Avocado, Crab & Tomato Salad

My husband and I celebrated our first anniversary this past week. It was a great first year and we couldn't believe how quickly time passed. To celebrate the occasion, we decided to do something different. Instead of going out for a great and extravagant dinner, we decided to have a great and extravagant dinner at home by creating our own tasting menu, based on our favourite foods. It was unexpectedly exhausting but our three hour extravaganza allowed us to put the rest of the world and all the distractions of our everyday life on pause while we took a bit of time to slow down and enjoy time with each other. As we recalled our memories of our shared life together, in the years before our wedding day and the year since, we found ourselves laughing until our sides ached.

For this very special evening, I started the evening out with crab, one of my favourite foods. This appetizer is super easy, fresh and flavourful. The avocado is velvety and smooth, the tomato fresh and clean, and the crab is luxurious and dressed so simply that its true flavours come through.

Avocado, Crab and Tomato Salad



Serves 2

You don't need a fussy plating for this, you can toss all the ingredients together instead of placing them in layers.

1/2 ripe avocado - diced (click here for tips on how to prep)
8 cherry tomatoes - diced
1/4 lb lump crab meat - dark & white meat
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/2 lemon (zest & juice)
pepper to taste

1. Divide the cubed avocado into 2 and place in the center of each plate.
2. Repeat with the tomatoes.
3. Gently mix crab with mayonnaise, celery salt, lemon zest & juice. Add pepper to taste.
4. Pile crab onto tomatoes and serve immediately.
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A Different Salad for Summer

Sometimes recipes that you love happen by accident. This week's summer salad is a good example of one. Usually, I have a good sense of what I am going to make before I even step into my kitchen. But several weeks ago, I thought I might make a salad for dinner. In my mind, it was going to be a simple green salad with celery, peppers and tomatoes. Then my husband reminded me that our contractor was going to be arriving the following week which means we needed to purge our clutter.(We are "lowering our basement." I know that concept may sound strange for most people but in our neighborhood in Toronto where the tiniest houses sell for a mint, a way of extending your living space when you can't add an addition to your house is to dig down your basement floor to create enough head space. This gives you an additional floor of livable space. If this sounds expensive, you're quite right, it is, but it is cheaper than moving. Unfortunately, we will be working for quite a while to pay this off. But we hope in the end, it will be worth it.)

That little impetus gave me some thoughts to see what was in our pantry and there I saw it, Israeli couscous, in a gleaming mason jar. I had been thinking about using it and I thought I might try it as sort of a "light" pasta salad in that there would be more vegetables with just a highlight of starch.

The result is a clean, fresh tasting salad with the flavours of summer: tomatoes, peppers, and celery. It's juicy and crisp and feels like the type of salad you want to eat when the days are long and it is too humid to cook dinner. Even leftovers are delicious, it stays crisp even overnight and the couscous continues to absorb the flavours of the gardineria and the marinated mushrooms.

In fact, this “recipe” is so simple that I hesitate to call it that. It is really a couple of ingredients we had in the fridge tossed together. This recipe would work well for a picnic or a potluck where you might have limited access to refrigeration, easily doubles or triples to feed crowds and is easy to transport.

Israeli couscous is often mistaken for a grain, but in reality, it is actually quite similar to pasta. If you can't find Israeli couscous, you could use the more common finer-grained couscous or try a small pasta such as orzo. Israeli couscous can be found near the grains, rice section of your grocery store.


Israeli Couscous Salad


1/2 c Israeli Couscous

1/2 yellow / orange pepper
3 stalks celery, trimmed

1/2c marinated mushrooms*
1/2c gardinieria*

2 medium sized tomatoes

1. Cook Israeli Couscous per package's instructions in plenty of water until al dente. Drain couscous.

2. Meanwhile, chop pepper and celery into uniform medium-sized chunks. Add to a large bowl, toss with marinated mushrooms & gardinieria including some of the marinade. Add the warm couscous and toss well. Leave for at least 30 minutes (for best flavour).

3. Slice up tomatoes and add to salad when ready to serve.

*You can purchase marinated mushrooms and gardinieria (a delicious mixed vegetable pickle usually includes cauliflower, carrots, celery and hot peppers.) Both are so easy to make, but in a pinch we buy it. Alternatively, you could lightly pickle fresh vegetables by cutting up bite size pieces of your favourite vegetables - carrots, celery, cauliflower - tossing them in a boiling mixture of distilled white vinegar for up to 5 minutes. Strain and cool. Save some of the pickling liquid to toss with the couscous.
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In Season: Ramps

In this part of the country when the snow recedes, foodies and foragers anxiously exchange messages on the food boards about when ramps will be ready for the season. When? When? When? they ask growing more and more impatient as Spring creeps forward. Of course, once ramps (also known as wild leeks or green garlic) are ready to be picked, these foodies and foragers go delirious descending upon their secret outdoor locations and farmer's markets to get their fix.

