Festive Fruity Salad

I was asked to bring a green salad as my contribution to a Christmas potluck party hosted by a co-worker of mine and I thought to myself, “Hey self. You’ve gotten off pretty much scot-free on this potluck thing. Making a salad is going to be no problem!”

I was feeling really good about it right up until the day of when I popped into the grocery store to pick up the ingredients. Just scanning up and down the vegetable aisle kind of threw me into a wild panic. How on Earth was I supposed to come up with a crowd-pleasing salad that was relatively cheap and easy to make?

Here’s what I came up with:

It’s not exactly a salad in five, but it can definitely be done in fifteen minutes. Just save the dressing in a tupperware container to bring to the party so you can drizzle it over your salad at the last minute. (Because no likes a soggy salad!) It’s a fun and easy contribution to any of your upcoming holiday parties, and the colors and flavor just seem kind of…festive. Hence, the festive fruity salad title. Gosh, I’m so creative.

Festive Fruity Salad

1 1/2 heads of romaine lettuce

1/2 English cucumber

1/4 red onion

113 g. goat cheese crumbles (plus more to taste)

1 pkg.  (142 g) Craisins (or any other dried cranberry)

540 mL mandarin wedges packed in light syrup

Rinse and pat dry romaine lettuce and twist into smaller, bite-sized pieces. Add cucumber, sliced into thin rounds, and red onion, sliced into small matchsticks. Drain mandarins through a sieve; reserve some of the liquid. Pat dry using paper towel or a dry, clean dishtowel. Add to mixture. Add Craisins and goat cheese crumbles. Toss until all ingredients have been liberally coated with cheese.

To make dressing, combine 3 tbsp each balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and 1 tbsp mandarin orange liquid. (You can use lemon juice or orange juice in case you forgot to reserve some, or you were awesome and bought your own mandarin oranges.) Whisk together in a small bowl with a dash each salt and pepper. Dress the salad at the last minute, making sure to evenly coat.

The end result is delicious- the vegetables are crisp counterpoint to the creamy goat cheese and the tangy/sweet mandarins pair perfectly with the cranberries to make the salad seem festive and fun. Plus, it goes really well with chicken! Crisis adverted.

A whole slew of holiday parties are just around the corner. I’d love to know what you’ve been cooking up in your kitchen. Drop me a line at thetwentiesproject@gmail.com

Still need more potluck inspiration? Check out our recipe page for more ideas on entrées and entertaining.

How to Make Vegetarian Eggplant Lasagna Without Pasta Noodles

Gran, CC-BY-3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

I love to eat. I hate to cook, especially when I am doing it for one. There is something truly depressing about the thought of eating alone, which is probably why I choose chips or other grazing foods, such as:

1. Crackers
2. Granola bars
3. Bread
4. Carrots, dipped in hummus
5. Celery, with cream cheese

All these foods can be consumed while standing or moving, which distracts from the fact you are eating alone. You can hold the celery in between your teeth while you hang curtains or paint your living room. You can munch on carrots while you clean your kitchen. Granola bars can be eaten enroute to work or school. You can hold your head up high and state to the empty room,

“I am just too busy to sit down, I am working toward my career” 

Then, because you are secure in your solitude, you reach into the freezer to retrieve the double, double chocolate fudge from behind the lean cuisine you swore you would stick to. But, considering single twenty-somethings’, like myself, adverse to cooking, would probably die on a diet like that, need to bring themselves to man the stove.

The first thing I learned to cook was cheesy black bean tortillas. I had gained ten pounds after a month, so I went back to salad and decided to drink more water … I may have even exercised, once or twice. Because, although comfortable with being alone, I also do not want to die of a heart attack by twenty-nine.

So, I learned to make other things … with a little help from my friends. And three cookbooks. And my sister because she was patient with me. And my cousin because she refused to accept “I just don’t like that” and made me eat it anyway.

No-Pasta Eggplant Lasagna
8 Servings

2 medium eggplants
1 Ib tofu (extra firm)
1 green bell pepper
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
10 oz freshly chopped spinach
1/4 cup blue cheese (gives an extra bite)
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp basil
1 can of tomato sauce
1 bag of shredded cheese (your choice, I like extra old cheddar)

Cut each eggplant lengthwise into moderately thin, even, 1/4 inch slices. Press each slice between two sheets of paper towel, this will draw out the moisture without having to add salt. When you are satisfied most of the water has been drawn out, preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place the tofu and spinach and green pepper and blue cheese into a food processor (or magic bullet) and process (or blend) until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients – not the eggplant or tomato sauce – to the processor and blend until smooth.

