Chickpea & Veggie Brown Rice Barley Bowl with Tahini Dressing

Healthy "bowls" seem to becoming more and more popular these days both across the internet and in cafes and restaurants.  They have many names and variations, but the basic concept is that you combine a base of grains (like rice, quinoa, barley, etc), several different vegetables (raw or cooked), a protein or two (chicken, tofu, beans, nuts, or cheese), and a delicious sauce to tie it all together, thus giving you a complete meal in a bowl.

I find myself drawn to any healthy meal that ends in "bowl" because I love a meal with different textures, flavours, and colours that all fit together in one dish, and these bowls are easy to make super nutritious.

The problem with ordering them in a restaurant is that they're usually pretty expensive, and while making them at home can require a bit of effort, it's cheaper and you can make a lot so that you have delicious healthy bowls for lunches through the week!

For my version, I combined the following:

Base - a mix of brown rice, barley, and spelt (I used a PC blend of the three for convenience!)
Veggies - steamed broccoli, roasted beets and sweet potatoes, sauteed spinach with garlic, and grated raw carrots
Protein - I forgot to include this in the picture above, but I used chickpeas
Sauce - tahini dressing with soy sauce and sesame oil for flavour!

Another nice thing about these is that they're highly adaptable, so if you don't like the ingredients that I used, you can make whatever substitutions you like, as long as you maintain a variety of colour and textures!

Try using quinoa as a base if you don't like rice; substitute the chickpeas for chicken or tofu if you like; grate raw beets instead of roasting them; sautee brussels sprouts or kale instead of spinach; roast squash instead of sweet potato ... you get the idea!

This makes a filling lunch or dinner that will leave you feeling great.  If you're making enough to have leftovers (which I recommend you do!), just be sure to store the sauce separately or else it will get absorbed and leave the dish feeling sauceless, which won't be as good as sauce is the most important part!

Chickpea & Veggie Brown Rice Barley Bowl with Tahini Dressing

Inspired by several recipes, such as ones seen on Paint + Tofu, Dishing Up The Dirt, and Grace Bezanson

Makes 3-6 servings, depending on serving size

Ingredients:

For the Toppings:

~1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large sweet potato, chopped into bite-sized pieces

2 large beets, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 head of broccoli, chopped into small florets

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 bunch of baby spinach (however much you like; I used a small container)

2 large carrots, grated (a food processor with the grater attachment works well for this!)

1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

For the Base:

3-4 cups cooked brown rice and/or barley (I used a bag of mixed brown rice, barley, and spelt) or your favourite grain, such as quinoa (about 1 to 1-1/2 cups uncooked)

For the Sauce:

1/2 cup tahini

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon honey or agave

1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Toss sweet potatoes and beets with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and spread in an even layer on a foil-lined baking sheet. Roast in preheated oven for 25-35 minutes, until tender.  The sweet potatoes will likely be done sooner than the beets; just transfer them to a bowl and put the beets back in the oven.  I prefer roasting beets whole but this takes longer; if you have time, just roast the whole beet for 1 hour, drizzled with oil and wrapped in foil, then peel and chop it after.

Meanwhile, you can cook the broccoli, spinach, and your grains.  Steam the broccoli in a steamer basket over boiling water, covered, for about 2-3 minutes until bright green and tender.  Rinse with cold water and drain.  For the spinach, heat sesame oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds (this is optional; you could also use a different oil if you like), then add spinach and cook just until wilted.  Remove from heat.  Cook your grains according to package directions; I cooked mine uncovered in simmering water for around 18 minutes, then seasoned with salt and pepper.

Prepare the dressing by whisking all ingredients in a small bowl until smooth.  Taste and adjust any amounts to your liking.  Note that this makes a lot of dressing and likely more than you’ll need; just save any extras for another use!

Prepare bowls by adding grains to the bottom, topping with vegetables (beets, sweet potatoes, broccoli, carrots, spinach) and chickpeas, and drizzling tahini dressing on top.  Toss to coat and season with salt and pepper, if desired.  You can eat this warm or at room temperature.

