Recipe: Awesome fruit crisp (blackberry, strawberry apple & pear)

Fresh, inexpensive berries are one of the joys of summer. Last grocery shop, I saw blackberries on sale and I just couldn't resist ... unfortunately, when I got them home and tasted them, they were sour. I was very disappointed. They were too sour to eat, but I didn't want to waste them. I toyed with the idea of making a blackberry vinaigrette for a salad, but after seeing that the strawberries we had were going soft, I decided to instead make a fruit crisp. I didn't have enough of any one fruit to do it, so I resolved to use up the sour blackberries, soft strawberries, a couple of apples and a tin of pears that had been sitting too long in the cupboard.

It is amazingly good. Oh my, I love it so much. Crisps are one of my favourite desserts, but the flavours of the mixed fruits are even better than my beloved apple-only crisps.

Anyway, here's the recipe, typed between mouthfuls of crunchy, fruity goodness:

Ingredients

Filling:

• 2 peeled, sliced apples
• 1 can pears (sliced)
• 1 cup blackberries (sliced in half)
• 1 cup (or so) sliced strawberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp flour

Topping:

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or other nuts)
  
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Dash of powdered ginger

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
   
2. Layer fruit in greased baking dish, apples & pears on the bottom and berries on top. Sprinkle with sugar and 2 tbsp flour
3. In a medium-sized bowl, combine dry ingredients of topping. Add melted butter and stir until crumbly. Spoon the topping over the fruit in the baking dish
4. Bake 30-40 minutes
   

Recipe: Super Beef, Bean & Veggie Chili

I make this a little differently each time, just depending on what I have in the fridge and pantry. This is a super easy meal to make, and it freezes well so I usually make a huge pot. I like it over rice, which also helps 'stretch' the meal.

I dislike kidney beans, so I don't use them. Instead, I choose mixed beans for variety and/or black beans, which I love. I am not concerned with 'authentic' ingredients - this is a quick & dirty healthy fridge-cleaner recipe. Vary the veggies as you like!

Ingredients:

• 1 package of lean ground beef (varies in size, usually a pound or so - whatever is on hand)
• 1-2 medium yellow onions, coarsely chopped
• 3 cloves of diced garlic
  
• ~3-4 cups chopped mixed veggies, i.e.: zucchini, mushrooms, cauliflower, carrots - whatever needs to be used up soon. If my cherry tomatoes are starting to get wrinkly, I add them in too.
  
• Diced tomatoes - 1 can (796 mL)
  
• Crushed tomatoes - 1 can (796 mL)
• 1 1/2 cups or so of cheap salsa, if available
  
• Mixed beans - 1 can, i.e. 'six bean blend' (540 ML)
• Black beans - 1 can (540 mL)
• Corn niblets - 1 can (341 mL)
  
• Cayenne pepper, chili powder, tex-mex spice and/or black pepper & salt to taste

Directions:

1. In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan or stew pot, brown beef over medium-high heat until no longer pink; drain fat (I usually use a metal colander so that I can rinse the cooked beef with a little water, and put the beef aside for step 2. I've also cooked the veggies with the cooked beef in the same pot, and that turned out just fine too.)
2. Saute onions, fresh veggies and garlic in the same pot as you browned the beef until veggies begin to soften
3. Add the cooked beef if you set it aside, and all remaining ingredients
4. Season to taste; simmer about 20 minutes until veggies are soft or cooked to taste. Serve alone or over rice
   

Recipe: Date Oatmeal Cake with Mocha Frosting

One of my 'old reliable' cookbooks is Great Food Fast, published by Dietitians of Canada. It's full of easy, basic recipes that taste great. The book also includes advice on substitutions and, of course, nutrition.

Here's one of the more decadent recipes. I made this a couple of weeks ago for a dinner party and got rave reviews all around. The mocha frosting is also a very good topper on a basic chocolate cake. I might post my version of the double chocolate mocha cake later.

Cake ingredients:

• Rolled oats - 1 cup
• Boiling water - 1 1/2 cups
• AP Flour - 1 cup
• Baking Soda - 1 tsp
• Salt - 1/4 tsp
• Margarine - 1/2 cup
• Brown Sugar - 1 cup
• Vanilla - 1 tsp
• Chopped Dates - 1 cup
• Walnuts - 1/2 cup

Mocha frosting:

• Margarine - 2 tbsp
• Icing Sugar (sifted) - 1 1/4 cups
• Cocoa Powder - 2 tsp
• Strong coffee, cooled - 1 tbsp
• Vanilla - 1 tsp

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F & prepare your baking dish (I like using a bundt pan for the shape, but a 9" square baking pan is what's recommended)
   
2. In a small bowl, combine oats and boiling water; let stand until cool (note: this takes a while. You might want to combine the oats and water and brew the coffee, take a break and come back to do the rest to allow time for the liquids to cool)
   
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, cream together margarine and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in vanilla, oat mixture and flour mixture. Stir in dates & walnuts.
   
5. Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until cake tester inserted in middle comes out clean. Set aside to cool.
6. Prepare the frosting: in a bowl, blend together all frosting ingredients until fluffy. If icing is too thick, add a little more coffee to thin it. If too thin, add icing sugar. Spread icing over cooled cake.
   

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Banana Walnut Muffins

This recipe is a modified version of one that I've loved since I was a kid and my mom first taught me how to make muffins! The core of the technique is from the Magnificent Muffins Cookbook, which offers endless variations on basic muffin recipes. I've tried a bunch of the recipes in the book, but I just keep going back to this one as my favourite.

Yield: 12 muffins
Oven temperature: 350F (180C)
Baking time: 25 minutes for muffins, 50 for loaf

Dry mixture:

• AP flour - 1 cup
• Whole Wheat flour - 1 cup
• Baking Soda - 1 tsp
• Salt - 1 tsp
• Dark Chocolate Chips - 1 cup
• Walnuts - 1 cup

Moist mixture:

• Margarine - 1/4 cup
• Applesauce - 1/4 cup
• Sugar - 3/4 cup
• Eggs - 2 large
• Vanilla - 1 tsp
• Mashed ripe or frozen bananas - 3 or 4 bananas (=1 cup)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease pan (I use a little canola oil, spread around with a paper towel)
   
2. In a large bowl, mix together the first three dry ingredients
3. Stir in chocolate chips & walnuts; set dry mix aside
   
4. In a medium bowl, cream together butter, applesauce and sugar with an electric mixer
5. Beat in eggs, one at a time
6. Add mashed bananas and vanilla to moist mixture
7. Add moist mix to dry mix all at once; stir until batter is moist but still lumpy
8. Pour batter into greased loaf pan or 12-cup muffin tin (cups should be 3/4 full)
9. Bake 25 minutes for muffins, 50 minutes for loaf (or until tester inserted in the middle comes out clean)