Spread a thin layer of the sauce on the bottom of a 9×11 inch pan. Place a layer of eggplant over the sauce, covering the entire bottom of the pan. Spread half the tofu mixture on the eggplant. Cover with another layer of eggplant and then spread remaining tofu mixture over top of that. Top with a final layer of eggplant and pour the remaining sauce over this. Cover with foil and bake for 15 – 2o minutes; remove foil and back for an additional 15 – 20 minutes, until eggplant is tender.

Add a sprinkle of cheese to the top of the eggplant lasagna and broil for ten minutes, or until cheese is golden brown. Allow to cool for ten minutes before serving.

This is a delicious recipe and something you can share with your friends. And your patient sister … who will, in turn, sprinkle ground beef on it because she cannot imagine you served her a meal without meat – oh, family.

Virtual Vegan Potluck: Black Bean Enchiladas

S – I have always been pretty lax when it came to my diet. I often forget to eat proper meals and then, in the middle of the night, by the light of the refrigerator, eat peanut butter directly from the jar. I know I have the tools to live a proper well-balanced lifestyle buried deep within the recesses of my mind, but, well, unfortunately, I am kind of lazy when it comes to cooking. The other night, I forgot to turn on the burner while trying to make pasta. I didn’t notice for thirty-five minutes. I ate a slice of bread slathered with jam instead. I can count on one hand the amount of major diet-changing-decisions I have made in my entire life.

I was six when I decided raisins were no longer an edible option for my lunches, especially since the other kids were eating Gusher Fruit snacks. Since my mother was unable to pronounce the ingredients, we were not allowed to eat them. Hamburger Helper was nixed around my twelfth year. I blame my parents’ unhealthy reliance on that particular boxed dinner. I like to hiss at the stupid smiling gloved hand when I grocery shop. Nanaimo bars are disgusting, so I took scissors and cut those out of my life around my sixteenth birthday. I think everyone should avoid those plastic-chocolate nightmares. I went to vegetarian around my twentieth birthday, I’m sure my mother cried – erm, still cries, nightly. On my twenty-sixth birthday I decided to try veganism. I tried to go one whole week without cheese. I cried myself to sleep for three days before cracking and binging on a brick of extra old cheddar and a box of Triscuit crackers.

I am a work in progress. B is a work in progress. We are works in progress.

B – You know how most people go away to university and lose the freshmen fifteen? Well, I went away to university and lost the freshmen fifteen. I know many women will probably be screaming in envy at me for losing that extra fifteen pounds that always seem to elude most dieters. It was no picnic, though. Stress-induced medical problems lead to poor eating habits and it was around then I realized there were certain foods I had an extreme sensitivity to. I had always tried to avoid dairy products around “that time of the month”, and now it seemed like I had to avoid them a great deal of the time. It was many years before I had heard of the term of “lactose-sensitive” but once I did hear it, it all seemed to make sense. How else could I explain my body’s aversion to milk, but its love of yogurt? How could I feel nauseous after eating ice cream but still be able to eat cheese? Even though I’m not a vegan, I avoid most dairy products and veer away mostly from meat, so it seems natural that I would gravitate towards vegan meals to get all the fresh ingredients I need and avoid those foods which make me feel less then great.

But that’s what being in your twenties is all about, right? Figuring what works for us, and what doesn’t.

We tried a bunch of different recipes for this vegan virtual potluck and did hours of interwebs research, we turned out a lot of really horrendously dry dishes. We may have wept over some vegan soups, especially when we realized we made them wrong. Though, these black bean enchiladas were heaven … and we even enjoyed the vegan cheese. It gave us hope we could one day live without dairy cheese.

So, pull out some paper, take notes:

Ingredients:

From veganlovlie.com

Enchiladas:

• 1 block firm tofu, drained and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 can black beans, drained and diced
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 zucchini, grated
• 2 carrots, grated
• 1 green peppers, diced
• 1 c. homemade enchilada sauce (recipe below)
• 10-12 flour tortillas
• Daiya vegan cheese crumbles (optional)

For the enchilada sauce:

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp jalapeño pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 2 cups water
• 1 8 ounce can tomato paste
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

To make the sauce, eat the oil, flour and jalapeño pepper powder together in a large pot. Allow to cook for a minute or two. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a slow simmer. Stir well to combine and dissolve tomato paste in water. Allow to cook for at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more spices as desired.

