Easter Egg Cheesecake Bars

Happy long weekend!  I’m headed home today to spend time with my family and boyfriend over the next few days, and after a stressful week and a while since my last visit, I’m so looking forward to it!  I also can’t wait for a delicious Easter dinner with all my family, especially since I won’t have to make any of the main dishes so I can enjoy everyone else’s amazing cooking!

Since I don’t have to make anything on the actual holiday, I made these egg-shaped cheesecakes a little early.  I came up with this idea last Easter but never got around to making them, so I was determined to try them this year before Easter quickly passed again!

Now the problem when you’ve been planning a recipe for over a year is that it becomes so perfect in your mind that it's going to be very hard to live up to the picture in your mind when you actually make it in real life.  These were not as easy to make as I’d envisioned, but they still turned out great in the end, and I can give you some tips to make your experience go easier than mine!

1. Make these in a 9x9 inch pan instead of an 8x8 like I did (I corrected this in the recipe below). An 8x8 pan was a little too deep and made the egg shapes hard to cut out with a cookie cutter. There's still plenty of crust and filling to fit a 9x9 pan and you’ll have an easier time cutting out the eggs than I did.
2. If you still have a hard time cutting the eggs, try cutting out rectangles first and then using your cookie cutter, that way you don’t ruin all the surrounding cheesecake trying to push down on the cutter (like I did once).
3. Wait until the cheesecake is completely cooled before you try cutting it – even after a few hours, it still wasn’t quite ready, but it was so much easier in the morning. I ruined a piece trying to cut too early!
4. Don’t use those malted Easter eggs as the chocolate inside! I chopped mine up and added them to the batter, but when it was done, I noticed little pockets of wetness throughout the cheesecake. It turns out that the malted filling of the chocolate eggs just melted during baking. It still all tasted great, but next time I’d just use mini eggs or something more sturdy like that.
5. If you don’t have time to make all the cheesecake into eggs, just use about half the cheesecake to make eggs and cut the other half into squares – your display will still look as pretty with alternating eggs and simple squares!

Despite some of the problems I had along the way, these still turned out just as pretty as I’d pictured them in my mind, and I probably don’t need to tell you that they tasted fantastic – it’s cheesecake, what’s not to love! I brought some to school to share with my coworkers yesterday and I got lots of feedback that people loved them, which made it all worth it!

Hope you all have a happy Easter, or just a great long weekend!

Easter Egg Cheesecake Bars

Makes one 9x9-inch pan, about 10-15 eggs depending on size of cutter

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

For the Cheesecake:

2 bricks of cream cheese (250g each), softened

2/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/4 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chopped Easter chocolate such as mini eggs

Sprinkles and coloured melting wafers for decorating

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F.  Line a 9x9-inch pan with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Mix graham cracker crumbs, salt and butter until thoroughly combined.  Pour into prepared pan and press firmly into an even layer.  Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, then set on a wire rack to cool.

In a large bowl or bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth, about 3 minutes.  Beat in the sugar and mix until well combined, about 1 minute.  Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by the sour cream and vanilla, and mix just until combined.  Stir in the chopped chocolate.  Pour mixture over cooled crust and spread evenly.  Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, until edges are set but middle jiggles slightly when you shake the pan.

Place pan on a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature for about 2 hours.  Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or preferably overnight.  Use an egg shaped cookie cutter to cut shapes out of cooled cheesecake.  Depending on how deep your cutter is, you may not be able to press it all the way through the crust cleanly.  I found it easiest to cut rectangles (the size of my cutter) out first, then press the cutter through the piece of cheesecake and use a knife to cut through the crust using the cutter as a guide, then gently push the cheesecake out of the cutter.  You will end up with scraps of cheesecake leftover, but I had no problem eating those!  Decorate cheesecake like Easter eggs using melted chocolate wafers and sprinkles, if desired (you could just use melted chocolate chips too).  Keep refrigerated.

Breakfast Naan Pizzas for Easter (or Anytime!)

This past weekend wasn't so successful for me in the kitchen.  First I attempted my first ever (vegetarian) cabbage rolls and they all completely fell apart on me, and didn't even taste that great either.  Then I decided to make whole wheat dinner rolls shaped like baby chicks and bunnies.  They were so adorable in my mind, and were pretty darn cute before they went in the oven, but then almost all my chicks came out headless (except for two whose heads sort of ended up growing out the sides of their bodies) and my bunnies turned out more like gremlins/Pikachus. At least these ones still tasted good, but now I have an awful lot of buns to eat by myself because I'm not going to give headless animals or gremlins to anyone else to eat!

