Beat Boredom with Online Inspiration

I'm determined that my addiction to the Internet will make my life better, not merely waste all of my spare time. I'm always on the lookout for articles, websites, apps that will help me cook better meals for my family, and this Recipes for Health mini-site fit the bill.

Here you'll find a collection of healthy recipes which are beautifully photographed. You can search for recipes in a variety of ways but my favourite is to click on the photo of the food you're planning to cook. Scroll down to the left-hand side of the page to choose by ingredient or theme (e.g. burger alternatives, Lunchbox fixes).

Simply smart, healthy and delicious.

Dish of the Day: One Dish Dinner

Sadly, those of us in Vancouver have suffered recently with some very poor weather. It has been rainy and cold for weeks. It's almost June, but there's been only 3 days of sunny and warm weather (above 19 C). Yes, yes, I know it's been hot out East. Please, please send it our way!

For those of us whose stomachs are linked to the weather, it's not been all about the salads lately, rather the focus is still on warm food. Here's something I threw together the other night which was both quick and nutritious.

One Dish Mac n Cheese

- Boil macaroni in salted water. When five minutes remain in the cooking, add vegetables of your choice (e.g. kale, green peas, green beans, broccoli florets, etc) to the boiling water.

- Drain the dish into a colander

- Add the protein of your choice to the colander (e.g. tofu, cut up wiener, chopped boiled eggs, cubed ham, chopped chicken)

- Into the saucepan from which you drained the pasta, add in a tablespoon of butter and 1/4 cup of whole milk and heat over low heat. Stir in grated or shredded cheese and whisk to combine so it thickens and becomes a cheese sauce.

- Add the drained pasta, vegetables and protein and warm and serve.

Dish of the Day: Quesadillas

Spring is most definitely here in Vancouver and today actually felt quite summery. The Farmers' Market at Trout Lake was the first to open this weekend; a couple more weeks and the outdoor pools will be open too.

We hit the jackpot at the market this morning. Not only were there herbs aplenty for adding to my newly-planted garden, but a few vendors had brought some fresh produce. We made a melt-in-the-mouth Greek salad for dinner with the juiciest peppers, baby cukes and tomatoes I've tasted in a long time. I had leftover roast chicken and wraps, and a ton of cheese, which meant that quesadillas were inevitable. I try to keep them dry on the inside - adding salsa can make them too wet - and I load them up with toppings on my plate. Here's a quick "recipe":

1. Chop your protein (tofu, chicken, whitefish) into small thin strips. Place these on one half of the wrap.

2. Thinly slice some tomatoes and lay on top of the protein.

3. Sprinkle on chopped green onions, chives or whichever fresh herbs you have.

4. Over top of this all, sprinkle your favourite shredded cheese.

5. Fold the bare half over and place into a non-stick skillet (no oil required).

6. Cover with a lid and leave fro 2-3 minutes on medium heat.

7. Using a large spatula, flip the wrap over in the pan to heat the other side. Replace cover.

8. When you're sure that the cheese has melted and both sides of the wrap are warmed and slightly browned, remove from heat and cut in half (as shown on plate).

9. Serve with guacamole/chopped avocado, sour cream, salsa.

Dinner Planner for Week of April 5th

Here's the plan for this week. Feelin' lazy!

MONDAY - Veggie pizza again, leftover homemade celeriac soup and sauteed chard with olive oil and garlic. [lunch: leftover turkey sandwiches and veggies and dip]

TUESDAY - Broccoli tuna quiche, a one-dish wonder! [lunch: leftover chard with lentil soup]

WEDNESDAY - Pan-fried sole with brown rice and green beans [lunch: last night's quiche and squash and yam soup]

THURSDAY - Big salad: organic greens, hard-boiled eggs, artichoke hearts, green beans, chick peas, green onions and bell peppers and hummus and pita [lunch: whatever the cafeteria's serving with brown rice on the side]

FRIDAY - Roast chicken with green salad and garlic bread [lunch: egg salad, hummus and cut-up veggies]

Dish of the Day: Green Soup

The other day it was cold, and the fridge was full of green veggies just begging to be eaten. I decided to make some Green Soup. I am a lazy cook, and this is fast one-pot wonder. I forgot to add in little pasta stars to make the soup more fun for the kids, but they loved it anyway.

