S'mores Bars

After spending the past holiday Monday laying on a beach drenched in sweat, it just seems wrong that today the temperature fell to below zero and there was snow in the air!   Every time I think summer is definitely here to stay this time, Mother Nature turns around and laughs in my face.  

I’m still very grateful that we had beautiful weather for our May long weekend though, and I’m hoping that my American friends are able to see some sun and get outside for your holiday Monday coming up! 

But whether you’re sitting outside around a bonfire or warming up inside by a fireplace this weekend, these s’mores bars will fit right in!

You’ve probably seen a recipe for s’mores bars before so these are nothing new; they’re made up of two layers of chewy graham cracker bars with layers of chocolate and marshmallows sandwiched in between.  I’ve made versions of them a couple of times in the past and absolutely loved them, but based on my experiences, I’ve made a few changes along the way to improve them a little.

I added cinnamon and brown sugar to add to the graham cracker flavour more, I replaced some of the milk chocolate with dark chocolate because I find that using all milk chocolate makes them just a bit too sweet and rich for my taste, and while I used to make a full sized recipe in a 9x13-inch pan, this time I used a much smaller pan because buying all that chocolate gets pretty expensive!  I also topped the bars with more marshmallows and chocolate so they look a little prettier on top and people can more easily tell what they are.

And while I’ve previously used marshmallow fluff as called for in other recipes, this time I couldn’t find it anywhere, so I used mini marshmallows instead - which also ended up being much cheaper!  When I bought them I was thinking that they would melt a little to become just like marshmallow fluff, but I apparently forgot my experiences with rice krispie squares which should have tipped me off that the marshmallows would melt a lot more!  

So I was a little disappointed when I took my bars out of the oven and didn’t see a pretty layer of thick melted marshmallows like I’ve had in the past using marshmallow fluff, but once I tasted them I realized that I liked these even better – the marshmallow flavour is still there and just gets infused throughout the bar, giving it a sticky gooey texture just like s’mores.  But if you can easily find marshmallow fluff and want that thick layer of fluff (see what I mean here), feel free to use it instead!

These are like a portable, less messy, and slightly more refined version of s’mores, so if you like s’mores, I think it’s safe to say you will love these.  They were a hit with Ryan’s coworkers (from what I hear) – I only ate one myself then had to give the rest away because I knew I would eat them all much too quickly! 

If you have Memorial Day get-together plans this weekend, these bars would fit right in!  Hope you have a great (and warm!) long weekend!

S’mores Bars

Adapted from Taste of Home via Tracey’s Culinary Adventures and The Hungry Mouse

Makes one 8x8-inch pan; about 20 bars

Ingredients:

1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2-1/2 to 3 cups mini marshmallows

300g (or 10-11oz) of chocolate bars – I used three 100g chocolate bars: 2 milk chocolate and 1 dark chocolate.  If you want the taste to be more like classic s’mores, use all milk chocolate.  If you prefer a more grown-up taste, use dark chocolate.  I used a mix of both because I find all milk chocolate to be a little too sweet for my tastes.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on the edges to lift the bars out later, and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Whisk together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl.  In a separate large bowl, cream the butter and sugars together with an electric or stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat just until combined.  Slowly add the dry ingredients in three additions, mixing slowly after each addition until a dough forms.

Divide the dough in half.  Press one half of the dough into the prepared pan in an even layer.  Divide your chocolate bars into individual squares, reserve at least 4 squares for later, and spread the remaining squares in an even layer on top of the dough.  Try to get them close together but don’t worry too much if there are little gaps.  I alternated the spacing of my milk and dark chocolate squares.  Cover with about 2 cups of mini marshmallows in a tight, even layer.  Top with the remaining half of the dough.  I grabbed pieces of dough, flattened them between my palms, and pieced them together to form one layer, but it would have been easier to roll the dough out in one piece and transfer that on top.  Do whatever works easiest for you.  Here’s a picture of what my process looked like:

Bake the bars in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.  Meanwhile, chop your leftover chocolate into smaller pieces and place in the freezer.  After 25 minutes, remove bars from oven, and sprinkle the top with about 1/2 cup of mini marshmallows along with the reserved chocolate.  Return to oven for an additional 5-8 minutes.

Let bars cool completely before cutting.  I sped mine along by placing them in the fridge, but it still took at least several hours to cool.  When ready, lift the bars from the pan using the foil, and cut into about 20 squares.  Serve at room temperature or warmed up slightly in the microwave.

