All posts filed under: Summer

BC Blueberry Pie

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It’s the last day of #BCBlueberryWeek here on the blog! I’m sad to see it go but I have a TON of blueberries still left in the fridge…so maybe I will keep it going with a few more blueberry recipes in the near future. But I hope that you really enjoyed the recipes I showcased so far- from the summer go-to Blueberry and Grilled Chicken Salad, to the healthy Honeyed Greek Yogurt and Blueberry Jam, to the savoury Blueberry Stuffed Chicken– they were all delicious! However, I think that I have saved the best recipe for last…a good ol’ classic…BC Blueberry Pie. The best way to celebrate blueberry season is with a blueberry pie! If you ask me, this is the best way to celebrate blueberry season! It was actually the first blueberry recipe I made this summer when the blueberries arrived at the markets. I love this pie because you get mouthful after mouthful of sweet, heavenly blueberry filling with a little crunch and savoury flavour from the crust. This is what blueberry dreams …

Blueberry Stuffed Chicken

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Blueberries are getting the royal treatment today on the blog with this elegant recipe for Blueberry Stuffed Chicken! We are in the fourth day of #BCBlueberryWeek here on the blog and I am excited to reveal this recipe to you. Not only did I work really hard on the food styling (I feel so professional) but I also worked hard on the recipe too! It had many similar components as my Blueberry and Grilled Chicken Salad that I posted a few days ago- chicken, goat cheese and blueberries (of course)- but these flavours just go so well together! The only thing that’s different is how I prepared and presented them! Stuffed chicken breasts are a mid-week favourite around here. I stuff chicken with spinach and cheese, sundried tomatoes, cheese and ham, rice and spinach- you name it! But I particularly love stuffed chicken breasts because they are so versatile! You can take them from a humble mid-week meal to a star main course at a dinner party in no time! I definitely think that stuffing …

Blueberry & Grilled Chicken Salad

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It’s #BCBlueberryWeek here on the blog and I am sharing a whole weeks’ worth of delicious and nutritious recipes featuring local BC blueberries.  If you missed yesterday’s post that provides a fulsome overview of blueberries including when to pick them, how to store them and how to cook with them, make sure you go back to the post and give it a read- there are so many great tips and interesting facts on blueberries that you may not have known about! Today I am sharing my first #BCBlueberryWeek recipe…and this might possibly be my most favourite recipe in this series. Today I am featuring a delicious Blueberry and Grilled Chicken Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette. Did you just start drooling? I sure did! I’m not a big fan of salads for most of the year, but when it hot and steamy outside during the summer, salads are what I turn to the most. They’re refreshing, cooling, amazingly healthy and don’t require much effort to assemble. I particularly enjoy creating and experimenting with salad ingredients as I am …

BC Blueberry Week

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We are in the height of blueberry season right now in BC and I just can’t get enough of these delicious sweet berries.  I actually enjoy blueberries so much that I bought not one, but TWO five-pound boxes of these sweet little berries to indulge in before the season is over! I know…it’s a lot of blueberries… but they are just so delicious and are full of antioxidants!  I put them in everything these past few weeks and while doing so, I tested out a few recipes that I am going to be sharing with you this week on my blog! All of these recipes feature local and fresh BC Blueberries, so rightfully, I’m calling this week #BCBlueberryWeek! Read on down below to find out all you need to know about BC Blueberries! And stay tuned this week for tons of delicious blueberry recipes! Fresh blueberries at Arbor Blueberry Farm BC Blueberries, an Overview While blueberries are native to North America, I would have to say the British Columbia grows the best blueberries in the whole world. …

Steak Salad with Roasted Cherry Tomato Vinaigrette

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Summer is the best time of the year to eat the many varieties of tomatoes that are out there-whether they are cherry tomatoes, beefsteak, heirloom, zebra… the list goes on and on! Those sweet, juicy, plump colourful gems taste absolutely delicious after ripening outside under the sun. This gives them a deep and rich tomato flavour and makes them taste incredibly sweet. I also love the texture of tomatoes that have been grown in the summer as they are juicy and yet still firm and not ‘mealy’ like the tomatoes that you get during the winter! While I can go on and on about the reasons why I love tomatoes and tell you about all the different varieties that are available, I will save that for a later post. For now, I would like to share a delicious recipe that uses my favourite tomatoes of the season: cherry tomatoes. They pack an incredibly sweet punch (for a tomato, that is) and just burst open with flavourful juices once you pop them in your mouth. If …

