taco meatball salad

I'm really hating the weather in Montréal lately. It's always rainy and gloomy. Sometimes I have to admit that the weather actually affects my mood. Anyway, today instead of cooking something that requires me a lot of chopping, frying or what not, I made something simple! It takes me probably 20 minutes to make it. Quick and easy.

Taco Meatball Salad



500g ground beef
salt
pepper
an egg
2-3 tbsp flour
5 tbsp Tostitos salsa
4 spring onions
onion
lettuce
Kraft ranch salad dressing
Doritos any flavor
Cheddar cheese

1. Chopped spring onions. Mix ground meat with salt, pepper, egg, spring onions, and flour. Make into small balls and fry it in a medium heat so that it cooks slowly and doesn't burn.
2. In the meantime, chopped lettuce and onions also grate the cheddar cheese. Set aside.
3. When it's cooked, add the onions and let it slowly cooked until brown then add the salsa.
4. Place the lettuce on serving plate, garnish with cheese and crumbled doritos or you can serve it the way you like.

Please excuse the ugly picture as I am really lazy to take picture and you're not obliged to follow the meatball recipe. If you have a better one, go for it.

sweet potato soup

I like this soup a lot, it's so easy to make and tasty! I followed Noble Pig's recipe. Even though my soup turns out to be pretty clear unlike Noble Pig's soup, but it still is tasty!

Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup
Adapted from Bon Appetit



2tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 11- to 13- ounce fully cooked smoked Portuguese linguica sausage, sliced into 1/4-inch-thick slices
2 medium onions, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
2 pounds red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams; about 2 large), peeled, halved and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
1 pound white-skinned potatoes, peeled, halved and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
6 cups chicken broth
1 9-ounce bag fresh spinach

1.Heat olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook until brown, stirring often, about 5-7 minutes. Transfer sausage to a paper towel to drain.

2.Add onions and garlic to pot and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.

3.Add all potatoes and cook until they begin to soften, stirring often, about 12 minutes.

4.Add broth and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Simmer until potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes. Using a potato masher, mash some of the potatoes in the pot. Add browned sausage to soup. Stir in fresh spinach and simmer just until wilted, about three minutes. Season with salt and divide among bowls to serve.


Recipe courtesy of Noble Pig.

blueberry coconut bread

Blueberry Coconut Bread



1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour
1tsp baking powder
1/4tsp salt
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1/2tsp pure vanilla extract
1tbsp grated lemon zest (outer yellow skin of the lemon)
1/2 cup (120 ml) coconut milk
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

1.Preheat oven to 350F/180C and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter (or spray with a non stick vegetable spray) the bottom and sides of a loaf pan (9 x 5 x 3 inch) (23 x 13 x 8 cm). Set aside.

2.In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3.In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until softened (about 1 minute). Add the sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture (in three additions) and milk (in two additions) alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Mix only until combined. Gently fold in the blueberries.

4.Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 55 to 65 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

When the bread is done, remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Pierce the hot loaf all over with a wooden skewer or toothpick and then brush the top of the loaf with the hot lemon glaze. Cool the loaf in the pan for about 30 minutes then remove from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.

PS Instead of using regular milk, I used coconut milk and also I did not make any lemon glaze so I use icing sugar. And the bread came out to be soft and more like sponge cake.

Recipe is courtesy of Joy of Baking.

nutella chocolate brownies

This is not recommended for people who's on diet, but if you insist, give it a try!

Nutella Chocolate Brownies



1 stick (125ml) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
5 blocks semi-sweet Baker's chocolate (sweet/semi-sweet/unsweetened)
3 eggs
3/4 cup nutella
1tbsp vanilla extract
salt
1 1/2 cup flour

1.Preheat oven to 325°F. Line the 9x13 inch baking pan with foil.
2.Using a double boiler, bring water to boil. Melt the butter, and lower the heat to medium.
3.When the butter melts, add sugar and salt. Mix until well blended and add the chocolate blocks and nutella, mix and let it cool for 5-10 minutes.
4.Stir in vanilla extract and add eggs one at a time. When it's all well blended, add flour. Mix the batter for a long time until it's really thick. If the batter is a little watery, add another 1-2 tbsp of flour.
5.Pour the batter to baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Lift up the foil from the pan and transfer to cooling rack. When it's cooled down, cut into 15 squares.

The directions are the same with my earlier post for easter brownie just a slight difference in the ingredients :)

Before I bake the brownies, I taste the batter and it's too sweet, so I add a little bit of unsweetened cocoa powder, but if you have sweet tooth, it should be fine.