Chillaxin' Weekend with Good Eats and Good Times...

Summer weekends are for relaxin' no doubt... Especially in the company of great friends and family, delicious food (from Vietnamese to Chinese to Korean) and just having a grand ol' time with no cares in the world... to me nothing spells chillaxin' more! A beautiful friday night jump-started an incredible weekend, with my most awesome friend joining the boyz for hang out time and some fun in the kitchen. 

Smiles all around!

Etienne and Shanea wrapping Chinese Dumplings for pan-frying.

First-time dumpling wrapping was successful (teaching and learning new things- Yay!).... I say who cares what it looks like, as long as the seams are sealed and the filling stays in. See here for my post Dumplings 101. Practice, practice, practice makes for ease-ability, speed and perfection overtime, and it starts with initiation :) Shanea tells me in her native Jamaica, their form of dumplings (because every culture has a dumpling) are more like perogies- using a thicker dough of flour and water to encase contents like ackee and salt fish, potatoes or cheese. Mine usually consist of pork and shrimps, and I also make a version of pure minced and chopped shrimp.

The main meal though was a DIY Vietnamese salad rice rolls with a choice of fillings: shrimps, chicken, bean sprouts, cucumber match sticks, fresh herbs: chives, Thai basil, mint and cilantro atop a leaf of lettuce with a small heap of vermicelli all wrapped up in a softened rice paper, and dipped with nuoc mam (seasoned fish sauce) or peanut-hoisin sauce. See my thorough post for how to recreate this fun food experience at your table. Spring rolls are also another wrap favourite for the Vietnamese... encase in a leaf lettuce, dip and crunch it!

Vietnamese Fresh Shrimp and Pork Salad Rolls

Chowing down!

Ending the night with something sweet-- a cold refreshing Coconut Jackfruit Tapioca Dessert mixed with coloured coconut gels for chewy fun! For more on jackfruit, check out my post.

Coconut Jackfruit Tapioca Dessert

My boys duked it out on Wii Dance with Shanea then we went out and karaoke-boxed it! 🎶 🎤 🎤 🎶

Saturday was spent at my parents for dinner (no cooking for me-- Yay!) while checking out my super artist brother Marten Go's Preserved Dragon's product offerings-- posters, prints and Bruce Lee statues-in-the-making. I am so proud of him and thought this is a good opportunity to show off his work to my readers :D. For more see his recently launched Official web-site (* some pages are under construction) and impressive Facebook fan page.

Title: Fight of the Century (Limited Edition)
B/W Vintage Premium Poster by Marten Go

Preserved Dragons

My favourite of all of his nine completed statues has to be none-other-than Conan from Conan The Barbarian. Twelve different materials were used to clothe this immaculate and meticulous hand-sized statuesque. It's even more remarkable up close and personal.

Conan, Jackie Chan & Benny (Meals on Wheels) and Bruce Lee (Way of the Dragon).

A simple Chinese dinner with steamed rice from top left clockwise: Five-Spice Chicken Wings, Jellyfish and Cucumber shreds, Steamed Chinese Greens (Yu choy), Stewed Soy Pig Hocks (pig feet) and Pan-Fried Tofu with Korean dressing.

And Sunday after a good late afternoon chase in our Korean town 'hood for Pokemon, a satisfying Korean Dinner at Nak Won cooking popular DIY BBQ equipped with all the tasty complimentary side dishes (panchan): Chap Chae (glass noodles), seaweed, home-made kimchi, seasoned bean sprouts and spicy fried fish cake. Try Korean BBQ at home-- it is simple to do and so delicious, wrapping up parcels of grilled meats in lettuce, garlic and jalapeno slices and seasoned bean paste... See my Post.

Grilling pork belly!

Grilling marinated kalbi beef ribs!

Finished the meal off with spicy tofu soup (sundubu-jigae)

Japanese-Inspired Libations for Cool Vibrations...

