Italian Flat String Bean Salad

 

Italian Flat String Bean Salad

https://youtu.be/eGqtDYFIs04

My family has been growing these non GMO beans for years.They beans grow very long and flat.

They are used in a variety of dishes,  but freshly picked and eaten in a simple salad dressed with olive oil and vinegar is my favourite way of eating them.

I picked about 2 handfuls of beans, washed them,cut off the stems and cut them into bite size pieces. I gave them a quick boil, for about 4 to 5 minutes until fork tender. I then drain and rinse them in cold water to cool them down although this salad can be eaten warm. Do not salt your water when you cook your beans as it will take away from the vivid green colour.

To the cooked green beans add one chopped green onion, 2-  3 Tbsps chopped parsley and 1 Tbsp chopped mint. The mint adds a really nice flavour but you can leave it out if you are not a fan.

The dressing is very simple: 2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil, 1 Tbsp Wine vinegar, 1/2 tsp salt.

Stir well and it’s ready to enjoy. So fresh and healthy. Great as a side dish or it can be your lunch!!

Italian Olive Oil Cake

Italian Olive Oil Cake (Dairy Free)

Italian Olive Oil Cake
https://youtu.be/23ClsOkqzo4

This cake is so quick and easy, that you can whip it up in no time using simple ingredients that can be found in your pantry. You would think that a cake made with olive oil is heavy and soaked with oil but this cake is surprisingly light, delicate and delicious. It’s so versatile that you can choose whatever fruit is in season and serve it alongside it. 

This cake is dairy free as you can substitute the milk for any nut milk such as almond, cashew or even soy.

However, it does have 4 eggs so anyone with an egg allergy should not have this cake. You will need:

1 3/4 unbleached all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsps baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Begin by sifting together all the dry ingredients listed above and set aside.

1 cup olive oil

3 tbsps milk ( cashew, almond, soy or regular milk)

Whisk oil and milk together and set aside.

4 whole eggs

3/4 cups granulated sugar

Zest of one lemon

With an electric mixer, whisk together eggs and sugar for 3 minutes until it thickens and becomes lighter in colour.

With mixer on low, gradually add some flour to egg mixture. Mix a little then add some of the oil mixture. Alternate the two until finished, ending with flour. Mix in the zest of one lemon.

Pour into  9 inch spring form pan prepared with olive oil and then sprinkled with flour.

Put into a preheated 350 F oven and cook for 30 to 35 minutes until golden and it has pulled away from the sides. Let cool in pan on a cooling rack.

So easy and delicious. Don’t forget to sprinkle with icing sugar. You will totally impress your friends!!

Eggs Poached in a Tomato Sauce - Poached Eggs in Purgatory

Eggs Poached in Tomato Sauce

Eggs Poached in Tomato Sauce - Poached Eggs in Purgatory 
https://youtu.be/ycVSAcnPzSA

So easy and quick on those nights where it’s too hot to be over a hot stove for too long.

Eggs are so versatile and can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner .

This egg dish can be eaten for lunch or dinner.

I am poaching two eggs in this recipe so I will make enough enough sauce for two.

This recipe can easily be modified for more people.

I use one cup of crushed tomatoes, a few slices of onion, dried oregano and basil, salt and pepper.

Basically that’s it. 

Heat up a drizzle or two of your best olive oil, give your onion a little fry and add your sauce.

Add your seasonings and let cook down until reduced and thickened. Should only take about 15 minutes.

Add your whole eggs one at a time. Cover and let com for 3 minutes for a soft yolk.

Eat with bread!

Yum!

How to Make Quick and Easy Pesto - Vegan options

How to Make Pesto
https://youtu.be/XzN8CUcNRuI

I picked basil and parsley from my garden. Doesn’t get any fresher. The smell is incredible.

You will need about 3 loose cups of basil and one loose cup of parsley. Wash and remove leaves from stem and pat dry. I made  the mistake once of forgetting to remove stems and threw everything in the blender.  It was awful. I will never make that mistake again. 

