Fish and Chicklets

It seems that vegetarianism is going out of style these days, and I'm not the only former vegan turning to fish - Losing My Veginity.

Also new and interesting on The Tyee, the Chick Lit debate.

Rainy Sundays

After braving the rain to get more eggs and fresh bread from the bakery, we had scrambled eggs with green onions, spinach, and chèvre, and fresh bread with my grandmother's homemade raspberry jam (which is, sadly, almost gone).

Hot Saturdays

Yesterday was another hot Saturday in Montreal. After a long day of running around we were too hungry (and it was too hot) to make anything complicated and opted for simple quality. But it turned out quite tasty. Toni made an appetizer out of a baguette, chèvre chaud, pesto, and cherry tomatoes. I made spinach seminola pasta with spinach, broccoli, artichoke hearts, and black olives in tomato sauce.

Thursday Night Scallops

Another first in the Lesley kitchen: scallops. My dear friend Caro came over for the occasion, and I combined a few recipes to make pan-fried scallops (I used olive oil instead of butter and added a bit of ginger) topped with tangerine vanilla seafood sauce on brown rice (cooked with garlic, ginger, and tamari for flavour), and sauteed green beans (also with ginger and garlic).

Simplicity

Simple but tasty breakfast: plain organic yoghurt, a dash of my grandmother's homemade raspberry jam, and sliced yellow plums topped with slivered almonds.

One Pan Frittata Dinner

I was a vegan until about a year ago and have only recently incorporated eggs into my diet. I never thought I liked eggs, but at some point during the past year I tried a few egg dishes at brunch (huevos rancheros, omelettes, or even plain old scrambled eggs) and discovered how good they could be. So for my first egg-based dish, I decided to modify this one-pan frittata recipe.

Since my kitchen isn't fully stocked and I only have one non-stick pan, the one pan thing worked well from me. Also, I remembered at the last minute that I don't have a measuring cup yet, so measurements are very approximate. Here's my version:

Serves About 4

Approx 1C Grelot/Small Potatoes (Closest to new potatoes I could find)
Approx 2C Veggies (Red, orange, yellow, and green peppers, broccoli, and green and white onion)
4 Brown Eggs, beaten
Goat cheddar cheese
Pinch of chili powder
Salt, Pepper, Herbes de Provence

I found I needed to cook it for longer than that recipe called for, and probably should have fried the vegetables longer (and with more oil) before adding the eggs and goat cheese. But still, it was tasty, especially with a side salad.

Spinach Pasta with Shrimp Veggie Stir-Fry in Tomato Sauce

It's been a summer of a bit too much eating out, and now that I'm finally relatively settled in a new apartment, I figure it's high time I got back into cooking. I thought that adding a food component to my existing blog might help to motivate me, so here you have it! I'm starting out simple, so forgive me if this seems rather basic.





1. Get water boiling and cook spinach pasta noodles while making stir-fry.





2. Sautée onions, garlic, mushrooms, and green onions in a little olive oil. Throw in some herbs like basil and oregano.





3. Add green, red, yellow, and orange peppers.

4. Heat up the tomato sauce on minimum.





5. Add a bit of water, broccoli, and shrimp to the stir-fry.

6. Drain noodles when they're cooked and run under hot water.





7. When the stir-fry is ready, add more herbs, salt, and fresh ground pepper.

8. Arrange noodles, sauce, and stir-fry on plate, adding a little parmasan cheese for garnish: presto!






P.S. I seem to be having a problem with my Flickr photos. Usually I upload in the large format and get much better quality, but these seem to have been automatically uploaded into a lower quality and resolution format and I can't figure out why. Anyone know how to resolve this?

It's Not Easy Being Green

Sadly, things aren't looking so green in Montreal. Not only has Quebec "missed the boat" on converting to organic farming, but one of the community gardens was recently found to have abnormally high levels of lead and arsenic.

The $2.13 Million Dollar Comma

It's summertime, and as usual I've been spending much less time in front of the computer than during other seasons. I think this article, however, merits my return to the blogsphere. People may grimace at dinner parties when I say that I enjoy grammar and copy editing, but hey, it's important!