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.

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.

Our last stop in Algeria provides us with a simple, tangy and fresh salad. This salad, named Banadura Salata B’Kizbara in Algeria takes about 10 minutes to make and 15 minutes for the flavours to imbibe themselves into the tomato. This salad, though tangy and tasty, isn’t for the anti-cilantro crowd as you’ll be picking it out of your teeth after a single bite.

We recommend pairing this with a robust meat like lamb or venison, but beef steak will certainly do in a pinch.

This simple salad dressing was posted on the Growing Chefs food blog in July of 2009 and I’ve only now stumbled upon it. This simple salad dressing recipe comes courtesy of Paul Harding of The Only On King (ranked in Canada’s top 10 restaurants). If you’re getting tired of your Italian dressing, be sure to give this 2 minute mix a try!

Though we consider our diet to be quite varied in taste and style, we felt it was time for something new, something we hadn’t done recently. I wanted to surprise Melanie with something simple and delicious and I found this fantastic meal idea over at Former Chef.

Sashimi grade tuna has such a unique texture when quickly seared that I am certain it would easily convert anyone who’s shown resistance towards raw fish in the past. The way that the meat seems to melt away in your mouth makes this dish a textural pleasure as much as it is flavorful. Read on past the break for this simple crust recipe and a delicious cucumber slaw that I modified to suit our tastes.

Sometimes you just get tired of big, typical meals. I know we do! So this past Sunday I decided to whip up a simple nutty salad and some tender crab cake appetizers. The recipe calls for 26 mini cakes, but I decided to make 6 large ones. The crab cake recipe called for 1/2 cup of Mayonnaise, but since we all know how fattening that would be, I heeded Melanie’s advice and used Natural Yogurt instead!

I’ve decided to go southern a bit, and can you really blame a Canuck in the dead of winter? This recipe will be used tomorrow night for our marinating pickerel fillets we picked up in St Jacobs. So if you’re looking for an easy, fresh and healthy way to spice up a fish filet, pork chop or chicken breast, look no further my friends! This simple recipe can be made in under 15 minutes and stored for 5-7 days in the fridge.