Hot Weather Eats

Today was the first day of the real summer heat.
Makes me want to eat fresh, crunchy and spicy things!!

Been enjoying Vietnamese steak salads as of late. Easier than you can even possibly imagine.

Step 1: Marinade strips of beef (any cut you like) in soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, sesame oil, and minced ginger and garlic. Chilies too if you like it hot. Cover and refrigerate for 10 minutes-2 days

Step 2: Stir fry sliced onions with a little bit of oil in a pan on medium high heat until softened. Add beef and marinade and cook until meat is tender and cooked. Add cracked black pepper.

Step 3: Fill a bowl with mixed greens, sliced basil, mint, cilantro, cucumbers and carrots. More chilies here if you love the heat.

Step 4: Top the salad with the beef and sauce, squeeze some lime juice and crack some pepper over it.

TUCK IN!!

Celebrate Red

It's Canada Day and I wanted to eat something red.

There seems to be a lot of red in my life lately. I'm officially addicted to the tiny, sweet, little local strawberries that are everywhere and perfect. They are so sweet that they make my tongue dance in disbelief.

I made this strawberry cake the other morning for breakfast. I think cake for breakfast should be law. I like this one for the spongy, soft cake on the bottom and the crumble on top, with a layer of luscious strawberries in between. I burnt my mouth on it...more than once, because I simply couldn't wait to taste it.

It was worth the sensitive tongue all day.

Strawberry Cake:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Sift these together and set aside.

1/2 cup whole milk
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp melted butter

Combine these in a bowl until well mixed then add to the flour mixture and beat for two minutes until totally smooth.

Pour into a greased pan (I used a 9-inch pie pan) then top with 1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries.

Top with the Crumb:

1/2 flour
1/2 brown sugar, packed
1/4 butter

Mix these until they resemble a mealy texture and pour evenly over the berries.

Bake at 375˚ for 30-35 minutes, until the top is golden and bubbly.

Happy Canada Day, celebrate the red in your life.