Low Fat Baba Ganoush

Baba Ganoush or eggplant dip is one of my childhood favs.  I posted a recipe two years ago for was I thought was my mom's recipe.  But now I found out she also adds onions.  I've changed up my old recipe and now I'm using less olive oil.

Baba Ganoush
make jut over a cup

1 eggplant (or 2 smaller ones)
1 onion
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 clove garlic
1 tsp rapeseed or olive oil
1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp salt

Roast the eggplant in the oven. (I just pop it in when I'm cooking something else so the time and temp depend on whatever else I'm cooking.  The eggplants with puff up.  Cool and peel.

Fry the onion in the oil and cumin.

Mash the garlic in the salt to make a paste.

Blend the onion, eggplant and garlic. Add the lemon juice to taste. No need to add extra oil!

Cucumber and Tomato Salad

This salad is is simple and fast to throw together. No one in my family (who eat salad) needs a recipe for this but for those who are new to Italian food may need some help. This salad is great as a side with pasta, or topped on bread as bruschetta. 

Cucumber and Tomato Salad

Cucumber (English or de-seeded)
Tomato
Basil
Olives
Soft Cheese (Feta or Mozzarella)
Olive Oil (1 tsp)
Balsamic Vinegar (1/2 tsp)
Salt and Pepper

Cut up some cucumber and tomato.  Rip up some fresh basil. Add some olives.  Top with cheese, oil and vinegar.  Salt and pepper if you like.

Mom's Roasted Chili Pepper Hummus

My mom almost ran out of time to make her hummus but I did not let her leave without making it. This time she used a roasted chili pepper but blended with the chickpeas the hummus was not spicy just flavorful.

Mom's Roasted Chili Pepper Hummus
Makes 1 1/2 cups

1 cup dry chickpeas
1 small chili pepper
1 clove garlic
1/8 cup olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup tahini
salt
red pepper flakes

Soak the chickpeas over night. Change the water, salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook until soft (about an hour) Or use unsoaked chickpeas. Pour boiling water over the chickpeas. Leave for an hour, change the water, salt and cook over a low heat until soft (1h+).
Once soft strain the chickpeas but reserve the cooking water.

Roast the chili pepper by hold it with a fork over a gas burner on high heat. Slowly rotate the pepper until the skin is blackened. Allow to cool, peel skin and remove seeds.

In a food processor place the chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, roasted chili pepper, and tahini. Add 1/8 cup of chickpeas cooking liquid. Process. Check consistancy often. Add liquid 1/8 cup at a time, until the hummus is creamy. Season with salt.

To serve, spread hummus on a large plate, top with a few reserved chickpeas and swirl with 1 tsp olive oil. Sprinkle with red peer flacks.

Mango Mint Salad

My mom has been visiting me over the past few weeks. We both had planned on cooking and eating great food while she is here but the lure of sightseeing was too great. My mom did make this lovely Mango Mint Salad to go with the chicken curry I made a few nights ago.

Mango Mint Salad
Serves 6
1 large ripe mango
1/2 English cucumber
1/2 red onion
1 orange
1/2 lime
2 Tbs mint
1 Tbs coriander
1 Tbs chives
1/4 tsp mango powder (Amchoor Powder)
1/2 tsp ground coriander seed
1 tsp of ground cumin seed
Salt, Pepper and hot red pepper flakes

Peel and slice mango into long strips. Slice cucumber into strips. Finely slice the red onion into crescents. Zest the orange, peel and slice. Zest the lime and juice half. Chop the herbs. Mix everything and add the spices and salt and pepper.

I would have used tons more hot pepper, but my mom wanted to make something cooling to go with the spicy curry.

Ng's Hummus

My mom makes the worlds best hummus and she never ever has a recipe. She is coming to visit me next week and claims she will be able to share her method with me. That said my hummus is very good and if you haven't tasted my moms than you might say it was the worlds best. I'll post my mom's recipe soon see if you can spot the difference.

