The Easiest Peanut Butter Cookies on Planet Earth

Seriously the easiest peanut butter cookie recipe on earth.
You can not screw these up.

What You'll Need:

• 1 cup peanut butter (I prefer the natural kind, with less sugar - but always smooth...chunky peanut butter is the worst!)
• 1/2 cup sugar (I used Ideal to cut down on the calories)
• 1 medium-sized, room temperate egg
• That is it. For real.

What You'll Do:

• Pre-heat your oven to 175F (or 350c)In a mixing bowl, add in your peanut butter
• Pour in your sugar
• In a separate, smaller bowl, crack your egg and lightly beat with a fork
• Combine your egg into your sugar peanut butter mixture
• Stir until very well combined
• On a non-greased baking tray, roll out equal sized dough balls, evenly spaced - about 9-12 per tray
• Flatten lightly (I use the bottom of a drinking glass)
• Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies turn from looking shiny to dull
• Gobble them up

The STEWART SCORE
Appearance: 1.5
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Melt in Your Mouth Shortbread

I love Christmas baking. And shortbread.
This shortbread cookie recipe is, hands-down, the best melt-in-your-mouth delicious shortbread cookie recipe you'll ever try.

If you don't trust me, trust Martha.

What You'll Need:

• Electric mixer or hand mixer (you really can't make these to taste as melt-in-your-mouth delicious without having this)
• Baking trays
• Parchment paper
• 1 cup of room temperature unsalted butter (it is very important to ensure the butter is room temperature)
• 1/4 cup of powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar (to toss them in, once baked)

What You'll Do:

• Using your electric mixer or hand mixer, beat your room temperate butter and slowly add in the powdered sugar
• Beat at a medium speed for about 3-5 minutes or until the butter starts to look fluffy and pale
• Add in your vanilla and mix until combined
• In a separate bowl combine your flour, cornstarch and salt
• Sift until well combined
• Slowly add the flour mixture into the whipped butter mixture
• Mix until well incorporated
• Cover with cling film and refrigerate the dough for at least one hour

 

• Heat your oven to 350C (or 175F)
• On a baking tray lined in parchment paper, roll out evenly sized dough balls
• Space the balls out evenly - about 12 per tray
• Here is the key! Bake until the cookie bottoms have just a whisper of brown. Do not over bake!
• Remove from the tray and let cool on a rack for about five minutes
• In a separate, smaller bowl, add in the 1/2 powdered sugar
• Take each cookie (be gentle with them) and place inside the powdered sugar, move the cookie around gently, ensuring top and bottom are covered with sugar
• Replace back to the wire rack to cool
• Sample as you go along as there is nothing better than a warm melt-in-your-mouth shortbread
• Serve and graciously accept the outpouring of compliments
• Have tissue on hand to wipe away people's tears of joy

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2 (some people choose to put candied cherry pieces on top, but I think that distracts from this cookie's good looks)
Taste: 2
Ease:1.5 (it takes some practice to not overcook)

Oatmeal Coconut Banana Cookies

I had some extra ripe bananas to use up and wanted to combine the sweetness of a ripe banana with the wholesomeness of oatmeal and my favourite thing - coconut.
Out came these oatmeal coconut banana cookies!

Easy to make, super delicious to eat.

What You'll Need:

• Small pot or microwave (to melt your butter)
• Electric or hand mixer
• Two medium sized bowls
• Cookie trays
• 2 Tbps of melted butter
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of light brown sugar
• 1 super ripe banana
• 1 medium sized egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp your favourite cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 1 1/2 cup quick oatmeal (not instant, or it will go mushy)
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut

What You'll Do:

• Pre-heat your oven to 350C (or 175F)
• Melt your butter (either on your stove top or microwave. If you are using a microwave, do this slowly, 5-10 seconds or so at a time so the butter doesn't explode all over the place)
• Transfer the melted butter to your mixing bowl
• Thoroughly mix in your sugars (this will also bring the heat of the butter down, which is good as the next step is adding your egg and you don't want your egg to cook if it hits hot butter)
• Crack your egg, outside the butter and sugar mixture, and beat lightly with a fork
• Add your egg into the mixture
• Add the vanilla
• Add your banana
• Beat thoroughly
• In your other bowl, add in your flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt
• Add this scoop by scoop into your butter mixture, with a fork, combine the ingredients - do not mix together
• Once the flour mixture has been added and combined, add in your oatmeal and coconut
• Use your mixture to combine everything together until well combined
• On your un-greased baking tray, spoon small sized dough mounds, evenly spaced - about 12 per tray
• (I then channeled Martha and thought she would add something to the tops of the cookies, so I placed a single chocolate chip on top to make them cute-as-a-button)
• Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the bottom is lightly brown
• You do not want to over bake these or they will turn to saw dust
• Let cool on a wire rack (or don't let cool and live dangerously)
• Devour

You can also add walnuts, chocolate chips or raisins to this recipe...or all three! Use about 1/4 cup for a batch of whatever extra you think would be tasty.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1.5
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Pulled Chicken Pita Recipe

This recipe is easy, tangy and fresh.
Pulled chicken breast packed into toasted garlic butter pitas loaded with fresh cucumbers and tomatoes.

The below recipe is in three parts (the pitas, the chopped salad then the pulled chicken)

I hope you like it as much as I do!

What You'll Need:

• 4 Pita breads (whole wheat is nice)
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1tsp garlic powder
• Baking tray
• 1/4 length of fresh cucumber
• 1 dill pickle
• 1 tomato
• 1/8 cup of vinegar
• 1 Tbsp sugar (or sugar-substitute, I used IDEAL)
• Medium-sized bowl
• Cooked Pulled Chicken - you can see how to make that, here
• 1 cup of My Tangy BBQ Sauce (or your favourite tangy BBQ sauce)
• Large saucepan

What You'll Do: The Pitas

• Cut each pita in half
• Place the halved pitas on your baking tray
• Mix your room temperate butter and garlic powder together
• Spread the garlic butter mixture lightly on the top of each pita
• Right before your pulled chicken and Tangy BBQ Sauce are combined, pop into the oven for 5-8 minutes at 350

What You'll Do: The Chopped Salad
This kebab-shop inspired salad is super easy and something you can store for a few days if you don't use it all up inside your pitas

• Using the same dicing technique shown here in my 'How to Dice an Onion' post, dice your tomato, dill pickle and cucumber
• In a medium-sized bowl, add in your diced veggies, then toss in your vinegar and sugar (or sugar substitute)
• Stir until you can't feel the sugar granules
• Pop into the fridge

