This red lentil and ginger soup is a household favourite and perfect for the fall weather. It’s seasoned with aromatic and tasty spices like turmeric, cumin and paprika and packed full of flavour.
Sautè onion until translucent. Add in the garlic and ginger and stir
Add in cumin, turmeric and paprika. Sautè for two minutes until you smell the aromas
Add in red lentils
Add in the water and turn the heat up until the soup starts simmering. Lower the heat, cover and cook for 25 to 30 minutes until the lentils are fully cooked. Add the salt to taste and serve warm
A classic take on one of my favourite dips. This time I tried using the Instapot to cook legumes, is a complete game changer. Heading into summer is the best time to have these fresh dips on hand especially when paired with your favourite cut up veggies or pita.
Place all ingredient except the garnish in the food processor or vitamix. Blend until smooth.
Transfer to a serving bowl or container and keep in the frige until ready to use. Garnish wuth fresh parsely, cherry tomatoes, salt and pepper and olive oil.
Have you ever tried Montreal bagels? If you haven’t I feel like you should do yourself a favour and make a point to visit St. Viateur bagel in Montreal. My dad grew up on these bagels and since I was born we actually had a bagel fridge in the basement which housed 16 dozen frozen bagels at any given time. Covid’s changed things and we can’t just drop everything and go to Montreal but in the early days of Covid I did order a shipment of these bagels all the way from Montreal and boy was it a special treat. If your feeling adventurous in the kitchen and want to try your hand at making these Montreal-style bagels I promise they wont disappoint!
3 1/2cupbread flour, plus extra for surface dusting
1 1/2 tspsalt
2tbspolive oil, for greasing the bowl and baking sheet
2quartswater
2tbsphoney
2tspbaking soda
1tbspsalt
1/2tsppoppy seeds
Instructions
For the dough
Without stirring, add the honey and yeast to a measuring cup containing 1/2 cup of the warm water, then let the mixture sit for five minutes. Once time’s up, give it a stir to ensure that everything has dissolved.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour and salt with a spoon. Make a well in the center with your spoon or your fingers, and pour in the honey-yeast-water mixture. Add another 1/3 cup of warm water into the well, then mix the flour-salt mixture with the contents of the well to incorporate. Slowly add in the remaining 1/2 cup water, as needed. You don’t want to overdo it, but you do want the dough to feel little sticky to the touch.
Pour the dough out of the bowl onto a well-floured countertop. Begin kneading, working in both the flour on the countertop and as much additional flour as needed, continue kneading for about 20-25 minutes until you’ve got a firm, smooth, elastic dough.
Use your hands or a cloth to grease the interior of a large, clean bowl with the olive oil. Add the dough to the bowl, making sure to get oil on all sides of the mound before covering it with a damp dish towel or cloth. Place the bowl of dough in a warm area of the house where the dough can rise.
When the dough has doubled in size, punch down the dough and let it rest for another 10 minutes. During the resting time, begin to prepare the poaching water by bringing about two quarts of water to a boil in a large pot along with the honey, baking soda, and salt. You can also prep and set aside your baking sheet at this time; simply grease it lightly with olive oil.
Without flouring your surface, divide it into 8 equal pieces, then shape each piece into a smooth round. You can do this by first carefully stretching and tucking, stretching and tucking the outer edges under and beneath the little mound to create a smooth circle shape, then placing the ball on the counter, smoother side up, and cupping your palms around it and using them to move it very gently in a circular motion to continue shaping it. Dip your pointer finger in flour, then press down into the center of each dough ball to form the hollow middle of your bagel. Slowly make a widening circular motion to stretch each ring until it’s about 1 1/2″ in diameter. *These holes will shrink a little bit by the expanding dough, so they need to be somewhat generously sized.
Place each formed bagel onto the baking sheet and cover with a damp cloth or kitchen towel to rest for another 10 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 425ºF. Reduce the heat on the now-boiling poaching water to a simmer. Using a slotted spoon, place each bagel carefully into the water, one by one. Depending on the size of your pot, you may be able to boil up to 3 at a time without the risk of misshaping them. They expand during the boiling process and can squish each other if they get too close.
Boil on each side for 90 seconds. As you take each bagel out of the water and place it back onto the baking sheet, sprinkle immediately with your desired toppings while it’s still wet and steamy—the water will help the toppings stick.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes then carefully release and lift the beautifully browned bagels from the pan and let them cool slightly before digging in.
Notes
I recommend eating the bagels right away or same-day, but if you can’t, you can always store them at room temperature for 2-3 days—after that, they’ll start to go stale. By the first day after baking them fresh, you’ll want to slice them into halves and toast before enjoying them.
Rhubarb is in season which means I’ve been experimenting with different recipes to enjoy. Stewed rhubarb has been a easy go-to as we eat a lot of porridge in the house. I’ve made strawberry rhubarb galettes and now on to my favourite recipe so far this rhubarb coffee cake with rhubarb icing glaze.
1cupvegan buttermilk (1 cup oat milk & 1 tsp vinegar)
2cupsrhubarb, chopped
1tbspall-purpose flour
1/4cupbutter
2 tspground cinnamon
1cup brown sugar
Rhubarb Glaze
2tspbutter
3tbsprhubarb, finely chopped
1cupicing sugar
2 tbspoat milk
pinch of salt
Instructions
Rhubarb Cake
In a large bowl, cream together butter or margarine and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla.
