Pad Thai Salad

I like Thai food because of its fresh flavours. I love the zesty lime, crisp carrots and bean sprouts, and the crunchy peanuts.

As I was making this pad Thai salad I realised that it's actually quite similar to the coleslaw with which I grew up in Canada - the base is just shredded vegetables. Then there's a sauce and some add-ins. (And almost all of my cooking has a formula not unlike this.)

As I was slicing the mint and basil for the pad Thai, my mind was constructing this table. Suddenly the superiority of pad Thai salad over coleslaw became obvious!

Coleslaw with Caper Mayonnaise

Salt and pepper are my two favourite condiments. Sea salt, in particular, and freshly cracked black pepper. They are the white and black, the most basic of all flavourings.

In this coleslaw recipe, the salty role is played by capers. Aren't they just lovely little balls of brine-y goodness? The capers are incorporated into a mayonnaise that dresses this coleslaw; they are subtle but essential overall. And the black pepper is cracked extremely generously over the top.

Mongolian Beef with Red Pepper and Chinese Cabbage

My parents host a Chinese student in their home in Canada; he moved there to attend high school and learn English for university. This is the second Chinese student they have hosted, and this time food has been an issue. All teenagers are picky eaters, but especially this one who is far from home. In an effort to help him, my mother and I have been getting Chinese cooking hints from Kylie Kwong's book, Simple Chinese Cooking. (It was one of my Christmas presents from my cousin. Cookbooks are my favourite presents!) My mother and I each have a copy and we are exchanging notes about what we try.

This dish took only 35 minutes from start to finish - and that includes 30 minutes of marinading time! Next time I'll also add very thinly sliced carrots; you could use any vegetables. Just slice them thinly and throw them all in together. I reckon my mother's picky eater would love this recipe because of the thick, tasty sauce that seeps down into the rice (or noodles).

Top 5 Easter Recipes

For me, holidays revolve around food. Easter meals are a great time to share with friends and family and reflect on God's gift to us in Jesus. Here are my five picks for making this weekend's food special.


Hot Cross Buns: This whole grain version of the Easter classic is easy to make and a perfect Easter breakfast.

Thanksgiving Ideas

All the Americans around me are getting excited for Thanksgiving this week! Here are a few ideas for Thanksgiving dinner.

• Winter squash bread pudding (pictured above)

Chickpea and Carrot Salad with Japanese-Inspired Carrot Dressing

When I go food shopping I try to always pick up something new (to me). Otherwise it can be much too boring to go shop for food time after time. I recently came home with a little bottle of shichimi togarashi, a Japanese spice blend made with seaweed.

red cabbage with carrot curls

A friend from work is going to Singapore in a couple of weeks for a girls' spa weekend. This makes me a bit jealous, I have to be honest. They are going to a snazzy hotel and she was telling me about the treatments they have lined up: the massages, the pedicures, the body wrap. How relaxing does that sound? And then they will shop and chat... and eat great food. When I think of spa food I imagine it to be healthy, colourful stuff, packed full of nutrients. It's the kind of food that you want to put in your body after the exfoliating wrap and the cleansing facial, the kind that rejuvenates you from the inside out.

weekend links #8

food links:
--A new food blog to follow: Adventures in Local Food, by the Food Action Committee in Halifax, my home town. It's really just two lovely food lovers sharing ideas... check it out! Learn more about canning or read the recipe for Chocolate Sauerkraut Cupcakes--really!

recipe links:
--Now that is a clever ideas! Homemade "hot pockets" like we used to eat as teenagers (from The Vegetarian Family Table).
--I must try frozen banana yogurt. I keep seeing it everywhere. (This time it's on Sarah Wilson.)
--Pumpkin granola (from Two Peas and Their Pod). There are times when you find yourself with way too much cooked butternut squash. This is for that time.

off-topic links:
--Making your own facial scrubs from kitchen ingredients (from The Kitchn).

Vietnamese-inspired salad with cabbage and chicken

This is not a bread-baking blog. Or a desserts blog. Or even a food reading blog (though you may be forgiven for thinking so at times). Lately I have been thinking about the mission behind this blog and what I really want to share with you. My main desire to to make healthy, plant-based eating more tasty and desirable.

I realised that over the last few months I have been writing a lot about bread--it's been quite a kitchen experiment for me recently, since Ant and I decided that if we wanted to eat healthy bread in a shape we were used to, we would have to make it ourselves. In the sidebar, where the post labels are listed, I noticed that bread posts were now equal in number to salad posts--something I never thought would happen. Salad is the best meal on earth!

mezze (for the Daring Cooks)

The 2010 February Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Michele of Veggie Num Nums. Michele chose to challenge everyone to make mezze based on various recipes from Claudia Roden, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Dugid.


The two required recipes were pita bread and hummus. Both of them were easy to make and very tasty. The flatbreads were warm, soft, pillowy. The hummus had a lemony zing. The recipes are available from Michele.


I also wanted to make Leon's Sweet Potato Falafel. They would be easier to make if I had planned ahead. The night before when the oven was on for something else I could have roasted the sweet potato and let it cool. Then the same-day prep would be simple.