If you have leftovers, you can portion out everything together into containers except the sauce - that should  be kept separate and drizzled on right before eating so it doesn't get absorbed.

Strawberry Beet Chocolate Chia Smoothie

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Whether you celebrate the occasion or not, today is a great time to remember to show yourself some love in addition to the love you give out to others either today or any/every other day of the year! 

And what better way to treat yourself on Valentine’s Day than with this festive red chocolate flavoured smoothie that will feed your body with some of the good things it craves, especially during a time of year when many of us (definitely myself included) are indulging in a few more desserts than usual!

This smoothie gets its red colour from fresh strawberries and a roasted beet, darkened a bit by the cocoa powder which gives the smoothie a noticeable chocolate flavour that almost makes this feel more like dessert!  With the addition of chia seeds (aka little nutritional powerhouses), banana, almond milk, and oats, this is a great way to start your morning, or pick yourself up anytime of the day! 

If you’re worried about the beets, you could leave them out, but I gave one of these smoothies to Ryan when he woke up and he loved the strawberry and chocolate flavour, with absolutely no clue there were beets in it (which he claims not to like) until I told him after he drank the whole thing.  I love tricking him with vegetables!  I will make up for it tonight though by cooking a nice Valentine’s dinner (which I still need to figure out!). 

Hope you all have a great day!

Strawberry Beet Chocolate Chia Smoothie

Makes 2-3 smoothies

Ingredients:

1 medium beet, roasted* and chopped

2 cups milk of your choice – I used an almond/coconut milk blend

2 tablespoons chia seeds

1-1/2 cups chopped fresh strawberries

1 frozen banana, chopped

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/4 cup rolled oats

Directions:

*Before making this smoothie you will need to have a roasted or otherwise cooked beet on hand.  I roasted mine the night before: wrap the beet in foil, place on a baking sheet and roast in a 400°F oven for one hour or until tender.  Let cool then peel, chop, and transfer to refrigerator.   If you have a very powerful blender, you might be able to use the beet raw, but I haven’t been able to try this with my blender.

If you don’t keep frozen ripe bananas in the freezer (and you should, they are great for throwing in smoothies!), then be sure to put one in the freezer the night before too!

To make the smoothie, add all ingredients to a blender and puree until smooth.  Taste and adjust any amounts to your liking; you may wish to add a sweetener such as honey or agave depending on your tastes.  Pour into 2-3 glasses, garnish with a strawberry, and serve!

Roasted Beet, Arugula, & Honeyed Goat Cheese Panini

This will be a quick (or quickly written) post as I'll soon be jumping on a flight back home from Boston!  I attended a conference here this past week (which is the reason for the lack of posts lately, sorry!) and also had a day to explore the city for the first time, which I absolutely loved.  So many beautiful streets and neighbourhoods, lots of history and amazing buildings, friendly people, and great food!  I was lucky to be here on St. Patrick's Day too, and though I didn't participate in the festivities myself (except for a delicious Harpoon IPA or two in my room), it was fun to see all the people covered in green out celebrating!

In the interest of keeping this short, there's not much I need to tell you about this sandwich except that it's one of my favourite things!  Beets and goat cheese together are always a winning combination, but combine them with arugula (or greens if you can't find arugula, like myself) in a warm pressed sandwich and they're even better.

You've probably seen a few of these sandwiches around the web before, but what makes this one different is the addition of honey to the goat cheese and dressing the greens with balsamic dressing before putting them in the sandwich - both very small changes that improve the flavour of the sandwich significantly.  

Oh and one more thing I wanted to share!  If you don't have a panini press, you can still make paninis!  I don't have a press either, but you can replicate its effects by pressing your sandwich on a skillet using a heavy pot.  If you don't have a heavy pot, stack several pots together to increase the weight, as in the picture below (please ignore my filthy pots, that's what happens when you live in a hard water city).  Just be sure to flip your sandwich halfway through so it gets heated on both sides.  I used a griddle pan which added lovely smokey grill marks, but a regular pan would work just fine too.

Hope you all had a safe and happy St. Patrick's Day and have a great week ahead!

