The Quickest (and bestest) Roasted Brussel Sprouts

I don’t often make brussel sprouts as I am the only person in my house who cares for them. I bought some at market the other day with intentions of a home made kale, cabbage and brussel sprout salad but then yesterday started considering alternatives that aren’t smothered creamy poppy seed dressing. I landed on wanting to roast the lovely little things, but I also wanted to eat within 10 minutes so I adapted a quick roasting method from The Kitchn to make it even easier (and smoke free). 

The result was perfectly charred brussels within 10 minutes of turning on the oven. They are so much better than the kind that is roasted into submission for 30-45min (sometimes even an hour!) in most recipes. The result here is an inside that is tender but still has some substance, just like with roasted brussel sprouts that you usually get in a high end resturant.  

Quick Roasted Brussel Sprouts

 

in only 10 min!

 

Fresh brussel sprouts

Oil (I used 1tb of grapeseed and 1tb olive)

Salt and pepper (to taste)

Turn on broil and place cookie sheet on middle rack.

Meanwhile wash then cut the ends of the sprouts off and let the first few outer layer leaves fall away.

Cut sprouts in half, giant ones can be quartered. 

Dump on cookie sheet and toss in oil and salt and pepper, then arrange them so they are cut side down.

Cook 5 minutes or until lightly charred. 

Take cookie sheet out – if bottoms of sprouts aren’t nicely caramalized just leave them on the cookie sheet a few minutes (still out of the oven) to cook the bottoms a little more.

Serve warm or with a drizzle of balsamic or balsamic reduction. 

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Cheese Chips!!!

 

parmesan cheese chip

 
Heres the trouble folks; once you start making cheese chips you will never stop. Even with the best intentions, “I’ll just eat a few and save the rest to serve with dinner tomorrow” ultimately you will eat too many and spread the addiction to others. 

Usually, we see parmesan chips, which are delicious, mind you, but they aren’t the only cheese in the ballgame when it comes to crisp, light, flavourful homemade cheese crisps. Like usual I’ve done the experimenting for you and tried chips at different temperatures made of various cheeses including parmesan, extra old cheddar, medium cheddar, handeck, asiago, and a mix. 

  

extra old cheddar chips before baking

My favourite are the chips made from extra old cheddar (made by my local cheese shop Jenson’s and aged 2 years I believe. And don’t worry about it being orange- like most Canadian cheese makers, they use a vegetable based natural colouring). They are more crisp than asiago whichs tend to have the tiniest bit of chew and cheaper than parmesan chips, which I like almost as much. 

*Some recipes said to use a mix of finely grated cheese and coarse and after trying both I can tell you this is horseshit and it doesn’t matter. Grate it however you want!

the winner!

The recipe is so simple I’m not sure you can call it a recipe, but here it is! I recommend serving these (or at least planning to before you scarf them all down yourself) with Roasted Tomato Soup.

 

roasted tomato soup with the few cheese chips not eaten before dinner!

Cheese Chips

Grated  cheese of choice *
Preheat oven to 400f

Line baking sheet with parchment and use tablespoon to make cheese mounds. Bake for 4-6 minutes or until starting to bubble – stay close and don’t overcook!

Let cool on the cookie sheet a few minutes- they will crisp up when cool. 

Store leftovers (ha!) in a glass jar with a paper towel in the fridge for up to a week. 

 

 

Eggies in a Basket – the perfect Valentines Day Breaky

Full disclosure- Violet wasn’t even here during the making of this dish as Grandmas are freakin’ wonderful and she had a V day sleepover. She did arrive home during the “enjoy” step however and snag some bacon (for what I am told is her FOURTH breakfast haha – she just might be a hobbit.) 

I, like everyone else on the internet apparently, first wanted to make this dish after seeing it prepared on V for Vendetta, a great film.

 

V makes eggies

 
The marvel of V being able to make the eggies is that he was able to score real butter during a time of strict rations. I’ve seen a few very,very wrong recipes for this dish out there, but even the most misguided seems to grasp the base principal; this dish is all about the butter. 

There are only three things you need (in addition to a pan and spatula, come now don’t be so literal), good bread, good eggs and any kind of butter you can get your hands on. Here’s hoping you aren’t living in a dictatorship like V was and it isn’t too much trouble to get that last ingredient. 