I am a bandwagon jumper when it comes to these things. People have loved them for many years yet I only discovered these little gems last year after reading an article about them. When I realized that they were making their rounds in professional and home kitchens everywhere, I had to find out what the fuss was about.

Ramps are part of the onion family, its stem is long and slender (slightly leaner than a scallion) imbued with a plum-pinkish hue and long broad verdant leaves. To the uninitiated, the pungent smell of ramps may be off-putting, but for those who love garlic, the smell is irresistible. When we brought them home from the market, we kept them in a separate bag lest they transfer their fragrance to an unsuspecting block of cheddar or an cherry strudel from the pie lady. (Also consider the same when storing them in your fridge.) But oh the taste, its slightly onion, slightly garlic, and just a little bit earthy. If you ever see it in the market, I encourage you to try them, just at least once.

They grow widely and freely in wooded areas from the mid-eastern United States all the way up to southern part of Canada. For those who are unable to forage for them (or grow them), they can be purchased at the farmer's market for a prince's ransom. (Last year, my CSA sold them for $18/lb and this year, I bought two small bunches weighting 50 grams for $4.) A small price to pay for this fleeting treasure.




This year, we tried ramps in two different ways. We pickled the stems using Tom Colicchio's pickled ramp recipe and with the leaves we made a delicious spring vegetable frittata.


Spring Vegetable Frittata


10 small morels (or 5 large ones) - sliced in into thin strips
2 plum tomatoes - diced
1 c ramp leaves - loosely packed - julienned
1 c baby spinach - loosely packed - julienned
4 stalks asparagus - cleaned and cut into 1 inch pieces
6 eggs

salt & pepper
olive oil

1 c shredded part-skim mozzarella (more or less to taste)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Light oil 1.4l baking dish.
2. Arrange tomatoes, morels, asparagus, ramps & spinach in the baking dish.
3. Crack the eggs into a bowl, add salt & pepper and beat until incorporated. Carefully pour into baking dish.
4. Bake for approximately 20 minutes. Check around the 18 minute mark to make sure the eggs are not cooking too quickly. Do not overcook. (The eggs will have body but will still look wet and glossy.)
5. Remove from the oven and turn on your broiler. Sprinkle mozzarella over top of frittata and return to oven until the cheese melts, and starts to bubble & turn golden.

Bachelorette Supper: Spaghettini with Tomatoes & Goat Cheese

My husband decided to spend Saturday night watching the hockey game with the boys. I had a long week at work this week and the only thing I wanted to do was to kick my feet up and maybe watch the re-airing of the series finale of ER.

The prospect of having dinner on my own got my wheels spinning to create something delicious but also relatively simple. Then I remembered something I used to eat all the time in my bachelorette days. I guess this dish fell to the way side because my husband is a vowed meat eater and despite my earnest attempts to prepare the occasional vegetarian meal for him, he simply doesn't see a meal without meat is a meal.

When he decided to do a boy's night out, I decided to treat myself to this long lost friend. This is a simple pasta with clean flavours that's a snap to make but feels like a treat. Fresh juicy tomatoes on top of silky noodles with a generous dollop of velvety tangy goat cheese. It is easily my favourite dinner for one.*(No doubt this is even better when tomtatoes are at their peak in late summer.)

*You can definitely increase the quantities if you are serving more than just yourself. I think it makes a really nice main dish in the warm, sticky summer nights. It's a really beautiful but simple dinner. Bon Appetit.

Spaghettini with Tomatoes & Goat Cheese

1 tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium sized tomatoes, diced
1 tbsp butter

handful of baby arugula (rocket) or a couple of basil leaves
dollop of goat cheese

quantity of a fine noodle pasta like cappellini or spaghettini

1. Boil water and add pasta.
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large saucepan, add garlic and cook until the garlic sizzles. Add tomatoes and simmer. Let the tomatotes simmer down into a sauce.
3. Add the arugula until it wilts.
4. To finish, add a pat of butter to create a sauce.
5. When pasta is al dente, drain pasta reserving a cupful.
6. Add a small amount of the pasta water to the tomato sauce if you want the sauce to be a little thinner.
7. Plate pasta and scoop tomatoes and arugula on top.
8. Dollop with goat cheese and serve.