What You'll Do: The Pulled Chicken with my Tangy BBQ Sauce

• Inside your large sauce pan, take your pre-cooked, pre-pulled chicken and slowly stir in your pre-made Tangy BBQ Sauce
• On a medium-heat stir the chicken until completely saturated in sauce
• (Pop your pitas into your pre-heated oven)
• Let heat through until piping hot

What You'll Do: The Assembly

• Now that everything is ready, this is the fun part - stuffing your pitas full!
• Take your pitas out of the oven
• Take your diced veggie salad out of the fridge
• Remove your BBQ sauce soaked chicken from the heat 
• Open your pita and stuff its brains out with the above

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 2 (this is a really fast recipe to make unless you need to make the pulled chicken and BBQ sauce, then the time for this recipe increased about 45 minutes)

How to Make Pulled Chicken

I was so incredibly sick of chicken and desperately needed a new way of serving it - so, inspired by pulled pork, I looked up how to make pulled chicken and it couldn't be easier.

Chicken is back and in this form extremely versatile!

What You'll Need:

• Chicken breasts (I used four)
• A large, heavy-bottomed pot
• Enough water to cover
• Stable cutting board and two forks

What You'll Do:

• Bring your water to a rapid boil
• Add in your chicken breasts
• Reduce your heat to a steady medium temperature - you do not want the water to boil again
• Cook for 25-35 minutes (depending on the thickness of your cut)
• Pull one cut out of the water and cut open to check if it is cooked through - there should be no pink. Even though pink is a charming colour, it is not something you want your chicken to be
• Pull out your chicken cuts, piece by piece and let rest on your cutting board for about 5 minutes
• Using two forks, pull apart with the grain of the meat, creating small strands of chicken

Once you have your chicken pulled apart it is totally up to you what you do with it.
Be creative!
Tonight I combined mine with my Tangy BBQ Sauce to create a deliciously easy Pulled Chicken Pita dish that my husband called a 'Ten out of Ten'.
Tomorrow I plan on using the remainder to make chicken fajitas out of.

Some more ideas are:

• Use it in casseroles
• Add it to a creamy macaroni and cheese recipe
• Toss it in salads
• Use it on pizzas

Let me know what you try out!

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1 (its pulled meat...how pretty can it get)
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Tangy BBQ Sauce

I have never made BBQ sauce before, but looking at labels can be a scary thing and when I was out shopping for a sauce, it occured to me - instead of buying a pre-bottled sauce loaded with glucose of every shade possible - I can make my own.

So I did and so I will share you with the recipe my husband called "A ten out of ten". I love this tangy and sweet mustard based sauce and I hope you do, too!

What You'll Need:

• Small heavy-bottomed sauce pan
• 1/2 cup dijon mustard
• 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 2/3 cup vinegar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 Tbsp sambal oelek (or any kind of your favourite wet chili sauce)
• 1/3 cup cola (I used Diet Coke, as that is what we had in the house)
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground chili
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

What You'll Do:

• Place your saucepan onto a low heat
• Add in your mustard, dark and brown sugar
• Stir until combined, so when the temperature of the mixture has become hot
• Add in your vinegar, water and sambal oelek - stir until thoroughly mixed
• Pour in your cola - do this slowly as you don't want this to foam over the top of the pot
• Ground in your pepper and add your dry chili
• Pour in your honey and stir 
• Let simmer for 30 minutes or until the mixture starts to thicken and look completely unified
• Add in your soy sauce and simmer for another 5-10 minutes
• Voila!

This sauce is super tasty and I used it on a Pulled Chicken Pita dish I made for dinner tonight.
I will post that recipe in a moment.

You can keep this recipe for a week if refrigerated.
I find this combination of sweet and tangy a very versatile combination that would work well with chicken or pork.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1
Taste: 2
Ease: 1.5

Winter Root Vegetable Chicken Stew with Dumplings

For Amsterdam it is cold. There was actual snow that actually stayed on the ground this week.
When it gets cold, I want to eat nothing but carbs and snuggle on the couch so tonight I used some of the beautiful, fresh winter root vegetables I picked up at the market yesterday and make something warm and carb-crave-fulfilling.

This winter root vegetable chicken stew with dumplings is something I have never tried before. The gods of Martha must have been watching over me, because I must say this dish was heaven and relatively easy. You can use whatever winter root vegetables you have available. I used a parsnip and tried a Dragon Carrot as it looked fun. Long, purple with a white centre which gave this stew a lovely purple hue.

What You'll Need
For the stew:

• 1 large, covered pot
• 1 medium-sized onion
• 2 Tbps butter
• 2 Tbps vegetable oil
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 clove of fresh garlic
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 Tbps Herbs de Provence
• 1 tsp Asian 5 Spice
• 2 Tbps fresh or dried dill
• 1 Tbps your favourite curry powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon (weird right? Well, trust me!)
• 1 large parsnip, 1 large dragon carrot, 8 medium sized carrots. As long as you have about 4-5 cups of chopped root vegetables, you can use any kind available to you. Turnips, beets, rutabaga, etc. All would work well. Just make sure you are using more than one kind
• 1.5 cups of diced tomato
• 1 whole, roasted chicken
• 2 Tbps flour or cornstarch (if you are looking for gluten-free)

For the Dumplings:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbps baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbps butter
• 1/2 cup milk

What You'll Do:

• Dice your onion
• Chop your root vegetables and carrots into bite sized pieces, not too small or they will turn mushy
• Chop your dill
• Add in the butter and oil into your pan to melt
• Add in your onion and twists of fresh back pepper

• Squeeze in your freshly pressed garlic
• Let cook down until nice and soft
• Toss in the chopped vegetables

• Boil 2 cups of water, add in your Asian 5 Spice and Herbs de Provence, stir
• Pour the water and spice mixture over top of the chopped root veggies
• Add your curry powder, dill and cinnamon

• Stir thoroughly
• Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes
• While simmering, start to pull the chicken off your pre-roasted chicken. I bought a pre-cooked one today as I didn't want to spend all day in the kitchen :)

 

• Add in the diced tomatoes, stir
• Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes
• Add in your pre-cooked, roast chicken pieces, stir
• Cover and let simmer
• While simmering, make your dumpling mixture
• In a separate bowl, add in your flour, salt and baking powder

• Using two butter knives, cut in your butter until the flour mixture is crumbly
• Add in your milk and stir until combined
• Lift the lid of the pot and drop your dumpling mix, in equal-sized portions onto the top, leaving space in-between each dumpling

• Cover and let steam away for ten minutes
• Lift the lid and see your cute little dumplings, all plump and tasty looking
• By this point, your stew is nearly done, if it is too watery, what I did was, using a slotted spoon remove the dumplings gently and rest them on a plate. Then remove the veggies and chicken into a bowl
• Now you are left with the juices to thicken up. Using flour (or cornstarch), sprinkle onto the juice and stir rapidly until desired thickness is reached
• Then add back in your veggie mixture, stir and gently place the dumplings on top
• Serve and enjoy...maybe with a nice glass of red.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 1 (it is a little time consuming, but using a pre-cooked chicken saves you some time!)

Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

I love to bake quick breads.
After perfecting and then sharing my Pumpkin Bread recipe with you, I wanted to make a perfectly sharable banana bread recipe.

I think this one is it!

The trick - oil instead of butter and more chocolate chips than you think initially reasonable.

What You'll Need:

• 3 very ripe medium-sized bananas
• 2 large, free-range eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup Ideal no-calorie sweetener (or white sugar)
• 1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 cups chocolate chips
• 1 loaf pan
• 2 mixing bowls

What You'll Do:

• Lightly, but completely oil your loaf pan
• Pre-heat your oven to 350C
• In one of your mixing bowls, crack your eggs and beat until frothy looking (no need for any electric device, I know you can do this with a good 'ol fork...and that is what Martha would do)
• Add in the bananas, give them a good squash with a fork to loosen them up and mix into the eggs

 

• Pour in your oil, vanilla and buttermilk, mix thoroughly with the eggs and bananas
• In your other mixing bowl, add in your flour, baking soda, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Stir until mixed through
• Add your dry mixture into your wet mixture
• Pour in your chocolate chips (you could also add in some walnuts...but I tend to think there is a direct correlation between the amount of nuts added to a recipe and the loss of fun whilst eating said recipe) 
• HERE IS THE TRICK! Do not over-mix. Be gentle. Leave a few little lumps here and there for your homies
• Pour into your pre-greased loaf pan

• Pop into your oven, in the middle
• Bake for anywhere from 50 to 1 hour 20 minutes depending on your oven. My oven, much like my body, runs hot :) So my loaf was cooked through in around 50 minutes. I could tell it was cooked through as, when I stuck in a toothpick into the centre of the loaf, it pulled out clean - no uncooked battery goo.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 1.5

Kitchen Cheat Sheet

Something I found and thought you would like - super handy when translating recipes from Europe vs North America vs UK...

Its a good thing;)

Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Curried Quinoa Salad

Sunday nights I like to prepare meals for the week ahead.
Quinoa has become a new favourite of mine as it is hearty, versatile, easy to freeze, is a complete protein source, is gluten-free and has a high nutritive value.
It also tastes good.

Tonight I made a quinoa salad using fresh vegetables and fruit from yesterday's market.

I wanted to make a zesty salad that would keep well - so something light on dressing and with vegetables and fruit that wouldn't go mushy by tomorrow (yes tomato - I'm talking to you;)

I am very happy with how this recipe turned out - use it as a template, adding in veggies and fruit you like/have in the fridge that won't go soggy. You can't go wrong!

 
What You'll Need - The Salad:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 red pepper
• 1/4 head of broccoli
• 1 crunchy apple
• 1/4 cup of raisins (dried cranberries would also be nice)
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (almonds would also work well)
• 1 large carrot

What You'll Need - The Dressing:

• 1 Tbps liquid honey
• 1 Tbps curry powder (I used the Silk Road Spice Merchants Madras Curry Powder. This one is heaven)
• 1.5 Tbps olive or grapeseed oil
• 2 Tbps fresh lemon juice
• Twist of fresh pepper
• 1 Tbps dried dill flakes (not necessary, but I love dill...and just dried some and wanted to use it)

What You'll Do:

• Cook your quinoa (1 cup quinoa, 2 cups water. Boil water and slowly add quinoa, turn the heat down to a simmer, cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until all the liquid has been soaked into the grains)
• Dice your vegetables - make them as small as you can, so each bite has more than one piece of fruit or vegetable on it
• Crush your nuts 
• I just typed 'crush your nuts'...(insert immature giggle)
• Once your quinoa is cooked, let cool completely. Hot quinoa = soggy & soft veggies 
• In a small jar, add in the oil, lemon juice, honey, curry powder, dried dill and pepper
• Put the jar lid on, give it a good shake until combined
• Stir in your dressing into the quinoa grains until absorbed 
• Add the quinoa into the bowl of diced veggies and fruit
• Stir until completely mixed through
• Enjoy!

If you overdid it on the quinoa and cooked too much, good news is this grain freezes beautifully.
A trick I like is to use ziplock freezer bags instead of tupperware to store the excess.
This way you can squeeze all the air out of the bag, leaving little room for freezer burn to sneak in. You can also make the grains lay flat, so they defrost way faster than a deep container full.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 1.5

Dukan Oatbran Pancake (Galette) Recipes

A crucial part of the Dukan diet is eating oatbran everyday.
To do this during the Attack, Cruise, Consolidation and now the Stabalization Phase one eats a lot of the Dukan diet's Oatbran Pancakes (or, Galette's as Dr Dukan calls them).

They are quick to make, tasty to eat and store easily if you wish to pre-make them for a busy week ahead.

Below there are three recipes - all containing your daily consumption target of oatbran: The Basic, The Cinnamon Spice and The Lemon Yogurt.

The fun thing is, with 'The Basic' recipe - you can add toppings, try new spices - anything to keep eating oatbran from being boring...because you need to do it for life if you have committed to the Dukan diet.

The Basic: What You'll Need:

• 1 egg
• 1.5 Tbps Oatbran when you are in the Attack phase. Use 2 Tbps when you are on the Cruise, Consolidation and Stabilization phases.
• 1.5 Tbps fat free quark or yogurt (I use 0% Total Fat-free Greek Yogurt). As per the oatbran, raise this amount to 2 Tbps when on the Cruise, Consolidation and Stabilization phases.

What You'll Do:

• Use a non-stick frying pan
• Pre-heat your frying pan as you do the below steps
• In a small mixing bowl, add in your oatbran, fat-free quark or yogurt then egg
• Stir completely
• Pour onto your hot pan, cooking until the pancake starts to show small bubbles (about three minutes)
• Flip your pancake over and cook the other side until a nice light brown

Easy, right? But - admittedly pretty darn boring. We can be more creative than this?!

