pasta salad with roasted chickpeas

I’ve had this package of multicolor farfalle (Italian for butterfly) pasta for weeks now and every time I open the pantry door, there it is, waiting for me to do something with it.  The colors of the butterfly pasta are all natural using beetroot, spinach, turmeric, paprika and black squid ink.  I wanted something special…

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curried lentils – an easy dish to make

It was wet and humid yesterday.  I was hoping the rain would have stopped late in the afternoon so we could use the barbeque but windy conditions prevented that idea from happening.  I was feeling a bit nostalgic about our time overseas and a simple curry was the remedy needed to help us reminisce about…

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roasted peppers

What is it about Mediterranean flavours that drive my taste buds crazy?  It’s an explosion of flavours, all vying for my attention and asking me to favor only one!  But alas, how can I? When I think of food from the Med, the words fresh and healthy come to mind.  And why not. 

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puff pastry pizza tart

Pizza can be an easy midweek meal to make and it’s one where you can get the family involved.  Make individual pizzas to cater for the fussy eaters in your family or have them build their own.  I like making my own pizza dough but sometimes, to save time, it’s just as easy to buy…

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radish leaf pesto

Pesto derives its name from pestâ which means to pound/crush.  A typical pesto consists of crushed garlic, basil, pine nuts mixed with olive oil and Parmesan cheese.  Pesto was originally used mostly to flavor vegetable soups. It wasn’t until the early 1900’s that it was used as a sauce for pasta.  Earlier versions of pesto…

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Roasted Cipollini Onion Crostini

What do you get when grilled baguette slices (crostini) and roasted cipollini onions come together?  Answer:  a heavenly snack that’s so easy-to-make and ridiculously delicious!  Cipolini (chip-oh-LEE-nee) onions are small and flat.  The word in Italian means little onion and are sweeter than the average yellow or white onion.  I have seen them in food…

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How To Cut and Peel an Avocado

I was in the kitchen the other day getting ready to use an avocado as one of the ingredients for my portobello burger, when I fondly recalled the conversation I had with my son.  He wanted to know if there was an easy way to get the pit out of an avocado.  I hadn’t really…

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Portobello Mushroom Burger

Burger Week in Halifax, an annual event to help raise funds for Feed Nova Scotia, is winding down.  I was away last week and therefore wasn’t able to partake.  Because of this, I have had burger on the brain.  Initially I wanted a burger overflowing with toppings and condiments (read messy) but in the end…

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