ingredient of the week: garlic

well.... it's been a very, very long time since our last ingredient of the week! my life has been pretty crazy for the last few weeks... so i haven't really been focusing on the blog. but i have been cooking some pretty epic food (that's my way of dealing with stress!) slowly but surely they will be popping up here! so for this installment of ingredient of the week, i chose garlic. love love love love love love love. i can't get enough garlic. some people don't like it raw or find it way too overpowering, but i just love it. i mean, who doesn't like waking up with garlic breath in the morning? or having their hands smell like garlic for 2 days?! well.. i don't exactly like those parts but you just gotta put up with it! in fact, my duvet actually smells like garlic. it's an issue. doesn't exactly put me to sleep...

anyways. yes, garlic. we all love it. so let's talk about why you should eat more of it! garlic is a cardiac savior. first, garlic is rich in sulfur-containing compounds such as thiosulfinates and sulfoxides, which give it that distinct smell, as well as most of it's nutritional benefits. one benefit of these compounds is that they dilate our blood vessels, helping our blood pressure stay under control. they do this by blocking the activity of angiotensin II (man, never thought HKIN 191 would ever come in handy!!). angiotensin II is a peptide protein that helps out blood vessels contract (then causing blood to be forced through a smaller space, increasing the pressure). by blocking this, the sulfur-containing compounds found in garlic can minimize the unecessary contractions of our blood vessels and therefore the unwanted increased blood pressure.

good for your health, and keeps away vampires  : )

another health benefit from these compounds is lowering of our triglyceride and our total cholesterol levels. but, the major cardiac benefit that these compounds provide is cardioprotection, meaning they protect our blood cells and blood vessels from inflammatory and oxidative stress (ie: damage). basically, highly reactive oxygen molecules wreak havoc on the linings of our pretty little arteries and veins. this damage can cause plaque to form which, in turn, can lead to heart attacks and atherosclerosis. the sulfur-containing compounds found in garlic minimize this by inhibiting the activity of inflammatory causing mechanisms in the oxygen molecules. another compound, ajoene, helps to prevent clots from forming inside our blood vessels by preventing platelets in our blood to become too sticky. ajoene helps maintain a kind of "stickiness homeostasis", if you will.

ok, time for a change! let's stop the cardiac talk -- garlic also has amazing anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal properties, and has been used throughout all of history for treating illness! various compounds in freshly crushed garlic show huge benefits in controlling infection from worms, yeasts, bacteria and viruses. they've been used on burn victims, stomach ulcers, and on bacterial infections that are not responding to antibiotics. that's pretty awesome if you ask me! i really could go on about antioxidants, vitamin C, selenium, anti-inflammatory/arthritic properties, increased iron metabolizing properties, cancer prevention etc, etc. that garlic provides... but i'm tired of writing. basically, garlic is a superfood when it comes to your health, and if you're not eating it.. then you better start! it basically cures everything!

so, now onto the meal i used an epic amount of garlic in. i made a traditional greek lentil soup called Φακές/fakes (pronounced fah-KESS). yes. yes, i know. it sounds like fuckers. ha ha ha ha. but of course, that's not what the old greek ladies are saying! anyways, its quite an easy recipe to make, all you have to do is chop and let cook!

fakes lentil soup: simple flavours, but delicious!

what you need:
1 1/2 cups of brown lentils
1 onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
8 cloves of garlic, sliced
2 potatoes, cubed
4 cups water/chicken broth (i used half of each)
2 bay leaves
2 tsp oregano
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1-2 tbsp red wine vinegar

step 1:
after sifting through the lentils for rocks and twigs, put them into a large pot and cover with water. bring to a boil and cook for ~15 minutes. while this is cooking, take the time to chop up all of your ingredients. when cooking time is up, strain into a collander.
step 2:
in the same pot, add olive oil and saute your onions until translucent. add in the celery and cook down for a few minutes. add your sliced garlic, bay leaves, oregano, potatoes, tomato paste and water/broth. let simmer for ~30 minutes, stirring frequently, or until lentils are soft.
step 3:
ladle into a bowl and spoon the red wine vinegar on top. this may seem weird to people who haven't tasted this before, but you need to add this. it lifts the entire dish to a new level! and of course, soak up the liquid with a nice piece of crispy bread! enjoy!

ingredient of the week: lentils

lentils are this week's ingredient of the week! i've been meaning to highlight them for a while but for some reason, the grocery store closest to campus didn't have any. luckily, i was able to find both the green and red types on a mega shopping trip a few days ago.

now, i talked a bit about lentils being healthy in my recipe for dahl here. but since this is ingredient of the week, it's time to get into a bit more detail of their awesomeness. lentils are part of the legume family, which to me is just kind of confusing. mainly because i was always learning french and legume in french is veggies. i couldn't understand how other things such as chickpeas, kidney beans, black beans and pinto beans could be in the same category as lettuce or broccoli or something.