The Cinnamon Spice: What You'll Need:

• 1 egg
• 1.5 Tbps Oatbran when you are in the Attack phase. Use 2 Tbps when you are on the Cruise, Consolidation and Stabilization phases.
• 1.5 Tbps fat free quark or yogurt (I use 0% Total Fat-free Greek Yogurt). As per the oatbran, raise this amount to 2 Tbps when on the Cruise, Consolidation and Stabilization phases
• 1 tsp your favourite cinnamon (mine is from The Silk Road Spice Merchant - I use their Indonesian Korintje Cassia Cinnamon, I find it the most spicy)

* Repeat the cooking instructions from above

The Lemon Yogurt: What You'll Need:

• 1 egg
• 1.5 Tbps Oatbran when you are in the Attack phase. Use 2 Tbps when you are on the Cruise, Consolidation and Stabilization phases.
• 1.5 Tbps fat free lemon-flavoured yogurt (which raises to 2 Tbps when not on the Attack phase)
• 1 tsp lemon zest

* Repeat the cooking instructions from above

Now its time to channel Martha - be creative!!

Try different spices that you love.
Make the pancake savoury by adding dill, fresh basil, curry powder...put salmon or tuna on it and have it for dinner instead of breakfast.
This is such a versatile recipe allowing for creativity.

Show Martha what tricks you have up your apron sleeve!
Try the sugar-free cinnamon apple sauce with strawberries (any berry would be tasty). Using sugar-free or xylitol-based syrup, or have The Basic galette with low-fat ham or chicken slices.
The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1.5 (this would raise to a two with lots of pretty fruit toppers!)
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Lemony Crackle Cookies

I am totally into lemons right now. Maybe because it is so dreary out right now and the smell and taste of lemons just makes me feel awake and cheery.

I have also been doing some reading on the benefit of lemons in your daily diet (benefits from immune-boosting to infection fighting) so I am trying to incorporate lemon juice and lemon zest into as much as I can.

Today was especially cool and dreary, so I wanted to make some cookies with a zing! I hope you like these as much I do - they turned out soft and light - like Summer in my mouth.

                                           * I do really need to stop taking pictures with my camera phone...                     

What You'll Need (2 dozen):

• MixMaster or hand blender
• 1/2 cup of softened butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar (I used 3/4 cup of my xylitol-based Ideal No Calorie Sweetener and 1/4 cup of sugar)
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 Tbps fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar

What You'll Do:

• Preheat your oven to 350 (175F)
• Lightly grease your cookie sheet, or use a non-stick sheet
• Cream your butter and sugar until fluffy looking
• Add in your vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest
• Crack your egg into a small cup (to check if it is good), lightly stir with a fork then add into your mixture
• Scrape down the sides of your bowl then mix again
• In a separate bowl, combine your salt, baking powder, baking soda and flour
• Stir until combined
• Slowly add the dry mixture into your wet mixture, scraping down the sides occasionally to ensure everything is fully mixed in
• Measure your powdered sugar into a bowl
• If your dough seems little too soft, do not add more flour - just let the mixture set in the fridge for 20 minutes, covered
• Roll small dough balls, approximately the size of a 2Euro coin/2Dollar coin
• Place the ball into the powdered sugar to cover
• Place the balls evenly spaced on your sheet (I fit 12 per sheet)
• Bake for 8-12 minutes depending on your oven - you want them cooked through, but not over done. Ideally you should remove them when the top is no longer glossy looking and when the bottoms have just started to lightly brown
• Let cool for a few minutes then move to a cooling rack
• Enjoy...with a nice cup of tea (with lemon in it, of course!;)

Martha would love these cookies as they are pretty, have a nice, light taste and are fancy - just like her.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1.5 (they look a whisper scabby, rather than 'crackly')
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Tangy Baked Broccoli Recipe

This is a recipe to kick up the taste of your broccoli, without smothering it in a fattening cheese sauce.

What You'll Need:

• 1 head of broccoli
• 1 tsp your favourite olive or grapeseed oil
• 1 lemon
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tsp dry BBQ or steak spice - I used the Silk Road Spice Merchant's St Laurent Steak Spice. I love this spice as it way less salty than normal BBQ spices and has a lovely spicy kick to it. If you can't get access to this spice you can also create your own by using: cracked black pepper, coarse salt, coriander, chile flakes, dill, paprika, mustard seeds, garlic and onion
• 1/3 cup of your favourite cheese - I used old gouda (as I live in the Netherlands), but a nice sharp cheddar or old parmesan would also work great
• Large bowl

What You'll Do:

• Pre-heat your oven to 350C (175F)
• Line a cookie sheet in tinfoil
• Inside your large bowl, add in your oil, salt and pepper to taste, BBQ spice
• Grate your lemon peel and add that into the oil mixture in your bowl
• Chop your broccoli - not too small or they will burn and not too large as they won't crisp up
• Toss your chopped broccoli into the bowl and toss around, ensuring each floret is covered in the oil mixture
• Lay out on the baking tray, evenly spaced
• Cut your lemon in half and squeeze lemon juice over each floret
• Bake in the oven for 20 minutes
• Remove from the over and squeeze more lemon juice over top
• Bake another 10 minutes or until the tips of the broccoli start to turn light brown
• Grate your cheese
• Remove the broccoli from the oven, and, using a spatula, move all the broccoli close to each other in the centre of the pan. The sprinkle your grated cheese over top
• Bake another 5 minutes or until the cheese is melty
• Remove from the oven and enjoy

This side dish would go great with Lemony Dill Salmon or the Dukan Polenta Oatbran Chicken Nuggets.

I know Martha would like this side dish as broccoli is really good for you. It is loaded with fiber and vitamin C.  Just like her.

The STEWART SCORE: 
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

How to Dice an Onion

I cook with onion all the time.
One year for Christmas my husband bought me the Slap Chop (for real) to help me save time with all my dicing, chopping and slapping.
It was totally terrible. I threw it out after about four very unsuccessful attempts at dicing mastery.

Instead of gadgets, I use a trick my friend Keith showed me years ago, a trick I think you will all love.

I have tried to show you in the below picture, but, basically cut the onion in even strips in one direction, then rotate the onion, keeping it facing upwards, and slice in even strips, so you have a hatched pattern.

Then, turn your onion on its side and when you slice your onion evenly, all of your pieces will be perfect little squares. I love this trick and hope you do, too!

Pumpkin Bread Recipe

I love me my quick breads. Banana bread was a staple in my kitchen (before I started the Dukan diet...I am pretty sure the persistence of the bread and the start of the diet were directly correlated;).

