Mixed Grains Salad (name sucks, salad's delicious!)

This sounds disgustingly healthy. In fact, it is playfully delicious. The grains all provide a pleasant bite with a good mix of crunch from the nuts, seeds, and veg and little bursts of sweet and fresh throughout. 

Makes 8 to 10 servings

1 cup (105g) wheat berries

3/4 cup (75g) brown rice

1 cup (105g) pot barley

1/4 cup (55g) olive oil

2 Tbsps. tamari sauce + 2 Tbsps. water

1/4 cup (60 g) lemon juice

1 Tbsp (18g) Dijon mustard

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ tsp freshly ground pepper

4 green onions, thinly sliced (60 to 80g)

1 sweet red pepper, seeded and diced

1/3 cup (50g) dried cranberries

1/2 cup (65g) roasted hazelnuts, chopped

1/2 cup (70g) toasted sunflower seeds

1. Boil some salted water in a saucepan and cook the wheat berries at a gentle simmer for 30 minutes, covered.
2. Add the brown rice and gently simmer for another 25 minutes. 
3. Add the barley and cook another 20 minutes, until all the grains are tender. The wheat berries and the brown rice should start to split. Drain any excess water from the pot right away, otherwise the grains will continue to take on water and the starches will settle on the outside of the grains making for an unpleasant gelatinous texture in the finished salad.
4. In large bowl, whisk together oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper. Add wheat berries, brown rice, barley, green onions, red pepper and raisins. Toss to combine. Stir in hazelnuts and sunflower seeds.

Roasted Italian Sausage, Fennel and Red Peppers

This is wonderful. The result is the smoky roasted flavor of the broiled veg and meat coupled with the sweet, flavourful drippings that make up the intoxicating sauce. It's nice to have a bit of Commons Bread on hand to sop up the hot juices.
You can play with the ratios of vegetables. I tend to prefer less red pepper as it is a strong flavour compared to the fennel, and I love fennel so I tend to add more of that than others may like.
NOTE: The outer layer of fennel bulbs tend to be a bit tough but you don't want to discard it completely because a: it's yummy and b: it's a lot of the vegetable that is wasted. All you need to do is, with a paring knife, peel away the skin of the top layer and the flesh underneath is as sweet and lovely as the rest.

1½ lb hot or sweet Italian sausage links
1 or 2 red peppers cut into 2-inch pieces
2 med-to-small fennel bulbs, quartered and cut into 2-inch-wide pieces. See NOTE
1 large onion, quartered and cut into 2-inch pieces
¼ cup olive oil
½ tsp salt

1. Preheat the broiler.
2. Score the sausage lengthwise to split them open.
3. In a large bowl, toss together all the remaining ingredients (I do this with my hands to make sure I get everything really well covered with the salt and oil).
4. Place the sausage on a large baking sheet, cut-side down. Dump the oily vegetables on top, shifting everything around to have things on a single layer (you likely won't succeed but that's ok). It's ok if the sausage is partially exposed.
5. Broil 6-8 inches from the heat source, until the exposed parts of the sausages are browned and the vegetables begin to soften, about 10 minutes. With a spatula, flip everything over and stir, then broil until the sausage is just cooked through and the vegetables are softened, about 8 to 10 minutes more.
6. (Optional) Serve sprinkled with fennel fronds.

Black Bean Chocolate Chilli

I first made this while cooking at the Coming Home Café in New Westminster BC. It got a lot of attention, and I had people try to guess the ingredients. The funny thing was that the one ingredient most people didn't get were the red bell peppers... don't know why, it just is. The chocolate can be substituted with cacao powder and sugar, to taste; a 2 to 1 ratio should work, start with 1 Tbsp cacao and ½ Tbsp sugar and add to your taste.

