Feist // Metals

You can listen to Feist's new album Metals in its entirety, here!

All it takes is your email address. It's worth it. The Leslie we know and love is back in full force, and this album is full of her rich, sweet vocals layered over simple melodies that sound complex but aren't. If that makes any sense. See for yourself!



Enjoy!

Easy, yummy Tomato Sauce with Beef.

I was struggling to come up with a title for this recipe, and so I ask for your forgiveness. It's quite... un-inspired. But really, what else can I say about this dish? There are tomatoes. There is some beef. And some other spices. And voila! A beefy, tomato-y sauce. It's adapted from this recipe from Real Simple. I leave out the fresh mozzarella because I found it didn't really need it, and I don't always have it around. Also it doesn't really add any flavour. Parmesan is much more flavourful and not so bad with the sodium if you don't dump it on. Just use a little. Like, less than a tablespoon's worth. There's enough flavour here already that you don't really need any at all. But you can add some if you really feel it's necessary. You won't die without it, I promise.

I also add some canned/jarred pasta sauce to this recipe, because otherwise it isn't really saucy enough for me. And so, this recipe is a wonderful mix of home-made and pre-made. I hate to take things out of cans or jars, heat them up, and just eat them as is. This might be because we didn't really do this at my house growing up. I was fortunate enough to have a mom that valued eating fresh food, and so hardly anything came out of a can--even our holiday cranberry sauce was made on the stove, a simple mixture of sugar, water and fresh cranberries boiled down into a mush. This is probably why I prefer to add things to pre-made sauces and make it my own. Or you could see it as using these convenience items as helpful aides in the kitchen, since I don't have time to be simmering a pot of home-made sauce for hours. ANYWAYS.

I really love this recipe. I've been meaning to write a post about it for quite some time. I've made it at least four times in this past month alone, and every time, I think "Crap! Should've taken a picture for the blog," including this time. Apologies for that, too.

It's really quite simple to put together. The ingredients are staple items which you would usually have lying around, looking uninteresting and lonely in their natural state. However. Don't be fooled by all this normalcy. Because inside each of these ordinary, boring ingredients is the potential for something delicious. Beef. Onions. Garlic. Tomatoes. You can make these ingredients sing. They'll mingle and make love in a hot pan, and conceive delicious flavours for you to enjoy.

Alright, enough of that business. Let's get down to it.


Ingredients
olive oil
1/2 of a white onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 lb ground beef
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 large beefsteak tomato
1/2 a can of plain pasta sauce 
3 basil leaves
A pinch of Italian Seasoning (I only cheat a TINY bit here because I don't have any other nice fresh herbs and spices. This does the trick.)
Salt and pepper


Method
Do my fancy water-boiling trick (which isn't really all that fancy. It's more time-saving than fancy) and put some pasta on the boil. Since this sauce is quite chunky, I like to use pasta that is in shapes instead of long strings. Shapes like rotini or penne are great for holding lots of thick, chunky sauce. I've preferred using whole-wheat pasta lately since it's extra filling (and you won't be eating a whole bowl of simple carbohydrates, which basically turn into sugar in your digestive system), BUT HEY. It's your thing. Do what you wanna do.

Meanwhile, heat some olive oil over medium-ish heat in a large skillet. Turn it down if you need to. I always do, since my garlic tends to burn in a matter of minutes on medium. I go for medium-low. Chop some garlic and throw it in. Let it simmer while you chop your onions. Throw them in the pan too. Add some salt and pepper and let the onions simmer for a few minutes until they get soft. Add the ground beef and brown. Drain any extra fat in the pan. Add the tomato paste and stir it around so it gets on most of the beef. The pan might seem a little dry right now, but that's alright.

Let it all simmer while you chop your tomato, then throw it in and mix everything up. Your tomato should add enough liquid that all these ingredients can mingle sufficiently. If it doesn't, add a little water to the pan. But not too much. Add your basil and/or Italian spice mix. Stir occasionally. Let it simmer for a few minutes, until the tomatoes look soft, and then add the pasta sauce. Turn the heat right down at this point, almost to the lowest setting. You want the sauce to heat up and obtain the flavour you just coaxed out of all the lovely ingredients in the pan. You don't want the sauce to boil and bubble and leave streaks of sauce on your walls that you'll still be finding weeks later. Heat slowly. Let it simmer for at least five minutes. My pasta had to sit in the pot all drained and dry, waiting to get sauced. It's worth it if you have the time. If you don't, it isn't the end of the world.

Taste the sauce. If you like the way it tastes, throw in the pasta and mix it around and call it a day. If it's not done yet, let it be, or adjust your seasonings if you like. This recipe makes enough sauce for approximately 2-1/2 cups of prepared pasta, which will feed two people twice. Or four people, once. It makes a bunch, how about that. Bonus of cooking in large amounts: it's even better the next day.

Note: Feel free to experiment with the amount of tomatoes you add, and even the type. Last time I did this recipe I used some grape tomatoes I had in the fridge that weren't getting eaten and were about to go soft.

And there you have it. An easy yet delicious and filling meal that comes together in under 20 minutes.

Hooray for minimal effort in the kitchen!

Hail to The Sheepdogs.