Put them both in food processor and give it a couple of pulses to chop it.

Then you can add all your other ingredients in at once and continue to chop at medium to high speed until you are happy with the consistency. I like to see the pieces of basil and parsley in mine so I don’t process for too long. If you don’t have a food processor you can use a blender. You can also chop by hand.

Half a coarsely chopped onion

A quarter of a clove of finely minced garlic....a little raw garlic goes a long way.

2 pieces of sundried tomatoes, roughly chopped 

A handful of pine nuts

Juice of half a lemon

Half a tsp salt or to taste

Pinch of pepper 

5 to 6 Tbsps olive oil or more until you are happy with consistency 

One to two tbsp balsamic vinegar

A couple of tbsps of grated vegan Romano style cheese. It is also delicious without any cheese as well.

And if you don’t have dairy allergies, throw in a couple of tbsps of Parmesan or Romano cheese. You can also add cream to your pesto for a creamy consistency.

Delicious on many types of pasta including potato gnocchi, rotini and any gluten free pasta of your choice.

Mmmmmmmh, smells like the garden!

How to Make Easy Potato Gnocchi (Vegan)
https://youtu.be/2JP7HtJFbLY

Cicoria e rise - Dandelion and Rice - Vegan Options

Bisnonna Alcina’s

Cicoria e Rise - Dandelion and Rice
https://youtu.be/fNAvf8LR0E0

Gluten free, dairy and egg free, vegan. And made in one pot!!!!

My mother taught me how to make this dish. It’s something that we ate regularly as kids growing up. I remember helping my mother and her sisters forage for dandelion in the fields. Super  healthy!! You should give it a try. It is bitter when eaten raw but you can remove most of the bitterness by preboiling. I like the bitterness, so I don’t boil it too long. Maybe a couple of minutes so it’s tender. It will continue to cook in the pot too.

Begin by washing and trimming your dandelion discarding any dark or damaged leaves, you can refer to my Dandelion Salad video for a closer look at how to wash and trim dandelion.

Super Green Dandelion Salad
https://youtu.be/Ctrc_D5I4Sk

Boil it for a couple of minutes and drain. Squeeze water out and chop into one inch pieces.

Back in the same pot, add three and a half cups of cold water with half a cup of Passata, or jarred, crushed tomatoes. You can also use fresh crushed tomatoes or canned. Bring all to a boil.

Add one bouillon cube, chicken or vegetable. You can also cook this in your own homemade chicken or vegetable broth. Refer to my video on how to make your own broth.

How to make easy Chicken Broth - Brodo Di Nonna
https://youtu.be/agH3VD-XLQI

How to Make Homemade Vegetable Broth
https://youtu.be/AJz-wu40v1E

Then add half a chopped onion, one cup Italian rice, the precooked dandelion and drizzle it all with extra virgin olive oil. Let it simmer stirring often. Salt and pepper to taste. Remember the bouillon cube is already salted.

That’s pretty much it. It will take about 20 to 25 minutes for the rice to cook. Taste for seasoning and add water as needed, if it gets too dry. This should be soupy style dish, not too dry.

Top with your favourite grated cheese. Yum!

Amaretto Iced Espresso - Dairy Free

Amaretto Iced Espresso 

https://youtu.be/VH6Hgh8fHcU

You need your coffee but it’s way too hot for a regular coffee. Let’s make iced coffee. Very refreshing.

There are so many options when making this. Mine is dairy free and not too many calories.

First you need to decide what coffee you want to use. This works great with regular coffee or espresso coffee,  flavoured coffee and decaf coffee.

I made a huge pot of decaf espresso and instead of throwing the leftovers down the drain, I chilled it.

To the coffee, which is about one cup, I added half a cup of almond milk. You can use cream, you can use soy milk, oat milk, regular milk...........any kind you like.

Then if you happen to be hanging around the pool, you may choose to add a little shot of Amaretto.

You can also try Sambucca or Baileys Irish Cream. By the way, for those of you who have dairy allergies but love Baileys Irish Cream ( this has dairy in it) I’ve recently discovered that Baileys makes an Irish cream using almond milk! Very good!!

