The best Lasagna: Sweet Potato Lasagna

I am crazy in love with sweet potatoes. They are so delicious, satisfying and nutritious!

I have been craving comfort food lately. What better way to satisfy that hunger then with lasagna? Lasagna is one of my childhood favourites. I remember watching my mom assembling the lasagna, and me impatiently waiting to eat it. Lasagna is something everyone looks forward to.

I replaced the noodles with thinly sliced sweet potato, the ricotta cheese with 1% cottage cheese. I used extra lean ground beef, and added extra veggies for a super healthy and nutritionally balanced meal. Everyone in the family enjoyed this meal. I have a few picky eaters in the family, and they didn't even notice the vegetables in this dish that they dislike. Nobody missed the noodles!

So here is my healthy spin on lasagna!

Ingredients

1L tomato sauce (I make my own and jar them, you can use any store bought tomato sauce) 

1lg extra lean ground beef, turkey or chicken

1 large onion 

4 cloves garlic 

4 medium sized sweet potatoes

1% cottage cheese (500g)

1 small carrot

1 small green pepper

2 cups fresh spinach

6-8 Cremini mushrooms

Olive oil 

Salt + pepper to taste 

Method

1. Dice onions, garlic,  mushrooms, green pepper, grate carrot on a box grater, and set aside separately. 

2. Heat up 2tbsp olive oil in a large skillet

3. Cook onions until fragrant, add garlic, pepper and grated carrots + cook

4. Add ground beef (or whatever you decide to use) and cook thoroughly. Once the meat is cooked thoroughly add tomato sauce to the pan and heat 

5. In another frying pan sautée Cremini mushrooms, and spinach, set aside

6. Wash sweet potatoes and use a mandolin to slice them thinly (I left the skin on for extra fibre and nutrients of course) 

7. Blend cottage cheese in blender until smooth in texture

8. Take a 9x11inch pan, place a bit of the meat and tomato sauce on the bottom, a layer of sweet potato, another layer of the tomato and meat sauce, add a little bit of spinach and mushrooms, cottage cheese, and repeat

9. Once the lasagna is assembled cover with aluminum foil and bake @450F for 1hr or until done

*you can tell done was by inserting a fork or knife into the lasagna, if it is soft it is ready

-Alexandra xo

Healthy Watermelon "Cake"

I was at work a while ago and I was asked to come up with a vegan and gluten free dessert for some clients that were attending a banquet. I came up with this simple and delicious Watermelon "cake". It is only 4 ingredients! It is easy to make, and it is a great alternative to cake if you're trying to live a healthy lifestyle. Even if you aren't vegan or gluten free, you must try this recipe. I had to make three of these cakes for the banquet at work. There were leftovers and I couldn't help but keep eating this "cake". It was light. refreshing, and I even felt like I was treating myself.

You can have your "cake" and eat it too with this healthy alternative. The great thing about this cake is that it has so many health benefits, vitamins, and nutrients! Coconut contains lauric acid which is great for your skin, and prevents wrinkles. It also has antibacterial properties which fights infection, and is good for your bones.  Watermelon is a nutrient packed all star! Once you add up all the nutrients that this fruit is packed with, you might want to start eating it more often. It is high in vitamin B6, vitamin C, magnesium, and vitamin A. Vitamin A is excellent for your vision, and Vitamin C aids in keeping the immune system strong.  This "cake" would be a great dessert to bring to a family barbecue or gathering with friends. Your friends and family will be surprised by the creativity and the health benefits of this cake! The clients that i made this for were very pleased. You might never even think about "real" cake after you've had this!

Recipe
1 Watermelon (For the cake part)
2 packages coconut cream (For the icing)
Agave Syrup or Honey or icing sugar ( I used Agave syrup because it is vegan and the clients I made this for were looking for a healthy alternative)
2 packages sliced Almonds (If you're allergic to almonds, or nuts, you can use shredded coconut also)

Method
1. Peel watermelon. I have included a video on how to properly do this. Instead of dicing the melon like shown in the video, slice into rounds width wise.  I chose the three nicest round pieces for the cakes. You can set aside the leftover watermelon for snacks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwHIXpTQbIM

