Posts Tagged 'avocado'

Noodles with Spicy Turkey and Avocado Sauce

Published September 22, 2009 Dinner , Recipe , Spice , Weight Watchers , Yum! Leave a Comment
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Inspired by a Weight Watchers recipe from the Turn Around Program Book, I decided to make this simple meal for myself. The recipe in the book serves 6 but, because Jay is out of town this week, I wanted to make two servings. However, I am terrible at measuring the right amount of pasta noodles so I made way too many. I always grab about a handful because I heard or read somewhere that a handful equals a cup…I obviously need to learn to measure properly.

Anyway, the recipe says to use lean ground beef but I had left over ground turkey from turkey shepherd’s pie I made before. Here is how I made the sauce:

Recipe for approx 2-3 servings

200g Lean ground turkey

1/3 of a large white onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

2 pickled jalapeño peppers, chopped

1/4 tsp cumin

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1 cup of canned tomatoes, chopped

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 tsp fresh cilantro, chopped

1 avocado, mashed

In a pot cook turkey meat and break it up and cook until it’s brown. Add the onions, jalapeño, and garlic, cook until soft. Next add the cumin and cinnamon, stirring constantly for about 30 seconds. Mix in the tomatoes and paste, bring to a boil and then lower heat and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. You can add salt and pepper but I didn’t add any. Remove from heat and throw in the cilantro and avocado until it’s all mixed in. Serve over cooked noodles.

The book says each serving is worth 5 points but I’m wondering if my version is worth less points because I used turkey instead of beef. But, because I used an avocado I probably brought up the points to 6 haha. No matter, it was very tasty.

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Dad’s Birthday and Kitchen Demotion

Published August 12, 2009 Dinner , Vegetarian Leave a Comment
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As the title explains, last night was my Dad’s birthday. My sister, who lives in Ottawa, is in town and she decided to make our Dad a marbled hazelnut cake with peaches. However, the plan was to prepare the cake and the celebration food at my apartment. That is where the kitchen demotion came in. My sister took over my kitchen and demoted me to food prep. Oh the horror!

The original plan for the family was to go to Shakespeare in the Park at High Park to see The Tempest and to have a picnic (this did not happen due to the rain). We began by disagreeing on what to make for dinner and it took us nearly two hours to agree on making vegetarian croissant sandwiches while we glanced out the window hoping the rain would stop. Even as we were leaving my apartment to go buy the required ingredients we were still struggling over our decision for dinner. Thankfully we were able to come to an agreement to make the sandwiches and a veggie dip.

For the croissant sandwiches, we caramelized two onions, about a cup and half of sliced mushrooms and one sliced zucchini. Once the caramelized veggies were done we began to arrange the sandwiches; swiss cheese, avocado and tomato slices and the caramelized veggies. We made a very simple veggie dip of yogurt and cucumber. It’s almost like tzatziki sauce except we only used strained yogurt and grated cucumber and did not add anything else to it. It was so simple and delicious.

All throughout the cooking and prepping, my sister and I got in each other’s way and we bickered about who would stir the vegetables and whether or not my way of using a Kitchenaid mixer was better than her way of mixing by hand.

“It takes me two hours to make the cake batter because I am very thorough and there are never any lumps in my batter,” she said with a smirk after I learned it would take us three hours to make a cake I could make in half the time.

“It takes you two hours to make a cake if you are not experienced in the art of cooking,” I retorted.

But it was all in good fun and the end result was a fantastic, moist, rich cake.

Cake without the hazelnut icing.

Cake without the hazelnut sauce.

Finished cake with hazelnut sauce and peach slices.

Finished cake with hazelnut sauce and peach slices.

Delightful veggie sandwich

Delightful veggie sandwich.

Food for the sick

Published August 1, 2009 Dinner , Must repeat , Recipe , Yum! Leave a Comment
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I returned home almost a week ago from my vacation in Central America where I enjoyed beautiful scenery and amazing food. However, upon my return to Toronto, my body decided to get sick. Plagued with coughing, sneezing, wheezing and a very achy body, my one solution to freedom from illness was chicken soup. And, of course, cold medicine.

This deliciously aromatic, fresh and comforting soup is a variation of a recipe from my Mexican cookbook. The original recipe only contains shredded chicken, avocado, chili pepper strips, scallions and broth. I wanted something a little heartier. Here’s what I did:

Chicken, Avocado, Potato and Mushroom Soup

Alternately, you can omit the ingredients or see the note with a * beside them to obtain the original version from The Mexican Cookbook.

Makes about 3 servings

4 chicken thighs, cooked and shredded * (Chicken breast, cooked and shredded)

1 avocado, cubed and tossed in lime juice to prevent discolouration

4 oz white mushrooms, coarsely chopped *

6 mini potatoes, cooked and sliced *

1/2 an onion, thinly sliced * (3-5 scallions, sliced)

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 pickled jalapeño pepper * (chipotle pepper, cut into thin strips)

2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

4 cups water * (4 cups chicken stock)

Directions:

Place water and chicken thighs in a pot and cook over medium heat until chicken is done. Remove the chicken onto a plate and continue heating the water. This is the broth. Add the garlic, potatoes, mushrooms, onion and jalapeño pepper to the broth and cook until mushrooms have been reduced slightly but don’t let the onions get too soft (unless, of course you prefer soft onions). While that is cooking, shred the chicken.  Once the broth is ready, arrange the chicken and avocado and cilantro in the base of  soup bowls and pour the broth and vegetables over. Squeeze some lime juice for more flavour and wonderful aroma.

