Chicken Gyros

A little while ago, my friend Bec made these for dinner.

They were so good and fresh and summery tasting.

Jim and Clara totally loved them too and kept asking me to make them.

Bec made her chicken in a slow-cooker with amazing results.

(Those of you with a slow-cooker try it out. Here's the recipe.)

Because I don't have a slow-cooker, I used this very similar oven baked recipe.

My kids eat these as more of a salad on their plate with the pita on the side.

I'm not sure if this looks labour intensive, but it's really not.

It comes together really quickly.

You could even marinate the chicken all day in the fridge, do all the toppings ahead of time and just cook the chicken at supper time.

Chicken Gyros

Recipe found here

Serves 4-6

2 teaspoons garlic, minced 

Juice of 1 lemon, I also added some of the zest

2 teaspoons apple cider or red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 heaping tablespoons greek yogurt 

1 tablespoon dried oregano

salt and pepper

4-6 boneless, skinless, chicken breast halves

Combine all of the above ingredients except for the chicken in a baking dish, and whisk together to make a marinade. 

Add in chicken, and turn to coat. Cover, and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour to marinate.

Cook the chicken in a 350 oven for 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the toppings and make the tzatziki sauce.

1 tomato, diced

1/2 cucumber, diced

8-10 greek pita or pita pockets

crumbled feta

lettuce or spinach

red onion slices and chopped parsley, optional

tzatziki sauce, recipe below

Tzatziki Sauce

16 ounces Greek yogurt

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and very finely diced

1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic, I skipped the garlic

1 teaspoon apple cider or white wine vinegar

Salt, pepper, and fresh lemon juice to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate until dinner.

Chop the cooked chicken into large chunks or strips.

Set out bowls with the toppings.

Heat up the pitas and serve.

Create gyros to your liking.

**I'm adding a few pictures of Jimmy eating his Gyro...and getting increasingly annoyed that I'm photographing him in his work clothes.

I love you, Jimmy.

Kusherie: Egyptian Street Fare

Kusherie, a dish popular in Egypt, is probably one of my favourite things to eat.

I was introduced to it several years back at a little restaurant in Toronto.

I always promised myself I wouldn't try to make it at home so it would still feel special to eat it when we went out.

That promise was broken today. 

My friend, Laurie, got me onto this cookbook called More with Less; such a good cookbook.

It's a Mennonite cookbook that emphasizes eating more grains and vegetables, less sugar and all for less money.

Carolyn Yoder from Egypt  offers this recipe for Kushari and when I saw it I resisted the urge to make it no longer.(This is terrible, but it never occurred to me that there might be Mennonites in Cairo?)

It was exactly right and just how I hoped it would taste.

A flavourful bed of rice and lentils that's topped with a spicy-sweet tomato sauce and caramelized onions.

Perfect.

I throw a couple meatballs on top of the kids kusherie in place of the caramelized onions.

A big green salad with house dressing goes well with kushari.

This tomato herb salad dressing is beautiful with the main course.

*No meal prep would be quite complete without my right hand man and mini-chef, Jimmy*

Kusherie (Kusharee)

adapted from More with Less Cookbook 

2 Tbsp oil

1 1/4 C brown lentils, rinsed

4 C stock, hot

1 tsp salt

dash pepper

1 1/2 C rice (I used white basmati)

3 small tins tomato paste

3 C tomato juice, pureed tomato, or tomato sauce (I used 2 cans of V8)

1 green pepper, chopped small

1 handful celery leaves, chopped

1 T honey, sugar or maple syrup

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

big pinch chili flakes

2Tbsp oil

3 onions, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

Heat oil over med heat in a large sauce pan and add lentils and cook 5 minutes.

Stir often.

Add 3 C stock, salt and pepper.

Cook uncovered 10 minutes.

Stir in rice and remaining 1 C stock.

Bring to a boil and cover simmering until cooked, about 10-15 minutes.