2. Once you have your rounds cut out, place paper towel on top, or dab with a clean kitchen towel to remove excess water. (This will help the icing stay in tact)
3. Place the coconut cream and a couple tbsp of Agave syrup into your mixer, or use your hand blender to whip. Whip only about 1-2 minutes until pliable. Over whipping will cause the "icing to be too runny" (If you'd like your icing to be sweeter you can add a little more agave syrup)
4, Start assembling your watermelon cake as you would a regular cake
5. Once you get to masking the outside of your cake,  it helps to put your "cake" in the freezer between each outer layer of icing, to help set the icing. Once the icing hardens in the freezer, it is much easier to mask the outside with the next layer of "icing"
6. Once you're finished icing your cake, take a handful of sliced almonds and cover the outside of your cake with almonds
7. You can use additional fruits such as blueberries and strawberries to garnish the top of the cake

-Alexandra

Sunkissed Sunday: First BBQ of the Season

For the first time in what seems like forever I finished work at a decent hour today. I left at 5pm and made dinner for the loves of my life. What better way to spend a Sunday night then firing up the grill for the first time this season?!?! I was way too excited. I have a deep passionate love for food, if you didn't already know. Without it I really don't know what I'd do...I'm in luck though because food does exist. It allows me to be creative, de-stress, bond with people, and make ever lasting memories with the ones I adore. I was very fortunate because I experienced all of that over tonights' dinner.

I used the Honey, Maple & Chipotle BBQ sauce I made last night and marinated chicken thighs in it. These babies were accompanied by "Greek style"sweet potato fries, with an avocado and yoghurt dip and some roasted red peppers.

Honey, Maple & Chipotle BBQ Chicken Thighs

Ingredients
6 Chicken Thighs
1 cup Honey, Maple & Chipotle BBQ sauce
Salt and Pepper

Method
1. Preheat Grill to 350F
2. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper
3. Toss chicken thighs in half of the Honey, Maple & Chipotle BBQ Sauce
4. Grill chicken thighs, until done and juices run clear
5. Brush chicken thighs with the remaining BBQ sauce

"Greek Style" Sweet Potato Fries
Ingredients
4 medium sweet potatoes
4 oz Greek or Macedonian feta
1/2 Lemon
Salt and pepper
olive oil

Method
1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Peel and wash sweet potatoes
3. Cut into "fries" or wedges
4. Toss in olive oil salt and pepper
5. Place on baking sheet lined with aluminium foil
6. Bake for 30 minutes of until done
7. Place sweet potato fries on a plate of platter, crumble feta on top
8. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon on top

Avocado Yogurt Dip

Ingredients
1 avocado
1/2 lemon
1 tsp of sambal oelek, or sriracha, or tabasco
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup plain unsweetened low fat yoghurt (I used Liberte Organic 0% plain)
salt and pepper

Method
1. Mince garlic
2. Cut avocado in half scoop out flesh and discard the pit
3. mash avocado with a fork until smooth
4. mix remaining ingredients all together
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste

*Serve this tasty dip with Greek fries for dipping

Grilled Red Peppers

Ingredients
2 medium peppers
olive oil
salt and pepper

Method
1. Cut peppers into quarters, and discard seeds
2. Toss in olive oil salt and pepper
3. Grill until done

Cheers to kicking off BBQ season 2013!

-Alexandra

Honey, Maple & Chipotle BBQ Sauce

I've been impatiently waiting for summer since last summer. It's the end of May and the weather isn't quite right. It's cooler than usual. Barbecue season is almost here, it's just been way too cold for me to get outside and grill. So today I decided to make a BBQ sauce that I could jar and use all season long. What else would I do on a freezing cold day off? Of course I'm going to make something...I must concoct something delicious on my day off. If I'm not cooking at work I'm cooking at home! This sauce is sweet, smokey and a little spicy. Divide the recipe if you don't want to make so much sauce. This recipe should last up to a couple weeks in the fridge. You can literally put this s%^$ on EVERYTHING...Pulled pork, burgers, sliders, pizza, chicken, steak. It's going to be my all purpose BBQ sauce for EVERYTHING!

Here she is...

Ingredients

1/2 cup Honey

1/2 cup real Maple Syrup

1 cup ketchup

1 can Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1L water, chicken stock, or veg stock

4 medium onions

4 cloves garlic

1 Bay Leaf

1tbsp Apple Cider vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Chop onions and garlic finely. Roughly chop chipotles and set aside with adobo sauce 

2. Heat olive oil in pot, sweat onions, and garlic until fragrant (no colour)

3. Add all the remaining ingredients to the pot

4. Simmer for an hour until thickened

5. Add salt and pepper to taste
6. Remove Bay leaf and discard

6. Blend in a blender or with immersion blender

Jarring Method

1. Clean and wash Mason jars in the dishwasher

2. Boil jars (after they come out of the dishwasher), lids, and screw tops in a boiling water bath

3. Drain boiled jars upside down on a clean towel

4. Ladle hot/boiling barbecue sauce into sterile jars (if you use a funnel to do this, boil it too)

5. Using tongs, place a lid on the jar and then screw a screw top down on the jar

6. Place filled jars in a boiling water bath that covers the jars by at least 2 inches

Boil for 25-30 minutes

7. Remove jars and allow to sit until the "pop up" part of the lid sucks down (sometimes you can hear this happen; it goes "pop."

