Yes I just made that word up, Manguac, it’s great right, hilarious, it’ll be the next hummus I swear you’ll love it that much. Because what grows together, goes together, not that mangoes or avocados grow in my backyard,though maybe someday. So here goes, you’ve had mango salsa, now welcome mango guacamole, a new hero sidekick to top your grilled summer goodies. Manguac is splendid with grilled fish, BBQ chicken, pork chops, on a burger or veggie burger. I also just eat it with some fresh local greens as a salad, pack it to the beach and you are set!
An amazingly seasonal addition to this dish would be fresh local corn, honestly the corn right now is bonkers. Every summer I get that max. 1 month of the freshest, tastiest corn on the cob, I add it to everything. The best way in my opinion is grilled corn covered in butter or ghee. Yum. But grilled and added to this manguac is divine and makes it all the more delicious.
If you haven’t seen this video on how to easily peel a mango, check it out, the method of scraping the mango against a glass actually makes perfect sense.
Rrratatouille, it’s worth making, not only is it a palatable way to enjoy a smorgasbord of summer vegetable abundance, just the word ratatouille is fun to say. I love to enjoy ratatouille in a number of ways, traditionally it is a slowly stewed dish with herbes de provence, but I also love roasting it and layering the veggies all pretty like. The addition of pesto is magnifique, and unless I can find a fresh bouquet of herbs de provence I will use pesto to add the pizazz required for a special french dish such as this. You could also try adding brazil nut pesto instead of sunflower for an extra selenium boost. Now the possibilities for enjoying ratatouille are many. I love it as a simple elegant side dish with a roast chicken, or with poached eggs on top, ratatouille is also really nice with a soft cheese like chèvre and drizzled with balsamic reduction.
Heirloom tomato season is my absolute favourite, just look at those glistening sweethearts. The mad harvest is on, you can feel the end days of summer in the air. The time is now to enjoy the bounty and nourishment that summer gives us, replenish your stocks for that time that we’ll just pretend doesn’t even exist…
What I’ll miss most about summertime…
-the livin’s easy
-my baby can’t even crawl yet and I’m certain that won’t last into the Fall
-jumping in the cool but not too cool river everyday
-the abundance of local food and wild food everywhere
1/2 of a medium sized zucchini, cut into thin slices
4 medium sized tomatoes, cut into thin slices
1/2 of an onion, cut into thin slices
1 sweet pepper, cut into thin slices
Instructions
Pesto
Add basil, sunflower seeds, garlic,parmesan, olive oil and salt to a blender or food processor and process until smooth.
Ratatouille
Set oven to 375F
In a skillet or baking dish assemble layers of eggplant, zucchini, tomato,onion and peppers, working your way out to the edge of the vessel.
Sprinkle with salt and fresh cracked pepper and drizzle 1/2 C of your pesto over top. The seeds will get nice and toasty in the oven and the garlic basil flavour will penetrate all your lovely layers. Bake for 20-25 minutes
WordPress informs me, that it is our 6 year anniversary! What better occasion for such a divine little cardamom plum and berry tart such as this. I’ve really only been actively blogging for closer to 6 months, but the intention has always been there, I was just too shy all those years. Now here I am, baring it all, showing the world my gluten-free delights and stories about baby poo. They say the magic happens right outside your comfort zone, which strikes a chord on my heart strings. My imagination has doubled in size since I started Naked Cuisine, I’m always dreaming up the next best recipe to make your tastebuds smile. So thanks for reading, it makes me really happy 🙂
Today’s recipe is inspired by my friend Irene who I got to see today for the first time in years, it was really fun catching up, life changes so quickly but reconnecting with old friends always feels like no times passed at all. I remembered her love for cardamom, a spice which I don’t use much anymore because of J’s distaste for it. However, he is mad. Cardamom is a little green gem of deliciousness, the worlds third most expensive spice by weight only outdone by vanilla and saffron. The most amazing spices always have such brilliant flowers. You’d almost think this delicious tart was inspired by the cardamom flower, a striking resemblance. Some sort of subliminal affair.
“Flower of cardamom” by Reji Jacob
If you don’t have access to saskatoon berries you can substitute blueberry and even just use all plums. I really like a silky smooth, almost jam like filling so I strained the plums in a cheesecloth, feel free to skip this step if you like the tart peel and seeds of the berries.