Greek Yogurt BBQ Chicken Pasta Salad

This past weekend was a long weekend for us Canadians, meaning the summer has (unofficially) begun!  And it has definitely felt like summer the past few days; yesterday the temperature went up to about 28°C (around 83F) here in Southern Ontario and I was reminded what it’s like to sweat just standing outside (and in my case, just sitting in your apartment too)!  It was perfect weather for sitting outside for a barbeque on Sunday and laying on the beach Monday (though with the lake still freezing cold, we didn’t last long on the sand without having a way to cool off)!

With the long weekend for my American friends coming up next, I thought this would be a good time to share a pasta salad recipe – the perfect thing to take with you to a summer bbq or picnic.  And feel free to bring me along too, I need another long weekend already!

This pasta salad is made with all whole wheat pasta, non-fat Greek yogurt in place of mayonnaise, with veggies for nutrition and chicken for protein - but with the delicious creamy BBQ flavour, no one would ever guess it’s healthy!  I loved the crunch of veggies and the kick of spice in this pasta salad that’s unlike any I’ve tried before; my boyfriend loved this too and couldn’t even tell the pasta was whole wheat or had Greek yogurt.

You could leave out the chicken if you wanted this to be a lighter side dish, but we loved the flavour and texture the chicken added.  And if you’re vegetarian, I think black beans would give this a fun southwestern twist!  

The Tuesdays after a long weekend are the worst, but thankfully this day's already almost over and I can start counting down the days until the next long weekend!

BBQ Chicken Whole Wheat Pasta Salad with Greek Yogurt

Recipe inspired by Gonna Want Seconds (who adapted a dish from Cook’s Illustrated)

Makes around 4-5 large servings or 8-10 side dish servings

Ingredients:

1 375g (13oz) box of whole wheat macaroni

1 teaspoon hot sauce

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1-1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 small shallot, minced

1 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt (you can replace part of the yogurt with low-fat mayo if desired, but I used all yogurt)

1/2 cup BBQ sauce

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 yellow bell pepper, diced

4 green onions, chopped

2 cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts, shredded and seasoned with salt & pepper, and tossed with a bit of bbq sauce if desired (or use around 12-14 oz of rotisserie chicken and shred it)

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook macaroni according to package directions.  Drain and rinse thoroughly with cold water until cool.  Let drain in colander then transfer back to a large bowl.

Add hot sauce, garlic powder, salt and pepper, chili powder, brown sugar, vinegar, and shallots to the pasta and toss to coat.  Let stand for about 2 minutes to absorb.  Next, mix the Greek yogurt and BBQ sauce together in a small bowl, then add to the pasta and toss to coat.  Stir in diced peppers, green onions, and shredded chicken.  Mix and adjust any seasonings if necessary.  Serve cold or at room temperature.

*Note: Feel free to add a bit of BBQ sauce to leftovers before eating if the sauce dries up at all in the fridge (I didn't really have this problem, but I still liked to stir in a little extra sauce to my leftovers)

Roasted Spring Vegetable Salad with Arugula Pesto Vinaigrette

So I just realized that I’ve been posting a lot of salad and vegetable recipes on here lately.  Sorry if it’s getting repetitive; but now that spring veggies are available and the weather is turning warmer, I seem to crave salads a lot more often! 

I promise I'll try to post something different next week, but with the May long weekend starting tonight (for us Canadians) and all the burgers, beer, ice cream, etc., that tend to go along with it, I thought you guys wouldn’t mind if I squeezed in one more healthy salad recipe today!  (Although by that logic I guess I should be posting this after the weekend instead, but because this weekend is the unofficial start to summer, I need to squeeze in another spring recipe before it’s too late!)

This is a perfect light spring meal (or side dish) that makes the most of local produce by packing a ton of roasted veggies into an arugula salad and covering it all in a fresh arugula pesto vinaigrette.  Because arugula has a bit of a bite to it, I mellowed it out with some grated parmesan cheese which balanced everything out quite well, though I also think a creamy goat cheese could be a nice touch instead!

I hope that all my Canadian friends have a safe and happy long weekend!  I don’t have anything exciting planned, and all I’m hoping is that the weather will be nice enough to enjoy some drinks and dinner outside to kick off the summer.  Fingers crossed!

