Broccoli Salad is an incarnation of broccoli even the most stubborn of broccoli haters can’t hate. The reason for this is 70% due to the presence of bacon, 15% due to the sweet, creamy, tangy dressing that one could lap off a plate (I said “one”, that was not a confession… nor was it not a confession… hmm), and 15% due to the fact that your mom probably made it, and you’re probably at a barbecue.

Yes, every summer barbecue, especially those of the potluck persuasion, have (or SHOULD have!) a broccoli salad. The classic is broccoli + raisins + red onion + sunflower seeds. Mine has cashews. Only because my sunflower seeds were rancid. Which, in an unusual twist, I discovered prior to putting them in the salad. What a concept!

Anyway, the cashews were a delicious swap – you can use either. Or even sliced almonds. But the salty, toasted sunflower seeds are the tops.

Do you want to know a secret? You can toast nuts in the microwave. Continue Reading »

Homemade granola; not just for hippies.

Homemade granola is one of those things that is a world apart from anything you can buy in the store. Lightly sweetened chewy oats clustered with toasted nuts and plump dried fruit is what I’m talking about. Compare that to the over-sweet, pale clumps with a taste slightly reminiscent of the box they were packed in, and you’ll never go back.

Layer it with a good (read: not nonfat) plain yogurt and fresh fruit, and you’ve got a breakfast that will have you dancing out of bed and into the kitchen when your alarm goes off. Okay, maybe that’s a lofty promise. But I do promise it will be way more exciting than cheerios.

It’s a great weekend project. Not that it can’t be done on a weeknight. See, the best part about homemade granola (besides eating it) is, it really only takes about 5 minutes of hands-on time. Toss the oats and nuts together with a syrup made of melted butter, sugar and honey. Spread on a baking sheet. Put in a low-heat oven and give it a shake every 15 minutes or so. That’s it.

In theory, homemade granola will keep for a couple weeks. In theory. I have never experienced it lasting that long.

Because it gets eaten. Er… I don’t think I had to clarify that. Continue Reading »

Rhubarb cake is in my mom’s annual spring baking repertoire – essential, perhaps, because of the massive rhubarb plants she has cropping up in her yard. She also makes an annual giant batch of stewed rhubarb to serve on hot buttered toast, and yesterday she was describing a rhubarb puree that she dilutes with sparkling water, which (insert vodka) sounds lovely.

Rhubarb in the market makes spring official. It is the first in the parade of summer pie fruit, with the promise that strawberries, raspberries, peaches and blueberries will soon follow. After a long winter of root vegetables and starchy comfort food, tart rhubarb is a welcome freshness.

This is my mom’s rhubarb cake recipe. She calls it “Lunar Rhubarb Cake”, because the butter/brown sugar topping sinks into the batter making craters suggestive of the moon’s surface. I bet the moon’s surface doesn’t taste nearly this good…

Some like to sweeten rhubarb significantly. Some like to exaggerate the sour with lemon. I like my rhubarb slightly sweetened, but still puckersome. I think I just made a new word. I like it.

Continue Reading »

Giveaway details at the end of the post.

I love Indian flavours, and no one has mastered them more beautifully than my chef crush Vikram Vij. I could prattle on and on about how incredible his recipes are. But the experience is really the thing that will convince you, so I think you should find out for yourself; either by visiting one of his restaurants, or by buying his gorgeous cookbooks!

In his latest masterpiece, Vij’s at Home, Vancouver chef Vikram Vij defines a masala as “a mixture of spices, either dry or wet. A dry masala consists of the dry spice mixtures – for example, a garam masala. A wet masala is the mixture of the dry spices with tomatoes, onions, garlic etc.” Continue Reading »

Rocky Road Bars are miraculous in their simplicity. They happen with only 5 ingredients in only 5 minutes. You probably want to tie your apron strings while you continue reading..

Something magical happens when chocolate and peanut butter, crunchy and creamy, salty and sweet come together. It hits all the spots, satisfies every craving.

Make no mistake, the humble rocky road bar is not entering any beauty contests. It is a beautiful mess though, don’t you think? As will you be if you don’t prepare yourself with an adequate napkin supply. The rocky road bar is best eaten alone, with enthusiasm and wild abandon. Then a mirror should be used before departing your accomdations. As I learned when I returned from grocery shopping to find chocolate on my cheek AND chin. I thought the produce guy was extra smiley… guess it wasn’t my cuteness in knee-high rubber boots (not raining), lulu pants (not running) and old hoodie (also with chocolate on it, incidentally). Continue Reading »