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Salsa Redux

We deliberated for months about our honeymoon destination. Did we want to go to Paris, Tuscany, Costa Rica, Japan, or something Caribbean or Mexican? Oh the decisions! Surprisingly, this was the most difficult part of the whole wedding process. Some people fight over seating arrangements, budgets and food. Not us. Our lively debates centered around our honeymoon. "Well, how about Paris?" Then we thought, "Should we go some place new?" And then the bankers in us asked, "what about the Euro exchange rate?" "Well, then how about St. Lucia..." These conversations went on for months. We were paralyzed by our own indecision.

In the end, we chose a gorgeous resort outside of Cancun. A small hotel outside of the city and right on the beach. It would be a great place to unwind after the hectic pace of our wedding preparations and following celebrations. Our resort didn't disappoint - We felt like royalty from the moment we arrived... with no workday worries, we frittered hours away pouring over our novels, sipping margaritas, and stretching out like fat cats on our poolside loungers. We ate like kings noshing on 3 bite fish tacos, indulging on jumbo shrimp cocktails, and throwing back ceviche shooters.



I haven't been blogging much lately or for that long for that matter and so I probably shouldn't be recycling my own recipes, but I absolutely must. Tomatillos are such a farmer's market delight and now they are available in full swing.

We received some this week from our CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture) and I dug out the recipe I posted last year. I had the beautiful roasted grape tomatoes* that I made earlier this week and thought I might take my advice and try roasted tomatoes. The resulting recipe brightened the salsa considerably so much so that I couldn't really call it a salsa verde any longer... really it has become a salsa with tomatillos.




1/2 pint of tomatillos (about 5 medium sized)
1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes
1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes (roasted)
1 small white onion, cut into chunks
3 cloves of garlic - rough chop
1 jalapeno - seeded, chopped finely
juice from 1 lemon
1 tsp of sugar
1 tsp of salt
1 tbsp of olive oil

Peel the brown papery husks and wash the tomatillos. Chop the tomatillos roughly.

Heat the olive oil and add onions, garlic and tomatillos. Saute until onions are translucent. Add tomatoes (fresh and roasted), sugar, and salt. Once heated through, take off heat and whiz in a food processor. Pulse it so you still have large chunks.

Refrigerate until cold and serve with nachos.

Makes 2 cups

*I love roasted tomatoes and it's one of the easiest things you can do to add intensity in both colour and flavour to your everyday meals. If cherry/grape tomatoes are available, wash them and tumble them into a roast pan. Sprinkle with salt and pop in a low temperature oven (200 degrees) for ninety minutes or longer until they are wrinkled like plump raisins. If you are using larger tomatoes, slice them thickly. Follow the instructions accordingly.

Farmer's Market Summer Vegetable Pasta

At the height of summer (ok ok - I have been negligent to post), the tables at the farmers markets overflowing with an abundance of gorgeous ripe, fragrant produce. Thursday is the night we head to the farmer's market which is around the corner from the depot where we pick up our CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture) half share allotment. We always catch the tail end of the market and sometimes some of the farmers are packing up. But I love going anyway. There are always a small handful of vendors who wait for the stragglers like me. The market closest to our foos is situated on the edge of a park and children's playground. Every week, swarms of tiny children covered in face paint descend upon the park, laughing, running, falling down and sometimes crying under the watchful eyes of their parents.

I love markets, particularly at the height of the season when the tomatoes, corn and basil shine. In fact, it's hard to keep me away. Some girls like shoe shopping, I like food shopping. I love looking at the long rectangular tables abundant with fresh vegetables everywhere glistening and fragrant of the earth and the possibility of what could be for dinner that night.

As we walked home, I thought about how I could put a meal together that would be simple and quick but would allow the natural fresh flavours of this week's harvest to shine through. This little gem is what I came up with...

1 lb cesarecce pasta (or other short pasta like gemelli)
3 tbsp unsalted butter
4 large cloves of garlic, minced (lots I know - but I love it)
1 onion
2 zucchinis
25 cherry tomatoes
1 small red chilli – deseeded, finely sliced
2 handfuls of flat leaf parsley and curly parsley
salt & pepper to taste




To save time in the kitchen, prepare your vegetables as the water for your pasta boils. You will need to prepare your vegetables in the following order:
Mince garlic
Thinly slice onion
De-seed chilli and finely slice (it can be very hot so be careful and wash your hands thoroughly)
Dice zucchinis
Halve cherry tomatoes
Chop herbs

1. Bring water to a boil, generously salt, add pasta. Stir briefly to prevent sticking. Cook to package instructions (8-10 minutes)
2. As the pasta cooks, this is the time to finishing preparing the vegetables. Work quickly. Melt butter in a large pre-heated pan. The pan should not be too hot because you want the butter to melt gently until its slightly foamy and not sizzling. Add garlic, onions and chili and stir until translucent. Add diced zucchini and stir until it softens slightly. Add herbs to pan. Stir to incorporate.
3. Just before the pasta is al dente, scoop pasta out with a slotted spoon into the pan.
4. Mix the pasta with the vegetables, add a small amount of the pasta water if you need to loosen
5. Serve!!

