Avocado Soba Noodles

I have been wanting to try an avocado sauce over pasta for quite a while, and so when I found some Sweet Potato and Buckwheat Soba Noodles I knew exactly what I would make with them.  This is a really simple dish, and if you love avocados you will love this.  When I first came across a recipe for avocado pasta I was a little skeptical, but it was delicious.  I made my sauce with lemon and parsley, but you could also use lime and/or cilantro to replace either of those ingredients.  And of course you can use regular soba noodles, or even spaghetti if you prefer.  The colour is a bit off-putting, however once you taste it you won't care what colour it is.

Soba Noodles with Avocado

250g Soba Noodles

2 ripe avocados

1 lg clove garlic

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup parsley

Using a food processor mince the garlic and parsley, then add the avocado and lemon juice and puree.  Meanwhile cook the soba noodles according to package directions.  Drain and mix with the avocado sauce. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Veggie Quesadillas

Toasty tortillas holding together a delicious blend of cheese, vegetables, and salsa, with more salsa, sour cream, and guacamole to dip...what could be better?  This is definitely comfort food.  Really though, anything with oozy, melty cheese on it becomes comfort food in my book.  Especially when avocados enter the mix!  I love the taste of these veggie quesadillas even more than the traditional chicken ones.  I like the crunch that the vegetables add, and although I make mine without chicken you can definitely add some to these.  Mmm, these really are delicious!

Veggie Quesadillas
(makes 4 small)

8 small flour tortillas
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup finely diced bell peppers (any colour... I like orange or yellow)
1/3 cup finely chopped broccoli
1/3 cup finely chopped cauliflower
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup salsa
1 avocado
1 tbsp lime juice
1/4 tsp chili pepper flakes
1/2 cup sour cream

Heat olive oil in a large pan over med-high heat and cook broccoli, cauliflower, and peppers for about 5 minutes.  Vegetables should be cooked, but still slightly crunchy. 
Sprinkle half of the cheese on 4 tortillas.  Divide the cooked vegetables between the 4 tortillas, spreading around to cover cheese.  Top the vegetables with a tablespoon or two of salsa, keeping the remaining salsa for dip.  Use the rest of the cheese to sprinkle over the layer of salsa, and then top with the remaining tortillas.  Cook them in a frying pan over medium heat for about 3 minutes a side, or until tortillas turn golden brown and get crispy. 
Mash the avocado, lime juice, and chili flakes together to make a simple guacamole.  Serve the quesadillas with the remaining salsa, sour cream, and guacamole on the side.  Enjoy!

Club Sandwich with a Citrus Twist

I love Club Sandwiches, especially when served with some greasy fries from a diner, but when I make them at home I like to do something a little different.  It still has the traditional taste of a Club (bacon!) as well as a tasty twist.  That twist being the addition of oranges, avocado, sprouts, and pumpkin seeds.  I also use a hearty 12 grain bread that I don't toast because I find this sandwich easier to eat without the crunchiness of toast.  But I still use lots of mayo, chicken, and, as previously mentioned, bacon!  It may seem like an odd mix of ingredients, but really, everything goes together so well.  Every bite is full of flavour.  And everything is better with avocado on it:)  It's a nice change from the usual Club Sandwich and it's healthier too.
I made home made sweet potato fries to go with my sandwich, which didn't quite turn out.  You may notice from the picture that there's a bit too much cornstarch on them, which led to them not getting very crispy.  I got the recipe from this blog, and I think they definitely would have turned out if I had dried them off before putting them in the cornstarch.  They still tasted great though, and if you are looking for a sweet potato fry recipe it's a good one to try.

It's hard to take an attractive picture of a sandwich...

Club Sandwich with a Citrus Twist

 ~ 2 Sandwiches~

6 slices Multi-Grain bread

6 slices cooked bacon

1 cooked chicken breast, sliced

1 avocado, sliced ( or mashed)

1 orange, peeled and sliced

Lettuce

Alfalfa Sprouts

2 tbsp hulled pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

Mayonnaise

Spread 2 slices of bread with mayo.  Cover each slice with lettuce, a layer of chicken, a layer of oranges, and 1 tbsp each of pepitas.  Spread 2 more slices of bread with mayonnaise and place mayo side down on top of the pepitas.  Cover the top part of the slices of bread with avocado.  Layer on 3 pieces of bacon for each sandwich and a handful of alfalfa sprouts.  Spread mayo on the last 2 slices of bread and lace mayo side down on top of the sprouts.  Slice in half and enjoy!

