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Week 8 (June 22nd): Menu at a Glance












Roasted Cauliflower Tacos

Thai Inspired Green Curry

Greek Ribboned Salad

Spring Roll Stir Fry

Gluten Free Chive Biscuits

Sweet & Tart Rhubarb Compote

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LK Cooks Grocery List Week 7 & 8

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The Recipes:

1. Roasted Cauliflower Tacos


Roasted Cauliflower Tacos

We usually make roasted cauliflower once a week, every week, because we love it so much, especially when it gets those crispy brown edges. Adding cauliflower into tacos may seem a little different, but we highly recommend it! It's a delicious way to switch up tacos and use cauliflower creatively.

  • extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 1.5 cups cooked lentils (or sub 1 lb ground beef or turkey)
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • sea salt and pepper (to taste)
  • 1 Tbsp tomato paste

Roasted Cauliflower

  • 1 head cauliflower (cut in florets)
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • sea salt and pepper
  • 1/2 lime (juiced)

Cabbage Slaw

  • 2 to 3 cups green cabbage (shredded)
  • handful cilantro (chopped)
  • 1/2 lime (juiced)
  • sea salt (to taste)

Optional Toppings

  • 1 cup chopped tomatoes or pico de gallo
  • 1 avocado or guacamole
  • handful peashoot sprouts or other sprouts

  1. Preheat oven to 400 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread out the cauliflower florets and rub with some olive oil, sea salt and pepper.  Bake for around 25 minutes, or until the cauliflower is crisp on the edges.

  2. Meanwhile, you’ll prepare the lentils while the cauliflower is roasting.  Heat some olive oil in a skillet over medium and add the garlic for 30 seconds.  Pour the lentils into the hot skillet and sprinkle all the spices over top.

  3. Saute the lentils for 3 to 5 minutes, adding sea salt and pepper to season.  Stir in the tomato paste. If you’re using ground beef or turkey instead of lentils, you’ll need to cook it a few minutes longer to fully cook.

  4. Shred the cabbage either in the food processor with the grater setting or with a knife.  Combine with cilantro, lime juice and sea salt in a bowl and set aside until ready to serve.

  5. Warm the tortillas in the oven at 300 for around 5 minutes (you can wrap them in foil to prevent them from getting too crispy).

  6. Squeeze lime juice over top of the cauliflower before serving in tortillas with the lentils and top with cabbage.

Substitution Notes:

  • Lentils: If you prefer an omnivore version of this recipe, use ground beef or turkey instead.  
  • Tortillas: You could use lettuce leaves or cabbage leaves instead for a grain-free version.

 

Prep Notes:

  • Lentils: (or ground beef or turkey) The filling can be made earlier in the day or the day before, just store in the fridge and then reheat when ready to serve.
  • Cauliflower: You can also roast the cauliflower in advance and the reheat in the oven to crisp back up before serving.

2. Thai Inspired Green Curry


Thai Inspired Green Curry

We've always loved Thai food. Here's our easy, homemade version of green curry. So much of the flavour depends on the quality of the curry paste, so if you're able to find a good locally made curry paste in your area, give it a try. You also could make a version of this recipe without curry paste if you don't have any or if you don't like it, it'll taste different, but still good.

  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 block tofu, cut in cubes (or 1 lb chicken, cut in cubes or 1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined)
  • 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
  • 1 small potato (diced)
  • 1 carrot (diced)
  • 1/2 butternut squash (peeled and diced)
  • 1 to 2 cups broccoli florets
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • 1 Tbsp green Thai curry paste
  • 1 tsp coconut sugar (or sub maple syrup or honey)
  • 1 to 2 tsp tamari or coconut aminos
  • sea salt to taste
  • 1 to 2 cups baby spinach (or kale or other greens)
  • handful cilantro (chopped, optional)
  • 1 to 2 Tbsp lime juice (to taste)

Rice

  • 1 cup jasmine rice (or other type of rice)

  1. Cook the rice according to package directions.

  2. Heat 1 Tbsp of coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Once the skillet is hot, add the cubes of tofu in and spread them out so they lay flat.  Let them sit for 3-4 minutes so they crisp up on the side facing down.  Then flip them over to cook on the other side.  You can add a bit more coconut oil to the pan for the second side, if you like.  If you’re using chicken or shrimp instead of tofu, you can stir around the pieces while they cook.

  3. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. Once the tofu (or chicken or shrimp) is cooked, remove from the pan and set aside.

  4. Add a bit more coconut oil (or avocado oil) to the skillet. Add the garlic, chopped potato, carrot and butternut squash and saute for 5 minutes.

