Beet Cake!

Fall colours inspired my baking this week. I bought some beets, not sure what I was gonna make with them at first. Just thought it was the appropriate colour for the season and my kitchen pallet.

This was my first try at making a beet cake, and this is my experimental recipe, but I think it turned out well. The cake is super moist, and has a distinct earthy flavour, and not "beety" at all! other recipes recommended adding about 2 tbs of cocoa powder, which I thought it was just enough to cover the vegetable taste, yet not too overpowering, and your senses go wandering as soon as you take the first bite.

Ingredients:

1 cup beet puree *

1 tbs lemon juice

1 cup milk

1/2 cup canola oil

1-1/4 cups sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour

1-1/8 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tbs cocoa powder

* 1 cup beet puree is roughly equivalent to 2 medium beets cooked and pureed in a blender.

You'll also need two 9" round pan or equivalent bundt size

Direction:

- To cook beets: wash them well, then wrap them in a foil and bake them in the oven for 40 to 60 mins, or until they are soft when you pierce them with a fork. Use a blender to puree beets.

- Sift flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and coco powder together and set aside

- Mix 1 cup of the beet puree, lemon juice, milk in a blender and mix well

- In a mixing bowl (or blender) mix sugar, oil and beat for 2 mins on medium speed.

- Add eggs to the oil and sugar mixture, one egg at a time, and mix well after adding each egg.

- Add vanilla extract to the mixture

- Add about 1/3 of the beet mixture, and 1/3 of flour mix,  and fold into the batter with a spatula. Alternate adding flour and beet mix, until finished.

- Grease your baking pan with butter or spray with oil, then dust with some flour.

- Pour batter into the pan

- Bake on 350 F for 40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when piercing the cake.

Let cool for 10 min before flipping the cake.

It won't last too long on your kitchen counter!

Half is gone already...nom nom nom...

If you want to have a red velvety cake made with only beets, you need to add more acidity to your cake to keep beets from browning after cooking (vinegar, orange juice, more lemon, etc). I didn't add enough lemon juice to keep the redness after baking, but the taste was good regardless. Maybe my next try will be a red velvet beet cake!

Peanut butter & Apple chip cookies

Ingredients: 
1/2 cup peanut butter (chunky)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup apple chips (crumbled) 

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 350 F
- In a large bowl, mix well first 6 ingredients
- Add salt and baking powder to the flour
- Add flour to the mixture in steps
- Add apple chips that are crumbled.

- Drop 1 teaspoon full of the dough on to cooking sheet.




P.S. I used Martin's Apple chips, you can also use other brands of dehydrated apples.
If you have 2 trays of cookies, make sure to rotate them in the oven, at about 5-6 minutes to ensure even baking.


Enjoy!

Sweet Nachos

How I came across the best, healthiest, and most delicious snacks ever discovered is a simple "plane" story. We were flying home on Porter flights from Toronto Island airport, and they offered us some bags of chips as snacks. I was reluctant to pick the chips, thinking that it is probably the least nutritious option. That idea died as soon as I had the first few crunchy apple chips!

I can now think of so many recipes where I can use a tastier and healthier version of traditional potato chips, and this recipe is just the beginning.

Ingredients:

- 40 gr apple chips - I used Martin's Apple chips

- 1/4 cup white chocolate chips

- About 1/4 cup of each of your desired toppings: diced Granny Smith apples, diced strawberries, almonds, golden raisins




Directions:

- To melt the white chocolate chips, place them in the microwave for 10-12 seconds, until they are soft, but still hold their shapes. Then remove from the microwave and soften with a fork.

- Make a piping bag out of ziploc bag and fill with the white chocolate. This makes it easier to spread the chocolate all over your nachos.

- Simply layer your apple chips, pipe some chocolate and add your toppings. Repeat until you finish all ingredients.

You can add some "Dipping sauce" on the side. I used Vanilla favoured Greek Yogurt. You can also use whipped cream, honey, or more melted chocolate. Have fun making your own Sweet Nachos!

This recipe is fun, and super easy, and great for parties, and I bet your guests will love to see and taste Nachos at a whole new level!

Koko Sabzi: Persian herb fritatta

Koko Sabzi is traditional Persian dish, served as appetizer or side dish. You could certainly enjoy this as your main dish, which is what we when I made this for dinner.

The traditional recipe is only made with eggs and herbs. I thought some colour and crunch would make this more fun and suitable as the main dish.







