General Tao Tofu

Since doing Visalus, I try to do healthier recipe.  When I saw this recipe from Ricardo I had to try it. Tofu is not something I buy often.  I can’t ask my boyfriend if he wants to eat a recipe with tofu, because as soon as he hears the word tofu, he has a bad reaction lolll He doesn’t want to try any recipes with tofu. 

When I made this recipe, previously, he diced some chicken for a recipe I had to do.  I do all the cooking, but sometimes he helps me in the preparation   So when the General Tao Tofu was ready, I gave him a bite of tofu and told him it was chicken.  He asked “is it the one I diced?”.   I said yes.  He said the texture was weird.  I guess he didn’t believe me.  I had no choice but telling him it was tofu.  Anyway I like the taste of the recipe and I will have more for me  

I forgot to buy green onions so I omitted it but next time I’ll be sure to use it.  I used frozen broccoli that I steamed.  I divided the tofu in 4 bowls with the broccoli so 4 of my dinner were ready to reheat.  For me it’s filling enough.  Yesterday, I added on the side, steamed snowpeas with a little bit of teriyaki sauce on top.  It was a great meal. 

I’ll have to try more recipes with tofu.  Do you have something to recommend that is healthy and low calories? 

General Tao Tofu
Adapted from Ricardo
4 servings
Sauce:

1/4 cup chicken broth or 1/4 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon sambal oelek

Stir-Fry :

454 g firm tofu, cubed and blotted dry
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 cup canola oil (I cooked the tofu in 1 batch so I didn’t need 1/4 cup of oil)
4 green onions, finely chopped (I didn’t use)
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
salt and pepper (optional)

Sides :

1 broccoli, cut into florets steamed
steamed rice (optional)

1 . Sauce: In a bowl, combine all the ingredients. Set aside.
2  Stir-Fry: In a large bowl, dust the tofu with the cornstarch. Shake to remove any excess. Set aside on a plate.
3 . In a wok, heat the oil. Fry the tofu, half at a time, until lightly browned. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the tofu from the wok with a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate lined with paper towels.
4 . In the wok, fry the onions, ginger, and garlic for 1 to 2 minutes. Add oil, if needed. Add the sauce and bring to a boil. Add the tofu and cook, stirring to warm through, and coat thoroughly with the sauce. Serve immediately over rice. Serve with broccoli.

 

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Slow Cooker Pineapple Chicken

Ricardo is my favorite chef.  He’s a great chef very popular on Food Network Canada.  I got his slow cooker cookbook at Christmas.  I made a few recipes from this cookbook.

This recipe is made with chicken but Ricardo said we can use pork instead.  So when I made it, I used both.

Slow Cooker Pineapple Chicken

Preparation time : 25 minutes
Cooking time : 4 h 30
Serving : 6

Sauce

15 ml (1 tablespoon) cornstarch
60 ml (1/4 cup) chicken broth
30 ml (2 tablespoons) ketchup
30 ml (2 tablespoons) soy sauce
30 ml (2 tablespoons) rice vinegar
30 ml (2 tablespoons) brown sugar
30 ml (2 tablespoons) pineapple or apricot jam

Chicken

1 kg (2 lbs) skinless and boneless chicken thighs, each cut into two pieces
30 ml (2 tablespoons) olive oil
500 ml (2 cups) fresh pineapple, cut into small 1-cm (1/2-inch) thick pieces
4 green onions, thinly sliced (white and green separated)
15 ml (1 tablespoon) fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
250 ml (1 cup) sugar snap peas, each cut into three pieces
Salt and pepper

Sauce

1. In a bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the broth. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Set aside.

Chicken

1. In a large skillet over high heat, brown the chicken, a small portion at a time, into the oil. Season with salt and pepper. Place the chicken in the slow cooker as you go.

2. In the same skillet, brown the pineapple and the white part of the onions with the ginger. Add oil, if needed. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Deglaze the skillet with the sauce and simmer for 1 minute. Pour over the chicken. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.