Sharing Shaken or Stirred feature in the August issue of Bento Box Magazine, a Toronto-based Japanese New Concept Magazine launched in March 2015. The publication strives to provide the latest fresh and exciting news in Toronto, rich content on Japanese culture, and connect readers with good food, travel ideas, shopping, beauty, other cultural products and events going on in the GTA. I absolutely love Japanese culture and food, so much I have a dedicated page on Facebook called Life in Japan that celebrates the love for all things Japanese- its multifaceted culture, exquisite places and glorious cuisine! This summer has been especially exceptional as Japanese cool sugoi has been displayed all over our cosmopolitan food life offering a dazzling drool-worthy array of cool desserts and drinks. Check out where some of these Japanese twist on a classic cocktails are being served at a restaurant or bar near you! I must admit, I haven't been keen on cooking in this heat and although downing a beer at home daily has been nice, it be great to treat myself to some solid good eats and a cocktail or two! Who's with me?

If you live in the GTA, pick up Bento Box's monthly issue at the following distributing restaurants and retail shops. Always a fascinating read cover to cover if you are like me-- a Japanese aficionado.

  

Pang Pang Chicken Noodle Salad...

Sweltering humidity describes this summer to a tee! Who wants to cook in this heat and add more hot with the kitchen elements? My mind has been on cool and this dish leaped to the front instantly-- drool, with all its alluring hearty ingredients, flavours and crunch. Pang pang aka bang bang chicken is a street vendor's cold salad dish (shredded chicken mixed with cucumbers, toppings and sesame sauce) from the Szechuan region of China. Interestingly, the name does not come from its peppery-hot sesame dressing, but from the wooden stick (pang in Mandarin) that is used to beat the chicken (thus bang bang) to tenderize and loosen its fibres. Luckily, we don't have tough chicken here :). 

I've had a similar profile cold dish in Northern-style Chinese restaurants with shredded pork, chopped garlic, and cilantro in a tangy sesame sauce served on top of green bean (mung bean) noodles or Tientsin Fen Pi which literally means skin of flour- thin, clear and flat with nary to chew. Marrying the best of both extraordinary dishes-- chicken with the noodles, I came up with this irresistible combination which is also a crowd-pleaser; a unique potluck dish to bring or serve at the table or picnic buffet-style. Refrigerate for at least an hour to welcome the cold. How's that for beating the heat?

Pang Pang Chicken Noodle Salad
Makes 6 to 8 servings

2 large or 4 regular chicken breasts (1-1/2 lb.)
1 pkg. (250 g) dried green bean noodles or ready prepared green bean noodles

1 English cucumber, thinly sliced into strips

4-5 garlic cloves, minced (I love it extra garlicky)
1 thick slice gingerroot, minced (optional) *serve on the side as it can be too strong and raw for young taste buds

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1 bunch cilantro, stems removed, chopped

Dressing (adjust to your liking- more vinegar for tangy, more sesame paste for nutty):

1/3 cup tahini sesame paste or prepared Chinese sesame paste
3 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 Tbsp. rice vinegar or Chinkiang black vinegar
1/4 cup cold water
a splash of fresh lemon juice

a few dash of ground white pepper
1 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
toasted sesame seeds
chili oil with seeds (served at the table)

Bring water in a saucepan to boil to cover the chicken two-inches. Simmer, covered for about five minutes or until thoroughly cooked. Remove from heat and let steep for 15 minutes; remove and let cool. 

Meanwhile, if using dried noodles, soak in hot water 15 minutes or until soft and transluscent. Add to saucepan of boiled chicken water; cook one minute or just until tender. Drain in colander and let cool. 

If using ready prepared green bean noodles (sometimes they call it jelly), unroll the slab of noodle, and cut into long noodles or into square pieces. Place into serving bowl or on platter.

Thinly slice the cucumbers into strips. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp. salt over the cucumber and mix well. Set over a colander so the water could ooze out. After ten minutes, rinse in cold water to rid of the salt and squeeze out excess water. Going against the grain, shred the chicken into strips with your hands. 

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Stir the tahini well in its jar or Chinese sesame paste and add amount to mixing bowl. Mix all dressing ingredients together except sesame seeds and chili oil. (Don't worry if the dressing separates- stir well all the ingredients and it'll blend back smoothly). Adjust to your taste preference- more vinegar for tangy, more sesame paste for nutty).

