Quinoa Chili

I've always been a fan of quinoa, and have been looking for new ways to cook with this ancient grain-like substance. I recently came across a recipe for quinoa chili in my inbox from allrecipes.com. Thinking that quinoa would be a good addition to chili, I modified this recipe and fused it with one of my favorite chili recipes (modified from my friend Adrionne). It turned out wonderful - I liked the texture the quinoa added to the chili. This will be my new go-to chili recipe!

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Quinoa Chili
Serves 6-8

1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
2 cups water

1 lb lean ground beef
1 tablespoon olive oil
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped

1 can (540 mL) dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (540 mL) chick peas, drained and rinsed (optional)
1 can (398 mL) "pork and beans"-style beans
1 can (341 mL) corn kernels, drained; or 1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 large bell pepper, chopped 
2 cans (156 mL) tomato paste
1 large can (1 L) crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp chili pepper flakes, to taste
1/3 to 1/2 cup brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste

1. Rinse quinoa. Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add quinoa and simmer until the quinoa is tender and the water has been absorbed, about 15-20 min.

2. Saute garlic and onions in olive oil. Add ground beef and brown. Drain any excess oil.

3. Add beans, corn, tomato paste, tomatoes, bell pepper, brown sugar, and seasonings. Simmer about 20 minutes.

4. Add quinoa. Simmer about 5 minutes. Serve. Leftovers will freeze well!
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Quinoa chili - enjoy with garlic toast and red wine!

3 Reviews from Lethbridge

O-Sho Restaurant
311 4 St South
Lethbridge, AB

I couldn't let a trip to Lethbridge go by without visiting my favorite Japanese restaurant, O-Sho. The part that I actually look forward to the most are the mixed vegetables with potatoes that come with the bento boxes. I ordered the Sashimi Dinner ($17.95) which started off with a portion of sunomono salad and a bowl of miso soup. The salad was refreshing and the addition of three prawns and thin slices of fresh cucumber put it above the other sunomono salads I've tried. The miso soup had many chunks of tofu, and was well-balanced with miso paste.

In the bento box were pickled salad, beef teriyaki, chicken katsu, mixed vegetables with potato, your choice of tuna or salmon sashimi (I chose salmon), and 2 slices of grapefruit. A bowl of rice accompanied the bento box. The salmon was fresh, high quality salmon (which is surprising to have in a place like Lethbridge), and the vegetables had buttery, soft, delectable pan-fried potatoes mixed in.

I find that O-Sho is very generous with their portion sizes, as I usually have a hard time finishing my meal. O-Sho is by far the best place in Lethbridge for Japanese food.

Sushi love boat shared by my cousins

5/5
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Saigonese
1210 Mayor Magrath Dr S
Lethbridge, AB

Whenever I go for Vietnamese food, my big dilemma is whether to have pho (noodle soup) or a vermicelli noodle bowl. Most of the time I opt for the vermicelli as someone in my dining party usually promises to let me have some of their pho. This time, the 4 others in my group all had #60: pho dac biet ($9.95). It has rice noodles with beef tendon, rare beef slices, brisket, and meatball. When I was given a sampling of the soup, I appreciated that it wasn't as salty as most pho broths. However, it was also lacking in flavor. It tasted like the usual pho broths but diluted by half or more.

My order was #48: bun bi thit nuong ($9.95). It was shredded pork and charbroiled pork on top of a bed of vermicelli noodles with fresh bean sprouts, lettuce, cucumber, and chopped peanuts. A sweet fish sauce accompanies the dish. When I order vermicelli bowls, I usually order ones that come with a spring roll, but what got sent to me was this:

It turns out that I had ordered the wrong item. What I had actually wanted was #49: bun thit nuong cha gio (charbroiled pork with spring rolls). I was a little disappointed at first, but got over it quickly. I didn't touch any of the shredded pork as the look and taste of the light-colored shreds scared me away. The charbroiled pork was tasty, however. I was also asked if I wanted to order a plate of spring rolls on the side. I declined as an order of 3 rolls cost $6.45.

While I enjoyed my vermicelli noodle bowl, I doubt I would ever order the pho from Saigonese in the future. Next time I'm there, I would be sure to order #49. However, I have also become accustomed to the fact that I can get the same quality of Vietnamese food in Edmonton for a lower price. I'd go back to Saigonese only if I had a huge hankering for Vietnamese food while in Lethbridge.

3/5
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CoCo Pazzo
1264 3rd Ave S
Lethbridge, AB

We had a gift certificate for the Italian restaurant, CoCo Pazzo and so we made a visit there. We had arrived before the rush and were given an option of sitting at a table or in a booth; we chose the latter. The booths were too small to fit 2 people on one side and their winter coats comfortably. There were no separate coat hooks available either. The upper level seating was built on top of wood floors. During both of my most recent visits, I wore loud heels and both times when I needed to walk to and from the ladies' room, my loud shoes clicking against the floor generated much unwanted attention to me.