Roasted Beet, Arugula, and Honeyed Goat Cheese Panini

Makes 2 sandwiches

Ingredients:

2 medium beets

2 teaspoons olive oil

Salt and pepper

4 slices hearty bread – I used Bavarian rye

2 tablespoons goat cheese (or more, depending on size of bread)

1/2-1 teaspoon honey or agave

2 handfuls arugula or field greens

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Drizzle beets with olive oil and wrap in aluminum foil.  Roast on a baking sheet for about 1 hour, until tender.  When cool enough to handle, peel off the skins and slice into thin rounds, about ¼” thick.  Season with salt and pepper.

If you don’t have time to roast the beets that long, you can take a shortcut method:  Peel and slice the beets before roasting, drizzle slices with oil and season with salt and pepper, lay in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet, and roast in a 375°F oven for 20-30 minutes until tender.  However, I find that the beets do not turn out as well using this method.

Mix goat cheese and honey to taste.  Dress greens with 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.  You can adjust the amount of dressing depending on the quantity of greens you’re using – use your best judgment.  Dressing the greens will give them more flavour in the sandwich.

Spread goat cheese evenly on two slices of bread.  Top with sliced roasted beets, followed by greens, and another slice of bread to form two sandwiches. 

Cook sandwiches in a panini press.  If you don’t have one, you can cook them on a grill pan or skillet over medium-high heat.  Place a heavy pot (you can place a can or smaller pots inside to make it heavier) on top of the sandwiches to press them into the hot pan.  Cook for 1-2 minutes, then flip and repeat with the remaining side.  Serve warm.

Beet & Potato Soup

I hope that those of you who had the day off yesterday enjoyed your long weekend!  Yesterday was a holiday for many of us here in Ontario - we don’t celebrate President’s Day (obviously, as we don’t have presidents in Canada), but we do celebrate Family Day on the third Monday of every February. 

I love the idea of a holiday that celebrates the family and encourages families to spend time together.  This was actually the first year that every member of my family had the day off and could get together, so we took the opportunity to go for a wintery family walk along a trail around a frozen pond.  Even though I think I risked my life a thousand times because the trail was pretty much all ice and my boots do not seem to have even the slightest bit of traction, it was still a great way to get outdoors and spend some time with my wonderful family!  Here’s a little glimpse of our walk – the ducks were my favourite part :)

After spending a day outside in the cold, nothing is more comforting than a warm bowl of thick soup and a hearty loaf of bread.  Unfortunately I didn’t have any of this beet and potato soup left to enjoy so I had to settle for an Earl Grey tea latte from Starbucks, but just looking at these photos as I prepared them for this post had me craving this soup so bad!

I won't bore you with a long description of this soup except to say that it’s thick and creamy but still healthy, and is a gorgeous red colour! The first time I made this I used chicken broth but thought it didn’t quite work, so the next time I used vegetable broth, and also increased the cumin for more spice and let the soup simmer longer so the flavours would intensify, and it was so much better! If you hate beets, I’m not going to try to convince you to try this because the beet flavour is really front and center, but if you’re a beet lover like me then you will love this!

Beet & Potato Soup

Adapted from Cooking Light

Serves 3-6, depending on serving size

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

4 cups vegetable broth

1 pound of beets, peeled and quartered

1/2 pound yellow potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 bay leaf

1-2 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon honey or agave

Sour cream or plain yogurt for topping

Directions:

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add onion and sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.  Add garlic and cook for another 30 seconds.  Add salt, pepper, and cumin, stir to coat and cook for another 30 seconds. 

Add vegetable broth, beets, potato, bay leaf, and thyme.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for 30-35 minutes, until beets and potato are tender.  Remove bay leaf and thyme sprigs.  If soup has reduced considerably, add a splash of water.

Puree soup in three batches in a blender. Remove the plastic stopper in the blender lid and cover with a paper towel or tea towel to let steam escape.  After pureeing each batch, transfer to a bowl, then once all the soup has been pureed, transfer back to the saucepan to heat through, if necessary.  Add 2 teaspoons of lemon juice and taste.  Add an additional teaspoon of lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of honey or agave to sweeten, if desired.

