to Baking

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp dark brown sugar
• 3 tbsp honey (or agave would work well too)
• pinch ground cinnamon
• pinch salt
• 1 tin coconut milk
• 1 vanilla bean and 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/8 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and spray a 24 cup mini muffin with non-stick cooking spray.
2. For the crust, stir together the whole wheat flour, vegetable oil, brown sugar, honey, cinnamon and salt until mixture has a wet and crumbly texture (like wet sand). Press crust mixture into bottom and sides of muffin cups. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, then cool to room temperature.
3. To make the custard, pour the coconut milk into a saucepan. Scrape in the seeds of the vanilla bean and stir in the vanilla extract. In a bowl, stir together the sugar and the cornstarch. Whisk into the coconut milk, then turn the heat to medium and whisk until the mixture comes to a simmer and thickens, about 6 minutes. Scrape the custard into a bowl, cover the surface of custard with plastic wrap and allow to cool to room temperature.
4. Once cooled, pipe the coconut filling into the mini tart shells and top each with 3 blueberries. Chill at least two hours in the tin before popping them out to serve.
5. Tarts will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. Note: You could also make the filling up to a day ahead of time and chill until you fill your tarts. If you use this make ahead option, be sure to puree the custard in a food processor or with an immersion blender prior to piping into the tarts to ensure it has that perfect, silky smooth texture it had prior to chilling.

Pretty easy right? With minimal ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry! Isn't that the best kind of dessert? Hope you enjoy!

This post has been linked up with Mouthwatering Mondays over at the Sweet Spot. Head on over to check out what kind of deliciousness is going on in the blogosphere this week.
Happy Baking my Friends!

Sweet Potato Soup with Coconut Milk & Ginger

I am pretty much positive that Anna Olson is queen of delicious soup! Every soup recipe of hers that I've tried has turned out soooo great. And her recipes are pretty straight forward and use basic, easy to find ingredients. I made this soup forever ago and am finally getting around to posting about it (pretty much the story of my life!).

Sweet Potato Soup with Coconut Milk & Ginger
Recipe from Anna Olson's cookbook Fresh

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp butter


• 1 1/2 cups diced onion


• 6 cups peeled and diced sweet potato


• 3-4 cups chicken stock


• 1 - 398 ml can coconut milk


• 2 tbsp grated fresh ginger


• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice


• salt and pepper to taste


• dash cayenne pepper or hot sauce


• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves (optional)


• 1/2 cup yogurt or sour cream (optional)

Method:

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepot over medium heat and cook the onion for 3-4 minutes to soften, but not brown. Add the sweet potato, 3 cups of the stock, the coconut milk, and the ginger. Simmer for 25 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are tender. Puree the soup with a handheld blender until smooth, adding the remaining stock if too thick, then stir in the lime juice, and strain through a sieve to make it more smooth. Return to the heat and season to taste, including the cayenne or hot sauce, if using.


2. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with cilantro leaves and a swirl of yogurt.

And thats it! Nice and simple so you can make dinner in a snap and then go back to enjoying your long weekend!! I absolutely loved this soup and I hope you do too. Hope you've got lots of exciting (or relaxing) things planned for the weekend. I have a few culinary tasks to accomplish this weekend and hopefully some relaxation time too. :) :)

Happy Cooking my Friends!

The Daring Bakers' Challenge - December 2010 - Christmas Stollen!

Okay, Okay, I have been a very bad blogger. :( I didn't finish my 12 days of Christmas series and I have barely posted during the month of December. Thank you to all of you who still faithfully visit my blog when I do update it! My New Years' resolution is to be a better blogger - more consistent and lots of different types of recipes!

Now, on to the December Daring Bakers' challenge! The 2010 December Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie's Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make Stollen. She adapted a friend's family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart's book.... and Martha Stewart's demonstration.

My stollen was not very traditional (at all!!). I was inspired to make a tropical stollen because my sister was going to Maui for Christmas, so I thought something tropical was in order. Yes, tropical stollen sounds a little, odd, but it was delicious. I made candied lime peel following the instructions here. And used the recipe Audax recommended for home-made marzipan. I made a macadamia marzipan using ground macadamia nuts and Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum (a couple of tsp). I only needed 1/2 of the marzipan recipe for the stollen. The stollen was wonderfully moist and flavourful. Please see below for the recipe I adapted.



