Jalapeño & Raspberry Goat Cheese

I bought some jam from the Farmer's Market here in Carberry today from "My Tiny Kitchen" - she has soooo many fun different jams, I couldn't choose! But went with a Jalapeño Raspebrry and also a Saskatoon Rhubarb - YUM!

So I just had to make us a little appetizer to try out the Jalapeño Raspberry before supper! Just put a scoop of plain goat cheese in a small baking dish, topped with about 2 TBSP of the Jam and 1 TBSP of chopped pecans. Baked in the oven at 350F for about 20 mins and served with crackers!

Keeping with the goat theme... lol just had to share  - they also had a little petting zoo at the market and Devlan got to pet a goat!

Harbourfront Oil & Vinegar Watermelon Salad

Brent and I went to Kenora, ON for the weekend and picked up some amazing ingredients to make our own dressing at Harbourfront Oil & Vinegar! We could have bought it all I'm sure but settled on Peach white balsamic vinegar and Tuscan Herb olive oil - sound like they don't go together? They do! Delicious! And seriously there are so many flavours, and the owner was great with making suggestions and letting us taste!  If you're ever in Kenora, check it out right on the Harbourfront.

So, as usual the salad is fairly simple - some kale (from my garden thank you very much), some romaine, watermelon, mini cucumbers, sliced avocado, with goat cheese, cranberries, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds to top. Then drizzled a bit if the peach vinegar and Herb olive oil and YUM!!! Summer salad time!

http://harbourfrontoilandvinegar.ca/

Canada 150!

Oh Canada! My inlaws have an annual Canada Day party and this year I took a pasta salad so I had to  jazz it up a bit!! Seems to be a theme with me this weekend but no elaborate recipe here for this... I totally used a Club House seasoning mix for it haha just had to mix the spices with oil and vinegar and add to cooked pasta and vegetables. But I just had to show off my cute Canada flag made from cherry tomatoes and feta! Happy Canada Day!

This or That?

Whose dinner looks better? Depends who you are and what you like I guess! Steak with Sauvignon Blanc for me and Portobello Swiss veggie burger with beer for Brent - both paired with a watermelon salad!

Not much of a fancy recipe here, but for the salad I used mixed greens from the farmer's market here in Carberry, watermelon cubes, crumbled feta, a Renee's balsamic dressing and a nut and seed salad topper (pumpkin sends, sunflower seeds, cashews, cranberries and more!).

We BBQ'd a steak for me - as usual, it's  big, sorry (not sorry)... my dad's a butcher lol - just grilled with some Montreal Steak Spice. Brent had some Portobello Swiss Veggie burgers, so BBQ'd one of them with some mushrooms, jalapeños and a fresh cheese slice, topping it with a garlic aioli on a ciabatta bun! Hmmm Brent's veggie burger even sounds more interesting than my steak!!

Just a little dinner inspiration, stay tuned for more recipes!!

Avocado Shrimp Salad!

I made this salad for us a few weekends ago and was delish! Definitely not my own creation - I found it from a link someone posted on Facebook to "Natasha's Kitchen" (link it below!). 

I basically followed the recipe below, except I decided to put our protein (shrimp for me, cubed firm tofu for Brent) on skewers and BBQ them!  I also BBQ'd a cob of corn that I topped the salad with.  But yes, I think the rest I followed along

A little tip for those who don't use tofu a lot in their life - when you take it out of the package, rinse it off well with cool water and then be sure to get the moisture out afterwards by placing the tofu between a few pieces of paper towel.  Push down on it to squeeze some moisture out, or put something flat and heavy like a cookbook on top of the paper towel for a little while!  

Then I cut it up into cubes and marinated the tofu for about an hour to be sure the flavor soaked in before I put them on skewers and BBQ'd!  For the shrimp, I just got them ready (tails off etc) and tossed with some olive oil and the Cajun spices below before putting on skewers to BBQ for a few minutes.  

Follow along the rest of the instructions here and it's a nice summer salad!!

Ingredients for Cajun Shrimp:

• 1 lb medium shrimp (31-40 Count), peeled and deveined 
• (or if you're me, it was about 10 pieces of shrimp, and about 15 cubes of tofu for Brent!)
• 1 tsp cajun spice
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed or grated
• Pinch of salt
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter

Ingredients for Salad:

• 1 medium romaine lettuce (5-6 cups chopped)
• ½ lb (3 medium) Roma tomatoes, sliced
• ½ medium red onion, thinly sliced
• ½ English cucumber (or 3 small), sliced
• 2 avocados, peeled, pitted and sliced
• 1 cup corn kernels (from 2 freshly cooked cobs)

Ingredients for Cilantro-Lemon Dressing:

• Juice of 1 large lemon (3 Tbsp)
• ½ small bunch of cilantro (1/2 cup finely chopped) or parsley
• 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp sea salt or ¾ tsp table salt
• ⅛ tsp black pepper

How to make Avocado Shrimp Salad:

1. Pat dry shrimp with paper towels and place in a medium bowl. Add 1 tsp cajun spice, 2 pressed garlic cloves, a pinch of salt and stir to combine.
2. Place a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add 2 Tbsp butter and once its melted and hot, add shrimp in a single layer. Sauté 2 minutes per side or just until cooked through. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
3. Chop, rinse and spin dry 1 medium head of romaine lettuce. You should end up with about 6 cups lettuce. Transfer that to a large mixing bowl. Now add 3 sliced tomatoes, thinly sliced red onion, sliced cucumbers, 2 sliced avocados and 1 cup cooked corn.
4. To make the dressing, start with 3 Tbsp of fresh lemon juice, now finely chop about ½ cup of cilantro and stir that in. Add 3 Tbsp of olive oil and extra virgin has the best flavor. Season with 1 tsp salt and a generous pinch of black pepper and stir that together.

