This recipe was passed on to me by my dear friend M, she found it on Chatelaine, made it and sent it on to me saying it’s delicious and to try it.
The recipe started out as orecchiette pasta with swiss chard, and ended up being different yet still delicious…

I threw almost everything I had into this pasta, just because I was out of the a few of the ingredients the recipe called for, and I needed to clear my fridge.
I added two kinds of beans; chickpeas and cranberry beans leftover over the weekend.
There’s also frozen corn, bell peppers and sundried tomatoes, which I always have around.
And I used kale in place of swiss chard… an easy switch.
I love these kinds of pasta… it’s tasty, nutritious, inexpensive, perfect weeknight pasta.
I made it a few days before Easter in New York and had it for dinner over a few nights.

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We’re in the final stretch of winter.
The signs are there in spite of Mother Nature’s tantrums – spring is coming!
I’ll be glad to see this winter go; it hasn’t been a particularly great winter for me.
It’s not that it got too cold, on the contrary, I think this is probably the warmest winter we’ve had.
It was just an odd winter.
I went through a phase of slothfulness this winter, through a long languid phase of nothingness and stretches of procrastination. To be fair, it wasn’t all winter’s fault, it was just the space of mind I was in.
Things are starting to look up though, I feel that I’m coming out of it, and the longer days and sunshine will certainly help.

Lentil salad on flatbread with creamy mustard sauce

What I loved about this winter however, were these wonderfully warm and satisfying salads I ate throughout.
Before this, most of the salads I’d known where light leafy fares more suited as appetizers, but oohh… these salads with their toothsome grains and legumes are also filling and comforting.
Take this colourful lentil salad for example; it’s blissfully simple and delicious, and plenty – enough for the whole week.
This salad’s got everything I love; lentils, crunchy peppers, onions and sun-dried tomatoes, and a tangy zesty dressing of lemons and pomegranate molasses.

The recipe is from the kitchn which is an amazing source for these types of salads.

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Sometimes, on quiet late afternoons, when I’m alone in the kitchen working, when a cool breeze flows through, and I hear the wind whistling through the trees and the birds chirping in the distance, I get homesick.
It’s a dull nostalgic sensation, the call of a faraway place I’ve never known.
Is that possible? Can you get homesick for a place of your dreams?
Same thing happened with this breakfast, I don’t know… breakfast for me is almost sacred.
After I let myself savour the first few bites, I got this distinct urge to be someplace else; a tranquil open space, a forest, or perhaps a farm – tall trees with swaying branches, lush green fields, glistening sun and a gentle cool breeze.

I wake up most weekends excited about breakfast, even more so when I’m trying something new.
I’ve been meaning to make this red quinoa porridge for months now; I just knew I would like it.
I love, love this porridge, it’s warming, nourishing and delicious; stir in a bit of pureed mango, some nuts and dried fruit… and it’s dessert for breakfast!
You really do have to savour this porridge; slowly, with gratitude – and if you’re lucky you might even feel like you’re some place else.

I prefer the crunchiness of red quinoa, it’s firmer and holds its shape better than white quinoa.
I like the texture and nuttiness, it’s also wonderful in salads and soups
This porridge isn’t fussy, it’s simple, cooks in less than twenty minutes and comes out wholesome.

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I love my dentist; he makes me feel like rock star every time I go to see him.
He’s always raving about how nice and amazingly clean my teeth are.
Now, maybe that’s just a trick he uses to get his patients to take good care of their teeth, but it totally works, because clean teeth is a minor obsession of mine now, especially in the days leading up to my appointment. I guess I’m part of the minority who don’t mind going to the dentist.
Since I go in twice a year, we try to catch each other up on what we’ve been up to in the last six months. On my last visit, which was right after the holidays, I joked that I’d been baking up a storm, and he gave me a lecture on sugar and tooth decay.
I don’t think my dentist would like this pomegranate molasses butter cake – this cake is sticky, tart and sweet, and has nuts doused in sugar… oh no, he wouldn’t like it.

When you combine the acidity of the pomegranate molasses with a bit of sugar, you get something so spectacularly delicious, it’s got to be bad for you somehow.
I didn’t think I would like this cake; I needed two tablespoons of pomegranate molasses for this lentil salad, so I got a bottle and then tried to find other recipes to use the rest up.
Pomegranate molasses is made from boiled down pomegranate juice, lemon and sugar (although some versions omit the lemon and sugar altogether).
The sauce is very tart and sweet, thick with a deep rich maroon colour; it adds an incredibly rich flavour to everything!

The recipe for this cake comes from The New York Times; I adapted the recipe a little to make it egg and dairy free.
It’s a buttery, moist, sweet and tart cake that everyone loved. It’s great with tea and as a snack too.
We had it for dessert, and yes, I brushed my teeth every night after dessert.

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I wish I had a more sophisticated palate, sadly, I don’t think my palate developed beyond that of a ten-year-old’s.
I wish I was more open to all the wonderful varied food out there, yet there are so many things I just can’t bring myself to like – such is the plight of the picky eater.
I was at a fancy restaurant recently where everyone was excited to try roasted bone marrow, everyone but me, “I’m a vegetarian” I said – I’m beginning to hate that label, it feels limiting.
“That’s ok,” says the waiter, “We’ll find you something equally special.”
I ended up with an un-special plate of pasta with tomato sauce, and watched my dining companions literally moan with pleasure at every bite.
I should be eating that! I thought to myself, my people were sucking marrow from bones centuries before Fergus Henderson put roast bone marrow on the culinary map.

For over a decade I wouldn’t eat soup because my family kept reminding me that I hated soup as a child.
And then one day I was stuck in a cabin and all we had was minestrone, I didn’t want to seem irrational so I ate it. I realised then that maybe I didn’t hate soup after all, and now I can’t imagine why anyone would hate soup, especially with so many kinds out there.
Soups aren’t only heart-warming and nourishing; soups warm and nurture the soul.
Soups are healing, uplifting and comforting, there nothing more satisfying than a warm bowl of homemade soup on a cold dreary day, or when sick or feeling a little down.
I wish I made soup often – especially around this time of year when every day feels like a soup day; did you know that January was national soup month in the US?
I’ve been collecting soup recipes and working my way through them this winter…
I knew I was going to love this soup the minute I saw the ingredients; carrots, coconut milk, ginger and curry powder.

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Prep and cook time for this easy recipe is 30 – 40 minutes and serves about 6 – 8

This is by far one of the best meals I’ve ever made; the thing about this soup is that, it’s not just good… it’s really, really good. It‘s spicy, creamy, and savoury with a hint of sweetness from the carrots.
It’s also soothing, the week I made this, I had a bowl every night at dinner and could just feel my worries slip away with every spoon – it’s restorative.