Now that I am in the stabalization phase of the diet - life is fabulous. I am back to baking and enjoying the things I was temporarily off during the attack, cruise and consolidation phases. And now I am back on those things with new healthier cooking tricks up my apron sleeve!

As I recently bought some adorable little pumpkins from the market, I wanted to make something baked that was warm and comforting - and not just your standard pumpkin default dessert - the good 'ol pumpkin pie.

I pulled out my old banana bread recipe and thought about trying to swap the banana content with pumpkin puree and it turned out marvelously, if I do say so myself.

I just thought of a new term: 'Marthalously'. So - this recipe turned out Marthalously.

                                * I promise this is the last time I use my camera phone as a camera...

What You'll Need:

• 1 loaf pan
• 1 cup pumpkin puree (you can read the first part of this pumpkin risotto recipe to see how you make it, or use a can of un-sweetened puree)
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup dark, brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp of Apple Pie Spice* (if you can't get this spice, use 1/2 tsp of ginger, 1/2 tsp of nutmeg)

What You'll Need to Do:

• Pre-heat your oven to 350 (175F)
• Grease then flour your loaf pan
• In a large bowl, mix together your pumpkin puree, egg, oil, water and sugars until smooth
• In a separate bowl, mix together your flour, baking soda, salt, and spices
• Pour the wet mixture into the dry, stirring slowly and allowing some 'lumps' to remain - you don't want this mixture too smooth
• Pour evenly into your prepared loaf pan
• Bake for about 45 -55 minutes
• The loaf is done when you can stick a toothpick in and it comes out clean
• Let cool then serve. Or just keep it your little secret and don't share a bite of it.

I think this bread is excellent on its own, but if you wanted to fancy it up - or plan on bringing this to a brunch/party - top each slice with a dollop of cinnamon-spiced vanilla whipped cream.

How do you make that, you ask...and now for today's bonus recipe:

Well, take your medium-sized carton of fresh whipping cream, add in 1/3 cup of sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp vanilla - beat until peaked and enjoy.

You could also turn this loaf into muffins - use tin liners and reduce cooking time to just 20 minutes. 

The STEWART SCORE: It is a 'good thing'
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Gluten-Free, Low-Sodium, Vegan Pumpkin Risotto

Having just been in Italy for two incredible weeks, we ate a lot of amazing food.
One of my favourite dishes was a strawberry and gorgonzola risotto. It was indescribably delicious.

This dish has inspired me to cook more with rice. I never do. If I make a stir fry, or a curry, I usually don't cook rice at all. I found it dull and stodgy.

But - risotto! Creamy and so flavourful. I don't know why I never made it before!

I wanted to try a risotto with a twist - it usually contains quite a bit of butter and oils and parmesan cheese, so I wanted to try to make it as delicious while cutting the fat and salt content.
From this desire came the below recipe I must say I am pretty proud of!

A gluten-free, low-sodium vegan pumpkin risotto!

                                          * this photo does not do the dish justice

What You'll Need (serves 4):

• About two hours of time
• A deep, covered frying pan
• 1 cup freshly pureed pumpkin (if they are not in season, un-sweetened canned pumpkin will also work great)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 medium-sized onion
• 1 Tbsp of your favourite olive oil
• 1 cup of rice. Now - typically you should use arborio rice. Its shape and texture allows it to soak up liquid quickly while releasing starch so it becomes stickier than normal rice. I didn't have this rice in stock so I used a long grain brown rice and it turned out just fine.
• 1/2 cup of white wine (preferably something that goes nice with a risotto;)
• 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 Tbsp freshly diced basil
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp freshly minced ginger
• 1 Tsp of 5-Spice Powder (mine contains; aniseed, fennel, peppercorn, cinnamon and ginger)
• 1 Tbsp low-sodium margarine (if you do not require this to be vegan, replace with un-salted butter)
• Twists of freshly ground pepper to taste

What You'll Do: 

Step One - A lesson in pumpkin selection
Select a pumpkin that is good for baking with. As this is Halloween and jac-o-lantern season, you will see giant pumpkins all around - do not get one of those. Their flesh will be watery and stringy. Look for a smaller, smooth pumpkin often called 'sugar pumpkin' or 'pie pumpkin'. These pumpkins are great for baking, making soups, stews, and for our needs today. Because they are smaller, they usually yield about two cups of puree, maybe a bit more once baked.

Step Two - Baking your pumpkin

• Pre-heat your oven to 350 (175)
• Set up your blender
• With a large, sturdy knife, cut your pumpkin into halves or quarters, depending on how you are able to make the slices. Be careful here as pumpkins are smooth and slippery (like Martha) and no one wants a real life gory hand this Halloween
• Line a baking tray with tinfoil
• Place your cut pumpkin slices, flesh up on the tray
• Cover with tinfoil
• Bake for 45 minute to 1 hour. Check in at 30 minutes to see how they are doing. If you chose to cut the pumpkin into quarters, flip your slices around, so their other side is now facing up and cover again with foil
• They are done when you can easily slide a fork in and they look all soft and nearly mushy
• Let cool
• Using a spoon with some edge, scrape the flesh out of the peels and plop into your blender
• Add in the 1/4 cup of water and pulse until you have a nice, smooth puree
• Set aside to cool - do not refrigerate

Step Three - Cooking the rice. This takes time. Budget 1.5 hours.

• Dice your onion - this is how I like to dice mine - and toss into your deep frying pan
• Add in your favourite olive oil
• Sautee the onions until slightly brown and very soft - about 5-7 minutes if you are on a steady low heat
• Add in your rice
• Stir and cook for about five minutes
• Add in the 1/2 cup of white wine
• Stir and cook until all the liquid has cooked in
• Add in 1/2 cup of your 2 cups of low-sodium vegetable broth at a time. Each time stirring and cooking down until all the liquid has nearly gone
• Once all of your broth has been added, add in your 1 cup of pumpkin puree
• Stir constantly and add in all of your spices, margarine/butter and basil
• Turn the heat down to the lowest setting, cover and let gently steam for 10 minutes
• Check the rice - if it is still a little too hard, add a splash of water, cover and let steam again for periods of five minutes
• Depending on the grain of rice used, this may need to be done a few times. You want the rice to be soft, but not mushy
• Once the dish has reached your desired consistency, turn the heat off and let stand, covered for another five minutes
• Serve and accept the compliments graciously, as Martha would

This is not a quick dish.
To make it faster you can most definitely use canned pumpkin puree (we don't have that in the Netherlands, so I am forced to be old school about it). But the beauty of this dish is that it is not made in 15 minutes. It takes time, effort, love and patience.