Top noodles with chicken, then drizzle with 1/3 of the sesame sauce. Add cucumbers, garlic and ginger (optional or for the table). Drizzle with 1/3 more of the sauce. Garnish with cilantro and green onions. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve remaining dressing and chili oil at the table for people to add themselves. Best to refrigerate salad for an hour for flavours to meld and for dish to cool before serving! Tastes more refreshing that way!

A party of flavours and textures mingling in tangy sesame dressing over refreshing cool noodles!! Ooo!! If you love garlic, this dish is heavenly with loads of it minced!! Crazy good!

Digging in with minced ginger, chili oil and extra sesame dressing at the table to help yourself!

Mix all the goodness up and you are ready to start slurping!

Ha-- exactly two years ago today-- August 15th, 2014, I had posted these following pictures for this very recipe (which I revised and now updated with current photos). It goes to show some food are never far from mind and are revitalized when the proper mood or circumstance arises (even if it took two years). And in this case, the situation is the summer heat. And really what better to cool down the body than with something refreshingly cool that requires minimum cooking (just the chicken) and loaded with crunch and greens/herbs?

Pang Pang Chicken Salad made with dried mung bean noodles.
Love my pretty ceramic plate I picked up in Oporto, Portugal.

Sebastien enjoying noodles today as he did
two years ago in this photo (age 5)!

Make In Advance TIP: This dish can be prepared hours in advance with dressing on the side and refrigerated, covered, until ready to serve.

Figs, Figs, Figs...

Oh how I love delicate, plump and sweet thee... Small oval or pear-shaped, a fig is a pulpy receptacle with a protruding stem, delicate in texture and flavour filled with tiny edible, crunchy seeds (as well as minute flowers and undeveloped fruits). Figs embody a steep prominent place in human history and as a food source for over 11,000 years. In the Old Testament, Adam and Eve covered their bodies with fig leaves, and Cleopatra hid the poisonous cobra she used to end her life in a basket of fresh figs. Fig leaves, or depictions of fig leaves, have long been used to cover the genitals of nude figures in painting and sculpture. Figs were first cultivated in ancient Egypt, though they are believed to be indigenous to western Asia and widespread in the Mediterranean. Some of the world's most delicious figs still come from the Middle East, in particular Izmir varieties in Turkey. This once exotic fruit is widely produced in California and Brazil. Figs don't ripen once picked, so they must be at their peak when harvested. Extremely fragile, their skin bruises and tears easily. A short season plus difficulty in transporting make this delicate, highly perishable fruit a high-priced delicacy in much of US. 

There are four main types: Black Mission figs have dark purple skins with light strawberry-coloured flesh. Calimyrna-- the most popular variety of Smyrna-type fig, a name combining “California” and “Smyrna", are yellowish green on the outside with pale pink flesh. Kadota figs have green skins with amber-coloured flesh and are less sweet. Brown Turkey figs can be medium to large in size with copper-coloured skin and whitish to pink pulp with few seeds. Choose figs that are soft but firm, unblemished, ripe and smell sweet. Eat on the day of purchase but can be kept in refrigerator up to two days, brought to room temperature before eating raw-- peeled or unpeeled.  Figs are a well-known laxative and a good source of calcium. 

Figs can be enjoyed poached or baked. But unquestionably the best way to eat a fig is ripe off the tree, ideally still warm from the sun, served simply halved or quartered. When my sister lived in Portland, Oregon with her husband's family, they had a fig tree and she could attest to their sweet deliciousness eaten freshly picked-- they never make it to be turned into jam or paste :). Figs are famously great served in a green salad with Roquefort cheese and pecans, or in a fig pizza with gorgonzola, fig halves, prosciutto and walnut halves. Other flavour affinities include almond, anise, bacon, blue cheese, chicken, cured meats (prosciutto and smoked duck), duck, lamb, tuna and walnuts. 