Oh, and as a warning to others, if you've seen that picture floating around Pinterest of cute little bunny buns made with just two snips of kitchen shears, don't fall for it!  I found out later (thanks to Kelli's sleuthing) that the picture is a fake, and the original buns are actually a Japanese pastry, so save yourself the time and effort and just make regular buns (unless you're a big Pokemon fan, then they might actually work)!

Fortunately, there was one good - no, great! - thing that came out of my kitchen this weekend, and it's still very Easter appropriate!

These breakfast naan pizzas are ridiculously easy to make and surprisingly tasty!  I've never had an egg on a pizza before so I was a bit nervous about how it would turn out, but it cooked up beautifully in the oven and when you slice it open to reveal that runny yolk, it's pretty heavenly!

Because naans are kind of shaped like eggs and I was putting eggs on my pizza, it only made sense to decorate my naan pizzas like Easter eggs!  I used peppers and green onions to make decorative patterns on my pizzas, which also made a delicious topping paired with the cheese and eggs.

All you have to do to make these is take some storebought naan (I used whole wheat), top it with some cheese and peppers, crack an egg on top, then bake them for about 12 minutes.  So easy, and you could easily double the recipe to feed your family on Easter morning.  Try using different coloured peppers or other toppings like asparagus, tomatoes, or onions, to make each egg unique!

Even though they look pretty cute as Easter eggs, I know I'll be making these all year long!

(Easter Egg Shaped) Breakfast Naan Pizzas

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 whole wheat naan breads

~1/2 cup mozzarella cheese (cheddar, pepper jack, or your favourite cheese would also work)

~2 tablespoons parmesan cheese (optional)

Bell pepper slices (red, yellow, orange, or green) – you will only need about 8 thin slices total, depending on the design you want to make

2 large eggs

Salt and pepper

1 green onion, thinly sliced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray and lay 2 naans on the baking sheet.  Cover each naan with mozzarella cheese, leaving a thin border around the edge (you may want to use more mozzarella, depending on the size of your naan – just use your best judgment).  Sprinkle with a bit of parmesan cheese.  Lay bell pepper slices in a decorative pattern to resemble an easter egg.  Crack one egg onto the center of each naan.  Season with salt and pepper.  Bake in preheated oven for around 12 minutes, until egg is set.  Sprinkle with green onion (also in a pattern, if desired) and serve immediately.

Note: Try mixing up the toppings and cheese for different flavour combinations!  You could also add a light sauce on the base if you like - I've tried them with barbeque sauce which I loved!

Asian-Style Chicken Noodle Soup

Even though it's now officially Spring and it seems like everyone's already talking about spring produce like asparagus and peas and all those bright and crunchy fresh veggies, it's hard to get into the spring mindset when this is your view out the window:

With the seemingly never-ending snow and cold, I'm naturally still craving warm and cozy comfort food.  And with a sore throat signalling the start of another cold yesterday, I quickly developed a particular craving for the ultimate comfort food, chicken noodle soup.

But because I couldn't show you guys just any old chicken noodle soup, this one has a twist!

This soup takes on an Asian flavour with the addition of ingredients like mushrooms, bok choy, cilantro, fish sauce, lemongrass, and lime juice, and the use of soba noodles instead of more traditional egg noodles or other pasta.  This gives the soup such a great depth of flavour that still has the comfort factor and familiar taste of chicken noodle soup but is a little more exciting!

Even better, the addition of ingredients like ginger, garlic, and spicy chiles are great for fighting off a cold (at least I hope that's what I'm telling myself!)

If you're lucky enough to live somewhere that actually felt like spring on the first day of spring, send some warm and sunny thoughts up north!  In the meantime, I can't really complain when I have a giant pot of this delicious soup to keep me warm :)

Asian Chicken Soba Noodle Soup

Loosely adapted from LCBO’s Food & Drink

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon canola oil

2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

8 oz sliced mini bella or crimini mushrooms

1 large carrot, julienned (I used a couple handfuls of pre-sliced waffle cut carrots instead)

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 liters (8.5 cups) chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon frozen chopped lemongrass (or 2 stalks lemongrass)

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, fat trimmed off

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1/2 teaspoon chili garlic sauce (or more if you want it to be really spicy!)