I think this dish would be great for Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays as a nice alternative to mashed potatoes. It is so flavourful and would go great with turkey or chicken dishes.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1.5
Taste: 2
Ease: 0 (though not necessarily difficult, this dish does take time, so I would not say it is easy)

Pumpkin Recipes

I love fall.
The crispness in the air, the gorgeous yellow and orange colours on the trees, the fashion.

How I have missed my tall boots and opaque tights.

I also love fall food. So homey and comforting and festive.
Who doesn't love a good gourd?

Martha loves gourds.

At the local market I found the cutest little pumpkins on for just one Euro and was inspired to try some new recipe inspirations out.

Coming back from Italy recently and really enjoying their risotto, I wanted to try a gluten-free, low-sodium, vegan pumpkin risotto - something healthy that my sister's who are celiac could try for a nice Christmas dish alternative.

I also wanted to make a baked good...something other than pumpkin pie.
I love banana bread and wanted to try a new spin on that, so I created a super moist Pumpkin Bread recipe I think you will all love because it is tasty and easy. Just like Martha.

Photos and recipes coming soon. So, until then - go out and get some gourds - I would love to hear what you cook up with them!

Italian Food...Not Dukan Friendly

My husband and I just got back from two glorious weeks in Italy. Spending most of our time in Florence, Chianti region of Tuscany and the Cinque Terre.

The scenery, the art, the history, the fashion...the food!

Strawberry and Gorgonzola risotto and Blueberry sauced steak at Aqua Al 2 in Florence was our favourite meal of the trip.

It is definitely hard to eat a Cruise or Consolidation phase diet in this country. So many rich sauces, incredible wines, pasta, breads, olive oil on everything - but, I am happy to report I am officially on the Stabalization of the diet now and did not gain a single pound on the holiday.

Not one pound.

I am Dukan triumphant right now.

The diet, so far is working!

Turkish Inspired Stuffed Peppers

While in Istanbul last week I ate the most incredible foods.
One dish that stood out was a stuffed tomato I had as part of a mixed mezze platter.
The tomato was baked and filled with an aromatic rice, nuts and onions. The best part was the hint of cinnamon.

As I had no tomatoes large enough, I used red peppers I bought from the local market instead. Instead of rice, I felt like couscous, so I used that. I also tossed in some dried apricots as a lot of Turkish dishes have apricots and I think they make everything tastier. Martha would agree.

They turned out like heaven. Simple, easy, tasty heaven.

What You'll Need (four servings):

• Four large red peppers
• Tinfoil
• Baking pan
• 1 cup or 250 g of Couscous
• 1 cup or 250 g of boiling water
• 1 Onion
• 1/2 cup or 125 g of chopped Green onion
• 1/4 cup or 63g of fresh pine nuts
• 1/4 cup or 63 g of dried apricots
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 Tsp of your best cinnamon, I like this one from The Silk Road Merchants in Calgary

What You'll Do:

• Dice your onion into small cubes, like this
• Dice your dried apricots into small pieces
• Chop your green onion into fine pieces
• In a small, non-stick frying pan, add in your diced onion, just covered in water, and simmer until softened
• Cut the top of each pepper off and empty all the seeds
• Trim down the bottom of each pepper, so they stand straight up in the pan
• Pre-heat your oven to 190C or 350F 
• Line your baking tray in tin foil to help prevent the peppers from sticking
• Boil one cup of water on the stove top
• When boiled, add in your couscous and remove from heat, cover with a lid
• Place your empty peppers into the oven to cook for about ten minutes
• After five minutes of resting, fluff your couscous (as it can get sticky) and add in your cinnamon, a twist of freshly ground pepper, sauteed onion, chopped green onion, chopped apricot and pine nuts
• Stir until thoroughly mixed
• Remove your partially cooked peppers
• Stuff each pepper with enough couscous mixture to fill it to the top
• Bake the peppers for another ten minutes

Enjoy!

These babies go great with chicken or salmon...or on their own. So easy, so tasty.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2 (they are so colourful...just like Martha's language)
Taste: 2 (the hint of cinnamon makes them taste so exotic)
Ease: 2 (if they were any easier, they would be my sister....I kid, of course)

Istanbul Recipe Book

Hi Friends!

I just got back from 6 lovely days in Istanbul today and wanted to show you this awesome recipe book I picked up. While there, my friend Krista and I ate the most incredible foods.
Seriously drool worthy. There was nothing we had we didn't like.

Figs, pumpkin, lamb stew with plums (yes...just like Katniss Everdeen, so I hear;), moussaka, the puffiest pita breads and the most delicious yogurts.

Inspired to learn to chef up some of these incredibly tasty bites, I purchased this book - Gonul Candas' Turkish Table, 4th edition.

Martha would love it.
There are over 200 recipes packed into this 'lil gem! From breakfast to dinner to desserts and everything in between.

I can not wait to try the stuffed eggplant and baklava recipes as I am currently on a serious honey withdrawal...as soon as I have time to try some of the recipes out, I will of course post them up here for you!!

Martha Would Not Be Proud

I haven't made a hot meal in weeks.
Cereal and yogurt have been daily staples.
With my husband out of town and working at my new job...but at least no one but my cat is at home to judge!

But - I am off to Turkey for a week and should come back filled with some delicious recipe inspirations.

Lemony Dill Salmon

I never liked fish. But, in the Netherlands, fish from the grocery store ain't half bad.

Last night I had three friends stay over and we decided to chef up using some great fresh ingredients.

Salmon is super easy and, Martha would agree, a healthy, tasty, fancy dinner choice.

I didn't get time to take any photos but will upload some next time I make this dish I call Lemony Dill Salmon. The more I type 'lemony' the stranger the spelling looks...

What You'll Need:

• A nice piece of salmon - I like to buy organic because it makes me feel better. I imagine the little salmon are free spirited, hemp-wearing dudes, offering up their life to me while saying 'namaste'
• Fresh dill
• One whole lemon
• A twist of fresh black pepper
• Tinfoil
• Baking pan
• A sunny disposition

What You'll Do:

• Pre-heat your oven to 180C (or 325F)
• Line a baking pan in tin foil (less clean up later!)
• Depending on how large your salmon is, cut a piece of tinfoil large enough to wrap the salmon up tightly
• Slice your lemon thinly
• Place as many thin lemon pieces on the tinfoil as your salmon is large - you want lemon to touch as much of the salmon as possible
• Cut fresh dill sprigs and lay on top of your lemon slices
• Place your hippy salmon down on the lemon slices
• Twist ground pepper onto the top of the salmon
• Place more sprigs of dill on the top of the salmon
• Place more lemon slices on the top of the dill sprigs
• Wrap your salmon up into a tinfoil pocket - ensuring the sides and top of the tinfoil and sealed up tight so no juices escape
• For a medium-well to well finish, bake for 30 minutes for a regular-sized piece of salmon, if extra thick and you want the salmon well done (that is how Martha and I like it), cook for another five minutes
• Remove from your oven and using a fork, puncture a few small holes in the tinfoil, to let some of the steam escape
• Let sit to cool for five minutes
• Serve up and wait for the compliments

Tasty. Easy. Healthy. Fancy.
My favourite things.