California Brown Turkey Figs

Look at that natural syrupy centre. Tastes just like honey-- sweeet!

Aside from seeds their well-known crunch is also due to minute flowers (see yellow clusters).

My favourite way to serve figs, is halved or quartered and dipped into thick aged balsamic vinegar. Its syrupy sweet and tang complements the delicate flavour of figs and brings out their natural sweetness. It's heaven in the mouth!

My friend Chef Dimitra Konstantakou from Toronto messaged me that she just freshly picked kadota figs from her parents' farm in Greece and with her mom they made fig jam. Lucky duck! :)

Photo Credit: Dimitra Konstantakou
Freshly-picked Kadota figs from Greece.

Fellow Food Revolution ambassador Raluca Vasile in Bucharest, Romania loves figs covered in nuts and honey served with blue or maturated cheese and prosciutto crudo or jamon Serrano. What an out-of-this-world charcuterie and cheese board that would be!

Photo Credit: Raluca Vasile Green Figs!

For my friend Julie Ann Cockburn from Oregon, a food writer and photographer on her food site The Taste of The Place, her favourite way to consume figs is sliced into quarters, and dipped in or drizzled with crème fraîche. They are perfect that way!

Lovely Terri Salminen in the Netherlands simply simmers fresh figs in freshly squeezed orange juice (enough to make a sauce for all your figs), with a small pinch of dried lavender and dried rose petals. The figs are simmered to just soften (just a couple of minutes), and removed from the liquid. Simmering continued until the liquid is reduced and syrupy, then poured over figs. Julie Cockburn was inspired by Terri to make this and puts a little dollop of crème fraîche over top. It would also be amazing over ice cream she says. I bet! YUM!

My friend Chef Carrie Conway in the US makes a balsamic fig port reduction. She says it freezes beautifully, and is perfect served with pork & chicken! I recall having this very reduction on pan-seared foie gras.... simply divine!

#Meatfreeweek From Around the World...

Meat-Free Week (1-8 August 2016) is about making the choice to eat less meat, care more and feel good. Going meat free for one week creates a great opportunity to get people thinking about how much meat they eat and the impact eating too much meat may have. With education, awareness and the information to make informed choices, the goal is that for the other 51 weeks of the year meat-eaters will consider portion sizes when including meat as part of a balanced diet and filling the plate with more plants and veggies! Or think about adopting a meatless Monday and challenge yourself to find new and delicious ways to incorporate vegetables, grains, pulses and herbs into you and your family's meals.

Ending the week strong with a handful of inspirational ideas from my Food Revolution family around the world!

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This is the second week in a row for this salad at Julie's house! She revived it again especially for ‪#‎meatfreeweek‬ because it was so tasty! An Indian-style salad made with radishes, cucumber, chickpeas, cilantro, pomegranates, and a zingy dressing of fresh lemon juice, oil, salt, toasted mustard seeds, and the Indian spice blend, Chaat Masala. Replace with blueberries rather than pomegranates, as pomegranates can be tough to come by this time of year around here. It is just as delicious! 

Give it a go if you are looking for a satisfying, yet refreshing salad for the week! The original recipe comes from the cookbook, "Made In India". I say, how beautiful and appetizing!

Photo Credit: Julie Ann Cockburn, Super Ambassador USA

Here were the contributions from Ambassador Peru Jesica Winitzky (from top left to right, bottom left to right): Ceviche de Champiñones (mushroom ceviche), quinoa stuffed gourds, and a savoury "anything goes" pie!!!... For dessert Thai sticky rice with mango☺️ yum! A lot of different deeelish ideas to inspire the vegetarian in you! Wonderful!

Photo Credit: Jesica Winitzky, Ambassador Peru

Mira Jarrar, Ambassador Jordan taught how to cook many meatless dishes that would serve a college boy's life well 😁. There were many techniques practiced at their first college food cooking course-- mushroom scrambled eggs, vegetable omelet with cheese (learning how to flip it), cooked fava beans with tomato, lentil soup, low-fat tuna sandwich with multi-grain bread and Mira's mother's festival sandwich. The spread looks amazing and healthy! What tremendous work teaching the basics to give freshmens a great start in cooking for themselves and eating right! Bravo!

