Roasted Veggies

These veggies are a staple at our house, either just as they are or added to other dishes like lasagna and quinoa. (Those recipes to follow.)

Sweet peppers (red, orange and/or yellow)
Zucchini
Red onion
Mushrooms
Fresh garlic cloves
Olive oil
Basil
Cracked pepper, chopped jalepeños or dried chilli flakes, depending on how much heat you want
Salt

1. Chop all the veggies. Remember they shrink, especially mushrooms, so don't chop them really tiny.
2. Toss them in a bowl with olive oil and spices. Don't be afraid to be generous with your spices. The more flavour you use, the less salt you need to make it edible.
3. Line a baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper and arrange veggies on the baking sheet in a single layer.
4. Bake at 375º or 400º, stirring them around a couple of times, until the veggies are beginning to look slightly charred. 
5. In the summertime, I do these on the barbecue in a grill basket. Summer is also the perfect time to add in extras such as cherry tomatoes (whole) and asparagus.

Multigrain Pancakes

I went through a stage when I ate these pancakes five days a week for about six months. I once made these pancakes to impress a guy - and his mother. I was so nervous and it was a disaster. I'm not sure what happened but I had to make a few substitutions and I may have doubled the baking powder by accident. Worst pancakes ever. We all sat there in silence trying to eat them. I tried disguising them with sliced bananas and chopped pecans. It didn't help. Not even a little bit. He never called me again after that. Life lesson: never try to impress a man with food.

1 cup large flake or old fashioned oats*
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour*
1/2 cup ground flax seeds
1 tbsp wheat germ (optional)
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk*
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup oil
2 eggs

1. Mix together dry ingredients.
2. Mix together wet ingredients.
3. Add wet to dry, stirring until just mixed. Don't abuse the batter! It won't forgive you!
4. Heat a non-stick skillet and spray with cooking spray or margarine or butter. You'll know it's hot enough if you throw a drop of water into the pan and it sizzles. Note: if you use cooking spray, the edges of the pancakes won't look as nice and crispy than if you used oil or margarine.
5. Pancakes are cooked on one side when the edges start to look dull and the bubbles burst. Flip them over and let them brown on the second side, which doesn't take very long. 
6. If the batter is too thick, which often happens to me when I turn my back for a minute, just stir in extra milk.

* Don't use Quick Oats. That was my first substitution disaster.
* You can find whole wheat pastry flour at the Bulk Barn. I really wish grocery stores would get on board with this one!
* You can substitute buttermilk and omit the lemon juice.

Shortbread

No Christmas festivity is complete without shortbread. Three ingredients, my friends. It doesn't get any simpler than this!

1 lb butter (454g), at room temperature
3/4 cup icing sugar (confectioner's sugar)
4 cups white flour

Mix it all together with your hands. (Don't forget to wash your hands first!) Sprinkle a flat surface with flour and roll out the dough with a rolling pin. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters. Bake at 325 F (160°C) for 10-15 minutes, until the bottoms are starting to turn golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool and let the fun begin!

Royal Icing
3 tbsp meringue powder
4 cups icing sugar
6 tbsp water, approximately

Beat all ingredients until thoroughly mixed. The icing will be very stiff. I blew the motor in my mixer attempting to make icing. If you have really strong arms, I guess you could stir it with a spoon. Don't add all the water at once. Once you add water, you can't take it back. To colour the icing, it is best to use paste instead of liquid food colouring. You can get both meringue powder and paste at Michael's or the Bulk Barn. Use an icing bag or Ziploc bag with a tiny hole in one corner to decorate your cookies. Some people use egg whites instead of meringue powder. I have a healthy fear of bacteria and will stick to meringue powder.

Now if you are adventurous like me (or crazy as I was labelled last Christmas by my loved ones), you can do this:

The white icing needs to be thinned with water until a toothpick can easily slide through and the line will disappear rather quickly. If the icing is too thin, it will run right off the sides of the cookies. Do the same with the coloured icing. Spread the white icing on a cookie and then using an icing bag (or Ziploc bag) immediately apply dots and/or circles on top and run a toothpick through it.

Hot Spinach Dip

Yummy yummy yummy...

3 packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp garlic powder
Cayenne pepper, a little or a lot!
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped red pepper (optional)
2 to 4 green onions, finely chopped
1 package frozen spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese

• Beat cream cheese with a mixer (before adding sour cream to prevent lumps).
• Add sour cream, garlic powder and cayenne pepper and continue beating until smooth.
• Add Parmesan cheese, red pepper, green onions, spinach and 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese.
• Spread into a greased oven-proof dish and sprinkle 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese over top.
• Bake at 350 F (180°C) for 20 to 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly, turning a little brown around the edges.

Notes: 
You can use fresh spinach if you throw the bag in the freezer. Squeeze the frozen spinach before opening the bag and you've just created frozen chopped spinach!

You can freeze this before baking. Just remember if you use plastic wrap underneath aluminum foil, remove it before baking. True story...

Lemon Squares

2 cups flour
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 cup margarine
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

• Mix together flour and icing sugar. Cut in margarine.
• Press into a 9"x16" pan lined with parchment paper. Don't skip this. I promise you will have regrets.
• Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
• Mix together remaining ingredients and pour over crust. Continue baking for another 20 to 30 minutes, until the top is starting to turn a light golden brown.
• Cool before slicing to prevent the filling from running everywhere you don't want it to go.
• Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving. If you do this too far in advance, the icing sugar may just melt and disappear altogether.

Banana Bread

The most important ingredient in banana bread is bananas. If they're not turning black, don't use 'em!

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 very large or 4 medium sized bananas, mashed
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup walnuts, pecans or chocolate chips (optional)

• Cream margarine and sugar. Add eggs.
• Stir in mashed bananas.
• Add dry ingredients. Stir until just mixed. Don't over-mix! Expect the batter to be lumpy. If you over-mix any batter that uses baking powder, i.e. pancakes, muffins, loaves you end up with a finished product that is tough, dry and not worth the calories.
• Spread into a greased and floured loaf pan. Bake at 325° for about 1 hour, 15 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.