In a medium sauce pan, heat tomato paste, V8, green pepper, celery leaves, honey, salt, cumin and chili flakes.

Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer 20-30 mins.

In a small skillet heat oil and add onions, garlic, a pinch of salt and pepper and sautee on med-low  until brown.

To serve, put rice-lentil mixture on a plate, top with tomato sauce and finish with the caramelized onions.

House Dressing

1/3 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/3 C Red Wine Vinegar

2 Tbsp honey or brown sugar

1 Tbsp tomato paste (I used the Kusharee tomato sauce) 

1 clove minced garlic

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/4 tsp each basil and oregano, dried

1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce

pinch pepper

pinch salt

 Shake all ingredients together in a mason jar.

Roasted Tomato Meatball Soup

Every Wednesday I make soup.

We have soup because Wednesday nights are busy, soup is fast and it having a 'soup night' takes some of the guess work out of what to make for dinner.

This past Wednesday's soup was particularly good.
It is an oven roasted tomato and red pepper puree with tons of mini meatballs thrown in.

Pretty simple but really different than most of the other soups I make.

I added about a cup of cooked rice and balsamic vinegar right at the end.

It's a most filling soup. I served it with naan and some of Shaida's delicious yogurt.

Roasted Tomato Meatball Soup 
(Eat Shrink and Be Merry Cookbook)

2 Cans San Marzano Tomatoes, drained (I kept the juice and cooked it down for tomato paste) or 8 roma tomatoes chopped
2 large red bell peppers, coarsely chopped
1 large red onion, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp thyme

 2 cups beef broth
1 can V8 juice
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped or (2 tsp dried)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 C cooked rice, optional
salt, pepper- to taste

 Meatballs:

1lb extra-lean ground beef
1 chopped green onion
1/4 cup unseasoned bread crumbs
2 tbsp parmesan cheese
1 egg
1/2 tsp each thyme and oregano
salt, pepper

Preheat oven to 450.

Cover a sheet pan with parchment paper and, on it, toss together tomatoes, peppers, onion, garlic, oil and herbs.
Roast in a single layer for 15 minutes. 
Stir and turn oven onto broiler. Broil veggies for another 10 minutes. 

Meanwhile, prepare the meatballs. Combine all meatball ingredients and mix well. Form 48 mini meatballs. 
Remove veg from oven. Transfer the veg to a soup pot, add stock and blend with an immersion blender until well pureed. (or puree in a blender half at a time with 1 C stock each time) Add the rest of the soup ingredients.

Bring soup to a boil. Add meatballs. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until meatballs are cooked through - from 5 to 10 minutes.

Guacamole Salad with Josh

Since my very sweet friend gave me some of her genius salsa...for free!...

I went ahead and made Salsa Lime Chicken and Rice again.

Now, a couple observations I made over dinner.

a.) Salsa Lime Chicken and Rice tastes even better with Jan's Salsa!

b.) Nothing goes with SLCR quite as well as this quacamole salad!

c.) I love Josh and Amy like there's no tomorrow.

So, guacamole salad is everything you would mash into a regular quac.

There's avocado, tomato, lime, some peppers and beans for good measure, you just don't mash it.

The dressing is so simple.

It has loads of lime zest and juice, a bit of olive oil and some salt and cayenne.

Josh and Amy loved it.

See how nicely Josh cleaned his plate.

Guacamole Salad

(Ina Garten)

1 pint grape tomato, halved

1 yellow pepper, diced

1 can (19 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained

1 jalapeno pepper, minced (optional)

1 lime zested and juiced (about 1/4 C juice)

1/4 C extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp kosher salt

1 garlic clove, minced

dash cayenne

1/2 tsp pepper

2 avocados, peeled and diced

Place the tomatoes, yellow pepper, black beans, jalapeno peppers, and lime zest in a large bowl. Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, salt, black pepper, garlic, and cayenne pepper and pour over the vegetables. Toss well.

