Smashed Cucumber Salad with Peanuts and Chile Oil

Originating from China, pai huang gua, is a smashed cucumber salad often flavoured with garlic, chiles, and rice vinegar. Served as an appetizer or a side dish this salad is full of flavour and texture. This is my take on a smashed cucumber salad. Cool and crunchy with a touch of spice, this is an easy way to eat more cucumbers than you thought possible in one sitting.  

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Potato Onion Apple Cabbage Hash

Potato onion apple cabbage has topped with a fried egg

Our maple tree has officially been stripped naked of it’s leaves and more water has fallen from the sky than I ever thought was possible. We are definitely in the middle of fall! Cabbage has been making it’s way into nearly every meal along with all of it’s seasonal companions. At this time of year this is my go to hash…  the sweetness from the apples compliments the bitterness of the cabbage and it’s all cooked up with tender potatoes and sautéed onions. The perfect fall dish that can be eaten for any meal!

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Szechuan Green Beans

Szechuan green beans

Aromatic ginger and garlic, salty tamari, spicy sriracha, these green beans are so delicious I could eat an entire pan of them. You blister the green beans in a hot pan, then add in the garlic, ginger and green onions, next… working quickly you add the sugar, tamari and sriracha. This is where the dish transforms from being boring old green beans to coated in a sticky sauce packed with deep caramelized flavours.

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Chinese Eggplant

Chinese Eggplant

Sweet, spicy, salty and sour this dish is saucy and comforting. The eggplant is sautéed until cooked through but still has good texture, the sauce is reduced and the eggplant is added to the sauce to soak up all the delicious goodness. The perfect meal during this time of transition, when heat loving eggplants and tomatoes are slowing down their production and I’m not quit ready to dive head first into fall ingredients.

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Coconut Green Bean Curry

Coconut Green Bean Curry

Creamy and aromatic this coconut green bean curry is rich yet summery. Here I use the most delicious sungold cherry tomatoes (but you can use any tomatoes you like, even canned ones work well) as a base for the curry and cooked them down to concentrate their flavour. They give the curry a beautiful bright colour and lend a nice sweetness to the dish.

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