side dish » Living Lou

Tomato Garlic Swiss Chard

So here’s the thing, Tomato Garlic Swiss Chard is my new favourite. I make it at least weekly, but preferably daily. Kind of like that time when I would eat those little white sugared doughnuts daily. That was fun. But we’re trying to stay healthy here, so no more powdered sugared doughnuts, or Old Fashioned doughnuts, but if you are so inclined, these Muffin Doughnuts are pretty good. I think I’ll be making them today.

Last week I was deep into exam stress. Which for some people means stress eating chocolate, but for me it meant stress eating Swiss Chard. Like the way my puppy stress eats carrots during wind storms. We’re two peas in a pod me and my pup.

So, being done exams means that for me, it’s officially summer! I’ve got a lot of summery fresh and yummy Spring recipes that will be coming your way over the next few months, and this is the first. Swiss Chard is at its peak during the Spring, so give this recipe a go.

Tomato Garlic Swiss Chard (serves 2-4)
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients

5 cups chopped swiss chard leaves
1 tbsp oil + 1 1/2 tbsp water
5 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1/3 cup crushed tomatoes

Directions

Heat oil and water over medium heat, add garlic and saute for a minute.

Next, add the swiss chard leaves and cook for 2-3 minutes, the leaves will wilt but have a slight crunch.

Finally, add the crushed tomatoes, stirring to evenly coat swiss chard.

Serve as a side dish or on its own.

If your life is a little packed and busy right now, I think this Tomato Garlic Swiss Chard will be a healthy snack and time saver.

- Lou

Oven Fries

Aren’t oven fries the best? They are homier and more comforting than regular fries, right? Plus they’re healthier because they’re baked not fried.

I don’t know about you, but I’m sold on oven fries. Have I sold you on them yet? Aside from oven fries, I have another recent obsession. I like to call it “puppy in an Ugg boot”. Meet Sophie!!! She’s a Morkie – half Maltese, half Yorkie.

Sophie is such a little rascal, here she is playing with my sweet Mother. I’ve talked about my good ‘ol Dad on here before, but have somehow not really talked about my Mom. I think these photos say it all – isn’t she the best. She’s also obsessed with soup, so many of the soup recipes on here have been inspired by her.

Have I mentioned that I’m obsessed with my pup? She’s insane but so cute.

So, that explains my slight absence, plus we’re deep in finals, my friends. Deep. As in I will be spending the entire weekend preparing for my THREE exams happening on Monday and Tuesday. Hold me.

Oven Fries (serves 2-4)
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients

2 lbs potatoes, cut into wedges
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp onion powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Toss potato wedges in olive oil. Add spices, toss to coat.

Arrange, in one layer, on a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes.

A super easy, and tasty side dish or snack. I love to dip them in a lot of ketchup. Mmm!

- Lou

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers are probably one of my favourite things to eat. They are so flavorful and the peppers gets so sweet and tender – they’re perfect. They also make the ideal vegetarian meal for Meatless Monday. You can stuff peppers in a variety of ways with all sorts of different flavors, you can stuff them with meat such as ground beef or ground turkey, or you can stuff them with vegetables and different types of rice such as arborio rice or brown rice.

I remember when I was little, my Mom would always order stuffed tomatoes or stuffed peppers at little tavernas while we were vacationing over the summer in Greece. The smells and the colours were beautiful and I would always ask to try a little bit. It’s interesting how a first experience with a type of food can really shape the way we feel about it. When I think of Stuffed Peppers I think of little tavernas on the beach and the stray cats that would tickle my legs under the table as I was eating the delicious food and taking in all the sights, sounds and smells.

These stuffed peppers I’m sharing today seem to be more Mexican inspired than Greek inspired, but soon enough I’ll be sharing a recipe for Greek Stuffed Peppers.

Stuffed Peppers (serves 4)
Recipe Source: The Fresh Fridge

Ingredients

4 bell peppers
1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 19 oz can Black Beans, drained and rinse
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup salsa
1/4 cup hot sauce
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Wash bell peppers and cut off the tops, removing the membrane and seeds.

For the filling, in a large bowl, mix all remaining ingredients together. Spoon the filling into the bell peppers and place on a baking dish. Put the tops of the peppers back on and cook for 30-35 minutes or until filling is cooked and rice is soft.

I hope you enjoy these stuffed pepper as much as my whole family did! Have a great Meatless Monday everyone.

- Lou

Coleslaw

I’ve recently rediscovered my love for coleslaw. I find that it’s such a good snack to have in the fridge at all times because it’s just so tasty. This recipe is a variation of the recipe my great grandmother, or Nana as we called her, would make. She was an awesome cook, and a pretty stellar lady herself. She never ran out of stories of her days growing up in Northern Ontario, and her many siblings. She would always be drinking her beer, and somehow, despite her small stature she could eat more than all of us. She never failed to order dessert, one of her favourites was the apple crumble.

It was pretty ironic that I stumbled upon her hand written recipe card the other day, a recipe which she had written down for my mom back in 1989. It was only last week that I had been thinking about how delicious her coleslaw was, and finding this recipe was definitely something I welcomed with open arms. It really is one of the best I’ve ever tasted, I find that it has the perfect balance between tangy and sweet. Try out the recipe for yourself and let me know what you think.

Nana’s Coleslaw (makes 6 cups of coleslaw)
Recipe adapted from my Nana’s by Lou

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup +1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup water
6 cups of shredded cabbage
1 shredded carrot

Directions

In a small saucepan, bring olive oil, sugar, vinegars, salt, spices and water to a boil. Boil for 30 seconds and remove from heat.

This recipe makes about 1 1/2 cups of dressing. Personally, I like my coleslaw to be drenched with dressing, but start by pouring 1 cup of dressing, and adding the other 1/2 cup if you want to. Toss to coat.

Enjoy your coleslaw, I’m going to have a bowl right now.

- Lou

Spiced Couscous

Couscous is a side dish that I have loved for years now. Couscous itself is rather plain, but you can add tons of different spices and flavorings to get whatever result it is that you crave. Last year, I made a delicious Tomato Garlic Parmesan Couscous which is a quick and easy side dish to whip up along with any meal. See the thing about couscous, is that it only takes 5 minutes to cook. Today’s couscous is flavored with cumin, which is apparently the world’s second most popular spice behind black pepper but don’t quote me on that. It wouldn’t surprise me at all, I’m a big fan of cumin, I find that in certain dishes, like my favourite Chili con Carne, it adds depth to the flavor of the dish.

Spiced Couscous (serves 4)*
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients

1 cup water
1 cup coucous
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp celery salt
freshly cracked black pepper to taste

*This recipe could easily be halved to serve two, or doubled to serve 8.

Directions

In a medium sized pot, bring water to a boil. Add the couscous, remove from heat and cover for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare spices in a bowl. Once couscous is cooked, fluff with a fork and stir in spices.

See, how easy is that? Couscous is great for those lunches and dinners when there isn’t a lot of time for cooking.

- Lou