Just before you're ready to serve the salad, fold the avocados into the salad. Check the seasoning and serve at room temperature.

Paillards of Chicken with Cherry Tomatoes

Lately, I have been doing a lot of quick meals.

Tonight was different.

I felt like spending a little longer in the kitchen and making something special.

Everything about this whole meal is pretty and tasty and worth the time invested.

We took a few days off this week in the spirit of March Break.

So since the kids had totally worn themselves out outside and were resting, I had an hour to get dinner ready in a quiet house.

It was special.

Here's what I made.

~Chicken pounded thin, sprinkled with lemon and breaded in fresh white breadcrumbs mixed with herbs.

~Warm buttery tomatoes with ribbons of basil

~Brown rice cooked in some beef stock.

~Very special brownies (that I must share with you)

Paillards of Chicken with Cherry Tomatoes

(Not your mothers weeknight cooking)

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast, pounded thin

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 cup flour mixed with a pinch of thyme, salt and pepper

2 large eggs, beaten

1 1/2 C fresh white bread crumbs, made in a food processor mixed with a little thyme

2 Tbsp olive oil

24-30 cherry tomatoes, pierced with a knife so they wont pop

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp minced or ribboned basil or parsley

salt and pepper

Sprinkle chicken with lemon juice.

Place flour, and crumbs on plates.

Whisk eggs in a shallow bowl.

Dredge chicken in flour, then dip it into egg and then coat with bread crumbs.

In a large skillet over med-high, heat oil and saute chicken until crispy and golden, 4-5 mins per side.

Remove chicken from pan and keep warm.

For the tomatoes, wipe skillet clean and add butter. Melt butter over med-high and add tomatoes.

Cook tomatoes until warm, tossing with butter, about 1 minute.

Add salt and pepper.

Add basil, toss again.

Serve tomatoes warm with chicken and some brown rice or buttered and herbed noodles.

Baked Potato and Tomato

Here's a simple side dish you could put with almost anything.

With fresh, summer tomatoes right out of the garden, this dish would be at its best.

Even so, with some large hot house tomatoes and a few potatoes, this is full of flavour and really satisfying.

Resist the urge to change it first time around and I think you'll see the simplicity of the ingredients and seasonings are perfect.

Baked Potato and Tomato

(Company's Coming:The Potato Book)

3 lbs Potatoes (6 medium)

4 medium tomatoes, sliced

3-4 medium onions, sliced

3/4 C monterey jack or cheddar cheese, grated

1/2 C grated parmesan

3/4 tsp dried oregano

3/4 tsp dried basil

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2-1 C mozzarella cheese, grated

Layer 1/2 of first 3 ingredients in a greased 4 quart casserole dish.

Sprinkle with Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese.

Mix parmesan, oregano, basil, salt and pepper in a small bowl.

Sprinkle 1/2 over the Jack cheese. Layer second 1/2 of vegetables over the top. Sprinkle with second half of parmesan herb mixture.

Scatter mozzarella cheese on top.

Cover with foil or lid and bake at 400*F for 50 minutes.

Remove foil and bake 10 more minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Serves 8

Chicken Pita Sandwich with Cucumber Yogurt

Warm, herb flecked, chicken bites layered in a pita with slices of feta and tomato and topped with cucumber-chive yogurt is the perfect dinner on a very hot, late spring night.

We had some hot weather here this past week. Not wanting to turn the oven on, an abundance of fresh herbs in the garden and being inspired by Everyday Food's Chicken Koftas, I made these lovely little sandwiches.

I loaded the chicken up with chives and parsley and seasoned them with salt, pepper and cumin but left the rest of the toppings pretty basic.

This came together so quickly. With some sparkling lime water, it was a cool, refreshing way to end a hot spring day.

