Gnocchi mac & cheese

Girl, this was ahmazing.

Riesling Strawberry Slushies

You know who's a surprising source of delicious recipes and classy drinks? 

Hint: She didn't go to Paris but girlfriend's got great hair and a pinterest account that means business.

Lauren Conrad.  Yes!  Laguna Beach Lauren Conrad.  Pining away for Steven Colletti Lauren Conrad.  Kristin Cavallari frienemy Lauren Conrad.

Anyway, that's all in the past and now she's like a budding Gwyneth with her Goop-like website for a new generation.  Apparently this generation is old enough to drink. You better believe I've got it bookmarked.  So this recipe isn't technically from her website, but that's how I linked up to With Style & Grace which is where you'll find the how-to.


This drink is DELICIOUS and I would not recommend drinking them on a Thursday if you have to get up and go to work the next day.  That being said, proceed at your own risk.

99 problems but a fig ain’t one

It’s fig time! FINALLY.  Now this salad is my jam. It’s awesome.

Cut the tips off the figs and slice them in four without cutting through the bottom.  Stuff the inside with either goat or bocconcini cheese.  Wrap them up with prosciutto and roast them in the oven (or toaster oven ‘cause girrrl, it’s hot outside) until the cheese gets oozy and the prosciutto crispy.  Let them cool and serve over mixed greens or arugula.  Drizzle with olive oil and aged balsamic (the syrupy stuff), salt, pepper and maybe even peaches or nectarines if you are feeling crazy.

We also had some delicious pasta with Giada de Laurentiis artichoke mariana brought to you by a 2 hour drive to Target from Vancouver.  Word to the wise, if you tell the customs agent that you spent 4 hours driving to spend a total of $70 between two people, you will be interrogated.  So next time you go, feel free to boost your total by buying me a few jars of it, please.

Salad recipe courtesy of a random Glamour UK circa 2009. 

Dirtbag casserole dinner

Well, it's 4:59, I have running in two hours and I need to figure out what to make for dinner out of what I have leftover in the fridge and pantry.  It's dirtbag dinner casserole time!

So far I have assembled my ingredients and the onions are browning.  What the hell should go in next?

Well luckily in my well stocked but often forgotten freezer, I found some boneless skinless chicken thighs.  In they go!  There's also some leftover steak, that will probably need to go in there too otherwise the dog gets that, and he ain't that classy.

5:10 and I have the chicken cooking slowly in with the onions and a can of tomatoes.  Apparently I am out of garlic so that's not in there.  Not sure where to go next...

he looks unconvinced that this isn't going to be disgusting.  Have some faith!

Chef's block.  Like writer's block but more tomato-y

Shall I Mexicize (Mexicanize?) this with some leftover pico de gallo and cheddar cheese?  Or go Italian?  Let's let the dog decide!

The steak comes in handy!  Also the cheesy "I'd rather be drinking" post its from my mom.  Classic Mom.

Mexican it is!

5:23:  The dog decides, we're having a fiesta (or I am, he had steak).  So in I throw the leftover pico, some pickled jalapenos and the rest of the steak because, well, why the hell not.  To top it all off in goes half a box of whole wheat pasta and a cup or so of water.  It actually doesn't look too bad!

5:36:  The oven has preheated and with some low fat extra old cheddar on top, the dirtbag casserole is in the oven!  Let's see how this goes!  In the meantime I am going to take the dog out and put my feet up.  Running is in an hour and a half but there is a huge storm coming...I could use a hot meal afterwards to warm up.  Although let's be honest, if it's that gross out, the run can wait.  While that's in the oven, I think I will watch some dirtbag TV to go with my dirtbag dinner.  Toddlers and Tiaras!!!

6:02:  The storm has blown in and it's thundering like crazy.  The dog is curled up on my lap shaking like a leaf, it's adorable and a little pathetic.  Poor little guy!

7:30ish:  Casserole came out of the oven and it actually looks pretty good.  Tastes good too!  The dog especially enjoyed the gigantic piece of chicken that flipped off my fork and landed on the carpet.  I don't think it even bounced.  To be fair though, he's not the best critic - he eats shit so his opinion doesn't mean much.

Well, the storm has come and gone but I've eaten, so the run is going to have to wait until tomorrow.  It's documentaries and an end of the week beer for me instead.

Tender and Crisp Chicken Legs with Sweet Tomatoes

This is one of my favourite meals of all time, which was once cooked for Monsieur and I by some of our friends.  If you have eaten at my house, I have probably made it for you.

Need a meal to impress a new friend?  Make this chicken.  Having a potential suitor over for dinner? How about this chicken?  Parents or inlaws coming over? Hey, I heard this chicken's good. 

