Zesty & Spicy

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Butternut Squash Curry

April 27, 2015 by Ariel 1 Comment

Butternut Squash Curry
This curry is perfect for dinner nights where you don’t feel like breaking your head too much and still look like you did.  I like the simplistic ingredients in this recipe, no complications, no pretension…. and no fuss!
A delicious and humble “stew” like dish that can conquer the pickiest palates.
…it looks pretty fancy too doesn’t it?  *^_^*
Bon Appétit!

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Filed Under: Gluten Free, Recipes, Stews & Curries, Vegetables, Vegetarian Tagged With: basil, butternut, carrots, coconut milk, comfort food, curry, easy, fresh, garlic, ginger, green onions, humble, leaves, recipe, squash, stew, winter

Healthy Chicken & Carrot Bowl

April 15, 2015 by Ariel 1 Comment

FINAL1

I wasn’t sure how to call this one.  Is it a soup? Is it a bowl?

Since I didn’t make a “bowl” category, this went in the soup section.  Searching for something easy to make, filling, healthy and super delicious?  …Or, like me, you just came across a BIG bag of carrot at the grocery and you need to use it asap?

FINAL3

The recipe calls for carrot “noodles”… to make them, use your hand grater and like if you were to remove the first layer of skin, continue grating more and more of your carrot till you arrive at the core.  Personally, I don’t use the core for “noodles” because the taste is a little too strong in my opinion but by all mean, save the planet, don’t be picky like me and use the whole thing.  *^_^*

Hope you enjoy this recipe,

Bon Appétit! 🙂

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Filed Under: Chicken, Gluten Free, Legumes, Popular Diets, Proteins, Recipes, Soup, Vegetables Tagged With: baby spinash, blanched, bowl, carrot, carrot noodles, chicken, chicken broth, Chickpeas, dish, easy, entree, garlic, leek, main, mince cilantro, minced coriander, miso, paprika, quick, recipe, soup, spinash, tomato paste

No Fuss Grilled Hummus & Tomato Toast

April 9, 2015 by Ariel 1 Comment

EasyHummusToast01

Because it doesn’t have to be complicated to be delicious.  Here’s a simple recipe with easy to find, local ingredients that you can make at any time of the day!  Part of the #NoRecipe trend on twitter… it could easily be become a fun appetizer if cut in small pieces.

Enjoy!

No Fuss Grilled Hummus Toast
 
Print
Prep time
5 mins
Cook time
2 mins
Total time
7 mins
 
Author: ZestyandSpicy.com
Recipe type: Easy Breezy
Ingredients
  • Rye Bread Slice
  • Roasted Garlic Hummus
  • Fresh Tomatoes from the Garden
  • 6 years old Cheddar Cheese (or any other strong cheese)
  • Chopped Coriander for the garnish
Instructions
  1. - Toast the bread
  2. - Spread your hummus
  3. - Add the sliced tomatoes, cheese on top and grill for 1-2 minutes in the oven (on broil)
  4. - Sprinkle the freshly chopped coriander leaves
  5. watch out, it might be hot.... Bon Appetit!
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Filed Under: Finger Food, Recipes, Snacks, Vegetables, Vegetarian Tagged With: 6 years old cheddar, Ariel, ariel rebel, cilantro, coriander, easy, fresh, local ingredients, no fuss, recipe, roasted garlic hummus, rye bread, sliced, strong cheddar, toast, tomatoes

Marinated Cauliflowers & Tomatoes Appetizers

March 31, 2015 by Ariel 1 Comment

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It’s one of those recipes that will make you look like you actually took time to think about your “concept” when it fact it was the easiest and…let’s say it… laziest recipe ever 😛 lol!

If I may suggest, serve the whole thing right on the baking sheet, for a rustic look, and add some chopped cilantro or basil as a little happy green colour to your presentation.

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Filed Under: Appetizer, Recipes, Vegetables Tagged With: appetizer, apple cider vinegar, Ariel, ariel rebel, cauliflower, cauliflower florets, cumin powder, easy, fresh, garlic, green olives, marinated, no fuss, olive oil, pepper, prepare in advance, quick, recipe, sea salt, tomatoes

Marinated Cauliflower with Graines a Roussir & Preserved Lemon

June 8, 2014 by Ariel 1 Comment

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Marinated Cauliflower with Graines a Roussir & Preserved Lemon
 
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Prep time
1 hour 15 mins
Total time
1 hour 15 mins
 
Author: ZestyAndSpicy.com
Recipe type: Appetizer
Ingredients
  • 3 cups of small cauliflower florets
  • ¼ cup of green olives (about 10), finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 tablespoon of olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
  • 1 preserved lemon, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh coriander leaves
  • ½ teaspoon of powdered graines a roussir
  • Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. - Prep the cauliflower and keep only the florets. Measure about 3 cups of florets, steam them for 10 minutes.
  2. - Mix all the other ingredients in a big salad bowl and then mix in your steamed cauliflower.
  3. - Leave in the fridge to marinate for at least 1 hour before serving.
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Filed Under: Appetizer, Gluten Free, Recipes, Salads, Side Dish, Tapas, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Zesty Tagged With: ariel rebel, arielrebel, cauliflower, creole, easy, fast, flavorful, florets, Graines à Roussir, lemon, marinated, preserved lemons, quick, recipe, simple, summer, tangy

Easy & Humble Kale Soup

June 5, 2014 by Ariel 2 Comments

“Eat your greens or you wont have any desert!”

