Greek Orzo Salad

This cold pasta salad is delicious same day but I must say it's even better the next day. So leftovers for lunch it is!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups orzo

4 cups water

Dressing:

1/3 cup light olive oil 

2 tbsps lemon juice 

1 1/2 tsps dry oregano 

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 cup finely chopped bell pepper

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion 

10 cherry tomatoes, finely chopped 

1 cup finely chopped cucumber 

1 cup chopped olives 

1 cup marinated artichokes, roughly chopped 

1/2 cup crumbled feta

6 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped 

6 fresh mint leaves, finely chopped 

Begin by cooking the orzo as directed on the package, then drain, rinse in cold water and set aside. 

Prep all the veggies and whisk the dressing ingredients together.

Now just mix everything together in a large bowl, cover and refrigerate.

I used a spicy deli mix of olives which was amazing but canned olives will work too.

This salad can be made a day ahead and serves about 10 as a side but will easily serve 4 or 5 as a meal.

Recipe from: simplyvegetarian777.com

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Leftover Roast Pork Fried Rice

Anyone who knows me knows I love leftovers! So this recipe is right in my wheelhouse! Leftover pork and leftover rice are converted into a savory meal. 

I used chopped cooked pork roast here, which was very good, but ideally you would want to use leftover Char Siu for restaurant quality pork fried rice results. This is the link to the  recipe I use for Char Siu:

https://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2023/01/easy-homemade-char-siu.html 

Ingredients:

1 - 1 1/2 cups chopped cooked pork

3-4 cups leftover rice (or cook and chill it)

3 tbsps avocado or canola oil, divided

1 tsp sesame oil

1 celery stalk, diced

1 carrot, diced small

1 or 2 radishes, diced small

1/4 cup diced red onion

2-3 tsps minced garlic

1 cup frozen peas and/or edamame

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp fresh minced ginger

2 tbsps soya sauce

2 eggs, beaten

sriracha to taste

some chopped chives

apple cider vinegar

snap peas and garlic scapes to garnish (optional)

Heat 2 tbsps avocado and sesame oils in a large skillet on medium high. Add carrot, radishes, celery and onion and cook 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low and add the garlic, stirring for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Add peas/edamame (I used 1/2 cup of each), red pepper flakes and ginger and heat 1 minute before adding the rice. Spread it out and don't stir for 1-2 minutes. Then stir, spread it out again and don't stir another 1-2 minutes. (Note: using chilled rice helps it to keep from clumping)

Stir in the soya sauce and chopped pork and heat 1 minute.

Spread to the sides of the skillet making a well, then add 1 tbsp of oil. Pour the beaten eggs in the middle and cook for 2 minutes, breaking and scrambling it. Stir into the rice along with the chives.

Add sriracha to taste along with a glug of apple cider vinegar. (Sorry for inaccurate measure of A.C.V. A glug is maybe a teaspoon or 2)

If using snap peas add water into a frying pan and heat to boiling. Add peas for just 1 minute then drain. 

For the garlic scapes, a simple sauté in a bit of oil or butter and they are ready to plate!

Serves 4

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Custard Cake with Rhubarb

Amazingly creamy vanilla custard cake topped with tart fresh rhubarb. 

Ingredients:

4 eggs, separated and at room temperature 

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted 

1 tsp vanilla 

3/4 cup flour

2 cups lukewarm milk

1 1/2 cups diced rhubarb 

1 tbsp sugar

Icing sugar to dust

Line an 8 X 8" baking pan with parchment and lightly spray with oil. Cut the rhubarb and toss with 1 tbsp sugar. Set aside.

Separate eggs and beat the whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

Beat the yolks with the sugar until light yellow then add the butter and vanilla. Beat 2 minutes. Add the flour and fully combine then add the milk.

Fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture. The batter will seem quite thin. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and scatter the rhubarb on top. I had very young, thin stalks of rhubarb.

Bake at 375°F for 60 minutes until set. It may be just a little jiggly but not totally wobbly if that makes any sense!

Cool completely in pan on rack where it will set, before using a second rack on top to flip it out. Carefully peel off the parchment and turn right-side up.

Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Always refrigerate any leftovers.

Makes 9 servings

Adapted from: newstalkzb.co.nz

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Garlic Scapes and Sole

Years ago, when I was first married and didn't know anything about cooking, I tried a recipe for fish with soya sauce. The fish was literally swimming in soya sauce, it was horrible and it's story lives on in infamy in our house. This is NOT that recipe! In this recipe the sole is lightly flavoured with honey and garlic and garnished with fresh sautéed garlic scapes. Scapes have a short-lived season starting in late spring so check out the farmer's market near you and try them!

Ingredients:

400 g fillet of sole

black pepper to taste

2 tbsps avocado oil

2 tbsps honey

1-2 tsps minced garlic

2 tbsps soya sauce

2 tsps lemon juice

garlic scapes

olive oil

A scape is a shoot from the garlic plant when growing garlic bulbs. It is trimmed off once it starts to curl to allow the growing energy to go to the bulb rather than the flower.

Scapes are like chives but a little crunchier and with a mild garlic flavour. The whole thing is edible but I find the bud, where the flower would have developed if not cut, and the pointy end are not as tender. So I cut them just under the bud.