  5. Then add the broccoli florets in and saute for another minute.

  6. Pour in the coconut milk, curry paste, coconut sugar, tamari (or coconut aminos) and a pinch of sea salt. Give everything a good stir and then bring to a simmer. Once simmering, turn down the heat and cook on low for around 15 minutes, so that the veggies are tender and cooked.  Stir in the baby spinach (or other greens of choice), along with lime juice and cilantro.

  7. Fold the tofu (or chicken or shrimp) into the curry and serve over rice.

Substitution Notes:

  • Rice: You can use any type of rice you’d like if you don’t have jasmine
  • Veggies: Feel free to swap in other veggies that you want to use instead
  • Thai green curry paste: You can use red curry paste instead. If you don’t have curry paste, you can still make this recipe.  You might want to add a little bit more tamari or coconut aminos.  You also could add 1 to 2 tsp fresh grated ginger. 

 

Prep Notes:

  • You can make the rice the day before and store in the fridge.
  • You can chop the veggies earlier in the day so it’s faster to prepare.

3. Greek Ribboned Salad


Greek Ribboned Salad

This is a really easy and refreshing salad as it gets hotter, especially when we don't feel like cooking. If you need some carbs with this meal, we recommend adding some pita (or gluten free pita) on the side, maybe with a little bit of hummus if you like.

  • 1 English cucumber (peeled into ribbons)
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes (cut in halves)
  • 1 red pepper (diced)
  • 1/2 cup kalamata olives (pitted and cut in halves)
  • 2 to 3 Tbsp dill (chopped (or sub parsley or mint))
  • 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar (or sub apple cider vinegar)
  • 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic (minced)

Protein Options

  • 1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed (or 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas))
  • 4 servings salmon

  1. Use a vegetable peeler to peel the cucumber into long, thin strips (peeling from one end to the other).  If you prefer, you can skip doing this, and cut the cucumber into cubes- that will work just as well!

  2. Chop the red pepper, red pepper, olives and dill.  Combine all together with the cucumber in a salad bowl.

  3. Whisk together the red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, garlic and sea salt and pepper.

  4. Toss the veggies with the dressing. Adjust seasoning as needed.

  5. If having salmon, you can heat some extra virgin olive oil in a skillet and season the salmon with sea salt and pepper.  Sear the salmon for around 4-5 minutes on each side, or until cooked through.  Alternatively, you can bake the salmon instead if you prefer.

  6. If you’re having chickpeas, you can simply add them into the salad.  If you prefer that they are a little crispy, you can spread them out on a baking sheet and toss with some extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and pepper.  Feel free to add any spices that you like, such as paprika and garlic powder. Roast at 400 for 20 minutes.

  7. Serve salad with the chickpeas or with salmon.

Substitution Notes:

  • Veggies: If you don’t like tomatoes or red peppers, you can get creative and add different veggies instead.  Radishes, salad turnips, and carrots could all work here.  You also could try roasted red peppers instead of raw red pepper.
  • Olives: You can sub any type of olive here, if you don’t have kalamata

 

Prep Notes:

  • If you make the salad in advance, wait to put the dressing on until ready to serve.  You can make the dressing the day before and store in a jar in the fridge.  The veggies can be chopped in advance too. 

4. Spring Roll Stir Fry


Spring Roll Stir Fry

Rice noodles have been a go-to ingredient for us for a long time, and for good reason. They're so quick and easy to prepare and work well in cooked stir fries or in fresh salads. Like a lot of our recipes, this one is flexible. You really can use any veggies that you have or like, instead of the ones we've listed below. We originally wanted to make this noodle stir fry to use in the filling of homemade spring rolls. But, in the end, we didn't take the time for that step. By all means, you could definitely use this to put together homemade spring rolls if you want to try!

  • 6 oz vermicelli rice noodles
  • 1 Tbsp avocado oil
  • 2 cloves garlic (sliced)
  • 1 inch ginger (grated)
  • 1.5 cups shiitake mushrooms (sliced)
  • 2 carrots (shredded (or slice in discs))
  • 2 cups green cabbage (shredded)
  • 1 cup broccoli (cut in small florets)
  • 2 Tbsp coconut aminos or tamari
  • 2 tsp toasted sesame oil

Protein Options

  • 1 lb ground turkey or chicken or beef
  • 1 block tempeh (cut in cubes or crumbled)
  • avocado oil
  • 1 Tbsp coconut aminos or tamari

Toppings

  • 1/2 cup basil (chopped)
  • 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
  • 2 Tbsp sesame seeds

  1. Prepare the vermicelli noodles according to the package instructions.

  2. Heat avocado oil in a large skillet and once it's hot, add the garlic and ginger for 30 seconds. Add in the shiitake mushrooms and let sit still for 3 minutes, this helps to evaporate moisture out of the mushrooms.

