This is my go-to recipe for salmon. It’s easy, tasty, and healthy. We have this in the house almost every week. It pairs exceptionally well with anything green, whether a hot stir-fry or a cool salad.

4 salmon fillets (about a pound)
3 tsp sherry, wine, or any asian vinegar
1 tsp ginger root, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp black bean sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
4 Tbsp chopped green onion for garnish

Mix the sherry, ginger root, salt, garlic, black bean sauce, and sesame oil. Set aside.

STEAM METHOD: Set each portion of fish on a piece of parchment paper skin-side down. Top each portion with a small spoonful of the sauce. Spread the sauce to the edges of the fillet. Lift fish by the parchment and place in a steamer basket, evenly spaced. Steam fish 10-12 minutes.

PAN FRY METHOD: In a nonstick frypan or wok heat a few teaspoons of peanut or canola oil over medium heat. Place each portion of fish skin-side up in the pan and cook just for a few minutes, just enough to cook the tops of the fillets. Flip the portions skin-side down. Top each portion with a small spoonful of sauce and spread sauce to the edges of the fillet. Cover the frypan and cook another three to five minutes, until fillets are just cooked through.

Plate the fillets and garnish with green onion. Serve hot.

Makes 4 servings.

My daughter Jasmin wanted a cheesecake to celebrate her 14th birthday and I was not going to disappoint my little girl. I don’t have to tell you this cake is a few steps away from my normal health-focused cooking endeavors. Basically this cake is insulin sensitivity on a plate. It was damn good too!

I will give credit to the baking & love blog for the recipe framework, but I made some modifications. I didn’t stir any cookie crumbs into the batter, I used three times the nutella, and I used a layering technique to try and keep the Mars pieces evenly spread through the height of the cake. I think it turned out really well.

Nutella Mars Bar Cheesecake

makes one tall cheesecake

Crust
1/2 box (200g) oreo cookie crumbs
6 Tbsp melted butter

Batter
4 blocks cream cheese (or 2 lbs or 32 oz) at room temperature
4 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup heavy cream (I used whipping cream)
a pinch of salt

Fillers
3/4 cup nutella
8 Mars bars, chopped into small pieces

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine cookie crumbs with melted butter. Press into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Set the pan in the center of a large sheet of aluminum foil. You will be cooking the cake in a pan of water and the foil will keep the water out of the cake pan.

With beaters or a mixer combine the cream cheese and sugar and beat until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue beating to incorporate. Gently beat in the cream and salt.

Heat the nutella in a small bowl in the microwave or in a small pan on the stove. Heat it just enough to make it easier to spoon/stir, but not too hot.

Pour 1/4 of the cake batter into the pan. Drop 1/4 of the nutella in spoonfulls onto the batter. Use a knife or toothpick to swirl the nutella into the batter. Spread 1/3 of the chopped Mars bars evenly onto the batter. Repeat with 1/4 batter, swirl in 1/4 of the nutella, and 1/3 of the chopped Mars bars. Once more and you’ve used up all the Mars bar pieces. Pour the remaining cake batter into the pan, swirl in all of the remaining nutella.

Bring the foil up the sides of the cake pan and set the whole thing in a larger pan with an inch or two of water. Bake the whole contraption for about 80-90 minutes. Crack the door of the oven and turn off the heat. Let the cake cool in the oven for an hour, then remove it to the fridge to chill for at least a few hours before unmolding and serving.

I think I remember my mom making brussels sprouts once, maybe twice, when I was a kid. I don’t remember eating them, which is probably why she only tried twice. I’m sure my argument against them was something like “I don’t wanna, they smell like farts.”

I’m absolutely beside myself then when I admit that these little cabbages were so good I went back for seconds. Seriously. I was so enraptured I convinced Rob to try one, but he didn’t like them AT ALL. If you don’t generally like vegetables I don’t think you’ll find your epiphany with these, but if you do like your greens you might have a very spiritual moment.

