July 11, 2016
I was looking back at our two months stay in Spain a couple of years ago and remembered the roasted vegetables I used to order at various restaurants. It was not easy to find vegetarian options on the jamon Iberico and seafood focused menus and I often had to create my own lunch or dinner from side dishes they offered. There is an art to travelling vegetarian and I think I have mastered it. This is... View Article
July 5, 2016
I have posted a few watermelon salads before but one more wouldn’t hurt. Watermelon makes a refreshing summer salad and it combines surprisingly well with a number of surprising sweet and savoury things such as raspberries, tomatoes, cucumbers and even some salad greens. Local raspberries are available now, lush, soft and delicious, so why not use them as much as I can? This recipe though is straight forward: watermelon, raspberries, mint, chopped candied nuts and... View Article
July 4, 2016
Lately tacos have been my go to dish for a quick lunch or dinner. If you have the basic components on hand, taco making is quick and easy. I usually have a stack of white corn tortillas in the fridge (don’t keep them in the freezer) and from there it’s easy to layer a taco from filling to garnish to sauce. Since I keep my kitchen vegetarian bean base is often what I use as... View Article
June 13, 2016
This is the salad I made to go with the vegan burgers the other day so I am sharing it with you in case you were curious. The new potatoes are beautiful now and beg to be used as often as possible. Soft and buttery they hardly need anything but a shower of fresh herbs but today I dressed them in a vinaigrette. You don’t have to peel them when the peel is fine and... View Article
June 8, 2016
I am doubling up on recipes lately. Same as the previous zucchini “noodles” recipe but with real pasta this time. I was fascinated by the way chefs roll up the pasta into a cylinder and had to figure it out. I think it’s coming along and it was fun. I used a two pronged grill fork, wrapped the pasta around it, placed it on the plate and pulled the fork out. If you have dexterity,... View Article
June 8, 2016
I mentioned a while ago that I bought the spiralizer attachment for the KitchenAid mixer, so, I am having fun playing with it and I thought I’d share this zucchini noodles dish in case you are interested. There are different spiralizers on the market if you don’t have one and you can look at a review here. When I first made the spirals with a zucchini they started all messed up, wet and short but... View Article
June 1, 2016
We came back from a long hike on trails around a local mountain with spectacular views of the Okanagan lake. We left for the hike early morning and the parking lot at the foot of the mountain was nearly empty. It tends to fill up quickly later in the day and especially on weekends. We started with our regular route to the top of the mountain but three quarters of the way up decided to... View Article
May 23, 2016
One of my go to dishes in Indian restaurants is Aloo Gobi, a vegetable dish made by cooking potatoes and cauliflower together with spices and a little water. Traditionally I think they add green peas at the end. I didn’t have any peas today but I added a couple of tomatoes to the dish, not necessarily authentic but it worked for me. For us a dish like that is a simple dinner but of course... View Article
May 13, 2016
The kitchen for me is sort of a classroom where I can venture to learn anything that interests me at the moment. Today “lesson” was scallion pancakes that have intrigued me for quite sometime. As it is with most things, once you actually do them you realize that they are not that complicated and only require curiosity, some work, skill and willingness to try. Scallion cakes are part of Asian cuisine and I have seen... View Article
May 11, 2016
Mashed potatoes are nice to play with now and then. They make a good canvas for a variety of flavours. Being the starch lover that I am I make them often and try to vary them once in a while, this time with cauliflower and a little steamed kale. I cooked the potatoes together with the cauliflower (you can cook them separately if you wish) to save on washing another pot. When they were cooked... View Article
April 26, 2016
It has been a while since I bought any kitchen gadgets but on a recent trip to Vancouver my son recommended the KitchenAid spiralizer attachment and I went for it instantly. I have a spiralizer thingy at home but it works best with larger vegetables such as potatoes etc. The KitchenAid one apparently works with any size. (nothing to disclose, this is not a promotional post). While in Van City we had dinner at Provence... View Article
April 15, 2016
I have been making an effort to use up all of the grains and legumes in my pantry. I am a bit of a shopping addict when it comes to foods, wanting to buy everything in sight. Just think of what I could do with this or that. So inevitably I have jars filled or half filled with barley, wheat berries, various rice grains, lentils and more. I haven’t cooked with barley in a while... View Article
