Chickpea Salad

I love chickpeas. I love summer. You put these two together and you have a fantastic salad with fresh ingredients ready to enjoy on the deck at lunch. Well actually, I'll enjoy this salad any time of year, in any location, any time of day. It's just THAT delicious! This salad just screams FRESH! The grape tomatoes, the fresh basil, the balsamic vinegar - the flavours just dance on your tongue!

Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) also really pack a health punch! One serving of chickpeas is a great source of both protein and fibre. I've checked different sources and the general consensus is that they have about 15g of prot1ein and 12g of fibre per 1 cup serving. Not too shabby I'd say! Serve me up some chickpeas please!

This recipe is super easy and usually I just throw the ingredients into a bowl and just go by taste. I have yet to encounter a time when this has not worked. It's that easy. You can also add chopped onion (red or yellow) and bocconcini, however as you can see from my photo, I didn't have any. The salad works just fine without. As long as you have the chickpeas, grape (cherry) tomatoes, fresh basil and balsamic vinegar, you're in business!

Chickpea Salad

1 can of chickpeas, rinsed
1 pint of grape tomatoes, halved
5 basil leaves, fresh, chiffonade
1/4 onion, chopped
1 cup of mini bocconcini, halved
2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice,
salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir. Chill. Can be served immediately.

Simple, fresh and delicious!

Zucchini Scones

Last summer, I grew zucchini in my garden. I had some still frozen in my freezer and I had been wanting to use it up. I thought scones would be a great way to do that! They're not that sweet, perfect to have for breakfast or a nice snack (love the grab-and-go!). It's a really simple recipe as well!

Zucchini Scones

2 1/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon orange peel
1 teaspoon lemon peel
1/4 cup butter
1 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup zucchini, grated

Mix flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, cinnamon, peels and grated zucchini.


Cut in the butter until it resembles coarse cornmeal.


Mix the egg with milk and add to the zucchini mixture. Stir until a soft dough forms. Using either a 1/4 dry measure or a scoop of equivalent measure, drop onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.


Bake 12-15 minutes at 425 degrees. Makes 12.




Mmmm...I love scones!

Apple Black Currant Squares

The other day, Dave came home with some black currants from his mom's. I don't think I've ever actually had fresh black currants, so I was trying to think of what I could do with them. First thing that popped into my mind was jam, but there was only about a cup and a bit, so
I decided against that idea. Last weekend I had made a Blueberry Apple Crisp using apples I had frozen from our tree last year. I still had some apples leftover so I thought hmmm...black currants...apples....crumbly.....squares!

So these are what I made:

Apple Black Currant Squares

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

3/4 cup butter or margarine

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 cup rolled oats

1 lb cooking (tart) apples, peeled, cored and sliced

2 tbsp cornstarch

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

1 cup blackcurrants

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and salt. Cut in the butter (should resemble coarse meal). Stir in the sugar and oats.

Spoon half the mixture into the bottom of a lined cake pan (9x13)

Mix the apples, cornstarch and oats. Spread over the top and top with the currants.

Spoon the remaining mixture over top, levelling the top.

Bake 30 minutes, until springy.
Leave to cool, then cut into bars.

Has it really been that long?

March 8, 2009 was my last post. Yes, it really has been that long!

So here we are more than half way through 2010, which is incredible! I have been meaning to get my blog back up and running, but it always seemed like there was something else that I could should be doing. Plus, when you're on Facebook a kazillion times a day, it's so much easier to just upload the photos! But, I wanted to be able to share more than that...so I'm back!

My cousin is getting married this weekend and so I have family coming up. My sister and brother-in-law will be here tonight so this past weekend I decided I was going to go on a baking spree. What a spree it was! Cookies, squares, and scones oh my! Also, yesterday it was a dear friend's birthday and I was having her over for dinner...what better excuse to make cupcakes!

So I'm really glad that I'm back and will be able to share all my goodies with you. In the near future I will also be starting a Facebook page, so for those of you on Facebook, you'll also be able to connect through there.