2-3 cups brussels sprouts (I actually used frozen sprouts, half a bag)
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Dressing:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp grainy dijon mustard
1 Tbsp maple syrup (the REAL stuff)
1 clove garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Halve the sprouts and toss in the olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread out on a cookie sheet or large pan and roast for 30 minutes, flipping once.

While the sprouts are roasting mix all of the dressing ingredients in a bowl. Toss the cooked sprouts in the dressing and serve right away.

Makes 4 “normal-sized” servings or 2 “I freaking LOVE vegetables” servings.

I shared this recipe as part of the Fight Back Friday blog carnival at Food Renegade. You can find other recipes like this and thoughts about “real food” at the site, so be sure to visit.

This recipe is rewarding in many ways. First, it’s a really easy and healthy snack food. Secondly, it’s kid-approved and easy to leave out on the counter for youthful snack attacks. Third, I get to say things like “you’ll love the taste of my nuts”.

Have you ever looked at the ingredient list on a package of commercial roasted nuts? I had some last week and I would have needed a chemistry degree to know what half of the ingredients were. I know that cornstarch and sugar have no place in my idea diet at the very least, and certainly not the MSG that was also prominent on the label.

Give my salty nuts a taste, you won’t regret it. Technically you can experiment with any oil, and any kind of salt, but I love the combination of the sweet, subtle coconut oil and the rustic scent of the smoked salt. Look for a coconut oil that actually has a slight coconut smell, as many of them have been de-scented.

4 cups nuts, unroasted, unsalted
1-2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 Tbsp smoked salt (Salish)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. If your coconut oil is hard melt it in a microwave or on the stove. Stir the nuts in the melted oil in a bowl, and then sprinkle on the salt and toss to coat. Spread out in a large cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes.

It was a rare Sunday morning. I didn’t have to be anywhere in particular, I was on top of my chores, and all of my pots and pans were clean. I decided to get fancy with breakfast.

Eggs Benedict has to be my all-time favorite breakfast dish, and just because I am currently shunning bread I don’t feel I have to miss out. Likewise, I’ve been wanting to attempt a latke/hashbrown alternative made without potatoes or flour. Some might call me crazy, I prefer the term “visionary”.

To say that everything turned out well would be an understatement. When I retire I won’t look forward to sleeping in. I’ll look forward to having an hour every morning to cook a breakfast as fabulous as this.

Eggs Benedict
1 English muffin, split and toasted (or a nice bed of spinach for the paleo/primal eaters)
2 oz ham or back bacon, cooked (or smoked salmon)
2 poached eggs
hollandaise sauce (recipe follows)

On each half of the English muffin arrange half of the ham and one poached egg. Drizzle with hollandaise sauce and serve hot.

Hollandaise Sauce
2/3c butter
3 egg yolks
1 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp lemon juice

From the butter, take away 2 Tbsp and stick in the fridge to keep it cold. Melt the rest and set it aside. In a small metal bowl whisk the egg yolks with water and lemon juice. Bring a pot of water to boil over medium heat. The pot needs to be the right size so that it will hold your metal bowl over the water. When the pot of water is at a steady
boil set the bowl of eggs over the water and whisk briskly. In only a minute or two the egg yolks will get thick and sticky, remove them from the heat. Immediately plunk in the 2Tbsp of cold butter and whisk until it has melted in. Continue to whisk the mixture while you drizzle in the melted butter.

Parsnip Latkes
4 large parsnips, peeled
1/2 cup onion, finely minced
1 egg, beaten
oil for frying (I used coconut oil and it ROCKED)

Grate the parsnips into a large bowl of cold water. When all is grated, strain the grated parsnip and spread it out over a clean kitchen towel with the onion. Roll up the towel and wring it tightly to soak up moisture from the vegetables. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl and mix with the egg.

