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
November 20, 2018
In late summer I received a bag of heirloom carrots, small, delicate and so fresh that they lasted a while in my fridge. I wanted to do something special with them because they were given to me by a special family that grows produce with love and integrity (sunshine farm seeds) and I wanted to honour their work and extend it to my kitchen. I thought I’d follow the trend of cooking and... 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
July 26, 2018
I have been having a lot of fun in the kitchen and lately also trying dishes I have never made before. We recently spent a week in the BC mountains hiking and biking (Sun Peaks, post to come) and our days consisted of all day hikes (or biking) and then dinner at night at one of the several restaurants in the small Austrian style village. Food mostly left some to be desired except for one... View Article
June 5, 2018
Often when I cook rice I make extra and use the leftover rice in a pilaf a day or two later. It’s a good way to use up odds and ends of veggies that are lingering but are still beautiful, fresh and crisp. A classic pilaf is rice sautéed in oil with aromatics and then cooked in flavoured broth with vegetables or non-vegetarian proteins. My method here is different, sautéeing vegetables first and then adding... View Article
May 29, 2018
Rice noodles have a light texture and neutral flavour that adapts to any sauce or dressing you pair it with. The noodles are beautiful white and raw vegetables add colour and texture to the dish. This salad is quick and easy to prepare and for us it’s a light and refreshing dinner on a warm evening or a hot summer day. The crushed peanuts on top add just the right crunch and nutty flavour, I... View Article
May 20, 2018
Israeli couscous is not really a couscous. Real couscous is made with crushed grains of durum wheat and what is known as Israeli couscous are tiny little toasted pasta balls developed in Israel in the 1950s to replace rice which was then unavailable. Israeli couscous is easy to cook and good on its own or combined with other vegetables in salads or warm dishes. I like to brown the couscous in a little olive... 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
May 5, 2018
Still cool enough here to enjoy a warm bowl of soup and mushroom soup is one of my favourites. You can use a variety of mushroom to add flavour. I like texture so I sauté a few additional mushrooms briefly in olive oil and use as garnish. For a creamy vegan version use cashew cream in the puréed soup or as garnish on top. If you use bay leaves don’t forget to remove them before... View Article
May 4, 2018
I have had a few good versions of Japanese eggplants in the past and have been looking for a way to recreate something similar at home. I found a recipe for miso eggplant in an Australian publication and worked with their recipe to make this dish. I think I would try it with Japanese eggplants next time although this version was nice. The recipe called for grilling it but I roasted it in the oven... View Article
May 2, 2018
I find that roasting a few beets (2-3 large ones) is useful as they keep in the fridge for a few days and you can use them to make a soup or salad or serve as a vegetable in various ways. Today I had two beets, previously roasted, and they were perfect to make a nice little beet salad with goat cheese and walnuts. I sliced them and then cut into cubes of equal size... View Article
April 17, 2018
So, we just returned from 4 months of travel, two of which were in South America. I can’t even begin to tell you how much fun, interesting and educational this experience was. I wrote about the trip as we went along but there is so much more to share and since I compile these posts and images into travel book for our family, I will continue to write and document our experience. It took me... View Article