What follows is not a recipe, just a quick easy way to turn veggies into a delicious soup in 30 minutes. You can use any leafy greens,

Green Soup

This is best with 3 or more different vegetables, to provide a richer flavour. I used:

- 1 bunch of kale, or chard

- 2 large leeks (just the white stalks, chopped into rounds)

- 1 russet potato peeled and cubed

- 1 sweet potato, cubed, peel on

- 1/2 head of garlic, cloves peeled

- 1/2 cup leftover asparagus

- 1 veggie bouillon cube

- 2 tsp Better than bouillon chicken

- 2 Tbsp olive oil

- 1/2 cup milk

- Wash the kale and leeks well. Take the large bony stem out of the middle of the kale and rip the leaves into pieces. Chop potatoes and cover with the wet kale.

- Put your olive oil in the bottom of a large stockpot and bring to medium heat. Throw in your garlic, then add your chopped leeks. Stir once a minute, and keep on the heat for about 5 minutes.

- Throw your leafy greens and potatoes into the pot. Add in your dry (veggie) boullion cube now too.

- Add enough water so that vegetables are floating a bit. For a stockpot filled with vegetables, add about 3 cups of water. If it's 2/3 full, try adding 2 cups of water. You don't want to throw any water away, as there will be lots of nutrients in this water once the veggies have boiled in it.

- Bring pot to a boil and let simmer (a gentle boil) for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Remove from heat and let cool slightly - especially if you will mix in a blender

- use a hand mixer or a blender to puree the soup completely. You'll now add in the wet bouillon, any fresh herbs and just enough milk to bring a creaminess to the soup. This is now the time to add in any previously-cooked veggies to the soup.

- Place pot back on the stove and bring to a boil and then immediately shut off. Serve hot.

- If your soup is quite wet, and so you cannot add milk you could either boil the soup for another 15 minutes with the lid off to get rid of some of the water; then add your milk. Or, serve with a dollop of sour cream, which when stirred in will make the soup very creamy.

Dish of the Day: Nachos

For the Golden Globes, we wanted to eat in front of the TV and have an easy meal. Nachos were a perfect solution, and a nice cool weather meal.

Recipe for Oven Nachos
- half a package of nachos (try Que Pasa made with good oils and low in sodium)
- no more than 1 cup of shredded cheese
- 2 small bell peppers diced
- handful of cherry or grape tomatoes chopped
- handful of chopped green onions
- 1/2 package Yves Veggie Ground Round (Mexican or Original) or 1 cup cooked ground beef or turkey

Oven to 350. Spread all ingredients on a baking sheet and place in oven for about 10 minutes or until cheese melts.
Serve with chopped avocado, salsa, sour cream and fresh chopped cilantro or parsley. Eat while it's warm. The above amounts serves 3.

Dish of the Day: Super Fast Lentil Soup

Coming home the other day I realised we had practically no food in the house. None except frozen pizza, ugh! So I grabbed a couple of things from the little corner store and made this soup to accompany our spinach and cheese pizza.

Hearty Lentil Soup Recipe - Makes 2 bowls

Ingredients:

- 1 can lentils

- handful of grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in half

- 2 green onions

- 1/2 bouillon cube

- handful of leafy green vegetables - such as bok choy leaves, spinach, kale, or chard leaves - shredded into slivers

- oregano, lemon juice, ground pepper

Into a soup pot on medium heat, throw the chopped white stalks of 2 green onions, and halved tomatoes in with 1 tsp olive oil. Saute for 3 minutes, then add 1/4 tsp oregano flakes. Add in 1 tsp lemon juice and stir for 1 minute.

