Baked Goat Cheese Bruschetta

I make up a bunch of roasted garlic at a time so I don't have to do it as often, and I go through a lot of it, its very sweet and aromatic and can be added to almost anything :) It brings this recipe together.

Need whole garlic bulbs, and olive oil. Pre-heat oven to 375'c. Next take 4-5 bulbs of your garlic, and chop a centimeter off the top. Lay them root side down in a frying pan or small loaf pan and drizzle a bit of olive oil in the center of each one. They will take a while to bake. So it is either a good idea to get this part taken care of first before anything else or ahead of time, like the day before. They'll take about an hour, but your house will smell amazing!

When they have cooled down, should be easy enough to just squeeze the garlic out of there pods. And keep refrigerated what you don't use.

 Roasted Garlic Bulbs

Ingredients

Instead of your traditional dipping bruschetta, this one is all baked together in the oven. Mmm sweet!

Need '1' baguette {I used whole wheat}

Goat cheese
{or blue cheese works well with this recipe too}

Roma tomatos 

Asparagus

Yellow peppers

Portion the vegetables into small pieces and just before assembling the Bruschetta, I would saute' the asparagus and yellow pepper for a quick minute with just a pinch of sea salt and olive oil to coat.

Balsamic Reduction

It really is the key ingredient to this recipe, and is really easy to make to if you have the time..  

otherwise there is store bought stuff out there, most likely a specialty store.

500 ml of balsamic vinegar 

200 ml of cane sugar

In a sauce pan on medium heat, simmer on low and stir for about 20 minutes. Until it had reduced by half and can coat the back of a spoon. Take off of the heat and let cool. Can keep in tupperware, a glass jar or a squeeze bottle if you have one. Keep at room temperature when using and refridgerated when not.

Assembly

Make sure oven is set to pre- heat at 350'c.
Make sure your 'roasted' garlic, and balsamic reduction is prepared ahead of time. 

Cut the baguette into 1' inch or 1'1/2 pieces. Set on a baking sheet and then taking a piece of roasted garlic and pushing into the center of the soft baguette. Then add a small chunk of goat cheese, and towering the vegetables on top, then just drizzling a little bit of olive oil over the bruschetta.

Bake for only about 10 minutes, you'll want them to be nice and roasted but not hard..When they have come out of the oven, and plated as an appetizer or side dish. Then you can drizzle with the balsamic reduction.  And you really don't need very much because it is concentrated, and so delicious! 

Blackened Basa With Mango Salsa

The 'Basa' Fish is a white flaky fish, so will take some deligating out of the frying pan, carefully with a large spatula.
This recipe would also be awesome with halibut or swordfish as well.




Blackening Spice

2 tbs of paprika
1 tbs cayenne pepper
1/2 tbs black pepper
pinch of sea salt
1 tbs dried oregano flakes
1 tsp rice flour or arrowroot powder

Mix the spices in a large bowl, large enough to lay the fish in. Make sure oven is pre-heated to 375'c. This recipe will work best if you have a cast iron skillet, but any frying pan will also do. Also make sure you have some ventilation going, when the fish hits the frying pan it will slightly choke you with spice. Ventilation will help eliminate the intensity. Coat the 'Basa' with blackening spice, and lay in the hot skillet, only searing on both sides and then finishing in the oven. Should only take about 10 minutes. While it is the oven start your 'Salsa'.


 Mango Salsa


1 large mango
1/4 cup of fresh cilantro
1/2 a red pepper
1/2 yellow or orange pepper
1/8 cup of chopped red onion
1/8 cup of chopped green onion
2 tbs of apple cider vinegar
pinch of sea salt to taste

Cutting into a mango is always messy, and sometimes tricky. It is a neat fruit, but definitely not a dainty one. The easiest way I have found to cut into it, is to peel the skin right off the mango, then dice around the pit.
Then, once you have cleaned up your mango mess, start dicing the rest of the veggies into small
{as you can} pieces, coating with the apple cider and pinch of sea salt.

Blackened Basa served with Mediterranean Salad

Tahini Crispy Treats

I was at my girlfriends place last night for some well deserved girly time :) for dinner, wine and company. And she asked me of there was a choice out there for vegan and or healthy marshmallows for her rice krispy treats for her little girl. Of which  I replied there are companies out there making vegan options, but not necessarily any more healthy. Which got me thinking... I hadn't had krispy treats in years and they were one of my favorites as a kid too. Why shouldn't I be able to enjoy them again. So I came up with an recipe that doesn't require marshmallows at all. And is full of calcium! Do I have your attention yet? I decided to experiment with replacing marshmallow with tahini. Which is a middle eastern paste made form sesame seeds. Which contains a higher amount of calcium than milk!

Ingredients for Crispy treats


1/2 cup of tahini paste
1/4 cup of raw or creamed honey
2 tbs of real maple syrup
1/8 cup of coconut oil
1tbs of ground cinnamon
1/2 cup of dried cranberries
2 tsp of sesame seeds
2 tsp of ground flax seeds
6 cups of whole wheat rice crisps

Setting the crisps aside with the cranberries and cinnamon. Start the wet mixture in a small sauce pan on medium heat, stirring with a fork or a whisk until it is brought together and silky. Combining all ingredients together in the mixing bowl and transferring to a square pan. Run your hands under some water and flatten the mixture out. Then refrigerate + enjoy!