These guys can rock. They came by UWO on Monday afternoon to shred and test the air for its hair-blowing qualities. We were right in the front, so we got to see their skills up-close. For free!

I don't know how they can see.

I have to say I was pretty impressed with their sound. Until a few days ago, I (embarrassingly enough) was part of the crowd that only knew of The Sheepdogs because of That One Song They Play On The Radio, and because they got an insane amount of press a few months ago for being the first unsigned band to ever grace the cover of The Rolling Stone. And they're Canadian! Yay!

Listening to their entire album online was a pleasant surprise, as they revealed themselves to be more than just one-hit-wonders. They're clearly a talented bunch of dudes who perfectly emulated the easy-going down-South sound. During their performance on Monday, they were musically tight in every way, plucking out complex guitar melodies in harmony with ease, every member singing and smiling along the way.

Here's some more of The Sheepdogs for you to experience. Enjoy the hairy, gritty, bearded glory.

Cheese Ravioli with Spinach and Tomato

In search of an easy pasta dish with which I could make use of the remaining pile of baby spinach in my fridge, I found this recipe over at Real Simple. Its minimal ingredients and fresh approach won me over, as did the frozen bag of ravioli I picked up last week as a just-in-case-I-had-no-energy meal. Since I had already consumed three pieces of bacon with my breakfast this morning, I decided I could do without the bacon and keep this a veggie meal.

This recipe was thrown together and finished in about 15 minutes, making it great for someone without much time. It was full of flavour and just as satisfying as one of those frozen skillet meals you can get in a bag, but this version is obviously better in every way: it's cheaper, healthier, tastier. The only part I cheated at was the ravioli, and frankly, I trust Ontario Ravioli Ltd to deliver a well-made product. I know where it comes from.

Please excuse the picture quality. There was still a bunch of steam in the way.

Ravioli with Spinach and Tomato (makes 2 servings, measurements are approximate)
1 cup fresh or frozen ravioli
1-1/2 cups baby spinach leaves, stems removed
2 medium-sized tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
3 basil leaves
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Place a large pot of salted water to boil (boil the water in a kettle first if you're really strapped for time). Boil the ravioli, stirring occasionally, following package directions for timing.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Finely chop the garlic (or mince it, or bash it with your knife) and toss it into the heated oil. Stir and let it cook for a few minutes. Dice the tomatoes roughly, and add them to the pan. Add salt, pepper and basil leaves and cook for about five minutes, until the tomatoes are soft. Finally, add the spinach leaves and stir frequently for two minutes or until the leaves are wilted.

Drain the ravioli well and add it to the skillet. Toss it all together and adjust your seasonings if necessary. Dump it all into a bowl and top with Parmesan cheese if desired (I found it unnecessary); stuff into face.

Sometimes, it's okay to cheat.

Like when you've been battling a viral infection for a week, and you have little to no energy. Making meals for myself has been a real challenge. Besides being exhausted all the time, I hardly have any appetite, which doesn't really help me in the motivation department. The only thing that keeps me shoving food into my face is the knowledge that my body needs fuel in order to help itself get better and fight these monsters inside of me.

For tonight's dinner, I knew I needed to bring out the big guns: garlic and onions. These things are heavy hitters in the Foods That Heal bracket, and I happened to have a bit of a jar of alfredo sauce in the fridge. Pre-made sauce equals less prep time for me, and that's a huge plus in my current state. And so a simple meal idea was born: garlicky shrimp and broccoli alfredo.

All measurements are approximate. This recipe made enough for two large servings. I hope you like it as much as I did. Feel free to adjust the levels of garlic to your liking.

Ingredients

Some large, flat noodles (either fettucini or linguine will work)

4 cloves garlic

1/2 of a medium Vidalia onion

1/2 of a head of broccoli

3/4 cup shrimp, thawed

1/3 of a jar of Classico Roasted Garlic Alfredo sauce

Salt and Pepper

Method

Start some water boiling for your pasta. If you're short on time, a trick I like to use is to fill up my electric kettle with hot water from the tap and set it to boil. Once it's popped, pour the whole thing into a pot you have ready on the stove. Turn the dial to high, and blammo--you will have a pot of boiling water in less than half the time it would have taken if you just poured a bunch of lukewarm water into a pot and waited for it to boil the traditional way. ANYWAYS.

In a large frying pan, heat some oil or butter over medium-low heat until hot. Cut up some garlic and onions and toss them in the pan. Cook until translucent, about 4 minutes. Rinse your shrimp, blot them with some paper towels, and toss them into the pan as well (you don't want too much liquid in the pan or the shrimp get all rubbery). Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 4 minutes, turning often. Dump the contents of your jar of sauce into the pan and let it simmer, stir often. Feel free to adjust the amount of sauce depending on the amount of pasta you're cooking. Heat everything all together over low heat for a few minutes, or until your pasta is done.

Meanwhile, your pasta should be nearing completion. During the last few minutes of cooking, dump your broccoli pieces into the boiling water right along with the pasta. The time the broccoli takes to cook depends on the size of the pieces you cut and how tender you like your broccoli bits to be. Adjust cooking times accordingly.

Drain your pasta and broccoli thoroughly, then dump it into the frying pan with the sauce. Toss everything all together; stuff into face. Remember that cheating is a perfectly normal and acceptable thing... sometimes.