My husband says this was one of the best breakfasts he ever had, so get crackin’ and make your loved one a Valentine’s dish to remember (that doesn’t even come close to breaking the bank).

 

Our Valentines Day Breakfast

 
Eggies in a Basket 

Turn frying pan to medium and melt 1 tablespoon of butter per piece of bread. 

Tear a hole in centre of each slice. 

Once butter is melted, place bread in pan for a few seconds then flip, ensuring both sides have sucked up some buttery goodness. 

Crack an egg into a wee bowl and carefully pour into centre of each slice (or crack directly in bread hole if you are a pro).

Once the whites have started to firm up a little and turn white (this only takes a minute or two), get a spatula out but before you flip, get another tablespoon of butter ready and throw it in and melt a bit beside the bread, then flip bread and let it soak up all that melted butter. 

Many recipes say to wait a few minutes at this point but that will result in over cooked eggs. If you want some runny yoke, remove from the pan as soon as both sides of bread are nicely browned and crisp. 

Serve immediately, with a mimosa because they are awesome. 

Flourless Banana Chocolate Mini Muffins

 

mini muffin or two bite brownie ? You decide!

 
Just to be clear, I love flour. All forms of gluten really, but flour based things in particular. But when my daughter was born (nearly 2 years ago now I can’t believe it!) I had an “aha” moment where I realized I was entirely responsible for everything that went inside this tiny person’s body and my choices would inform her relationship with food for the rest of her life. 

Woah- that’s a lot of pressure! I started to learn more about food and consider my nutritional choices more carefully. Two years later I am sixty pounds lighter than before pregnancy and am still learning so much about food and how it works in our bodies. Although my little one is no stranger to Tim Bits and sometimes eats things with “Mc” in front of them, she also loves kale chips, spinach smoothies and as of last night, these tasty, fudgy little two bite brownie type mini muffins. 

Thanks to Emma over at Better with Cake for the original recipe which I made a few changes to. They were soooo good and everyone at work shouted “send me the recipe!” in between mouthfuls. They satisfied my craving for something fudgy last night and were even better the next day when my little one was looking for a treat. The best thing is – not one dirty bowl! They are made in the blender and come together before the oven preheats 🙂

Flourless Banana Chocolate Mini Muffins 

Makes approx 36 mini muffins (can also halve recipe) 

2 eggs

1/2 cup maple syrup

4 teaspoons of vanilla or scrapings of one vanilla bean 

2 tablespoons of butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled sightly

2 overripe bananas

4 tablespoons cocoa power 

4 tablespoons of unsweetened nut butter (I used sunflower but peanut, almond, cashew or similar would be fine- if you are using regular sweetened peanut butter reduce the maple syrup)

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1 teaspoons of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon (I used epicure pumpkin pie spice)

1 teaspoon of sea salt 

4 tablespoons of mini semi sweet or dark chocolate chips

2 tablespoons of semi sweet mini chocolate chips 

—–

– Preheat oven to 350 f and line a mini muffin tray with papers or grease.

– Place all ingredients except choc chips into your food processor or blender and process/blend until well combined. FYI – the batter will be very, very runny. Don’t worry! 

-Add your 4 tablespoons of chocolate chips and stir to combine.

– Spoon/pour batter into your prepared muffin tray (I use approx 2 teaspoons per mini muffin).

– Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips on tops. 

– Bake for 10-12 mins until the tops spring back when lightly pressed and a toothpick has just a few crumbs attached when inserted into the centre.

– Allow to cool in the muffin tray slightly before transferring directly into your mouth to a wire rack to cool completely.

These are better (and less banan-y) the next day but are also good warm! 

Overnight French Toast Casserole

I’m not sure how it took me this long to discover the following recipe, but it is deliciously magical in ease of preparation and a must try for a brunch or breakfast-themed weeknight dinner.

Whenever I entertain, I seem to follow a strict pattern of inviting too many people and  attempting to cook too many different brand new dishes all at once. Ultimately I am left scrambling in the kitchen and can’t enjoy the company of my guests. A few weeks ago I broke this habit by making at least 3/4 of my Pumpkinfest Brunch menu make ahead dishes that took little or no prep the day of.

 

i was able to make the pumpkin tarts, hasbrown casserole, quiche, cheeseplate, and the french toast bake the day before

 
This was by far the easiest and most popular dish at the party and certainly fed a large crew! I even made a half sized version last night for dinner and served with fresh fruit and peppered bacon. 

