Food

This quick and easy dish goes really well with cooked brown or red rice and your favourite green vegetable. If local asparagus is available, try steaming it; if not, go with steamed broccoli.

Serves 8

Steaming fish in parchment-paper packets, also known as cooking en papillote, is a classic technique that allows you to cook all your vegetables and fish at the same time in a quick, easy, and convenient way. Flavours of lemon, garlic, and spicy dried chili make this a simple, yet showstopping meal.

Ruddy-coloured dulse is chewy with a slight tang straight from the bag, but crisps up and takes on a bacon-y flavour when pan-fried. Here, the crunch bunch is an inspiring topping to this bowlful of stunning flavours and textures. A 6 1/2-minute cook time yields eggs with cooked whites and a sensuous jammy yolk.

Tip

• Salmon and Shrimp Pie

Although dubbed the “stinking rose,” garlic mellows as it cooks and gives this hearty recipe a great earthy flavour and a heady aroma. Garlic is also a good source of vitamins C and B6 as well as manganese.

These rolled sushi balls make a perfect family-friendly meal. Getting young chefs to participate in filling and rolling their own sushi is a great way to get kids interested in cooking and involved in mealtime preparations.

Serves 6

This hearty soup makes a perfect cold weather lunch or light dinner paired with a kale salad.

From the Middle East to the Caribbean, combinations of beans and rice can be found starring in traditional dishes around the world. Researchers have found when this classic pairing is consumed together, the glycemic response in individuals is reduced more than if rice was eaten alone.

Serves 2

Lentils are the fastest cooking dried legume and for that reason can be briefly precooked and then added to rice as an interesting pilaf. The value for cancer patients is getting some protein in the rice, so it can stand alone as a quick meal or work as a side dish.

Inspired by the flavours of your local deli, this quick and easy salmon wrap is a hearty, no-cook, economical lunchtime option when it’s just too hot to cook.

Also known as walleye, pickerel is a freshwater fish that populates many fishing lakes across Canada. Most anglers love fishing for pickerel for the simple fact that it’s great to eat—moist, slightly sweet flesh with a nice flaky texture. It’s also relatively easy to clean and has a significant amount of meat for each fillet produced. As a nutritional bonus, pickerel is a good source of protein and also contains a range of vitamins and minerals. And this recipe makes use of the classic cooking technique of creating a pan sauce to put the finishing touches on a superb dish.

Other fish to try

A chocolate salad dressing? How else would you dress a salad during this month of love? Don’t let the unusual flavour combinations of this salad dissuade you—juicy meat and mellow mozzarella are brazenly balanced with sweet-tart chocolate balsamic vinegar dressing. Blasting strawberries in the oven is a method to coax out more of their inherent sweetness as the flavour of the berries cooks down and concentrates. If desired, you can use chicken breast instead of turkey.

Tip

Like pancakes, these savoury Italian flatbreads take time, but make a large batch, and freeze the leftovers and you’ll have them ready to reheat whenever you’re craving them. They’re great substitutes for tacos, wraps, or individual pizzas with whatever toppings you like. High-protein chickpea flour adds a nutty flavour, and a quick fermentation adds a gentle sourness, which also makes it more digestible. But don’t worry if you don’t have time to leave the batter overnight; just whisk together the chickpea flour and water immediately before cooking. Aquafaba is the leftover liquid from cooking chickpeas and some other beans. You can use the drained liquid from a can of chickpeas or reserve the liquid from cooking dried chickpeas that you soak overnight and boil the next day.

Simple and quick, this spot prawn pasta combines local, juicy seafood with a touch of heat. If you can’t find a fresh Fresno chili pepper, use a red jalapeño or a tiny bit of fresh cayenne pepper instead.

We kid you not: the microwave is your answer to perfectly cooked fish in a flash. When you’re facing a dinnertime crunch at the end of a long day, this 15-minute meal ventures into the lifesaver category. The same recipe can be made with other fish such as salmon, rainbow trout, haddock, or catfish.

Hidden hacks

These giants of the fungi world have a meaty bite that will appease even the most carnivorous burger lover. The stuffed mushrooms are wonderful as a bunless knife and fork affair or try serving between slices of toasted focaccia or ciabatta.

The sweetness of the poached plums breathes new life into chicken breast. Chicken breasts can easily dry out during cooking, so poaching them is an ideal way to keep the meat pleasantly moist.

This is a quick, easy, and foolproof way to create a nourishing breakfast or light lunch. It can be taken to work or school and is also a good snack at any time.

1 Tbsp (15 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup (125 mL) onions, diced
1 1/2 cups (350 mL) mixed diced vegetables such as mushrooms, zucchinis, bell peppers, eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, and tomatoes
6 large free-range eggs
1/2 cup (125 mL) cheddar cheese, shredded
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C).

1/4 cup (60 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp (30 mL) minced cilantro
1 Tbsp (15 mL) minced chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
1 Tbsp (15 mL) honey
1 tsp (5 mL) cumin
1/2 tsp (2 mL) sea salt
1/4 tsp (1 mL) black pepper
1 1/2 lb (750 g) free-range organic boneless, skinless chicken thighs

This is a quick, easy and foolproof way to create a nourishing breakfast or light lunch. It can be taken to work or school and is also a good snack at any time.

A fantastic brunch or quick dinner option, these pancakes are easy to throw together and provide a powerhouse of nutrition. They combine grains and vegetables for fibre with goat cheese for fantastic flavour.