Pork & Sambal Green Beans

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It has been a scorcher here in southern BC for the past few weeks and with a west-facing apartment, temperatures inside our cozy home have easily reached 100 degrees in the evening. Rather than avoiding turning on my stove and sticking to no-cook recipes like salads and sandwiches, I fired up the stove to make a hot dinner; hot in the sense that heat was used to cook the food, and hot in the sense of spice. I was drawn to make some spicy food during this heat wave to test the theory that eating spicy food when it’s hot outside actually helps to cool you down. I never really tested this theory before as I have lived in a cool Canadian climate my whole life (or have had air conditioning to compensate those few hot days we get up here); but I heard that this theory actually works and has worked for people who live in perpetually hot climates for hundreds of years. So since we were stuck in this heatwave and sans air …

4 Easy French Recipes for Bastille Day

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Get out your berets everyone, it’s Bastille Day! This French holiday, also known as “Le 14 Juillet” or “La Fête National” celebrates the beginnings of The French Revolution many years ago. The French typically celebrate this holiday by travelling, being outside (picnic anyone?) and of course, having a fantastic meal. I mean hey, you can’t start a revolution on an empty stomach! So here are four fabulously French recipes that are prefect to celebrate the day! Tartines Tartines are a classic French open-faced sandwich that are typically eaten at breakfast or lunch. I personally love to eat tartines no matter what time of day since they are so versatile in terms of flavour combinations! If there is one tartine that most of us have already been exposed to, its likely been Avocado Toast. While it may not be 100% French, the concept of an open faced sandwich is. Now, I have nothing against avocados on toast (maybe also topped off with an egg), but I feel that a proper tartine needs to be French-ified. A …

Asian Heritage Rice Bowl

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If you are looking for a new healthy meal recipe that packs a ton of nutrition and is also delicious, look no further than my Asian Heritage Rice Bowl. Rice bowls (and their vegetarian equivalent, Buddha bowls) have been popping up everywhere lately and I can understand why. They are a fantastic way to get a variety of colourful vegetables, fruits, proteins and grains into your diet. Essentially, the bowl starts off with a base (often rice or salad) and you simply add handfuls of each ingredient to the bowl to make up a full meal. These Asian Heritage Rice Bowls were originally inspired by the chicken rice bowl at Heritage Asian Eatery in downtown Vancouver. As I am now living in Victoria, I miss these bowls SO MUCH and there isn’t anything here that is quite like it (or is of good enough quality). So, when I find myself getting a Heritage Asian Eatery craving, I make this bowl.  While Heritage’s bowl uses a whole chicken leg, I opt for using a chicken breast …

Strawberry Hibiscus Iced Tea

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This refreshing Strawberry Hibiscus Iced Tea has arrived just in time to quench your thirst this Canada Day long weekend! Canada Day is the first long weekend of summer. Some Canadians love to get outdoors and head out for camping or cottage trips, others do local day trips (which I will be partaking in), and others just enjoy chilling out with friends and family and having a big cookout (which I will ALSO be partaking in). Typically, BBQ food is the classic fare since it is finally warm enough to be outside in most parts of Canada…and when it’s warm out we love to be outdoors soaking up the sun! Hamburgers, hot dogs, ribs, steak, chicken are classic main dishes that we like to serve along with side dishes like salads and veggies. To really end the meal with a bang, a sweet Canadian dessert like Nanaimo bars, Strawberry Shortcake, S’mores or Maple Pie are typically served. Don’t you wish you were Canadian right about now?!  While lots of people put a lot of effort …

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

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When you see fresh red bell peppers go on sale at the market or grocery store, it’s a sign from the Food Gods that you need to make this delicious Roasted Red Pepper Soup. Typically, red bell peppers are the most expensive out of all the varieties of bell peppers. That’s because they are simply the best! They’re sweet, crunchy and refreshing and continue to be a crowd favourite time and time again. Fresh vine tomatoes from Windset Farms, BC-grown red bell peppers from The Root Cellar and basil from my balcony all go into this fabulous summer soup! While people may think that red bell peppers are completely different than green bell peppers, brace yourselves because I’m about to blow your mind: red bell peppers are really green bell peppers that have been fully ripened on the vine before they are harvested! Say WHATT?! Yes, it’s true! Similarly, yellow and orange bell peppers also start out as green bell peppers. Yellow bell peppers are harvested earlier on in the peppers maturity phase and orange …