Why is it so delicious?  Because it’s a (dreamy sigh altogether now ladies and possibly gents) Jamie Oliver dish.   If you go to London the first thing you need to do after booking your plane tickets is to make yourself reservations at Fifteen.  The hotel can wait!  Or better yet, you can stay at the Hoxton and roll home.  Speaking from experience...

I bought some colourful tomatoes (because it has to look nice or I wouldn’t blog about it) I threw in some basil from my garden (which I’ll have you know is still very much alive thankyouverymuch) and I always throw in little white beans (navy or kidney).  Tonight was especially delicious since it was just the two of us for dinner and I got to have all the roasted garlic cloves to myself.  Great for me.  Not so much for Monsieur.

Also, check out these fancy waters.  Delicious.

Thai Mango Salad

Some of you may know that Alana have a very exclusive (and fancy pants) weekly supper club.  It's exclusive because we are the only people in it.  Cough.  But it can be fancy.

Like a few of our tens of readers (are we up to ten yet?) I enjoy both wasting time and finding new recipes on Pinterest.  Not the ones that will cause your heart to explode though. This one seemed like a winner.  As did the name of the website it cam from, Veggie Wedgie.

Granted, my presentation wasn't quite as nice as the picture on the site - but it really was very good. The combination of the mango, herbs and veggies was light and refreshing.  Perfect after a long day of work and skipping your Wednesday run.  Now, I didn't use agave (bees need to earn a living too) and I didn't (and still don't) know what tamarind juice was, so I just skipped that completely.  Here's the recipe - as taken from the website.

Ingredients for 2 servings

1 yellow Thai mango
1 zucchini
1 cucumber
150 gr snap peas
fresh coriander
fresh mint
2 tbsp tamarind juice
1 lime
1 tsp agave
salt

Slice mango, chop snow peas, coriander and mint. Using a spiralizer, make zucchini noodles and cucumber ribbons. To make the dressing, mix tamarind juice, lime juice, agave and salt. Toss together zucchini noodles, the snow peas and the fresh herbs and mix in the dressing. Top with cucumber and mango slices and serve.

Now, just pour yourself a glass of white wine, turn on some So You Think You Can Dance - followed by the Real Housewives of Vancouver - and you've got yourself a perfect summer evening.

Happy Weekend: Black Bean Quesadillas

Welcome to our (real) first food blog post!  Hopefully I will not shame my ancestors by failing to bring it.  It being deliciousness.


Friday nights are kind of my favourite - I am old enough both in body and mind to feel no guilt whatsoever in passing up a night of drinking for a quiet night at home with just my dog for company.  I tend to celebrate the end of the week with something tasty, and today I was extra-celebrating because I bought a new bike AND managed to get it home in the trunk of my Honda Civic without destroying anything at all.  Success!  Of course the dog is scared of the bike but you can't have everything, Alana - deal with it.


Anyway, it was after 8pm by the time I managed to get everything unpacked and got to work on my dinner.  Tonight I decided to make black bean quesadillas from my new favourite cookbook, Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi (seriously, it's amazing and you should go now and buy it).  


This was really a very quick and easy recipe, and super healthy as well.  Coming off of trips to St. Louis and culinary gluttony in Vancouver I am being extra vigilant with my diet and this meal fit the bill perfectly.


First step was to make the bean goo.  To make this happen, all I had to do was just toss a few ingredients into my trusty food processor and go to town - it came out really tasty but very cilantro-y - beware, cilantro haters (why you be hatin'?).

Yummy bean goo

Next I tossed together the ingredients for the salsa - nothing too out there but it was a respectable version, which is pretty good when you consider that the author of the cookbook is an Israeli/Londoner with a strong Mediterranean influence.  I liked the addition of the avocado, although I still prefer my salsa.  It has tequila in it, so I think you know why.

Everything's better with avocado.  Except maybe genocide.

Finally, you just tossed both finished products onto a tortilla with some grated cheddar and jalapenos and tossed that guy in the pan (or on the BBQ).  One flip later, and you're there.  I even went with full fat old cheddar because, hey! it's the weekend.  I'm crazy like that.

Ready to go on the grill, nom

Final product!  It took a lot less time to eat than make, but I think that's standard.

I give this recipe five sombreros out of five - quick, tasty, healthy and pretty.  Also, while chefing it up I had a Mill Street Lemon Tea beer, the greatest of summer beers, so that could have clouded my judgement a bit.  Overall though, definitely recommended and you need to buy that cookbook.  What?  You still haven't?  Stop reading this right now and go and do that.


Alana

Can you use the word chef as a verb?

I guess we'll find out!