March 23, 2015
If there was one food trend in recent history that can be called the trend of the century it must be kale. I have already waxed poetic about it before so I won’t make you listen again but that’s my opinion and I am sticking to it. Kale just won’t go away, and it shouldn’t. Kale salads are now de rigueur on restaurant menus and some are quite appealing. It is a good mixer but... View Article
February 26, 2015
Kale salads took the culinary world by a storm and all of a sudden every trendy chef was offering kale salads on their menu. Suddenly, or so it seemed, there were curly kale and black kale and red kale and Russian kale available to us and we jumped on the food trend bandwagon. Kale has a strong flavour a sturdy texture and needs some help making it into a salad. We chopped, ribboned, even massaged... View Article
November 10, 2014
Part of my culinary style is cooking with grains, legumes and vegetables and combine them in hot and cold dishes. I find it convenient to cook grains or legumes in advance and have them sitting in the fridge for a day or two waiting to be incorporated into a recipe for lunch or dinner (or breakfast). Quinoa cooks very quickly as it does not require soaking but still, I usually cook more than what I... View Article
September 15, 2014
As the weather gets cooler I get in the mood for a heartier fare. A trip to the farmers market yesterday yielded a bag of sieglinde potatoes from Sweet Life Farms, beautiful green cabbage and black kale from another vendor and an orange cauliflower. I thought I’d combine all of them in a quick sauté for dinner, which is just my kind of food. I started with the potatoes as they take the longest to cook,... View Article
April 26, 2014
What do you make for a quick dinner? For me it’s pasta hands down. It goes with just about anything and I can almost make it with my eyes closed. You know where the pot is and you just need to scoop a piece to taste if it’s al dente, right? For this dish I combined red pepper penne with sautéed onion, cabbage and kale, a little white wine and then some mascarpone to round... View Article
April 6, 2014
I posted a free form lasagna recipe a short while ago but today made another one and thought it post-worthy. I used fresh lasagna sheets from our Valoroso Italian market and used prepared tomato sauce from Alba, Italy (Cascina San Cassiano, comes in a cute round jar). If you can’t find this one try Williams Sonoma pasta sauces, they are pretty good, or of course make your own. This lasagna has to be cooked in 375F... View Article
November 30, 2013
So, how do you get flavour into foods without adding oil? I am so used to cooking foods in a little olive oil to bring out the flavour that it seems impossible to get flavour without it. However, it is possible and this full flavour soup without any free oil or butter shows it can be done. I resisted the temptation to sauté the vegetables in oil and just steam-sautéed them in a little water... View Article
April 13, 2012
Vegetables are so fun to cook. Most of us cook and serve them on their open but mingling them can produce a fun unexpected and delicious combination of textures and flavours. Cabbage can be combined with potatoes, grains and other vegetables. It is a part of almost every international cuisine and is good flavoured with Mediterranean, Asian or eastern European flavours. I slightly undercook the cabbage and kale because I like to retain their colour... View Article
April 2, 2012
A nice way of combining vegetables to create a complete meal or a substantial side dish. The potatoes and onion are sautéed until crisp and then the kale is added with a bit of stock and cooked until the kale is just wilted. I then add some cooked lentils and continue cooking just until flavours are merged and liquids are absorbed. Serve the dish immediately as the kale will lose it bright green colour if... View Article
