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, and has even been said to aid those suffering with insomnia. It’s used extensively in Ayurvedic healing, and you can see why! Try this salad, and experience the benefits of cumin.

Cumin-Carrot Salad (adapted from the NY Times)

• 1 lb of organic carrots, thinly sliced
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• pinch of salt
• fresh ground pepper
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2-3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup black olives, sliced

Place the carrots in a steamer above 1 inch of boiling water, cover and steam 5 to 8 minutes, until tender. Remove from the heat, rinse with cold water, and drain on paper towels. Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a frying pan and add the garlic and cumin. Stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in carrots, salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice, remaining olive oil, parsley, and olives. Serve at room temperature. Serves 4.

When I went to Mexico, one of my favourite meals was at a Mexican restaurant in the resort. There was a great salad bar and one of my favourite salads was a corn salad. It had a mystery flavour to it, but it made it fantastic. After a couple bites, I realized that the flavour was cinnamon! A strong cinnamon flavour. I knew that when I got home I would be making a salad with corn and cinnamon. Instead of stopping at a corn salad, I decided to add the cinnamon flavour to quinoa, and make that the base of my salad. I added black beans, corn, tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, and feta cheese and it made a truly beautiful, healthful salad. I took the flavour up another notch by making a roasted red pepper vinaigrette to top the salad.

Mexican Quinoa Salad

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups cold water
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• pinch of salt and pepper
• zest of one lime
• juice of one lime
• tobasco, to taste
• 1 avocado
• 3-4 tomatoes
• 3/4 cup canned or frozen corn kernals
• 1 can black beans
• 1/2 cup cubed feta cheese
• 2-3 tbsp finely chopped cilantro

Rinse the quinoa thoroughly and put in a pot with cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne, salt and pepper, lime zest and juice, tobasco, and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from stove and let sit for 5 more minutes. Fluff with a fork. Add the remaining ingredients and toss. Enjoy!

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 with scissors. Keep in mind that seaweed expands ALOT!)
• 1 tbsp of mirin
• 2 tbsp tamari
• tofu, medium dice (about 1/2″ cubes, use however much you like- I used about half a block I had in the fridge)
• 1/2 cup miso (I used a brown rice miso called genmai- it was what I had on hand.)
• 5 scallions, minced (reserve some for garnish)
• 2 tsp sesame seeds

Heat the water to a simmer. Add the seaweed, the mirin, and the soy sauce. Cover and remove from the heat- allow to soak for 5-10 minutes. Reheat to a simmer and add the tofu. Simmer for 5 minutes. Whisk in the miso and scallions. Heat up but don’t boil. Boiling will remove some of the nutrients from the miso. Sprinkle plenty of sesame seeds over top of each portion of soup, and top with extra scallion as a garnish. Enjoy!

If it is too salty, add more mirin. If it is too sweet, add more miso!

On another note, I wasn’t going to post these, as there is nothing healthy about them, but my boyfriend made me promise I would. I made a batch of sugar cookies and decorated them as little footballs for a Grey Cup party my boyfriend’s family was having. The Grey Cup is pretty much the Superbowl, but for the Canadian Football League. It was a really exciting game (and normally I reaaally don’t enjoy watching football) and the cookies were a big hit!!

Lastly, I think instead of having a Cookbook of the Month for December, I will focus on family recipes for Christmas! Hopefully making them healthier in the process.

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, as it’s such a classic French dish.

I was reading a book I had taken out from the school library about becoming a personal chef and all the business aspects of it, and I was happy to find some recipes in the back of it. As you all know, I cannot resist anything with the word pumpkin in it at this time of year, so when I saw Pumpkin Hummus, I knew I would be making it. It was a snap to make in the food processor and it’s actually quite healthy and low in calories. Use it as a dip or a spread! I think I may experiment with a sweeter version of this hummus as well, using familiar pumpkin pie spices instead of the savoury cumin and garlic etc. It would be nice to have both, come Halloween! I always seem to end up with an abundance of oddly shapen and very cut tiny pumpkins, along with the ones I carve. Is it weird that I just cannot resist buying a teeny little pumpkin every year!!? I was stoked when I thought of serving the hummus inside this little pumpkin- it’s too cute, and would look great on any festive Autumn table! Enjoy the recipes!

Pumpkin Hummus (Adapted from The Professional Personal Chef)

• 2 tbsp tahini
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp cumin, ground
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/8- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• one 15-ounce can pumpkin
• 1/2 – 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds, toasted

Place the tahini, lemon juice, cumin, olive oil, salt, red pepper flakes, pumpkin, garlic and parsley in food processor. Blend until smooth.

Garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds and serve with pita bread, taco chips, etc.