(Healthy!) Turkey salad

Leftover turkey from Christmas? Look no further, I have solutions! Firstly, save the carcass and make some simple, easy and delicious turkey stock as I documented in a post-Thanksgiving blogpost. But what about mountains of turkey leftover that you want to eat now? I love chicken and turkey salad, but I find it's always laden with an overabundance of mayo. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against a touch of mayo here of there, but I find it a bit excessive and frankly, gross, when there are gobs of it in what I'm eating. Here's a fresh alternative that hits the same spot. Let's get cracking!

(Healthy) Turkey Salad

Ingredients

1 cup turkey, in chunks (mine were about 1 cm cubed)

3 tablespoons thick, plain Greek yogurt

1/2 quartered grapes or raisins

2-3 tablespoons chopped onions

1/2 teaspoon Sriracha

LOTS of dill, chopped (1-2 tablespoons, but you can also use cilantro, parsley, tarragon, etc.)

1/2 teaspoon cumin

A handful of walnuts or pecans, broken in pieces

1-2 teaspoons lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Note: chopped celery, fennel or cubed apple would all be nice additions too!

Directions

Add ingredients. Stir to mix. Pretty simple, eh? Serve on salads, sandwiches, wrapped in rice paper or lettuce leaves, or fork and extra bite straight from the fridge (my modus operandi).

I ran out of grapes so I added some extra raisins to balance it out.

Nothing better than some chopped onions!

Most ingredients

Sriracha is my one true love

I mixed walnuts and pecans

All mixed together

Yummm, a post-studying snack!

Lessons from Zambia - Chicken Killing revisited and Lasagna Mush

Check out my newest blog-post and story on Open View Gardens, a blog about local and sustainable eating paired with culinary diversity! I have been friends with one of the co-founders, Liz Ganley-Roper since we were 16, and as a foodie and fellow traveler, I was honoured when she asked if I would contribute.

Curious about how I wove together chicken-killing, travel and quality Lasagna Mush (which is neither mush, nor lasagna mush, but that's irrelevant)? Click here and discover for yourself...

I should take a note from them

Click here to read a few adorable things kids say. My favorite? It's a toss-up between, "Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cream and they go out and smell each other," - Karl, age 5, and "Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your french fries without making them give you any of theirs," - Chrissy, age 6.

Western food vs. Asian food - chemically different?

This might be why I like Asian food so much - dissimilar chemical flavour combinations! Click here to read more...

Holiday Time! White Chocolate Apricot and/or Cranberry Cookies

I'm a bad blogger! I figured with the holidays around the corner I'd have more time to post, but apparently that's not so. Lots of studying and huge chunks of time spent out of the house have me hankering for some quick homemade goodies, of which these do the trick. The recipe stemmed from my mom's original, old-school chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I've made some major changes to get it to the point that it's at below. Just to note, the recipe below is a boubled version of the original, but when we make it at home we always double it (it makes about 18-20 cookies). If you want a smaller batch, just halve all the amounts.

White Chocolate and Apricot and/or Cranberry Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 white sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1.5 sticks unsalted butter (if using salted butter, omit salt below), fridge temperature, cut into large chunks

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt (if using unsalted butter)

1 tsp cinnamon (or a touch more)

1 tsp cardamom

1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional)

1/4 tsp ground ginger (optional)

1/2 bag of white chocolate chips (or chocolate chunks), or about 1.5 cups, or until is looks like enough!

about 1.5-2 cups dried cranberries and/or chopped dried apricots and/or chopped dried figs

approx 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, broken into big pieces

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 F. With a standing mixer, handheld mixer, or by hand, beat both sugars, eggs, vanilla and butter until combined. Here's where people go wrong - you DON'T want the mixture to be perfectly mixed, you still want chunks of butter! I don'y know why, but it always makes my cookies come out better. To do so, you need to start with butter that's about the temperature of your fridge, not completely melted.

Sugar

Combined initial ingredients

Do not beat it much more than shown here!! There should be chunks of butter still remaining.

Add the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Mix to combine.

Added flour

Mixing until combined

Add white chocolate, dried fruit and nuts. Mix until just combined. Form into balls and place on UNgreased cookie sheets. Another trick of mine is not to overshape the cookies - you want them chunky and kind of un-smooth (see below). Again, I can't tell you why, but I promise they come out tastier! Bake for 10-13 minutes at 375 F, or until slightly browned at the edges but still puffy at the center. They will continue to cook slightly as they cool. Transfer to rack (if you have one) to cool. Dip in milk and enjoy!

Finishing touches

Wonderful un-perfectly-formed cookies. Look at those chunks! Look at that asymmetry! Exactly what you want in a home-made cookie.

My baking partner

Sometimes when I feel mean, I put batter on Lulu's nose and watch her lick it off. Yes, I'm about 12 years old.

Finished cookies!