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Grilled Cheese and Avocado Sandwich

Published June 26, 2009 Dinner , Must repeat , Vegetarian , Yum! Leave a Comment
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Maybe it’s because it’s summer. Maybe it’s my Latin American background. Maybe I was a tortilla chip in a past life. Whatever reason, in the last week or so I have been gorging on avocados and hot sauce…a lot. As I mentioned in previous posts, I made avocado pasta, with Frank’s Redhot sauce, and one of my favourite salads is avocado salad. I’m sure it’s obvious I’m in love with these two hot, summery, tropical foods.

So, it’s no surprise that last night I made this:

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A grilled cheese and avocado sandwich…with Frank’s Redhot sauce of course!

There are no words to describe how much I enjoyed this simple meal. No words. Jay demanded another.

Stormy Green Pasta

Published June 25, 2009 Fitness review , Lunch , Vegetarian , Yum! 1 Comment
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It’s been a bit of a crazy day today in terms of weather. It was almost unbearably hot and sunny this morning and by 10AM I was nearly soaked in sweat and praying for 11 o’clock to roll around so I could go for a dip in the pool. At 10:45 I decided to change into my bikini and I applied a generous amount of sunblock to my skin. I was all set to go and I happily bounded out of the apartment, into the elevator, down the hall and out the door to the sight of rain pouring down on the pavement.

With my head hung low I shuffled back inside, up the elevator and into the stuffy apartment.

I hadn’t exercised in a few days and that was the main reason I wanted to go for a swim…and of course because it was humidly hot. Since I couldn’t swim I decided to do a workout video. I chose Beach Body’s 20 minute Turbo Jam workout and after 15 minutes I really was soaked in sweat, I was out of breath and ready to collapse. The workout doesn’t feel very intense but it does leave you out of breath. At least in my case it did. Definitely worth doing again just to get my heart pumping.

Since it was (and still is) gloomy outside and I used up all my energy on a 15 minute workout, I felt lazy and very hungry. The cure for this was my new favourite comfort food; avocado and pasta!

I boiled pasta and frozen veggies together in a pot while I mashed an avocado with lime juice, cumin and hot sauce. Once the pasta and veggies were cooked, I mixed in the avocado paste and in 10 minutes I had prepared a healthy, satisfying and delicious meal. Perfect for stormy days like today.

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Cheap & Easy Vegetarian For Daddy Day

Published June 22, 2009 Dinner , Must repeat , Vegetarian Leave a Comment
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For Father’s Day my family came over to hang out and eat a quick, simple dinner. Both my parents were exhausted so they couldn’t stay very long.  Normally we spend a few hours playing board games but this time we ate dinner and sat on the balcony drinking beers for a bit before my parents and youngest sister left. We also took turns speaking on the phone with my middle sister in Ottawa. My sister in Ottawa is not the cooking type, per se, but she does make attempts to prepare some sort of nutritious meal for herself. When asked what I cooked up for Father’s Day dinner she was pleased to discover it was incredibly easy to make, not to mention uber yummy.

The idea for this meal comes from a vegetarian cookbook I found at my mom’s place a few months ago. It’s called Cheap & Easy: Vegetarian Cooking on a Budget by Rose Elliot. I checked out the pasta section (titled Fasta Pasta) listing all sorts of pasta additions and the one that drew my attention was Pasta with Avocado. Until last night I had never thought to add avocado to any cooked food item, let alone spaghetti noodles. I knew I had to try this since avocados are one of my favourite vegetable…or fruit, I’m still not sure what it is.

One of my favourite salads is avocado salad. Basically you dice a couple of avocados, a couple of hard boiled eggs and mix it all up with diced onions, tomatoes, green peppers and a generous portion of freshly squeezed lime juice. Whenever I think of eating avocado this salad is usually what I have in mind when thinking of how to eat the avocado. Besides guacamole of course. Or a substitute for mayo on a sandwich…Mmm…avocado and turkey sandwich…

So, as I began to boil the water for the pasta noodles I thought, “Why not combine my favourite salad with the noodles?” The only difference being that I sautéed the onion, tomatoes and green peppers in lime juice and ground cumin.

While that was cooking I skewered mushrooms and cubes of tofu I had marinated very briefly in Frank’s Redhot sauce and I broiled them for about ten minutes. I know now for future reference that I should marinate tofu overnight if I want the flavours to be fully absorbed.

Once the noodles were ready I mixed in the avocados and sautéed veggies along with more lime juice until all the noodles were well coated.

Result? It was SO good! As the book says, the buttery texture of the avocado complimented the pasta and the sautéed vegetables brought everything together nicely. Everyone really liked it and now my sister in Ottawa is excited to try this quick and easy dish.

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