I make eggplant with this sauce quite often. Sometimes I add chopped tomatoes or roughly chopped onions instead of tofu. Sometimes I add a few leaves of parsley or cilantro. A lot of times it's just eggplant without anything extra. It's still very tasty and flavourful. Usually I cook the eggplant in sauce which makes the finished dish look somewhat not too photogenic, so this time I decided to take a different approach and pour the sauce on top. I must say, however, that as soon as I took the picture I mixed everything together and it was as good as always.

For 1 very generous serving or 2 portions if served over rice noodles or vegetables.

• Asian eggplant - 2
• Firm tofu - 1/2 package
• Oil - 2 tablespoons
• Black bean sauce - 1 heaping tablespoon
• Garlic, minced - 1 teaspoon
• Ginger, grated - 1 teaspoon
• Sesame oil - 1 teaspoon
• Parsley, sesame seeds to taste

- Wrap the tofu in paper towel and squeeze excess liquid without breaking the tofu.
- Cube the tofu.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan on medium heat.
- Fry the tofu cubes until the crust forms, about 1-2 minutes, flip the cubes and fry on the other side. You may wish to fry every side or just two.
- Transfer the tofu onto a paper towel.
- Slice the eggplant and quarter each slice.
- Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan and fry the eggplant on medium heat for about 1-2 minutes.
- Make the sauce: mix the black bean sauce, garlic, ginger and sesame oil.
- Add the sauce to the eggplant, lower the heat, cover the pan with a lid and let the eggplants soften for about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the tofu cubes to the pan, mix and heat through.
- Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds and chopped parsley/cilantro.

Comments
- As I mentioned above, tofu is not mandatory in this recipe. It can be substituted for chopped tomatoes and/or chopped onion, this way everything is cooked together.

My inspiration for this dish came from my friend who desperately needed to use up all the canned pumpkin and started adding it practically everywhere. The combination of oatmeal and pumpkin intrigued me to the point that I was thinking about it everyday for about a week before I finally bought some canned pumpkin and decided to try it out. The rest just came together easily since it was a no-brainer for me that pumpkin should be paired with classic Pumpkin Pie spices like cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. The final component, or maybe it's better to call it a technique, was a spontaneous decision. I've had my Brûlée torch for quite some time and only used it twice in the last few years. I also thought that the crunch of hard, caramelized sugar would pair nicely with the soft texture of oatmeal. The result was fantastic, warm and satisfying oatmeal that can easily double as a dessert. I know it's a strange choice to use those fall flavours in May, but the temperature dropped to +5 here in Toronto over the weekend and it really felt more like autumn than spring.

For 1 large serving

• Rolled oats - 1/2 cup
• Soy milk - 3/4 cup
• Canned pumpkin puree - 1/2 cup
• Vanilla extract - 1/4 teaspoon
• Cinnamon - 1/4 teaspoon
• Ground dry ginger - 1/8 teaspoon
• Nutmeg - a pinch
• Ground cloves - a pinch
• Salt - a pinch
• Dark brown suger - 1 + 2 teaspoons

- In a small pot, whisk together the milk and pumpkin puree.
- Add all the spices and 1 teaspoon of brown sugar. Heat the mixutre.
- Add the oatmeal and cook whicking occasionally for about 7-10 minutes until the oatmeal is soft and the liquid is absorbed.
- Pour the cooked oatmeal into a bowl and spread the remaining 2 teaspoons of brown sugar on top. Torch the sugar until it hardens. Alternatively, place the bowl under a broiler for couple of minutes to melt and caramelize the sugar.

Comments
- Regular milk or any other type of non-dairy milk can be used in this recipe. Water can also be used.
- Use the spices according to your taste. I don't like cloves too much and next time I am going to omit that spice.
- Canned pumpkin can be substituted for normal pumpkin, which should be baked and processed in a blender.