Set aside. Dice the carrots, zucchini, and onion. Toss the vegetables in a bowl with about half the enchilada sauce. Add diced tofu and black beans. Combine well.

Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of the vegetable, bean and tofu mix into each flour tortilla. Wrap and place in a baking pan. When the pan is full, spoon half of the leftover enchilada sauce on top of the wrapped flour tortillas – be sure to get all the edges!

Bake 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees or until done, spooning the rest of the enchilada sauce on top when halfway done cooking. When there are ten minutes remaining, remove enchiladas from oven and sprinkle with your favorite vegan cheese. Return to oven and bake for another ten minutes, or switch your oven’s setting to broil if you want your cheese extra crispy.

Tip: If the edges of your tortillas are crisp after baking, spoon a bit more sauce on them and they will absorb the moisture and flavor.

Are you looking for more delicious vegan recipes? We’re pleased to be involved in the vegan potluck! Click on the links below for other great recipes sure to be enjoyed by vegans and non-vegans alike.

embracing the DIY diva

I didn’t want to say anything last week about it, but Christmas came a little early for me.

It was my one day off of work (in addition to being a freelance writer and blogger, I work at a small local clothing boutique) and I was psyched to get all the little things that still needed doing for the upcoming holiday out of the way. But it was not meant to be.

As I was busy puttering around the house, I got a call from my boss who wanted to let me know that the abandoned coffee shop next door was finally being rented out and they were clearing out all the things that were left behind. Would I be interested in taking a look at some of the furniture?

At first I was hesitant because there was so much else that needed doing, but I had been talking so long about wanting to decorate my place that I decided to take the time and head on down anyway.

You always read about these kinds of situations on DIY blogs about how they scored such and such a chair at this sale, or how they found this fabulous lamp at a garage sale for fifty cents, but as much as I say I’m into DIY I had never encountered such a deal before. Maybe I don’t go to enough garage sales. Or maybe it’s because I still struggle with reimagining pieces of furniture. Either way, I approached this sale with a certain amount of trepidation.

The place was a mess. The owners had left EVERYTHING behind-plates, utensils, blenders- the works. They also left behind three armchairs. One wasn’t in very good condition- it looked like the upholstery had been slit in some sort of knife fight. (I have a very overactive imagination). The other two were slightly worn but the frames were in good shape so I asked if I could have them. They suggested that I pay twenty bucks for each of them.

I considered. Both of them were fairly big armchairs. They did need recovering- which depending on the fabric I chose might be a little expensive- but even after considering the cost of renting a van to move them they would still be less than probably what they originally retailed for, which I’m guessing was upwards of 300. So I said yes and they offered to store them for me until I was able to pick them up. Then for an additional ten bucks they told me I could take whatever else I wanted.

At first I was a little bit hesitant- I wasn’t even sure what I wanted- but once I started to get into the groove of things I ended up with a lot of stuff. Here’s what I got:

Here's some of my loot in the laundry room

• eight folding chairs (with padded pleather backs and seats)
• one big box of glasses in assorted sizes (which I’m going to go through with L)
• a big package of napkins (hey, why not, you can always use some napkins!)
• two cupcake stands: one has two-tiers and is rectangular and the other has four-tiers and is circular
• sixteen assorted platters (the small kind that you would put appetizers on or use as sandwich plates or something) Some are part of a set and some clearly are not. All of them are nice and white and crisp, though, with no chips or marks.
  

  More of my stuff in the laundry room

• a big metallic red platter (so Christmasy!)
• three different kinds of flavoured syrups so I can start experimenting with different kinds of drinks and coffees in caramel, hazelnut and chocolate. Eat your heart out, M!
• a small wooden tray that I plan to DIY using some kind of funky paint (I’m thinking metallic?)
• six giant jars with lids

Considering I have very few fancy dishes and things like that I was happy to grab what I could for an extra 10. I’ll definitely be spreading the love though with my fellow Twenties Project members (I just don’t have the room to house all of that stuff- nor do I entertain that much!)

All in all it just goes to show that sometimes you really can find treasure admist all that junk- you just have to be willing to look for it!

Already I’m dreaming about new covers for my new chairs. Watch out for some posts on my fabric hunting in the near future. It’ll be like watching a kid in the candy store.

Calling all DIY divas (of the male and female variety!) What are your thoughts on my chair makeover? Patterned? Solids? Embellishments? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Comment below or drop me a line at thetwentiesproject@gmail.com. Photos to come soon!

