After work always seems one of the busiest times of the day, with one of the most common questions being ‘what’s for supper?’ This pasta dish is a simple dish for any evening of the week and it’s pretty healthy. The original recipe, from Canadian Living magazine, used peas. While peas are healthy, I wanted to bump up the nutritional value so I opted for edamame. Edamame Edamame and all preparations of soybeans are rich in carbohydrates, protein, dietary fiber, omega fatty acids and micro-nutrients, particularly folic acid, manganese and vitamin K. I hope you enjoyed this dish as much as I did.

My roommate is leaving me in just a week.  A tough food critic and devoted “The Next Food Network Star” follower, this meal will have to win her over, once and for all.  This summer has been very inspiring and has fostered many culinary adventures.  From expanding my palate, improving my culinary skills, growing my own veggies, and selecting finer ingredients, it has been awesome. In honour of my roommate, the finalists on “The Next Food Network Star” (Aarti, Herb, and Tom), my love of burrito bowls, the produce grown in my garden, and local food movements, I give you [...]

Tonight was one of the nights spent in the kitchen; from prepping for a dinner party this weekend, to cleaning the produce in my box, and making dinner for my partner.  When he asked “Can we have some chorizo?”, I immediately thought that this would be a quick and easy dinner.  About 45 minutes later, we ended up with the fantastic meal pictured above. What exactly is it?  When I was thinking about what to call this recipe, there were too many options:  egg pizza, omelette, egg tostada, or huevos rancheros.  The one thing we do know, is that is [...]

Here’s another great salad recipe that will prevent you from having to use the oven on those hot summer evenings. There’s a high dose level of proteins from the lentils as well as dietary fiber, folate, vitamin B1, and minerals. The original recipe called from bulgur wheat, since I didn’t have any bulgur in the house I opted for wheat berries. Wheat berries refers to the entire wheat kernel (except for the hull), comprising the bran, germ, and endosperm. Wheat berries have a tan to reddish brown color and are available as either a hard or soft processed grain and are an excellent source of dietary fiber.

As I mentioned before, I’m always on the hunt for delicious salads throughout the summer months. I love making a large batch of the salad, actually it’s not a large batch but because it’s only Andre and I it always seems like it is. With that being said, the salad provides a couple of lunches for us and a supper. This pasta salad really is delicious, the flavor work beautifully with one another. I have to say that this pasta salad stands in its own category when compared with other summer pasta salads.

Every summer I assume the same challenge as the last: to expand my salad recipe collection. Salads are a favorite of mine, as they are so simple, tasty, packed full of nutrients and can be catered to the vegetable and fruits that are in season. With the beans, mango and greens in this mango and pine nut salad, you receive a 12 gram fiber fiesta. The unique flavors of tropical mango, spicy Dijon and buttery pine nuts will leave your taste buds wanting more.

This is my journey in making and serving “spectacular ribs” at a dinner party held yesterday.  As a “salad expert”, making meat dishes is always something scary for me, but not as scary as baking.  My biggest fears while making the ribs were: -  the ribs will end up overcooked or undercooked -  the seasoning will be weak -  the membrane was not properly removed They were totally unfounded though, which is awesome.  Making ribs is simple, if you have a game plan but it will take time.  From package to mouth, I took about 6 hours to make them. [...]

For the Uruguay recipe, I decided to make “matambre”, AKA stuffed flank steak. I love flank steak because it is very healthy; compared to other cuts of beef, it is low in fat, making a good option for someone watching their weight.  My rendition of this dish was inspired by this recipe:  http://southamericanfood.about.com/od/maincourses/r/matambre.htm but my version is “cleaner”, meaning lower in fat and calories.  Typically, matambre has Parmesan cheese and hard-boiled egg but I omitted these two ingredients to keep it lighter. You can cook this on the BBQ or poach it in red wine; I will be poaching in [...]