Open a small can of cooked lentils (8 oz) and rinse fully. Add lentils to pot along with 1/2 a can-ful of water. Add your greens and 1/2 bouillon cube (chicken or veggie) and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure that the greens get cooked. Remove from heat, add in another tsp of lemon juice, 1 Tbsp chopped green tops of onion and ground pepper to taste. Voila - fresh soup!

Dish of the Day: Brussels n' Bacon

At our house we do love Brussels sprouts but not in the conventional way. We shred them or roast them until they carmelise. Tonight I decided to do something different. I added bacon. Here's how to try this at home

Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Bacon:

- For two, chop about 12 medium-sized heads into strips (after removing the stem) and dice 1 piece of raw bacon.

- In a large frying pan, heat up 1 tsp of olive oil on medium low heat, and then place the sprouts and the bacon into the pan.

- Cover with a lid and wait for about 5 minutes before using a large spatula to turn everything in the pan over.

- Leave the cover on for the first 15 minutes of cooking, and turn every few minutes to prevent burning and evenly cook the contents of the pan. Leave the cover off after that so you can keep a close eye on the leaves so they don't burn.

- It will take about 25 minutes for the Brussels to fully cook, at which point they will be tender and you can pierce them easily with a fork. If you turn up the heat it will take less time but the leaves may brown too quickly, or burn.

- Remove from heat and add a sprinkling of salt and pepper to taste.

This is a great way to eat a very nutritious member of the cruciferous family. While most people think of Brussels sprouts as soggy vegetables with a strange texture, this recipe turns them into a savoury dish with a nutty, not mention, bacon-y, flavour.

Dish of the Day: Stuffed chicken and potatoes

Lazy dinner,
originally uploaded by me.

Today's post is about making the process of cooking dinner easier and more efficient. This photo at left shows how I saved time preparing dinner tonight. I crammed 3 different things on the baking sheet, some for tonight and some for tomorrow's lunch.

The chicken breasts were sliced in half and stuffed with herbed feta cheese, and I rubbed the breasts in oil and rolled them in a mixture of corn bread crumbs and herbs. I chopped the potatoes and drizzled some olive oil on them and then topped them with chopped rosemary, salt and pepper. The potato on the right will be peeled and mashed tomorrow and added to leftover baked herbed salmon to make salmon patties for our lunch.

The point is, I used only one tray and the food was ready all at the same time, but for the whole potato which I left in the oven after I turned it off. The baking tray won't even need to be washed thanks to the aluminum foil, a baking aid which I try not to use too often.

On the side, we served up leftover boiled broccoli florets for our greens. All in all, a pretty easy meal!

Hallowe'en Party

11/02/2009,
originally uploaded by follepourchocolat.

We had a Hallowe'en party this past weekend and I made gingerbread pumpkin cookies, vegetable macaroni and cheese and a veggie tray with dip. I was planning on sharing the recipe, but the truth is, I didn't keep track of what I did.

Baked Mac n' Cheese with Veggie Sauce

- Cook some whole grain macaroni according to package directions; drain in colander

- At same time, place a mixture of vegetables in a pot and just cover them with water. Bring to a boil. I used leek, broccoli stems, carrots, and some cauliflower.

- Boil until tender, about 15 minutes; let cool

- Puree vegetable mixture in your blender, reserving a bit of the water and add milk. It should be quite thick, not watery. Add vegetable water if it's too thick (i.e. you cannot pour it)

- Place macaroni back into pot you used to boil it

- Pour the vegetable puree over the macaroni and mix it in with a spoon. Add 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, or less.

- Put pasta into a buttered glass baking pan; sprinkle with 1 cup (or less) of shredded cheese of your preference

- Cover with foil and place into an oven at 400F

- Bake for 20 minutes, then remove foil. Bake until cheese topping bubbles.

- Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

The kids loved this dish and so did the adults, with everyone being quite surprised when they learned it was chock full of veggies. Yummy, good cold weather food. Oh! and the pumpkin cookies were a hit too....

