Instant Pot Split Pea and White Bean Soup

Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil
2 onions, peeled and chopped
1 cup carrots, peeled and chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp hawaij for soup (thanks @busyinbrooklyn for introducing me to this deliciousness)
1 cup dried white beans
1 cup dried split peas (I did a mix of green and yellow)
1/2 cup farro
1 smoked turkey drumstick, skin removed
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
This soup can be made on the stove as well. It must be simmered for a few hours. .
Warm 1 tbsp oil in instant pot on sauté setting and add onions. Sauté until they are sweating and translucent. Add carrots and celery and continue to sauté for another few minutes. Mix in garlic and hawaij. Sauté for another minute.
Next add beans, peas, farro, salt, pepper and 10 cups of water. Top with turkey.
Seal instant pot and select bean setting (30 minutes). Once it is done cooking, allow for natural release for 10 minutes and then vent.
Remove turkey from bowl and remove meat from bones (be careful as there are many bones). Use an immersion blender to partially blend soup. Return turkey to soup and enjoy!

Pecan Blueberry Biscotti

Ingredients:
3 eggs 
1 cup avocado oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup white sugar 
3 cups almond flour 
1 tsp cinnamon
2.5 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt 
Zest of 1 orange
1/2-2/3 cup each dried blueberries and chopped pecans (can use candied pecans if desired)
Handful white chocolate chips, optional

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. 
In a large bowl, mix together wet ingredients then add in all dry ingredients, up to salt. 
Once dough starts to form, mix in orange zest, dried blueberries and chopped pecans. 
Form into logs on parchment lined baking sheet. Make sure to separate the logs more than you would for regular cookies, because it does spread a lot. 
Use a knife to mark where you’ll be slicing the biscotti after it bakes. 
Bake for 30 minutes. 
Remove from oven and let cool. If logs are now touching, just separate them with a knife. Slice into biscotti and lay on its side. 
Reduce oven temperature to 300°F and bake until biscotti hardens, about 30 minutes 

Chili Lime Kale Shakshuka

I make this for lunch whenever I’m home at lunch time. If you have washed kale that’s ready to go, it’s an incredibly quick and easy meal. 
While on vacation with my family, they all tried it and whenever I went to make it, they all asked if I can make for them too. 
Oh and it’s 4 ingredients… .
Kale, torn up into bite size pieces, veins removed 
Eggs 
Grated cheese (mozzarella or cheddar) – I’ve also used goat cheese and feta 
Chili lime seasoning .
Grease a saucepan that has a lid with butter or non stick cooking spray and heat over medium heat. 
Add kale to the pan so it’s spread evenly throughout the pan in a thin layer. 
Form wells for eggs (I use 2-8 eggs depending on # of people I’m feeding and size of pan) and pour a cracked egg into each well. 
Sprinkle generously with grated cheese and chili lime seasoning. 
Cover with lid. 
Shakshuka is ready when cheese is melted. 
I usually eat as is. Here, it is pictured over a slice of toast.

Rosemary Lamb Roast

Ingredients:
10-12 lb lamb shoulder roast 
14 cloves of garlic, 4 sliced, 6 at the bottom of the pan and 4 minced for the marinade
1 inch knob ginger, peeled and minced 
1.5 oz rosemary (2 packages)
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 
3 tbsp soy sauce 
2 onions, quartered 
2-3 carrots, peeled and chopped 
2 tbsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp salt

Directions:
Score the top of the lamb roast and stuff holes with sliced garlic and half of rosemary. 
At the bottom of a large roasting pan, place onions, carrots and remaining garlic cloves. 
Top with lamb shoulder roast. 
Mix together minced garlic, ginger, additional rosemary, oil and soy sauce. Rub it into lamb, all over.
Marinate overnight. 
Preheat oven to 475°F convection. When you’re about to put lamb into the oven, reduce temperature to 325°F convection. Bake for about 3 hours, covered well. At this point, it should feel tender with a fork (if not, continue cooking covered until soft). Increase temperature to 425°F and cook for an additional 30-40 minutes, uncovered. 
Allow to rest for 10 minutes and serve. 

Smoky Potato Wedges

Inspired by 2 of my favorite potato recipes in @kimkushnercuisine ‘s The Modern Menu, these potatoes are absolutely addictive – even my picky kids love them. .

Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes, washed well and cut into wedges 
3 russet potatoes, washed well and cut into wedges
6 garlic cloves, unpeeled 
2 tbsp smoky paprika
1 tbsp sea salt, divided
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil .

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°F
Mix together paprika, 3/4 tbsp salt and oil. Coat potatoes and garlic cloves with this mixtures. Spread evenly on greased baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes. Reduce temperature to 300°F and bake for an additional hour. 
Remove from oven and top with remaining salt. 