My adaptations to the original recipe from Food.com are the additions of vanilla, nutmeg, allspice, salt and maple syrup.

The first time I made this I had leftover pumpkin pie filling and stirred 1/3 cup in the egg and it was very tasty and subtle. 

Some pecans on top would also be lovely! 

 

full sized version

 

Overnight French Toast Casserole 

SERVINGS 9-12 

1⁄2 cup butter 

12 slices white bread (I use a freshly sliced italian or french loaf)

1 cup brown sugar (*You may wish to reduce the amount of sugar used to 2/3 cup.)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon allspice or ground cloves

Dash of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 eggs

1 1⁄2 cups milk

1 tablespoon maple syrup 

Powdered sugar and maple syrup (for serving)

—

DIRECTIONS

Melt margarine in a 9 x 13 baking pan.

Put 6 slices of bread in bottom of pan.

In a bowl mix 1 cup brown sugar with spices and salt. 

Sprinkle 1/2 of this sugar mixture over bread.

Add another layer of 6 slices of bread.

In a bowl, whisk eggs with milk, maple syrup and vanilla until well blended.

Pour over bread layers.

Sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Bake covered at 350F 30 minutes.

Uncover and continue baking 15 minutes or until set and browned.

Top with powdered sugar and drizzle with maple syrup before serving. Raspberries and whipped cream served on the side make it very decadent! 

Leftovers reheat very well. 

 

make it in 10 minutes one night or morning and enjoy later!

 

The best squash in the world!

Happy Thanksgiving y’all. Today I’d like to share something I’m thankful for, which is the discovery of the BEST kind of squash. I had never heard of or seen this type of squash until it showed up in my farm share last year, and the first time I tasted it I knew I was in love. The prep is SO quick as the skin is edible (and tasty!) and it cooks in about 20-25 minutes. It is so sweet you don’t even need brown sugar! 

What is this magical, earth shattering, life changing squash you ask ? Where can you find squash that is ready to go in the oven before it is done preheating and so tasty everyone will fight for the leftovers? 

One word folks: Delicata.

 

named for it’s delicate (edible) skin

 
Once I learned of their exsistance I began to notice them more and more at roadside stands and farmers markets. I buy 4 or 5 at a time as they are such a great addition to any dinner and cook in the same amount of time as many meats. 

So get your hands on some delicata today and let me know what you think! This isn’t so much of a recipe as a recommendation to try this delictable winter squash (pun intended) and then tell me how it changed your life.

 

a healthy alternative to onion rings!

 
Roasted Delicata Squash Rings

Use 1/2 delicata squash per person.

Preheat oven to 425f.

Line cookie sheet with parchment.

Scrub squash and cut in approximately 1/2″ rings.

Scoop or cut out seeds.

Toss in enough melted butter to coat and salt and pepper (nutmeg is nice too- not to much). You can do this in a bowl or on a cookie sheet. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes and then flip and cook for another 10 minutes or until nicely browned. 

Enjoy!

One ingredient healthy ice cream!!! (No ice cream maker needed!!)

I don’t usually overuse exclamation marks, but this shit was impressive!

With just banana you can make ice cream that is just as good as soft serve!

I. Had. No. Idea.

My husband is a soft serve snob and when he tasted it he looked at me like I had really pulled a fast one over on his taste buds.

“This can’t be just banana!” (him)

“It is!” (me)

“Don’t eat it all!” (both of us)

Okay, are you ready? Here’s the recipe… freeze cut up banana then blend it up until creamy (my ninja made short work of it). That’s basically it!

ONE INGREDIENT ICE CREAM

Recipe adapted from the Kitchn

* cut the (very ripe) banana in chunks then store in Tupperware, a jar, or similar in freezer for 2-24 hours. Blend in blender/food processor until creamy.

*It will go through a grainy stage before it turns creamy.

*add ins are unlimited! Vanilla and a touch of salt were divine. Peanut butter, honey, or caramel would be tasty too!

*don’t worry about storing it as you will likely gobble it all up.

I’m serving this at my next dinner party and I bet no one (who hasn’t read this 😉 will be able to guess what it is made of. It is not very “bananay” and consistency is so much like soft serve it really is amazing!