We were brought a small round loaf of flaky, crusty bread. It was gently warmed in the wood-fired oven prior to being served and was served with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette.

After inspecting the menu, there was nothing on the front page that sounded enticing enough for me to order. They had a limited pizza selection; one pizza even had toppings that sounded incompatible (curry cream sauce with shrimp and mango chutney). I settled for the Rigatoni Rustica from the pasta section ($16.95). It included a generous portion of Italian sausage, chunks of crunchy sweet onions, and crisp red bell pepper. The pasta was cooked al dente (although personally I like it cooked softer) and the sauce was slightly too spicy but overall the tomato sauce was good.

Overall, I thought this restaurant was mediocre. There was nothing that made it memorable enough to make me want to visit again. If I were given another promotional gift certificate, I would try to pass it on to someone else before making a return to CoCo Pazzo.

2.5/5

January is Hot Tea Month!

In honour of January being hot tea month, I decided to dedicate an entire post to one of my favorite things to collect, tea! When we moved into our condo, Andrew let me have an entire cupboard in our kitchen dedicated to tea. However, the tea stash has often migrated to other secret hiding places of our home (shhh!) and to my office.

Good ol' Red Rose and Tetley Pure Green Tea are my basic go to teas. But I have some flavored and specialty teas I like to drink when I'm switching it up. Here are some of my top choices to share with you as recommendations in case you were looking for something new to try. Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Cranberry Pear - David's Tea

Type: flavored black tea, loose

Ingredients: cranberry, black tea, pear, apple, artificial flavoring

Price: $7 for 50 g (other sizes available)

It's a very fruity, mild, black tea. Sometimes when I'm done brewing the tea, I reach into the strainer and eat the remaining cranberry and pear pieces!

2. Green Tea with Mandarin Orange - Lipton

Type: flavored green tea, bagged

Ingredients: green tea, natural flavor, dried apricot, peach, mango, and sugar

Price: Approximately $4 for 34 g (20 bags)

When I first started drinking this tea many years ago, I looked at the ingredient list and was quite surprised that in a tea that boasts mandarin orange flavor, there is no real mandarin orange to be found on the ingredient list. But I got over that pretty quickly as this is one of my favorite fruit-flavored teas green. It has a mild and fruity taste to it. I stockpile boxes of it each time I find it on sale, and I would protest if Lipton ever stopped making it.

3.  Cream of Earl Grey - Tea Desire

Type: flavored black tea, loose

Ingredients: black tea, bourbon-vanilla bits, rose petals, jasmine flowers, bergamot cream flavor

Price: $5 for 50 g (other sizes available)

A great morning tea (but also perfect at any other time of day)! I love the creamy and smooth vanilla flavor of the tea and it tastes even better with a splash of milk.

 

4. Kusmi Rose Green Tea

Type: flavored green tea, loose

Ingredients: Green china tea scented with rose petals

Price: Approximately $18 for 125 g (other sizes available)

I seem to be drawn to rose-flavored teas. This is a tea that tastes great either hot or iced. This is a stronger green tea and if you follow the brewing directions, you will get a fabulous green tea and rose flavor. I usually steep my tea longer than recommended, but this is a tea where one should stick to the 3-4 min brewing time as it does get bitter with further steeping.

5. Momo Oolong Super Grade - Lupicia

Type: flavored oolong tea, loose

Ingredients: Taiwanese oolong tea flavored with white peach, pink rose petals

Price: $13 for 50 g (other sizes available)

This is a tea I picked up in Japan as a result of trying a free sample in the store. I love the light taste and fruity peach flavor and it tastes excellent both hot or iced. I've been rationing this tea but luckily there are Lupicia locations in the US to purchase from.

6. Silver Needle - China

Type: white tea, loose

Price: Since this was a gift that came from China, I'm unsure of how much it exactly cost, but it sells for $24 for 50 g at Teaopia (other sizes available).

This is a very light and mellow tea with a delicate scent, like most white teas due to minimal processing and oxidation. As a result, white tea is high in antioxidants.
 




Won't you join me for a cup of tea some day?

PaSu Farm

PaSu Farm
Carstairs, AB (45 min NW of Calgary)
1-800-679-7999

Traveling back and forth on Highway 2 over the years, I've noticed a large blue sign north of Airdrie for "PaSu Farm". The name PaSu brought up many questions: What kind of name is PaSu? Why is there a capital S in the middle of the name? After seeing the sign countless times, I finally Googled it. It turned out to be a sheep farm owned by a lovely couple named Patrick and Sue. There was also a restaurant that served food South African style (where Patrick and Sue are from).

Our most recent visit was during the Christmas holidays. We stopped there for lunch and I had the chicken pot pie ($11). It had a deliciously flaky crust. Now as you may know, I'm not normally a fan of pie because I don't like most pie crusts. However the pastry topping the pot pie was very well done. The filling was loaded with meat, peas, carrots, mushrooms, and potatoes. The side garden salad ($3) was unremarkable. While I appreciated that they served the creamy balsamic dressing on the side, it was too heavy and strong for my liking.

