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Balela Salad
I’m always up for a nice bean salad – they remind me of Summer picnics, and this Balela Salad – loosely based on the Middle Eastern dish – would be a great addition to any picnic or potluck. Vegan, gluten-free, and delicious, this salad is perfect if you’re hoping to feed a crowd of people with diverse dietary restrictions. It’s also great for lunches, as the fibre will keep you feeling full until the day is over. It’s also a bit addictive, especially after it’s had a day to marinate in the fridge. You can serve it with pita or some fresh bread, but it’s perfectly fine on its…
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Cauliflower Tacos
These delicious vegetarian cauliflower tacos are so good that they leave me craving more whenever I make them. They’re pretty healthy, too, and extremely flavourful while not being terribly spicy, despite the chiles and jalapeno. I’m not a vegetarian, but I’m not a huge meat-eater and though I occasionally enjoy meat it’s not a thing I like to cook at home very often. And I’m trying to find recipes that are a bit healthier while still being the kind of thing that I look forward to eating. If you’re the kind of person who finds cauliflower repulsive, you still might find yourself enjoying this – the cauliflower is really just…
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Tuscan Chicken Skillet
I’m always looking for reasonably quick, easy recipes that are reasonably healthy and freeze well, so that I can take them to work for lunch. Tuscan Chicken Skillet ticks all of the boxes, but it’s also super-delicious. It’s nice, when you’re surrounded by take-out lunch options that aren’t great for your but are incredibly tempting, to have something home-cooked and tasty ready to go. I try to spend Sunday nights cooking, so that I can eat well all week, and though it’s not always possible, when I do have the time it’s awesome. I’ll note that this recipe was initially written up as a low-mess, one pot meal,…
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Roasted Cauliflower with Sesame Seed Oil
Easy and delicious (though admittedly not beautiful), I made Roasted Cauliflower with Sesame Seed Oil last night and ended up eating almost an entire head of cauliflower by myself. Technically I guess it’s a side dish, and a super-tasty one, but it’s the kind of thing I’m likely to eat as a main, because it’s quick and really filling. This simple recipe works best if you have a roasting dish that just barely fits the dish, and that also has a lid. This will help keep the cauliflower moist, and also helps the sesame oil flavour to infuse the cauliflower, which is totally amazing. Sesame oil is one of my favourite…
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Crepes
Crepes - A recipe passed down from Nana Cynthia, this delicious brunch treat is pretty simple to make.
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Guacamole
Guacamole - delicious, easy, and pretty good for you, guacamole is endlessly customizable to your taste - add or subtract what you like!
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Fried Halloumi with Tomatoes
Fried Halloumi with Tomatoes is a nice, simple dish that works best in the Summer, when all of the fresh ingredients are at their peak flavour.
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Quinoa and Corn Salad Recipe
We’ve been interested in picnicking for a few years now; something about packing up a lunch and going somewhere green and lovely to eat it on a blanket on the grass feels so special and nice. We’ve got one of those picnic knapsacks, with all of the cutlery and everything, which we’ve been using as our camp kitchen for years, and we’re building a list of excellent and easily-portable recipes. In the midst of an unexpectedly sweltering May day, we decided to make a few salads and bicycle down to the Trent-Severn Canal, on the bank of Little Lake, to have our first picnic of the year. This recipe, one…
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Nana-Approved Turkey Pot Pie
2017 Update: I posted this Turkey Pot Pie recipe in 2010, and two years later my lovely Nana died. This recipe still reminds me of her; her approval meant a lot to me. 2010 Original post: This is essentially a basic turkey pot pie recipe, but I like to think that I’ve particularly made it mine by emphasizing the thyme, salt, and pepper. This savoury pie could probably handle a little sage, too, but have a light hand – the thyme really makes it irresistible. And don’t be stingy with the salt and pepper. I find too that no matter how badly I think I’ve screwed up the homemade pastry,…
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Mango Chutney
About a week ago, I was grocery shopping and saw a flat of mangoes for $3. It was too good to turn down, but then I had a flat of overripe mangoes kicking around my kitchen. So I looked online at a bunch of recipes for canning mango chutney, combined a few, modified them to suit my own tastes, and came up with a chutney I’m pretty happy with. It’s a dead-simple recipe that would be a good one for first-timers, as it’s not too fussy and doesn’t take a lot of time. Just remember to wash everything in hot, soapy water, and let everything air-dry – that’s really the…
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Pumpkin Pie
An easy, delicious Pumpkin Pie recipe that tastes just like Autumn - and of course, my pie pastry recipe as well!
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Pie Pastry (Basic)
Pie Pastry (Basic) - a simple, straightforward, no-steps-skipped recipe for making your own pastry from scratch. It tastes amazing!
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Nana Cynthia’s Crepes
My Nana Cynthia gave this recipe to my sister Sammi when she was about 10; we wanted crepes, so Sammi called up Nana and copied down the recipe from her. We were all pretty amused to see that Sammi had spelled them ‘creaps.’ To my mind, paper-thin, hot crepes with lemon juice and icing sugar are both the only way to eat crepes, and they are the best treat in the world. But this crepe is a neutral base, and you can use it for sweet or savoury fillings. This recipe simultaneously reminds me of my Nana and my sisters as well as Paris, which I’ve visited in the Springtime…
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Apple Pie
Easy-peasy, lovely and delicious, Apple Pie is the perfect thing for just about every day, if you feel like it. I know oldsters and orchard-owners will tell you all kinds of things about which apples make the best pie, but I’d say that MacIntoshes and Granny Smiths are the absolute best apples for pie making that are regularly available in most grocery stores (in Canada, anyway). I know other apples hold together better in the pie, but taste is my issue, not texture, and you can’t beat Macs and Grannies for perfect sweet-tartness. If you want a pie that tastes less like a straight-ahead old-fashioned version and more like candied…
