When in doubt, make pasta.

Sausage, kale, and caramelized pasta in a spicy Dijon sauceI 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.
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Meat makes everything better.

Chipotle sausage and spinach pasta with vodka sauceEven though practically almost everything I make is vegetarian and/or vegan, I still crumble when it comes to meat. Don’t get me wrong – I just LOVE the stuff every once in a while. Like, for instance, I just had the most craziest craving for pho and it was so bad that I actually went to the Metrotown food court and grabbed a bowl from there. Desperate, much!? Nah, it’s just me answering my body’s natural calling to…meat. Instead of banning it altogether (which I think is SO bad when people are dieting — I’ve seen so many people yo-yo up and their bodies go up and down with this), I have enough self control to “treat” myself here and there.

Remember when I made that penne a la vodka sauce the other day and suggested that it would probably taste good with a saltier component? Yeah, I threw some sausages in the mix and it was pretty ridiculous. Can’t say no to chipotle sausage and spinach in spicy vodka sauce pasta.

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Pancakes for dinner.

Cilantro and pork floss pancake rollBreakfast for dinner? Well, yes and no. I don’t really consider pancakes strictly a breakfast food. I mean, it went from being a sweet breakfast food a savoury breakfast food (thanks Red Wagon for your delicious pulled pork pancakes) and now, I would say it can safely move into the dinner category. No guiltiness or shame required.

And then again, I am talking about Asian-style pancakes. First of all, I have never ever considered them a breakfast food, more like a snack to go with bubble tea or something. And second, they are all savoury! Yum.

With rotting cilantro in my fridge, I decided to create a cilantro and pork floss pancake roll for dinner.

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Pop the champagne!

Italian sausages and peppersI’ve never really been a fan of bubbly. Yes, that might sound weird but I haven’t ever been a fan of many carbonated drinks. So when I received a small bottle of sparkling wine for Christmas, it just ended up sitting in my fridge in the back corner. Since the flavour is somewhat similar to white wine, I thought that it just might work the same way when utilising white wine in cooking.

So I set out to try it in a newfound favourite dish of mine: Italian sausage and peppers.

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Bringing a little Southern charm to the table.

Cornbread chili casseroleThe weather has definitely taken a turn as of late and it seems that summer has officially left the building. Gone are the days of cold noodle salads, raw everything, and drinks on the patio. The time has come to switch that up for soups, stews, and casseroles. Let’s welcome fall with a spicy cornbread chili casserole.

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Vegan zhajiangmian.

ZhajiangmianI frequent a lot of Shanghainese restaurants in the city and usually order the old staples: XLB, beef pancake roll, and pan-fried noodles. But there’s this dish that I usually see on the other peoples’ tables and for the longest time I never knew what it was. It looked like a bowl of chewy, wheat noodles, topped with a minced meat sauce of sorts topped with julienned cucumber and carrots. I later found out that was zhajiangmian.

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Sweet and spicy.

Corn and chipotle chiliI made a new corn and chipotle chili which is sweet and spicy — just like me.

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Quiche is not just for breakfast.

Corn, bacon and onion quicheAHHH. I’M FINALLY CAUGHT UP IN BREAKING BAD. And Flickr stopped being annoying! What does that mean for you? That means new blog posts, yay!

And since I recently made a post on frittatas, I thought it would only be fair if I made an entry on quiche as well…a corn, bacon and onion quiche. Oh baby.

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Trying vegan chorizo for the first time.

Chorizo and red pepper rotiniIf you know me, I absolutely despise vegan meat. Fake sausage, fake deli meat, fake ground meat… It’s fucking disgusting. Whoever said that those products actually tasted somewhat similar to meat must be delirious cus it’s not even close. Yuck.

But if it’s in pasta, then it might be okay…right? I present you with chorizo and red pepper rotini.

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Something German.

Sauerkraut, kale, bratwurst and bacon pastaEvery year in Vancouver they put on something called the Vancouver Christmas Market. It takes place in the plaza at Queen Elizabeth Theatre and is reminiscent of the famous outdoor markets that happen around Christmastime in Germany. I can’t personally vouch for that since I’ve never been to Germany myself, but I’ve been told that the one we have is pretty convincing.

My first time at the Christmas market was last year and I had a grand time. I had so much of a grand time that I think went like three times or something (I know because I have three of those mugs at home). They have so many delicious food vendors there specializing in all things German such as bratwurst, schnitzel, hot mulled wine, various pastries filled with all kinds of nuts, and, of course, spaetzle.

Spaetzle is a German-style pasta that is handmade and boiled in water. The one that they served at the market was tossed in butter, sauerkraut, double smoked prosciutto and topped with emmental cheese and crispy fried onions. To die for. I had this twice when I was there…so good. And when I had it, I knew I had to make it again at home somehow.

Hello, sauerkraut, kale, bratwurst and bacon pasta.

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