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…probably a sentence everybody heard a few times during their childhood.  I don’t remember being over difficult to feed as a child, beside the terrifying grilled white cod filet with tomatoes my mom used to make (I still have nightmares about it, true story), so I was happy (most of the time) to eat my greens.

Kale was introduce to my diet much later in life.  I do not recall my mom or dad buying any but, back then, the trend was more to eat spinach and I clearly remember the creamed spinach side dish my mom used to make.  Let me tell you… THAT was insanely delicious and now that I think about it, I’ll have to ask her for the recipe next time I see her.

You could probably make this soup with baby spinach as well.  Why do I say baby and no regular spinach?  Only because I’m thinking the bitterness of the fully grown spinach might be a little bit too overpowering for the humble and light taste of this soup.  While you can still try, I’m thinking that by trying to cover the bitterness, you might feel the push to add more salt and we all know by now that salt is a big no no for our dear arteries.

You can rock this soup in about 1:30 maximum and that’s with the prep included.  For those busy and lazy week nights, a comforting soup made with real and a small amount of ingredients is always welcome.

Bon Appetit!

Easy & Humble Kale Soup
 
Print
Prep time
20 mins
Cook time
1 hour
Total time
1 hour 20 mins
 
Author: ZestyandSpicy.com
Ingredients
  • 3 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • ¾ to 1 cup of finely chopped (about 1 medium/big one)
  • 1½ cup of finely chopped carrot
  • 6 cup of chicken broth (no salt)
  • 4 cup of finely chopped kale leaves
  • ½ teaspoon of solar salt **
  • ¼ teaspoon of basil pepper ***
  • 1 tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce
  • ** Solar salt is something I discovered when I made my first batch of kimchi. It's basically aged sea salt and really has a nice and distinctive taste. You can obviously replace this salt by regular sea salt or table salt but I would much prefer sea salt just because of the yummy flavors.
  • *** Basil pepper is a spice blend of 3 types of peppercorns and basil leaves that I made last year and that will be on the blog this week but feel free to replace this with regular pepper. Like the salt measuring, feel free to tweak the quantity to your liking 🙂
Instructions
  1. - In a medium sauce pan, on the stove top at MEDIUM/HIGH heat. Start by gently grilling the freshly cut garlic and onion with the olive oil for 2-3 minutes.
  2. - Stir in the carrot, mix well and add the broth. Bring everything back to a gently broil, lower the heat and add the rest of the ingredients
  3. - Let simmer at low heat for 1 hour and serve!
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Filed Under: Gluten Free, Recipes, Soup, Vegetables Tagged With: carrots, easy, flavor, green, humble, kale, recipe, soup, spinach, yummy

Sweet Potato, Spinach, Broccoli Risotto

May 8, 2014 by Ariel 1 Comment

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I hope you’ll enjoy this fun vegan and gluten free risotto, perfect for a busy week night and a next day lunch! 🙂

Sweet Potato, Spinach, Broccoli Risotto
 
Print
Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
20 mins
Total time
35 mins
 
Author: ZestyandSpicy.com
Ingredients
  • 4 cups of hot water
  • ½ cup of Glutenberg/Chartier maple beer **
  • 1½ cup of shredded sweet potatoes
  • 1 cup of finely chopped spinach
  • ¾ cup of finely chopped broccoli
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • 1 cup of Arborio rice
  • 2 big fresh garlic cloves
  • 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
  • ¼ teaspoon of salt
  • ¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper
  • Garnish idea:
  • Finely chopped basic leaves
  • **  The recipe calls for ½ cup because that's all I have left in my fridge but you could easily add one full cup of beer (and or white dry wine if you can find this beer anywhere) and remove ½ cup out of the water quantity.
Instructions
  1. - In a flat bottom pan, on the stove top, at MEDIUM/HIGH heat - Start by adding the tablespoon of olive oil with the garlic.  Wait till it start sizzling, then add your raw, uncooked Arborio rice and stir well to make sure the all little grains of rice are well covered with the oil and garlic.  Keep stirring non stop for an extra 1 to 2 minutes while making sure that nothing is sticking at the bottom of the pan.  If it does, lower the heat a bit.
  2. - Pour the beer and keep stirring while all the rice absorb the precious liquid.
  3. - Start adding your water, add the first cup, keep stirring constantly, add the veggies all in one shot and keep adding the rest of the water ½ cup at the time.  The whole process should be about 15-20 minutes maybe less.
  4. - Never stop stirring while everything get's absorb and when you're getting close to the end of your water and the texture is getting nice and creamy, start lowering your heat to MEDIUM/LOW.
  5. - Stir in the nutritional yeast, add the salt and pepper and you're done!
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Filed Under: Beer, Gluten Free, Recipes, Vegetables, Vegetarian Tagged With: 2014, Arborio, ariel rebel, arielrebel, beer, broccoli, dinner, dish, Francois Chartier, gluten free, Glutenberg, maple, nutritional yeast, recipe, rice, risotto, side, spinach, sweet potatoes, vegan, vegetarian

