Sundried-Tomato Basil casserole

So as you know, I love sundried tomatoes and basil! This is another delicious way to use these ingredients and it looks so yummy too! Here's what I did:

Rosemary Garlic Potatoes

Potatoes are always a great side dish for any meal, especially with chicken or meat! Here's the recipe for the potatoes that I always make for barbecues that are always polished up!!

The biggest zucchini ever!

Yesterday, I purchased the biggest zucchini that I've ever seen!! Of course, I'll be using it to cook, but was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of what to make! (P.S. Guess how much it cost me)

Honey Soy Glazed Chicken

I like fast and easy recipes that can be made with items that I always have on hand. When I saw this recipe at www.joyofkosher.com, I figured that it would be perfect (obviously with a few changes).

Spinach Mushroom Frittata muffins

I love food that comes in muffin shapes. I don't know why - I also have a thing for mini food items (i.e. mini muffins, mini burgers etc). We had some leftover mushrooms and tons of eggs, so I was inspired to make something omelet-like for lunch - and why not make them in muffin shapes?
With mushrooms and eggs as ingredients, I rummaged to find what else I could use - an onion, spinach, goat cheese, Swiss cheese, grated Muenster cheese etc - turns out that my "throw whatever I can find into the bowl" meal was yummy!

Aunty Rohna's blueberry cake (low fat version)

As the summer is slowly coming to an end, I want to make as much as I can with fresh berries. I eat pints of blueberries daily and love using them to bake.

My aunt Rohna knows how much I love this cake and will often make it for me. She gave me the recipe a few years ago and I decided to try a lower fat (i.e. guilt free) version - there's fruit in it, so it's healthy, right? 

I've made this recipe with raspberries before and I'm sure it can be done with blackberries and strawberries too, but here's the only slightly modified version. 

Blue Cheese Salad with Mint Dressing

I absolutely love fresh herbs - they are just so refreshing on a delicious summer salad! Unfortunately, in the boonies, it is sometimes difficult to find certain ingredients (i.e. fresh basil) so I did what I could with what we had on hand. 


One thing I should mention is that blue cheese scares me - at least its smell does... I'm usually good at tasting new things, but blue cheese is in a league of its own... until tonight! I decided to be a wonderful daughter-in-law and indulge my mother-in-law, who loves blue cheese.  Turns out, after trying it, I still don't like blue cheese - but everyone else liked the salad :)  

Nelson's Barbecue Chicken

I've taken a bit of a break from cooking while I'm on vacation, but when my father-in-law, Nelson, made this yummy chicken, I decided that I had to post it! It was fast and easy and super delish!!
Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of the finished product, but I will post when I make this...

Blueberry Raspberry Torte

Summer is unfortunately coming to an end, but we still have a few weeks left and we have to take advantage!! What do I absolutely adore during the summer? BERRIES!! Here's one of my favourite recipes, taken directly from "The Kosher Palette"

Low(er) Fat Zucchini Muffins

Muffins are always a great snack to have on hand. Every so often, I bake and freeze them and then I have a great snack to take to work. Unfortunately, muffins can be quite high in calories, so I try to make them a bit healthier by replacing the oil with applesauce and using whole wheat flour. These substitutions don't always work out to my liking, but in this case, the muffins are still delicious!

Thin Crust Pizza

As you may know by now, I LOVE basil and sundried tomatoes. What you probably don't know is that I don't really like tomato sauce (as well as ketchup and other cooked tomatoes). Because of my tomato sauce dislike, sometimes I don't enjoy pizza because there's just too much tomato sauce (a bit is ok, just not too much). However, when I discovered this creation, I realized that not only can I make a yummy pizza at home but I like it more because there's no tomato sauce. Instead, I make a pesto sauce with sundried tomatoes and/or basil (in this case I used both) and top with cheese. Voila! You have your pizza (after baking it of course).

Sweet Potato Ginger Soup

After a fast, soup is always a must for me - it's healthy and hearty, instantly making me feel rejuvenated. Jory, a friend from work, gave me this recipe, I changed it slightly and it's been my go to soup ever since! Sweet potato and ginger are 2 of my favourite things (however, you can remove the ginger if you don't like it) - this soup is just perfect for me!

The recipe called for 1.5 cups of milk and 2.5 cups of chicken soup base. However, when I first made it, I wanted to try it parve (i.e. no dairy or meat) and didn't use the milk (however added water to compensate) and it was delicious, so since then I don't use milk. If anyone tries it with milk, let me know how it tastes!

Pesto Pasta with Goat Cheese and Sundried Tomatoes

By now, you probably realize that I love sundried tomatoes and pesto sauce! This is definitely one of my favourite pastas which is fast and easy (another plus).

Spinach Salad with Peanut Butter Dressing

Sometimes I want to make a simple but delicious salad that I don't have to chop or anything time consuming. This salad fits the bill! It takes me 5 minutes to prepare (or less) if I have the dressing already prepared and is so yummy, even for the non-salad eater. 

Ginger Noodles

A favourite dish of mine is my mom's ginger noodles. They're delicious both hot and cold and they can be eaten as a light meal or a side dish!  These noodles are always a hit!

Sweet Asian Eggplant

This is a delicious side dish, that's great both warm and cold. It has tons of flavour and is a vegetable (so quasi healthy)! 

Thai Stir-fry with Tofu, Basil, Coconut milk and Mushrooms

Tofu is an incredibly healthy food that I find people are often scared to try, but it's can be really delicious - it all depends on flavouring! Here's a yummy recipe that I adapted from www.allrecipes.com: