Vegetables + Sides
This Dill Pickle Bacon Pasta Salad is a flavour-packed summer main or anytime side dish — combining crunchy dill pickles, smokey bacon bits and a creamy pickle brine dressing tossed with tender pasta. It’s always a winner with my people and at every gathering!
All the vibes of a classic sweet potato casserole presented in irresistible mini stacks with a crumby streusel topping and lots of caramelized edges (aka the best part of roasted sweet potatoes)!
This CRISPY RICE SALAD WITH HALLOUMI ticks all the boxes with hella textures and flavours — refreshing crunch of cabbage slaw and cucumber slices, viral crispy rice, buttery-toasted almonds and springy, salty halloumi cheese, all tossed in a sweet spicy tahini dressing. See what mean about it being a salad that delivers it all?
Pommes Anna (or Potato Anna) is a classic French dish of buttery sliced potatoes stacked into a cake-like form that is baked until tender on the inside and crisp on the edges. The signature presentation of a Pommes Anna is flipped over onto a serving dish where the golden brown bottom becomes the top. You must have a really good non-stick pan or a really well-seasoned cast iron pan to pull it off. Do practice this dish before serving it to guests at a dinner party. Once you can comfortably pull this off, it is a rather satisfying culinary triumph!
These Crispy Potato Stacks with Garlic Herb Butter come out of the oven with ruffle-y, crispy edges around a tender and creamy centre. They are the perfect side dish for the holidays or for hosting dinner guests you really want to impress.
I have officially dubbed this TOMATO SALAD WITH TOASTED ALMONDS AND DATES the salad of the summer! My summer, at least. And maybe yours too, once you try it. This salad centers thickly sliced, juicy tomatoes, a big handful of baby arugula and an incredible toasted almonds and dates topping. It’s so good there is always inventory shrinkage before it gets to the salad.
This GREEN BEANS WITH MISO BUTTER BRAISED ONIONS is side dish perfection. Onions are cooked until nearly melt-in-your-mouth in a simple but flavourful 3-ingredient braising liquid of butter, miso paste and water. To serve, the tender onions are served over green beans, under a blanket of the umami-rich, unctuous sauce.
This CUCUMBER WRAPPED SUSHI ROLL is kinda like the love child between a Japanese maki and a smoked salmon tea sandwich! The refreshing cucumber exterior nicely contrasts the tasty interior of vinegared rice, savoury smoked salmon, creamy avocado and cream cheese. They are delicious little bites perfect for brunch, as an appetizer or a fun minimal-cook meal.
Before you think this is yet another hummus recipe, think again. This CONFIT GARLIC HUMMUS WITH GRILLED MUSHROOMS is absolutely unlike any other hummus recipe I’ve seen or tasted. Loads of garlic (two heads) is roasted in oil in the oven to flavour the smooth and creamy hummus. But it’s the mushroom topping that gives this dish its OH-MY-GOD swoon factor. A mix of cremini and shiitake mushrooms are grilled and then marinaded in garlic, lemon juice and peel, thyme, maple syrup and dried cascabel chile.
Refreshing and delicious recipe featuring bouncy noodles loaded with a variety of crisp veggies and shredded chicken, all tossed in a Chinese-style creamy, savoury, spicy and tangy peanut butter sauce.
When you want something more substantial than a salad but barely want to turn the stove on, this Poached Shrimp and Tomato Salad is a satisfying, stand-alone light meal or side veg.
With the start of school and adieu to summer vacation, I begin to accept that Fall is just around the corner. Every year when I spot the first copper-y dried leaf fallen on the sidewalk, I think of (lower your device's volume if you're at work haha) this old KFC commercial where the woman is screaming and pointing at something. The camera then turns to the sidewalk in front of her, showing a single fallen maple leaf on the ground with the voice-over saying "summer can't last forever". She then bolts in the other direction. I feel exactly the same way! Does anyone else (Canadian) remember this one? Best. Commercial. Ever. My favorite. :)
Hiya! It's been a minute since I posted. How has this month flown by so fast? Oh I remember now. It's because I've had my hands full with the girls who are on summer break. Why even is there a summer vacation? People who work don't get 2 months off their jobs (I mean other than school-related staff). Stay-at-home parents don't stop cooking / dishes / laundry / vacuuming / groceries / chauffeuring and all of that for a couple of months every year. Why do children get 2 months off school? Isn't school basically their job? Seems like a good idea to keep their minds sharp all year round. Maybe next year I will sign the girls up for math camp all summer heh heh. #tigermomgoals
Charred cabbage wedges topped with creamy miso mushrooms make a luxurious and flavourful vegetable dish. The cabbage turns tender with deeply browned edges while the mushrooms soak in a rich, umami sauce. This is anything but a mere side kick on the dinner table!