Food

There’s nothing better to nosh on than a sandwich with oodles of fresh herby flavours. This herbed version of an egg salad sandwich is perfect for a midday brunch. It’s laced with a jazzed-up spicy mayo and topped with plenty of fresh herbs and zingy lemon. Choose a quality sourdough bread, such as rye or sprouted buckwheat, for a chewy and fibrous crunch when toasted. Chiffonade how-to To chiffonade fresh herbs, stack leaves on top of each other and then roll up tightly. Thinly slice perpendicular to the roll.

“This was a surprisingly straightforward and delicious way to warm up on a chilly lakeside outing,” says Cosco. “Polenta requires only a little bit of heat, a 1:4 cornmeal-to-water ratio, and a generous portion of Parmesan to be delicious. I like to add a bit of ‘luxury’ by adding a stock cube and a knob of butter to the boiling water.” His twist on a classic gremolata uses fish-friendly dill and parsley and cuts through the creamy richness of the polenta, itself a counterpoint to the crispy-skinned salmon. Crispier salmon skin The trick to getting that perfectly crispy skin is to sprinkle fillets with salt as soon as you’ve cleaned them. While you prep the vegetables, the salt removes excess moisture, which you can wipe off with paper towel (to be used as fire-starter) just before searing.  Better bouillon Look for a low-sodium stock cube without preservatives. 

Fall is plenteous mushroom season. Mushrooms, both fresh and dried, are available all year round, but fall brings out the best of the best with a myriad of varieties. Whether you cook with fresh or dried, the healthy components of mushrooms provide a compendium of antioxidants, no matter what the season.   Did you know? Shiitake mushrooms boast antioxidants more powerful than many other plants. Specific to mushrooms, these antioxidants are being studied for their antiaging health benefits and are even being cited by some as “master antioxidants.” Many flavours of balsamic Balsamic vinegar comes in varying degrees of sweetness. This dish requires a rich, flavourful balsamic, not too acidic. Add a pinch of dark brown sugar, if needed, for a full-bodied flavour.  Using dried mushrooms In this recipe, dried mushrooms are an excellent alternative. Simply soak dried mushrooms in hot water until plumped. Strain, using soaking liquid in the recipe in place of stock, or reserve for a soup. Pat plumped mushrooms dry before using in your recipe.

Root soups are hearty and healthy go-tos during the colder months. A couple of often overlooked roots, rutabagas and turnips are sometimes thought to be bitter. One quick way to take the bitterness out of these roots is to add a bit of sweetness. In this recipe, we’ve upped the ante with sweet potatoes and carrots to create a delicious soup with an abundance of healthy ingredients—plus plenty of flavour for everyone.   DIY Chinese five-spice powder Although readily available in most grocery stores, you can easily make your own. In small, heavy skillet, combine 6 star anise pods, 2 Tbsp (30 mL) fennel seeds, 2 1/2 tsp (12 mL) black peppercorns, and 3/4 tsp (4 mL) whole cloves. Toast over medium heat just until aromatic, about 3 minutes. Transfer to mini blender. Add 1 Tbsp (15 mL) ground cinnamon. Whirl until mixture is finely ground. It can be stored in an airtight small jar; use as needed. It’s equally delicious on roast chicken or pork. 

This quick curry is great with a variety of proteins, including fish, says Cosco. You can use as much or as little trout as you like. Seasoning the fish as soon as you’ve cut the fillets ensures the salt permeates the flesh, making for a more delicious result.  Don’t toss that fish skin! There’s no point leaving it on the trout in this recipe because it won’t be crispy, but Cosco uses it to make fish skin chips. “I’ll cut it into little triangles, put them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, sprinkle them with salt and pepper, layer parchment paper overtop and another cookie sheet , and put them in the oven until they’re crispy. It makes these perfect Dorito-like chips,” he says. Don’t knock ’em till you try ’em! 

This plant-only recipe may look like it required a lot of fuss, but it comes together easily. Tender zucchini is loaded with a hearty and satisfying bean mixture and then finished off with a drizzle of cheesy tasting sauce.  What’s nutritional yeast? Not to be confused with brewer’s yeast or the active dried yeast used to make bread and pizza crust, nutritional yeast is a deactivated form of a micro-organism that is dried into flakes with an abundance of naturally occurring glutamate. Glutamate is an amino acid that interacts with specific taste cells in the tongue to unleash an umami, cheesy wave of flavour. Blend it with silky tofu and some seasonings and … bingo … vegan cheese sauce.

Reminiscent of the stuffed cabbage of yore, the flavour profile of these stuffed chard smacks of cozy fall. It looks all fancy, but everything comes together surprisingly quickly. If desired, you can use turkey or pork sausage and brown rice.  Time-saver tip For larger grains, such as wild rice and spelt, it’s a very good idea to soak them for several hours before cooking. This will slash the cooking time by about a third. If not soaking the wild rice, add roughly 20 minutes to the simmering time. 