3. Add the bell pepper, peas, and green onions. Stir in. Cook, covered, for about 30 minutes on low temperature. If the chicken was on warm, make sure to set the slow cooker on high before adding the vegetables. Count about 45 minutes for cooking. Adjust the seasoning.

4. Serve with rice. Do not overwork the chicken when cooked, it tends to fall apart.

Pork Roast with Yellow Potatoes from Ricardo

Ricardo is one of my favorite chef.  I have all of his food magazines.  I’ve never been disappointed with his recipes. Last week I tried hiw pork roast with yellow potatoes.   This was so yummy.

Pork Roast with Yellow Potatoes
From Ricardo

Preparation time: 20 min
Cooking time: 4 h
Servings: 6

• 1 shoulder pork roast, about 2 kg (4 lbs), with the bone and rind
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) butter
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 15 ml (1 tablespoon) dry mustard
• 250 ml (1 cup) chicken broth or water
• 8 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and halved or quartered
• Salt and pepper

1. With the rack in the middle position, preheat the oven to 170 °C (325 °F).

2. With the tip of a knife, make incisions in the roast and insert the garlic slices.

3. In a large pan, preferably enameled cast iron, brown the roast in the butter. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside on a plate.

4. In the same pan, brown the onions with the mustard. Season with salt and pepper. Add the broth and return the roast to the pan. Cover and bake for about 3 hours and 30 minutes or until the meat falls easily off the bone. Keep the roast warm on a plate, covered with aluminum foil.

5. In the same pan, bring the broth and potatoes to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring frequently, until the potatoes are tender. Add water, if needed.

6. Serve the roast, cut into pieces, with the potatoes.

Tourtière (Traditional Meal in Quebec)

Tourtière is meat pie.  It’s one of the traditional meal we have at Christmas.  Some like it with ketchup on top.  I like it with a little bit of molasses on top.  A few in my family does that.  I was a teen when my mother told me so I had to try it and I really liked it this way.  But sometimes I only have ketchup on top.

I made this recipe last Sunday.  It was my first time trying it.  I really liked it.  Even my son likes it.  He wanted to have tourtière for his lunch at school.  When I told to my mother that I made this tourtière, she wanted to try this recipe.  She said that it was so good that she didn’t add ketchup and usually she always adds ketchup.

The recipe is really easy to do.  You should give it a try.

Tourtière
Serving : 1 pie (between 6-8 servings depending on the size of the slices)
From Food.com

• 1 lb ground pork (my mother used half of pork and half of veal)
• 1/2 cup light cream or 1/2 cupCarnation Evaporated milk
• 1 choppedonion
• 1garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon driedmustard powder
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (I used allspice and a little bit more)
• 1 potato, boiled drained and mashed
• 1 dash hot sauce (optional)

1. Boil peeled potato, drain and mash let cool.
2. Combine the minced ground pork with the cream and the onion, garlic, and spices.
3. Heat to boiling, and break up the meat as its cooking.
4. Cook on a simmer for 25 minutes, until all the liquid has evaporated.
5. Remove from heat and stir in the mashed potato.
6. Chill until cold.
7. Prepare your favourite savoury pie crust for a double pie.
8. Line pie plate with bottom crust, and place filling evenly into shell.
9. Top with top crust.
10. Vent slightly.
11. Pie now can be frozen for future baking, or baked now.
12. Preheat oven 450 degrees and bake 15 minutes, Reduce heat to 325 degrees, and bake 20 more minutes.
13. Let pie rest 5 minutes, before cutting.
14. Serve with HP Sauce, Tabasco Sauce, Worchestershire Sauce.

I wish you Happy Holidays! 

Crustless Vegetable Quiche

Hi   It’s been a while. I hope you had a nice summer.

Lately I’m trying to eat healthier.  I made this crustless quiche that was so yummy.  It’s so easy to do and taste great.  You can use a tasty cheese.