8 oz soba noodles*

4-5 heads baby bok choy, ends trimmed and sliced lengthwise

Juice of half a lime

2-3 green onions, thinly sliced

Salt and pepper

Cilantro and additional lime wedges for serving, if desired

Directions:

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add ginger, garlic, mushrooms, carrot, and onions.  Cook for 5-7 minutes until softened, stirring often.  Add chicken broth, red pepper flakes, lemongrass, and chicken breasts.  If using a lemongrass stalk, remove the outer stalks, cut into chunks, smash, and wrap in cheesecloth – you will need to remove it before serving.  Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer.  Let simmer for about 20 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

Remove chicken breasts and set aside.  Add fish sauce and chili garlic sauce to broth and stir.  Add soba noodles and cook in the simmering broth for 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, shred chicken.

Add bok choy and shredded chicken to the pot and let cook for another 2-3 minutes, until bok choy is slightly wilted.  Remove from heat.  Stir in lime juice and green onions, and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Use a sharp knife or clean kitchen shears to cut some of the soba noodles in half, otherwise they will be difficult to divide into bowls.

Serve with additional lime wedges (I highly recommend this) and cilantro, if desired.

*Note: I used soba noodles because I have a ton of them to use up right now (and I like them!) but you could substitute rice noodles if you like.  Just cook them separately according to the package directions (usually soaking in hot water), toss with a bit of sesame oil to keep them from sticking, then add to the soup at the end.

Roasted Beet, Arugula, & Honeyed Goat Cheese Panini

This will be a quick (or quickly written) post as I'll soon be jumping on a flight back home from Boston!  I attended a conference here this past week (which is the reason for the lack of posts lately, sorry!) and also had a day to explore the city for the first time, which I absolutely loved.  So many beautiful streets and neighbourhoods, lots of history and amazing buildings, friendly people, and great food!  I was lucky to be here on St. Patrick's Day too, and though I didn't participate in the festivities myself (except for a delicious Harpoon IPA or two in my room), it was fun to see all the people covered in green out celebrating!

In the interest of keeping this short, there's not much I need to tell you about this sandwich except that it's one of my favourite things!  Beets and goat cheese together are always a winning combination, but combine them with arugula (or greens if you can't find arugula, like myself) in a warm pressed sandwich and they're even better.

You've probably seen a few of these sandwiches around the web before, but what makes this one different is the addition of honey to the goat cheese and dressing the greens with balsamic dressing before putting them in the sandwich - both very small changes that improve the flavour of the sandwich significantly.  

Oh and one more thing I wanted to share!  If you don't have a panini press, you can still make paninis!  I don't have a press either, but you can replicate its effects by pressing your sandwich on a skillet using a heavy pot.  If you don't have a heavy pot, stack several pots together to increase the weight, as in the picture below (please ignore my filthy pots, that's what happens when you live in a hard water city).  Just be sure to flip your sandwich halfway through so it gets heated on both sides.  I used a griddle pan which added lovely smokey grill marks, but a regular pan would work just fine too.

Hope you all had a safe and happy St. Patrick's Day and have a great week ahead!

Roasted Beet, Arugula, and Honeyed Goat Cheese Panini

Makes 2 sandwiches

Ingredients:

2 medium beets

2 teaspoons olive oil

Salt and pepper

4 slices hearty bread – I used Bavarian rye

2 tablespoons goat cheese (or more, depending on size of bread)

1/2-1 teaspoon honey or agave

2 handfuls arugula or field greens

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Drizzle beets with olive oil and wrap in aluminum foil.  Roast on a baking sheet for about 1 hour, until tender.  When cool enough to handle, peel off the skins and slice into thin rounds, about ¼” thick.  Season with salt and pepper.

If you don’t have time to roast the beets that long, you can take a shortcut method:  Peel and slice the beets before roasting, drizzle slices with oil and season with salt and pepper, lay in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet, and roast in a 375°F oven for 20-30 minutes until tender.  However, I find that the beets do not turn out as well using this method.

Mix goat cheese and honey to taste.  Dress greens with 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.  You can adjust the amount of dressing depending on the quantity of greens you’re using – use your best judgment.  Dressing the greens will give them more flavour in the sandwich.

Spread goat cheese evenly on two slices of bread.  Top with sliced roasted beets, followed by greens, and another slice of bread to form two sandwiches. 

Cook sandwiches in a panini press.  If you don’t have one, you can cook them on a grill pan or skillet over medium-high heat.  Place a heavy pot (you can place a can or smaller pots inside to make it heavier) on top of the sandwiches to press them into the hot pan.  Cook for 1-2 minutes, then flip and repeat with the remaining side.  Serve warm.

