Coconut Quinoa Granola

I'm always on the lookout for a new granola recipe in order to jazz up my morning yogurt. And I find that it's the perfect kitchen project on a lazy Sunday when I'm trying to get other chores done around the apartment. It comes together so quickly, and soon enough, my place is filled with the enticing smells of spices and nuts.

My latest muse this past Sunday was this fantastic Coconut Quinoa Granola. Along with the old-fashioned rolled oats, raw quinoa and wheat germ were added to the mixture. The quinoa added some incredible nutty flavours to the granola, as well as a super crunchy texture.

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Wordless Wednesday #97: Raw Burrito from Belmonte Raw

Belmonte Raw
1022 Queen Street East
Toronto, ON
Tel: 647-340-1218
Twitter: @BelmonteRaw

Broiled Eggs with Kale and Roasted Kabocha

I love kale, but I've been particularly crazy for them this season. For the past few weeks, I've been eating kale non-stop—in salads and in soups; roasted as chips or simply sauteed. And just when I thought it couldn't get any better, it did. All thanks to a perfectly cooked egg on top.

I've made this dish of Broiled Eggs with Kale and Roasted Kabocha several times now. You get the crunchy bits from some of the charred kale bits, and then the creaminess of the egg yolk. The saltiness of the cheese and the sweetness of the kabocha. It's a fantastic vegetarian brunch option, but also lovely as a light dinner entree. It tastes so fresh and doesn't weigh your stomach down, yet it's a surprisingly hearty dish that won't leave you famished an hour later.

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Quinoa Granola

There's always a batch of granola in my house, as it's my morning ritual to have a bowl of yogurt with homemade granola and honey for my breakfast. This basic granola recipe I rely on still remains one of my favourites, but the most popular post on my blog here is actually this granola recipe made with steel-cut oats.

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Meatless Monday: Sauteed Swiss Chard and Chickpeas with Pine Nuts and Sultanas

Here is a fantastic meal using two of my favourite ingredients: swiss chard and chickpeas. It's hearty, delicious, and very quick to make.

The creamy sweetness of swiss chard pairs really nicely with nutty chickpeas, and the addition of toasted pine nuts and plump golden sultanas is lovely. A sprinkling of dried chilli flakes adds a nice kick, while a squirt of lemon at the end adds some acidity to help round out the flavours.

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Hear Me Rawwwwrr!

Belmonte Raw finally opened its doors two weeks ago. It was the very few establishments I could actually dine at while I'm on my detox, so a visit to Carol and her shop was in full order this past weekend.

I had the pleasure of meeting Carol, the brainchild behind Belmonte Raw, a few weeks back. Belmonte Raw specializes in cleansing, healing and detoxifying juices and meals. Started as a delivery-only service to corporations and homes, when I met Carol, she was telling me about how she was finalizing her restaurant/retail shop.

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Kale, Broccoli, Chickpea and Avocado Salad

I'm back on another round of detox, which means bye-bye to all meats and animal products, caffeine, dairy, alcohol, gluten and sugar. It may seem a little insane, as most people often ask me, "So, what are you eating?" Lots of vegetables, legumes, and grains. Which I actually love so giving up the meat isn't a problem for me. I usually have a much harder time giving up the caffeine (I love my morning coffees) and sugar (insatiable sweet tooth).

As you can probably tell from some of my previous posts, I'm a big fan of salads. Because salads don't have to be boring with plain old lettuce. Have fun with it. Customize it. Put your favourite things on your salad to make it more exciting for you.

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Sweet and Sour Eggplant, Tomatoes and Chickpeas

Eggplant is one of those vegetables that you either love it or hate it. I'm of the former camp. There's something so comforting about eggplant cooked down to a silky, melt-in-your-mouth texture. And because eggplant doesn't have much flavour itself, it's the perfect sponge to soak up any spices you decide to add it.

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Grilled Calamari Salad with Spiced Chickpeas

I love salads. I really do.

How can you not when your salad looks like this?

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Oven-fried Fish and Chips

Have your cake and eat it too?

Well, in this case, yes, when the "cake" is in fact fish and chips.

Oven-"fried" fish and chips, that is.