1 C fresh or frozen berries (saskatoon, blueberry or blackberry)
3 Tbs coconut sugar
8 cardamom pods, seeds removed and crushed OR 1 tsp cardamom powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ C toasted coconut (optional)
Instructions
Add plums and berries to a saucepan and cover on low for about 5 minutes.
Add coconut sugar,vanilla and cardamom and leave to simmer for another 5 minutes.
In a food processor or high-powered blender add almonds, raisins,salt and coconut oil. Blend until mixture is thick and uniform.
Press crust evenly in a springform pan ideally or a pie dish, coming up about an inch on the side of the pan. Set aside.
In your blender or using a hand blender puree the plums and berries. Push through a cheese cloth and combine the strained liquid with 2 Tbs coconut oil.
Spread the plum sauce evenly on your crust and place in the fridge to set for at least an hour.
Top with toasted coconut flakes.
3.2.1311
Happy to be a member of the rebel score over at fight back fridays on the food renegade, check it out!
This Balsamic Roast Chicken recipe is pretty enough to serve at a gathering of friends, with a nice glass of wine, but easy enough to throw together in a pinch. It’s one of my favourite ways to eat roast chicken, especially served alongside roasted fingerling potatoes and tomatoes.
Lately I’ve had a crush on balsamic, that lush black liquid mixture of sweet and tart all at the same time. I made a balsamic reduction, and the simplicity amazed me. I’ve always bought the pre made stuff and assumed it was difficult to make at home but it’s totally easy and you save a bit of coin. If you aren’t familiar with balsamic reduction, also known as balsamic glaze or syrup, it is the essence of the vinegar in sultry gooey form. It’s much sweeter than regular old balsamic, though Nigella Lawson adds additional sugar in her recipe for balsamic syrup (for use with desserts). A word of caution when making balsamic glaze, if you aren’t paying attention it can turn into one of those pots you have to throw away because whatever you burned in it is there for life. Eek. Yeah so just keep a watchful eye and it’ll be fine. The same goes for coconut oil and raspberry sauce, which I once forgot about and burnt down half of the bake shack at the restaurant I worked in. After I made this balsamic reduction we went for a little drive, for some reason I thought I’d left the burner on and we turned the car around, speeding home and praying for the house not to be on fire. Thankfully I was just being overly cautious, pretty sure balsamic would be nearly explosive in terms of fire starting foods. You can smell it strongly as it reduces, a saving grace, and if you have an overhead fan, you are lucky, my whole house infused with balsamic.
How to make Balsamic Reduction
Ingredients
-4 C balsamic vinegar
Firstly, you can make a large amount or small, double the recipe or halve it. The original amount of balsamic vinegar will reduce by about half if you desire a thin reduction or reduce it down to 1/4 if you’d like a thicker glaze like consistency. This is the basic formula, all you need to do is bring the vinegar to a simmer and stir it every now and again until it thickens up to coat the spoon and pan to your liking. Just keep a hawks eye on it, you wouldn’t want this black gold to burn.
Uses
-drizzle over sweet fresh berries
-use as a final touch on special dishes
-mix with olive oil for dipping bread or dressing potatoes
-great with pork chops and grilled steaks dishes
-serve on grilled peaches or nectarines with a nice soft cheese
-mix with melted butter to dress steamed green beans or beets
Balsamic Roast Chicken+ How to make Balsamic Reduction
Author: Chantelle
Serves: 4
Ingredients
1 whole chicken (free run if possible)
1 lb fingerling or new potatoes
6-8 small fresh tomatoes, halved
10 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
2 Tbs balsamic reduction
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs dijon mustard
½ tsp sea salt
fresh cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400F.
In a roasting pan arrange chicken in the center, spread the potatoes around the chicken.
In a small bowl, mix together the balsamic vinegar, reduction, olive oil, mustard, garlic, sea salt and pepper and half the basil. Pour over the chicken and potatoes evenly. Put a lid on the roasting pan and place in the oven for about an hour and a half or until internal temperature has reached 175-180F ( cooking time depends on the size of your chicken- 1½ hours would be for a 3 lb. chicken)
Place the tomatoes on a separate roasting pan and sprinkle with sea salt, roast the tomatoes for about an hour.
Serve with extra fresh basil and balsamic reduction drizzled on top.