Taco Salad

There have been occasions where I have made tacos for dinner just so that I can make taco salad the next day.  I love it so much.  Of course, I could just make the salad without making tacos, but I like tacos too, so it's win-win.  My girlfriends and I actually have an annual taco party where everyone brings different ingredients for the tacos. And each year we always get into a huge discussion about what order the toppings should go on on a taco.  Personally I like meat first, then the cheese so it can melt, then taco sauce, sour cream, lettuce (it needs to be next to the sour cream so that it has something to stick to!), guacamole, and then the tomatoes.  The guacamole keeps the tomatoes on nicely.  And it has to be a hard taco shell, and not the stand-and-stuff because the bottoms break after the first bite.  So...ya, that's my opinion about tacos, how do you like yours made?

So anyhow, back to the salad.  As I said, I usually make mine with leftover taco ingredients, but I will write the recipe for just the salad on it's own.  It's easy and delicious, and a salad that my hubby loves because it's full of beef.  Enjoy!

I forgot to buy avocado, so it's missing:(

Taco Salad
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pkg taco seasoning mix*
1 head iceburg lettuce
2 tomatoes
1 avocado
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup crushed corn chips or tortilla chips or taco shells
1/4 cup taco sauce
1/4 cup French or Catalina  salad dressing
2 tbsp chopped cilantro (optional)

Cook beef and taco seasoning according to package directions.  Shred the lettuce and dice the tomatoes and avocado.  Put into a large bowl with the shredded cheese and crushed chips. Top with the ground beef.  Mix the salad dressing and taco sauce together and pour over salad.  (Only salad dressing can be used if taco sauce is not available.)  Serve with cilantro, if desired.

*The package is for a pound a beef, so just use half:)

Salmon Burgers with Chile-Inspired Salad

I just spent 10 days in Chile over the Christmas break, and boy did I enjoy some delicious food!  And I ate avocados every single day!  Ok, perhaps most people wouldn't be so excited about that, but avocados are one of my favourite foods and I wish I had an avocado tree in my backyard.  I also tried palmitos (palm hearts) for the first time and love them too.  When I got home and was met with the sad fact that it's still winter here I really wanted to have some Chilean food to make me feel sunnier.  And I don't feel confident enough to make ceviche here since the fish needs to be fresh, as in caught-that-morning fresh.  So I decided to make a salad that I had many times while I was there, and paired it with some cooked salmon... a zesty lime salmon burger.  The lime went really well with the tastes of the salad.  I also had cold, cooked beets with many of my meals in Chile, so I made some of them too.  I was going to make a cream sauce to go with the salmon burger, but instead I put a few slices of avocado on top which went perfectly with it.  I found the salmon burger recipe in Chatelaine magazine's Superfood mini cookbook.  The salmon has 400% of your recommended daily intake of vitamin D, so it's a great food to eat in the winter when the weather is lacking sunshine.

I don't know why the beets look black, they were a wonderful purple on-camera.

Both recipes make 4 servings.

Zesty Lime Salmon Burgers:

- 1 large can (450g) can Sockeye Salmon

- 1 egg

- 1 green onion, thinly sliced

- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro or basil (I used cilantro)

- 1/4 cup fine bread crumbs

- 1 lime (1 tsp. of zest and 2 tbsp. of juice)

- 1 tsp. Tobasco sauce

- 1/2 tsp salt

- vegetable oil for frying

Drain salmon and break up with a fork.  You can leave the skin and bones in for extra calcium.  In a bowl whisk egg, then rest of ingredients, except the oil.  Using a fork mix the salmon into the egg mixture.  Form into 4 firmly packed burgers, about 1 cm. thick.

Generously coat a large non-stick pan with oil and turn heat to medium.  When hot add burgers and cook uncovered for about 3-4 minutes per side, or until a thick golden crust forms.  Serve with sliced avocado on top.

Chile-Inspired Salad:

- 1 large head of iceburg lettuce, chopped

- 4 avocados, thinly sliced*

- 2 tomatoes, cut into small wedges

- 1 can of palm hearts, sliced (They are in the canned vegetable section of my grocery store)

- olive oil and lemon juice to use as dressing

Just divide the ingredients among 4 plates, save some of the avocado slices to garnish the salmon burger if desired.

* To slice an avocado first cut it in half by slicing it all the way around, right down to the pit.  Then twist the 2 halves so that one side pulls apart from the pit.  Use a spoon to scoop out the pit from the other side.  Then make thin slices, while the pulp is still in the skin.  Then use a spoon to carefully scoop out the slices.