Combine the honey, minced garlic, soya sauce and lemon juice in a small bowl and set aside. Pat the fillets dry with paper towels, sprinkle with pepper and heat avocado oil in a skillet to medium high. Fry the fish in hot oil 1 minute per side, then pour the soya sauce mixture over them. Cook 2-4 minutes or until lightly glazed.

In another pan heat a little olive oil and sauté whole or chopped scapes for 2-3 minutes or until they turn bright green. Serve over the sole, or if you have alot of scapes they can be your side veggie!

These were from my small backyard garden and were tender and delicious. Guess I'm going to have to plant more garlic in the fall to enjoy more scapes next spring!

Serves 2-3

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Pork Bone Soup

It's a dreary, rainy day. Good excuse to make a healthy, comforting soup like this one!

Ingredients:

1  pork butt/shoulder bone

6-8 cups water or enough to cover bone

1 bay leaf 

Salt to taste

3 carrots, diced 

2 celery stalks, diced 

1 onion, diced 

4-5 tsps minced garlic 

2 cups shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix

1/2 cup bell pepper, diced 

Salt and pepper to taste 

1 tsp onion powder 

1 tsp oregano 

1/2 tsp ground cumin 

1/2 tsp celery seed 

2 cups egg noodles 

Garnish with fresh parsley 

Start off by making the pork bone broth. Use a leftover roast pork bone or a bone from the butcher. I used the leftover bone from my Savory Slow Roasted Pork and Potatoes. Here's the link:

https://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2022/12/savory-slow-roasted-pork-and-potatoes.html?m=1

Place the bone in the bottom of a dutch oven, cover with water. Add the bay leaf and some salt, bring to a boil then cover and simmer 2-3 hours. Remove the bay leaf and chill. Once chilled skim off any fat but if the broth seems gelatinous you're lucky. That just means it's rich in collagen which is full of protein and other good-for-you stuff!

Remove any meat from the bone. You can also chop up some leftover roast pork if you have it.

Add everything to the dutch oven except the egg noodles. Bring to a boil then simmer for 15 or 20 minutes until the carrots are tender.

Bring the soup back to a boil and add the noodles. Simmer 7-9 minutes or until the noodles are cooked. Taste for salt and pepper.

Garnish with chopped fresh parsley.

Serves 4-6

This soup is yummy but I sure hope the sun comes back out soon!

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Cranberry Pull Apart Bread

Tart and bright cranberries are balanced with sweet glaze for the perfect breakfast, brunch or dessert bread. Each pull-apart slice is filled with cranberry goodness!

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 tbsps sugar

1 tsp lemon or orange zest

Bread:

2 1/2 cups + 2 tbsps flour (divided)

3 tbsps sugar

1 1/2 tsps quick rise yeast

1 1/4 tsps salt

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg, at room temperature

Glaze:

1 cup icing sugar

1-2 tsps lemon or orange zest

1 or 2 tbsps milk

First you want to start with making the cranberry filling. Toss the cranberries, melted butter, sugar and zest together and spread out in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet. Roast at 400°F for 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and pour into a bowl with all the juices. Cool completely. I made this a day ahead of time and refrigerated until needed.

For the bread, mix 1 cup flour, sugar, yeast and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside. In a saucepan, heat the butter, water, milk and vanilla on low heat to 120°F. Then add this to the flour mixture mixing just until combined. Add the egg and combine. Now, using the dough hook, add 1 1/2 cups flour and knead on low until you have a smooth, sticky ball. Only add the remaining 2 tbsps of flour if needed. Take the ball of dough and coat with oil. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm area for 1 - 1 1/2 hours or until doubled.

Once doubled, turn out onto a floured surface or use the plastic wrap it had been covered with, and roll out to 8 X 6". Again wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 - 18 hours.

Here's the fun part: Take the dough and roll it out to 13 X 10". Mix then spread the cooled roasted cranberry filling leaving a 1/2" border around. Cut the dough into 4 rectangles 10 X 3 1/4" and stack the strips on top of each other. Cut them into 4 even rectangles.

Line an 8 X 4" loaf pan with parchment paper and spray it with oil. Turn the pan on it's end and stack the rectangles until the pan is filled. Turn right side up and cover with plastic wrap. Rise in a warm spot (like the oven with a pot of hot water) until doubled in size again, 1-2 hours.

Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes, then loosely tent with foil and continue baking for 30 minutes or until internal temperature reads 190°F. Uncover for the last 5 minutes.

Cool on rack for 15 minutes, then carefully remove from pan to rack and mix the glaze ingredients together.

Spoon glaze over the top while still slightly warm.

Let set then pull apart and enjoy!

Adapted from: karenskitchenstories.com

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Mediterranean Bean Salad

Super easy and healthy too with fresh colourful vegetables and high fiber legumes. Customize with your favourite beans like kidney, edamame, chickpeas. And best of all you can make this a day or two ahead of when you need it! In fact, leftovers were still good 5 days later! Great as a side with anything grilled.

Ingredients:

3 - 19 oz (540ml) cans beans 

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 yellow bell pepper, diced 

1/2 red onion, diced 

1/2 cup celery, diced 

handful fresh chopped parsley 

juice of 2 lemons

1 tbsp olive oil 

Salt and pepper to taste 

Couldn't be easier... mix everything together and chill! That's the whole recipe! I used red and white kidney beans and black beans.

Serves 10

Adapted from: delectablyhealthy.blogspot.com 

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