Her dish looks much prettier than mine :) Here's a link to Natasha's Kitchen:

http://natashaskitchen.com/2017/05/19/avocado-shrimp-salad-recipe-video/

Lemon Herb Mediterranean Chicken Salad

My friend Teri shared this recipe on Facebook and it looked so yummy I had to try it! She has a blog as well, filled with tons of good recipes and ideas!! http://mamarecharged.com/


Link to the recipe here:
https://cafedelites.com/2016/07/05/grilled-lemon-herb-mediterranean-chicken-salad-recipe/

The recipe is below as well, but of course I made it a little different... to accommodate my vegetarian!  I was going to BBQ the chicken but ended up being way too cold and windy, we never would have been able to keep the BBQ lit!  I used veggie chicken for Brent, and marinated it a little bit as well, but don't think the flavors totally got through - if he'd had some plain tofu in the fridge, I think that would have been good since it soaks up marinade so nicely! 

I made each of us a smaller salad instead of one big one as the recipe calls for, and of course just gave Devlan the ingredients he would eat :)  Brent and I both aren't huge olive lovers, so eliminated them but did add some feta to it which was good!   I used mini cucumbers and grape tomatoes as well - this was a great recipe since I already had everything in the house except for a lemon and a good avocado! 

Lemon Herb Mediterranean Chicken Salad

Marinade/Dressing:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon (1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice)
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt
• cracked pepper, to taste
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken thigh fillets (or chicken breasts)

Salad:

• 4 cups Romaine lettuce leaves, washed and dried
• 1 large cucumber, diced
• 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1 avocado, sliced
• ⅓ cup pitted Kalamata olives (or black olives), sliced (optional)
• Lemon wedges, to serve

Instructions

1. Whisk together all of the marinade/dressing ingredients in a large jug. Pour out half of the marinade into a large, shallow dish. Refrigerate the remaining marinade to use as the dressing later.
2. Add the chicken to the marinade in the bowl; marinade chicken for 15-30 minutes (or up to two hours in the refrigerator if time allows). While waiting for the chicken, prepare all of the salad ingredients and mix in a large salad bowl.
3. Once chicken is ready, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a grill pan or a grill plate over medium-high heat. Grill chicken on both sides until browned and completely cooked through.
4. Allow chicken to rest for 5 minutes; slice and arrange over salad. Drizzle salad with the remaining UNTOUCHED dressing. Serve with lemon wedges.

SO good!

Meanwhile on my 3 year old's plate.... not quite as beautiful and exciting as ours haha

Ixtapa, Mexico!

Well, this isn’t my usual kind of post, but I have just returned from a travel agent FAM trip to Ixtapa Zihuatanejo, Mexico and I just HAVE to share all the gorgeous and delicious food we were able to have during the week!  We toured 14 hotels top to bottom, enjoyed a few excursions to see the area, and we were treated to lots of fabulous meals.  I don’t have a lot of details about what is actually in some of these dishes, but they’re all just so beautifully plated I had to take photos and share!

 

Lunch at the Sunscape Resort - we were treated to live music and a 3 course meal!  Salmon mousse with mint and ginger, fresh Mahi Mahi filet with Thai sauce, and chocolate cake for dessert!!

 

Dinner at the Azul Ixtapa.  Caesar salad dressing was made right in front of our eyes! Three staff members brought out a big tray of ingredients, and started whipping up the dressing from scratch, then served us all! Next came the main course served under a metal cloche – the waiters all unveiled the meal to us at the same time – a lovely stuffed chicken with potatoes, eggplant and other vegetables.  And beautiful mousse for dessert!

 

After one of our excursions, we travelled to a local beach area and enjoyed “Spanish Mackerel” with fresh guacamole, and a mini black bean “pie”

 

That evening we enjoyed dinner at the Oyster Bar at the Azul Ixtapa Grand – we started with a tempura salad (apparently I was too excited to eat to take a photo!), then a soup that we’re not too sure what was in it…peas…celery… hmm something green we couldn’t quite place but it was yummy and had nice little bits of tofu in as well (my vegetarian husband would be proud!). Then a fabulous piece of beef with potatoes, vegetables and a nice shrimp on top!

 

Local specialty Tiritas de Pescado (ceviche) for an appetizer at the Holiday Inn

 

Dinner at the famous Bogart’s Restaurant. Lobster Bisque to start, steamed fish with a spicy lime chile sauce, and “Sunwing” sorbet for dessert!

 

A few others I didn’t take photos of included tortilla soup, a nice piece of beef served on a bed of cactus (kind of a sweet taste that mixed well with the sauce it was served with!), a fresh fire-grilled piece of chicken on Ixtapa Island, a New York Steak cooked to perfection right on the grill on the beach in front of me, and a some extensive buffets to suit everyone’s taste!

 

YUM!  Now back to my diet…