This stuffed eggplant is built upon layers of Middle Eastern flavours: smoky freekeh, tender chickpeas, and a herbal tahini sauce. The quick-pickled raisins add a sweet vinegary pop.  Sweat it out Salting eggplant before cooking enhances the flavour by allowing eggplant to sweat out its bitterness and breaking its spongy texture.

In this enchilada riff, we stuff everything into a roasted poblano pepper shell, rather than tortillas, to pack an extra veggie serving into your meal and trim the starchy calories. If you can’t find poblanos, which are mild, dark green Mexican peppers, you can substitute green bell peppers. Flour power Made from nixtamalized corn (corn soaked in limewater), masa harina flour adds a touch of corny flavour to enchilada stuffing or a pot of chili. 

These crab-stuffed portobello mushrooms can do double duty as a fancy starter for a casual dinner party or a light main course on any given night. Meaty and umami-rich portobellos serve as a holder for a light-tasting seafood salad.  Gills begone Even though the gills of mushrooms are edible, they will darken and discolour everything they touch. Besides, after you scrape out the gills, you’ll have more room for stuffing. And don’t discard the stems; they can be saved and used when making veggie stock.

Serving saucy lentils in squash halves is a sure-fire way to elevate your plant-based menu. And, yes, the whole bowl is edible, skin and all. If desired, you can add dollops of Greek yogurt or sour cream. Spice of life Garam masala, a blend of spices traditionally used in Indian cooking, usually includes cardamom, black pepper, cloves, nutmeg, fennel, cumin, and coriander. It’s great on roasted meats and vegetables. 

“Germans do potatoes in general very well,” says Canadian expat Chris Gilles, who now lives in Munich and has celebrated many an Oktoberfest there. “Knödel seem kind of rubbery. You don’t really think it’s potato when you first see it, but it’s tasty.” But he might be surprised to find that this alive -inspired version of Bavarian potato dumplings is made with a combination of potato and cauliflower, because as anyone who’s eaten cauliflower gnocchi knows, the low-carb vegetable is a great way to lighten up starch-heavy foods (and Biergarten menus).  Happy Knödelfest! The original version of these snacks are so popular that it even gets its own food fest: Knödelfest, which happens in September in Austria, about a 1 1/2-hour drive from Munich. If alive  threw a Knödelfest, these dumplings would definitely be on the menu, served simply as snacks with sliced radishes and fresh parsley or dill, or topped with butter, beer gravy, or mushroom sauce. The dumpling test You can test one dumpling by shaping it and then boiling it before shaping the rest. If the water is lower than a boil and it still falls apart, add more starch to the batter before shaping another ball and testing again.

This dark beer-marinated chicken uses the convection setting on your oven to create a crispy skinned bird. Convection cooking circulates air around the meat, crisping it like rotisserie without needing a spit or a lot of oil, similar to an air fryer (which you can also use!). If you don’t have a convection setting on your oven, you can simply bake the chicken for longer at the same temperatures as below, until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh reads 165 F (74 C).  You can use any dark beer, but our pick is, obviously, something German. Oktoberfest barbecue You can also grill the whole chicken on a barbecue—which makes for an impressive presentation and a gorgeously crispy bird—but it’s best to spatchcock it first (take out the backbone) so it cooks more evenly and quickly.  Make it fast! If you don’t want to make an entire chicken—or if you want your dinner to cook faster—use this marinade (without stuffing the chicken cavity) on chicken breasts, thighs, or iron-rich chicken livers instead. 

At Oktoberfest celebrations in Munich, there are always people walking around selling large pretzels, says Canadian expat Chris Gilles, who moved to the city in 2018. The large pieces of golden, twisted pretzel dough come topped with coarse salt for a savoury crunch with every bite. “They don’t come with any dipping sauce,” Gilles says, “but you could dip it in sauce if you had ordered something else”—say, the honey mustard or stone-ground mustard you might have with your bratwurst or sauerkraut balls. But don’t feel bad if you prefer to break from German tradition and dip them in caramel or tahini instead! There’s no need to flour a surface when rolling out your dough; the psyllium keeps it from sticking.

Traditionally made with bratwurst and fried, these plant-based balls are baked and made with tempeh and mushrooms for a savoury, satisfying chewy interior and a crispy exterior. You can also use your homemade plant-based bratwurst as a stuffing in place of the croutons, but it seems a shame to go to all that work shaping them just to pull them apart. DIY honey mustard To make honey mustard, simply add up to equal parts honey or another liquid sweetener to yellow, grainy, or Dijon mustard, to taste. You can also add ground cayenne or smoked paprika for extra flavour. 

