It’s tomato season! Got a spare afternoon and an extra tomato from the garden? Yeah, I don’t either. I do, however, have thirty minutes, a can of tomato paste and the other risotto ingredients. Risotto is a creamy Italian dish. Sure, you'll stand at the stove and stir (a lot), but it's worth every single stir! It was the first meal I learned how to make as an adult. And the truth is I still love it countless bowls later! Here are my top three tips for successful risotto: -Don

Chocolate brownies deserve serious consideration to become its own food group. ‘Nuff said. This recipe is as close to fail-proof as it gets. It worked the first time. It’s worked every time since. Want a baking tip? Pre-measure the ingredients and line them up in order beside the stove. Super easy, right? Bake the brownie batter for up to thirty minutes and let cool. Forget the icing! You don't need it. Serve these beauties at room temperature on its own or with a scoop of ic

Roasted chickpeas pack a powerful nutrition punch. Okay, I’ll bite. How so? One cup of chickpeas offers almost fifteen grams of protein and thirteen grams of fibre. Trust me, that’s good. We can all agree that good nutrition is important. Taste and texture are also important. Know how to make extra crispy chickpeas? Try the following practical tips I found from fellow bloggers: #1 Pat the chickpeas dry. As dry as possible. Don’t rush this step. #2 Remove loose chickpea skins.

Want your recipes to pop with flavour? Add a HINT of cardamom. Want your guests to make funny faces? Add a LOT of cardamom! Cardamom is a bold spice. That’s one thing we can agree on. One thing we can’t agree on is how to describe cardamom. Fellow foodies define it as a strong aromatic spice with hints of citrus, mint, wood or smoke. To me, ground cardamom is sweet and floral which is why it blends so well with desserts. Also, let’s not forget about chia seeds. But what abou

The original bircher muesli recipe is one hundred and twenty years old. It’s true! It was created by a Swiss doctor named Maximilian Bircher-Benner as part of his patients’ therapy. Today, bircher muesli is a creamy oat based breakfast mixed with shredded apples, Greek yogurt, milk and lemon juice. The remaining ingredients are up to you! It’s common to add nuts, seeds, coconut, dried fruit and spices like cinnamon. Plant-based choices like vanilla coconut yogurt and oat milk

Are you excited for the holidays? Tis the season to spend time with loved ones and eat a lot of food. Families that cook together probably also drink together - or is that stay together? Another thing you can do together is make zucchini fritters. I mean, obviously. I suggest you leave the peel on the zucchini for some extra fibre and also because: PRETTY! I mean, green is Christmassy right? The usual nutrition facts that some people read and others skip over: One medium zuc

Want to impress over the holidays? Want to do it with minimal effort? Yeah, that’s right. I said it. Let’s be lazy and still impress! (Insert wink here). If you have 15 minutes to slowly heat and cool chocolate (plus add the fixings), and another 60 to let it set in the fridge, you’ve just made chocolate bark! You go girl! I mean, well, after you’ve actually made it. But you go girl! Traditional fixings are nuts, seeds, and dried fruit, but feel free to get creative. The be

Did you know that cheesecake was served to athletes at the first Olympic Games in ancient Greece? Now that’s worth all the training. Right? Yet, New York style cheesecake wasn’t created in the early 1900s after New Yorker William Lawrence developed cream cheese. Fast forward to the present and cheesecake still stands the test of time. It’s one of those classic desserts that draws “oohs” and “aahs” from everyone at the dinner table. It’s the dessert you eat a little less dinn

I’m stumped as to what to write about these stoopid Brazilian cheese buns. Pao de Queijo, commonly known as Brazilian cheese buns, originates from Minas Gerais, a neighbouring state of Rio de Janeiro. Today its popularity rivals potato chips or donuts in North America and are now sold by fast food chains, coffee shops and street vendors. One bite and it’s easy to see why its popularity has soared: the crunchy crust on the outside and the chewy cheesiness on the inside. In te

The Collins dictionary defines comfort food as something enjoyable to eat that makes the eater feel better emotionally. Would you agree? And if you’re anything like me, mushroom stroganoff ranks in my top five comfort foods. Everyone has their own description of comfort food and mine is slightly different than Collins: You step in out of the cold on a chilly winter evening. You sigh as you take off your boots. . You hang your coat in the closet and begin to notice the subtl

How did you feel when the Cookie Monster started to eat carrots on Sesame Street? Did you cheer? Did you shout the word ‘no!’? Did you feel conflicted? Today you eat healthier than ever before but let’s be honest: aren’t cookies really your first love? Confession: You’re not alone if you eat the cookie dough when know one else is looking. I do too and I love it. This cookie dough energy ball will tick all your boxes: does it have the goodness of oats? Yes! Does it have fib

The struggle is real: our biggest battle can be eating enough fruits and vegetables in a day. You’ve just gotten home from work, everyone’s hungry (including you) and tired (including you). Fight the temptation to have Skip the Dishes come to your rescue. Try a hands-off dinner instead. And it really doesn’t get more hands-off than roasting vegetables. Roasting vegetables is easy. Cook ‘em and forget ’em! Well, maybe set the timer first. Next potential roadblock: you’re bor

Tired of green beans? Bean there done that? You might groan at the Dad joke but you won’t groan at this recipe! The tomato sauce and fresh dill put the ‘spring’ back into the green bean’s step. In addition to huge flavour you’ll also get the nutritional benefits of fibre, vitamins K, A and C, along with the mineral manganese. Serve these beans as a side dish, or top them with chickpeas and Greek feta cheese (from sheep) to enjoy as a main entree. Following the low FODMAP d

Picture this: You’re walking barefoot along the beach at sunset, the ocean breeze is grazing your face and carrying the smell of food from a nearby restaurant. Your mouth waters as you think you can almost taste the fresh guacamole, the savoury tacos, and the sweet cinnamon churros. Are you craving delicious Mexican food yet? If so, this recipe won’t disappoint. Taquitos are traditionally a deep-fried rolled tortilla filled with beef, chicken or cheese. Naturally Nu’s versi

Gut health is a hot topic right now and for good reason. Probiotics comprise a large part of that conversation. Probiotics are live organisms such as bacteria and yeast that we eat to help our digestive tracts run more effectively. While most of us know that live cultured yogurt has probiotics in it,only some of us know that miso soup and kimchi are two top food sources of probiotics. So, if you’re buying kimchi at the supermarket walk straight to the refrigerated section, an

Want to hop on the cauliflower bandwagon? Whether the cauliflower trend sticks around or fades away it’s one trend you can feel good about following because just one cup (250 mL or 113 grams) of cauliflower has 28 calories, 2.2 grams protein, 5.6 grams carbohydrate, 2.2 grams sugar and only 0.32 grams fat. Okay so what does that mean for you? It means it’s really versatile. You can cook it as is, chop it into cauliflower rice (or buy ready-made), even make it into a pizza c

Confession time: Carrots? Not my favourite food (yes I know, they’re healthy!) Confession time continued? Also kinda hate ‘em. So what do you do with that big bag of organic carrots sitting in your fridge? Carrot cake energy balls! Yes! Win, right? (Side note – I also make carrot cake, fresh pasta sauce, and grate them for Buddha bowls, but that’s another blog or two). I don’t know about you, but I love a good, hearty energy ball. I love to pack in as much nutrition in