This dish is awesome with so many side dishes - grilled asparagus, spicy green beans, healthy roast Dukan vegetables, or a salad. It is great the next day as well - just let it cool completely before you store it in the fridge.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

New Spice Haul!

Hi Martha Friends!

I have just spent two weeks back home for a wee visit and now back and ready for some more summer cooking!

Whilst in Calgary I hit up my ultimate favourite store - The Silk Road Spice Merchant.
If you are a spice fan, you must check out their online shop, here!

I picked up these four 'lil beauties...and spent about two hours in there smelling each and every spice.
It is divine in there, trust me.

I bought:

• Indonesian Korintje Cassia Cinnamon - heaven
• Saltwater Chili-Lime Seasoning - this is going to be amazing on fish and chicken!
• Taco Seasoning - I eat a lot of minced meats and love Mexican-inspired foods, so this is going to be so useful!
• St-Laurent Steak Spice - the smell...incredible!

The STEWART SCORE (for the store!):
Appearance: I love the decor and feel of this store - 2 
Taste: I have never been disappointed with any spice or rub I have used - 2 
Ease: Spices, easiest thing to go from dull to Martha worthy - 2

The Stewart Score: A refresher

A few of you have been asking what the Stewart Score is all about!

I wrote about it a while ago, it is how I rank each recipe - letting you know if I think it was "A Good Thing" and Martha-worthy, or "Not Worthy".

It is a simple score card with three key categories that can earn a 1 or a 2, as shown below:

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1 or 2
Taste: 1 or  2 
Ease: 1  or 2

1= Not Worthy
2 = Its a Good Thing

If you try any of my posted recipes, post your own Stewart Score to let me know how it turned out for you!

                     * Taken at the Wired Business Conference, NYC. I sat behind her.
                        One of the best afternoons of my life. She smelt like a dream. Her hair
                        was perfection...in case any of you are wondering, of course.

Low-Fat Greek Balsamic Dressing

Summer is finally here in Amsterdam. When its hot out, I always feel like crunchy, crisp, cool foods - like salads!

On the Dukan diet, most dressings are off limits as they contain loads of oil, salts and fats.

Here is a deliciously simple low fat and high flavour recipe I hope you enjoy as much as I do!


What You'll Need (14 x 1Tbps servings):

• 1 medium-sized bowl
• hand blender
• jar with lid
• 2 Tbps low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1.5 Tbsp of your favourite Dijon mustard
• 1 Tbps honey or honey-substitute (I use a xylitol-based substitute)
• 3 Tbps of non-fat Greek yogurt (thicker and creamier the better)
• If you are not on the Dukan diet, you can also add in 1 tsp of grapeseed oil (or olive oil). This will just make the dressing a little smoother

What You'll Do:

• in your medium-sized bowl, add in all the ingredients
• blend with a hand-mixer until smooth
• store in a jar or some sort of sealed container
• keep in your fridge until ready to serve. This dressing keeps for about one week in the fridge.

This dressing also works as a nice dip for raw veggies. To make it thicker, double the amount of Greek yogurt.

I love this dressing with watermelon - there is something so delicious about balsamic and watermelon. One of my favourite, pre-Dukan diet salads recipes had the following ingredients:

Cubed watermelon
Spinach
Basil
Red onion
Candied walnuts
My Greek balsamic dressing

Let me know what you try with this dressing - would love new ideas and flavour combos!


The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1.5 (its kind of a unattractive shade of brown) 
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Easy Healthy Roast Dukan Vegetables

Today is Friday. That means my favourite day of the week is tomorrow.
The Saturday food and organic market in my neighbourhood.
I get all my fresh vegetables, bread, eggs, cheese and herbs here.
That also means I have a lot of semi-sad looking leftover vegetables in my fridge I need to use up as I hate wasting food.

A friend of mine calls this 'creme du fridge'. I love that. Using what you have in your fridge to make a meal, no recipes required.

That is the inspiration of this super easy and healthy side dish.

What You'll Need:

• 1 lemon
• 1 Tbps grapeseed oil (or olive oil. I like grapeseed oil as I just watched this news story on olive oil and found out the Italian mafia is notorious for olive oil trafficking. No, for real!)
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper...or something like that. I don't measure.
• any Dukan friendly veggies you have kicking around
• some of my favourite veggies, roasted are: 
• cauliflower
• eggplant
• zucchini
• tomato (as I can't stand them raw...too unpredictable)
• carrots
• onions
• broccoli
• NEVER cucumber. Cooked cucumbers are super gross.

What You'll Do:

• pre-heat your oven to 180C
• cover your baking tray with tinfoil
• mix the oil, pressed garlic and pepper into a small container
• rough chop all your veggies and place them into a sealed bag. You may want to use a large ziplock bag...of which there are none here in The Netherlands

• pour in the oil mixture and shake the heck of of the bagged veggies
• pour, evenly on your foiled pan
• squeeze a little lemon juice over top for good measure
• twist on another sprinkle of pepper
• bake for 20-30 minutes (baking time will be dependent on the veggies you use. Heartier veggies, like cauliflower and broccoli take longer than say tomatoes)
• that's it!

These go great as a side with my Polenta, Oatbran Chicken Nuggets!

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Dukan Polenta Oatbran Chicken Nuggets

The Dukan diet friendly polenta, oatbran chicken nugget is one of my favourite recipes. Its easy, healthy and for a nugget, pretty darn handsome.

Even Martha loves a handsome nugget.

                     I placed the sliced lemons on the plate to make them look real fancy.

What You'll Need (serves 2):

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup cornmeal, or 'polenta' as it is called in the Netherlands
• 1/2 cup of oatbran
• 1 Tbps Herbs de Provence (if you can find them in your neck of the woods. If you can't, dried rosemary and pepper is darn tasty, too). I like using Herbs de Provence, as it makes me sound so continental
• 1 medium-sized egg
• George Foreman lean, mean, fat-busting grill...or suitable alternative. You can also use a non-stick frying pan to cook these little buddies.