2 Tbsps olive oil
1 large onion (10oz/285gr) chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 stalk celery (50g) sliced
1 jalapeno chilli, minced (or more, for more heat)

1 red bell pepper
1 Tbsp ground cumin
2 tsps oregano
½ tsp cinnamon
a pinch of ground cloves
1 tsp ground coriander
2 Tbsps chilli powder
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
2 x19oz cans black beans WITH the liquid
14oz (398mL) can diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1½ oz (about ¼ cup) 70% chocolate, grated

- OR 2¼ tsp cocoa powder 1¼ tsp sugar
Cheddar cheese, Sour cream, Scallions, Fresh Cilantro

1. Heat the oil in a soup pot and add onion and garlic; sauté until the onion becomes soft. Add the celery, chilli and bell pepper. Adjust the heat; cover and cook another 5 minutes.
2. Turn heat down to lowest setting and add the spices. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until spices are fragrant, stirring occasionally to prevent burning (ground spices can quickly burn. If the pan gets too dry add a little liquid from the diced tomatoes or some water)
3. Add the beans, the tomatoes, lime juice and soy sauce. Increase heat until you get a bit of a boil, then reduce to a slow simmer. Simmer for as long as you want, but it is ready in about 10 minutes, when the liquid starts to thicken.
4. Stir in the chocolate, adjust the seasoning and serve.
5. Top with Cheddar cheese, Sour cream, Scallions, Fresh Cilantro.

Asparagus Ementhal Quiche with Tarragon

1 blind baked pie crust, completely cooled
12 asparagus
6 eggs, beaten
1 cup crème fraîche
½ cup grated emmenthal cheese

1 tsp (0.02oz/4.7gr) butter
½ cup sliced mushrooms

1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp fresh tarragon
1 small red pepper, julienned
salt and pepper

1. You will need a need deep pie dish for this since the egg and cream mixture is quite plentiful.
2. Heat oven to 350°F
3. Blanch asparagus about 90 seconds in boiling water. Cool in ice bath and cut into ½" pieces.
4. Fry mushrooms in a little butter, and add minced garlic for the last minute.
5. Whisk eggs and cream, then add the grated cheese, mushrooms and garlic, and tarragon. Add asparagus and salt and pepper.
6. Pour the mix into the blind baked pie crust.
7. Bake for 20 minutes. Take out of the oven and add the julienned red pepper in a pleasing pattern on top. Return to the hot oven and bake an additional 30 to 40 minutes, or until the custard has set and the top has started to brown.
8. To keep the quiche warm, cover it with aluminum foil and bake it in a preheated oven at 200-250F.

Poulet au Paprika

It's always such a pleasure when I discover that a negative prejudice I have about food is wrong. I've never had anything against paprika, but it always seemed like an afterthought kind of seasoning that I often wondered what it's use was. That is, until I tried Laura's Poulet au Paprika. It creates such a smooth blend of flavours, all couched in this noticeable taste of paprika. I strongly recommend exploring different types of paprika each time you make this recipe. And I'm fairly confident that you will want to make it again and again.

The original recipe required only chicken thighs, but the cooking instructions are the same as cooking a whole chicken in pieces that I just did that, and it turned out wonderfully.

1 whole chicken cut in 6 to 8 pieces

1 pinch salt and pepper

1 Tbsp bacon drippings or oil

1 red pepper, julienned

1 onion, sliced

half of a small fennel bulb, finely chopped

1 Tbsp hot or sweet Hungarian paprika (or try with other types of paprika)

1 clove garlic, minced

1⁄2 cup white wine

1 tomato (6 to 7oz) roughly chopped

1 bay leaf

2 Tbsps crème fraîche

garnish with a wedge of lemon

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the fat in a sauté pan and, working in batches, brown the meat on all sides, 5 to 8 minutes per side. Remove and set aside.
2. Drain off all but a tablespoon of fat from the pan.
3. Lower the heat and add the julienned pepper, onion, fennel, and paprika. Cook until soft, but not coloured, about 12 minutes, adding the garlic for the final minute.
4. Deglaze the pan with the wine. Add the tomatoes and bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Put the chicken back in. Cover the pan, and cook, turning the meat occasionally, until tender, about 30 minutes or until breasts register 165°F on a meat thermometre.
6. Remove the chicken to a serving platter and cover with foil to keep warm.
7. Turn up the heat under the sauce and boil down to sauce consistency. Turn off the heat, stir through the cream, check the seasonings (including the paprika, adding more if you like), then pour over the chicken, and serve with wedge of lemon. Squeeze lemon before eating if desired.