Now if you want to make it a little more special, add whipped cream and top it off with a cherry.

I used coconut cream!!

Enjoy!! And stay cool!

Dandelion Salad - Dairy Free, Egg Free, Vegan Options

Cicoria or Dandelion Salad Two Ways

Super Green Dandelion Salad
https://youtu.be/Ctrc_D5I4Sk

This green is super healthy for you. You can eat it raw in a salad or cook it. It can be very bitter and tough which is why I like to buy organic. They tend to be younger and more tender. I planted some in my garden and once they  start to grow I pick them while still young so I can eat them while tender and not so bitter.

I bought one bunch of organic dandelion and I am using half of it. I soak them in water and wash thoroughly.

I then cut off two to three inches off the bottom of the stem as they can be tough.

I then cut into bit sized pieces. 

I split them in half so that I can make a non dairy version.

The first salad has sliced Vidalia  onion, one sliced hard boiled egg, 2 - 3 Tbsps extra virgin olive oil, 2 Tbsps or more of wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Toss.

For the second version, and for those of you who can’t eat dairy or egg, I replaced the egg with half a diced avocado  and I added a tsp of vegan mayonnaise to make it a little creamy.  

I hope you try this green. If you like bitter, you will love this.

Rhubarb and Berry Cobbler - Dairy Free, Egg Free

Rhubarb And Berry Cobbler - so delicious and dairy and egg free! WHAT!!  Flavour and texture is incredible! You can also bake this on the “Q” in a cast iron pan.....at a 350 degree temperature!!

Rhubarb .......makes delicious pies when mixed with berries. It is a vegetable but it is used as if it were a fruit. Strawberries, blueberries or raspberries all work great when mixed with rhubarb.  I have rhubarb growing in my garden and June is the time to harvest. 

I have about12 thin stalks of rhubarb. This is enough for one pie or cobbler. If your stalks are thicker, then reduce how much you use.

You cut the leaves off and trim the bottom ends off by at least two to three inches making sure you cut the white parts off. Then wash and cut rhubarb into one inch pieces.

You will also need two cups of berries. I am using a combination of blueberries and raspberries. Your combination of rhubarb and berries need to be heeping...as it will all shrink once cooked.

Put rhubarb and berries into either a large pie dish or an 8 inch square pan. To that you will add half a cup each of brown sugar and regular sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Stir well until all evenly coated.

Place all into your dish.

I lined the pie dish with pastry dough but this is not necessary. You can place berries directly onto dish.

 

For the topping combine the following in a large bowl

2 cups flour

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Add 1/2 cup butter - I used vegan margarine and use a pastry blender to cut it into coarse crumbs

Then you will need to stir in 1 1/4 cups of buttermilk. I substitute this with almond milk and add 1.5 tsps of white vinegar to give it that buttermilk flavour.

It will be a wet dough

Spoon onto rhubarb and berry mixture.

Place into preheated 350 F degree oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes until bubbly and golden.

You will want to put foil underneath to catch the drippings.

Oh my!!!!😋

Quick Polenta with Tomato Sauce - DairyFree And a Vegan Options

Quick Polenta with Tomato Sauce
https://youtu.be/o9Ph6rzgpBw

How to Make Marinara Sauce Recipe
https://youtu.be/KBCZGHFdDK8

How to Make Italian Sausage (Hot or Mild)
https://youtu.be/BtVgCWP-CWw

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free and vegan options!! And all in one pot!!
Makes a great side dish or you can make it your main meal!
There are many options when making this dish and the reason it’s quick is that I use instant polenta.
Instead of using corm meal and stirring for at least half an hour while cooking it in a pot, I now buy the pre cooked cornmeal. It also comes in a bag and looks exactly like the regular corn meal but on the bag or box it states that it cooks in one minute. Some other brands will say it cooks in two or three minutes...buy it. It’s instant.

Let’s begin with the ingredients needed for this dish.