red lentils like these were used in the recipe below

anyways, legumes are really important for people who are vegan or vegetarian. they are a high, non-animal source of protein. lentils in particular have about 20 grams per cup, which is pretty good considering you're not getting the added fat of meat!
lentils also are high in iron, which is super important for young women. i am anemic, and i take an iron pill to help keep my levels up and avoid the freaking crazy symptoms and just feeling tired all the time. so it is really important to me to always have a high amount of iron in my meals whether i'm eating a meal with meat or not.
lentils are also high in folate, which acts to reduce the amount of artery damaging homocysteine levels in the blood. in my human growth and development class (where we basically just talk about babies) we learned about neural tube defects.. and they aren't nice things. folate helps prevent these from occuring, so thats why anybody who's thinking about getting pregnant should eat lentils and take their folic acid.
other than all that, lentils are high in fibre (approximately 20 grams per cup!) and have a low calorie count, which is super good for any dieter because they will keep you full for a reaaalllyy long time, but you can save on those cals.

moroccan pottery

i decided to make a kind of moroccan-inspired soup with lentils. i've always wanted to go there... not that i can right now, so i went there by food and flavour. i am starting to feel a little sick so i really just needed something healthy, but warm to keep my sore throat away. this soup just gets tastier by the day!

what you need:
1 large onion
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
2 potatoes
1 cup red lentils
1 cup frozen peas
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes
6 cups water or broth (i used half of each)
2 tsp olive oil
5 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tsp turmeric and cinnamon
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp chilli powder
1 scoop greek yogurt

step 1:
chop up your veggies and garlic and peel and cube your potatoes. in a large pot placed on medium heat, add olive oil. when warm, add your onions and garlic and saute for about 3 minutes. once onion is translucent, add in the celery, carrots and ginger and saute for ~5 minutes.
step 2:
then add in your spices: turmeric, cinnamon, chilli powder and cumin. cook, stirring often for about 3 minutes. once all mixed together, add in your tomato paste, diced tomatoes, water or stock, lentils and potatoes.
step 3:
stir to ensure the flavours have combined and bring to a boil. reduce heat and then simmer for ~40 minutes. for the last 5 minutes of cooking, add in your cup of frozen peas. once warm, add a dollop of greek yogurt on top and you're ready to eat!

good timing for soup - just started to get a sore throat!

this soup recipe made such a huge portion (serves 8!) and it's so filling that i ended up freezing about half of it. i enjoyed mine with some nice jalapeno foccacia bread.

UPDATE: also a nice addition when serving this soup is sriracha sauce. it adds a nice little zip!

steak 'n puh-tay-duhs

oh! i've bee meaning to make a somewhat proper sunday dinner for a while. so i thought i'd make it as a treat when my family left so i didn't feel so down. and, julia had made a trip to the english food store a few months ago and i asked her to buy me some good 'ol mushy peas. i had been waiting to make them with something epic, so i decided that they would be my veggies (real or not) for the night.
this was my first time cooking steak by myself - i usually watch my dad do it on the bbq, but since i don't have one here i had to do it on the burner. this was also my first time making potatoes since i've been at ubc (i guess i kind of forgot they existed?) and this recipe was really, really good!

what you need:
1 steak (i used the flash fry kind because i like mine really thin)
1-2 potatoes
4 garlic cloves
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp canola oil
1 tsp thyme, oregano and paprika
4 tbsp oyster sauce  (you may need more depending on the size of your steak)
1 can mushy peas, or normal peas (or whatever veggies you want to make)

step 1:
pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. cut any extra fat off your steak (i took lots of the edges) and place in a ziploc bag. add in your oyster sauce and squish it around to cover the whole steak. put in fridge and let marinade.
step 2: 
wash your potatoes and chop into thin slices. place them on a paper towel to soak up any of the extra liquid that may come out of them. then, chop up your garlic and using the edge of your knife, mush into a paste. place in a small tupperware container and then add your olive oil, oregano and thyme and mix around.

pat potatoes dry on both side so garlic mix sticks better

step 3:
ensure both sides of the potatoes are covered in the garlic mix and place into a large oven safe dish. sprinkle on the paprika and then place in the oven for ~20 minutes (depending on how thick your slices are - thinner ones take less time).

ready for the oven!

step 4:
place mushy peas into a pan and set it to low. they will slowly heat up and should be ready by the time everything else is! so now, take out your steak (i let mine marinade for 1 hour or so). place a pan on medium heat and add in your canola oil. when warm, add in your steak and cook ~3-6 minutes on each side (depending on thickness and how well-done you like it). i like steak quite red so i cooked mine on the lower end of the spectrum.
step 5:
once your steak is done to your liking, set it aside and let it rest for 5 minutes so that it re-absorbs it's juices. if you cut into it now, that's just a sin. plate up and enjoy!

nom nom nom - steak and potatoes!

this was such a big piece of steak that i just couldn't finish it tonight. my ideas for leftovers would be: on top of salad, in tacos or even on a steak-dip sandwich.