June » 2012 » Living Lou

Summer Roasted Vegetables

I love vegetables; grilled, roasted, sauteed or raw. These Summer Roasted Vegetables are just another way to enjoy the produce of the season. The tomatoes and red pepper are what add that nice summer touch that differentiates these from your typical potato, carrot and onion roasted vegetables.

What adds the easy touch is the use of Cookin’ Greens™ by The Toby Brand™. Cookin’ Greens™ are a range of products of dark-leafy greens. The greens are farm picked and within six hours, double-washed, double blanched, chopped and quick-frozen for your convenience, locking in all of their flavour and nutritional benefits. I was able to throw in a bag of the Designer Mix – chopped spinach, collards, rapini, yellow beans and onion - right into my pan without any prep. To me the best part is the no crying while chopping onion!

Before my experience with Cookin’ Greens™, I’d never really used a lot of frozen vegetables in my kitchen, but after my great experience with their products, I can definitely see myself including more frozen veggies into my recipes. While you can purchase straight kale, spinach and rapini, it’s the Designer Mix and the Athlete’s Mix that stood out to me because they really reduce prep time and they add another layer of flavour.

Summer Roasted Vegetables (serves 4-6)
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients

1 500g bag Cookin’ Greens™ Designer Mix, frozen
6 mini potatoes, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
2 carrots, chopped into rounds
8 grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 red pepper, chopped into 1-2 inch pieces
5 cloves of garlic, quartered
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large pan combine vegetables and thyme.

Toss with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes.

I hope you enjoy these Summer Roasted Vegetables as much as my family did!

- Lou

Disclosure: I was provided with two coupons for two free packages of Cookin’ Greens. I was not compensated in any other way for writing this post. The decision to write about the product was my own and all opinions are 100% mine.

Orange Cake And a Giveaway! [Closed]

Orange cake always reminds me of my Nona. I remember eating it when I was a little girl, visiting her in Greece during the summer. My Grandmother shares my love for cooking and baking, we can chat on the phone for hours about baking bread or cake. She loves orange cake, and when I say love it I mean she always talks about her orange cake because it is to die for. I’ve always been kind of scared of making an orange cake because what if it wasn’t as good as my Nona’s! While I do cherish my Nona’s recipe for Orange Cake, it was only fitting that when I was sent a copy of Grace’s Sweet Life that Grace’s recipe of Orange Cake caught my eye.

Grace’s Sweet Life is a cookbook and blog written by Grace Massa Langlois, and it reveals the secrets to Italy’s most delicious, homemade Italian desserts. The book is filled with delicious, authentic recipes for Italian desserts and I’ve been obsessed with trying all the recipes ever since I first got the book. Up next is the Lemon Meringue Tartlette. I love the way Grace’s voice comes through strongly in her cookbook, each recipe comes with a descriptor, whether it be a little anecdote or an explanation of the recipe, it’s lovely, especially for a non-Italian cook! Giveaway details are after the recipe.

Orange Cake

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE

6 large eggs, separated
2 cups all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tbsp superfine sugar, divided
grated zest of 2 oranges
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

FOR THE SYRUP

1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup superfine sugar
zest of 1 orange in large strips (no pith attached)
1/2 vanilla bean, split and seeded
2 to 3 tbsp orange liqueur

Directions

FOR THE CAKE:

Place the egg yolks in a large bowl and the whites in the bowl of a standmixer. Cover each with plastic wrap and leave for 30 minutes, allowing to come to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350 and coat the sides of a pan (I used a 10 x 3 in. Springform Pan)

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl.

Using a handheld mixer, beat the egg yolks, oil, vanilla extract and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. About 2 minutes.

Beat in the orange zest and juice.

Next, in the stand mixer, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. When the whites are foamy, add the cream of tartar. At the soft peak stage, add the remaining 2 tbsp of sugar.

Fold in one-third of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Then carefully, fold in the remaining whites until combined.

Pour batter into pan and bake until golden and a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean, 50-60 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool.

FOR THE SYRUP:

Over medium heat, bring the orange juice, sugar, zest and vanilla bean and seeds to a simmer, stirring until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes.

Reduce heat to low, add the liqueur and continue summering until the syrup reduces slightly. About 5-8 minutes.

Remove from heat and strain the syrup through a fine-mesh sieve.

Serve the cake with warm orange syrup.

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Giveaway Details

And for you, my lovely readers I have one copy of Grace’s Sweet Life for one of you to win.

Giveaway is open to legal residents over the age of eighteen (18) in the US and Canada (excluding Quebec).

To enter, leave a comment on this post letting me know your favourite Italian dessert.

All entries must be received by midnight, EST on Tuesday, June 26th. Winner will be chosen via random.org and notified via valid email address.

Garlic Smashed Potatoes

I really love potatoes, especially in the summer, they are just such a great side dish to go along with grilled chicken or steak.

This recipe for Garlic Smashed Potatoes comes from the lovely Jen of Jen’s Journey, which was my assigned blog for this month’s Secret Recipe Club. Jen’s site is full of fun giveaways as well as many recipes, I was originally planning on making her Jalapeno Cilantro Hummus but these potatoes were calling my name. The only major change I made to the recipe was cutting down on the amount of butter. After reading many posts on Jen’s site, I feel like I’ve really grown to know her, she is so honest and open which is something that I really appreciate when reading a blog.

This recipe makes enough for about 3 people, but can easily be doubled.

Garlic Smashed Potatoes (serves 3)
Recipe from: Jen’s Journey

Ingredients
1 lbs of new potatoes
olive oil for the pan
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 tsp paprika
2 tbsp melted butter
2 cloves garlic, crushed

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 400.

Boil potatoes for 12-15 minutes or until tender.

Meanwhile, prepare a baking sheet by spreading olive oil on a baking sheet. Sprinkle the baking sheet with salt. N

Next, combine garlic with butter in a bowl.

Place the potatoes 2 inches apart and using a potato masher, smash the potatoes. Sprinkle them with salt, pepper and paprika. Brush evenly with butter and garlic mixture.

Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until potatoes are crispy.

I find that these Garlic Smashed Potatoes go really well with summer, like the way country music goes so well with summer. Am I right or am I right?

- Lou