Green Spinach Pesto

April 1, 2014 by Ariel 3 Comments

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Here’s a fun and “jazzed up” pesto recipe made with fresh baby spinach, hemp seeds, arugula, coriander, Parmesan and more!    The first time I made this, it was to go with some homemade raviolis stuffed with light ricotta and feta cheese and ohhhhhh!  …I made a lot of happy tummy that night.

homemade_raviolis_with_spinach_pesto_sauce

To make the pasta sauce, I stretched a few tablespoons of this pesto with coconut milk and a tab more garlic (I’m obsessed with garlic so taste before adding more) and just like that, I had made an flavorful and creamy sauce.  Later that week, I used it for grilling some juicy steaks and even made a dip for the meat!  Both experiences were very welcomed by everybody who had the chance to taste it and now it’s your turn to try 🙂

Hope you like it!

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Filed Under: Popular Diets, Recipes, Sauces, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Zesty Tagged With: 2014, ariel rebel, arielrebel, arugula, basil, cook, cooking, coriander, eat, fresh, hemp seeds, lemon, olive oil, parmesan, pasta, pesto, raviolis, recipe, sauce, spinach, zesty and spicy, zestyandspicy

Paleo Hubbard Squash Soup

February 21, 2014 by Ariel 2 Comments

Ok, I went a little bit more artistic with these images…  I thought the contrast of the small plate presenting a soup could be interesting and leave me a fun canvas to add my topping (here I choose a coriander and yellow hot pepper chutney with a crispy nori sheet).  I love the art of Food styling.  It’s an art that I do not master yet but every photo shoots is a fun challenge and now that I’m also getting better with all of my camera options, I try to let myself go a little bit more and experiment with bolder presentation for my recipes.

Paleo_Hubbard_Squash_Soup01

I think I’ve also seen that style on another food blog that I enjoy where the cook often present his soups in a plate with barely any soup in it but with fun topping that makes the whole thing enjoyable for the eyes.  This is my first attempt at it and it didn’t come out too bad don’t you think?  I would LOVE to have your feedback on this one, this is really far fetch for me but if you guys like it, I might feel a little less bad to experiment with more daring styles for the upcoming recipes.

So this is the Paleo Hubbard Squash soup that I served last week end to my friend who has the digestive condition.   The more I keep reading on the caveman diet, the more I like it.  Obviously I would never be able to follow it closely in my everyday life but I enjoy the fact that it makes me experiment more with coconut products like dried coconut flakes and coconut water.  The mix of the squash with the coconut milk and water really what makes this soup delicious and I hope you’ll enjoy this recipe as much as I did 🙂

PS: Feel free to modify this recipe and use any of your favorite winter squashes!  I’m pretty sure that it would be amazing as well 🙂

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Filed Under: Paleo, Recipes, Soup, Vegetables, Vegetarian Tagged With: recipe

Cauliflower & Watercress Soup (Vegan)

December 2, 2013 by Ariel 2 Comments

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I’ve been asked to post more vegetarian and vegan recipes on twitter….  I wont lie, I sometime find it constraining to create vegan approved recipes but I try to look at it as a challenge.  Now since I love challenges, this is actually pretty fun and this vegan cauliflower & watercress soup is of the deliciousness that I have been able to create up to date 🙂

In this recipe, I used a Lipton onion soup pouch because I find that it’s adding a fun new dimension to the taste but you really don’t have to add it in there 🙂  What really makes this coup special is the grounded fenugreek seeds because they are giving you the impression of chicken broth without any being in there 🙂

Anyways, enough chatting and more tasting! …I hope you’ll enjoy this healthy recipe 🙂

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Filed Under: Recipes, Soup, Vegetables, Vegetarian Tagged With: ariel rebel, arielrebel, cauliflower, comforting, fresh, garlic, lipton onion soup mix, recipe, silk soy milk, soup, soy milk, unsweetened, vegan, vegetarian, water, watercress

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Spring gardening in isolation

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