8. When jars have completely cooled, remove the screw top, and store in a cool dry place.

Happy Sauce Making!

-Alexandra

Healthy spring pasta: Roasted Spaghetti squash with tomato/olive oil sauce +ground chicken

I've been craving pasta and carbs a lot lately. I know pasta isn't the greatest when it comes to nutritional value, so I made a healthy spin on a classic. I used spaghetti squash as my "pasta" in this dish. All of the vegetables I used in this sauce remind me of spring. It is so gloomy out, this pasta gave me hope that spring is on it's way.

This dish is one of my favourites, and is loaded with vitamins A & C, good carbs, and protein. You can't go wrong with eating this rainbow!

I ate this "pasta" with my mean green Kale & Broccoli salad, this recipe is also on my blog

Feeds 6-8

Ingredients
2 spaghetti squash
2 yellow onions
3 cloves garlic
1 bunch asparagus
1 bunch basil
1 lemon
6 tbsp olive oil
5 vine ripe tomatoes
12 cherry tomatoes
1lb extra lean ground chicken
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. Cut spaghetti both squash in half lengthwise
3. Place face down on an oiled baking sheet
4. Bake for an hour or until done
5. In the meantime, dice onions, garlic, tomatoes, slice the asparagus
6. Heat olive oil in a large skillet
7. Sweat onions until fragrant
8. Add garlic and sweat
9. Add tomatoes and asparagus
10. Cook until the tomatoes lose their form and create a sauce like texture
11. In another pan cook the ground chicken
12. Add the olive oil tomato sauce to ground chicken once it is cooked
13. Finish the sauce off with torn basil and lemon juice
14. Season with salt and pepper to taste, keep tasting your food while you cook to ensure the perfect meal
15. Once the spaghetti squash is roasted, remove seeds, and scrape the squash out with a fork
16. Spoon some of the ground chicken/ tomato olive oil sauce on top of the roasted squash
17. Garnish with more basil and real grated Parmesan cheese

Enjoy!

-Alexandra

Mean Green Kale & Broccoli salad

I just got back from Miami and I think I brought some of the good weather back with me to Toronto. It started to warm up as soon as I returned! When the weather gets nicer I always crave lighter foods than in the winter. I've been trying to be a good girl and eat all my veggies lately. I decided to make a salad with kale and broccoli. Kale is a super food chocked full of amazing nutrients. It's a little bit tough and bitter. It's best to let this salad sit in the fridge for a couple hours before consumption to marinate and soften up the kale. This procedure takes away from it's bitterness. Here it is! The whole family loved it, including my picky father.

Ingredients
1 bunch kale
1 bunch broccoli
1/2 red onion
1 green apple
1 hand full pepitas
2 handfuls raw almonds
1 cup raisins (you could use dried cherries or cranberries also)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
1. Wash and chop kale into bite sized. Pieces
2. Wash broccoli and cut florets into bite size pieces
3. Peel stems of broccoli and julienne
4. Dice onion and green apple
5. Roughly chop almonds
5. Toss all ingredients together in a bowl


White Balsamic & Honey Vinaigrette

Ingredients
1tbsp Dijon mustard
3tbsp honey
4tbsp white balsamic vinegar
6tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
1. Place first 3 ingredients in a bowl
2. Mix together thoroughly
3. Slowly pour in the extra virgin olive oil while whisking to emulsify the vinaigrette
4. Pour over salad, and toss
5. This salad is good for up to 5 days refrigerated

Eat the rainbow!

-Alexandra

Buckwheat Banana pancakes

I'm a little crazy about pancakes lately. I really enjoy finding new healthy ways to make this otherwise nutrient lacking breakfast favourite.

Today it's a dark rainy Sunday. What better way to start the day than with banana pancakes! "Make you banana pancakes, pretend like it's the weekend. Can't you see that it's just raining? Ain't no need to go outside. " Jack Johnson is on point with this song. So here's another healthy spin on pancakes! I used buckwheat and almond flour instead of regular white flour. Buckwheat is a fruit seed that is higher in fibre than white flour, and it is also gluten free. The almond and buckwheat flour add a slight nutty taste to these pancakes. If you're allergic to nuts you can substitute coconut flour for the almond flour.

