Crisp and Refreshing Salads

One of the things I love most about summer is the access to fresh, Ontario grown vegetables. The tomatoes are red and vibrant, the asparagus is thick and green, the red onions are pungent and the herbs are abundant. I enjoy mixing up the flavours of these different vegetables into fresh and crisp salads, tossed with a touch of some flavoured vinegar. I often turn to the ever popular, ever known tomato, red onion and cucumber salad but every now and then I look for something a little different. Today I tried throwing corn and asparagus into the mix. It turned out delicious. I tend to always serve my salads cool or cold but I think this would be delicious at room temperature as well. I can imagine this would go nicely with a good sangria or a cold beer but I will have to trust you to try that out. Enjoy!!!

Corn Salad with Asparagus 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of frozen corn (or fresh corn on the cob) cooked and drained. 
• 1 bunch of Asparagus - cooked and cut up
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• Cherry tomatoes, sliced in half - about 1 cup
• 1 bunch of basil - chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, diced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar

Directions:

1. Toss the vegetables all together into a large bowl. 
2. Mix the basil, garlic, olive oil and vinegar. Pour over the vegetables.
3. Shake or toss the salad - seal and pop into the fridge for an hour or two. 
4. Serve. 

Blueberry Muffins

Being pregnant, I am constantly bombarded with people's opinion about what is the healthiest thing for my baby....should I or shouldn't I drink that coffee? should I or shouldn't I be eating more bran? You eat so healthy, you shouldn't eat that, aren't you hungry? have you eaten too much? basically, everything I put into my body is subject to someone's judgement. I should add that I eat very well. My husband and I are big on ensuring we eat a healthy balanced diet, pregnant or not. However, my body reacts rather violently to being pregnant, the hormones or something make me a miserable, nauseous mess. This means in the first few weeks, I am drawn to salty, fatty foods that help keep something down. I would try to eat a salad and it would last a few minutes....chicken, don't even think about it. I do not over indulge and have, in fact, gained very little weight in the first five months probably because I threw up enough to balance it all out). Now that I am out of the "danger" zone, I am back to eating vegetables and fruits and all the healthy things required to grow this baby. There is one thing I have turned to eating almost every morning though, a moist and delicious blueberry muffin. Often, I merely grab one at a cafe near my work. It is probably a 1000 calories but I don't care. It is heavenly and I love it and it starts my day out right. I decided I would try to find a recipe that would replicate this flavourful, cafe muffin and I managed to find one that was even better. I doubled the recipe per muffin to make them enormous and they have quickly become a favourite in our house.

I have to admit Blueberries were in my least favourite fruit category, right up there with watermelon and bananas. Since becoming pregnant, I find I can not get enough of blueberries, though I still can't stand them raw from the container. They are so good for us, that it is hard not to try to squeeze them every day. I also have a fruit smoothie at night that my husband makes for me. That is a recipe for another day though.

Blueberry Crumble Muffins


Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking - I basically took a little handful and smooshed it into the dough. 
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Cathartic Cooking - Braised Short Ribs

I wouldn't consider myself an emotional eater. I do love food and I find the process of both cooking and baking to be extremely relaxing and calming, especially when my mind is in a state of chaos. Cooking requires some organization and some slow and methodical timing that allows one to simply focus on the task at hand and not let the mind wind up tight and tick tock at a million beats per minute. It helps that I usually put on some music and dance away in the kitchen as I stir and taste and chop and smell and add ingredients to the bubbling pot. Saturday night was that sort of night. It had been a difficult week and as the rain and cold weather settled over our city, I decided to make something that would stick to our bones.

Bring out the Dutch Oven (a fantastic birthday gift, I might add, where have you been all my life?) and off to the grocery store to see if the butcher could cut me up some short ribs. It was time to conquer the Braised Short Rib recipe I had come across months before. I gathered up the ingredients, popped the baby gate in the kitchen door, which I might add did not please my 15 month old son who rather enjoys hanging out in the kitchen with mom. The recipe wasn't overly complicated, brown the ribs, and puree some veggies. Allow them to turn into crud and scrape, repeat, add tomato paste and some wine and presto, pop that beautiful blue, rather heavy for this pregnant lady, pot into the oven and allow to cook. The smells wafting through my house were divine. My mouth was watering for most of the three hours that it required in the oven. Add some of my "famous" (to my husband and son) mashed potatoes and a side of broccoli and we had a very filling dinner. It was very satisfying and for a few hours, I sank into the warmth and happiness that is my humble little home.

Braised Short Ribs


Ingredients:

• Bone-in Short Ribs (about 6lbs)
• Coarse Salt
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large Spanish onion, 
• 2-3 ribs of celery
• 2-3 carrots, peeled, and chopped
• 2-3 Cloves of garlic
• 1 can of tomato paste
• 3 cups of hearty red wine (I used an inexpensive Shiraz) - also, finger wagers, the alcohol content burns off during cooking so I am not breaking any baby laws.
• 2 cups of water
• 1 bunch of fresh thyme
• 2-4 bay leaves

Directions: 

1.  Season each rib on both sides with the coarse salt. Coat a dutch oven with the olive oil and bring to a high heat. Brown the short ribs briefly, in small batches to prevent over crowding. Move to a plate and put aside. 
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Puree all the vegetables together in a food processor until it forms a coarse paste. Drain the fat from the dutch oven and add more oil, turn down heat to med-high. Add the vegetables, season with salt and pepper and brown until they turn dark and form a crud at the bottom of the pan, this will take quite a few minutes. Scrape and allow to form again. Scrape again and add the tomato paste. Brown for about 2-3 minutes being careful it doesn't burn (turn down the heat if it begins to burn). Add the wine and scrape the bottom of the pan, mix well. Reduce the mixture by half.
3. Return the short ribs to the pan and add enough water (approximately 2 cups) to just cover the meat. Add the thyme bundle and the bay leaves. Cover and put into oven for 3 hours.
4. Remove the lid for the last 20 mins so sauce can thicken.
5. Serve with the braising liquid. 

Side note: The recipe says that the meat should be tender but not falling apart. The meat is not flaking but it does come off the bone beautifully. It is very succulent and delicious.