apricot & chicken apple sausage pizza

for the record, the pink peppercorns on this pizza were inspired by don cherry’s pink floral blazer à la stanley cup final. :) 

yes, i’m canadian. and yes, i love the good ol’ hockey game. and what better way to (peacefully) celebrate tonight’s stanley cup final than with some homemade pizza and some local beer. although the canucks didn’t bring home the cup tonight, it’s still a fun annual tradition to watch a bunch of happy, grizzly-bearded dudes on skates hollering and hoisting the stanley cup in victory on the ice. well done, boys.

ok, back to the pizza… :)

some fresh pizza dough from itza bakeshop made for a fantastic base in tonight’s culinary experiment. add some organic chicken apple sausage, fruits & veggies from the local farmers’ market and you’ve got a pretty fantastic powerplay of a meal. um, ok, that was a little cheesy. pun intended. ;)

prep the sausage:
– heat up 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (evoo) in large saucepan on high heat
– add 1 clove garlic (peeled, diced) and sauté til slightly browned
– add organic chicken apple sausage (4-5 links, sliced rounds) to pan
– season w/ ground black peppercorns & dash of sea salt
– drizzle 3 tbsp of lager beer over sausage (i used some local honey wheat ale)
– sauté chicken sausage w/ garlic for 8-10min, or until cooked through
– remove from heat & set aside

spicy roasted chickpeas

snack attack? push aside those greasy potato chips and make room for these bite-sized morsels of spicy goodness. give chickpeas a chance. :)

unlike most people, i’ve never really taken a liking to chickpeas before and i’m not so crazy about hummus. but then, a few weeks ago, i came across an awesome recipe for roasted chickpeas by fellow foodie blogger alexa marsden. my eyebrow raised and feeling inspired, i knew that i just had to try out this recipe for myself. here’s my take on spicy roasted chickpeas… hope you enjoy!

– preheat oven to 350F

chickpea prep:
– 2 cans (2 x 398mL) organic cooked chickpeas (water-drained & air-dried in colander)

spicy seasoning:
combine the following ingredients in medium mixing bowl:
– 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil (evoo)
– 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
– 3/4 tsp coriander seed
– 3/4 tsp cumin seed
– 3/4 tsp garlic powder
– 1/2 tsp ground black peppercorns
– dash of sea salt

– add chickpeas to medium bowl & toss in seasoning

(tip: for extra-spicy seasoning, sprinkle another 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper on chickpeas.)

chipotle turkey burger w/ baked sweet potato fries & lemon cilantro aioli

burger craving? anyone? anyone? ok, i admit — i look forward to meals at pretty much every waking moment. i suppose that’s the foodie in me. :) and to keep things interesting, i usually decide what to cook on a whim. most days, i wait til i get home to take a look in my fridge and pantry to see what yummy ingredients i have to work with at that given moment. but sometimes i get fixated on a particular food in mind… don’t ask me why, but i just had to have a turkey burger that day.

i’ve never made homemade burger patties before. (yes, i know, shocking!) and while i typically embrace every opportunity for a culinary experiment, that day the afterwork hunger pangs kicked in and my tummy was growling the whole way home on the train. so i made a quick pitstop at the grocery store and picked up some frozen extra-lean turkey patties & various veggies for burger fixings. here’s how i made my bun-less & grease-free burger dindins…