Serve each portion with a swirl of sour cream or yogurt.  Season with salt and pepper if desired.

Heart Shaped Beet & Goat Cheese Ravioli

As I mentioned on Facebook yesterday, much of Ontario had a snow day yesterday, including Waterloo region, where we got an estimated 30cm (1 foot) of snow.  Not nearly as bad as what areas like Connecticut are currently facing, but still one of the biggest snowfalls we’ve seen here in a while!  I was happy to stay home and make myself a warm lunch and decided to use the time I saved not going into school to put a little time and effort into something extra special – these heart shaped ravioli!

I had wanted to make heart shaped ravioli for Valentine’s Day anyway but I knew I would want it to have beets in the filling for their gorgeous colour, and since my boyfriend isn’t particularly fond of beets, I decided to just go ahead and make them for myself.  We don’t give each other Valentine’s gifts anyway, so I thought it was perfectly acceptable to give myself an early gift!

Now I won’t lie and say that these are super easy and you should all make them for Valentine’s Day dinner because they’ll take no time at all.  Maybe that would be the case if you’re an expert ravioli maker, but this was only my second time making ravioli and it was definitely frustrating at times and took more time to prepare than an average dinner.  But I will honestly say that in the end it was totally worth it!

I did make a few mistakes that you can learn from so you won’t run into as many issues as me:

1)      Keep your pasta sheets damp so they don’t dry up and harden – that will make it very difficult to form the ravioli!

2)      Figure out how much filling you can comfortably fit in a ravioli by doing a practice one before you go and spoon all the filling out only to realize you used too much and have to go back and redo it.

3)      Make sure you completely seal the edges of the ravioli so that the filling doesn’t seep out while boiling!

I used storebought fresh pasta sheets to save time, but if you are really ambitious you could make your own pasta - Reclaiming Provincial even makes a beet pasta dough, which makes the end product so gorgeous! 

The filling is a simple mixture of roasted beets and herbed goat cheese with a splash of lemon juice, and while it takes some time to wait for the beets to roast, the filling is super easy to make and is delicious even on its own!  So if you don’t feel like making ravioli but love beets and goat cheese (two of my favourite ingredients!), you could just make the filling and use it as a sandwich or pizza spread, on crostini, or even as a dip!

If you do go ahead and make the ravioli, I highly recommend serving it with a side salad.  I kept the ravioli ‘sauce’ very simple (just olive oil and parmesan cheese) to let the filling shine, but without a lot of sauce, I find that ravioli on its own can be a bit boring, especially when you get the edge parts without the filling.  I still loved the ravioli, but when I ate it overtop a salad it was so much better – the vinegar in the dressing really brightened things up and the salad added flavour and texture so you don’t get bored eating the parts that are just plain pasta!

And of course, these don’t have to be for just Valentine’s Day (this goes to those of you who don’t care much for the “holiday”) – they are a great way to show your appreciation to someone (or yourself) on any special occasion, snow days included!

Oh and if any of you pros out there have other tips for making the ravioli process easier, feel free to share them! 

Heart Shaped Beet & Goat Cheese Ravioli

Adapted from Annie’s Eats and Reclaiming Provincial

Makes 20-25 ravioli

Ingredients:

1/2 lb red beets (1-2 medium beets)

2 oz herbed goat cheese

1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Salt and pepper

8 fresh lasagne sheets (9x6”) or equivalent homemade pasta sheets

For serving:

Olive oil

Parmesan cheese

Field greens

Red wine vinegar

Salt & pepper

Directions:

First prepare the ravioli filling.  Preheat oven to 400°F.  Scrub beets and pierce all over with the tines of a fork.  Wrap in aluminum foil and roast in preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until tender.  Let cool slightly, peel and roughly chop, then add to a food processor.  Add the goat cheese and lemon juice and process mixture until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Next prepare the pasta.  I used fresh lasagne sheets from an Italian market, which saved me lots of time, but if you want to make your own pasta, follow either the recipe from Annie’s Eats for plain pasta or Reclaiming Provincial for a beet pasta dough.  While you’re working with the pasta, it’s important to keep the sheets you’re not using covered with a damp cloth so they don’t dry out and harden.  I let that happen with some of mine and it cracked when I tried to work with it later.  Use a heart shaped cookie cutter (mine was about 3” wide) to cut out heart shapes from pasta dough.

