Food

Serves 6

Makes 16 sliders

Makes 10 scones

You’ll be bowled over by this delightful sweet, sour, and salty flavour profile that screams Thai street food. If available, be sure to use tamarind; it infuses the sauce with its remarkable tangy personality. You can find it at most Asian and Indian markets.

While still under the culinary radar, cuisine from Myanmar (formerly Burma) is poised to become the next “hot” Asian culinary trend. Chickpea flour gives this traditional soup from the Shan people of Myanmar a velvety thick texture that is a wonderful change of pace from other Asian soups.

Classic Japanese flavours come together to create a quick and easy noodle dish that you can have on the table in no time. Made from fermented rice, mirin is a sweet-tasting seasoning that works well in dressings and sauces. It’s a worthwhile addition to a pantry collection. Shrimp, salmon, or chicken can also be added to this noodle bowl. If preparing ahead of time, be sure not to toss the sauce with the noodles until just before serving.

In simple terms, Japchae is a Korean dish consisting of plenty of vegetables served with springy sweet potato noodles. Long, slender enoki mushrooms provide a fanciful garnish. If you can’t find these noodles or the Korean hot pepper paste called gochujang, you can use soba noodles and a different Asian chili sauce, such as Sriracha. This dish is equally good hot or cold.

Five spice powder is one of the essential seasonings for much of Chinese cooking and infuses broths with a balanced mixture of sweet, savoury, and peppery flavour.

These crunchy rolls are sure to bring smiles to any table craving fresh flavour in the tail end of a long winter. The mango sauce provides a sweet finish. The rolls can also be made two days in advance if refrigerated. For vegetarians, the chicken can be swapped out for firm tofu sliced into matchsticks. Look for low-calorie rice paper wrappers at any Asian market and in the Asian food aisle of many large supermarkets.

Not just for slaw, red cabbage gives wraps visual appeal and crunchy texture, and ups their health ante. However, you could also use green or savoy cabbage. Toasting quinoa first imbues the grain with a tantalizing nutty flavour, while goat cheese adds tang and creamy texture to these wraps. They can be assembled ahead of time and brought along to the office for a nutritious way to break out of the lunchtime sandwich blues.

Greens such as romaine that are sturdy enough to welcome savoury fillings are a great way to keep wraps fresh, and trim some calories to boot. If desired, you can swap out romaine lettuce for collard greens or Swiss chard. Also consider stuffing in some microgreens. Extras of the fibre-packed spread are excellent strewn over crackers.

Not just for sushi, sheets of nori and their umami deliciousness are perfect for rolling up all sorts of fillings, such as this powerful combo of avocado sauce, poached salmon, and Chinese black rice, a guise of rice particularly awash in antioxidants. If you can’t locate black rice, brown rice is a good alternative. You can also use cayenne powder or prepared horseradish to add a kick to the avocado sauce in lieu of wasabi.

The great thing about these whimsical egg rolls is you don’t have to hover over the stove to make individual omelettes. Serve them for a weekend brunch or to add a little joyfulness to dinnertime. Kids will love them too. A dollop of salsa or a sprinkling of chives on top never hurts either.

We’ve adapted this delicious vegetarian soup and added a little barley to the angel hair noodles to make it a meal unto itself. The combination of fresh herbs makes it come alive. Top with dollops of plain yogurt and serve lavash (crisp flatbread) on the side.

Baked eggplant lends itself to many Middle Eastern dishes. In Persian cooking, however, it is combined with a myriad of ingredients from fresh chopped mint to ground walnuts. In our version, we spiked it with fresh herbs and fresh diced tomato to appeal to the eye as well as the taste buds.

A hint of lime on chicken kabobs is what really makes this dish pop. Served on basmati rice or tucked into warm bread with assorted toppings, it’s a recipe designed to please all palates.

Vegetables for dessert? This delicious carrot halwa dessert is often eaten all by itself without an entrée or meal preceding it. We took a bit of creative licence with the traditional halwa and substituted coconut milk for regular milk and raw coconut crystals for granulated sugar. The results are delicious! Try our version and eat it hot, warm, or cold.

This whimsical cookie pie saves you the time needed to scoop out individual cookies, making it even sweeter to be a cookie monster. Milled from soft wheat, whole wheat pastry flour is a baker’s secret for less dense baked goods than you get when using regular whole wheat flour. You could also use gluten-free flour such as brown rice or quinoa. Dried cherries provide each bite with a tart kick, but dried blueberries, dried cranberries, or chopped dried apricots will work too. À la mode options include your favourite vanilla or mocha ice cream.

Sweet, salty, and chocolatey … oh my! Consider these whimsical cups an upgrade of the iconic candy that will please all generations in a household. Forget the fork; they’re meant to be eaten out of hand. Using bendable silicone muffin cups enables you to effortlessly peel the cups out of their moulds. If you do not use silicone muffin cups or paper liners and are having trouble unmoulding the frozen cups, try placing the bottom of the muffin tin in warm water for a few seconds, being careful not to thaw the contents.

If red is the colour of love, then this dessert for grown-ups screams the four-letter word. The port sauce adds a touch of sophistication while pistachios provide some healthy crunch. Consider adding fresh mint for garnish.

This heavenly, moist, and light gluten- and dairy-free cake gleans just the right amount of natural sweetness from the dates and berry sauce, or coulis in French parlance. Made by grinding up blanched almonds, almond flour infuses baked goods with high amounts of heart-healthy monounsaturated fat. When baking with such wheat-free flours, it’s best to separate the eggs and whip the whites to produce a lighter, cakelike end product. For clean-cut cake wedges, try dipping the knife in hot water before cutting each slice. The slices are best served warm.

While cheesecake normally provides an avalanche of calories from cheese and cream, this healthier citrusy version obtains many of its fat calories from nuts and creamy nutrient-dense avocado. Plus, it’s no-bake! Consider sprinkling some coconut flakes on top. Placing a sheet of parchment paper over the cheesecake will also help keep it from browning too much during storage.

It doesn’t get any simpler than this. Perfect served on a bed of wilted greens with a spoonful of quinoa or rice on the side.

This recipe is based on a traditional coq au vin recipe. Delicious when simmered to perfection, it’s been adapted to use a crisp dry Riesling rather than a typical Burgundy wine.