Photo Credit: Mira Jarrar, Super Ambassador Jordan

Easy, fast, healthy, delicious-- Ratatouille! Ratatouille is sometimes eaten as a hearty meal of its own accompanied by pasta, rice or bread. It can consist of a variety of veggies such tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers flavoured with garlic and onions and herbs such as marjoram, fennel and basil, or bay leaf and thyme, or a mix of green herbs like herbes de Provence. It is typically prepared as a stew of squash, with each vegetable being sautéed separately before being layered into a baking dish and baked. Ambassador Argentina Maria's version of the recipe can be found on http://cocinasaludable.info. #‎naturaliamariaelena‬

Photo Credit: Maria Elena Ledesma, Super Ambassador Argentina

Lovely Prachi, Super Ambassador Dubai says in her Food Revolution post: Time to Give Vegetables A Fair Chance! its not about giving up meat entirely but welcoming vegetables on your plate and finding ways to enjoy its vast variety and flavours. Her article inspires us with ideas to take veggies from ho-hum to yum yum from dips to warm salads to curries!

Photo Credit: Prachi Grover, Super Ambassador Dubai

Here in Toronto, I was serving up rice burgers-- rice patties made with a mixture of minced vegetables served in a whole wheat pita and veggie crudites on the side.

For more on trying out plant-based foods, getting more fruits and veggies in your meals and seeing whether a meat-reduced diet is for you, check out www.meatfreeweek.org for additional inspirational ideas and recipes. How about further tempting meat-free dishes with fresh herbs-- see posts in my series on fresh herbs and veggies and trying or increasing soy products (tofu) in your meals as a great meat-alternative in my post The Wonderful Textured World of Tofu.

#Meatfreeweek-- Beets... Sweet!

This week is Meat- Free Week-- a dynamic awareness and fundraising campaign that motivates action, back for its second year in the UK and fourth year in Australia! Meat-Free Week gives people the perfect opportunity to try out new plant-based foods, get more fruits and veggies in their meals and see whether a meat-reduced diet is for them, even if it’s just one day a week or one week a year. For vegetarians and vegans, the campaign provides a great chance to share some of their favourite meat free recipes with friends and family – all for a wonderful cause!

Today I am talking about wonderful beets!! Deep, ruby-red in colour, beetroots add a vibrant hue and flavour to dishes, and these days you can find them golden yellow, white and even candy cane chioggia (striped pink red and white)! Raw, steamed, boiled, roasted, pickled and even-stir-fried it is wonderfully nutritious as it is deliciously versatile and adds a satisfying sweetness to every dish. From grated into salads, sandwiches to relishes and soups, welcome beets onto your family table and enjoy its sweet splendour. Beetroot contains calcium, iron and vitamins A and C-- all at their highest level when eaten raw. 

When purchasing look for relatively smooth (unblemished), hard and round beets with deep colour. At least half an inch of the stems should remain or the colour will bleed from the tops. If greens are attached, look for bright, fresh dark green leaves. Cut off these greens leaving 1-inch of steam attached before storage. No need to peel or clean the root-- the skins slip off easily after cooking. Common beets are deep red and contain a powerful dye-- betacyanin which stains fingers, cutting boards and cloths a brilliant magenta. You can use disposable gloves and a non-porous plate or cutting board such as glass for a working surface so not to stain.

Some flavour affinities are basil, dill, goat cheese, herring, horseradish, orange, potatoes, sour cream, spinach, tarragon, vinegar and yogurt.

Below are some ways I've made them and I'm looking to expand my beet recipe repertoire. My brother Dan has been adopting a less-meat diet for health reasons and he tells me beets is a top food of choice. He eats it frequently and enjoys them boiled whole, peeled, sliced, cooled and drizzled with a bit of vinegar, and serves it as a kind of pickled side with his meals. My kids enjoy their tender texture and sweetness.

