Category: Ingredients
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Cooking with garlic scapes
What are garlic scapes? A few years ago I bought garlic scapes from a small produce market in Chinatown in Victoria, but I didn’t know what they were other than that they tasted delicious. Last year was my first year receiving delicious organic veggies delivered to our house from Makaria Farm in Duncan and that…
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How to cook quinoa
We’ve been cooking quinoa a lot the last 5 years and I still forget the recipe proportions sometimes so I am sharing them here! This is a basic recipe for boiled quinoa, similar to cooking rice. In fact I usually use my rice cooker, which I include an option for in the instructions. Quinoa is…
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Make your own maple syrup
Maple syrup is the quintessential Canadian treat. Did you know you can make it yourself? With some maple trees, the right weather and a little work you can collect and turn maple tree sap into the perfect pancake topper. And this is not just a northern or eastern Canada activity. On Vancouver Island there is…
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Speltmeal Chia Coconut Cookies
Can cookies be healthy? Packed with “IT” health food ingredients—chia seeds, coconut oil and spelt flakes—these cookies look healthier than they taste. In other words they are scrumptious! The chia, pumpkin and sunflower seeds give the cookie a nice crunch, while the raisins, vanilla and brown sugar provide lots of “yummm”. I have tried a…
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The Best Brussel Sprouts
Over the holidays, The Food Network was airing all the Jamie Oliver holiday specials. He is a big favourite in our family — with a simplistic style, he always takes delicious ingredients and makes straight forward, easily accessible, plain ol’ good food. In one of his specials he made an incredible sautéed brussel sprout side…
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The Perfect Pork Tenderloin
Pork is easily my meat of choice. It is so versatile and used throughout so many cuisines. It is also very economical and comes in so many different cuts, you’d be hard pressed to run out of ideas for this viande. It is certainly a staple in my house. And one of our favourite cuts…
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Cooking with Kale: Kale Chips, Orange and Green Salad, Green Juice
Growing up I only remember seeing Kales as a decoration beside my hamburger and coleslaw at whitespot. But lately I have been hearing lots of chatter about the leafy green vegetable. Kale has numerous health benefits including high levels of iron, vitamin C, vitamin K, antioxidants and more. (Read more about the top 10 health…
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Fermented Black Beans
I remember attending an after school cooking class when I was young where we learned to make a Chinese stir-fry. I’m sure it tasted fine, but I find that most Chinese recipes I try don’t quite match what you find at a good Chinese restaurant (of which opinions differ greatly). My quest to lock down…