What's Cookin' Good Lookin'???

Anyone who’s had the DISTINCT pleasure of living with me knows I like to cook up some rather strange and unorthodox dishes in the kitchen (Thank you S and J for putting up with my cooking binges in the kitchen at Queen’s). And, I have become accustomed to people asking “what the F%&# are you eating?” in the office when I pull out my lunch. Yes my food doesn’t always look super pretty, but it’s tasty and extremely healthy. I love international cuisines and spend a lot of time searching for new recipes. If you also share my love for cooking or want to try cooking more in the kitchen, here are my best picks for online food blogs, recipes and cookbooks.

For online recipes

Go to www.myrecipes.com. I like this website because you can search by food magazine, key ingredient and cuisine. I usually use this website when I am looking for international cuisine and has lots of Cooking Light recipes.  I made this coconut-curry recipe using shrimp for my family this weekend and it was absolutely delicious

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/broiled-tilapia-with-thai-coconut-curry-sauce-10000000348346/

For online dessert recipes

I have two favorites, Elana’s pantry and Chocolate Covered Katie. Both blogs are well organized, the recipes are delicious and the instructions easy to follow. Elana’s pantry is good for special occasion dessert recipes, especially if you have guests with food allergies, and Chocolate Covered Katie has great vegan dessert recipes to satisfy your sweet tooth. I made her snickerdoodle blondies this morning and they turned out great.

http://www.elanaspantry.com/

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/

For cookbooks

If you are looking for some cookbooks to add to your collection, or are new to cooking and don’t know where to get started, here are some of the best in healthy cooking

1.     Any Rose Reisman Cookbook. This woman is amazing at taking family favorites like mac and cheese and turning them into lighter, healthier fare without cutting the flavour. I own her Weekday Wonders and Light Vegetarian, and have made almost every recipe. Her books are excellent for students, because she offers lots of substitutions, make ahead instructions and her recipes freeze well, which means yummy leftovers! If you are GF or DF, her books may not be the best since she tends to use both gluten and dairy in a lot of recipes. Also check out her website www.artoflivingwell.ca for great recipes and general health advice

2.     Quinoa 365. http://www.quinoa365.com/ Probably my favorite cookbook. Easy recipes that always taste good, and shows off the diversity of cooking with quinoa in the kitchen.  I have made everything from entrees to soups to desserts using quinoa and quinoa flour in this cookbook.

3.     Planet Organic Cookbook. http://www.planetorganic.ca/goodfood/cookbook

Awesome cookbook from Alberta that my aunt gave me as a birthday gift. If you are from Calgary/Edmonton and have ever eaten at their store (cosmic cookies!) I definitely recommend getting this cookbook. The Best Dal Ever recipe really is the best, and this is coming from someone who lived in Nepal and ate this 2-3 times per day for a month.

4.     Slice: Health inspired food http://www.sliceofhealth.com/ Another great birthday present from my beautiful Aunt. Features extremely healthy and tasty dishes with lots of nutritional and health tidbits throughout the book. This is my go-to cookbook for dips, spreads and breakfast recipes. Some of their ingredients are a little difficult to come by (nutritional yeast, Sucanat, sprouted grain wraps etc.) in your local grocery store, but any health food store should have them in stock.

Happy Cooking