Fennel & Pear Soup

This is my favourite soup to make, I love the taste of fennel. A lot of people don't even know what a fennel is or what to do with it, so here's an idea!

Ingredients:

1 fennel, chopped into large pieces
1 medium onion
1 pear, cored with the skin on
1 cinnamon stick
~ 1 litre of vegetable stock
goat cheese, crumbled
pepper

Method:

Roast fennel, onion and pear at 350 F for about 25 minutes.
Put roasted veggies along with cinnamon stick into large pot over medium heat and put enough stock to cover everything.
Simmer for about 30 minutes.
Take out the cinnamon stick and use an immersion blender to blend ingredients.
Serve with goat cheese and pepper.
Enjoy!

Tofu & Avocado Stack

This recipe was inspired by the menu at Fresh in Toronto. I love their peanut sauce, and I'm wishing I had taken the time to make it for this and not gotten store bought stuff. Next time!

Ingredients:

1/3 Avocado
4-5 slices of firm tofu
1 tsp sunflower seeds
handful of sunflower seed spouts
2 tbsp peanut sauce
1-2 tbsp olive oil

For the tofu marinade:

2 tbsp soya sauce
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp chilli seed paste
2 tbsp peanut sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
water


Method:

1. Slice tofu into 1/4 inch pieces. Place in a container.
2. Add soya sauce, vinegar, chillies, peanut sauce, sesame oil, and then add water until it covers the tofu completely. Change the ratio if you want a stronger taste in the tofu.
3. Let the tofu marinate for at least a few hours in the fridge, but a couple of days is best.
4. Once the tofu is marinated, you can cook it. Bring a skillet to medium heat and add olive oil, then the tofu. Medium heat is best, or the tofu will stick! Flip the slices every minute or so for 5-6 minutes.
5. Peel the avocado and slice it to the same thickness as the tofu.
6. Put the peanut sauce on a plate, and arrange the tofu and avocado on top. Place the seeds and sprouts on top of the stack and serve.

Spicy Honey Garlic Beef Ribs

Every summer, my home town of Burlington, Ontario holds Canada's largest rib fest. Over labour-day weekend the whole city smells of BBQ... very enticing. However, I can't handle the crowds, the lineups, the prices, and trying to guess which stand is going to offer the best quality. Nonetheless it always leaves me with a craving for ribs. So, I decided to make my yesterday. 

A few years ago, I read an article in Maclean's magazine about how purple garlic, which is apparently native to Ontario is on the verge of extinction due to genetically modified garlic being more prevalent in groceries. So when I saw it at a veggie stand in Ancaster I was sure to snatch it up! It is so much stronger than the white garlic you usually see - it actually made me tear up while I was cutting it.

I got the ribs at Fenwood Farms, a farm in Ancaster that sells organic, free range, antibiotic free meats. 

I just sort of made up a recipe as I went along... adding ingredients to my taste and it turned out well even though I was winging it.

Sauce Recipe:

2 large cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 tbsp soya sauce
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp chilli flake paste
1 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
splash of whiskey

Cooking Method:

Set oven to 300F.
Wrap ribs in tinfoil with the sauce on top, place in baking pan.
Let cook for 1 1/2 hours, then flip over and cook for another hour.
Broil if desired, or BBQ.

Pasta Primavera

Cold Barley Salad

This is one of my favourite recipes that I discovered in Italy last summer (it was a staple at grocery store salad bars).  It's really easy to make, filling and healthy. 

Cod with Leeks and Basil

I went fishing for the first time this weekend! In Þingeyri, Iceland of all places. Way up north in the West Fjords. We caught about 12 cod. So now, the freezer is full of filets. Bring on the fish recipes!

Spelt Rotini with Peas

 So easy this literally took me 10 minutes flat.