Mini Irish Soda Breads for Two

So I know you've probably seen a hundred Irish soda bread recipes before and they're popping up all over your feeds lately with St. Patrick's Day coming up, but don't turn away quite yet - this one's different, I swear!

First of all, this recipe only feeds two people (or four if you like sharing, but you probably won't want to share these).

Second, these are vegan if you use almond milk like I did (though I've also tried it with dairy, which works too), and they use half whole-wheat flour, so they have some nutritious quality to them!

Third, they're ridiculously easy to make!  I know that's true of most soda breads because the whole point is that you use baking soda as your leavening agent instead of waiting for yeast to rise, but these are even easier and so much faster than a regular loaf because they're mini-sized.  So while an average soda bread needs to bake for about 45 minutes, these only take 15 minutes to bake (and only 5-10 minutes to make)!

Convinced?  Good - then read on!

The first time I made these was actually not for St. Patrick's Day at all but because I had absolutely nothing to eat for breakfast one morning.  For some reason, I recalled that Irish soda bread is pretty easy to make, so I found a recipe for mini versions then reworked it to feed only two people and use ingredients I had on hand (aka not buttermilk).

I didn't have high hopes for these at the time because I was just desperate for something to spread peanut butter on and fill my empty stomach, but I absolutely loved them!

These are perfectly crunchy and golden on the outside, and soft and dense on the inside, with a hearty texture and flavour from the addition of whole wheat flour.  They make a great base for peanut butter or jam in the morning, but would also work as a side for your dinner with a little pat of butter!

If you've seen a hundred soda bread recipes but have never actually tried it yourself, you really have to give this a try - it's so easy, takes no time at all, won't give you leftovers to deal with, and is "in season" for St. Paddy's, so there are no excuses!

Mini Irish Soda Breads for Two

Adapted from Baking Bites

Makes 2 biscuit-sized soda breads

Ingredients:

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons milk – almond milk or dairy milk both work

1/2 tablespoon vinegar

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 tablespoon sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine milk and vinegar in a small bowl or measuring cup, stir, and let sit for about 5 minutes until milk thickens slightly.

Whisk together the two flours, salt, baking soda, and sugar in a large bowl.  Form a well in the middle and pour the milk mixture into the center.  Stir together with a wooden spoon or flexible spatula just until combined.  Dough will be sticky.

Divide dough in half and drop each half onto the prepared baking sheet.  Wet your hands and shape each dough into a circle if necessary.  Cut an ‘x’ shape into the top of each ball of dough, cutting about halfway into the dough.  Bake for about 15 minutes in preheated oven, until golden brown.  Remove from oven and let cool slightly before eating.  Serve with peanut butter, jam, butter, or your favourite spread.

Shamrock Personal Pizzas for St. Patrick's Day

Last year, I made these heart-shaped personal pizzas with heart-shaped toppings for Valentine's Day, and I loved them so much that I decided to try to do the same thing for St. Patrick's Day, but with shamrock pizzas and shamrock toppings!

These follow the same method as the heart-shaped pizzas - just divide a ball of pizza dough in four, shape each piece into a shamrock, then top each one with desired St. Paddy's themed toppings, depending on individual tastes!

Let's start with the dough.  You can either buy a storebought ball of dough, which is what I did with the heart-shaped pizzas, or make your own.  For these ones, I made Martha Stewart's whole wheat pizza dough.  I cut the recipe in half, which made enough to form 4 personal pizzas.  I skipped the freezing step, and went ahead and baked them two at a time, for 15 minutes at 450°F.  Here's my attempt at showing how to form each ball of dough (after it had risen) into a shamrock shape - it's super easy!

Let's move on to the toppings!  I tried four different topping ideas, which I'll describe below.  If the pictures are too small to read, just right click and 'view image' to see them larger.

The green pepper pizza was my favourite visually.  It was a little tricky to cut the green pepper into shamrock shapes, and mine certainly weren't perfect, but you can at least tell what they're supposed to be!  Just cut a green pepper in half, remove the seeds and membranes, cut each half in two, flatten your four pieces, and cut them into shamrock shapes.  You won't need the whole pepper, but this gives you a little space to work with in case you make a mistake!