Dish of the Day: Spinach Artichoke Dip

In Vancouver, there are several restuarants that offer spinach and artichoke heart dip as an appetiser. They serve it with those fried nacho chips and I think they refry them before bringing the dish to the table because they always seem extra greasy.

One of these restaurants published their recipe years ago and I haven't ordered this dish ever since. Turns out that mayonnaise and butter are the main ingredients, as well as a lot of shredded cheese. Yummy....but a bit hard on the digestion, and who needs that much fat at one sitting?

I've asked my old friend ricotta cheese to stand in as the main ingredient in this delicious, cold weather appetiser. Ricotta is a relatively low fat cheese and it's still very light, high in protein and incredibly versatile. You can buy ricotta in low fat versions if you like, but I'm not keen on overly processed dairy foods.

Recipe for Spinach Artichoke Dip

- Take one block of frozen chopped spinach and prepare according to package instructions (usually, you boil it in a small amount of salted water for a few minutes)

- Dump the cooked spinach into a sieve, or colander and squeeze out all the water, or your dish will be watery

- Take 2 small jars of artichoke hearts (1 used one large can 398 ml) and also put them into the colander to remove all the water, or oil in which they were sitting

- Chop up artichoke hearts into smaller pieces if desired, and remove any woody pieces

- Generously butter a small oven-ready dish (I used an 8 x 8 square pan); go all the way up sides and edges

- Dump into your baking dish the contents of a 500 ml tub of ricotta cheese

- Now add the spinach and artichokes and mix well with a fork

- Stir in 2 Tbsp mayonnaise or sour cream and 1 Tbsp olive oil to make for a creamier consistency

- Add in a few shakes of salt and pepper and a pinch of cayenne pepper if you like a bit of spice

- Finally, add in 1/2 cup of shredded cheese (white cheddar, edam or gouda)

- Cover dish with aluminum foil and place in over at 375 for 20 minutes

- Remove the foil, crank oven up to 425 and cook for 5 more minutes

- Then turn oven to broil and watch your dish until cheese starts to brown

- Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before serving. If you're eating with people who are related to you, or very good friends, eat right from the dish with tortilla chips, preferably a baked or multigrain kind. I served this with open-faced salmon sandwiches.

This dish can be reheated and really should serve 4 people at least 2 times. This is why you've buttered all edges of the pan to prevent ingredients from burning and sticking.

Dish of the Day: Chicken n Rice in the Oven

Tonight I was again bored and feeling uncreative. I had some chicken and that was about it. It was time to search the fridge for leftovers and see how a meal for 4 could be constructed. What I came up with was a saucy baked chicken recipe with rice and leafy greens. Here's how it came together:

- I grabbed some kale from the garden, washed and shredded it and placed in an oven-ready dish with some leftover brown rice.
- I mixed the two together so they were evenly distributed throughout the dish.
- I then took last night's delicious Moroccan Soup, and mixed it with about a cup of chicken broth.
- Meanwhile I was searing the chicken breast and then chopped it up and placed it on the rice mixture.
- Next I poured the soup/broth sauce over everything and ensured that all the kale and chicken was covered in sauce.
- This was placed in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes with aluminum foil on top to keep the heat in.
- I removed the foil, put some shredded cheese on top of the now bubbling dish, turned off the oven and left the dish in for 5 more minutes.
- The dish stood for 5 more minutes on a cooling rack and then we tucked in.

In the photo above, you can see we had a salad on the side. Not a bad meal for being unplanned and using up leftovers.

Dish of the Day: My Green Soup Rocks the House

Okay, so that's a small exaggeration. But the kale that made it green IS such an amazing vegetable and I want to shout it from the rooftops. It's easy to cook with, delicious and nutritious. And you can do it too.

Yesterday I made us all green soup. We were travelling in the US a few days ago and we really needed a burst of fresh vegetables, to combat all that rich, takeout food. I took a pile of leftover vegetables from the fridge, chopped them up, threw them in a pot and covered them with water. Boiled for 10 minutes then cooled them, blended them and reheated and served. Delish!

