Singing Praise to Salads

There’s this lovely little café on the Danforth that I love to frequent for lunch. Mocha Mocha Café is a small establishment with only a handful of tables squished together that specializes in homestyle, comfort foods, serving a variety of salads, sandwiches and daily specials for a quick bite to eat. I’ve only ever had their salads when I’ve eaten here, but they have been some of the best salads I’ve ever had. They are always fresh, and the combination of ingredients makes for a hearty, comforting and satisfying meal (something that not all salads can achieve!).

What really makes Mocha Mocha’s salads so special (in my opinion), besides the fact that they’re always very fresh, is the addition of warm potatoes. Most people often pick salads because it’s healthy and because there are no carbs. Trust me, I’ve been one of those people who have sometimes picked to eat a salad over a club sandwich for those reasons. But the potatoes give you enough carbs to satisfy your hunger and give you energy for the rest of the afternoon. Plus the combination of the warm potatoes against the cool crispness of the lettuce is so comforting. I had lunch at Mocha Mocha this past week with a friend, who tried their Mediterranean salad for the first time and loved it. Alas, we ended up dreaming of salads with warm potatoes for the rest of the week.



This sparked me to replicate Mocha Mocha’s Salad Niçoise for dinner the other day. I simply tossed some torn romaine lettuce with some balsamic vinaigrette, and topped it with chopped parsley, grated carrots, cucumber slices, roasted beets, hard-boiled egg, boiled potatoes and tuna salad (I mixed a can of drained tuna with 1 tablespoon of mayo and a handful of chopped parsley). It was so delicious and satisfying, and if you’re a salad hater, it’ll really change the way you think about salads!

What's For Lunch? -- Couscous Salad

Got the lunchbox blues? Sometimes I feel like I do. I'm the kind of person who always packs a lunch. Firstly, it much healthier and you actually know what you'll be ingesting, and secondly, it's a much cheaper option and when you're still a student like myself, you try to save every penny that you can. That being said, sometimes I get into a rut when coming up with fresh and exciting lunch ideas. Half the time I'm too busy to prep a fantastic lunch, and other times I'm just too plain lazy. But with my post-holiday diet going on, in which I've sworn off cheese (amongst many other things...like sugar...and coffee!!), that means I also have to give up my usual of cheese and crackers.



I used to always love bringing salads for lunch as well, but I always found it a bit time consuming with the chopping, and the fact that it took up more room in my bag. However, after a little hiatus, it was about time to get back into salads. I luckily dug up some couscous in the back of my cupboards yesterday, perfect for a couscous salad! I simply tossed the couscous with some soaked dried cherries, diced carrots and cucumbers, some finely chopped Italian parsley and green onions, and a balsamic vinaigrette. It was fast, easy, healthy and delicious! The best thing about couscous is that it can take about any kind of ingredients: add marinated and/or roasted vegetables and some feta for a Mediterranean couscous salad, or soak the couscous in orange juice and throw in other dried fruits like apricots and raisins for a sweet variety. The combinations are endless, and it’ll make lunch less bland when you have the opportunity to mix things up.

A Little Bit of Flair

Much belated, but happy new year to everyone nonetheless! I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday, filled with lots of yummy treats! I know it’s been a while since I’ve updated, and I apologize for that. This year’s holiday baking marathon really took a lot out of me. Baking for two week straight, and producing over 500 cookies made me suffer from a serious case of baking burnout by the end of it that I could barely muster up the energy to get into the kitchen much after that. Add in the fact that my sleeping schedule was absolutely atrocious, I figured that this rather sleep-deprived cook was safer out of the kitchen than in it.

I did treat the family to a New Year’s Eve meal of veal shanks and risotto, since my brother never got a chance to try the osso bucco I made over a year ago. I thought it would be fun to start off the year with a bit of flare, and after flipping through numerous books, I settled on making an Opéra cake.

If anyone has seen an Opera cake, it looks extraordinarily elegant, with its multi-layers of almond sponge, coffee buttercream and chocolate ganache. Its elegance makes it the star of any show, hence its name, as it was inspired by the grand elegance and theatricality of the opera.



There are five key elements that make up an Opera cake: the almond sponge, the syrup that is used to soak the sponge, the coffee buttercream, the chocolate ganache, and the chocolate glaze. While it does seem daunting to even attempt this cake after reading the recipe and seeing how beautiful they look in professional French bakeries, it’s actually less complicated than it sounds. Granted, there are a lot of steps, since they are a lot of layers to the cake, but once you’ve prepared everything, assembling the cake doesn’t actually take a lot of time.

