It’s been a while.

Hi friends. It’s been a while.

You can tell when I haven’t been cooking when my blog is barren. I haven’t written a post in almost 3 weeks!!! Way too long and I’m so sorry! I was away in San Francisco for a weekend and the rest of the time I haven’t cooked. I hadn’t grocery shopped, my fridge and cupboards are barren… WHO AM I!??

Well, the wait is over and I’m back! Up on the menu today? Moroccan vegetable stew.

Mountain Bread pizza.

Have you heard of Mountain Bread? I’ve never seen or heard of the brand before but when I spotted it at the Saturday market, I was curious so picked up a package. It looked just like a wrap of some sort and I usually like to keep burrito wrappers or tortillas in my freezer just in case. After further research and a cool recipe on the back of their packaging, it looked like pizzas could be made with these wraps. I was intrigued so I tried it.

The result? Mountain Bread pesto pizzas.

When in doubt, make pasta.

I love the combination of hot sausage and Dijon mustard. It’s a very common combination found on charcuterie platters with different kinds of meats and cheeses or even in German food. The saltiness from the sausage, the tanginess from the mustard… It just seems to work.

Tonight I made a Dijon mustard-dressed spicy sausage, kale, caramelized onion pasta.

FREE COOKIES?!

Oh, my bad. I meant free as in allergen-free. Sorry to get your hopes up!!!

These banana date oatmeal cookies are 1) sugar-free, 2) dairy-free, 3) egg-free, 4) nut-free, 5) gluten-free, 6) soy-free and oh, 7) vegan. It doesn’t sound appetizing to you, does it? My sister would probably comment on me being “hipster” again but hey, they’re actually not bad at all! Plus, it’s got all these amazing superfoods mixed in which makes it even BETTER for you.

Are you ready for the recipe yet!?!

Broccoli trees + other great grocery spots.

I’ll tell you a not-so-secret secret: one of my favourite places to grocery shop would be Sunrise Market in Vancouver. It’s a super cheap, no-frills old Chinese market that I believe used to be Sunrise Soya foods which produced tofu back in the day (and I think still to this day — correct me if I’m wrong). It’s this amazing market in the middle of the downtown eastside. Fresh produce is dirt cheap and besides that, you can get killer deals on tofu, dumplings, packaged foods, etc. Basically everything.

This time around I got some huge broccoli trees that were bagged into the Reduced bin and I swear, there were atleast 2-3 heads worth of broccoli in there. For $1.00. Yes! Since I wanted to make something new with the broccoli, I decided to whip up a quick steamed broccoli salad.

Making gnocchi for the first time.

I’ll tell you a story. A couple months ago, I attempted to make gnocchi. Somebody told me it was simple and judging by the recipe, it seemed like something I could do. I had all the ingredients on-hand and I didn’t think it would take me so long. I woke up at 6:30 that morning to try and make them before I left for work. Big mistake. It was a complete disaster. Without a ricer and a masher, I ended up with these sticky dumplings that weren’t at all reminscient of gnocchi. I was disheartened.

But a friend of mine, Westley, who is actually the chef de partie at the restaurant at the Marriott hotel where I used to work encouraged me to try it again — this time with taro. Yes, folks. I made taro gnocchi with sauteed kale and pesto from scratch. Bitch, what!?

Cookies for an occasion.

This past weekend was my friend Devon’s birthday and, of course, being the baker that I am, was designated “dessert girl”. I never get a say at these things. Since I was in charge of dessert, I decided to bake something up to use up a few of my organic lemons that have been looking lonely in my fridge and that could easily be shared by everyone at the party. I made some simple lemon crinkle cookies for the occasion which was a hit!

But let’s be honest, when has my cooking or baked goods ever NOT been a hit?!?!

Ketchup spaghetti!!!

Man, it feels like I haven’t cooked a lot of Japanese-inspired recipes. Japanese cuisine is my absolute favourite — I could eat Japanese food every single day — breakfast, lunch, and dinner — and not ever get tired of it. True story.

Roasting vs. sauteing mushrooms.

How have I gone this long without roasting mushrooms!? SERIOUSLY. This is the only way I will have my mushrooms from now on…besides mushroom risotto, that is. This roasted mushroom recipe will complete your life. Guaranteed.

Finding a new use for old ingredients.

The title of this entry is obviously a favourite of mine. There is just something so thrilling about having the ability of taking something old dish and making it into something even more amazing than the last. Case in point: leftover couscous from my asparagus and double couscous salad. Having not made a ton of couscous in my life, little did I know that a little goes a long way. Since I didn’t want my salad to be overly carby, I decided to save half of the couscous for a later use. Days go by and it’s still sitting there. What do I do with that? I pull a Giada de Laurentiis and make her recipe for couscous cakes.