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 …

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 …

I love eating salad….what could be better than a big pile of vegetables in a delicious dressing. A few weeks ago I made a roasted beet salad and it was absolutely divine. The roasted beets are matched up with aspargus and blue cheese and amazing candied walnuts, all tied together in a super citrus-y orange vinaigrette. This is one of the best salads I’ve had in a long time…I definitely went back for seconds! This would be great to make for company, instead of a boring ceasar salad or green …

When you’re in need of a light meal, salad seems to be the number one option. I say, why not add a little protein to boost your energy and make that small meal last. I love a good salad with some sort of seafood- prawns, crab, calamari. In this case, I chose a recipe for a spinach salad with scallops. The baby spinach is delicate enough to be used with scallops. A crunchy romaine would not go well with this. I also added in some arugula for it’s peppery taste. …

I’m not going to lie…..I don’t feel like using an oven the past few days. I sit here sweating, but ready to blog. The temperatures in the Vancouver area have been OFF THE CHARTS lately. We are setting records left and right, and let’s just say that none of us here are used to 35-40 degree weather. At least I’ve been getting a ton of use out of my pool! That’s why I only wanted a dinner that would take a couple minutes to make in my boiling house. A …

The first recipe from the Cookbook of the Month- Gourmet Vegetarian is this delicious “Brown rice and Puy Lentils with Pine Nuts and Spinach. It is protein packed with lentils and healthy brown rice (I used brown basmati).
Brown Rice and Puy Lentils with Pine Nuts and Spinach

2 tomatoes
1 red onion
1 carrot
2 celery stalks
(I added some cucumber)
1 cup long grain brown rice
100 ml extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup puy lentils
3 tablespoons chopped coriander (cilantro)
3 tablespoons chopped mint
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
2 cups …