Crustless Vegetable Quiche
From Food.com
8 slices

• 1/2 red pepper, finely chopped
• 6 broccoli florets, chopped
• 1 small zucchini, chopped
• 5 ounces American cheese or provolone cheese (I used a cajun cheese)
• 6 eggs
• 1 teaspoon oil
• salt and pepper

1. Sautee veggies in oil until tender.
2. Remove veggies and allow to cool.
3. Beat eggs in bowl, add salt and pepper add cool veggies to eggs and mix well.
4. Spray glass pie plate with cooking spray.
5. Pour half of the egg mixture in pie plate.
6. Add the cheese slices.
7. Top with remaining egg mixture.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes. (I had to bake it longer than that)

Costa-Rican Hearts of Palm Salad + Burgers

Here in Montreal, it’s been hot and humid for the last 2 days.  This salad is perfect with this heat.  It’s cold and refreshing.  And the colors are great.

It’s great how our tastes can change as the years go by.  A few years ago I tried hearts of palm and artichokes and didn’t like that.  Now I like both in recipes.  I can’t say I’d eat hearts of palm and artichokes only plain.  Not sure yet.

Is there something you learn to like that you didn’t like before?  You can share recipes in the comments

Here is the recipe for the salad :

Costa-Rican Hearts of Palm Salad
From Food.com
4 servings

• 2 (16 ounce) cans hearts of palm
• 1/3 cup choppedred bell pepper
• 1/3 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
• 1 tablespoon choppedparsley
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoonDijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons low sodium chicken broth (remove fat)
• 1 tablespoonolive oil
• ground pepper
• very small amount salt (optional) (I omitted it)
• lettuce leaf

• Drain the hearts of palm, cut them into ½-inch pieces, and put them into a large bowl.
• Stir in the red pepper, yellow pepper, and chopped parsley.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, mustard, chicken broth, and olive oil. Drizzle the dressing over the hearts of palm mixture and toss gently.
• Season to taste with salt (optional) and pepper.
• Line a serving bowl with lettuce leaves, spoon the salad on top and serve.

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This salad would be perfect with a burger on the bbq   This recipe I made it 2 times in the last week.  It’s very simple and it had a really good taste.

Barbequed Cheddar Burgers
From Food.com
6-8 servings

• 3 1/2 lbs lean ground beef (I used 1 lb for 3 people)
• 1/2 cup barbecue sauce, purchased (since I used 1 lb of lean ground beef, I used only 1/8 cup of barbecue sauce)
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• cheddar cheese, grated

1. Mix first 5 ingredients and form into patties. Cook by preferred method and melt cheddar cheese on top.

I wish you all a nice summer.  Enjoy!

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I have to share with you that even in this heat, I’m knitting a hat with 100% wool.  I’ll be ready for winter

Here is the pattern : Butterfly Hat

Coconut Peaks

If you like macaroons or anything with lime then you’ll probably like these coconut peaks.  You can add chocolate on top but I omitted it.  It’s so yummy.

Coconut Peaks
From Food.com
20 large peaks

• 1/4 cup butter, this is 3 tbsp of melted butter, I would say that you could get away with 2 1/2 tbsp melted butter (50 g)
• 2 eggs, if your eggs are very large I would recommend that you only use 1 egg
• 6 tablespoons sugar (85 g)
• 2 2/3 cups sweetened coconut (I used unsweetened coconut)
• 2 tablespoons lime peel (or lemon peel, I used 1 tbsp and added an extra tbsp of coconut)
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (or your preferred chocolate type)

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Melt butter.
• In a bowl mix egg and sugar. Add coconut, lime peel and melted butter.
• Let the mixture set for 10 minute.
• Form the peaks using 2 spoons (or one spoon and fingers) and place peaks on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Large peaks – bake for approx 10-11 min or until golden.
• Small peaks – bake for approx 7-8 min or until golden.
• If using – melt chocolate of your choice and dip bottoms of the peaks and let cool or drizzle chocolate on top of peaks.