The first is beet carpaccio. Cooked chilled sliced beets (or slice paper thin for the carpaccio-effect), good EVOO, good aged balsamic vinegar, fresh chopped dill and coarse sea salt or fleur de sel. One word... divine!

Beet Carpaccio

The Rainbow Wrap, Jamie's champion recipe from Food Revolution Day 2014, gave my young kids a chance to try beets for the first time. Grated into a mixture with carrots, pear and herbs, one son enjoyed it, another gave it a try and my youngest had fun making it! Get kids involved in the cooking and they will likely eat it or eventually give it a try! Click to read the Post.

Jamie's Rainbow Salad Wrap

Classic Ukrainian Borsch beet soup with tomatoes as the base, grated beets, carrots, cabbage, potatoes and the addition of kidney beans! So delicious with a swirl of mayonnaise or sour cream. Beautiful, hearty and satisfying!

Ukrainian Borsch

One of the great perks working as a lunch coach with Real Food For Real Kids (RFRK) is that we get to bring home leftovers that were not served at our respective schools. No waste! Shredded raw rainbow vegetables (beets & coloured carrots) for a spinach salad lgets the creative treatment cooked up in a home-style Japanese comfort dish-- Simmered Beef and Tofu! The sweet flavours complimented the savoury and sweet dish very well. 

Sauteing shredded vegetables for a simmered dish. 

I was thrilled to have my lovely friend and fellow Food Revolution Super Ambassador Terri Salminen share with me on a previous guest post on making authentic Italian risotto. In it, she recounts step-by-step details interwoven with personal anecdotes and success tips on how risotto can be made at home without being overly complicated, using fresh ingredients in season and with love of course! Beets imparts such a beautiful deep magenta colour!

Terri Saminen's Red Beet Risotto

Will you take the Meat-Free Week challenge?

Photo Credit: Food Revolution

#Meatfreeweek-- Time to Give Vegetables A Fair Chance!

There's always exciting things and projects going on with my Global Food Revolution community which I consider my second family. This week is Meat-Free Week (August 1-8 2016) – a week I always embrace as it's a super opportunity for us to think about our regular food choices and eating less meat. Going meat free for one week, or even a few days allows us to reflect on how much meat we are eating, and what the impacts this may have on our health and on the environment. It can also foster healthy food discussions with your family and friends, and allow you to explore different meat alternatives and to embrace vegetables in ways you haven't discovered before. It's about giving beautiful nature's gifts-- vegetables a fair chance!

Photo Credit: Food Revolution

"Meat-Free Week also provides the perfect opportunity to try out plant-based foods, get more fruits and veggies in your meals and see whether a meat-reduced diet is for you, even if it’s just for one week. Over on Jamie Oliver's web-site they have loads of delicious veggie-friendly recipes for you to try on the Kitchen Garden Project resource hub, as well as some widely-available meat-free dishes. Why not try these super easy Crunchy carrot pitas – all you need is basic cooking equipment, no heat required! Or fire up the BBQ this summer and grill these colourful Greek vegetable kebabs?" I will also sharing my family favourites through-out this week, and hope to inspire an assortment of rainbow colours at your table and give meat a bit of a break!

In honour of Meat-Free Week Jamie's team reached out to our Food Revolution Ambassador network to get some real life inspiration and stories about how they approach Meat-Free Week or if not the whole week, then at least cutting back a little. Lovely Prachi, a super ambassador says its not about giving up meat entirely but welcoming vegetables on your plate and finding ways to enjoy its vast variety and flavours. Her article inspires us with ideas to take veggies from ho-hum to yum yum!

Original Post from Food Revolution: Time to Give Vegetables A Fair Chance! by Prachi Grover, Food Revolution Super Ambassador for Dubai.

“I respect and love the concept of cutting back on our meat consumption through campaigns such as Meat Free Week. Getting all of us to think about what over consumption of meat is doing to our planet, to our bodies and to our animals is something to ponder about. The fact that we observe this together makes it more of a pact and I absolutely adore that about this.