Tropical Christmas Stollen

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup (60ml) lukewarm water (110º F / 43º C)
• 2 packages (4 1/2 teaspoons) (22 ml) (14 grams) (1/2 oz) active dry yeast
• 1 cup (240 ml) coconut milk
• 10 tablespoons (150 ml) (140 grams) unsalted butter (can use salted butter)
• 5½ cups (1320 ml) (27 ozs) (770 grams) all-purpose (plain) flour (Measure flour first - then sift- plus extra for dusting)
• ½ cup (120 ml) (115 gms) sugar
• ¾ teaspoon (3 ¾ ml) (4 ½ grams) salt (if using salted butter there is no need to alter this salt measurement)
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 grams) ground cardamom
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• Grated zest of 2 limes
• 2 teaspoons (10 ml) (very good) vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) coconut extract
• ¾ cup (180 ml) (4 ¾ ozs) (135 grams) candied lime peel
• 1 cup (240 ml) (6 ozs) (170 gms) firmly packed mixed, dried tropical fruit (I used pineapple, cantaloupe, crystallized ginger, and papaya)
• 3 tablespoons (45ml) Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum
• 1 cup (240 ml) (3 ½ ozs) (100 grams) chopped macadamia nuts
• unsalted butter for coating the wreath
• Confectioners’ (icing) (powdered) sugar for dusting wreath
• 1/2 batch macadamia nut marzipan candy

Method:

1. In a small bowl, soak the dried fruit in the spiced rum. Set aside.
2. Pour 1/4 cup of water into small bowl. Sprinkle with yeast and let stand 5 minutes. Stir to dissolve yeast completely. In small saucepan, combine 1 cup coconut milk and 10 tbsp butter over medium heat until butter is melted. Remove from heat and let cool until lukewarm (about 5 minutes).
3. Lightly beat eggs in separate bowl. Add vanilla and coconut extract. In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, salt, cardamom, and lime zest. Then stir in the yeast/ water mixture, the coconut milk/ butter mixture. This should take about 2 minutes. The mixture should be soft but not sticky. When the dough comes together, cover the bowl with a tea towel and let rest for 10 minutes.
4. Add the lime peel, mixed fruit, and macadamia nuts. Mix until incorporated.
5. Turn dough out onto floured work surface. Knead dough, adding extra flour as necessary. Knead for approximately 8 minutes. When some dried fruit starts to fall out of the dough while it is being kneaded, you will know it has been kneaded enough. The dough will not be sticky enough to hold the outer dried fruit inside.
6. Lightly oil a large bowl and place dough in bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Place in fridge overnight.
   

Making & Shaping the Dough

1. Let the dough rest for 2 hours at room temperature after removing from the fridge. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Punch dough down, and roll into a rectangle about 16x24 inches, 1/4 inch thick. Roll your marzipan into 4 logs that cover the length of the rectangle (see above picture). And place logs evenly on the dough.
2. Starting with a long side, roll up tightly, forming a long, thin cylinder. Transfer cylinder to sheet pan and join ends together, trying to overlap the layers to make the seam stronger. Pinch the seam to make it stick and form a large circle. You can form it around a bowl to keep the shape.
3. Using kitchen shears, make cuts at 2 inch intervals around the circle, cutting 2/3 of the way through the dough. Twist each segment outward forming a wreath shape. Mist dough with spray oil and cover with a tea towel. Proof for approximately 2 hours at room temperature until dough has increased to about 1 1/2 times its original size.
4. Preheat oven to 350F. Bake stollen in preheated over for 20 minutes, then rotate the pan 180 degrees and bake another 20 -30 minutes or until a thermometer registers 190F when placed into middle of bread.
5. Transfer to cooling rack then brush with melted butter while it is still warm. Immediately tap a layer of powdered sugar onto bread. Wait one minute then tap another layer of sugar onto the first. Repeat layers of sugar until the butter no longer soaks through the sugar. Let cool at least one hour before serving.

This was a really great challenge and it made a whole lot of stollen! I think if I made it again I would make it into 4 smaller wreaths. The size would be far more manageable and would also make a great gift to give. Thank you Penny for encouraging us all to try something new and for providing us with such a delicious recipe. It was a lot of fun to try it and the taste and texture were very rewarding.

Happy Baking my Friends!