Savory Chocolate Chilli

This is not just delicious, it is an attractive chilli. The yellow corn kernels and the red peppers shine like gems against the dark mahogany of the chilli, and if you choose to top it with bright white sour cream, fresh green cilantro and creamy cheese, well, they say that presentation is 90% of the meal! Excellent with a good corn bread or corn chips.

6 Tbsps chilli powder

1⁄2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 Tbsp cumin

2 tsps dried oregano

1 tsp cinnamon

1 pinch ground cloves

1 tsp coriander
2 Tbsps grapeseed oil or bacon fat

2 lbs ground beef

2 onions, finely chopped

1 medium red bell pepper, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup corn kernel

2 x 28oz (796 mL) cans diced tomatoes, un-drained

1 x 19oz can beans, rinsed and drained OR 1 cup/8oz dry beans, soaked and cooked

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt, to taste

4 oz 70% chocolate (or to taste)
OR 2 Tbsps cocoa powder + 1 Tbsp sugar (add sugar for preferred bitterness balance in chocolate flavour)

hot sauce, such as Tabasco

1 Tbsp fresh lime juice

fresh cilantro (to garnish)

sour cream (to garnish)

grated cheese (to garnish)

1. In a small bowl, prepare the spice blend, from chilli powder to coriander.
2. In a large heavy pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat; add the beef, onions, bell pepper, and garlic; stir and cook until vegetables begin to soften.
3. Add the spices, corn, black beans, diced tomato. Bring to a boil then cook at medium-low temperature, uncovered, until excess liquid reduces and tomatoes disintegrate, about an hour.
4. Finely chop chocolate and add to chilli. Cover, reduce heat to low and let sit another twenty minutes. Add the lime juice. While adjusting seasoning to taste, add hot sauce, to taste.
5. Now, the garnish of fresh cilantro, sour cream and grated cheese is more than just to make it pretty - these ingredients are actually important elements in the final outcome of the dish. I call them garnishes because the chilli is perfectly good without them so they are optional, and they also make the plate look really good when serving.
6. NOTE: The flavor is quite different whether you use bittersweet chocolate, like 70% chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate. If you are unsure of what you would prefer, I suggest using bittersweet chocolate and then adding sugar if you find the chocolate flavour too strong.

Roasted Tomato Soup

This is a really good soup at ambient temperature, making it great for picnics. I tested it at a dinner party, indoors and at room temperature, and the reaction after the first spoonful was very positive, so it goes on the picnic list! It's from England's Channel 4 Web site so I had to change the measurements from metric to Imperial. Imagine! Oh, and I chopped everything by hand instead of a blender and it turned out great!

Makes 4 bowls of soup.

2 lbs. ripe tomatoes, quartered (I mixed in cherry tomatoes - more intense flavour)

1/2 lb. red onion, cut into thick wedges

4 garlic cloves

3 fresh rosemary sprigs

2 red peppers, quartered and deseeded

4 Tbsps. olive oil

1 cup chicken stock (veg for vegetarian)

1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

2 dashes of Tabasco

4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce

A few sprigs of fresh parsley

1. Preheat the oven to 425F. Put the tomatoes, onions, garlic, rosemary and peppers into a large roasting tin. Drizzle with olive oil and roast for 45 minutes or until tender and beginning to char.
2. Let the roasted vegetables cool enough to handle comfortably and chop super fine.
3. Tip into a large pan, then add the stock, wine vinegar, Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce. Stir and heat gently, or skip this step and serve at ambient temperature. Divide among 4 bowls and finish with some freshly ground black pepper and a few parsley sprigs.