carrot cake for a windy day

I can't say no to overripe bananas. So here's a carrot cake. With bananas. It's got no refined sugar - surprise! Just that fructose hiding in the dates and bananas. The recipe is from 101 cookbooks.

Carrot Cake

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp fine sea salt
3/4 cup walnut pieces
4 ounces (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup dried dates, very finely chopped into a paste
3 ripe bananas (1 1/4 cups), mashed well
1 1/2 cups grated carrots (about 3)
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 eggs, lightly beaten

6 oz. cream cheese (just over 1/2 a block)
3 tbsp maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350. Whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and walnuts in a bowl. In a small bowl, stir together melted butter and dates. In a large bowl, mix together mashed bananas, carrots, yogurt and eggs. Stir in butter and dates. Add flour mixture, and stir until just combined. Spread batter into a loaf pan or 9x9 pan, lined with parchment paper. Bake 50-60 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Meanwhile, beat together room temperature cream cheese and maple syrup. Spread over the cooled cake.

(My cat loves to photo-bomb, especially when there's cream cheese involved.)

carrot thyme soup with parmesan croutons

I wanted to make soup. But I had no stock! So I made a onion broth, flavoured with a whole head of garlic and thyme. I wanted to eat the soup. But I had no crackers! Soup without something crispy and crunchy? Sacrilege! I made croutons.

carrot thyme soup
1 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, sliced
1 head of garlic
a handful of thyme sprigs
6 carrots, chopped
salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add onions, and cook until softened. Slice off the top of the head of garlic (just exposing the cloves, leaving it intact). Tie up the garlic and thyme in a piece of cheesecloth. Add to the pot, along with 4 or 5 cups of water. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 10-15 minutes. (Voila, tasty stock!) Remove the cheesecloth bundle and discard. Add the carrots, and simmer until carrots are tender. Puree with an immersion blender, and season to taste.

parmesan croutons
4 slices of stale whole grain bread
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
fresh thyme, minced
fresh (or dried) sage, minced
1/2 cup parmesan, grated

Preheat oven to 350. Cut bread into small cubes. Toss in a bowl with all other ingredients. Stir to coat bread with seasonings. Spread on a baking sheet, and bake for 10-15 minutes, until dry and crispy. Serve on top of soup.

meet mr. mandoline

Mandolines are a slightly scary kitchen tool - one wrong move and you've shaved off the end of your finger. However, everything fun is a little bit dangerous, right? A mandolin is a necessary tool for creating paper-thin slices, beautiful and delicious in many recipes. Think of finely sliced potatoes in a gratin, or ribbons of beets or carrots for salads.

Here's a fast, fresh salad for winter - storage carrots and greenhouse cucumbers in delicate ribbons, with tangy, lemon dressing.


carrot and cucumber salad


1 carrot, scrubbed and sliced on a mandoline
1/2 cucumber, sliced on a mandoline
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp olive oil
a handful of cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Toss to combine!

dumplings, rice and sweet carrots

I've been thinking a lot recently about the idea of menu planning - that perfect combination of dishes, connected by a theme, ingredient, season, region or feeling. Especially in Toronto, where every possible type of food is available, meals can sometimes become a mash-up of ingredients and dishes that don't really work together. But once in a while, a menu works perfectly. All the flavours work together. And don't forget the weather - beyond the simple fact of season, winter is a time for filling, starchy, hearty meals. Think roots, apples, vegetables that store well, spices and flavours that warm you up.

Menu planning can be difficult. It involves planning ahead, the mix-and-matching of recipes and ingredients. Try looking at the back of your favourite cookbook for ideas. Often, authors will group recipes by culture, theme or season. Or, check out Jamie Oliver's new cookbook Meals in Minutes. He's done all the work for you, and created tons of delicious meals, complete with side dishes and desserts.

Here's an asian inspired dinner for my boyfriend, complete with his favourite pot stickers and some green, spinachy rice. I didn't include a dessert, but a tapioca or rice pudding would finish the meal off spectacularly.


split pea or pork dumplings  -  green sesame rice  -   braised carrots with sesame and honey





dumplings
I posted a detailed recipe for dumplings a few weeks ago, but here's a list of filling ideas. Remember, you can pan-fry, steam, or boil these little guys in soup or broth! They are incredible versatile and freeze very well.

Traditional pork filling, from Epicurious
Yellow split pea, from 101 Cookbooks
Tofu and veggies, from Alton Brown
Tempeh potstickers, from Herbivoracious 

green sesame rice
inspired by this post at They Draw and Cook - Sesame Green Rice. I used spinach instead of kale, but only because a certain someone who lives with me hasn't warmed up to the deliciousness of kale. Yet.
















braised carrots with sesame and honey
Try substituting maple syrup and olive oil for a vegan version. Braising is a great, fast way to prepare root vegetables - it's fast like boiling, but you reduce the cooking liquid down to keep all the nutrients in the dish.

4 or 5 carrots, peeled and cut in 1 inch chunks
1 cup water
1 tbsp honey (or maple syrup)
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Sesame oil, salt and pepper

Combine carrots, water, honey and butter in a pot. Bring to a boil, and simmer until almost all the liquid is gone. Turn the heat down, and sauté for another minute, stirring frequently. Add the sesame seeds, and finish with a splash of sesame oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

cooking on earth day

Sweet Curried Carrot Soup

2 tbsp olive oil

2 small onions, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp ginger, minced

2 tbsp thai red curry paste

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

1 apple, peeled and diced

5 carrots, peeled and diced

6 cups water

1 bouillon cube

1 can coconut milk

more coconut milk and arugula to garnish

Saute onions in olive oil for 5 minutes, until soft. Add garlic, ginger and curry paste, stir and cook for a few more minutes. Add sweet potatoes, apple, carrots, water and bouillon cube. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. Puree in a food processor or with an immersion blender. Add coconut milk, and heat for 5 more minutes. Serve with a spoonful of coconut milk and a few pieces of arugula.

*Note: Clearly, I spent earth day cooking. What better thing to do than to cook up some tasty food with some local, organic produce? Onions, garlic, sweet potato, apples and carrots, all from less than 100 miles away. I remade my last recipe - the cornbread quiche - because it was just so good.