While some find peace in the act of cooking, others find cosiness in the eating. Whether you’re one or the other—or both—you’ll get a lift with these delightful recipes of the season. A harmony of colour combines pleasure with calm.
Blue—the halcyon colour of calm. Visually and emotionally, blue comes to us in a season when we begin hunkering down and snuggling in. Darkness lingers on the edge of daylight and nights are longer. It’s a time to think about “calming” foods—foods that give pleasure and peace.
Cooking, in itself, can be calming—whether it’s through the hands that prepare, the scent it proffers, or the taste buds it nurtures. And in a kitchen where the action is coupled with delicious smells and tastes, the mood is anything but melancholy, especially when your favourite tunes are playing and you have a glass of wine in hand.
Calm cooking—from the delicious scent of cooking garlic or sautéing mushrooms, to whisking a simmering soup or tucking a fork into a roasted yam, our calming blue-focused dishes bring new tranquility to your cooking repertoire.
Recipes
Creamy Wild Vegan Mushroom Toasts
Vegan Roots and Blues Bisque
Blueberry Patch Salad with Curry Cashew Dressing
Taqueria Tacos with Fish, Mango Salsa, and Tahini Coconut Sauce
Roasted Jewel Yam Cakes with Blackberry Salsa
Pea Flower Cheesecake Bites
Pretty Chia Chocolates
Calming kitchen ideas
- Bare feet in the kitchen— cool toes make for happy feet
- Soothing or upbeat music—inspiring tunes
- A bouquet of flowers— feel-good visuals
- Keeping it simple— so no missteps
- Podcast entertainment— stirring to the beat
- Sipping a glass of wine—whetting the taste buds
Irene McGuinness is a writer, recipe developer, food stylist for numerous magazines and corporations, and alumna of the Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University
Alexa Everett
Carime Lane
Adam Meyer
Emilie Richardson-Dupuis