A Love Affair

I am in love with avocados! So much so, in fact, that the paint colour in our rec room is 'Guacamole'! Well we didn't do that on purpose. I'm also in love with green and the shade we wanted just so happened to be that - a match made in heaven!

Yes avocados are high in fat, but it's good fat - monounsaturated. They have also been shown to decrease both LDL (bad cholesterol) and triglyceride levels by 22% and raise HDL levels (good cholesterol) by 11%. Avocados have 60% more potassium than bananas, are rich in B vitamins, as well as vitamin E and K and they have the highest fibre content of any fruit. I could go on forever about the health benefits of this gem, but I have to finish painting my bedroom...not guacamole, though it is green.

If you're not that familiar with avocados, when you're buying them, Haas avocados are most readily available in grocery stores. A ripe avocado is relatively firm, but will yield to gentle pressure when you give it a slight squeeze. Color cannot always be trusted to determine whether or not an avocado is ripe. The squeeze test is the way to go. If you plan to use the avocados right away, then buy the ripe ones. But if you want to buy them a few days before you plan to use them, get them when they are hard and do not yield to squeezing. Then just leave them out on the counter and wait for them to get ripe.

So how do you you cut the avocado? There's not really any wrong way to do it, but there a couple of quicker, easier ways to do it: Grip the avocado gently on one side with one hand. With a large, sharp knife in the other hand, cut the avocado lengthwise around the seed. Open the two halves to expose the pit.

Now, there are a few ways you can proceed to remove the pit from the avocado half that has the pit. One way is to make another cut, lengthwise on the avocado half that has the pit, cutting around the pit, exposing it so that it is easier to remove. You can also use a spoon to scoop out the pit.

Another way to do it is a bit trickier and if you're a bit nervous, fold up a kitchen towel and use that to hold the avocado half with the pit. Gently tap the pit with a knife with enough force so that the knife edge wedges into the pit, but not so hard that you cut all the way through it. Tap it very gently a few times, with increasing pressure each time, until a cut is made in the pit sufficiently to twist the pit out. Getting the pressure just right takes a little practice. With the edge of the knife, twist the pit out of the avocado and discard. Then just tap the handle of the knife on the edge of the sink once or twice and the pit will come off the knife.

Then you can either scoop out the flesh with a spoon or you can cut the chunks into the flesh while still in the peel, then scoop out with a spoon.

I love to put avocado on sandwhiches, in salad, burgers and my most favorite of all...Guacamole!! This is one of my signature dishes. Now I usually just throw all the ingredients together and go by taste, but I've put it into a recipe to share with you. Enjoy!

Tara's Guacamole

5 avocados, cut into small chunks
1/2 medium red onion, diced
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 cup cilantro, chopped

1-2 tsp lime juice

salt & pepper to taste

Chop the avocado and put into a bowl. Sprinkle with 1 tsp of the lime juice to prevent it from going brown. Chop the onion, tomato and cilantro and add to the bowl. Combine until mixed, but still chunky. Add salt and pepper to taste and remainder of the lime juice, if needed. Chill. Serve.

Coconut Lemon Squares

I love lemon! Well except for lemon-flavoured hard candy - not a huge fan. But yes, I'm really beginning to develop a love for lemon! Lemon tarts, lemon squares, lemon muffins, lemon loaf! Lemon! Lemon! Lemon! I love how lemons just exude freshness! You smell lemon and you instantly think fresh, clean! But I also love the tartness. When you take a bite of something with lemon in it and you get that tart taste in your mouth and then it just makes you pucker...MMM!

At Christmas, I made Lemon-Cranberry Scones which were simply delish, so those will make an appearance at Terracotta Cafe at some point. Since then I've been wanting to do another lemon recipe and I've had lemon squares in the back of my mind. It doesn't help that I had an absolutely delicious lemon tart at Don Diego's on my birthday, so I've had lemon on my mind since.

So the other night, I whipped these up and they were super easy. The combination of the lemon and coconut was just magnificent!

