Recipes with Julie Van Rosendaal: Viral recipes worth a try

The Internet has completely changed how we share food ideas and recipes, and so has social media.

Photo-focused platforms like Instagram have been influencing how and what people eat both at home and in restaurants since its inception, and now reels and TikTok videos have become another medium for anyone wanting to share their own recipes, techniques or quirky culinary discoveries.

Not all the tips (or 'hacks') work, of course — pulling pineapple segments out with our fingers or stabbing and twisting garlic cloves out of their skins with a paring knife can look easier in a 10 second video than it is in real life.

But there are so many useful tricks and techniques to learn that we might not otherwise come across, a slow drip of deliciousness to keep us informed (or entertained) throughout our days.

• Bookmark cbc.ca/juliesrecipes to keep up with all of Julie Van Rosendaal's dishes.

There are lots of complicated dishes to scroll through. Everyone was making Poppy O'Toole's thinly stacked, roasted, chilled and fried 15-hour potatoes. Finnish food blogger Jenni Häyrinen posted the tomato-feta pasta that has garnered views in the billions.

But there are utterly simple recipes too, like all the toasts — avocado, grated egg, pizza — and so many ways to dress up your ramen.

So much of what we see are techniques we can easily remember and try in our own kitchens, like frying an egg in pesto or chili oil, frying cooked chunky pasta into 'chips,' or filling each quadrant of a flour tortilla and folding it in quarters to pan fry (or pop into the toaster).

This week on the Calgary Eyeopener, we talked about two viral social media recipes well worth trying. They have millions of views for good reason.

TikTok Green Goddess Salad

Google 'TikTok salad' and this mulchy green salad will pop up. It's like a chopped slaw with feta and a brilliant green dressing.

There are many versions out there now, but this is what I ended up making.

I served mine with flour tortilla wedges fried in a bit of canola oil, and it was fantastic.

Ingredients

• ½ small cabbage or head of iceberg lettuce, chopped
• ½ English cucumber, finely diced
• 2 to 3 green onions, chopped
• 1 ripe avocado, diced
• ½ cup crumbled feta

Dressing:

• Juice of 2 lemons
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup tahini
• 2 tbsp white wine or rice vinegar
• 1 cup spinach
• ¼ cup dill or basil (optional)
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 small shallot
• A big pinch of salt
• Fresh dill and/or toasted sesame seeds, for garnish (optional)

Blend all of the dressing ingredients together, scraping down the sides as needed, and adjusting the seasoning as needed.

Combine all the salad ingredients in a shallow bowl, drizzle with dressing and toss to combine.

Garnish with fresh dill and/or toasted sesame seeds, or anything else you can think of.

Serves: 4 to 6

TikTok-famous Phyllo Crinkle Cake

TikTok user Ramena posted a recipe for her famous crinkle cake at the end of December 2021, and it has garnered more than 20 million views and countless copycat posts.

The Middle Eastern dessert called Muakacha, which means wrinkled, is absolutely delicious and has a ton of potential for flavour variations!

It would be fun to try individual cakes in muffin tins with leftover phyllo sheets and a smaller quantity of custard.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, melted
• 1 pkg phyllo, thawed
• Chopped pistachios or other nuts, for garnish (optional)

Custard:

• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• A shake of cinnamon (optional)

Syrup:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Brush a 9x13-inch pan with butter (or line it with parchment) and unroll the phyllo.

Remove two sheets together and starting from a short end, fold them accordion-style (if you'd like to see how it's done, googling this recipe will produce several videos, whether or not you're on TikTok) and stack upright in the pan.

Continue folding two sheets at a time and tucking it into the pan until you've used all the sheets and the pan is full.

Bake for 10 minutes, until pale golden.

Remove from the oven and pour the melted butter evenly overtop, then return to the oven for another 10 minutes.

As it bakes, whisk together the eggs, sugar, milk and vanilla. Pour over the now-golden phyllo, add a shake of cinnamon if you like, and return to the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes, until deep golden and the custard has set.

LISTEN | Julie Van Rosendaal describes viral recipes that've caught her eye:

Meanwhile, bring the sugar and water to a boil and cook until it reduces to the consistency of maple syrup.

Pour it over the phyllo as soon as it comes out of the oven.

Scatter with chopped pistachios or other nuts, if you like.

Serves: About 20