November 8, 2016
I love fall and its gorgeous colours and try to bring them into the kitchen and onto the plate. The golds, reds and greens of beautiful pumpkins and winter squashes are regular visitors here. Roasted, baked, made into soups, added to salads, used in pancakes, waffles or muffins, I don’t think a day does by without a touch of one pumkin or another in what we eat at home. The leftover roasted squash from the... View Article
November 7, 2016
This is winter squash season and piles of butternut, acorn, delicata, buttercup and more are piled high on the stands at the markets. I do my share to support local producers and buy a lot of them. They can sit on the counter for a while as part of the kitchen scene, bringing in a seasonal element and beautiful shapes and colour to your home. But of course they are meant to be cooked. The... View Article
November 1, 2016
I wonder who was the cook who first came up with the idea of cauliflower “rice”. Since they “invented” it, the concept has spread like wildfire in kitchens around the world and for good reasons. It’s a simple and delicious way to serve cauliflower and can easily replace rice if you are a no-carb person, which, let me clarify, I AM NOT. I love carbs. I prefer to chop the cauli in a food processor... View Article
October 27, 2016
Roasting peppers transforms their flavour and texture and makes them versatile and adaptable to many dishes. I almost always have roasted peppers in the fridge, marinating in a little olive oil and flavoured with garlic, salt and pepper. I add them to grains and legumes, use them to top pizza or bruschetta and to make sauces and soups but my favourite way to eat roasted pepper is as they are an a salad. Since the... View Article
October 26, 2016
This recipe works well with smaller onions and they don’t have to be of equal size. I roasted them whole, skin on, drizzled with a little olive oil. Once they cooled I slipped them out of their papery skin and separated the layers into “petals”. A drizzle of olive oil, a little sherry vinegar and a sprinkling of herb flower salt finished the dish. Serve as an accompaniment to other dishes, to top pizza, with... View Article
October 23, 2016
Roasting cauliflower is my favourite way of cooking it. Roasting brings out deep earthy flavours and natural sweetness that may otherwise not come forward. It’s not the only way to cook cauli, I like it pickled, steamed with a sauce, cauliflower rice, mashed and more. So many recipes, so little time. I made this bowl of cauli for lunch (we eat simply over here) and it was so good and easy, I wanted to share.... View Article
October 17, 2016
Spaghetti squash is a fun variety because its flesh breaks into spaghetti-like strands. It has a mild flavour that lends itself to different finishing touches, from tomato sauce to olive oil, pesto etc. I kept this recipe simple by tossing the cooked strands with olive oil, parsley, salt, pepper and parmesan then topped it with crunchy bread crumbs that I first sautéed in a little olive oil. You can serve it in a bowl or... View Article
September 16, 2016
Cleaning up the fridge today. I chopped up all the vegetables to similar size chunks, tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper and piled them into parchment baking bags together with a few stems of thyme. Seal the bag and bake at 400F for 30 minutes. If you want to dry them out a bit you can cut the bag open and continue cooking for another 10 minutes or so, or just place the bags... View Article
September 14, 2016
When you buy corn by the dozen for only 2 people sometimes you have a few cobs left over. What I do then is scrape the kernels off the cob and use them in salads, with grains, in tacos, or as here, in a late summer corn and potato soup. This soup can be made with cream, creme fraiche or vegan with cashew cream. Take your pick. It’s a beautiful soup either way you do... View Article
September 13, 2016
Every now and then I enjoy a good cabbage salad but not necessarily with mayo dressing. This is a fresh and crisp cabbage salad with sweet and tangy dressing made with cider vinegar, maple syrup and creme fraiche. Since we want to layer flavours and textures I chop in a few fresh mint leaves and scatter fresh lavender flowers on top. One thing I enjoy with many salads is the crisp and nutty flavours and... View Article
September 12, 2016
I am cleaning up my garden before leaving on our trip. It can get cold here and I didn’t want to come back to frozen vegetables and forgo the fun of picking my own vegetables and cooking them fresh. I had a large amount of sorrel, both green and red and I gave it a whirl in the food processor with olive oil, then filled glass jars with the “pesto” and put it in the... View Article
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