Schnitzel usually means tenderized meat coated in egg and breadcrumbs and deep-fried. The German version is often pork, while the Austrian wiener schnitzel has to be veal (it’s a rule). But this version of schnitzel would have even Julie Andrews singing its praises, thanks to the tender tofu that skips the fryer. Schnitzel can be served simply with noodles coated in (plant-based) butter with lemon wedges, but lingonberry sauce (reminiscent of cranberry sauce), tomato sauce, or mushroom gravy are also Oktoberfest regulars. Breadcrumb secrets Your breadcrumbs should be a consistent size so they brown evenly in the relatively small amount of oil. If you use panko or your crumbs are all different sizes, you might need more oil. Check to make sure your breadcrumbs aren’t too salty (just taste them!) and if they are, skip the salt when you combine the spices with the breadcrumbs.

The trick to these plant-based sausages is rolling them in rice paper wrappers before steaming and grilling them. The rice paper creates a translucent coating similar to sausage casing, but without pork. These are best served with grainy German mustard (preferably stone-ground) and sauerkraut (look for unpasteurized versions or make your own), but they’re also great sliced into pieces and cooked into a tomato-based barbecue sauce with curry powder—a traditional currywurst! Best bratwurst tips It might seem like a lot of steps to wrap the sausages, steam them, and grill them, but if you skip the steaming, the rice paper wrappers become brittle on the grill, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but isn’t very sausagelike. If you skip the grilling, the outsides will be gelatinous, which is definitely not sausagelike! To steam bratwurst, wrap each rice paper-rolled sausage in parchment paper and twist the ends like party crackers, securing each with twist ties or rubber bands. Or place rice-wrapped sausages directly on parchment-lined steamer basket, cutting extra strips of parchment to keep sausages from sticking together. Cool sausages thoroughly before removing from parchment-lined steamer basket. Chia tips and tricks If you don’t have ground chia seeds, grind whole seeds in a spice grinder or blender, or crush them well with a mortar and pestle. This improves the texture of the sausage. You can also use ground flaxseeds. Nut swaps You can replace the walnuts with hazelnuts or make the recipe nut free by using sunflower seeds.

These sweet-savoury pancakes are sure to bring smiles to anyone at the dinner table who longs for flapjack Sunday. If desired, you can add herby flavour to the pancakes with sage or rosemary instead of thyme and swap out parsnip for grated carrot. Serve with a side salad or a plate of roasted veggies.  Plants, not meat Going plant based? Try using a crumbled meat alternative or even chopped vegan sausage instead of turkey in these savoury pancakes.

If breakfast oatmeal is your jam, you’ll happily spoon up this oat-infused hearty chili. It comes together quickly enough to add to your weeknight dinner routine, but soaking the steel-cut oats ahead of time is key to having them cook more efficiently. Toppings run the gamut of avocado, sour cream, broken tortilla chips, cilantro, or grated cheddar.  Hot stuff Chili powders can range greatly in their heat levels. So, it’s important to know the type you’re working with to gauge how much of a fiery kick it will add to a dish.

This vibrant soup is a soul-soothing hug in a bowl. Blue and purple fruits and vegetables contain powerful antioxidants called anthocyanins that promote health and proper brain function. Apple swap Try swapping out the apples in this recipe for pears. Just like the apples, the subtle sweetness of pears helps balance out the earthiness of the cabbage.

Deep green fruits and vegetables are high on the list of health-promoting foods. Green foods have been shown to contain high amounts of antioxidants and nutrients that promote good cardiovascular health and can inhibit certain carcinogens. Serve this frittata alongside a leafy green salad for an unbeatable green culinary experience. Versatile leftovers Any leftover frittata makes a wonderful filling for a sandwich along with other thinly sliced vegetables you have on hand and a smear of hummus.

This creamy dip will be your go-to for dunking vegetables or for spooning over roast chicken or root vegetables as a sauce. Compounds found in fennel have been shown to stimulate the production of T-cells in our body, which, in turn, may help improve our immune response to infections. If white is right If you would like to stay on the white theme, try serving this dip with an array of white vegetables such as endive leaves, jicama sticks, daikon rounds, steamed nugget potatoes, and cauliflower florets.

The stars of this delicious curry dish are yellow and orange fruits and vegetables, which are high in a form of carotenoids called xanthophylls. These compounds have more of a yellow pigment as opposed to their orangier cousins, the carotenes. While a powerful antioxidant, xanthophylls are mostly associated with maintaining good eye health. Mix and match This curry is easily adaptable to whichever vegetables you have on hand. Experiment to find your favourite combination.

Here, the breakfast favourite, granola, serves as a crunchy topping for this salad featuring seasonal delights, including sweet butternut and apple. The maple-date dressing is sure to be kid-approved. You can add cooked lentils to move it from side dish to complete plant-based meal. If desired, swap out butternut for pumpkin or sweet potato and add a creamy touch with feta or soft goat cheese.  Date night Soft and oh-so sweet, Medjool dates are a great way to add natural sweetness to everything from baked goods to DIY energy bars and dressings. You’ll also benefit from their fibre and nutrients, including vitamin B6 and potassium, which aren’t found in refined sugar.