Ingredients

Serves 2 people

2 ripe Bananas
2 eggs (or 4 egg whites)
1tbsp sprouted chia & flax seeds
1/8 cup + 3tbsp almond flour
1/8 cup Buckwheat flour
1/2tsp baking powder
Pinch cinnamon (optional)
Coconut oil (for cooking)





Method

1. Mash ripe bananas with a fork until purée like
2. Add eggs
3. Place dry ingredients in a bowl
4. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients
5. Mix until well combined
6. Place coconut oil in frying pan
7. Cook pancakes on medium low heat until golden brown on each side
8. Enjoy with real maple syrup or agave syrup and fresh fruit

Enjoy!

Alexandra

Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup

Soups are one of the most comforting foods in my opinion, especially pureed soups. The weather here in Toronto has been anything but spring like to me. Hello! It's April! When is this spring weather coming?!? Canadian winters are too long, and sometimes I think I live in the wrong country. In my ideal world it would only snow for 1 day of the year, and that day would be Christmas. After Christmas all the snow would melt, and the frosty cold winter would be done and over with...The weather would warm up, and resemble the climate of the caribbean. What a dream that would be.

Unfortunately the weather is anything but tropical here, so I decided to bring a touch of the tropics to my kitchen with my sweet potato and coconut soup. Coconut brings back memories of lounging on caribbean beaches and sipping coconut water. I love coconut! I really love sweet potatoes too! They are my favourite root vegetable. I love them because they are inexpensive, delicious. and nutritious. They contain a higher fibre content than regular potatoes. They're also packed with vitamin C, beta carotene (which is great for your skin), iron, and vitamin D. 

This soup was so comforting, healthy and delicious!  I made a really big batch, because I like to share my food with the people I love. I also love freezing soups for days that I don't have the time to cook. I like clean eating and eating foods made from scratch, so this system works well for me. You can garnish this soup with chives, plain greek yogurt, coconut cream, diced red pepper, crostini, bread, sweet potato chips, croutons, or parsley. I enjoyed my soup plain because I was famished, and so excited to get this soup in my belly!

This soup was also my lunch the next day. I had it with Romaine lettuce wraps, with hummus, cuccumber, shredded carrot, red onion and avocado.

Ingredients

3 medium onions

5 cloves garlic

1 red pepper

1/2 bunch celery (5-6stalks)

2 carrots

5 medium sweet potatoes

6 cups vegetable stock or water

1 can unsweetened coconut milk

1 tbsp coconut oil

salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Wash, peel and cut all vegetables

2. In a large stock pot, melt coconut oil

3. Add onions, sweat them out

4. Add celery, carrots, and garlic sweat them out also (by sweat I mean cook until you can smell the vegetable's aroma)

5. Add sweet potato, red pepper, vegetable stock, and coconut milk

6. Simmer about 20-30 minutes until the vegetable in the soup are cooked

7. Once all vegetables are cooked, puree the soup with a hand blender or blender until smooth

8. Taste the soup, and season with salt and pepper to taste

Enjoy!

Alexandra 

Protein pancakes!

Pancakes! Pancakes! Pancakes! They bring back some of my happiest memories. From childhood sleepovers, to lemon ricotta pancakes an ex would make me, mother's day brunch pancakes, to oat pancakes my sister would make me for my birthday, and buckwheat pancakes...the list of pancake memories could go on forever.

I feel like I'm going through a quarter life crisis lately... When I would picture my life at this age when I was younger, I pictured it to be more "together" than it is right now. The optimist in me tells me everything will be just fine and fall into place the way it's supposed to.

I made these protein pancakes today, not only put a smile on my face but to make me feel like I have my life together.

These pancakes are a healthier alternative to your white flour pancakes that are high in fat, and lack nutrients. The sprouted flax/chia powder and banana add fibre. The egg white and soy protein add protein. These pancakes surely started my day off right. I hope you enjoy these babies as much as I did.

Protein pancakes

Makes 3 pancakes

Ingredients
1 ripe banana
2 egg whites
1tbsp sprouted chia & flax seed
1 scoop soy or egg protein (I have tried whey protein, and the texture isn't as nice and fluffy as when you use soy or egg protein)
1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of cinnamon (optional)
Coconut oil (for frying)

This is the brand of flax/chia seeds that I used. If you can't find this product, you can use ground flax seeds.

Method
1. Mash up the banana very well
2. Mix in the remaining ingredients
3. Place coconut oil in frying pan over medium low heat
4. Fry until golden brown on each side
5. Serve with fresh fruit and real maple or agave syrup. I ate mine with mango, banana, shredded coconut, and pepitas, and real maple syrup.