I used the recipe from Le Cordon Bleu, and it was fantastic. The almond sponge was incredibly light and moist. The only real complaint I had was that my buttercream curdled a bit, which didn’t give me a fluffy, smooth texture I was looking for, and I found the glaze to be a bit too much on the runny side, despite having already reduced some of the cream it asked for. For my first attempt though, I don’t think it turned out terribly bad, and like any French dessert, it was just the right sweetness. Be sure to serve your guests small slices of the cake though, because it is quite rich and heavy. And on a fun note, I bought some gold flakes before the holidays and finally found an occasion to whip them out and sprinkle them over the cake. What better way to usher in the new year with a bit of flair and good fortune, right?

Lost in Paradise in the Midst of a Storm

While I’m immersed in the cold and snow upon my arrival back home for the holidays, my mind is elsewhere, lost in a warm, tropical paradise—coconut paradise, to be exact. I made macaroons the other day, and eating them reminded me why I love them so much. It also made me wonder why I haven’t made them at any other time throughout the year, since they take no time to make and only use 4 ingredients, all of which I always have in my pantry.

If you’re a fan of coconut, I seriously urge you to give these a try if you haven’t already. The recipe calls for condensed milk, which gives the macaroons both their sweetness and divine chewiness. I like using unsweetened coconut so that my macaroons don’t become cloyingly sweet (the condensed milk will make them sweet enough, trust me!), and the addition of the almond extract gives the macaroons a nice, nutty hint working in the background. Dipping them in chocolate not only makes them look pretty and gift-ready, but they also balance the sweetness of the coconut beautifully.

I’ve tried a version using egg whites once, and it had nothing against these ones. The egg white versions just don’t yield the same kind of texture and chewiness that is so distinct and so beloved in a coconut macaroon (at least in my coconut macaroons). Best of all, the condensed milk version is so simple. All you need is a bowl, a spoon and baking sheets and you’ll instantly have macaroons on your table. These are delicious and addictive, so if you plan to give them away, it’s best to keep them hidden from family members!



Chewy Coconut Macaroons
Makes about 3 to 4 dozen, depending on the size

6 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
1 300-ml can condensed milk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 ½ tsp pure almond extract
¾ to 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325°F. If your baking sheets aren’t nonstick, line them with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the condensed milk, vanilla extract and almond extract. Stir until well combined.

Add in the coconut and stir until everything is incorporated, and all the coconut is moist and coated with the condensed milk.

Using a dessertspoon, place heaping, rounded spoonfuls of the coconut mixture onto the baking sheets.

Bake in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden-brown around the edges. Remove immediately and let cool completely on cooling racks.

In a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips. Dip the bottom of each macaroon in the chocolate, using a small palette knife to help smooth the surface by scraping off the excess chocolate. Place on a baking sheet or a cooling rack, inverted, to allow the chocolate to cool and set completely, at room temperature.

Spicing Up The Vegan Factor

I mentioned them yesterday in my Holiday Cookie Extravaganza round-up. Now here’s the recipe for the Vegan Spiced Molasses cookies.

This was my first time baking something vegan. It seemed a little strange, not to be using butter or eggs this time around, and having never baked anything vegan before, I was worried about the end results. Would they end up dry? Would they be too bland? Thankfully, my worries were quickly laid to rest not long after these came out of the oven. The outside had the familiar crunchiness from the sugar coating, while the inside was still warm and soft—just the way I love my ginger cookies!

The recipe is actually a mash-up of three different ginger cookie recipes. With a little tweaking here and experimenting there, I came up with a formula that I think I would be happy to make again. I’ll definitely keep this recipe on file, for those days when I’m craving cookies but have no eggs in the fridge, or to satisfy my vegan friends.



Vegan Spiced Molasses Cookies
Makes about 3 dozen

½ cup vegetable oil
1 heaping tbsp freshly grated ginger
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp allspice
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
1 tbsp cocoa powder
¾ cup brown sugar, packed
¼ cup molasses
¼ cup water (or soymilk)
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup granulated sugar, for coating.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. If your baking sheets aren’t nonstick, line with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients except for the brown sugar and granulated sugar. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat the oil, brown sugar, and freshly grated ginger with an electric mixer, about 2 to 3 minutes. Slowly beat in the molasses, water (or soymilk) and vanilla extract until everything is well incorporated, about 2 minutes.

Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and with the mixer on low, mix everything together until just incorporated. Wrap the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. **

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and dip in the granulated sugar. Place on the baking sheet, leaving a space of 2 inches between each cookie to allow room for spreading. Flatten the balls slightly with your fingers—the thinner they are, the crispier they will be. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes. Remove and let cool on cooling racks.

** I like to refrigerate my ginger cookie dough, as it makes the dough less of a sticky mess when I go to roll them into balls. If you’re in a hurry though, you can skip this step. Just make sure you have a bowl of water next to you to keep your hands wet; this will help with the sticky factor.

Want to eat cookies too? Go to Food Blogga to find out how, and don't forget to find out what everyone else is baking (and most certainly eating!).