Here's the recipe, of sorts:

- chop up garlic and onions and add to pot

- chop your vegetables into dice-sized pieces (I used zucchini, kale, carrots, potatoes)

- just cover with water (you want a 1:1 ratio of water to vegetables)

- boil for 10 minutes maximum

- remove from stove and add 1 or 2 vegetable bouillon cubes

- let cool for 10 - 15 minutes

- puree in blender until mixture is completely blended

--> if you use a leafy green your soup will be a vibrant green!

- put pot back on the stove and reheat

- add in 1 or 2 Tbsp of virgin olive oil

- if soup is too watery, simmer for 10 minutes to evaporate extra water

- if soup is too thick, add water or milk or yogurt to make it more creamy

- serve with fresh ground pepper or herbs from the garden

Make yourselves some green soup today and get healthy. I think you'll find this is a quick and easy way to get your vitamins and minerals.

Eat Your Peas, like Mom and Dad

Frank Bruni, the New York Times restaurant critic who recently came out of the closet about being a child bulimic writes a good article in today's paper about children modelling their parents' eating habits.

There are so many studies being done now to try and determine how today's kids are ending up with so many eating disorders. This article suggests that the best predictors for your child having a healthy relationship to food are:

- regularly having family dinners (we see the importance of this lauded everywhere from nutrition papers to child-rearing tomes),

- going grocery-shopping and cooking with your kids, and

- being good role models by exercising and eating well yourselves

It's not rocket science. A little bit of "monkey see, monkey do", and a dash of common sense. My little monkeys have had a fun summer - which definitely included ice cream - but we've always made time for being active, and eating our peas.

Getting Greens Back on your Dinner Menu

A friend sent me an interesting link to a story about Washington State chef Sabrina Tinsley who "sneaks vegetables" into her picky daughter's meals. It's not so sneaky; she does get her son and daughter involved in the process of making a vegetable soup with pasta stars. They help shell peas for example which we know is fun and piques kids' interest. But the key step is she purees the soup right before serving so that most of the vegetables' texture is made very bland, but all the delicious flavour is still there. And of course, then she adds in the cute pasta stars.

I think this is a fine idea. My stepmother served me delicious cream of cauliflower soup for years before I clued in to what it was; and was subsequently horrified. But it never gave me an appreciation for vegetables, because it had the boring consistency of all my favourite foods of the time, like rice pudding. It wasn't until I started eating out at nice restaurants during university that I developed an appreciation for vegetables in their natural, un-pureed state.

But I think a better strategy than disguising veggies, is to serve them unapologetically, and routinely at every meal. Tonight we had penne pasta that boiled along with shredded kale. The kale tasted yummy in the tomato-basil sauce and went well with the shredded cheese topping. We also had cucumber slices on the side. Vegetables are all over at plates in this house, and we don't try to disguise them or apologise for their fibrous texture. We like to dip them in dressings, mix them in salads, add them to soups or stews, eat them drizzled in butter. Even a canned soup can get jazzed up by adding spinach, kale, chard or broccoli. It's simple to cook and that's just what we do.

Many people I've talked to whose children "don't like vegetables" often reveal that they are not eating vegetables at lunch and dinner, or they do so rarely. The vegtable choices are often standard: carrots, peas, broccoli, and often are served in a bland way each time. Boring! No wonder kids don't like them. Kids learn by example and if Mom and Dad are uninspired by their veggie portions, then kids are not going to make the effort to like them either.

Go to the grocery store and find a new vegetable you don't typically eat. Serve it with a favourite, tried-and-true sauce or dip. Make it a bit of an adventure: "I wonder what this will taste like!" Or don't even mention it unless somebody asks "oh yeah, that's broccoli rabe with your favourite Naam Miso Gravy". Enjoy it and make it something you look forward to when it makes its way back to your dinner menu every other week or so. Vegetables are just another form of food: neither intrinsically good nor bad. It all depends on how they're prepared and served. Preferably with passion!