I love food. Any kind of food: desserts, main courses and maybe one of my favourite - appetizers. Why is it that appetizers always look so much more tempting than entrees on practically any restaurant menu? Almost every time I go to a restaurant it's a struggle to choose just one starter to eat. Sometimes I secretely wish that I could have a few (or, who am I kidding, a lot) of the small dishes instead of having one entree. I guess this is why people go out to Spanish restaurants for tapas, right? My boyfriend, however, has a very different idea about appetizers. A few weeks ago I listened in disbelief when he mentioned his dislike for tapas. Really? Who doesn't like tapas? Perfect little appetizers they are! One of my favourite things to order as an appetizer is a dip. I rarely get it by myself, but sitting at a pub with a few of my girl friends and sharing a warm gooyey and cheesy dip, drinking martinis or beers and gossiping is a perfect way to spend an evening.

This recipe serves 2-4 people as an appetizer.

It's the middle of July and we still haven't had a good summer weather here. Yes, we had a couple of hot days here and there, but overall it doesn't feel like summer yet. But still, when the weather is above 24C (75F) and it's humid, I don't feel like cooking. So, I've been having a lot of sandwiches and... soups. Yes, soups, just cold soups. Actually, just one cold soup in particular. I discovered it last summer and spent a few months eating it practically every day, the combination of ingredients might sound weird to you, but the taste is phenomenal! I am not sure about the origin of this recipe, some say it's Russian, some say it's Lithuanian or Latvian, but regardless of where it came from, it's amazingly tasty, filling and refreshing.The recipe is really versatile and the ingredients can be added, increased, decreased or omitted according to taste, I've been known to exclude beets all together and added radishes. I've heard that it's really good with piping hot boiled potatoes on the side. It's a perfect easy summer soup!

recipe adapted from carina-forum

• Beets, boiled or baked, grated - 1 large or 2 small
• Cucumbers, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes - 2 small
• Eggs, boiled, chopped - 4
• Dill, finely chopped - 4 tablespoons or more to taste
• Green onion, chopped - 2 (optional)
• Radishes, chopped - 5 (optional)
• Lots of salt
• Kefir - 700 ml or more if you'd like a thinner soup

- Mix all the ingredients together and season to taste! It's that easy!

Comments
- Sometimes I am asked about the taste of this concoction. How does it taste? Well, all those ingredients without kefir make a pretty good salad, so it's sort of like a salad with lots of dressing, a.k.a kefir. Try it, it's great!!!

I recently visited a fellow cooking enthusiast, and she made the most amazing and delicious lunch I had in a very long time. There was a light, summery salad made with spinach, prosciutto, mozzarella and peaches. Little pancakes with cream cheese, smoked salmon and dill. Grilled herb marinated scallops and tiger shrimp. Spaghetti with lightly cooked vegetables. And there were tiny pastries with eggplant and tomatoes. (There were three different desserts as well!!!) It was the first time she made those pastries and she used the recipe from some cookbook, but the actual dough didn't work too well. It was extremely crumbly and a bit sandy. My friend was really upset about it, but the filling of those pastries was absolutely delicious. So, I got her recipe for the filling and I used the other dough recipe that I knew would work. The result was really good! Juicy, tasty, garlicky filling wrapped in thin layer of tasty pastry. I made a simple dip for those little pies: equal measures of mayo and yogurt cheese mixed with minced garlic and cilantro. Perfect combination!

filling recipe adapted from carina-forum

makes eight medium (12 cm) pies

Pastry

• Unbleached all purpose flour -500ml (2 cups)
• Salt -2.5 ml (1/2 tsp)
• Water - 60 ml (1/4cup)
• Maple Syrup - 15 ml (1tbsp)
• Canola oil - 125 ml (1/2 cup)
• Oil for brushing

Filling

• Tomatoes - 250 g (2 medium)
• Eggplant, cut into 2cm cubes - 500 g (1 medium)
• Onion, chopped - 1 medium
• Cilantro, finely chopped - 1 tablespoon (my store didn't have fresh cilantro, so I used one frozen cilantro cube)
• Garlic, minced - 1 clove
• Cumin - 1/2 teaspoon (I didn't use it)
• Tomato paste - 1 teaspoon (forgot to use it)
• Olive oil, salt, pepper

- Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).