Sheet Pan Chicken Shawarma – 3 ways

Ingredients (very roughly):
Cauliflower and broccoli florets, cut small
Baby carrots, halved
Asparagus, cut into thirds
3 skinless boneless chicken breasts, cubed (I would have used thighs but they had a smell when I took out the package, it does change the cooking time)
Chickpeas, drained and rinsed 
Shawarma seasoning
Extra virgin olive oil
Lemon juice 
Sea salt
Humus 
Cabbage 
Olives 
Tahini 
Whatever other shawarma fixings you like 
Tortilla wraps (option 1)
Rice, cooked according to package directions (option 2)
Kale (option 3)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°F. 
On a sheet pan, spread cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and chickpeas. Coat with oil, shawarma seasoning and a light sprinkle of salt. 
Bake for 20 minutes. 
In the meantime, coat chicken and asparagus with shawarma seasoning, a bit of olive oil and some lemon juice. When the 20 minutes are up, add chicken and asparagus to sheet pan. Return to oven for additional 20 minutes (check the thickest piece of chicken for doneness)
*note that the pan should be overcrowded, you can always divide the mixture into 2 pans*
.
Serving options:
Option 1: spread humus on a tortilla and fill with chicken, vegetables and any other toppings you like (including olives, cabbage etc)
.
Option 2: make a rice bowl with all the chicken, vegetables and additional toppings. Garnish with tahini and zaatar. .
Option 3: enjoy over a kale salad. The juices from the chicken will be quite flavourful. All you have to add is a drizzle of oil, lemon juice and if you’d like, some tahini

Taco/Nacho Latkes

When it’s the first night of Chanukah and you’re completely zonked but you have an idea and want to see it through. Although when I think about it, I should have waited for #tacotuesday .
Trader Joe’s potato latkes (but you can obviously use homemade)
Sour cream
Guacamole (storebought or homemade)
Salsa
Grated cheese
Chili lime seasoning 
Black beans (not pictured as I did not have a can opener 🤦‍♀️)
Corn (not pictured because it didn’t even cross my mind)
.
Cook latkes as you normally would and top with the toppings listed above or any other ones

Fennel Salad

Ingredients:
1 fennel bulb, sliced 
1 tbsp honey mustard
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 
Handful craisins 
Crushed terra chips
.
Directions:
Mix together honey mustard and oil. Coat fennel. Garnish with craisins and crushed terra chips. .
This salad can be made in advance, just add the terra chips when ready to serve.

Miso Salmon – 3 ways

Ingredients:
2 tbsp miso
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger 
1 tbsp soy sauce or GF tamari
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp sesame oil 
Sesame seeds for garnish 
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salmon filet for 2 people
1 head of broccoli
1-8oz box mushrooms (optional)
1/4 red cabbage, chopped (optional)
Rice paper wrappers 
For rice paper wraps – assortment of grated white cabbage, red cabbage, grated carrots and fresh mint/basil

Directions:
This marinade is delicious and can be used to make a sheet pan salmon recipe, just vegetables as a delicious side or step it up a notch and make these beautiful rice paper wraps. 
Preheat oven to 400°F. 
Place salmon on greased baking sheet and surround with vegetables of your choice (vegetables should not be too crowded). For rice paper wraps, I recommend the broccoli as your vegetable. 
Mix together miso, soy, maple syrup, ginger and sesame oil. Spread half over salmon. Mix remaining with 2 tbsp olive oil and spread over vegetables. 
Bake for 20 minutes. You can simply enjoy as is or you can use this to make rice paper wraps. 
Alternatively, omit the salmon from this recipe and just roast the vegetables (I used broccoli and cabbage, swipe for picture). .
For rice paper wraps, see highlights for detailed instructions. 
Make an extra portion of your miso sauce to use for dipping. 
Place rice paper wrap in warm water until softened. Remove and place on kitchen towel. Fill with a small amount of salmon, broccoli, cabbage, carrots and mint/basil. Fold up tightly. Enjoy with extra marinade.

Ice Storm Chicken

Anyone who lives in Montreal has heard of the ice storm of ‘98. The city was out of commission for 2 weeks – schools were closed, businesses were closed too and many many people lost power. 
The day before the Ice Storm, my mom bought tons of chicken breasts because it was on sale. When we lost power, she put the chicken in our neighbor’s freezer, and over the week, it traveled to my grandparents’ house and then my aunt and uncle’s cold storage room and finally our friends who invited us to stay with them. At this point, my mother had to cook the chicken. She used this recipe (which comes from her friend Barbara with of few of my own adaptations) and it has since been dubbed “Ice Storm Chicken”.

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, cut into eighths 
1/4 cup oil olive
1/4 cup soy sauce or GF tamari
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 Jalapeño pepper, sliced and seeds removed 
3 garlic cloves, minced 
2 tbsp minced fresh ginger
2 tbsp fresh mint, divided 
Sesame seeds for garnish .

Directions:
Spread chicken evenly in baking pan. 
Mix together oil, soy sauce, lemon juice and zest, jalapeño, garlic, ginger and 1 tbsp mint. 
Pour marinade over chicken and let sit for about 1 hour (turning halfway through if you remember). Preheat oven to 375°F convection or 400°F. 
Bake uncovered for about 40 minutes, until juices run clear. Make sure to check dark and white meat – every oven is different and cooking time could vary. 
Garnish with remaining meat and sesame seeds.