Spoon a small amount of filling into the center of half the hearts.  The amount you need will depend on the size of your cookie cutter.  I started with about 2 teaspoons (pictured) but realized that was too much when I started to try to form the ravioli, so I removed some (after the picture) and was left with about 1 teaspoon of filling for each heart.  I highly recommend only filling one to start and proceeding with the next step of shaping the ravioli to get an idea of how much filling is needed before you fill the rest.

Use a pastry brush or your finger to wet the edges of each heart and place a plain heart on top of the filling.  Press the edges together with your fingers to seal, then go over the edges pressing with the tines of a fork, on both sides of the ravioli, to ensure the filling is really sealed in there.  You don’t want it to leak out when you’re boiling them!  This happened to a few of mine that weren’t properly sealed.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook the ravioli in the boiling water until al dente, about 3-5 minutes.  I did this in batches of about 5 ravioli as I filled them so they didn’t sit out too long.

To serve, toss desired amount of field greens with a bit of red wine vinegar, olive oil, and salt and pepper.  Toss desired amount of ravioli (4-5 per person should be a good amount) with a drizzle of olive oil.  Serve ravioli overtop of salad and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Red Wine Lentils with Roasted Vegetables and Goat Cheese

Greetings from Singapore! As I mentioned in my last post, I've gone to Singapore for a research conference, which my sister and I will be following up with a very brief trip to Thailand. I've been here for a couple days now and absolutely love it! I've gotten to do a bit of sightseeing and shopping, and I've tried some great food so far - I'll try to do a post about the food when I get back!

As promised, I'm trying not to ignore my blog while I'm away so I'm sharing a recipe I made before I left. This is also my second entry in the Canadian Lentils Recipe Revelations Contest which ends March 19th, so I wanted to make sure I posted it on time!

If you saw my recent recipe for peanut butter lentil granola bars, then I don't have to bother repeating how healthy and versatile lentils are in cooking. They pair really well with meats like fish, but they are a good source of protein themselves and I love eating them as a base for a vegetarian main course, as they're used in this recipe for red wine lentils with roasted vegetables and goat cheese.

This dish was inspired by a recipe I saw on Cooking Light, but I ended up changing around so many of the ingredients and steps that I think it's safe to call it my own now. It's made of green lentils mixed with root vegetables that are roasted in a red wine dressing, then the whole thing is mixed with a really flavourful red wine sauce and topped with a bit of crumbled goat cheese. The result is a truly delicious dish with an earthy flavour from the lentils and vegetables that's deepened by the red wine sauce but brightened up by the bits of tangy goat cheese.

I know this dish wouldn't win any beauty awards looks-wise (and it doesn't help that it was getting dark at the time I tried to photograph it), but despite its looks, you have to trust me that this really is a wonderful dish! What amazes me most about it is how it actually reminds of me meat - every time I heated up leftovers in the microwave, I could have sworn I could smell steak, probably because of the red wine sauce. That also makes me think that this would be a great dish to introduce skeptical meat eaters to vegetarian proteins like lentils. I gave some of my leftovers to my meat-eating boyfriend who has never had lentils before, and to my vegetarian sister who's quite familiar with them, and they both loved it!

The ingredients list may look a little intimidating, but a lot of the items are actually pantry staples (I only needed to buy carrots, parsnips, beets, tarragon, and goat cheese), and the recipe isn't difficult to prepare if you time all the steps right. I've tried to write the recipe directions in a way that makes it easy to know exactly when to do everything so that the dish will come together quickly and easily.