Ng's Hummus
Makes 1 Yummy Bowl

1 cup of dried chickpeas
1/2 tsp tahini
1 clove of garlic
juice of 1 lemon
1-2 Tbs olive oil
1/4-1/2 cup of the chickpea cooking water
Salt, pepper and hot pepper
Soak the chickpeas over night. Drain cover with fresh salted water. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cover. Cook for about 45min to an hour or until the chickpeas are soft. Save some of the cooking water to blend but drain the rest.

Blend the chickpeas, tahini and garlic with half of the lemon juice and olive oil. Taste and add more lemon juice. If the hummus is too thick to blend add some of the cooking water. I end up using 1 lemon and 1/4 cup of cooking water to get a thick hummus. Add salt and pepper to taste. Feel free to add any herbs or roasted red peppers.

Baba Ganoush

My mom makes the best Baba Ganoush (and hummus) in the world and I don't think she ever uses a recipe. She just blends adding more lemon, oil, or tehina until it taste right. I tried to write down a reicpe close to hers, but feel free to play around and find your own.

Baba Ganoush
Make about 1 cup
1 eggplant
1 clove of garlic
1 lemon
1 tsp tehina
1-2 tbs olive oil
salt, pepper, hot pepper

Roast the eggplant in a hot oven for about 45min. Just stick in while your baking something else. Or wrap the eggplant in foil and pop on the bbq, its done when its looks like a ballon ready to pop. Let the eggplant cool and peel.

Blend the eggplant, with the garlic, tehina and the jucie of half a lemon. Taste and add olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper as needed. I also like to add hot pepper, lemon zest and fresh herbs.

Enjoy as a dip or sandwich spread.

Mom's No Bake Cookies

My mom always bakes cookies and brownies, but it the summer its way too hot to turn on the oven so she makes No Bake Cookies. I funny thing is I don't remember her making them, just a half empty cookie sheet in the frig.
Mom's No Bake Cookies
makes 24-36 cookies
2 cup sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoon cocoa powder
3 cups quick oatmeal
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter
Mix together sugar,butter, milk and cocoa in big pot over med high heat. Bring to rolling boil for 90 seconds, timing very important. Remove from heat. Add the oatmeal, vanilla and peanut butter. Mix well and drop by teaspoon onto wax paper lined cookie sheet. Chill in the frig.
I always thought No Bake Cookies where super healthy (because of the oatmeal) but I had no idea how much sugar there was so I halved recipe.

German Cucumber and Radish Salad

For the last two weeks my sister was visiting us. She said that she did not like radishes, but as her older sister I made her try one and now she loves them. I guess its because the radishes were fresh from the garden. My lettuce and rocket is in and we had a nice little salad every night. We even had radish sandwiches.
But cutting up a few radishes is not really a recipe so I'm posting a German salad which is based on a dill salad dressing packet which my mom used to use when I was child.
German Cucumber and Radish Salad
serves 2
10 radishes
1/3 of a seedless cucumber or 1 whole cucumber de-seeded
1/2 tsp of caraway seeds
1/2 tsp of dried dill
1/2 tsp of walnut or olive oil
1 tsp of lemon
dash of salt and pepper

Thinly slice the radish and cucumber. In a hot pan dry roast the caraway seeds for about 10 sec or until they start to pop. Add the caraway seeds, dill, oil, lemon, salt and pepper. Mix.


This is a very refreshing summer salad. The dressing would also be nice on just cucumbers, daikon radish or boiled potatoes.

Chocolate Coconut Pie

When I was a child if my mother did not know what to make for dinner, there was one cookbook which always had the answer. More-with-Less complied by Doris Janzen Longacre is a master price of thoughtful Mennonite cooking. The recipes come from Mennonites all over the world but my heart alway jumps when I read towns like Newton, Hesston and Hillsboro Kansas. I only wish the cook at my college opened her copy more offten!

Last year my mother and I had more fram fresh milk and eggs than we knew what to do with so we started to make a Coconut-Custard Pie from More-with-less. We changed the recipe a bit using butter not maragirne and adding chocolate. It has become a new family fav.
Chocolate Coconut Pie
makes one pie
4 eggs
6 Tbs butter(unsalted)
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup coco powder
2 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup coconut

Pop everthing but the cocnut into a blender and blend. Then add the coconut and blend a few seconds. Pour everything into a pie pan. It may still look like a mess but pie will settle in the oven and make its own crust.