Ingredients:
2  cups chopped herbs- dill, cilantro, parsley, green onion (use only the green part)
1/2 cup feta cheese
3 Large eggs
1/4 cup pine nuts (toasted is even better!)
1/4 cups dried barberries ( or dried chopped cranberries)
2 tbs olive oil
salt and paper  as needed (I didn't use any salt because the feta is already salty)

Directions:
- Mix all ingredients together in a bowl

- Add 1 to 2 tbs vegetable oil to heated pan
- Pour the mixture into the pan
- Cook on medium low for about 4 minutes, until it is firm enough to flip
- Flip to cook the other side for 3 to 4 minutes


















Enjoy!

Breakfast Quiche:

I love quiche! I also love making this quiche recipe because it is so easy and can be done with ingredients that everyone usually have in their pantry and fridge.

The filling is easy to change up if you like to add your own touch. Remove bacon for Halal or vegetarian option. Add other vegetables to the mix. Try it with goat cheese instead of feta. options are limitless!

Hope you enjoy making and eating it as much as I did! :)



Ingredients:

Crust:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cold water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt

Filling:
5 large eggs
1/4 cup bacon (cooked/chopped)
1/4 cup green onion
1/4 cup Feta cheese
1/2-1/4 cup cheese mix
1/2 cup spinach (chopped)


Direction:

Crust:
1. Mix salt and flour
2. Mix water and oil
3. Add dry ingredients gradually to the wet ingredients mix form a dough
4. Knead the dough by hand or use a kitchen machine to get a uniform dough
3. Roll out the dough to fit your pan. I used an 8" pan, and left 1" extra for edges.

Filling:
1. Mix all the filling ingredients into a bowl
2. Pour the filling into the crust
3. Bake on 400 F for 20 minutes, until edges of the crust is golden brown

Enjoy! :)

Lentil Rice: A traditional Persian dish

Video Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmEMCuxkP20

Servings: 4

Lentil rice (or Adas Polow) is a traditional Iranian dish, that can be cooked with mixed ground meat, meat on the side, or as a vegetarian dish. I made my rice with some ground chicken, and also served it with some mini-meat balls on the top. For vegetarian/vegan option, simply skip the meat step and it will be as tasty!

It is common to use these as extra toppings to the rice before serving for extra sweet and nutty flavors: lightly fried golden raisins and/or pitted dates, toasted walnuts, and caramelized onions.

Ingredients:

2 cups rice (measured dry): soaked in water for few hours or overnight
1 1/2 cups lentils (measured dry): soaked in water for few hours or overnight
1/2 lb of ground meat (beef, chicken, turkey, etc.)
1 medium onion: diced
spices: turmeric, back pepper, nut meg, cumin, saffron, salt

Toppings (optional):
Fried raisins, toasted walnuts, mini-meat balls.


Prep Work:

Soak lentils in water for 4-5 hours or overnight. change the water few times. This is to speed up cooking and eliminate gas problems!

Soak rice in water for few hours to enhance the flavor, and speed up the cooking time. I add some salt to the water as well.

Begin cooking: 

1. Drain the water after soaking. In a medium pot, add lentils and top off with water. There should be about an inch water above lentils. On a medium-high heat, let the mix simmer for about 20 minutes, or until lentils are softened, but still keep their shape. Drain lentils and set aside.

2. Bring about 4 cups of water to boil. Add the soaked rice to the boiling water (you can drain the rice before adding it to the boiling water, but not critical). Simmer on medium-high without a lid on. Foam should be forming on top of the boiling rice. Test few gains of rice to see if it is soft on the out side and firm on the center. Drain the rice when it's ready.

3. Optional Step for adding meat: In a pan add 2 tbs of vegetable oil, and diced onions. Fry onions until they become translucent. Then add ground meat (beef, chicken, lamb, turkey). Use a wooded or heat-proof spatula to break the meat into even sized pieces as it cooks.  Add spices to the mixture. I added 1 tsp of ground cumin, 1 tsp of turmeric, and a pinch of nutmeg and black pepper. Also add salt to your taste. The spices depends on your taste. Set aside when the meat is well browned and cooked.

4.. add some oil to the bottom of the pot. Layer rice, lentil, and meat(optional) in the pot. sprinkle some oil in between layers for taste.

Cook on medium for 10 minutes, then reduce to medium-low and cook for another 20 minutes, until steam is formed in the pot.

5. Add some saffron to the rice 2 minutes prior to serving it and mix well. This is for extra aroma and color. You can steep the saffron it in a little bit of hot water. Grind a pinch of saffron. Then add about 2 tbs of hot water and set aside for few minutes, and up to 24 hours in the fridge.

Toppings:

I like to top off my lentil rice with some fried raisins and chopped toasted walnuts. For raisins add a table spoon of vegetable oil to the pan on medium heat, then add about 1/2 cup of golden raisins to the pan and lightly fry for 5 minutes, until they become firm and glow. Roast the walnuts in pan without any oil for 5 mins.

I also added mini meat balls for decoration and some extra meat.

Enjoy! :)