My parents are vegetarians. However, mum and dad always allowed me to make my own choices with respect to everything in life. So when it came to food it was the same. About the time when I was four or five, one day we were out with my uncle who enjoyed meat as much as vegetables. He offered me the meat preparation he had ordered. My parents urged me to give it a try (you must try everything and then decide whether you like it or not was the unsaid rule at our home when it came to food). I happened to like it and my vegetarian mum immediately started looking out for recipes she thought I would enjoy. From that day onwards, different forms of meat started appearing on our dinner table occasionally. We still remained largely a vegetarian household though. In our house, vegetables didn’t appear as ‘sides’.

When I grew up and set up my kitchen, meat began to show up frequently. However, I didn’t give it much thought when vegetables were the mains most days and meat was the side. Initially I had trouble understanding friends who said vegetables weren’t exciting enough. It was only later I realized if you had been a faithful meat eater all your life it could be pretty challenging to think about how a plate full of vegetables could be both delicious and a complete meal in itself.

So this whole week; I urge you to give vegetables another fair chance. For me, this week is not about giving up meat but it is about embracing vegetables. Let me take you through some of the ways my family enjoys vegetables. I am not sharing recipes but simply some ideas to get all those creative juices flowing! Cold salads and steamed vegetables will soon be a thing of the past.

Photo Credit: Prachi Grover

Dips I love having a number of them in my refrigerator all the time. Delicious to dunk the veggies in and they make for great spreads in sandwiches and with baked “fries”. Try offbeat combinations like a charred red bell pepper, dates, walnuts and a pomegranate dip.

Gratins A little bit of cheese always makes everything in life seem good! Especially when inside a gratin. My little girl’s favourite is a trio is cauliflower, broccoli and cheddar with a green salad on the side.

Curries I grew up on curries. Simmered over low heat, a bowl of curry is a riot of caramelized vegetables, spices and herbs. I like to pair it with rice or a flatbread along with a bowl of raita or a cold salad. Coconut milk, carrots and beans seasoned with mustard seeds and curry leaves with poppadoms, if you like!

Soups A bowl of soup is like happiness and warmth around your cold hands on a chilly day. Most days we don’t even follow a “recipe”. It is about working with what we have on hand. I like to give the good old tomato soup a makeover with the addition of lentils and a generous squeeze of lemon.

Pilafs Pilafs are my one pot meals. All that rice glistening with the juices and flavours from the vegetables, throw in some lentils too and you have a nutritious bowl on your table. Plus just one pot to wash! Pumpkin is something that my daughter doesn’t enjoy. However pair it with mushrooms in a pilaf and she approves of it!

Warm Salads Who says salads have to be always cold! Warm salads make for wholesome and filling meals and so perfect for days when you don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Give me a lentil, sautéed vegetables and grilled halloumi salad any day and I am a happy girl.

Wraps Grilled or steamed vegetables can get a little boring on their own sometimes so I like to dress and wrap them up in a tortilla or a pita bread. Such a great way to work magic with vegetables. Skewer some paneer, bell peppers and grill them in a yoghurt sauce. The possibilities are endless.

Croquettes I love to “croquette” all kinds of vegetables. Zucchini, potato, cauliflower, spinach and even onions appear on our table regularly. Bake them instead of frying and make it healthier. Add a little a bit of chutney or dip on the side and it is a party on a plate.

Burgers Vegetable burgers? I know what you are thinking! No match for a meat one, right? Try switching the regular vegetable patty for a falafel, layer it with some halloumi (all burgers need cheese!) and a hummus “sauce” and you will be a convert I assure you.

So go rekindle that love with the veggies this year and celebrate Meat Free Week!”

Check out meatfreeweek.org for loads more info and inspiration and visit Prachi’s blog here for recipe ideas.

Prachi Grover divides her time between playing food consultant, writing for food publications, developing recipes for clients, conducting food workshops, cooking demonstrations and blogging at Orange Kitchens (all centered around children and their relationship with food). She lives at Dubai with her loving and ever supporting husband and their seven year old daughter who is known as her little chefling on the blog. Prachi is the Food Revolution Super Ambassador for Dubai.