Spiced Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

First throw all the seeds into a large bowl and fill it up with water. Sift through the seeds and pull out any chunks or strings of pumpkin flesh. Once all the non-seed material is removed, drain the seeds through a strainer and pour them onto a baking sheet. Use paper towel to dry them off.

Set the oven to 350F. Drizzle some olive oil onto the seeds, along with a generous helping of salt, pepper, 1 tsp of ground cinnamon, and a dash of paprika (do not use smoky paprika!). Mix well and then redistribute into an even layer on the baking sheet. Place in the oven and bake for 35 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to come to room temperature before serving.

This recipe does not call for any nuts, peanuts, dairy, wheat gluten, soy, and is suitable for vegans.

Salads in Bloom: 2 Fresh Recipes

Your Insta and Twitter feeds are likely swarming with PSL posts, pumpkin patch pictures, and snaps of cozy sweaters as the weather has officially transitioned to cold and windy. But let's bid summer one final farewell with 2 delicious, fresh, healthy salad recipes. A final hurrah before we're all stepping over ourselves to get away from the snow.

First up is a light Boston lettuce and citrus salad.

Ingredients
1 Boston lettuce
1 Florida orange, peeled and cut into cubes
1 tbsp diced red onion
1 Alfonso mango, peeled and cut into cubes
A few edible flowers (these can often be found at Loblaws)
1 tsp poppy seeds
1/3 cup sunflower or grape seed oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
salt and black pepper to taste
1 tsp organic honey

Method
1. Tear the lettuce leaves apart into a large bowl along with the orange, mango, and red onion.
2. In a small bowl mix the poppy seeds, oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and honey until well combined. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well, making sure not to over-saturate the leaves. This salad should be light and bright.
3. "Casually" drop some edible flowers on top, as though they had just sprouted there, for that magazine-ready look.

Crispy dandelion leaves with fresh fruit

Ingredients
1 bunch of dandelion leaves
1 ripe peach, diced
a handful of ripe figs (green or red) cut into halves
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp good balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method
1. In order to get that bitter taste out of the dandelion leaves you just need to soak them in a bowl of cold water for several hours before prepping this dish. So it pays to plan ahead! If you don't soak them it's not the end of the world. But it's better if you do.
2. Dry off the leaves using paper towel. Heat up the oil in a non-stick pan. When the oil is hot (but not burnt - olive oil has a low tolerance for burning) drop the leaves in and let them crackle. You can use a grease guard to prevent spattering. This will only take a few minutes. When the leaves appear crispy around the edges you can add the vinegar and let it continue to sizzle away. Turn the heat off and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Immediately pour into a serving dish and add the fruit on top.

This salad isn't just delicious, it's also very high in nutrients and will add some fresh beauty to your next weeknight dinner.

Zahav - The Gold Standard in Cookbooks

Welcome back, EAF fans! We recently reviewed Zahav, by Michael Solomonov. When I was initially given this book I thought, oh man, I know nothing about Isreali cooking but I bet it's full of legumes and it'll be really hard to give it an allergy makeover. Thoughts of chickpea-free hummus danced sadly in my head. But then I opened it and began flipping through. There were so many possibilities, so much colour, so much STORYTELLING. I wanted to create all of it, and surprisingly much of it was already suited to my allergies. At that point I knew this book was special and that this review was going to be a lot of fun.

Madiha (right) was the guest cook working with Joella (left) and myself (behind camera) on this review. We made green tahina, Moroccan carrot salad, roasted okra, and shakshuka. So let's dive in...

Green Tehina
There's a whole section of the book devoted to this magical dip made of sesame seeds, olive oil, garlic, and other seasonings. Recipes for several variations are provided and he enforces how central this is to Israeli cuisine and many other recipes in the book. So I felt that in order to do the book justice we had to test it out. Otherwise Micheal would be sitting at his computer, reading this review, and thinking umm, did they not get it? 

The recipe didn't have to be changed to suit my allergies so that was an unexpected score. 9 times out of 10 everyone's favorite cultural dishes are comprised of ingredients that I'm deathly allergic to. So how nice to be able to just enjoy something as it was intended to be. 

