March 22, 2020
Considering we are not running to the grocery store every day now it is good to have a few recipes of good food you can cook from staple panrty items and this soup is just such recipe. Made with beans, canned tomatoes and pasta, you can whip it up in no time and have a delicious and nourishing soup that for us means dinner. You can use canned beans or dried beans but dried beans... View Article
March 21, 2020
Mujadara is a classic middle eastern dish that I love and occasionally make. It consists of cooking rice and lentil together and topping with cruspy chopped onion. Simply delish. This is a version of the concept, made with leftover rice and lentils that I had and mixed with roasted ribbons of carrots and parsnips. This business of #stayhome, #flattenthecurve and #quarantinecooking is working well in my kitchen. I hope I am supporting the community by... View Article
February 10, 2020
I cook a lot of legumes and grains and this bean dish is one of my favourite. I make it with less liquid or more liquid, depending on what I do with it. When we were in Italy a while back we spent a month in Rome. One of the most memorable lunches we had was at a restaurant near the Spanish Steps called Ristoranto Nino. At the entrance, behind glass, there was a flask... View Article
January 22, 2020
Sometimes I venture into different cuisines and make a curry of sorts with what I have on hand in my pantry. In the last few days I have been working on a submission to an online food photography challenge and today’s challenge (for Saturday submission) was herbs and spices. Since I pulled out all the colourful spices for a photograph, I decided to use them in a dish for dinner, hence this curry. It’s a... View Article
November 17, 2019
Soup for me is second nature and as I mentioned before, I do not need or use recipes for making it so it is a little different every time I make it, depending on what I have on hand. This soup was a delicious combination of cooked white beans I had in the freezer, combined with potatoes, half a red pepper, a tomato and stock. For garnish I sprinkled along the side of the... View Article
November 13, 2019
Once fall arrives soup season begins in my kitchen. I make a soup in a large le Creuset pot and then store it in 2-3 mason jars in the fridge so it’s ready to warm up as I wish. Lentil soups are regulars here and I usually mix 2-3 types of lentils together to make it more interesting. Soup for me is second nature and I don ‘t need a recipe to make... View Article
October 29, 2019
So I am trying to keep up with my instagram posts and post them on the blog with a recipe at the same time. This can be a problem as I often have more than one Instagram post a day. I’ll have to figure out a happy balance but the problem is the followers on Instagram are asking for the recipes and I feel that I need to provide. We’ll see how it... View Article
October 17, 2019
My kind of salad, with sweet potatoes, black beans, pomegranate seeds and chopped pistachios combined for a spectrum of textures and flavours. I make this salad all year round and change it a little with every season. In the fall I add pomegranates or even firm, ripe pears for a touch of fruity flavour. In the summer I add fresh corn, roasted on the grill and scraped off the cob into a waiting... View Article
September 19, 2019
Grains and legumes are a big part of our food at home, served on their own , combined with other ingredients or made into delicious winter soups. There are different kinds of lentils and each lend itself to different preparation: Brown lentils are soup lentils for me as they don’t retain their shape well when cooked and in a soup, melt into beautiful creamy oblivion. Mind you, I often use a few different varieties... View Article
August 25, 2018
Dal is my go-to dish when I want the flavours of India at home. It is a simple dish of red lentils (or other legumes) cooked with spices and water to a creamy consistency and served with rice and other dishes. Ingredients: 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (canola, sunflower) 1 teaspoon cumin seeds1/2 teaspoon cumin powder 1 onion, halved and sliced 1 1/2 cups red lentils, rinsed and drained 1 teaspoon turmeric 1... View Article
May 15, 2018
Beans require soaking before cooking so when I prepare them I usually soak and cook more than required for a particular dish and keep the rest for another recipe. The other day I made a lovely bean soup and only used half of the beans, keeping the rest in the fridge for a couple of days and today used them to make this warm bean salad. Beans are nice on their own with a splash... View Article
May 8, 2018
Always curious about unusual ingredients, I picked up black chickpeas on our travels and finally got around to using them. I think I brought these back from Italy, where they are known as ceci neri (black chickpeas) but I believe some variety also grows in India. When dried they look small, black and wrinkly but these littles legumes pack a lot of flavour, dare I say even stronger flavour than the regular chickpeas. I... View Article
