Miami Ribs

One of my husband's favourite dishes are his mother's Miami ribs (beef short ribs). I've never made them before and decided that this was the week. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the recipe from my mother-in-law when I was preparing the marinade, as there is a time difference between Montreal and Calgary and I didn't want to wake her up. So I found a recipe in the cookbook "Cooking with Color" (an absolutely beautiful book that I highly recommend), which I adapted to my liking.

Coq au Vin

Last Shabbat and the one before, we opened a bottle of red wine and didn't finish it. So I had 2 bottles sitting in my fridge and I didn't know what to do with them (other than drink of course)! Inspired by joyofkosher.com, I made a coq au vin that smelled and tasted heavenly!

Spinach Pesto Lemon-Pepper Pasta with Ricotta, Sundried Tomatoes and Mushrooms

Tonight, I was craving pasta - i.e. cozy comfort food considering the terrible snow outside. I was browsing online and found so many different types of pastas that sounded delicious. However, I got distracted and realized that it was almost dinnertime. No time to follow recipes, so what do I have in my fridge/freezer/pantry? Portabellini mushrooms - check, ricotta cheese - check, spinach pesto - check... 

Turns out it was yummy!!

Banana Pancakes with Chocolate Sauce

It's Chanukah (we're still eating fried foods) and boxing day (I've been told not to bother shopping, stores are insane) so why not celebrate with pancakes! A friend of ours stayed at our house this weekend and he picked up some groceries for me on Friday - I asked for bananas but didn't specify how many... so he came home with 10!! (It's fine - I always freeze them and use them for muffins) But I figured that I may as well use a few before I freeze them. What else goes with pancakes and bananas? Chocolate of course!! Here's what I did (and now I'm going to work out)...

Baked Macaroni & Cheese with Spinach and Sundried Tomatoes

It's Christmas and I'm in Montreal for the first time in years. There's absolutely nothing to do!! So obviously, I decide to spend my time cooking (and I even have a sous-chef, my dear husband Alex, who couldn't be happier chopping away). Since the weather outside is frightful (and the fire is so delightful - I wish), I opted for comfort food, i.e. baked macaroni. However, being that it's Chanukah (i.e. eating oil-filled foods) and being that it's the holiday season and therefore chocolates etc keep appearing at work (on my desk and then in my mouth), I decided to try and find a healthier version of this yummy yummy dish. I went straight to skinnytaste.com (an amazing blog) and found http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/05/lighter-baked-macaroni-and-cheese.html which I adapted slightly. It is just SO DELICIOUS (although I've only had a small taste)!!

White Spinach Pizza

For dinner tonight, I decided to make pizza but I wanted a change from my standard pesto and sundried-tomato pizza. So I looked through my fridge and freezer and was inspired by my frozen spinach! 

Indonesian Chicken

A while ago, I was watching a cooking show (I'm not sure why or when - I never do this) and I heard the tail end of a chicken wrap recipe. It sounded so yummy but I didn't have anything to write it down on. I kept repeating the 5 ingredients for the marinade - coconut milk, lime juice, garlic, ginger and chilli flakes until I could write it down. Now, months later, with no amounts written, I added to this mixture and came up with a yummy yummy marinade! For those of you who don't like coconut, don't be scared of coconut milk - the flavour is not as pungent.

Whole Grain Spaghetti with Zucchini and Peanut Sauce

For dinner tonight, I was planning on making a tofu stir-fry with peanut sauce (a recipe given to me by a colleague that I've been meaning to try for a few weeks). Unfortunately, the tofu in my fridge was expired and I had already chopped up the vegetables already! So I decided to cook the vegetables and add them to pasta with peanut sauce. I honestly didn't think that it would taste so good but I was pleasantly surprised - Yummmmm!

Chocolate Mint Trifle

We were having a potluck work holiday party and I wanted to make something delicious but also fast and easy. I opted for my mom's old trifle recipe, but added a twist - mint (which was a mistake, but a very yummy one).

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Tonight, I'm preparing salad for a family get-together. I figured it should be simple, so to please everyone. I opted to make a balsamic vinaigrette, but not my usual honey-mustard one (although it wasn't too different). Here's what I did:

Sticky Teriyaki Chicken Wings with Peanut Sauce

I absolutely adore anything with peanut sauce, so when looking for chicken wing recipes and found this (http://www.eatchicken.com/recipedetail.aspx?id=1957), I struck gold! However, I changed the recipe quite a bit to add more flavour and fun!