You will need 3 cups of water, one cup of instant polenta and one tsp of salt or to taste. Very simple.
I am using water because I will be topping it with tomato sauce which will give it its flavour.
If you want to eat it plain without the sauce then you can replace the water with either vegetable or chicken broth for flavour. Salt to taste if your broth is salted.

Bring your water to a boil. Add salt. Remove pot from heat and whisk in your polenta.
Lower heat and return pot to heat. Continue whisking until thickened.
Be careful. It will splatter as it bubbles and may burn your hand as you stir.
Remove from heat as soon as it thickens. Add one tbsp of butter, margarine or vegan margarine and stir in about 3 Tbsps of grated Romano or Parmesan cheese. If you need it to be dairy free then add vegan cheese instead.
Top with a simple marinara sauce. I also added Italian sausages.
You can also top it with fava beans and leave out the meat. You have many options.
Creamy and delicious!! Enjoy!

Asparagus Risotto with Saffron- Dairy Free and Vegan Options

How To Make Asparagus Risotto with Saffron
https://youtu.be/qO0bgpa2OC0

How to make easy Chicken Broth - Brodo Di Nonna
https://youtu.be/agH3VD-XLQI

How to Make Homemade Vegetable Broth
https://youtu.be/AJz-wu40v1E

This is a gluten free dish and can easily be modified to make it dairy free and vegan. Creamy and delicious!! It’s asparagus season and I try to incorporate fresh, locally grown asparagus into as many recipes as I can.  If you love asparagus, you will love the risotto recipe.
Start with 6 stalks of asparagus....or more if you like. You can pile it on. Wash it because asparagus grows in sandy earth so you can find sand on it.
In your pan, start with a few tbsps of olive oil and fry your asparagus until fork tender.
Remove asparagus from pan and set aside.
Drizzle pan with a few more Tbsps of oil and over medium heat add your half chopped onion and one medium size garlic, minced. Cook a little then add your one cup of Arborio rice and stir and cook until rice is opaque. This should take a few minutes. Add your half a cup of dry white wine and stir until wine is absorbed.
Add a splash of broth....you can use chicken or vegetable broth. Stir then add a pinch of saffron, which you’ve soaked in a bit of warm water. If you don’t have saffron, leave it out.
Stir and let the rice absorb most of the liquid, then add more broth. And repeat this process until you are happy with the texture of your rice. It took me 25 minutes of stirring to get the rice creamy as I like it.
Remove from heat and stir in your asparagus and 3 tbsps of Romano or Parmesan cheese. You can substitute for vegan Imitation Romano cheese.
So delicious and creamy! You can substitute asparagus with mushrooms, peas or butternut squash.
Rice continues to cook after you’ve removed it from heat, so you can add liquid before serving if necessary. I recommend serving immediately.
You control the salt content of this recipe. My chicken broth has 30% less salt. Taste the rice as it’s cooking and determine whether or not you need to add more salt.
Enjoy!!

Perfectly Roasted Potatoes - Dairy Free, Vegan

Perfectly Roasted Potatoes With Italian Seasoning
https://youtu.be/ZB7bG4Al6F0


Make your own seasoned roasted potatoes at home!!
So easy and surprisingly quick!
Preheat oven to 425F and coat a sheet tray with parchment paper.
I like to keep the skin on so I use a potato with a thin skin. I use a white potato here.
Wash and cut up into large chunks. You can also cut into wedges if you prefer.  I have fresh Rosemary growing in my garden so I pick a few sprigs and remove the leaves from the stems and coarsely shop. You can certainly use dried Rosemary if you don’t have fresh.
Then to the potatoes you add:
2 to 3 Tbsps of olive oil, or any oil of your choice
Half a tsp of pepper
One tsp is salt or to taste
Half a tsp of garlic powder
Half a tsp or more of Dried Oregano
Mix well and place on parchment paper, spreading the potatoes apart from one another.
Bake for half an hour and “voila”.
This is where you get creative here. There are so many possibilities for toppings.
Paprika, cayenne pepper, Parmesan or Romano cheese.... just to name a few.