Summer Lovin'

It's September now, but summer days are still here in spirit. It's been colder outside these days and I am not quite ready to accept the autumn. Looking back at this summer, I think my best culinary discovery was not a new thing, but rather a rekindling of my love for tomatoes. I had grown so accustomed to the hard, grainy, tasteless tomatoes found in the grocery store, that I had given up on them. However, I remember the day at the Farmer's Market when I saw the curiously beautiful "black cherry tomato," and I couldn't resist. I popped one straight into my mouth and I was transported to my youth when tomatoes grew in my mom's backyard, and we would sneak out into the backyard to eat my mom's crop during the Brady Bunch. The cherry tomatoes were so juicy and fresh, we would gobble them up and when my mom would go out into the backyard, she would find her vegetable garden raided by her children.

A colleague of mine, who happens to be Italian, told me that Italians only eat tomatoes when they are ripe and that's why there is such a profound tradition of canning tomatoes to enjoy throughout the year when the snow is on the ground and the sun is now where to be seen. Perhaps next year, that will be on my to-do list!

This summer, I fell in love again and we feasted on the meaty beefsteaks, gorged on the workhorse romas and snacked on the sexy cousins, the marble-sized orbs, cherry tomatoes.

Several weeks ago, I was in Montreal and found myself in heaven at the Jean Talon Market. Bushels upon bushels of roma tomatoes, hand-tied chilis dangling from tarpulin roofs, and large buckets filled with fragrant bunches of basil. Of course, it was absolutely frustrating trying to walk through the aisles and not buy anything to take home! Oh and the heirlooms! I almost cried when Ryan told me they wouldn't be able to make the train ride home two days later. Sigh.

However, all that pent-up demand drove me straight into the arms of the farmer's at the St. Lawrence North Market the following Saturday. I bought a small basket of romas. Oh boy, did we enjoy those bad boys.



Roma Tomato Salad
5 roma tomatoes - cut into 8ths
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
4 basil leaves, chopped roughly
grinding of salt and pepper
1/4 c of large caperberries
2 tbsp of goat cheese

1. Toss the tomatoes, olive oil, basil and lemon juice together.
2. Season with salt and pepper, as you like.
3. Top with crumbled goat cheese and caperberries.
4. Enjoy!

Caribbean Dreaming - Shrimp Banana Curry

My first trip to Central America was to the beautiful country of Belize. It is a laid-back country with a blend of Caribbean and Latin cultures with a British Commonwealth infrastructure. The country pushes out into the warm Caribbean Sea on one side and is bordered by Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula and rugged jungles of Guatemala. The country primarily attracts two distinct travellers: the eco-tourist who marvel at the unspoilt wonders of Belize's tropical rainforests and the serious diver who aims to explore the second largest barrier reef in the world in all its underwater splendour. Belize’s beautiful islands slightly off its coasts are wonderful jumping off points to view sting rays, nurse shark, flying fish and dolphins. It is a warm, welcoming place where people are friendly and kind with where an astounding level of bio-diversity continues to thrive.


The first time I had banana curry was our first night in Belize. I had never conceived of banana as a curry ingredient when I first saw it on a menu, but as usual, my culinary curiosity left me with no choice but to try it. It was truly decadent - the curry was smooth, creamy, and luscious. There were no visible signs that bananas were in the dish but the taste was unmistakable. As the banana warms, it melts into the curry mellowing out the spices. It lends a warm sweetness to the shrimp that transports you to the warm, breezy nights on Ambergris Caye.

I love this recipe because the smooth, sweet curry is flecked with black mustard seeds and the shrimp really gives it a real exotic feel.