Sweet Potato Falafel
adapted from Leon: Ingredients and Recipes by Allegra McEvedy

2 medium sweet potatos (about 700 g)
1 1/2 t ground cumin
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 t garam masala
2 big handfuls (about 30 g) fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 c (120 g) gram (chickpea) flour
olive oil
salt and pepper

Heat the oven to 220 C/425 F. Roast the whole sweet potatos until tender, about 45 minutes. Turn off the oven, let cool, then peel.
Put the sweet potatoes, cumin, garlic, garam masala, fresh coriander, lemon juice, and gram flour in a bowl. Mash together well.
Put into the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes. The mixture should now be somewhat sticky rather than wet. Add more gram flour if necessary to make a slightly sticky mixture. Use spoons or your hands to make balls. Place on a greased baking tray.
Heat the oven to 200 C/400 F. Bake the falafel for 15 minutes until the bases are golden brown.

Finally, to my mezze feast I added Spring Greens, another Leon recipe that adds a great colour to the spread.

Spring Greens
adapted from Leon: Ingredients and Recipes by Allegra McEvedy

1/2 head of cabbage
1 leek, sliced into diagonals and washed
1/2 t caraway seeds
1 c (130 g) fresh or frozen peas
1 1/2 T cider or white wine vinegar
2 T olive oil
a big handful of mint, chopped
salt and pepper

In a large saucepan, heat 1 c (250 mL) water to boiling. Add the cabbage, leek, and caraway seeds. Cover and simmer for four minutes.
Remove the lid and add the peas. Stir and simmer until the veg are all cooked and the water has mostly evaporated, about five minutes.
Remove from the heat, and finish with the vinegar, oil, mint, salt, and pepper.

turkey and peanut stew

I was really inspired by Em's West African Peanut Stew recently. A hearty tomato based stew with peanut butter seems like the perfect hearty, healthy dinner dish. Em's is vegetarian, but I love cooking with turkey for a couple of reasons. We find it more flavourful than chicken, but just as easy. And it's a bit cheaper. I made this easy stew one evening to serve over the last of my black rice. (Actually, the rice here is only one part black rice and two parts brown rice. Look how dark it still is!)

Turkey and Peanut Stew
serves 3

2 T mild oil
2 small or 1 large onion(s), chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
200 g turkey breast, chopped into bite-size pieces
1 red pepper, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
2 c (1/4 head) cabbage, sliced
1/2 t crushed chilli flakes
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 c (250 ml) apple juice
1/2 c (90 g) peanut butter

in a large frying pan, heat the oil and then gently sautee the onion and garlic over a medium low heat.
Add the turkey pieces and cook over medium heat until no longer pink (five to eight minutes, based on the size of the pieces).
Add the red pepper and carrots and cook for a further five minutes.
Add the cabbage, chilli flakes, tomatoes and their juice, and apple juice, and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.
Add the peanut butter and stir to combine. Heat through and then serve over rice.

Asian Coleslaw

At Food Blogger Connect a couple of weeks ago I learned so much from Meeta about taking better food photos. Well, even though I am still using my point-and-shoot camera, this is by far the best photo I have yet taken. Thanks, Meeta!

I used a stack of thick cookbooks as a tripod, draped a tablecloth over the microwave as a backdrop, and used a desk lamp and a bounce board for lighting. I took heed of the advice to use a smaller portion for photos. I used a (smaller) dessert fork in this picture. My brother helpfully pointed out that even a point-and-shoot camera has a white balance setting. This has made a huge difference to my pictures. I always set it to indoor light now and all the orangey colours are gone! What a relief.

Warm Black Cabbage Salad

Sometimes cooking is an utter joy! I feel rapture when I head into the kitchen to turn fresh, aromatic, gleaming ingredients into a tasty, healthy dinner or snack or treat. I love the creativity of chopping, deeply smelling, mixing, and seasoning. A teaspoon to taste with and a nice napkin to eat with. This is what perfect food evenings are made of.

At other times, cooking can seem so utilitarian. We need to eat, so food must be made so that we can put it into our mouths. We are hungry, tired, and I feel uninspired. But I am learning to enjoy the routine cooking as well as the special. When there is no time for fanciful steps or three course dinners, I am finding pleasure in organising a nice meal with an efficient hand. And in the less time, the better, since there is washing up afterwards.

cabbage with juniper and cream

Nigel Slater: my cookery writer of the month! I have been reading and watching him every other day this month, if not more often. I recorded his Simple Suppers shows on BBC and have been watching them when Ant is not otherwise using the TV. I got one of his books for my birthday (The 30-Minute Cook) and have also got Tender: v. 1: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch from the library. I have been reading that other food bloggers seem enthralled with him at the moment, too. And with good reason. His dishes are easy and fresh. And his writing is honest and quirky.

The first recipe I have tried from Tender was chosen to use the lovely crinkly, green cabbage that came in our veg box last week. I bought some juniper berries for this dish, and in the recipe below I have reduced the amount of pepper to let the juniper shine through a little more.

Winter cabbage, juniper, and cream
serves 2 as a side dish
adapted from Tender by Nigel Slater

half a cabbage
1 onion, chipped
a little butter
1/2 t pappercorns
1 t juniper berries
100 ml single cream

Chop the cabbage into finger-wide strips. Cook briefly in a pan of boiling water and drain.
Saute the onions in butter.
Crush the peppercorns and juniper berries together. Add to the onions and let cook for a minute or two.
Add the cream. Let it bubble for a few minutes to thicken a bit.
Add the cabbage and toss lightly.