If you can remember back to this post, I made a meal inspired from the Middle East. This particular dish is a cumin- carrot salad. I used organic carrots and they were so fresh and sweet, it added an entire element of flavour compared to regular carrots. Yum! For those of you that don’t know, cumin is an extremely healthy spice. It has a unique flavour and wonderful properties that aid in digestion, help fight off colds, and cumin is actually very rich in iron. It’s also a powerful antioxidant, …

Here we are, already setting the clocks ahead and getting ready for Spring! We’ve been having unusually sunny weather here in Vancouver for most of February and then suddenly got snow this week, and now the sun is back, trying to make an appearance! Strange strange strange. Regardless of the weather, I decided to make a light, refreshing and healthy pea soup. Anything to do with peas just tastes like Spring to me- the flavour is so fresh! This made a pretty big batch, but I’ll definitely be freezing it …

So I have dabbled in a couple of raw food dishes, such as the raw cheesecake I tried in the summer. I’m feeling a bit less than myself lately and was sick over the past week or so. Because I am in pastry school, I find myself consuming a lot of sugar, and I basically went from a near zero sugar diet, to one where I’m bringing home cakes, pies, tarts, and bread several times a week, and while a lot gets shoved in the freezer right away, it’s the …

I’m totally obsessed with yams and sweet potatoes, as ya’ll probably know, and here’s one more recipe for when I have to satisfy my craving! These are sesame baked yam fried and they are served with an almond butter dipping sauce. I recently made an almond butter dipping sauce to use with my spring rolls, and it was quite different to the one used in this recipe. This one, to me, tasted just like ketchup, so I added some ginger to try and make it taste a bit more interesting …

I feel like it’s been longer than usual inbetween posts for me. I have had midterms all of last week, so I was a bit busy studying (or trying to….). Honestly, who can study with the excitement of the Olympics coming up in just under a week! I can’t wait to have some fun amidst all the chaos and hectic activities downtown. And now onto the food….
I really wanted to make something sort of unique, and cute. I decided on Herb & Feta Polenta with Sun-Dried Tomato Tapenade. I had …

Lately I have been wanting to create a recipe for healthier spring rolls. When I was younger I used to love eating spring rolls, dipped in plenty of plum sauce, but these days I rarely eat them. I thought about making spring rolls that were baked, instead of deep fried, and when one of my classmates in culinary school was offering up a package of spring roll wrappers, I jumped on the chance. They sat in my freezer for about a month- until tonight, that is. I have been trying …

Miso soup is so easy to make and it’s absolutely delicious. I love the salty miso and seaweed with the neutral, creamy tofu. I threw this together for lunch one day and there are so many different add-ins you can use. Why not try crab meat instead of tofu? Or use some soba noodles to make it a bit heartier. Try using different kinds of miso for slightly different flavour combinations, as well!
Miso Soup

7 cups of water
several strands of seaweed- (I used dried wakame and I cut it into pieces …

I love Japanese food and I go out for Japanese food almost weekly. There are some great local sushi places that are super cheap and produce great food- I’m addicted. Some of my favourites are the crab miso soup, gomae (spinach in a peanut dressing), sunomono salad, california rolls, spider rolls (sushi with deep fried soft shell crab in it) and sesame broccoli salad. Instead of going out tonight (the Canucks are playing, I can’t miss that!) I decided to stay in and create a Japanese inspired meal of my …

As you may have noticed the Cookbook of the Month is a book called Rebar. Rebar is a restaurant located in Victoria, British Columbia- just a ferry ride away from where I live! I actually haven’t been to Rebar though, but I’ve been eyeing this book in bookstores for a long time! I finally got the chance to use it when I took it out from my school’s library. I fell in love with it…I had to buy it!

One of the recipes I recently made from this book was a …

As you may know, I’m unable to taste many things in my culinary school due to meat stocks or meat itself being used in the cooking process. I took it upon myself to make a vegetarian vichyssoise at home, as I was intrigued and had never before tasted this cold potato-leek soup. The texture was so rich and creamy at school, and duplicating it was not difficult at all. In fact, this recipe comes together very quickly, minus the 45-minute simmering time. I was happy that I made this soup, …