Lemon Coconut Squares (16 squares)

1 cup flour
1/4 cup icing sugar
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup dessicated coconut
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 lemon, juice and rind

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix flour, icing sugar and butter together thoroughly. Press crumb mixture evenly into an 8-inch square pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Then sprinkle with coconut.

Beat remaining ingredients together. Pour over the top. Bake for another 20 minutes. Cool and mark into squares with wet knife. Chill. When cold, cut completely and remove from pan. Serve.

Dave's Jalapenos

My husband Dave, isn't afraid to get in the kitchen. Just last night while I was watching The Biggest Loser, he was upstairs making dinner - Spicy Seafood Penne (his own recipe) - he has built himself quite the repertoire!

One day while watching Guy's Big Bite on The Food Network, he saw a recipe that he just had to try. We love our Southwestern/Mexican cuisine, so this was definitely a must try. Dave didn't have the exact ingredients which lean more towards of an italian flair, so he just kind of followed the "template", but created his own version. He's now made them twice and each time tries something a bit different. They've been a complete hit each time!

Here's the recipe from Guy's Big Bite:


Italian Stuffed Jalapenos (4-6 Servings)

15 jalapenos, preferably red, cut in 1/2, seeded and deveined
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/4 cup minced red onion
1/4 cup minced red bell pepper
3 tablespoons minced garlic
2 pounds mild Italian sausage, casings removed
2 cups mascarpone or cream cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Minced chives

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Place jalapenos on a sheet tray and roast for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Heat the oil in a medium saute pan. Add onions, peppers, garlic and sausage and cook for about 2 minutes. Remove and place in a large bowl. Cool to room temperature, then add mascarpone, and Parmesan. Mix ingredients thoroughly and season with salt and pepper.

Place approximately 1 tablespoon of mixture into each jalapeno half, and top with 1/2 teaspoon of mozzarella cheese.

Place the sheet tray of stuffed peppers in oven and bake for 5 minutes or until mozzarella cheese melts.

Garnish with minced chives and Parmesan. Serve.

Dave's version with a southwestern twist: He replaced the sausage with lean ground beef, and used a taco seasoning. He omitted the mascarpone cheese and parmesan cheese. He added black olives and topped with cheddar and mozzarella - DELICIOUS!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

This was my first attempt at making Red Velvet Cupcakes. I'm going to go back to the drawing board with this one, but thought I would post them anyway - afterall that's what this is for!

A lot of the recipes I came across had reviews saying how oily the cupcake was. So I was a bit worried, wondering if this recipe would come out dripping - Not moist enough! Also, I also used
1 1/2 bottles of red food colouring - not red enough! And, I'm not sure why, but it was like when the cupcake baked, the food colouring was drawn to the centre so when you unwrapped the cupcake it looked like it was a chocolate cupcake. When you bit into it, was when you saw the red. That was kind of cool, but I want to see ALL red! So the Red Velvet Cupcakes will go back to the test kitchen!

Red Velvet Cupcakes (Makes 24)

3 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
6 tbsp red food coloring
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners and set aside.

In a small bowl, sift the cake flour and set aside.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, whisk together the red food coloring, cocoa, and vanilla.

Add to the batter and beat well.

In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk.

Add to the batter in three parts alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overbeat.

In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well.

Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth. Divide the batter among the cupcake cups. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool completely on a wire rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting with Shredded Coconut

8 oz. Cream Cheese (I used light)
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups *powdered sugar
2 cups shredded, sweetened coconut

With an electric mixer, blend together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Turn mixer to low speed and blend in powdered sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Turn mixer on high and beat until light and fluffy. Use immediately or refrigerate, covered, until ready to use. If refrigerated, the frosting will need to be brought to room temperature before using (after frosting softens up, beat with mixer until smooth). Pour the coconut onto a plate. Lightly roll the cupcake tops in the coconut so that it's covered. Serve.

*If you want a thicker frosting, more powdered sugar can be added (up to 4 cups).