I was contacted by the company Olives & Things, a relatively new company made up of a Spanish woman and her Canadian husband with the intention of bringing 100% natural products of the Mediterranean and Spain to the world.

I was able to try the Cazorliva, a Spanish, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil. I wanted to try it in a recipe that really focused on the flavour of the olive oil itself. I chose a Spanish tapa, “Pan con Tomate”. It’s basically toast with tomato and garlic and lots of delicious olive oil. It’s a widely eaten dish all over Spain.

Pan con Tomate

• 1 baguette
• 1-2 big juicy tomatoes
• 1 clove of garlic
• sea salt
• 1-2 tbsp Olives & Things Cazorlina extra virgin olive oil

The other day I hankerin’ for cornbread. (Did I just say hankerin’…?) The fact that I felt like cornbread is pretty weird considering I’ve eaten it about twice in my life, and the most recent time was several years ago. I told my mom, and she was down. I searched for a few recipes, looking for one that might use a healthier flour than white flour, and I settled on Heidi’s recipe for ‘Firecracker Cornbread’. I didn’t change too much in her recipe, but I baked the bread in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet, and it took about half the time. I topped it with butter and drizzled it with plenty of honey and my mom and I both enjoyed it. I really liked that it had fresh corn in it, and I loved the subtle spicyness from the red pepper flakes.

Also, please check out my latest Examiner article. It’s a review on this really great asian vegetarian restaurant in Vancouver called Whole Vegetarian Restaurant. My mom and I went for lunch and we ordered so much food that they moved us to a bigger table LOL. It was delicious, though. Unfortunately I was an extremely bad food blogger and didn’t have my camera on me!! Talk about unprepared….I guess you’ll just have to trust me on this one

Looks like I have some explaining to do- it’s been a long time since my last post! I’m not even sure why…maybe it’s just that it’s summer. It’s not that I was lacking motivation, perhaps I was too motivated. I think I was trying too hard to make food for the blog. I decided I would stop trying and let the ideas come to me- and they did. I was so excited when I felt like stepping into the kitchen again. I knew I wanted to use the Cookbook of the Month ‘Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day’. I made a Light Whole Wheat dough because it’s very versatile and can be used in many different recipes in the book. I’ve felt like Indian food lately and so I thought to try making naan bread. The process is so easy- just roll out the dough and pop it into a frying pan, wait wait wait, flip, wait wait wait, eat. Almost like making a pancake! I needed something to accompany the naan and I decided to try a hummus that I’ve been wanting to try for a long time now- Dreena Burton’s Curried Chickpea Hummus. This little appetizer or snack tasted AMAZING. My mom and I finished a whole naan in a matter of seconds! With a dash of coarse salt and a big dip of hummus, I would serve this sensation to anyone!

If you are interested in making bread (of any kind), I urge you to pick up Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day for some fabulous recipes like this light whole wheat naan bread! I’ve included my adapted version of the curried hummus for you to try. I do recommend naan with it (store-bought or homemade) or pappadums which are Indian lentil crackers.

Curried Chickpea Hummus (Adapted from Eat, Drink, Be Vegan)

• 2 cups canned chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp honey
• 1 big garlic clove
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1/8 tsp tumeric
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• pepper (to taste)
• 2 tbsp almond butter
• 4-5 tbsp water (for thinning to desired consistancy)
• 3-4 tbsp raisins or currants

Mix all ingredients except water and raisins in a food processor. Add water tablespoon by tablespoon until desired consistancy is reached. Pulse in rasins. Enjoy!

Oh! I almost forgot- I have decided to start cooking school 6 weeks early and my first class is today. I’m super excited but I’m also freaking out, this is definitely something completely new and it’s extra weird because I haven’t been to school in over a year now. My holistic nutrition is taken through correspondance (and is almost complete, I might add!) so it’s time for me to get back the grind and hopefully learn A LOT and have some fun!!

So, here it is. The first recipe I made from August’s Cookbook of the Month (Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day). It’s Roasted Red Pepper Fougasse (foo-gass) and it’s absolutely delicious. It’s a flatbread stuffed with roasted red peppers. I was so pleased with the results. At first I thought it may not have risen enough, but after consulting the official website I realized I was wrong. It turned out just right! It was very yummy and I took the liberty of using fresh herbs picked straight from my garden, instead of dried ones. This would be the perfect homemade bread to serve for company, as it looks so complicated but tastes delicious and actually is quite simple!!

Here it is raw and doughy, ready to be rolled up!

Brushed with olive oil and getting ready to go in the hot oven.

And, complete! Cooked and ready to eat-yum!

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day is an absolutely brilliant book. It contains recipes for breads and pastries from all over the world and most importantly, it truly revolutionizes the way bread is made. From a once labour-intensive activity to a simple and QUICK process, it puts the fun back into bread baking. I can’t say enough good things about this book and it’s delicious recipes.

There will be multiple recipes using breads from this cookbook as it has helped me create beautiful, tasty bread- EASILY! I am extremely impatient and it is wonderful to be able to throw a dough together in 5 minutes, in one bowl and be able to use it at any point with TWELVE days. AMAZING!!