I thought this was my most creative idea - combining green olive slices and stems to form shamrock shapes - but the finished product didn't look quite as nice as it did before it was baked.  The olives slid around a little during baking (probably because I used way too much cheese), so I had to try to put them back in place afterwards.  Next time, I might just wait to place the olives on the pizza after baking so they don't get covered up by cheese and you can tell what they're supposed to be!

This one's really easy because you can just use kitchen scissors to cut a leaf of lettuce, spinach, or basil into a shamrock shape!  I paired mine with a pesto spread (to keep it green) and tomatoes, and I had intended to add goat cheese but then realized I didn't have any, so just picture it on there!

This was my attempt at a healthier pizza, and instead of using shamrock shaped toppings, I covered the whole thing with green ingredients!  I spritzed the dough with olive oil, topped it with a bit of mozzarella (but gruyere would be good too), then put it in the oven for 10 minutes.  Next, I added a layer of chopped brussels sprouts and broccoli, seasoned it with salt and pepper, and popped it back in the oven for 5 minutes until the greens were just starting to brown on the edges.  The result was a crisp and light pizza that was actually my favourite!

These made the perfect individual sized pizzas and I loved having a different one to eat each day for leftovers!  The clover shape actually breaks perfectly into three "slices", which makes them easy to eat.  If you have other ideas for green toppings that would work on these, feel free to share them in the comments!

Kenyan Ugali with Peanut Stew

So it's been a fairly busy and stressful week here, with tons of school work I’m behind on, blog problems, knee problems, and icky weather, among other things.  And during weeks like that, it’s amazing what some comfort food (and a bottle of wine) can do to help you relax in the evening!

This dish probably isn’t what most people would think of as comfort food, but it’s definitely one of those hearty and cozy meals that fills your belly and warms your soul, and just so happens to be one of the tastiest meals I’ve had in a while.

I’m sure some of you are waiting for me to explain what on earth “ugali” is, and to be honest, I’d never heard of it until I made this dish. From what I’ve learned, it’s a starchy staple dish in several African countries.  It’s very similar to polenta, and is made of just white corn meal that’s cooked with water to a thick, dough-like consistency (not creamy and smooth like polenta), and it's usually eaten with some sort of meat or vegetable stew. Fortunately my sister has been to Kenya and tried ugali a few times there, so she was able to give me some advice as I was making it and assure me that the thick texture was how it’s supposed to be!

Ugali is super easy to make and also really cheap – all you need is cornmeal! (I found white cornmeal in the Mexican section of my regular grocery store). And though it’s normally made with water, I used half vegetable broth to cook my cornmeal just to infuse some extra flavour into it. The consistency of the final product is so thick that you could grab a ball of it in your hand (and indeed you can use that to dip into other dishes or grab meats or veggies), and while I think it would normally be served in one big ball in the shape of a bowl, I broke mine up a bit so you could see the texture here:

The ugali makes a great base for a stew, and I paired mine with a rich and creamy peanut vegetable stew.  I added carrots, black beans, and parsley to the original recipe, so I’m not sure how authentic my stew is or if it would ever be eaten with ugali, but it was so good that I didn’t care!  The finished dish was full of veggies and protein, was super filling, and just so hearty and comforting.  If you’re in need of a dish to warm your soul and are looking to try something new and a little different for dinner, I highly encourage you to give this a try! 

And if you like trying new cuisines, my friend Courtney just redesigned her site with a focus on ethnic vegetarian food, so go check it out at The Fig Tree!

Kenyan Ugali with Peanut Stew

Adapted from The Ethnic Vegetarian

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

For the peanut stew:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1/2 a jalapeno or chile, seeds and veins removed, minced

Dash of cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1/2 cup hot water

For the ugali:

2 cups vegetable broth

2 cups water

1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)

4 cups white cornmeal

Chopped parsley for serving (optional)

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Add onion and saute until softened, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add garlic, tomatoes, green pepper, carrots, jalapeno, cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste.  Let cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring often.  Mix together the peanut butter and hot water in a small bowl until smooth.  Add black beans and peanut butter mixture to the vegetables and let cook on low heat for about 10 minutes, until thickened slightly.

Meanwhile, bring the vegetable broth and water for the ugali to a boil in a medium saucepan.  Slowly and gradually add the white cornmeal, stirring constantly with a whisk to prevent lumps from forming.  Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to stir regularly until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pot and becomes very thick, about 10 minutes (mine took less time).  Remove from heat.

Serve by dividing ugali among bowls and spooning peanut stew overtop.  Top with parsley and season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.