Chicken Pita Sandwich with Cucumber Yogurt

(Everyday Food, Martha Stewart June 2011)

1 1/2 lbs ground chicken

1/4 C minced chives

1/3 C minced parsley

3/4 tsp cumin

salt and pepper

1/2 cucumber, seeded and diced small

1/2 C plain yogurt

salt and pepper to taste

2 Tbsp veg or canola oil

1-2 medium tomatoes, in thin wedges

feta, sliced or crumbled

pitas

fresh chives or mint for serving

In a large bowl mix together chicken, chives, parsley, cumin, salt and pepper. Form into 8 oval and slightly flattened patties.

In a small bowl, toss together cucumber, yogurt, salt and pepper.

In a large skillet, heat oil over med-high heat. Cook patties until brown and cooked through.

Divide patties among pitas.

Top with tomatoes, feta, yogurt sauce and herbs.

Fold in half and serve.

Oven Roasted Tomato Peach Pasta

My Gramma, "Doda" as Jibs calls her, has been raving about frozen peaches lately. They're really quite good.

This pasta uses frozen peaches as the primary ingredient in its sauce. Mixed in with the peaches are onion, lots of fresh and sun-dried tomato, some cinnamon and cayenne pepper.

All the ingredients go into a 9 x 13 baking dish and get thrown in a hot oven to roast.

Once the sauce is done, it will be sweet and rich and thick. You can pour it over some chunky pasta and top it with parmesan cheese.

This one's for you, Gramma...do you want the leftovers?

Oven Roasted Tomato Peach Pasta

(Moosewood Cooking for Health)

6 sundried-tomatoes, chopped

4 cups coarsely chopped tomatoes

2 cups chopped fresh or frozen peaches, thaw if frozen

1 cup chopped onion

2 tbsp olive oil, (I used the oil that the sundried tomatoes came packed in.)

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

1/8 tsp cayenne

2 tsp herbs de provence

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

450g chunky shaped pasta (3 Cups or so dried)

grated parmesan cheese

In a 9 x 11 inch baking dish, stir together sundried tomatoes, tomatoes, peaches, onions, oil, salt, cinnamon, herbs de provence pepper and cayenne. In a 450* oven roast, uncovered, for 40 mins stirring a couple of times.

When the sauce has been cooking about 25 mins, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta.

When the sauce is cooked, stir in vinegar.

Serve sauce atop pasta with a generous grating of cheese.

A side salad of spinach, goat cheese and walnuts would be nice.

Jib says, "Get over here pasta, I love you."

Jib tip, "Don't get the pasta in your eyes, the cayenne is quite unforgiving!"

Vegetable, Cookie, Banjo

Beans and greens are a wonderful combination. This salad is cheap, filling, has simple, healthy ingredients and is quick to throw together.

I have never cooked with black eyed peas before but they have great flavour and really go well with the kale and sweet fennel. I'm always looking for more ways to use kale so I know I will make this over and over this summer.

Today we ate it on top of some amazing sausage that my Dad keeps his freezer stocked with.

The salad could easily stand on it's own feet at one of those epic summer barbecues that are inevitably approaching. (Yay!)

I did sample, and love, the taste of the dish when I first made it, but it got better with time. So if you can make it an hour ahead of eating time, it will be even better.

Black Eyed Peas with Kale, Fennel and Tomatoes

(adapted from Moosewood Cooking for Health)

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Cup chopped onion

1/2 tsp salt

3 garlic cloves minced

1 tsp herb de provence (or 1/2 tsp ground fennel)

1 tsp oregano

1 1/2 Cups chopped fennel

4 Cups chopped kale (stems removed)

1 Tbsp Soy sauce

1 Cup chopped tomato

2 cans (15 oz) black eyed peas, drained and rinsed (or 1 1/4 Cups dried beans, cooked)

ground black pepper

In a large saucepan over med heat, warm the oil. Add onions, salt, garlic and herbs. Cook, stirring often until onions soften. About 10 mins. Add fennel, cook another 8 mins.