- Heat some oil in a large pan and saute the onion until it's soft.
- Add the cumin and cubed eggplant to the pan and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to boil. Drop the tomatoes in the boiling water for 30 seconds.
- Remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and drop them into cold water for 2 minutes.
- Peel the tomatoes and chop them.
- Add the tomatoes to the eggplant and cook for another 10 minutes until the eggplant is cooked.
- Add the minced garlic into the mixture and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the cilantro, salt and pepper. Let the filling cool.

- In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Set aside.
- In a measuring cup, combine the water and honey.
- Add the oil.
- Pour over the dry ingredients and stir with a fork until flour is just moistened.

- Roll out the dough to 3-4 mm thickness.
- Cut 12 or 8 cm circles, put some filling in the middle and fold the circle in half to create a half-moon shape. Press the edges together with a fork.
- Put the pies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Brush the pastries with milk, eggwash, or oil.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until the dough is baked through and golden brown.

And I am back again with my favourite ingredient - avocado. This time it's paired with my new favourite - arugula. Well, I used arugula before, but only recently I fell in love with this fresh, peppery, a little bitter, spicy and even a tiny little bit garlicky green. It has the most refreshing and complex flavour that I found in any lettuce, cabbage or other salad base ingredient. It's absolutely amazing and it pairs just wonderful with buttery avocado. I really think it's a match made in heaven: buttery avocado and spicy arugula... mmm... The salad is very easy with no real proportions, but it's really really good.

recipe very literately adapted from carina-forum

• Arugula
• Avocado
• Thyme
• Oil (olive, sunflower, or even avocado oil)
• Freshly squeezed lime juice
• Sea salt
• Lots of freshly ground black pepper

It's a coincidence that I have two avocado posts one after another. I actually made that guacamole about six weeks ago, but only got around to posting it two days ago and now another avocado recipe is coming right away. I was thinking of waiting a few more posts before blogging about this one, but it's too good not to share. The weather is getting warmer here in Toronto, it's ok to not even wear a jacket now and then, and this soup is just a perfect lunch to cool off in the middle of a suddenly warm day. It's light, it's refreshing, it's delicious, creamy, luscious and filling soup, that's extremely easy to make. I just bought a bag of five small avocados and used one for this dish, so I think I'll be making it four more times in the near (very near) future. It's basically two ingredients: avocado and kefir, which is kind of like a Russian version of drinking yogurt, although not quite like it. You can usually find it in an organic section of almost any supermarket or you can substitute it by buttermilk or very thin plain yogurt.

recipe adapted from carina-forum

• Avocado - 1 small
• Red onion - 1 tablespoon chopped (1/4 small onion)
• Lemon juice - 1 to 2 tablespoons
• Cilantro - 2 tablespoons chopped
• Kefir - 200 ml (or more)
• Red pepper flakes - 1/2 teaspoons
• Salt, pepper

I have a love and hate relationship with vegetables. On one hand I like them, but on the other hand I only like them certain way. For example, tomatoes - love them fresh, there's nothing better than juicy and meaty tomato cut in half and sprinkled with a little bit of salt; and the smell, ah... they smell like summers and my childhood, when I went to my grandparents' cottage in the summers and they grew so many different kinds of tomatoes there. But tomato sauce is something I don't like, I also don't like tomatoes in soups or stews. Bell peppers - I love them with dips, but I don't like them in fresh garden salads (go figure) and I also really don't like them in chunky soups, although I like pureed soups with peppers. I know, I am strange! And the list goes on and on, I like eggplants very cooked and soft and thin, if they are too thick, I won't eat them. I like pumpkin in soup, but not in chunks, carrots raw, but not cooked, etc, etc, etc... So, I can't even really say what my favourite vegetable is, because I usually think of myself as a person who doesn't really like vegetables, but then I think of avocados (not technically a vegetable, I know) and I forget all my complaints about veggies. I adore them and I think that probably almost any savoury dish tastes better with avocado. Just puree it with a little bit of lemon juice and sour cream (or tofu) and you get a wonderful, luscious, creamy sauce that works amazing with fish, chicken, steak, salad, savoury cakes, eggs, sandwiches and million other things. Ok, I should stop here, because I can sing the ode to this humble ingredient for a very long time. So, let me present my very simple version of Guacamole recipe.