As with my lentil granola bars, if you want to help me out with this entry to the Canadian Lentils contest, feel free to leave me a comment on this blog post or head over to my post on the Canadian Lentils Facebook page to 'like' it. As the contest is now coming to a close, you'll also be able to find lots of other entries on their page, so be sure to check them all out if you're interested in finding more recipes using lentils! Thanks guys! :)

Red Wine Lentils with Roasted Vegetables and Goat Cheese

Inspired by Cooking Light

Serves about 4-5

Ingredients:

For the roasted vegetables:

1 cup yellow pearl onions, ends trimmed and peeled
12 oz chopped peeled carrots (about 2 to 3 large carrots)
8 oz chopped peeled parsnips (about 1 to 2 parsnips)
12 oz beets (about 4-5 medium beets), peeled and chopped
10 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 cup dry red wine
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper
1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon

For the lentils:

3 cups water
1-1/2 cups dry green lentils

For the red wine sauce:

1/2 medium onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
½ teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon
1 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup water
½ a vegetable bouillon cube
Salt and pepper

For topping:

4 oz crumbled goat cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°F and line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Chop all the vegetables (pearl onions, carrots, parnsnips, and beets) into small, even pieces, about ½” thick, and transfer to a large bowl along with the garlic cloves. Mix the red wine, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, and tarragon in a small bowl, then pour over the vegetables and toss to coat. Transfer the vegetables to the baking sheet, place in the preheated oven, and set the timer for 40 minutes.

When there are 30 minutes left on the timer, combine the lentils and water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Once the water reaches a boil, reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for 25 minutes (which should be the remainder of the time left on the vegetables).

Chop the onion and garlic and prepare ingredients for red wine sauce.

When there are 15 minutes left on the timer, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large saucepan. Once hot, add the onions and garlic, and sauté until softened and golden brown, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the tomato paste, thyme, and tarragon, and stir for another minute. Add the red wine, water, and bouillon cube, and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and let simmer about 5 minutes, until slightly reduced and thickened. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.

At this time, your lentils and vegetables should be done cooking. Check both, and allow to cook longer if they’re still hard. Otherwise, combine the lentils, vegetables, and red wine sauce and stir together.

Divide into bowls, top each serving with about 1 ounce of crumbled goat cheese (or more, if desired), and season with salt and pepper if desired. Serve warm.

Beet & Goat Cheese Risotto

When I posted my pretty pink cranberry bars on Wednesday, I promised to share another naturally pink dish that would be perfect for a special Valentine's dinner, and here it is: gorgeous beet risotto. I only recently discovered how easy risotto is to make at home after years of thinking it was one of those things that only professional chefs can pull off. Really, the hardest part about making risotto is having to stir the rice for 20 minutes straight, but even that is something that anybody with a bit of patience can do!

I knew I wanted to make a beet risotto for Valentine's Day because it would be fancy enough for a nice dinner and festive enough for the holiday because of its beautiful colour. I had a hard time choosing a recipe because there seem to be so many different ways of making beet risotto: boiling the beets and using their cooking water, roasting them and just adding the chopped beets at the end, pureeing them and mixing that into the rice as it cooks, etc.. Fortunately, my sister had recently tried a recipe from All Seasons Cuisine that she said was amazing, and after checking it out and discovering that it had goat cheese in it, I was immediately sold!

This recipe combined a couple of the methods I had seen in others - beets are roasted before cooking the rice, then some of the beets are pureed and mixed into the cooked rice, while the rest of them are diced and tossed in at the end. I loved the way the pureed beets thickened and coloured the rice, and I especially loved the textural contrast that the diced beets added. The original recipe also called for the addition of beet greens (which is why theirs looks darker than mine). Unfortunately my beets didn't come with their greens attached so I had to leave them out, but I think they would have added another nice layer of texture.

