Chicken and Cauliflower Curry

My family is very health conscious, I try to prepare meals that are high in flavour and low in fat. This recipe is economical and delicious. My inspiration came after having Butter Chicken at a restaurant with my husband. Both of us loved it. but Butter Chicken is very high in calories and fat. I decided to cook up my own version with less fat and more good things like vegetables and tomato sauce.

I like to serve this with couscous on the side and warmed pita bread. To prepare the pita, I mix olive oil and minced fresh garlic, brush this onto each pita, then stack them together and wrap tightly in foil. Then I bake them for 20 minutes at 375 F. My son uses the pita as a wrap, filling the pita with the chicken mixture!

Honey Sage Chicken

I love cooking and have been in the kitcken since I can remember. I also enjoy entertaining family & friends. My friends offen joke around and call me "Martha." Summer entertaining has always been my favorite. I'm always mixing up different ingredients to marinade or rub on meat, poultry and vegetables.

The honey and sage work really well together. This recipe has all the great components for a great marinade. The base, olive oil, honey for sweetness, the lemon juice for citrus and the sage to round all the flavors together.

The glaze really makes the chicken. It brings out the flavors in the marinade even more; the honey brings a nice sweetness, the lemon juice gives tartness and helps thin out the honey. Tabasco sauce helps kick things up a bit. For presentation this dish speaks for itself, but I like to garnish with whole fresh sage leaves and slices of lemons. I like to serve the chicken with baked potatoes and a simple side salad. This is a delicious dish and I hope you enjoy it as much as we have and it is also very affordable meal for entertaining, around $80.00 for a whole meal for 6-8 people. That's pretty good. Enjoy!

''Sure to Please'' Chicken Cacciatore

I like to prepare dishes for guests that allow me to enjoy their company. In order to do this, I select dishes that can be prepared before the guests arrive and are already cooking while we are enjoying their company. My "Sure to Please" Chicken Cacciatore is a prime example of this. Over time I have made several adjustments to enhance the flavour while at the same time using healthy alternatives (eg. skinless chicken thighs and breasts; I saute ingredients in extra virgin olive oil instead of butter). Because this dish has an Italian flare, so do all the other dishes that I serve before, during and after this meal. I serve an antipasta tray as an appetizer, and toasted garlic bread, a tossed green salad with an oil and vinaigrette dressing, whole wheat spaghetti, and the same wine that is in the cacciatore. For dessert I serve Tiramisu (also made ahead). As a result, most of my work is complete before company arrives. I have shared this recipe with women who say they do not cook and I have received rave reviews from all of them - their guests loved it so much that one man ate the leftovers for breakfast the next morning. I like to make this dish in the summer, when I can use fresh produce from my vegetable garden or from the local farmer's market. My inspiration for this recipe is that I love to cook and entertain. This recipe is full of flavour, easy to prepare and tastes like you were in the kitchen all day (what a bonus!).

Jo's Spicy Perogie Pizza

Over the Christmas holidays I was lying in bed fretting over what to serve my vegetarian son Matt and his girlfriend Arlie. My passion is cooking and my family luckily loves to eat, but it seems I always spend more time on the carnivores as they are more numerous in our family! I always felt a bit guilty and wanted to really wow them with something they would love! They both enjoy spicy foods and pizza is a favorite. I had some boiled baby potatoes in the fridge...(I thought) what if I tossed them in some olive oil, sambol oelek (a Southeast Asian chili sauce), garlic, paprika, etc. and gave them a quick bake to flavor them? My pizza base would be my tasty homemade sour dough that I keep on hand frozen in the the freezer, topped with a lovely bechamel sauce with shallots, decorated with the now wonderfully flavoured potatoes and then topped with some tasty cheeses..mozzarella, cheddar. Hmmm that could be tasty, I thought! Sour cream and chopped green onions served with the slices would be a wonderful balance to the heat of the spicy potatoes! With this in mind, I rushed with enthusiasm to my kitchen and began creating. This recipe has now become not only a family favorite, but one of which all of my friends enjoy too. This recipe will make 2 large pizzas. For ease of preparation I will use commercial dough for this recipe.

Detailed preparation time: 40 min. the day before making pizzas to boil off the potatoes, and make bechamel sauce if desired; 1 hour to make (the pizza) on the day of; or 2 hours if doing everything the same day.

Roasted Pickerel with Mixed Grain Risotto, Sautéed Root Vegetables, and Rosemary Honey

My inspiration for the recipe began with an amazing cheese course I had at a dinner party at my sister's house. Rosemary honey drizzled on sharp cheese on a gourmet cracker. Divine! I knew my recipe had to have a rosemary honey component (and lucky for me I had overwintered a rosemary plant from my garden.) Thyme honey, my alternate choice and made the same way, was also delicious. I also wanted to focus on local prairie ingredients...you can't find lemons or olive oil here so I didn't put any in my recipe! I love risotto and thought it a good way to bring the sharp cheese into the recipe. I don't like the constant stirring of the usually method so tried local grains baked instead. The oats are creamy and the barley still has slight bite so it is a great combination. A friend who was sampling my recipe stated, "the risotto was a real surprise, the star of the show." I choose pickerel because it is a local prairie fish, is quite mild, and blends nicely with the other flavours. Rainbow trout also works nicely. The carrots and parsnips were grown locally and the rosemary honey just brings out the flavours wonderfully. To serve: Scoop a generous portion of risotto onto plates. Place an array of vegetables to the side of risotto, then top with a half fillet of pickerel. Drizzle with remaining rosemary honey and garnish with sprig of parsley. Excellent with any British Columbia Meritage or Pinot Grigio Note: If you have any leftover risotto, it is delicious for breakfast with crispy bacon on the side!

Spelt Pasta with Cauliflower & Hemp Seed Pesto

Burrata with Grilled Vegetables & Fruit

Sheet Pan Salmon with Capers & Lemon

Black Garlic & Beet Hummus with Pita Chips

Yellow Tomato Toasts