Mussels in Marinara Sauce - Dairy Free

Mussels in Marinara Sauce

https://youtu.be/zSjKnDMSrYY

How to Make Italian Seasoned Breadcrumbs - Dairy Free

https://youtu.be/-dy9bSWDyf4

This recipe is so quick and easy! The most time consuming part of this recipe is cleaning and removing the beards from the mussels. And even this process takes about 5 minutes depending on how many mussels you buy.

I bought 2 lbs or 900 grams of fresh, organic PEI mussels at my local grocery store.

Make sure that if you are not cooking them right away, you keep them refrigerated and allow them to breathe. If they came home in a plastic bag, remove the plastic. You can wash them before hand, then return to fridge.

I washed each one individually and removed any beards.....that’s the fuzzy part that grows from the opening of the mussel. If you find a mussel that is open, tap it lightly. If it’s alive, it will close back up. If after a little while it does not close, throw it out. Also discard if damaged or cracked.

Time to start my marinara or easy tomato sauce.

For 2 lbs of mussels you will need:

2 cups of crushed tomatoes, you can use whole canned tomatoes if you prefer a chunky sauce

2 medium garlic cloves sliced....or finely minced if you don’t like larger pieces of garlic

Half a medium onion, chopped

1/2 tsp or more of hot peperoncini, or hot chili flakes

1/4 cup white wine

1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

A handful of Italian seasoned bread crumbs 

2 tbsps of freshly chopped parsley, or 1 tsp dried parsley

Over medium heat, drizzle olive oil in your pan, enough to coat it

Add onion and fry a little until it begins to soften then add your garlic and continue to fry

Add the crushed tomatoes, wine, lemon juice and pepper to taste. Be careful with the salt as mussels are already naturally salty from the ocean water.  Let simmer for 10 to 12 minutes until reduced and slightly thickened.

Drop in your cleaned mussels, stir and close lid tight. It will take about 5 minutes to cook the mussels. You will know they are cooked once they are all open. 

Once all open, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and fresh parsley. Serve Immediately.

Don’t overcook or they will become chewy.

 Serve with garlic bread to soak up all the delicious juices. Just toast some bread, drizzle with olive oil and rub with fresh garlic. Add salt to taste.

Smells amazing!!

HOLI MOLI CANNOLI !!! With Dairy Free options

How to Make Limoncello Cannoli

HOLI MOLI CANNOLI !!!
https://youtu.be/Uw9iJ0pSEq8

This is definitely “La piece de resistance”!!This is a thing of beauty and not to mention.......sooooooooo good!

I can show you how to make the cannoli shell but that’s a whole other video.
This is the quick and easy way. You can buy the shells at most Italian grocery stores, Italian Bakeries or Italian cheese shops. The shells that I bought are dairy free and egg free which is a bonus for those who have allergies. You can fill it with dairy free whipped coconut cream. Just as delicious.

You will need ricotta cheese. The drier the better. If you feel that it’s too wet, just let it sit in a colander for a while and let it drain. You want the mixture to be thick so it will hold its shape.

1/2 container of ricotta cheese, or 1 cup - This will fill 8 small to medium cannolis
2 Tbsps of sugar
1 Tsp grated lemon rind
1 Tbsp of Limoncello

Pastry bag with #8 tip or cake decorator

Begin by whipping the ricotta cheese and sugar so it becomes creamy in texture. Just a minute or so,
Stir in grated lemon and Limoncello.
Done! You are now ready to fill the cannolis.

Put the prepared ricotta cheese into a pastry bag with a wide nozzle with ridges if possible. I used a #8. If you don’t have a pastry bag you can use any cake decorating tip.
Squeeze cream into each side.
If you like, you can garnish with lemon zest and a sprinkle of ground pistachios. Dust lightly with icing sugar.

This is one of those desserts that you can’t make the day before. If the filled cannolis sit in the fridge overnight or even too long the same day, they become soggy. Fill them as late as possible. A couple of hours before should be fine.
Very pretty and very appetizing!!