Another delicious summer salad recipe for ya today! This one features plump, juicy, ripe peaches that are warmed and caramelized on the grill. They pair up with toasty walnuts, blue cheese, and peppery arugula and it’s all tied together with a honey & balsamic reduction. What’s not to like!? I’ve included a variation of this recipe that I think would be delicious to try!

Grilled Peach Salad (adapted from here)

2-3 ripe peaches, cut in half
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper
butter (or olive …

I recently spent the weekend on Saltspring Island (one of my favourite gulf islands here in British Columbia, Canada). Saltspring is known for it’s self-sustaining community. For this small island, you can literally get anything you need. There are plenty of beautiful farms producing everything from fresh dairy  and vegetables to lavender and wine. Every Saturday there is a market in the heart of town that showcases all of the great products of the island. I love seeing all of the fresh organic vegetables, hand crafted jewellery and clothing, and of …

Can you believe it’s 2011 already? I literally remember being nine years old and counting down to midnight on y2k, wondering what would happen when the year 2000 hit. Hah!
Last night was a ton of fun. I invited five friends over for some snacks and drinks before we hit the town. I love entertaining, I wanted a really fun menu with everything miniature!

Everyone was greeted with a Mini Peach-Pomegranate-Grapefruit Drop Martini.

Peach-Pomegranate-Grapefruit Martini

2 oz Absolut Peach vodka
splash of pomegranate juice
splash of grapefruit juice
sugar
orange zest

Put a bit of sugar into a bowl …

Here is another great salad recipe that is light and healthy and perfect for Fall. Delicious bosc pears, dried cranberries, candied pecans, and a homemade balsamic vinaigrette. The pecans are really the star of this dish, they are sooo tasty!

Spinach Salad with Balsamic Dressing (Oh She Glows)
Salad:

1 bag baby spinach (about 6 cups)
2 bosc pears, chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup candied pecans

Dressing:

2.5 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Ground black pepper to taste
1/2 minced clove of garlic

Candied …

I know I just posted about salads, but I like this salad too much to put it off! It’s a simple spinach salad with crunchy bean sprouts, button mushrooms, tomato, and avocado, but it’s alllll about the sweet ‘n’ tangy dressing! This recipe is just slightly adapted from my Aunt!
On another note, is it weird that I’m already excited for Halloween? I already ordered my costume from online….it should be here in the next few days!! Can’t wait to show you all!
Annnnnnd I have some very exciting news as of …

My garden’s lettuce box has been growing like crazy and we have an abundance of arugula, salad bowl lettuce, mesclun green, and romaine. I love love love our romaine- it’s sooo crisp and fresh and you can’t get more local than your very own backyard. I decided to make a caesar salad, because it was a perfect way to showcase this lovely lettuce. My friend was over for dinner and she couldn’t get over how good the salad tasted- she was sure it was the homegrown lettuce! This is a …

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, …

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 love eating salads, but I often add some protein in the form of seafood to them. I recently had a great salad made with lettuce, cherry tomatoes, about half of an avocado, goat cheese, and these orange-chipotle shrimp. I think these shrimp would make a great filling for shrimp tacos, as well! There really aren’t exact amounts of each ingredient for this recipe. Just use however much shrimp you want, and make sure there is enough marinade to coat them all!
Orange-Chipotle Shrimp

about 2 chipotle peppers packed in adobo sauce
juice …

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 …