blood orange and beet salad

Sometimes, the best meal is a giant plate of salad. No iceberg lettuce or wilted veggies here: tasty food starts with fresh, quality ingredients. Your cooking is only as good as your ingredients. My boyfriend might disagree about the whole salad-as-a-meal thing, but he hasn't come over to the dark side of roasted vegetables, tangy citrus, crunchy walnuts and herbed yogurt. Here's a salad that will suffice for a virtuous (and scrumptious) lunch or dinner. The dressing for this salad makes a tasty vegetable dip, so make a double batch. Or, try a vinaigrette in its place, for a vegan salad.

blood orange and beet salad
1 blood orange, peel removed, sliced
roasted beets, chopped
salad greens
toasted walnuts
dill yogurt (recipe follows)

Start with a bed of greens. Lay out orange slices, pile beets in the centre. Scatter some walnuts around, and finish with a dollop of dill yogurt

dill yogurt
2 or 3 tbsp chopped dill
salt and pepper
1/2 cup full-fat yogurt
juice of 1 lemon
splash of olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Stir to combine. Serve with fresh veggies as a dip, or as a salad dressing.

sugar plums

Sugar plums (of Tchaikovsky fame) are not some sort of sugared plum dessert, but just an old fashioned name for dried fruit, chopped up, mixed with spices, and rolled in a ball. Here, I combine dates, nuts and cinnamon for a sweet dessert or snack.

almond, walnut and date bites
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup dates (seeded, of course)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp honey
pinch of salt
1/4 cup cocoa powder, for rolling

Combine nuts, dates, cinnamon, honey and salt in a food processor. Pulse until a thick, chunky puree forms. With wet hands, scoop out 1 inch pieces, roll in a ball, and roll in cocoa powder to coat. Refrigerate until firm.

Try changing up the dried fruit, nuts or spices. The combinations are endless. Think of your favourite lara bar, and create your own for a fraction of the price!

banana walnut pancakes

This is me playing around with photoshop. I'll be honest, I don't really know what I'm doing, beyond looking up tutorials, and following them step-by-step. I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually. And now the recipe! A little late for Pancake Tuesday, but where pancakes are concerned, better late than never. This recipe is adapted from Joy of Cooking's cornmeal pancakes. Seen here with applesauce - serving extra fruit with pancakes makes them a bit healthier, and helps you cut back on the maple syrup by adding some natural sweetness.

banana walnut pancakes
(makes about 15 medium sized pancakes)

1 cup cornmeal
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup boiling water
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp melted butter (or vegetable oil)
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup walnut pieces
2 or 3 bananas, sliced

Combine the cornmeal, honey and salt in a bowl. Slowly stir in the boiling water, whisking out lumps, and cover for 10 minutes. Stir in egg, milk and butter. Combine flour and baking powder, and stir into wet ingredients. Finally, fold in walnuts and bananas. Heat a pan or griddle on med-high heat. Flip away!

(For a vegan version, use sugar instead of honey, and 1/2 mashed banana to replace the egg.)

oatmeal with caramelized bananas

There's something about cooking bananas that makes them sing. They develop a sweet, complex flavour that's totally different than fresh bananas, and they make a plain old bowl of oatmeal so much more exciting. Make these bananas as a topping for  all sort of things: pancakes, waffles, tapioca or rice pudding.


oatmeal with caramelized bananas
(one serving)

1/3 cup large flake oats
1 cup almond, rice or soy milk
pinch of salt
handful of chopped walnuts

1 tbsp butter or grapeseed oil
1 banana, sliced
1 tsp cinnamon
1 or 2 tbsp maple syrup

Combine oats, milk, salt and walnuts in a pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until cooked (about 10 minutes). In a pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add sliced bananas, and sauté for 2 or 3 minutes. Add cinnamon and maple syrup, and stir to combine.

Serve oatmeal with some cold milk, topped with bananas. Sprinkle on some walnuts for extra crunch.