  3. Then add in the carrots, cabbage and broccoli. Saute for around 7 minutes, until the veggies are lightly cooked. You can add some more oil if needed.

  4. Drizzle the coconut aminos or tamari over top, along with toasted sesame oil to season everything.

  5. Add in the cooked rice noodles and stir together with the veggies.

  6. If you want to add in one of the protein options, remove the veggies and noodles from the pan and set aside. Heat some more avocado oil in the skillet and add the ground turkey, chicken or beef and sear, breaking up into small pieces, season with a drizzle of tamari or coconut aminos. Sear from around 8 minutes, or until cooked through. Or, alternatively, if you're using tempeh, sear the cubes in avocado oil for a few minutes on one side and then flip and cook on the other side. Drizzle some tamari or coconut aminos over top.

  7. Serve the cooked protein of choice with the noodle veggie stir fry.

  8. Top with lots of fresh basil and mint and sprinkle sesame seeds over, if desired.

Substitution Notes:

  • Veggies: Feel free to swap in different veggies if you prefer using something else or don’t have the ones we listed on hand

 

Prep Notes:

  • You can chop the veggies in the morning or even the day before you are going to make this recipe, just store them in the fridge until ready to stir fry.

5. Gluten Free Chive Biscuits


Gluten Free Chive Biscuits

It always feels like local produce has such a short window of availability where we live in Ontario. That makes ingredients like chives and ramps extra special and tasty. If you can get your hands on ramps (wild leeks) we highly recommend giving these biscuits a try with them included. Chives should be easier to come by, since grocery stores tend to carry them year-round. But, you could always use dried chives here if needed.

  • 1.5 cups brown rice flour
  • 1/4 cup tapioca or arrowroot starch
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 6 Tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup chives or ramps (chopped)
  • 1/2 cup dairy free milk (unsweetened)

  1. If you’re using ramps, saute them in extra virgin olive oil in a hot skillet for 2 to 3 minutes, so they are lightly cooked.  If you’re using chives, you can just chop them finely and set aside.

  2. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl or in a food processor.  Cut the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter or pulse in the food processor, until you get a crumbly mixture.

  3. Then you’ll stir in the dairy-free milk and fold in the chives (or ramps).  Once the dough starts to form, use your hands to shape it into a ball.

  4. Place the bowl, covered with a dish towel in the fridge for 20 minutes to cool.

  5. Preheat oven to 400 and line a baking sheet with parchment.

  6. Roll the dough out into a rectangle, about ½ an inch thick on a lightly floured surface.  Use a small drinking glass or cookie cutter to cut out biscuits.  Or, you could use a knife and cut square or rectangular biscuits, if you prefer.

  7. Place biscuits on the baking dish and bake for 15 minutes, until lightly browned on top.

Substitution Notes:

  • Chives: If you can’t get fresh chives (or ramps) than you can sub dried chives instead.  Use 2 Tbsp dried chives.
  • Butter: If you’re dairy-free, use a vegan butter substitute instead 

 

Prep Notes:

  • You could put together the dough the night before and let is sit in the fridge until you’re ready to roll out the biscuits. 

6. Sweet & Tart Rhubarb Compote


Sweet & Tart Rhubarb Compote

This recipe is similar to an apple sauce, but taste so much more unique, thanks to rhubarb's tartness. If you don't have rhubarb though, you could make a compote with other fruit that you have around (apples, pears, berries).

  • 3 cups rhubarb (chopped)
  • 2 Tbsp coconut sugar (or maple syrup or honey)
  • 3 Tbsp filtered water

Optional

  • 2 cups strawberries (sliced)

  1. Add all of the ingredients to a pot.

  2. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer on low heat. Cover and simmer on low for 20 minutes.

  3. Give the mixture a stir every 5 or so minutes to help the rhubarb break down.

  4. If you prefer this compote to be sweeter, you can add more coconut sugar (or maple syrup or honey) to your taste preference. We like the tartness of rhubarb, so have gone light on the sweetness.

  5. Serve with yogurt or dairy-free yogurt. Adding some granola in is delicious here too.

Substitution Notes:

  • You can use apple or pear instead of rhubarb. Add some lemon juice to get a tart flavour in this case. 

 

Prep Notes:

  • You can make this in advance and keep in the fridge for 4-5 days.  

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