In another bowl, sift together 2 cups flour, soda, and salt. Add sifted ingredients alternately with vegan buttermilk to creamed mixture.
Toss chopped rhubarb with 1 tablespoon flour, and stir into batter. Spoon batter into buttered 9 x 13 inch pan, and smooth the surface.
Blend together 1/4 cup butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar; sprinkle evenly over batter.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.
Rhubarb Glaze
Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat.
Add rhubarb and gently cook until softened, about 3-4 minutes, swirling often to avoid the butter from browning.
Remove from heat and add icing sugar and milk or heavy cream. Place the pot in the sink and with an immersion blender (or in a blender), puree the mixture until creamy then add a pinch of salt.
Once the cake has fully cooled, pour the glaze on top.
Upgrade your porridge game with this Oatmeal Apple Bake. This is a really simple bake ahead meal to prep for those busy mornings with littles and life.
Preheat oven to 400F. Slice and dice veggies and season with olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook in oven for 15 minutes and set aside to cool.
Cook your favourite pasta (I usually cook for three so we have some leftovers). Mix in the pesto, hemp seeds and roasted veggies and sprinkle on some parmesan if you fancy.
Make this totally unforgettable summer dessert Strawberry shortcake completely from scratch. With only a handful of basic ingredients, you can make tall fluffy sweet biscuits. Layer them with juicy strawberries and 3 ingredient fresh whipped cream.
Fresh strawberries, whole or cut into wedges for garnish
Instructions
Cake
Preheat the oven to (350 °F). Butter a 20-cm (8-inch) springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1/2 cup of the sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Set aside. In a third bowl, beat the remaining sugar, butter, egg yolks, and vanilla with an electric mixer. At low speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with the oat milk. Stir a quarter of the meringue into the batter to lighten it. With a spatula, gently fold in the remaining meringue. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for about 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Unmould immediately and let completely cool on a wire rack.
Vanilla Strawberries
Split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. With the tip of a knife, remove the seeds from the vanilla pod. In a bowl, combine the strawberries, sugar and vanilla extract. Set aside.
Whipped Cream
In a bowl, whip the cream, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
Assembly
Cut the cake in half horizontally to make two slices. Spread 1 cup of the whipped cream on the cut side of each slice. Scatter the drained vanilla strawberries on the whipped cream of a slice of cake. Cover with the other slice of cake whipped cream side down. Garnish the top of the cake with the remaining whipped cream. Garnish with fresh strawberries.
Healthy chickpea blondies made with chickpeas, nut butter, pure maple syrup and chocolate chips. The chickpea cookie dough is both gluten free and vegan!
Have a look at the tiktok video I made to show you how I baked these up!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray 8×8 inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.
In a food processor, or vitamix add all ingredients except chocolate chips and coconut oil. process until batter is smooth.
Place chocolate chips and coconut oil into double brioler and cook until melted.
Spread batter evenly in prepared pan then spread the melted chocolate coconut oil mixture on top.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean and edges are a tiny bit brown.
Cool pan for 20 minutes on wire rack. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt then cut into squares. Makes 8 blondies. Store covered in the fridge for up to 3-5 days.
Having snacks to fuel the body while riding all day is essential. That’s why these delicious little RawEnergy Bites are the perfect healthy snack option! A little sweet something to keep you going. They’re quick, easy to make and can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.
Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed. Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour. Once chilled, roll into balls of whatever size you would like. (the smaller the better).
Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.Makes about 20-25 balls.
Stocking our fridge with freezer meals to prepare for the arrival of our new baby has been at the top of my mind for the last couple of weeks. After doing my own research along with asking friends who have had babies what helped them out the most during those first postpartum weeks I have compiled the top 10 freezer meals for new parents below. Whether you’re a new parent or looking to get ahead of some meal prep these recipes will be sure to do the trick.
Breakfast Meals
I’m not the biggest breakfast person, but over the course of my pregnancy, that has dramatically changed. Now even before I get out of bed I’m thinking of what to make! When I don’t feel like making anything in particular there’s nothing better than having a frozen stash of muffins, or waffles at the ready. The night before I usually transfer the goods to the fridge to thaw overnight, or I just pop the frozen pancakes or scones in the toaster or oven.
Smoothies are another great breakfast to prep and freeze ahead of time. Most of the time it’s easy enough to make in the morning but knowing that I won’t have a ton of time to prep in those early hours. I have frozen individual smoothie packs with fresh fruit, veggies, and superfood add-ins. When the time comes to make your smoothie, blend the frozen ingredients with juice and your favourite plant-based milk to make a healthy, energizing breakfast.
Without question, soups are a great freezer meal to have on hand. Over the last month or so I have been cooking up and doubling the recipe of some of my favourite ones. When you want to freeze the soup, allow it to cool completely beforehand then store in an airtight, freezer-safe container.
When ready to eat transfer to the fridge to thaw overnight and reheat the soup on the stovetop. Here are a few of the soups I freeze most often:
Dinner freezer meals have been a complete game-changer for me. Over the last month, I’ve also started to double up on dishes. Here are my top three dinner freezer meals.