I made the green tehina ahead of time for snacking while we cooked and served it with green and wax string beans and spicy radishes. I'm sure Michael Solomonov intended for it to be eaten with fresh seasonal veggies from a local farm but here's our little secret... We realized that it tastes frigging amazing with potato chips. Honestly, make a big bowl of it, get a bag of chips, and go to town. Either that or put out enough veggies to feed your guests so they don't go roaming through your cupboards. You know, whatever.

Moroccan Carrot Salad

Nothing about this recipe had to be changed either! We steamed carrots and tossed them in a dressing made from the boiled down carrot water reduced with orange juice, olive oil, lemon juice, cilantro, and spices. I like to have an abundance of veggies with my meal and this was a great dish that I will definitely make again. A little sweet, very flavorful, and with a fresh hint of cilantro. It was easy to prepare and can be made ahead of time. 

Everyone's hair game was on point.

I popped onto the set to help whisk up some carrot water!

 Roasted Okra

And can you believe it, a third recipe that didn't have to be changed? This book is seriously awesome. And it's not a boring run-of-the-mill allergy-friendly recipe like chicken and salad either. For this dish we roasted a pan of okra until they were deep brown and crispy, then tossed with fresh tomato sauce, olive oil, lime, and cilantro. I often get pushback when I make okra for others because people tend to think of it as slimy and stringy. But I always tell them they obviously don't know how to cook it. Okra is rich and creamy inside and firm on the outside when roasted. The tomato sauce is tangy and sweet while cilantro and lemon add complexity. 

 Shakshuka
If you want to hear me stumble and mumble, just ask me to say shakshuka. We were all excited for the shakshuka because we came to realize that all our cultures (Pakistani, Indian, and Italian) have a version of eggs poached in tomato sauce. Very often when I was growing up my dad would make what we referred to as a farmer's meal. He would stir fry chopped zucchini and potatoes, add fresh herbs from the backyard, top it off with our homemade tomato sauce, and then drop in eggs at the last minute to poach. It's a dish I make all the time and one that's really close to my heart.

This version was fantastic and the flavorings were different than the ones I typically use. Instead of basil and rosemary this recipe called for paprika, cumin, coriander, and lime. I liked the change of pace and it felt like a totally new dish while still reminding me of home. 

What we loved about this book
There was so much storytelling. We loved that as a reader you could feel his passion for Israeli cuisine and got a sense of his personality (I'm looking at you, page 283) and personal story. This isn't just a collection of recipes; it's an experience. There is so much to take in from the recipes, ample photographs, and great double-page spreads, to the cultural and social info on nearly every page. 
The next item on my list to make is challah!

You can pick up your hardcover copy of Zahav here for $35 (regular price is $50)

Another successful review by your EAF team. Cheers!

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Ingredients
5 cups white bread flour + some for dusting
2 tsp quick rise dry yeast
2.5 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2 cups warm water
2 tsp sunflower oil
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon

Method
Add the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt to a large bowl and mix well.

Make a well in the center and add the oil and water at one time. Begin stirring slowly until all the dry ingredients are incorporated and the dough has come together in a ball.

Dust some flour onto a clean surface and begin kneading the dough for several minutes until it's smooth and elastic.

Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise for 1.5 hours. It should double in size.

Preheat oven to 425F.

Remove the plastic wrap and punch the dough in the center. Then transfer it onto a clean surface dusted with flour. Cut into 3 equal portions and roll each one into a rectangle that's about 1/4 inch thick. Dust the cinnamon over the dough evenly and then roll each one into a loaf.

Place the loaves a few inches apart on a large baking sheet and let stand for a half hour.

Place tray in preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Then turn the oven down to 400F and bake for another 10 - 15 minutes.

The cooked loaves should be light brown on the outside and sound hollow when tapped.
Top the sliced bread with a smear of coconut oil, a dusting of cinnamon, and a sprinkle of raw sugar.

*You can freeze any unbroken bread in a freezer strength plastic bag. It will last for up to 3 weeks.