It’s a hot and humid summer in Toronto. So easy, lazy, tasty dinners are in high demand in our house these days. I came up with the idea for these cauliflower steaks with grilled shrimp skewers and chimichurri last week when I needed a fast, healthy dinner that left me feel less guilty than devouring a beef steak with herb butter and fried potatoes. As some of you may know, I love using cauliflower when I cook. Not only does it taste amazing, it’s also a wonderful substitution for carbs. First time I came across the term ‘cauliflower steaks’, I must admit I thought it was a bit of an…
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Divinely decadent shrimp appetizer
Here is our second appetizer for our Roaring ‘20s Gatsby themed New Year’s dinner. We started out with oysters, or what we called Roaring Rockefeller oysters, and we thought that a natural next step is a fresh little bite with shrimp and herb cream with a touch of lemon and watercress. We recommend you use a very small type of shrimp, as we thought this would be one in a row of appetizers, and small shrimp will make this dish look very elegant and delicate. North Atlantic shrimp are great, or maybe you can even get your hands on a batch of Danish ‘fjordrejer’ (frozen as the fresh ones are…
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Coleslaw with a twist
This Indian coleslaw salad is inspired by my never ending attempts to lose weight. If I summed up all the weight I have lost and gained again it would be more than I weigh today, so I can’t say that I have been successful. My recent diet is all about not eating carbs, which is why some of our recipes are titled “low-carb”. My family loves butter chicken and we eat it at least once a month, but butter chicken goes with basmati rice and that is a no-no on my diet, so I had to substitute it with something. Here is where this Indian coleslaw salad comes into the…
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Summer veggie curry
In our house we use a lot of curry in our cooking. Of course we do so because we really like curry, but also because it’s very easy to adjust the level of spiciness when using curry so it appeals to younger palates as well. One of our boys’ favorite dishes is chicken curry, which was something that was introduced to our eldest son back in kindergarten by one of his more progressive teachers. He was suspicious at first, like all 4-year-olds tend to be, but he soon grew to love it. It just goes to show that kids should not be shielded from trying new, and to them very…
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While we wait for dinner
Easy and tasty appetizers are something I am always on the outlook for, because we love having friends over, but also enjoy having time to entertain them when they first arrive. With this easy and crisp salmon avocado appetizer you’ll have time to actually spend time with your guests when they arrive instead of being caught up by time-consuming starters. Karen-Anne and I came up with this yummy recipe last time she came to visit as we found ourselves with too much salmon and a ripe avocado on our hands, and good food does not deserve to go to waste! These crisp salmon avocado appetizer bites are little flavor-packed mouthfuls…
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Lobster galore
The first time we made this lobster starter was for New Year’s, and it immediately became one of our lobster favorites. When Karen-Anne and I were planning our New Year’s dinner, as we always do weeks in advance, we’d already decided we were going to make something with lobster. Actually, we always make something with lobster when Karen-Anne visits. (When your friends voluntarily decide to cram themselves into a plane for eight hours just to visit you, they really deserve to be fed well!) Lobster is so elegant, festive and somewhat extravagant, but one of the perks of living in the northern part of North America is that lobster is…
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Cauliflower feel good salad
I like to start my week with a good salad. After a weekend of giving in to my less healthy food cravings, it gives me such a nice good conscience. It has to be tasty though, as there is nothing more uninspiring and tiresome than a bland salad. This cauliflower feel good salad is packed with taste as well as healthy stuff. It has crispiness, softness, sweetness, bite and crunch all in one. Exactly what a good salad should have if you ask me. I probably make this salad once or twice a month. Not only because of its great taste, but because it is so easy to make, and…
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It’s Friday!
This is just the most easy peasy simple yet addictively delicious appetizer! Perfect for a Friday night to celebrate that you’ve finally arrived at the weekend. And perfect too with a glass, or two, of bubbles. When I serve these shrimp with cilantro lemon mayo dip the main challenge is to make sure I’ve made enough. More than once I’ve found that the whole platter of shrimp and dip I just put on the table a minute ago has already mysteriously vanished! You can easily prepare the cilantro lemon mayo dip in advance, but otherwise it’ll only take you 5 minutes max to whip up right before serving. Just make…
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Moroccan (low-carb) lasagna
This Moroccan style low-carb lasagna recipe is a twist on ordinary lasagna. With three kids still living at home, we tend to make a lot of lasagna in my household. Therefore it’s nice to mix it up a bit and bring in new flavors to the Italian classic. So here, we’ve fired up the aromatic spices typically found in the kitchens of the northern part of Africa. Furthermore, we’ve experimented with substituting pasta sheets with zucchini, making this a healthier, more low-carb and less heavy lasagna. Add a good green salad, and you’ve got an amazingly tasty, good for you dinner that’s entirely pasta guilt free. Making this Moroccan (low-carb)…
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Low-carb fajita beef salad
Feel like having Mexican food tonight, but would like to avoid carbs? Here’s an amazingly tasty and succulent fajita beef salad that will fulfill your craving without leaving you with a carb guilty conscience. With its beautiful mix of colors this fajita beef salad truly reminds me of Mexico, and it brightens up any dinner or buffet table. Actually, Cinco de Mayo is coming up soon, so why not start planning your own fiesta? This fajita beef salad does really well as party food. Not only does it look and taste great, it is very fast to make, leaving you time to join the fiesta. You can even make variations…
