The Jandorf

This salad looks a lot like a Waldorf salad however it's kinda far from it. I am not a fan of celery or mayonnaise in my salads; so as a rule, I'm not overly excited about Waldorf salads. For the purpose of this blog post I'll call this salad the Jandorf because this is truly my favorite salad.
What makes this recipe so great is the vinaigrette. The apple cider vinegar is from the Okanagan Vinegar Brewery in Summerland, BC. Vinegar was never something that got me really excited. That changed when I went to Edible BC on Granville Island where they were having a apple cider vinegar tasting. My favorite from the tasting is the iced cider apple vinegar. It's handcrafted, all natural, unfiltered and local. It's beautiful in flavor and not too sharp. What more could a girl want?!
The honey I use is the Mountain Honey from Honeyview Farm from Rosedale, BC. This honey I picked up while on a day trip to Agassiz. My cousin Joey, Christel and I toured a couple farms and came home with all sorts of goodies. My favorites from that trip were fresh local hazelnuts and the Mountain honey. When I bought the honey, I was told that the hives were placed in the wildflower fields of our BC mountains and that the honey collected from the hives were made from an assortment of BC wildflowers. Having hiked through some of BCs most beautiful valleys while they are in bloom, I was excited at the thought of happy little honey bees buzzing about in such a beautifully pristine setting to make this honey. Kind of like the Club Med of honey making if you ask me. Now yes, I am aware that I am eating all of their hard work and if they had a chance they'd probably be really upset with me for doing so. But I am ever so thankful for the honey and I don't use it too much (I've bought only one other pot of honey since that trip which was about two years ago). I try to appease my guilt by envisioning these honey bees in a beautiful environment, not over consuming their product and living as bee friendly* as possible.
Both the iced apple cider vinegar and the mountain honey can be found at Edible BC on Granville Island. I've also found that Capers carries the honey (the one on Robson did anyways).

The Jandorf

3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp minced shallot
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 cup roughly chopped dried prunes (or dried tart cherries)
about 6 cups of baby spinach
1 medium granny smith apple, cored and cubed
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup crumbled pepper goat cheese

For dressing: Whisk first 4 ingredients in a small bowl to blend.
For salad: Layer remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add dressing. Enjoy!

*I like bees. They're super important to every aspect of the food industry and I don't think many people realize this. I know I wasn't aware until I was reading an article about bees while commuting to work and I found myself in tears when I read how we are affecting their survival. It's not something to be proud of.

Tofu, Tomato and Green Bean Curry

This recipe is one straight from a BC Hydro Powersmart add in the Winter edition of Edible Vancouver. I have yet to figure out what is power smart about this recipe but it's darn delicious so really, it doesn't matter :) The only changes I've made (this recipe is with changes) is that I reduced the amount of oil from 1/2 cup to 1 Tbsp, reduced the salt from 1 Tbsp to 1 tsp and switched the chicken for tofu.

Tofu, Tomato and Green Bean Curry

1 tablespoon cooking oil
2 cups chopped red onion (1 large)
2 Tbsp chopped garlic (6 medium cloves)
3 cups chopped tomatoes (6 medium)
1 tsp tumeric
1 1/2 Tbsp ground cumin
1 1/2 Tbsp mild Mexican chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper (optional)
1 1/2 firm tofu packages cubed
1/2 cup water
1 lb green beans, trimmed and cut in 1/2 inch pieces

• In a large, heavy-bottomed pan, heat oil on medium heat for 1 minute.
• Add onion and sauté for about 8 minutes, or until light golden on the edges. Don't overcook the red onion, as it is meant to give a sweeter taste to this curry.
• Add garlic and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes, then add tomatoes and stir well.
• Add tumeric, cumin, chili powder, salt and cayenne and saute for 5 minutes.
• Stir in tofu, pour in water and bring to a boil.
• Reduce to medium heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
• Remove the lid carefully and stir in green beans.
• Cook uncovered, for 5 minutes, or until beans are just slightly crunchy.

This makes a relatively large batch but it's amazing for lunches! I serve it with a mix of brown and wild rice. I have yet to try it with quinoa but I am sure that would be delicious too.

Gluten Free Browned Butter Brownies

Since Gourmet magazine went the way of the dinosaur, I've been receiving Bon Apetit monthly. The articles are almost as good as those in Gourmet and the recipes are equally as inspiring. This month when I opened my little mail cubby, I pulled out a crisp February issue with a simple image of 4 brownie pieces stacked one on top of each other. The cover warned: inside a brownie recipe that will make you want to eat the entire pan. This was not a promise that I was open to considering since I was off dairy, wheat and chocolate. What was gluten free, chocolate free and dairy free were the pictures and recipes. I devoured them with my eyes and let myself be transported to a place where the rich, chewy flavors of a perfect chocolate brownie danced on my tongue.
The magazine had been sitting on my side table for two weeks when I finally told Sean that I had to make these browned butter brownies. Detox was over. Now time to retox! I bought the ingredients and was set to go... but I hesitated... Gluten seemed to be the root of my health issues. And of course, this recipe contained gluten. I quickly looked for a gluten free recipe and was not overly impressed with the results. The last thing I wanted was a healthy version of a delectable treat. So, armed with two recipes, I set off to create a fusion of the two recipes.
By the time I was blending the browned butter and chocolate mixture with the pecan flour I was giddy with excitement. The chocolate hadn't burned in the browned butter mixture. The eggs didn't scramble in the hotness of the chocolate and butter. The pecan mix smelled so good that I could have eaten that all by itself.
I put it all in the oven and hoped for the best. By this point, I figured that what ever cam out of the own I'd eat it. How could butter, sugar, chocolate and pecans go wrong?! The apartment slowly filled with the beautiful smell of cooking chocolate and sugar. What came out of the oven after 30 minutes... well you're just going to have to try this recipe for yourself. Gluten free diet or not this recipe is here to stay. It's blown every other brownie recipe I've ever made out of the water. And for the record, yes, I did eat the whole pan, but over the course of two days.

Gluten Free Browned Butter Brownies

5oz Belgian dark chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp ground pecan meal*
1/4 slightly rounded cup sorghum flour
1 tablespoon tapioca starch (or flour, same thing different label)
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
3 tsp vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line a 9x11-inch baking pan with parchment or foil and lightly oil the bottom and 1/2 way up the sides.
• Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking until butter stops foaming and browned bits form at the bottom of the pan, stirring often, about 5 minutes.
• While butter is browning, in a medium bowl combine pecan meal, sorghum flour, tapioca starch and baking soda. Set aside.
• Remove browned butter from heat; immediately add sugar. Stir until blended (sugar crystals should mostly be dissolved, some may remain).
• Next, add finely chopped chocolate and stir constantly until chocolate had melted and is incorporated in the browned butter and sugar mixture. Add vanilla and salt. Stir to blend.
• Let sit for 5 minutes as mixture will still be hot.
• Add eggs to hot mixture 1 at a time, beating vigorously to blend after each addition. When mixture looks thick and shiny, add flour and stir until blended. Beat vigorously 37 strokes**. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
• Bake brownies until toothpick inserted into center comes out almost clean (a few moist crumbs will still be attached, that's ok), about 25 to 35 minutes.
• Cool in pan on rack. Using parchment/foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Cut and enjoy. :)

*I am sure stores sell this, however, I just made my own using pecans and putting them in the coffee grinder (which is specifically for grinding nuts, seeds and spices).
**37 is totally a random number :) Just stir enough so that it's well blended but no need to over do it.