This is one of those 20 minute throw together meals that turn out really good. I wasn’t even expecting to post this but they were so yummy so I thought I should share with all of you lovelies. My cooking style sometimes gravitates to a hardcore fusion of many styles and ethnicities, I guess this one would be tex-mex meets italian, and for some reason, it works. These mexi bison lettuce wraps paired with a smoky paprika basil mayo really hit the spot, and they are totally healthy and easy to make too, bonus! These tasty little wraps would also make a great appetizer for a dinner with friends, or a great addition to any potluck.
I love simple food that’s healthy and delicious. Wrapping things is lettuce or chard is a handy little trick for getting a main and a salad all in one bite. The variations are endless, basically you just choose what meat/lentil/nut filling you desire and add spices and veggies to that. So in the past I’ve made these with ground chicken, thai red chillis, lime and ginger with carrots and zucchini YUM. Or you could use soaked lentils mashed with indian curry spices, red onion, mango and toasted seeds for a vegetarian lettuce wrap. These mexi ones were inspired by summers first fresh local heirloom tomatoes (yeah folks, up in Canada these take awhile) my love affair with tomatoes only started once I’d tasted a real tomato like these, not the patented won’t-soggy-your-sandwich variety. If you don’t have fresh basil for these I would definitely use some fresh cilantro. Oh and if you can’t get bison, just use ground beef, it works just as well.
The title for this entry could have been really long. Like it could have been miso ginger sesame marinated grilled eggplant and zucchini with vegetable fried rice, because that’s what it is for real. But it sounds a bit daunting and I certainly don’t want to scare anyone off, because you should make this dish. Even if you don’t love eggplant, you will love eggplant marinated in other delicious tastes. Eggplant is akin to a sponge, it just soaks up whatever you immerse it in, making for a versatile little vegetable. It’s beauty epitomizes the nightshade family, that deep purple skin which makes eggplant the most gothic and mysterious of vegetables (ahem, I mean fruit). For many years I feared this mysterious creature, but now I embrace its dark allure, in all of it’s variations.
Strips of grilled yellow zucchini make this dinner plate appear as night and day and since you’re going to be left with quite a bit of tasty marinade, you may as well make fried rice and call it a meal. A very vegan friendly, garden spotlight of a meal.
You can’t go wrong with a 2 in 1 sauce, you could even mix in a bit more oil and use it as a salad dressing, but the fried rice is smashing alongside grilled veggies.
We brought a few things to our new place and tried to go camping the other day. Our spot ended up being full so we slept on the floor of our new home. Days later, still sore, I got into some familiar old yoga poses today alongside baby Mavi. Of course it didn’t last long and I ended up blowing zerberts and nursing the voracious bean sprout little peanut ( I know my pet names all have to do with food :P). Which got me thinking about dedication. How many things can you truly be dedicated to at once? There was a time when I was passionately dedicated to my yoga practice, and in my heart I know I will get back to that someday. The replacement is more important and the dedication deeper when it comes to my little man. It doesn’t matter so much where our devotion lies, more so that it exists, that there is something we pour our soul into expecting nothing in return. This zeal is what makes life worth living, and we all have our different callings, our dedication grows with ardor in an ideal world. Can you imagine if we all got to live our lives based on what we care most about, if money were no object. What would you do? I think I would grow food, and host large dinner parties every weekend for all to enjoy, you’re invited 🙂
Mix together coconut amino or tamari, sesame oil, sesame seeds, honey or sugar, miso and ginger.
Add eggplant and zucchini to a ziploc bag and add marinade. Let this sit for 1 hour to overnight.
Heat for grill to 425F, grill pieces of eggplant and zucchini 3 minutes per side.
For the fried rice
Cook basmati in 2 cup water or as per instructions on the bag.
In a wok or large frying pan add sesame oil and onion, when the onion starts to brown add the egg and scramble, add vegetables and half of marinade. Cover and let the veggies steam for a few minutes.
Add rice and the rest of marinate, mix it all up and raise the heat to high for 2 minutes to finish and evaporate any excess moisture. Garnish with chopped basil.
Hey I'm Chantelle, my alter ego would be a mermaid if I wasn't such a terrible swimmer. I love writing authentically and cooking in my pyjamas. My favourite pastimes include eating avocados, travelling the world and hanging out with a toddler.