• Avocado - 1
• Tomato, seeded and chopped - 1
• Chili pepper, seeded and chopped into tiny pieces - 1 small
• Cilantro, chopped - 2 tablespoons (not used here)
• Lemon juice - 2 tablespoons (or more)
• Salt, pepper

- Cut avocado in half, remove the stone and scoop out the flesh.
- Cut the avocado into bite size pieces.
- Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix gently if you'd like a chunkier guacamole.
- Or alternatively, mash the avocado with fork and fold in the rest of the ingredients for a smoother version.
- Serve with flat bread.

Well, apparently I was really excited when I saw those small cute eggplants last week, because I didn't just buy a couple, I bought a lot of them. And although I wasn't impressed by their taste, I still had half of them left and they were looking at me every day, begging to be cooked. So, yesterday I finally had a chance to make something with them. Since I am still not back into my full cooking mode, my fridge is a little (a lot) empty nowdays, but I had a couple of tablespoons of the Dill Garlic sauce left from last week (it keeps really well in the fridge, similar to pesto). And with a few simple ingredients found in my pantry and on my fridge shelves, I was able to transform the eggplants into something quite delicious and completely different.

recipe loosely adapted from carina-forum

• Baby eggplants - 3
• Dill Garlic Sauce - 2 tablespoons
• Your favourite oil (sunflower, olive, walnut, etc) - 70 ml or more
• Maple Syrup - 2 teaspoons
• Chilli Garlic Sauce (store bought) - 2 heaping tablespoons or to taste
• Balsamic vinegar - 2 teaspoons
• White wine vinegar (I had Cava vinegar) - 2 tablespoons
• Salt, pepper

- Slice the eggplants into 1 cm slices.
- Put them into a colander, salt them liberally and let stand for 30 minutes to drain some moisture.
- Wash the salt out of the eggplants and broil them in the oven for 10-15 minutes until they are cooked through.
- Meanwhile mix all the ingredients for the sauce together.
- Put the cooked eggplant slices into a dish and cover them with the sauce.
- Leave the eggplants into refrigerator to marinate for a few hours.

It's been a long time since I cooked or took any pictures. I had my reasons which are not very interesting. During those few weeks I found out a few things. A whole store-bought BBQ chicken and a bag of frozen brussels sprouts make about 7 dinners. If opening a bag of vegetables, cutting chicken, plating and microwaving is too much, then avocado cut in half, sprinkled with salt and scooped right out of the skin is the best thing to eat. If, however, cutting, and scooping requires too much energy, then a mouthful of salty potato chips followed by a square of dark chocolate is really unhealthy but very sustainable - and there's no plates, cutting, microwaving, etc.

So a few days ago I actually made myself go to a supermarket. I had some homemade frozen gnocchi and I wanted to make a dill sauce to go with them. Then I noticed adorable, small and really cute eggplants and I thought that I could make some kind of sauce or dip out of them. Later, while paying for my purchases, it turned out that the "cuteness" comes with a hefty price tag. I decided that I absolutely cannot make those eggplants into a dip and I have to do something that would preserve and showcase their shape.

To be honest, I wasn't impressed by their taste, I thought they were too hard, too meaty and not too... eggplanty (not a word, I know), but they still were pretty good. I grilled them on a grill-pan which I have no idea how to use, so I only got the nice marks using it and then finished them in the oven. What I completely forgot was that the sauce would cover those pretty marks. Oh, well... There's no real recipe, just an idea.

For the sauce Dill - 1 bunch Garlic - 3 cloves (or more or less depending on your taste) Lemon juice - 2 tablespoons Olive oil - 1/4 cup (or more depending on what consistency you'd like) Salt, pepper Eggplants