Roasted Spring Vegetable Salad with Arugula Pesto Vinaigrette

Adapted from Eating Well

Makes 2 large servings or 4 smaller servings

Ingredients:

For the Vegetables:

1 cup mini potatoes, larger ones halved into bite sized pieces

1 cup radishes, quartered or cut into similar sizes to potatoes

1 cup baby carrots

1 tablespoon olive oil, divided

Salt & pepper

1 cup green beans or asparagus, ends trimmed*

For the Arugula Pesto:

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup packed arugula

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon walnuts or pine nuts

1-1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

Salt & pepper to taste

For the Salad:

2 cups arugula

Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°F.  Toss potatoes, radishes, and carrots with 2 teaspoons of oil and season with salt and pepper.  Spread on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast in preheated oven for 30 minutes, tossing halfway through.  If using green beans, drizzle them with a bit of oil and add to the pan for the last 15 minutes of cooking.  If using asparagus, drizzle with a bit of oil and add for the last 8-10 minutes of cooking. 

*Note you can use any mix of vegetables that you want, as long as you have about 4 cups of veggies total.  Just adjust the cooking times accordingly.

Meanwhile, prepare arugula pesto.  Add all ingredients for the pesto to the large bowl of a food processor and process until smooth.

Let roasted veggies cool slightly, then toss with arugula.  Add arugula pesto and mix well.  Season with salt and pepper and top with shaved or grated parmesan cheese.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Mother's Day 2013 Recap

Today I thought I'd share a little recap of some of the great food we enjoyed this past Sunday for Mother's Day.  My parents have made thousands of amazing meals for my sisters and I over the years so we love being able to cook for them all day while they sit back and relax on Mother's Day and Father's Day (and other days of the year too!)

Before I get started, let me first apologize for the pictures in this post - I only had time to snap quick photos (some with a cellphone) before we ate!

For breakfast this year, we decided to make this strawberry rhubarb baked french toast from Two Peas and Their Pod. 

It was almost more like a bread pudding than french toast (because the bread is cut up into cubes) but it was so delicious!  We loved that we could do most of the prep work for it the night before so all we had to do in the morning was throw together the crumble topping and bake it in the oven (though we did have to wake up pretty early since it needs a long time to bake)!  I would highly recommend this for your Mother's Day brunch next year, or any special occasion where you don't mind an indulgence like this to start the day!

After brunch our family took a stroll through a beautiful park to take pictures with the blooming trees and flowers.  My dad got some great pics of our mom with her daughters!

After our walk, it proceeded to snow and hail in the afternoon - not the best weather for Mother's Day!  We spent the afternoon indoors though, as my sisters and I took our mom to see Dance Legends.  It was a lot of fun - kind of like a giant live episode of So You Think You Can Dance, but with singing too!  If you're in the London area, go see it this week - last day is May 18!

While Mom relaxed afterwards, we prepared an appetizer for everyone which we called rainbow salsa & brie on crostini.

The recipe was inspired by this peach salsa with pickles red onions and chile, but our version of salsa had mango, peaches, apricots, tomatoes, cucumber, jalapeno, mango hot sauce, lime juice, cilantro, and pickled red onions.  Then we warmed up some sliced baguette with brie in the oven and served the salsa on top like crostini.  It was so good!

For dinner, our mom chose two salad recipes.  To start, we had this mixed greens and goat cheese salad with blueberry glaze, which looks horrible in the picture below but was really good!

The salad was easy to prepare but tasted gourmet - the base was just mixed greens, then we added goat cheese that had been sliced into rounds, coated in walnuts, and warmed in the oven, along with a sprinkle of additional toasted walnuts.  The dressing was a mixture of olive oil, wild blueberry syrup (which you can get at the grocery store), a bit of maple syrup, garlic, and salt and pepper.  I was skeptical because it didn't sound like much, but everyone really enjoyed it.

For the main dish, we had a tabbouleh salad, which required a bit of prep time to prepare but was quite easy to put together.

The salad was a mixture of bulgur and quinoa with chickpeas, tomatoes, yellow pepper, green onions, carrots, cucumber, parsley, mint, feta, and a lemon-olive oil dressing.  This was a nice light and refreshing dish to balance out the heavier breakfast we started the day with!

For dessert, we had a strawberry rhubarb crisp with a side of ice cream - the perfect way to end the meal and the day!

Hope all the moms out there had a lovely Mother's Day and those with fantastic moms, aunts, sisters, friends, or other mother figures in their lives spoiled them!  I'd love to hear how you spent your day so I can start getting ideas for next year!