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Meatless Monday: Braised Beans, Kale and Golden Onions with Tomato

As I've mentioned before, I've been eating a lot of beans during my detox, all of which have been cooked from the dried stuff. It's so convenient and easy to reach into your pantry for a can of beans, but there is still a small amount of additives that go into the cans to help aid in a longer shelf life.

Cooking dried beans is honestly not hard. The thing to remember is to soak your beans the night before you want to use them. Once you have that done, it gets easy. Just add the drained, rehydrated beans to a pot of salted boiling water, along with any other aromatics you may wish to use (garlic, herbs, bay leaf, or just plain) and simmer for at least an hour, or until tender. Drain, rinse and keep refrigerated until ready to use.

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Curried Wild and Brown Rice Cakes

Being Chinese, my family eats a lot of rice. Most meals, there will always be steamed white rice. The only time rice doesn't show up at the table is if we're doing pasta or potatoes.

I don't eat the stuff quite as often now—perhaps because I'm so darn tired of seeing it. My parents find it funny that whenever they visit, my rice bucket always seems untouched since the last time they were here. Which is probably true. But when I do make rice, I cook a mix of brown and multigrain rice with just a bit of white mixed in there. If I'm going to each rice, it might as well be the type that's good for me.

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Meatless Monday: Warm Spiced Chickpea and Mushroom Salad

For the past week, I've been on a detox. Which means giving up on all the good stuff in life: meat, dairy, alcohol, caffeine, wheat... Why on earth would I do such a thing, right?

I often compare it to an oil change for your car. After a certain mileage, your car needs its oil changed to function properly. Lately, my body has been telling me that it has not been feeling great and I knew it was time for another round of detox to rid the body of toxins it has consumed in the past few months. It was time for my body's own "oil change" in order to run properly again.

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Roasted Broccoli and Spelt Salad with Feta

Lunch lately has been uninspiring. If I'm not staring into a sad container of last night's leftovers, then it's simple salad greens with the usual suspects—lettuce, parsley, celery, grated carrots, cucumber, avocado, tuna salad and toasted walnuts. And when things get really uninspiring and hopeless, I just treat myself out to lunch.

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The Ultimate Granola

I think I'm in love. In love with this granola, that is.



I've been such a huge fan of granola in the past year. My favourite way to start a morning is with a bowl of yogurt, some fresh fruit and homemade granola, drizzled with a bit of honey or maple syrup.

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How Sweet It Is

Corn remains to be one of my favourite summer vegetables. When sweet Ontario corn starts rolling into the markets, I always buy a bunch of them, steam them, and eat them as is. The sweet little kernels of corn as they burst in your mouth…why mess with a good thing?

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Bang Bang…This Chicken Shot Me Down

No matter how I look at it, this dish has a strange name. Some know it as “Bang Bang Chicken / 棒棒雞”, which apparently refers to how the dish was traditionally made by beating the chicken with a stick, creating the “bang bang” sound, to tenderize and shred the meat.

In my family, we’ve always called it “Strange-Flavoured Chicken / 怪味雞,” the literal translation for its Chinese counterpart. This name refers to the unusual combination of ingredients and flavours that make up the sauce, resulting in something that is salty, sweet, sour, spicy and incredibly delicious tossed with some cooked chicken, cucumbers and mung bean sheets.

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Watermelon, Feta and Black Olive Salad

I hope everyone has been finding ways to stay cool during this heat wave in eastern central Canada (and for that matter, the rest of Canada and east-coast USA). It’s been hot and humid lately, and with humidex reaching mid 40s, my kitchen has been closed. I live in a non-air conditioned apartment, so there was no way I was going to turn on the stove only to make my 30+°C apartment even hotter.

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Indian-Spiced Salmon with Herbed Yogurt Sauce

Oh, how I've missed my kitchen!



It has been weeks since I last cooked a good meal in my kitchen. I'm pretty sure the most action it has seen is my water kettle boiling water. But with the craziness of work behind me and a long weekend at my leisure, I had the luxury of making myself a lovely home-cooked meal again.

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Quick Lime and Honey Glazed Salmon

Yes, you can have dinner ready in 10 minutes.



This is honestly one of the simplest dishes I've ever made and perfect for a weeknight meal. The combination of lime and honey and soy work so well to balance each other out. With only a handful of ingredients, the Asian fusion marinade is clean and fresh tasting—perfect for fish or chicken.

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