Dish of the Day: French Lentil Salad

French Lentil Salad,
originally uploaded by follepourchocolat.

Back in the 90s I worked at a fancy restaurant in Paris owned by the ex-wife and son of Mr. Eddie Barclay. Perhaps it's more appropriate to say that I ate daily for free at this restaurant, because I did very little work. However I did learn a lot about French cooking and one of the recipes I took home with me was for lentil salad. At "Marie et Fils" they served this with salmon that was lightly cooked - still raw in the middle in fact - but I think the salad does fine all by itself.

This is adapted from the chef's recipe and the main ingredients are, of course, lentils with chopped tomato and cucumber and chives. The lentils are canned (no shame here) and the rest was from my garden. The dressing is olive oil and a mixture of apple cider and white vinegar with a ratio or 3:1 oil to vinegar. I would like to try some white balsamic vinegar next time. And the special ingredient is 2 pieces of cooked crispy bacon. It's also seasoned with salt and pepper. Pretty simple, and very yummy.

Let's All Cook! Our Lives Depend on It.

Once again, the amazing Michael Pollan has written a highly compelling piece about how our relationship to food must change. The article, titled "Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch" ponders how it is that most Americans spend less than 27 minutes per day on food preparation, and instead spend hours watching cooking shows on TV. As he puts it: "What this suggests is that a great many Americans are spending considerably more time watching images of cooking on television than they are cooking themselves — an increasingly archaic activity they will tell you they no longer have the time for."

Another shocking tidbit from his lengthy article is "the more time a nation devotes to food preparation at home, the lower it's rate of obesity....the amount of time spent cooking predicts obesity rates more reliably than female participation in the labor force...income levels or class." This is the kind of stuff that makes my blood boil, when I think of all the McDonald's or KFC advertising targetted to low income families. Their malevolent promise is: "we'll save you time and money so you can give your family delicious comfort food." Meanwhile, these fast food companies are serving up empty calories while leading small children down the path to obesity.

Here at BEYG we make no apologies for being lazy - and not terribly talented - in the kitchen. We won't win any awards when it comes to style or diligence in the kitchen. But our message is always the same: if you want to be healthy, you need to eat meals made from fresh, whole ingredients, as opposed to pre-packaged, convenience foods. You don't need to spend hours in the kitchen to serve up a healthy meal; but you do need start with real food, and some effort will be required.

I'll defer to Michael Pollan's words: "the path to a diet of fresher, unprocessed food...passes straight through the home kitchen." This message is becoming urgent now and we at BEYG want to shout it from the rooftops. Eat food, real food, as much as you require. Take the time to prepare it in a way that is enjoyable, and digestible, for you and your family. But make sure that food came straight from a tree, from out of the ground, from the sea, from a real chicken. That's how we were designed to eat, and eating that way is the only way we will survive.

Dish of the Day: Focaccia Sandwiches

This is another recipe from Paul and Tami's kitchen. Sandwiches for dinner don't have to be boring if you use fresh ingredients and extra flavourings like a good olive oil or pesto. Start off with good whole grain bread. Look for large round focaccia to make this recipe serve 4. In Vancovuer, try Duso’s or Zara’s at Granville Island Market or Calabria Bakery on Victoria Drive.

Vegetarian Focaccia Sandwiches

You'll need: good quality olive oil; fresh basil leaves (at least 10); red, yellow and green bell peppers (one of each) sliced into thin rings; one jar of marinated artichoke hearts, diced and woody part removed; fresh asiago cheese finely grated.

To build your sandwich; first carefully cut the bread in half and remove top. Then spoon or baste olive oil to cover both sides of the bread. Next place a layer of basil leaves on the bottom half of the sandwich – covering the entire surface. Then layer one colour of the pepper rings first in concentric circles. Almost like the Olympic rings! Then add the next colour. Now carefully fill the spaces between the pepper rings with the diced artichoke hearts. Finally, add the last layer of peppers. Cover with a generous layer of fresh asiago. Top with the bread "lid". Cut the sandwiches into 4 wedges.

