September 5, 2016
Eggplant, peppers, onion and zucchini are a classic mix in Mediterranean cuisines and very much the kind of foods I grew up with. I was reminded of this dish in a Spanish class recently (taught at VOM FASS by Heather of Heather’s Kitchen) and in the process of cleaning out the fridge before we left on a trip, made this dish for dinner one day. Even if you don’t usually like eggplant, I think you... View Article
September 3, 2016
With the abundance of ripe and delicious tomatoes out now we use them every day in some form: salads, sauces, jams, gazpacho, tarts and more. We haven’t tired of them yet and by the time we do, it will be the end of their season and we will move on to something else. This is the beautify of eating seasonal food, before you have had your fill, they are gone. Since for me a meal without... View Article
August 31, 2016
Here is a recipe for yellow beans using the tomato vinaigrette from the previous post. Serve it warm or at room temperature but not cold as the oil in the dressing needs to be liquid (it thickens in the fridge). Yellow beans are soft and buttery and the acidity in the vinaigrette compliments them beautifully. Substitute green beans if you don’t have the yellow variety. To cook, steam the beans or cook them in boiling... View Article
August 19, 2016
Baking bread feels so authentic, so fundamental to cooking. Just think of all the cooks over millenia baking bread for their families and communities all over the world. I don’t bake bread all the time but as is my style, every now and then I go all in and bake all kinds of breads for a while and then move on to something else until I revisit this art again. The inspiration for this round... View Article
August 16, 2016
Cauliflower has a love-hate affair with foodies. Some love it some don’t. I am on the love-it camp and especially so when it is roasted. Roasting cauli brings out wonderful flavours, completely different than when you steam it. The cauliflower “steaks” became trendy a while back and it’s not a bad way of preparing them. You cut the cauli into thick slices through the stem and end up with beautifully shaped floral portions that you... View Article
August 15, 2016
With tomatoes in season and beautifully ripe, needless to say we feature them on the daily menu with pleasure. Tomato salads, tomato sauces, bruschetta with tomatoes and even fried green tomatoes get reinvented in one delish dish after another. This past week we had company and I knew that one of our guests loved a good gazpacho. I was inspired to prepare a couple of jars of this chilled soup to have available as an... View Article
August 9, 2016
G was out on the lake all day with his beloved Isa Lei and I stayed behind to “do my thing”. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure I’d make dinner tonight, I enjoyed reading in the hammock under the blooming wisteria on the south patio and we can aways eat out. But, it was a beautiful evening and I love to cook and find it easy to put together something quickly. So I was... View Article
August 8, 2016
I can eat pasta every day and the only reason I don’t is because I like to cook many things and can only eat so much. But believe me, in Italy, where others were doing the cooking I was eating fabulous pasta dishes every day, no exceptions and loved every minute of it. In the heat of the summer it’s nice to have light dishes that are refreshing and cooling without standing in front of... View Article
July 29, 2016
I had a few extra cooked yellow beets from a dish I made the other day and thought they would be interesting in a homemade hummus. I looked online for inspiration and found a recipe by Nigel Slater for red beet hummus with dukkah, an aromatic Egyptian spice blend made with chopped nuts, seeds and spices that has many uses in middle eastern cooking. I thought I could make the recipe with yellow beets, and... View Article
July 28, 2016
There is an art to travelling as a vegetarian. You would think that with the abundance of gorgeous produce in the markets, especially around the Mediterranean, it would be easy to find vegetarian dishes in restaurants but somehow it is not. Now, I am interested in food and culture and will try other things even if they are not vegetarian, especially the local and traditional. I am certainly not going to travel without experiencing local foods.... View Article
July 22, 2016
We are just on the verge of tomato season here in the Okanagan and where better to get your tomatoes than at Sunshine Farm in east Kelowna. Run by Jon and Sher Alcock and their family, the farm is an intimate, hands-on operation that takes pride in quality and preservation and specializes in heritage rare and organic seeds from which they grow their produce. The Alcock’s daughter Mona Johannson, one of the best chefs in the Okanagan,... View Article
July 18, 2016
Grain salads can be quite beautiful when combined with colourful seasonal vegetables. This salad would make a good option for summer entertaining because it is all inclusive: it has grains, vegetables and salad greens all in one dish. The barley can be cooked in advance and kept in the fridge, but the vegetables are best cooked the day you serve it. I made this salad with three colours of cauliflower: white, orange and purple, but... View Article
