Thai-ed Up

After I get home from work I have had days where I am completely exhausted. It's hot out, I've had a busy day, or I just don't feel like cooking. But I usually want to eat something healthy, so I'm not ordering a pizza.

Those are days I hope I remember this Peanut Butter Thai Noodle Salad recipe. This dish is no-cook, quick, healthy, and yummy. Plus it makes enough for leftovers for the next night and that's always a plus - if the dish is good!

Baby Beluga

I tried caviar once, but it wasn't for me. The texture was too weird and each mouthful was too salty for me to enjoy it. I'm just not that fancy a girl.

But when I heard about beluga lentils, I knew I'd love them. I love everything about lentils and a special lentil with a name that attributed to caviar? I am completely on board with that. It took me awhile to find beluga lentils (I found them at Bulk Barn, which really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who knows me), and I discovered I do love them. 

So for May's new ingredient of the month, here's a new recipe starring beluga lentils - Sweet and Spicy Sweet Potato and Beluga Lentil Salad. 

Rhubarb Makes Life Delicious

Could anything in life be more delicious than coming home from work to a homemade Rhubarb Custard Tart? Creamy custard with chunks of tart rhubarb hidden beneath a buttery crumble is about the best thing I can of think right now, especially if it's made by someone with just me in mind.

Serving dessert at a dinner party is lovely. And I have to admit that I spend quite a few minutes deliberating which dessert to make every time friends come over. But serving dessert to your family just because you can, well that's just plain delicious. 

This Rhubarb Custard Tart is from Life Made Delicious truly makes me happy - both to eat and to share with you. 

Grapefruit and Wasabi

I don't know about you, but when I think about wasabi I think solely about sushi and grapefruit never crosses my mind. So when I heard that Dawn from Spatulas on Parade decided on wasabi and grapefruit for May's Crazy Ingredient Challenge, I felt a wee bit unsure about what to make.

At first I thought about making a new kind of sushi that featured grapefruit, but couldn't come up with the right concept. Then I thought of trying to make a grapefruit dessert with a spicy wasabi glaze, but I got scared off that idea before I started experimenting.

Finally I decided on reinventing one of my favourite side dishes, Miso Garlic Asian Greens. I subbed in wasabi for the red pepper flakes, grapefruit juice for the water, and made a few other small changes to make it unique. And who would have guessed it, but I came up with a dish that features wasabi and grapefruit and still manages to taste great!

Walk in the Woods

I don't know why, but the salad recipe I am sharing today feels like something you could prepare after gathering ingredients during a walk through the woods. Maybe it's because of the earthy grilled mushrooms, the bright yellow egg yolks, or the poppy seeds popping out at you from the dressing.

Whatever it is, this salad is filling enough to keep you full during a walk through the woods. And it's delicious enough to share with friends.

Berry Nice Dressing

They say the best things in life are free? I say the best things in life are homemade, especially salad dressing.

I have bought many a bottle of salad dressing, though usually to use as a marinade or when I'm rushing to a backyard party, and I am almost never satisfied with what comes in the bottle. Store bought salad dressing is usually a little thick, a little too salty or sweet, and just not right. Homemade dressing takes seconds to mix together and tastes however you want it to taste.

Try my new go-to summer salad dressing, Strawberry Poppy Seed. It tastes as good as it looks and it's all natural!

Vegan Grilling for Mother's Day

My mom is a huge fan of barbecuing. At her house, she the Queen of barbecuing and no one else goes near the barbecue. She'll go out to barbecue in the middle of winter and when it's pitch black outside; nothing will stop my mom from barbecuing.

So for Mother's Day this year, if I were able to be with my mom, I'd like to share my recipe for vegan sausages with her. They're great when they're grilled and much easier to make than you might think.

Read on for my Smokey Vegan Sausage recipe.

The Canadian Garden

When I heard that this month's Canadian Food Experience Project was to write about the Canadian garden, I looked outside in my own garden and saw wee little plants just starting to rear their heads. I don't have much of a garden to write about yet this year. And, since I don't have much of a green thumb, I'm not really able to coax much out of my garden on a good year.

So I decided to get a little cheeky and write about my version of a Canadian garden. My version is more about heading to my Farmer's Market, buying some lovely fresh veggies, and making a dip platter that makes you think you're heading into the garden.

Ready for a little fun? Read on for my Canadian Veggie Garden Dip recipe featuring fresh veggies on top of a hummus and olive tapenade dip.

Pie for Breakfast

I have to say that pie for breakfast is one of the best things in the world. And when it's not really pie, but a healthy yogurt and fruit parfait that makes you think you're eating pie, well that must be the very best thing in the world!

When I first saw Oh She Glows recipe for Sugar Free Apple Pie Chia Jam Breakfast Parfait I thought that it sounded good but a wee bit too healthy for me. I can handle vegan or sugar free, but I don't think I am interested in both.

So I just used that recipe for inspiration and made my own version. My version isn't vegan or sugar free, but it's still healthy - especially compared with the alternative of pie for breakfast!

The New Tuna Salad

To continue my week of celebrating chia seeds, I created a really quick and tasty salad featuring my new Chia Salad Dressing. I never used to get completely full after eating only a salad for dinner, but my previous thinking changed when I dove into this salad with a salad dressing full of chia seeds and a lovely piece of seared tuna. 

Check out my recipe for Seared Tuna Salad with Chia Dressing below!