Now it is a nice idea to wrap each sandwich up in saran snugly and put in the fridge for an hour or two and allow the flavors to meld. These are wonderful on a picnic, or for dinner with soup. They keep very well.

***Please remember the most important thing in making this sandwich is the bread. It must be fresh, authentic and not crusty.

Enjoy!!!

Cheers to not cooking dinner!

It's been unseasonably hot here in Vancouver and I can't bear to cook over the stove. Plus, with an unruly mess of vegetables growing out back, we can't help but build our meals lately around big salads. Here are some of the combinations I've been putting together:

- Leaf lettuce, green onion, baby corn, colourful bell peppers, fresh peas and radishes
- Homemade caesar dressing with Romaine leaves, artichoke hearts, capers, and bacon (veggie or piggie)
- Romaine or other firm leaves with hard boiled egg, potato, tuna, green beans, olive and green onion
- Any lettuce with baby chard, blanched and chopped kale, chunks of cheese, chick peas and cucumbers
- Mixed greens with cherry tomatoes, and nuts or seeds (pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, pecans or walnuts
- Spinach with peppers, bean sprouts, BC blueberries and chopped pecans or walnuts

And to any of the above, I love to throw in delicious sunflower greens. At our farmer's marketthere is a local guy who sells them by the bag and they are so nutty and delicious. I've tried to grow sunflower greens myself but they're a bit fiddly, and I'd rather pay the $5 to this dedicated urban farmer who grows them far better than I could.

Guest Blogger: Handheld Tortillas

My friend Tami is mostly vegan and knows her way around the kitchen. She wanted to respond to my taco post with one of her own recipes. There's lots of room for flexibility and customisation here. Tami makes them side-by-side in the kitchen with her husband so they're like a Taco Tag Team. Take it away Tami!


Caroline: Here's a variation of your taco recipe and one we have often. It’s a great way to use up leftovers and use your creativity in the kitchen. These are delicious and nutritious and the only real learning curve is the assembly part.

Sunshine Handheld Tortillas

Start with,
1. whole wheat tortillas
2. frozen tofu, thawed, with all water squeezed out, then cuised to a "ground round" consistency, (we usually have leftover "tofu ground round" from a previous dish (e.g. Vegan Spaghetti Bolognese) as we only use up half of it in a recipe at once.
3. cooked brown rice

- Saute up onion, garlic, peppers, fresh diced tomato, add the brown rice and then stir in the "tofu ground round"
- Scramble up a couple of eggs in a separate pan and add them to your rice mixture.
- Cover, set aside and keep warm.
- Meanwhile, put on a large pot of cold water with a pinch of sugar in it and add 3 cobs of fresh sweet corn to the cold water, then bring to a boil. Once the corn has boiled for a couple of minutes, take it off the heat and let stand in the water. Whenever you are ready remove the corn from the pot of water and cut the kernels off the cob and place in small dish.

All items below (or your substitute fillings) should be prepped and in front of you before you begin.
- fresh corn
- chunky fresh salsa (it is generally easy to find a good store bought one)
- grated Jack cheese
- chopped cilantro
- plain yogurt

Warm the tortillas one at a time in a pan and lay them out flat in the centre of your work surface. First place some of the rice in the middle of the wrap and flatten. Then put all your remaining ingredients on top of the filling - the fresh corn, salsa, cheese, cilantro and a drizzle of yogurt. Don't overfill; the ingredients should form a long sausage shape down the centre of the tortilla. Then fold up the bottom of the wrap, about 2 ½ inches over the filling, fold right side next to cover the filling, then pull over the left side of the wrap to complete. Next put a toothpick or an hors d'oeuvre pick in the centre towards the top of the wrap, plate it and eat as a hand held.

Other fillings to try: diced mushrooms, meatless chicken strips, leftover cooked red potatoes cut up, refried beans, avocado or whatever you fancy.

Enjoy!