Note: For Viv's choc chip cookies, take out all of the spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom...although sometimes I add cinnamon for good measure), and replace the fruit and white chocolate with semi-sweet chocolate chips (NOT milk chocolate - they're too sweet!). Yumyumyum!

What NOT to buy a cook for the holidays

Don't buy me any of these. Ok, maybe the brass knuckle meat tenderizers, but just for when I walk in sketchy parts of town...

Easy Indian Veggie Curry

Cooking can be a release, a much-needed break from studying or a pleasurable unwinding activity after a long day at work, but it can also be stressful, straining, and annoying when you're hungry/not sure what you're doing/exhausted/the take-out place is right down the block. Such was my week - parental units out of town and studying for a pesky physics exam (tonight), I remembered what it was like not to cook out of merely pleasure (as I have had the awesome opportunity to do recently), but out of necessity. With a hankering for Indian spices and lack of a good, quick and healthy (read: not butter chicken) place nearby (or at least that I know of nearby - I love the places up on Jean Talon but it's much to far of a trek for a quick dinner on a Tuesday night), I decided to trust my internal judgement and go for it on my own, without recipe. What materialized may or may not be true Indian cuisine, but it successfully hit the spot for a hearty-yet-light, warm, easy weeknight dinner, with just enough leftovers to tide me to the next day, but not so much as to overwhelm me. Give it a try, and as always, play around! This would be great with different types of veggies and legumes (as I mention below in the recipe), with a bit of cream or yogurt stirred in at the last minute (if you crave a creamier dish) and served atop rice, quinoa, couscous, or barley. 

Easy Indian Veggie Curry

Ingredients

Olive oil

1 medium onion

3 cloves garlic

1-2 teaspoons fresh chopped ginger

Saffron ** very optional**

1 small-medium eggplant, cut into quarters lengthwise and into 12-1 inch chunks

1 zucchini

1 turnip (optional)

Cumin (essential!)

Hot curry powder, or other spicy powder

Ground coriander (optional)

Cinnamon (optional)

1/2 - 1 cup white wine (optional, but highly recommended)

Canned whole or stewed tomatoes, or 2 large fresh tomatoes in chunks

any other quick-cooking veggies you like! I used cabbage shavings, but feel free to substitute green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, spinach, chickpeas, beans etc.

Water, chicken stock or veggie stock if necessary

Salt and pepper

Chopped cilantro or parsley as garnish

Serve atop quinoa, brown or white rice, couscous, barley, or potatoes!

Directions

Smash garlic with the side of a big knife (using your palm - see photo), remove skin, and chop finely. Cut onion in chunks. Heat oil in a pan slightly and add garlic, onions and ginger (and saffron is using, but very optional! It's $$ and I have leftover from Zanzibar), stirring every so often (lower heat if getting burned/too brown!), about 5-7 minutes. 

Smashing the garlic: Hit the flat side of a big knife with the palm of your hand to crush the garlic, but careful not to cut your fingers!

Some prepped veggies

Softened onions, garlic, ginger and saffron

Add eggplant to pan. Add a touch more oil if the eggplant seems dry. Cook over medium-low heat about 5 minutes until browned. Move eggplant around every couple of minutes but DO NOT stir constantly - the dish will turn into baby mush!

Eggplant addition

Add zucchini, turnip (if using) and about 1 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon curry powder, 1/2 teaspoon coriander, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook over medium heat, about 4 minutes, until slightly browned. The pan should be hot and seem a bit dry. Add 1/2 cup of white wine (or water/chicken stock/veggie stock, if not using white wine), deglaze (aka: scrape) bottom of the pan, lower heat slightly and cover, cooking about 5 minutes.

Turnips - some of the last veggies remaining from my dad's garden (remaining in our fridge, I mean!)

With turnips and zucchini

Spices added

Add tomatoes (squish them though your fingers if they are whole!), anywhere from 1/2 a container to a whole container, depending on your tomato preferences. Stir, and again, cover at a medium low heat, checking and stirring periodically, adding water or stock if it seems dry - there should be some thickening liquid at the bottom - about 10 minutes or until all veggies are soft (pierce with a knife to determine!).

Adding tomatoes (canned or fresh will work!)

Squish them through your fingers - the best part!

Let simmer, covered or not, until soft and the liquid has thickened

At this point I like to taste it and I usually add about 1 more teaspoon of cumin (I love the stuff), some more hot curry powder and salt. Stir to combine. Add any other veggies you're using (quick-cooking ones - see above!), stir, and cover until soft, about 5 minutes. If there is too much liquid, cook it off with the cover removed. Not enough liquid while you're cooking the soft veggies? Add a bit more!

Another remaining veggie from Robin's garden

Soft-veggie addition (cabbage, in my case)

Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and/or parsley and serve!

Ta-daaaaa!

Note: I had leftover chicken, so I sprinkled that on top, but I would highly recommend adding beans or chickpeas at the last step (soft-veggie addition) to ensure a bit of protein in the dish!

Eat with love, while Skyping with a BFF in Australia (hi Ali!)