This post is already getting too long and I haven't even told you how this tasted yet, so let me make it clear right now that this tastes amazing! Because a lot of goat cheese is added, I found it to be the predominant flavour over the beets. I was fine with that because I absolutely love goat cheese and it added a nice richness to the risotto, but if you really want the beets to be the star of this dish, you could simply omit the cheese. I tasted the risotto before adding any cheese and it was still delicious! Either way, this is sure to be the star of your Valentine's dinner, or any other day's meal! And served with my beet hummus as an appetizer and cranberry bars for dessert, you could have a complete pink meal (without any food colouring!) for your loved one(s), or show yourself some love and save it all for yourself :)

Beet & Goat Cheese Risotto

Adapted from All Seasons Cuisine

Serves about 4-5 as a side dish, or 2-3 as a main

Ingredients:

1 pound red beets (about 3 medium beets)

Greens from the beets (optional – I omitted)

1/4 cup olive oil, divided

4 cups vegetable stock (I used one 900mL container)

1/2 large yellow onion, peeled and diced

1 cup Arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc)

1/4 to 1/3 cup goat cheese

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (optional for a cheesier flavour)

Handful of chopped parsley

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F. If beets still have greens attached, trim them off and set them aside. Wrap beets in foil, like a packet, and set on a baking sheet. Roast in the oven for 1 hour, or until beets are tender. Remove and let cool slightly.

Trim the ends off the beets and peel off the skin. Dice about two-thirds of the beets and set aside. Roughly chop the remaining third of the beets and place in the small bowl of a food processor. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a dash each of salt and pepper, then puree until smooth. Set aside.

If using the beet greens, wash and dry them, thinly slice them, and set aside.

Add vegetable broth to a medium pot and bring to a gentle simmer. Keep it gently simmering as you make the risotto.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large deep skillet or pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until softened but not browned, about 4-5 minutes. Add the rice and continuously stir to toast, about 2 minutes. Add the wine and stir until all the liquid has been absorbed.

Begin adding vegetable broth to the rice, a small ladle at a time, stirring rice constantly. When each addition of liquid is absorbed by the rice, add another small ladleful. Continue adding broth and stirring for about 20 minutes total, until rice is creamy and al dente. Have a kettle of boiled water nearby so that if you run out of vegetable stock, you can add water from the kettle instead.

Add beet purée, diced beets, beet greens (if using), and goat cheese to the rice. Stir until goat cheese is melted. Remove from heat. Taste, and if you would like a stronger cheese flavour, add the parmesan cheese and stir. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

Serve warm, garnished with parsley.

Roasted Beet and Orange Salad with Citrus Dressing

As I mentioned in my last post, we had our annual cookie swap at school this week. This meant a full day of me baking cookies (and taste testing them approximately 26830 times to make sure they were good), followed by a full day of me eating everyone else's creations. And after consuming what seemed like at least my body weight in cookies, I was craving fruit and vegetables like crazy! I don't know if this happens to you guys, but if I eat too much junk in a day, my body practically screams for something healthy and I can't bare the thought of eating anything other than apples the rest of the day.

This salad was a little fancier than apples but still satisfied my craving for something fresh and healthy perfectly, with the bonus of being winter-appropriate and also incredibly tasty! Mixed greens are topped with roasted beets and oranges, tossed with some toasted walnuts and crumbled goat cheese, and finished with a sweet citrus reduction dressing. While it may be a little more time-consuming to make than most salads (considering the roasting time for the beets), it's still really easy to make and elegant enough to serve to guests during the holidays (though eating it all to yourself to help counteract the effects of cookie overload is highly encouraged).

Roasted Beet and Orange Salad with Citrus Dressing

Adapted from Cooking Light

Serves 4-8, depending on the serving size

Ingredients:

4-5 medium or 10-12 small beets (red, golden, or both)

3/4 cup fresh orange juice (from about 3-4 oranges)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon minced shallots

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

8 cups mixed salad greens

2 oranges, segmented

1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled goat cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Scrub beets and place whole on foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake for about 1 hour, until tender. Let cool slightly, trim off roots and stems, peel off skins, and cut into small wedges.

While beets are cooking, bring orange juice and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan. Let simmer about 10 minutes or until reduced to 2 tablespoons. Pour into a medium bowl and let cool slightly. Add shallots, vinegar, salt, and pepper and stir with a whisk. Gradually add oil, whisking constantly.

Arrange salad by dividing mixed greens among plates, topping with beets and segmented oranges, then sprinkling with about 1 tablespoon each walnuts, dressing, and goat cheese per salad.