Shrimp Banana Curry
3 ripe bananas broken into pieces
1 lb of raw shrimp
1 c of light coconut milk
1/2 small onion -diced
1/2 small pepper - diced
3 carrots - small coins
1 c of baby tomatoes - sliced in half (I used heirlooms today)
2 tbsp of butter
1/4 tsp of black mustard seed
1/4 tsp of tumeric
1/4 garam masala
1 pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tbsp of parsley - chopped finely

1. Heat pan and add butter. When the butter is foamy, add shrimp. Flip shrimp over after 1 minute. After another minute, the shrimp should start to curl but is not thoroughly cooked. Remove from the pan and set aside.
2. Add the black mustard seeds, garam masala and tumeric. The heat will start to roast the spices and releases the aromas. Do not let it burn otherwise it will become acrid and you'll need to start over.
3. Once the spices start to roast, add the bananas, onion, carrots, and pepper. Stir to coat the bananas and vegetables. Once the bananas hit the heat of the pan, they begin to melt. When the vegetables have heated through and the bananas have mostly dissolved, add the coconut milk.
4. Cover and let simmer for 5 - 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
5. Just before you are about to serve, return the shrimp to the pan, add the tomatoes, and sprinkle the parsley. Fold gently and plate.

Serve with rice or noodles.

Even for people who don't typically like curry, they will find the banana curry interesting and unexpected. It is not spicy and does not have a strong scent which sometimes puts people off. It has more of a Caribbean feel than an East Indian one.

Keeping the Farmers in Business

Oh mama. Wednesday is Farmer's Market day at City Hall. It might have been 33 degrees outside today but it was worth the walk over there. While hungry office workers lined up for peameal bacon sandwiches, I made my way to the tents at the far end of the Square. I didn't know where to start - everywhere I looked, there were juicy bing cherries, ripe strawberries, and peaches farther than the eye could see... what to buy, what to buy.

I strolled around, taking mental note of all the possibilities... There was a crush of people at one of the tents and I went in for a closer look. Heavens! Zucchini blossoms!! Lots of them. How could a girl resist?

I left the market with a bagful of fragrant basil leaves, gorgeous zucchini blossoms, heirloom baby tomatoes and baby zucchini. The smell of the basil wafted through my office this afternoon and certainly attracted some attention. I could hardly wait to get home and whip up something summery. I had forgotten that I liked tomatoes. Most of the time, the stores are filled with pastey, pale sour tomatoes, but at the height of summer, the most beautiful jewels make their appearance. Juicy, sweet, plump - heirloom tomatoes are the farmer's gifts to us city folk.

I hope you like...


Deep-Fried Zucchini Blossoms
I had planned to stuff these bad boys (they are the male flowers) but I could bare to - and so I decided to enjoy them in their simple splendour by dipping them in a thin eggy batter and straight into the hot oil.

2 Dozen zucchini blossoms (you're gonna want this many!)
1 egg
2 tbsp flours
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 pinch of salt
2 grinds of black pepper

I washed the blossoms in cold water & drained them. Be gentle. Meanwhile, I mixed two 2 tbsp of flour, with lemon juice, 1 egg and enough water to make a thin batter. Less water if you want a thicker batter.

Heat enough canola oil to fry the blossoms if you don't have a deep fryer. In order to test the oil to ensure that the oil is hot enough - let one drop of batter fall into the oil. If it sizzles and rises to the surface - it's ready to go. Watch the temperature don't let the oil get too hot.

Dip the zucchini into the batter and then straight into the oil. Watch carefully... Flip over after about a minute or two when they are golden brown. Place a paper towel over a plate & as the blossoms cook, remove the blossoms to let drain on the plate. Salt immediately.

In 2002, Martha Stewart published a summer recipe for a pasta salad called "minestrone salad." I thought about making this recipe all summer, but I am watching my carbs so no pasta for me. I have adapted it for my own use, I hope you like it.


Minestrone Salad
1 pint of heirloom tomatoes - split in half lengthwise
1 handful of basil leaves - torn or sliced into a chiffonade
1 can of corn, drained (I am not proud of it - but fresh is not always possible)
1 can of white cannelli beans, drained & rinsed.
1 dozen baby zucchini
1 splash of good olive oil
1 tbsp of chianti vinegar (use what you have at home)
salt and pepper to taste

Blanch the baby zukes for about 5 minutes. Drain and plunge in cold water immediately. When cool enough to handle, slice the zucchinis in half lengthwise and then in half again. (I only sliced them once and found them way too difficult to toss in the salad with all of the other delicate items.) Drain and rinse out the white cannelli beans. Add beans, corn, tomatoes and basil together in a large bowl. Add salt and pepper as well as the vinegar and olive oil. Toss gently until mixed well - don't crush the beans.

It's that easy.





Bon Appetit