Andrew had the fish of the day, which was a pan-fried tilapia served with a garden salad. The coating on the fish was the best part - it was generously breaded but tasted very light. The batter remained crispy until the last forkful! The buttermilk dressing served with the tilapia was light and creamy. It complemented the fish well.

For dessert, I had the lemon mousse cheesecake ($7.50). It's a light and fluffy, unbaked cheesecake that I had first tried during a visit over the summer for their Sunday lunch buffet. The lemon taste was subtle but I like how there was actual lemon rind mixed in. Because of the large assortment of tea on their menu, I paired my cheesecake with a pot of cranberry cream black tea. I was a little disappointed that they only served cream with their tea, so I chose to drink mine black. The fruit flavor in the tea was mild, but this is a good thing as I don't really like it when tea is so overpowered with flavorings/additives that you can no longer taste the tea.

Andrew's dessert was the pie of the day, which was the apple cranberry pie with a hint of orange and brandy ($6.75). He also chose to have it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream ($2). The pie filling was warm and wonderful, but the picky pie crust eater in me didn't like the crust. I also found the edge of the pie crust to be too thick for my liking. Andrew completely disagreed with my opinion on the crust.

Top left: chicken pot pie; top right: pan-fried tilapia; bottom left: lemon mousse cheesecake; bottom right: apple-cranberry pie

As I had mentioned, our inaugural visit to PaSu farm was last summer for their Sunday lunch ($24.95 fixed price). As reservations are required to eat in their restaurant, they offer a plate or a buffet service depending on the number of people they expect (plate service for less than 15 expected guests). We had their buffet and the cold foods included a selection of salads, a vegetable pate, and platter of pickles and assorted cheese. The pate was divine; it tasted like an olive tapenade. It was so good that it inspired me to try to recreate it at home! The hot foods are served from 12:30-1:30 (seating times are from 12-1) and they include soup (split pea that day), roasted chicken, beef, and lamb, with hot vegetables. My favorite meat was the roast chicken. It was by far the best roasted chicken I have ever tasted: succulent, tender, and savoury. It was a little taste of heaven! The desserts that day were cream puffs, bread pudding, and lemon mousse cheesecake.

In addition to their restaurant and sheep farm, PaSu has a gift shop that specializes in moccasins, wool and sheepskin clothing and accessories, tea, seasonal gifts, and handmade lotions and creams. I bought a jar of the PaSu Intensive Hand Cream and I love it! It's light for a hand cream, but it actually moisturizes deeply without leaving a greasy feeling on your hands. It's scented with a blend of essential oils. While the scent is so unique that I quite enjoy it, Andrew would disagree.

PaSu's restaurant and boutique shop are open Tuesdays through Sundays all year round. The restaurant is open for lunch and afternoon tea from 12-4 PM, although they do have some special events throughout the year that include dinner, such as their summer BBQ dinners or winter dinner theatres. When in the restaurant, you'll be greeted by a chatty parrot named Peaches. The dining area boasts large windows that offer a mountain view. During both visits we've had fantastic meals there and will be sure to frequent PaSu farm again on future road trips.

PaSu Farm in the summer

View from PaSu farm in the winter

4.5/5

Pyrohy Supper - St. John's Cultural Centre

St. John's Cultural Centre
10611 110 Ave

St. John's Cultural Centre offers a monthly pyrohy supper, which Andrew, Leeann, Calvin and I all took part in for the first time this month. For $12, you are given a plate and a ticket for which you are to proceed to the food line to be served your choice of two types of pyrohy (cheddar or onion), sauerkraut, and salmon. Then you can fill up the rest of your plate with caesar salad and your choice of fixins: sour cream, bacon bits, or fried onions bathed in butter.

Andrew adding buttery onions to his plate

Something about the dough of homemade pyrohy just sets it apart from the store-bought stuff. So smooth and so delicious. The caesar salad was garlicky and tasty, and the baked salmon was moist and flavorful. We all devoured our food pretty quickly. We were uncertain if we could have seconds but we were assured by one of the jovial men serving us that we could have as much as we want as long as we come back with our plates. After our first helping, we all decided that we were partial to the cheddar pyrohy so that's what we opted for when we went back for seconds.

Surprisingly enough, we still had room for dessert. It was an apple crisp served with a dollop of what tasted like Cool Whip. There was also coffee and 3 types of tea. The topping to fruit ratio on the apple crisp seemed like it was 5:1 (or maybe that was just our portion), but it was so good! Normally I prefer more fruit to topping, it wasn't the case this time. Maybe it was because the apple portion was a bit drier than what I'm used to. But also maybe it was because the topping was not overly sweet. Either way, I enjoyed it and wish I had some of it in front of me right now.

Yummy dessert

Large and small tables are set up in the centre's gymnasium and diners can sit anywhere there's a free spot. Reservations are not necessary. The doors to the pyrohy feast are open from 5-7 PM with the next few suppers being on January 27, February 24, and March 30. I'd be happy to go again; give me a call or e-mail me!