Unfortunately (for me), no-one knows who the heck George Foreman is in The Netherlands, so I had to buy a sorry excuse for the lean, mean grilling machine...but, as long as it grills and is none stick - it'll do me.

What You'll Do:

• dice your chicken into slightly-larger-than-bite-sized pieces, ensuring you remove all the skin and weird bits you want to forget about
• crack your egg into a small bowl
• mix your cornmeal, oatbran and spices into another, separate small bowl

• plug in George to get him nice and toasty...or heat up your pan
• dip each piece of chicken into the egg (this is called 'dredging', which I think sounds morbid and eery, so I shall day 'dip')
• make sure each chicken piece is not too drippy before you place it into the dry mixture

• fully cover the chicken piece with the dry mixture
• place into George or onto your pan

• cook until done (Martha likes chicken cooked, and so should you)
• that's it!

Crispy, tasty and a nice accompaniment to a Dukan-friendly side dish, like these easy, healthy, roast Dukan veggies.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1.5
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

A Dukan Orange Cake...Attempt

It is pouring in Amsterdam today so what better time to bake?
I pulled out my shiny new French Dukan cookbook to see what caught my eye (and had few instructions that I had to then translate).

I love citrus, it cheers me up, and a dreary day like today could use a little pick-me-up.

The gluten and sugar-free Dukan recipe called 'Far a l'Orange' appeared delicious...and easy.
Two things I value.
I am not sure what 'Far a l'Orange' means...when I translate it, it says 'Far Has Orange'.
Thanks for nothing, Google Translate.

I would like to think it means 'Exotic Orange Cake Tasting of Faraway Lands'.

Look how fluffy, neat and unburned it looks! I am sure I can recreate this tasty 'lil guy (she says optimistically before attempting...).

What You'll Need:

• one mixing bowl
• cute little baking containers as shown in the recipe (of which I have none, so I used muffin tins...don't tell Martha)
• one large orange so you can zest the heck out of it
• 8 Tbps of fat-free quark (or low-fat Greek yogurt)
• 2 eggs
• 3 Tbps of your powdered sweetener of choice
• 6 Tbps of cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp orange flavouring
• 4 Tbsp of low-fat milk powder

What (the recipe says) You'll Do:

• pre-heat your oven to 160C
• mix all the ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl (I like to mix my wet and dry ingredients separately, as Martha would do that, but when and how you introduce your wet and dry is totally up to you)
• pour your batter into your cute little cake pan, or muffin tins (for me it made 8 muffins)
• according to the recipe, bake for 30 minutes...if you like things burned!! Its a good thing I kept an eye on these little babies as they cooked super fast. I left them in for 15 minutes and the tops were already turning an unsavoury shade of charcoal

• on a positive note, they smelled like a little piece of heaven whilst cooking
• on a negative note, they semi-exploded, glooping out angry looking batter projectiles which, thank goodness, did not drip into my oven. Burny, drippy ovens are the worst!
• that's it

Admittedly, they are not that handsome of a cake. Martha would shake her well-coiffed head and send me packing.
They look like they are sticking their batter tongues out at you, mocking your failed culinary attempts.

They taste delish though.
Really and surprisingly so. They also have a nice, light texture, which surprised me with so much heavy quark.

I am not easily defeated. A Munro hates to loose. I will try this recipe again!


The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 0
Taste: 2
Ease: 2

Dukan Cauliflower Mashed 'Potatoes'

Potatoes are not a part of the Dukan diet until you reach the stablization phase and can start incorporating 'celebration meals' and once-per-week starches.

I am from the Canadian Prairies and therefore a meat and potatoes kinda gal. I am really trying to break that habit though by incorporating other vegetables that offer me a lot more in terms of health benefits.

I started reading up on the wonders of cauliflower (or, 'bloemkool' in Dutch:) and thought I would try to create the perfect cauliflower mashed 'potato'.

Did you know cauliflowers are:

• an excellent source of vitamin C - a great anti-oxidant (I know, and they're not even orange;)
• very high in vitamin K - which helps aid in decreasing inflammation
• high in fiber
• a good source of protein
• a super tasty alternative to potato...so here is the recipe!

What You'll Need (serves four):

• a blender
• one medium-sized cauliflower
• one 1/2 cube of low-sodium chicken stock
• 1.5 cups of water (to be boiled)
• generous twist of freshly ground pepper
• large dollop of fat-free plain Greek yogurt (my favourite kind is the Total 0% brand - super thick and creamy)

                                I know what you are thinking...I should be a hand model.

What You'll Do:
I have a steaming oven (and so does Martha, I'm sure), so I use that to steam my vegetables, but, if you don't, never fear - you can steam your cauliflower the conventional way on your stove top by covering it in seasoned water and letting it simmer, covered, until soft.

• prep your cauliflower by removing all the green leaves and stem
• chop your cauliflower into smaller chunks 
• place the pieces in your pan, cut side down
• boil 1.5 cups of water
• place your 1/2 cube of low-sodium chicken stock in the boiled water
• stir until dissolved

• Pour the chicken stock mixture over your cauliflower
• Let simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until very tender

• Using a slotted spoon, take the softened cauliflower from your steaming pan and place inside your blender
• Plop in your dollop of fat-free Greek yogurt

• Twist in your pepper
• Add a whisper of the remaining, seasoned water (I usually use about 1/4 cup but this depends on the freshness of your cauliflower. If it is older and drier, you may find you need a little more water. Easy does it though as you don't want your mixture to be too watery)
• Mix through using a spatula
• Blend until semi-smooth (I like leaving a few little lumps as it makes the cauliflower mixture much more believable in it's potato disguise)
• Remove from blender and serve with another twist of ground pepper on top
• That's it!

I just love this recipe as you can eat this as it is, as a side of mash, or you can use it as a topper. For example, I love to make Dukan-friendly 'Sheppard's Pie' where you add this on the top. Or, when I make zucchini boats, I add this onto the top.

Other additions you can try with this recipe:

• If you fancy garlic, add in a clove of this either in the seasoned water mixture while steaming for a milder taste, or into the blender for a stronger taste
• Not on the Dukan diet? Add in some shredded cheese while blending
• Don't have low-fat yogurt on hand? Use low-fat quark or even low-fat cream cheese.

Play around with it. I would love to know what other recipes you use this on!

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1.5 (Its hard to make them magazine-spread worthy looking)
Taste: 2
Ease: 2