Christmas Dinner on a Budget

Sing it with me everyone, “Oh, Crappy Day!” I don’t know about you but I’m getting pretty tired of this rain. I hate to say it but at this point I’d much rather have snow. Not gross slushy snow but the big fluffy kind that could turn this city into a winter wonderland. The rain is literally putting a damper on my Christmas spirit so I’ve decided to fight back the urge to turn into a total Scrooge and give you some holiday meal ideas that won’t ruin your budget.

$50 Budget
You can actually do the traditional turkey meal (minus alcohol) for only $50. Pretty unbelievable isn’t it? Not when you can find a turkey for $12-$15!!!

So here is your $50 menu plan:

Appetizer:
Baked Brie (Just throw it in a 350 oven for about 5 minutes)

Garlic Crustini (slice horizontally place in oven until golden and rub with a clove of garlic)

Cranberry Walnut Coulis (Grab a pot put 1 cup whole cranberries, 3/4 cup water, 1 tbsp sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and chopped walnuts to taste)

Main:
Oven Roasted Turkey (Rub butter over and under the skin, stuff with your favourite stuffing, and place in a 350 oven until internal temperature of 165 has been reached. Baste often)

Creamy Mashed Potatoes (Make these your own. Plain with butter and milk, blue cheese and bacon, roasted garlic, sour cream- nothing is wrong so really go for it!)

Candied Turnip (Cut into chuncks discarding the rind and treat as potatoes. Boil, mash and add 1/2 large stick of butter, brown sugar and salt to taste. It should taste like a savoury caramelized turnip)

There you have it! A wonderful holiday dinner for less so you can have money left over for presents! Do you have any more dinner ideas on a budget? Email us at thetwentiesproject@gmail.com.

The Twelve Days Of Christmas

The countdown to Christmas has officially begun.

There are twelve days left to make a last mad dash to the mall, tie up loose ends and wrap up the merriment before the thrill of the coming new year takes hold. So with twelve days left before C-Day what can you do to maintain your sanity and embrace the spirit of the season? Take it one day at a time.

the eater’s guide to christmas dinner

Image from whatscookingamerica.net

They say a true lady never reveals her weight, which is why I’m not going to do it here. I will admit, however, that I love me some Christmas dinner. Every year I ditch the diet and go all out and this year will be no exception.

First of all, you should know that I don’t believe in diets at all. I pretty much eat whatever I want. That isn’t to say that I just walk around inhaling junk food all day (only some days). I just find that if I eat when I’m hungry and pay attention to the things that my body tells me it craves, I generally do okay. That means also paying attention to my sweet/salty cravings too. If I don’t I become a maniac and I find myself binging on whatever food I happen to crave at the moment. Or even worse, I start eating really weird things at really weird times of day so I can shut up that annoying voice in my head telling me I want something sweet. Like eating canned icing with a spoon after a three-day chocolate craving that wasn’t satisfied. Trust me, it’s not a good place to be.

how to be a good guest

We are now nine days into December, and I am pretty sure I can assume your holiday party calendar is beginning to fill up. I know mine sure is! I also know how hard it is becoming to pry yourselves out of bed in the morning as the countdown to Christmas draws nearer. So here are a few tips which will help you look your absolute best no matter how tired and in need of the upcoming holiday you are. I am going to ensure that you are the guest hosts will want to have at their parties.

It’s true we are all beginning to run a little ragged come this time of year. Our skin takes a beating, our hands and nails look like the Sahara desert and I cannot even talk about the kind of havoc that wearing a scarf does to my hair! So, let’s start by trying to make ourselves our most gorgeous for all those upcoming holiday photo-ops. The prettier you are, the more displayed family photos and albums you will have; instead of the ones we untag on Facebook or hide under the bed and in the back of closets. Believe me, you are going to want the memories one day.

christmas dinner survival guide part 2: how to be a good guest

Last Sunday, A and I were given an invitation to a dessert party. Yes, that’s right, a party, five days before Christmas, full of nothing but dessert and alcohol. I will give you a minute to fully absorb how awesome a concept is. Done? So, although I am looking forward to this party, I did take a second and think perhaps a dessert party was not the best place for me to be – considering I am watching my diet, but who could turn that down?

Luckily, since it is only dessert, it means A and I will still have to eat dinner before we go. I can eat at home – make it healthy – and fill up on good food, so I am not tempted to eat every dessert there is. The last time the hostess made a dessert it was a chocolate cupcake with a peanut butter cup core, chocolate icing and crumbled peanut butter cup on top. I know, right?!