Heat several tablespoons of oil in a pan over medium-high heat. With a large spoon (I use a 3/4oz cookie scoop), transfer about 2 Tbsp of the mixture to the frypan and pat it down into a patty with the back of a fork. Place several of these around the pan and lower the heat to medium. Fry 3-5 minutes each side until golden brown. Wipe out the pan and repeat with the remaining mixture until gone. The latkes can be kept warm on a plate in the oven at 250 degrees.

Hello visitors from Food Renegade! This is my first submission to “Fight Back Friday” , but I expect it won’t be my last. If you are a regular visitor of my site, why don’t you check out Food Renegade for some delicious inspiration!

Coconut Curry Sauce
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp olive oil
1 can coconut milk
3 tsp curry powder
1 tsp turmeric

Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat and add the garlic and ginger. Stir and fry for about one minute, until the onions and garlic are soft. Add the coconut milk and spices to the pot. Continue to stir over medium heat as the coconut milk dissolves and blends with the spices. Bring to a slow boil and remove from the heat a few minutes before serving.

1 lb chicken breast (about three breasts)
2 Tbsp ketchup
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp mixed peppercorns, coarsely ground
1 Tbsp oil
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 yellow pepper
2 Tbsp oyster sauce

Slice the chicken into thin strips. Toss with the ketchup and soy sauce and let marinate at least fifteen minutes. Slice the peppers into long thin strips.

Heat the tablespoon of oil in a wok. Spread the chicken pieces out on a plate and sprinkle the peppercorns over it evenly. Add the chicken to the wok and stir-fry 3-5 minutes, until chicken is mostly cooked.

Add the pepper strips to the pan and stir-fry five minutes. Add the oyster sauce and heat through, another two minutes. Serve hot over rice.

Makes 4 Servings.

2 cups real pumpkin (or substitute a can of pure pumpkin)
3/4 sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
1 uncooked pie shell (try my pie dough recipe)

In a large bowl mix the pumpkin, sugar, eggs, and spices. Beat on high with electric beaters until smooth. Slowly add the evaporated milk with the beaters on low.

Pour the mixture into the pie shell. Bake the pie at 425 degrees for fifteen minutes. Lower the heat to 350 and continue cooking for another 45 minutes. The pie should be firm, and a knife inserted in the center should come out clean.

Cool the pie for two hours before serving. Top with whipped cream.

1 lb shortening, kept at room temperature
5 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 egg
cold water
1 tsp vinegar

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut the shortening into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or two knives until the mixture is a fine meal. Whisk an egg in a clear. Fill the rest of the cup to 3/4 mark with cold water. Add the vinegar to the cup. Whisk again.

Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. Mix with a fork or your hands just until it all sticks together. Divide the dough into six balls.

Each ball is enough for one single-crust pie. Any dough you don’t want to use right away can be wrapped tightly with plastic wrap and stored in the freezer. Frozen dough can be thawed overnight in the refrigerator.

This is still a recipe in progress, but good nonetheless. I’m thinking of making the following changes:

• Replace the kidney beans with corn, because we have picky eaters in my family that don’t like kidney beans.
• Increase the amount of chili powder and cumin. Spices quickly loose flavour in a slow-cooker meal.
• Put the tomatoes in undrained. I found the recipe a bit dry for my liking.

This was a nice hearty meal.

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb ground turkey
1 can (14oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (15oz) kidney beans
1-2 tsp chili powder
a pinch of cumin
a pinch of dried marjoram
2 cups dry macaroni
3/4 cup Cheddar cheese
3/4 cup Monterey Jack cheese
4 oz goat cheese

Heat the oil in a frypan over medium heat. Fry the onion and garlic a few minutes until soft. Add the turkey and cook until no longer pink.

Spray the inside of a slow cooker with cooking spray. Transfer the turkey mixture into the slow cooker. Stir in tomatoes, beans, and spices. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.

Cook macaroni in a pot of boiling water for five minutes, just until noodles are flexible. Drain and add to the slow cooker. Cook on low another hour.

Stir in the Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses just before serving. Sprinkle crumbled goat cheese on top.

Makes 6 Servings