Bake for 50-60 min at 350f or 175c. The pie will still have some wiggle. Cool and chil in the frig for a few hours. ( You can eat it right away, but I think its better cold.)

Creamy custered with a rich chocolate crust and crispy coconut top. Yummy!

Potato Pancake: with Fresh Rosemary

My mom could never make too many latkas (potato pancakes). There was always a fight for the last one. So the first time Saeid made me Kookoo Sib Zamini (potato pancakes) and it turned out to potato pancakes I could not have been happier. While my mom likes to add carrots and Saeid adds onion; I love fresh rosemary.
Potato Pancakes: with Fresh Rosemary
serves 2 as a meal or 4 as a starter
1 med large potato (med in the USA large everywhere else)
1 Tbs flour
1 med egg
1 tsp fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp of salt
pepper, hot pepper to taste
Oil to fry (2-3 TBS)

Grate the potato. Ring out any extra water in the grated potato. Mix the flour and egg with the potato. Add in the rosemary, salt, pepper and hot pepper.

Pour a layer of oil in the bottom of a med frying pan. Bring to a med heat. Shape the potato mix into pancakes with hands. Each pancake should use about 1/4 cup of the mix. Fry. Each side should be golden brown. It takes about 3min a side. Drain on a paper towel. Eat while hot or reheat on a low heat in the oven. Note don't rush the pancakes, the inside will be raw and the outside black!!!
There are lots of ways to dress these up (with cream cheese and smoked salmon, applesauce or ketchup). But make sure you save one for me!!!!

Broccoli Salad- Made with Yogurt and Dates

Broccoli Salad can be found at just about any North American BBQ or potluck. The classic recipe being a mix of broccoli, raisins, red onion, mayo, sunflower seeds and bacos. While my mom never used bacos or bacon she stayed close to the classic recipe. I love yogurt and it is no surpise that I'm using the plain stuff in place of mayo. Saeid doesn't like raisins so I'm using dates, but so many other dried or fresh fruits work well in this recipe. Try using some pomegranates in the fall it works like a treat!
Broccoli Salad- Made with Yogurt and Dates
Makes about 4 cups
1 head of broccoli, washed and chopped (use the stem too)
1/4 of a red onion chopped
1 cup of dates chopped
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup of plain yogurt
2 tsp of fresh lemon juice
1 tsp cummin
salt, pepper, hot pepper

Mix the plain yogurt with the lemon juice and spices. Add the vegs, dates and half of the sunflower seeds and mix well. Top the remaining seeds.
This salad gets better with age. Fell free to add anything you like to it but try the plain yogurt.

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

After my Mom read my Peanut Butter and Sesame Seed Cookies post she sent me a bag of Kisses. Thanks Mom!
I used the same recipe as last time but topped each cookie with chocolate.
I had some fair trade dark chocolate and I topped some of the cookies with that, but the Kiss Cookies where the best.

Gnocchi Minestrone Soup

My mom can make homemade minestrone soup in under 15min with no recipe (and no food!!!). This soup I made took a bit longer, but the taste was right.

Gnocchi Minestrone Soup
Serves 4
1 tsp oil
4 cups stock or broth (veggie or meat)
1 large carrot cut chopped
1/2 cup butternut squash chopped
1 onion
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 chopped cabbage
20 gnocchi
1 tsp tomato paste
Salt and Pepper
Herbs and parmesan

Lightly fry the carrots, butternut squash, onion and garlic on a medium heat. Add the stock or broth and mix in the tomato paste. Bring to a boil. Add the cabbage and gnocchi. When the gnocchi floats to the top the soup is ready. Check for salt and pepper and top with fresh herbs and or parmesan.

Chocolate Cake (hold the flour)

There is really only one kind of Birthday cake and that's chocolate, but what kind of chocolate. I felt like making my mom's flour free recipe. After 1/2 pound of butter, 8 eggs and 3 bars of dark chocolate there is no room left for any flour!
So rich! It was like eating a thick chocolate mousse. Thank you for finding the recipe Mom.