Keep calm and curry on

These glorious dishes are going to come in 3 angles | Angle 1

One our our biggest life struggles is choosing whether to try a cool new restaurant or to revisit an old favourite. Yes, this decision pains us more than it should….we are working on it. After a few days of debating on where to satisfy our Indian craving, we decided to stick with a (new) old favourite.  Mia’s Indian Cuisine (http://www.miaindiancuisine.com) is by far the best Indian food we have EVER tried.  We like to refer to this as “legit Indian”.  We have eaten our fair share of Indian food and we both agree this is what we would consider to be authentic Indian food.  Nothing we have tasted elsewhere compares. Discovering Mia's has converted us into Indian food snobs.  We will now rank Indian food on a scale of 1 to Mia's.  

Our first visit, we ate in and started with the appetizer platter for two. This includes a mixed plate of samosa, onion bhaji, pakura, shish kebab, chicken tikka, salad and tamarind sauce. Great to get a taste of each app and perfect for sharing. There was nothing on this platter that we didn’t enjoy.  This time we also got the Tandoori chicken special and Masalla chicken, with rice and naan.  We probably over ordered and definitely over ate this time. But hey, not the first or last time that will happen.  It's also worth noting that this was one of the first restaurants we tried as a duo. It was over this meal that we decided to create Foodizens as a place to review local restaurants and post fun recipes. So not only is Mia's delicious but also a key player in our Foodizens story.  So that's a cute story.  

As you can see, we both accidentally snuck a taste | Angle 2

Our second visit, we got take-out. Vinadaloo chicken and Dansak chicken, with the obvious side of rice and naan.  Both dishes were perfectly spicy. We like it hot, but they offer mild versions of most dishes. The portion sizes are great and each meal could easily be stretched into two.  We like the challenge of stuffing ourselves beyond capacity (don’t judge, you know you do it too).  Honestly there are tons of Indian restaurants closer by yet Mia's is SO GOOD that we  drive a half hour there and back just for the food.  We have accepted that we will be getting Mia’s on the regular and can’t wait to try more. We seriously doubt we will try something we don’t like…guess that just means we need to try it all to support our theory….all in the name of science, right?  

Overall we give Mia’s Indian cuisine five out of five stars. Curry on making great Indian, Mia's. 

Angle 3

Waffles > Boys

If you had to pick between pancakes or waffles which would you choose? We never like choosing favourites (because we love everything under the category FOOD) but one advantage to the waffle is that it’s the perfect vehicle for toppings and sauces.  We like to take advantage of the grid of crevices in a golden brown waffle by filling it with syrup and warm drizzles of chocolate.  This recipe is a vegan waffle recipe that tastes even more amazing than we predicted.  The orange juice  in these waffles adds a unique taste. The perfect hint of citrus without being overpowering or straying too far from the classic waffle flavour.  Easy and filling, we paired these tasty waffles with a girl’s night of chatting and movies…but is there really any occasion that doesn’t work with waffles?

Vegan Waffle

Makes about 8 waffles

3 cups flour

2 Tbs baking powder

1-2 Tbs sugar (optional, but is it really?)

1/2 tsp. salt

3 cups rice milk

1/3 cup orange juice

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract

cooking spray or cooking oil

Toppings:

melted chocolate chips

fresh fruit

maple syrup

Preheat waffle maker. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients until smooth. Spray waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Pour batter onto waffle iron and cook until golden brown. Garnish and serve.

Quiche is just a classy word for breakfast pie

 


Quiche is a great meal to make once and eat all week. It’s one of those foods that is great warm or cold, easy to pack for lunch and really versatile! This recipe includes a quick and easy crust and a basic filling which can be modified to use up those uneaten veggies or as a vehicle for absurd amounts of cheese (YES!).  

Basic Quiche

Makes one 9.5-inch quiche (Or can divide into mini quiches!)

Crust

•  1 cup whole wheat flour

•  1 cup all-purpose flour

•  1 teaspoon salt

•  ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

•  ½ cup ice water

1  Mix the flour and salt together

2  Add the olive oil and stir well

3  Slowly add the water

4  Push dough into the bottom of the pie pan 

(Who needs a rolling pin? We are fans of the rustic look anyways…)

Filling

•  2-3 cups mushrooms, sliced

•  1 cup cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced

•  4 cups of spinach, stems removed

•  ¾ cup of milk (choose your %)

•  5 eggs

•  1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

•  Salt & pepper, to taste

•  ¼ cup shredded cheese of choice (But we recommend you use as much as your heart desires…is there ever enough cheese?)

5  Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

6  Quickly sauté the mushrooms, tomatoes and spinach with salt & pepper over medium heat in a large skillet. Set aside.

7  Whisk together the milk, eggs, and flour. Add salt & pepper.

8  Place veggie mix into the pan with crust. Pour egg mix over veggies.

9  Sprinkle (dump in mounds) cheese over the egg mix. 

10 Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown and completely set.

The above recipe is a nice veggie and cheese quiche but this can easily be changed up! The second time making this quiche, veggies got swapped out for ham and lots of swiss cheese! You could make a Western version with ham, peppers, onions and cheese. Or get fancy and do a sun dried tomato and goat cheese quiche. Play around with your ingredients! Hope you like this breakfast pie as much as we do.