Stir in kale and cook, covered 5 mins or until softened. Add soy sauce, tomato and peas.

Simmer 5 mins. Season with salt and black pepper.

Let sit 1 hour or so if possible. Not necessary but it will develop the flavours.

_________________________________________________________________

As for the cookie, made Joys Brownie Cookies tonight for my class...they were stupendous.

Make them!

I used 3/4 of a PC Dark Chocolate Bar in the cookie and then topped them with sprinkles and mini marshmallows. Pretty decadent.

Last thing, my Jimmy is the most inspiring person I have ever known.

He's an optimist, he will try anything and teaches himself all kinds of things.

Being around him has made me, a perfectionist who is scared to try anything that I might do wrong, learn and try stuff I never would have otherwise.

"You could totally do that, Jess.", he says. Then comes along side and helps me push through all my, "I just can't do it"(s).

Well, Jimmy has started teaching himself the banjo...and it pretty much rocks!

Pizza Night

My new pizza night favourite: Whole wheat crust topped with olive oil, 2 garlic gloves minced, oregano (fresh or dried), tomatoes, chopped kale, fresh ground pepper, grated parmesan cheese, minced onion and mozzarella.

Many traditions from both my Robinson and Stowe families have carried over into the way we do things in our own family. Pizza night happens to be one thing that both our families do. Friday night is Stowe pizza night and something we all look forward to. Most pizza dough recipes that I have tried in the past have not worked for me. Either they're too complicated or they don't roll out well or just plain don't taste good. My mum-in-law's pizza dough is my favourite. It is so simple and always perfect. I prefer whole wheat flour for my crust but some of my family members disagree so we usually go white.

*If I am making this for just the four of us, I half the recipe. If it's a Robin-Stowe pizza night I use the whole recipe.

Stowe Pizza Dough

2 1/4C Warm water

2T instant yeast

1T sugar

approx. 6 cups flour (just enough to make a soft dough that doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl)

3T Olive oil

1 1/2t salt

Combine warm water, yeast and sugar in a bowl or stand mixer (fitted with dough hook attachment.) Let stand 5 mins. Add remaining ingredients, mix and knead. (If using a stand mixer let the dough knead about 2 minutes.)
(If you have time, Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and let rise until you're ready to roll  out your dough.)

Divide dough into sections large enough for your trays, dusting rolling pin with more flour, roll out dough.

Top with sauce, toppings and cheese.

Sweet Cherry Tomato and Some Witteveen

Even though I had taken out some delicious Witteveen Mennonite Sausages, tonight just felt like a Lovely Butternut night. I had to do both. Since I was already into Jamie at Home, I looked up 'sausage' in the index. The recipe that caught my eye had two very important main components; sausage and cherry tomatoes.

My kids eat tomatoes like candy. While we were at the St Lawrence Market on Saturday I bought a bag of sweet little tomatoes for them to nibble on while we walked...they soon vanished.

While the tomatoes and sausages bake, their juices melt out and mix with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar making a wonderfully rich sauce. We alternated dipping our croutons in the soup and in the sauce. Jimmy and I both said, several times, "This is perfect." A perfect mix of flavours.

I anticipate the leftover tomato and sausage will be poured over some penne or mashed potato tomorrow for the kids lunch. What a versatile dish.

Sweet Cherry Tomatoes with Sausage

4lb cherry tomatoes (or a mixture of cherry tomatoes and largely diced roma)

2 sprigs each, thyme and rosemary

1T dried oregano

3 garlic cloves, peeled, and chopped

4-6 good pork or chicken sausages (we love Witteveen)

Extra virgin Olive oil

Balsamic Vinegar

salt and pepper

Heat oven to 375*.

Toss tomatoes with herbs, garlic, sausage, a few swirls of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

Bake 30mins. Stir and bake 15 more minutes.

Let cool a few minutes and then serve with just about anything that will absorb these delicious juices. I highly recommend the parmy-croutons from Lovely butternut soup.