Have a happy + healthful day!

- Alexandra

Almond crusted Chicken Fingers with honey, chipotle yogurt dip

Work has been extremely stressful lately. Every day I've worked this week, it has felt like I've walked into a shit storm of passion fruit mousse and Saskatoon berry compote over and over again. I am really hungry too, because I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off the whole time trying to escape the sweet storm I feel trapped in.

I am often finding myself dreaming of the days when I had no worries. Those were the days of my childhood. My worries consisted of choosing which cabbage patch kid doll I was going to play with, or who I was going to "call on" to play with outside. I miss playing in my treehouse that my dad built me. Oh and making snow forts all day long, going to dance classes, and making jazzy jewellery.

If only living life this way was acceptable at my age. It's ironic how when you're a kid you want to grow up so fast, and once you grow up you wish you were a kid again...My reality just set in...I really can't go back in time. I guess this calls for one of my comforting childhood favourites that takes me way back to my worry free days! CHICKEN FINGERS!  Of course I had to make it healthy, so I swapped the flour and bread crumbs for almond flour, which is higher in nutrients such as fibre,vitamin E, and monounsaturated fats. (Healthy fats our bodies need)

I also put together two dipping sauces for these babies, because I love sauce with anything. Who doesn't?

Almond Crusted Chicken Fingers

Ingredients

1lb Tenders or Chicken Breasts
3/4 cup ground almonds
1tbsp sprouted chia & flax seed powder ( I use organic traditions brand)
4 egg whites
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of pepper

You can add your own spices to the mix and get creative!

Method

1. Preheat oven to 450F
2. Prepare and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil
3. If you are using whole chicken breasts, cut the chicken into strips
4. Set up your breading station. Place egg whites in a shallow dish, place ground almonds and spices in another shallow dish
5. Place chicken tenders into egg whites, coating them all around
6.  Transfer each chicken tender into the ground almond mixture coating them evenly
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown, turning the chicken tenders half way through cooking to ensure even browning

Pommery Honey Mustard

Ingredients

2tbsp Honey
2tbp Pommery or grainy mustard

Method

1. mix together

Honey, Lime and Chipotle Yogurt

Ingredients

1/2 cup plain unflavoured yogurt
2 tsp chipotles in adobo sauce
1 tsp Lime juice
1 tsp Honey

Method

1. Finely chop chipotles
2. Mix all ingredients together

Enjoy!

Alexandra

Carrot Fries & Black Bean Avocado Salad

Last night's dinner was inspired by the fact that I'm going to Miami in exactly two weeks. I have to look and feel my best, being a pastry chef is really hard in times like these. Everything speaks to me, and I want to shovel every little delicious looking thing in my mouth! I know, I know it's a hard life, but really what am I going to eat for dinner? I was at work with very little time and a lot of work for me to do, I was having creme brûlée, and dark chocolate mousse nightmares while I was awake! I was walking around aimlessly trying to figure out what to make in a snap.

I really love french fries, they're one of my favourite foods ever! They're so simple and can be dipped in anything my heart desires, but unfortunately lack in nutrition and are high in fat.

I decided to make myself and one of my friends some spiced carrot fries! But wait there's no protein in that!? I like my meals nutritionally balanced! So I also ended up making a light and colourful Black bean, avocado, and veggie salad. This salad is perfect if you are pressed for time. It is high in protein and chocked full of vitamins from the other veggies in the salad. The fries have great flavour and are great for dipping in your favourite healthy dips, hummus, guacamole, or even a yogurt dip!




Carrot Fries

2 Servings

Ingredients

4 medium carrots
2 tbsp olive oil
1tbsp paprika
1tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Wash, peel, and cut carrots in to sticks.
2. Toss carrots in the remaining ingredients
3. Spread carrot sticks out on baking sheet
4. Bake in the oven @350F for 20-30 minutes depending on your oven

FYI: Carrot fries don't crisp up like a regular deep fried french fries, but they're still delicious and full of nutrients!


Black Bean & Avocado salad

2 servings

Ingredients

1 can of black beans
1 Ripe avocado
10 cherry tomatoes
1 yellow bell pepper
1/2 small red onion
2 tbsp pepitas
2 Limes
1 tsp Chilli powder
salt and pepper to taste

Method
1. Rinse black beans and place in a bowl
2. Wash + slice veggies
3. Zest Limes and juice
4. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste. I really encourage tasting everything while you make it to you ensure that your food is delish!
6. Sprinkle salad with pepitas

Enjoy


Alexandra