Ingredients 

• Roti Wraps
• 2 tsp Yellow curry powder
• 3 tsp oil
• 1 med size potato
• 1/2 cup of your favorite squash
• 1  med onion
• 1/2 cup of zucchini
• 1/4 cup carrots
• 1/4 red pepper
• 1 cup chic peas
• 2 small chicken breast (cook separate and add to stew)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup of water
• 1 veggie/chicken cube

Method

1. Cook chicken in a separate pan. While the chicken is cooking away, do the following.
2. Chop everything up in 1/2 inch pieces
3. Add oil, onions and garlic to pot an simmer to bring out the flavor
4. Add the rest of the ingredients into the pot and cook for about 5 minutes stirring often
5. Once everything is covered in the curry powder and cooked a little, add the water and flavor cube
6. Chop up and add the cooked chicken
7. Cook at medium low heat  (a light boil) until the potatoes are soft. The starch from the potatoes will thicken up the liquid into a curry gravy.
8.  Add curry stew to Roti wrap and enjoy

This is a quick and easy take on a pizza or a sandwich. I’m not really sure what it is, but it sure is delicious. I made this dish with dough bought from the supermarket; it’s too much of a hassle for me to do it myself and it saves me time. This dish can be made on the BBQ or over an open fire, I simply flattened out the dough and put it right on the lowest rack in the oven at 350 degrees until it was bread like. Next time I will make sure to flatten out the dough a littler more as it tends to rise pretty high.

Ingredients

• Pizza dough – ( store bought serving can be divided up into quarters)
• Asiago and cheddar cheese
• Prosciutto – (get it sliced as thin as possible at the deli)
• Arugula
• Roasted Red peppers
• Mushrooms

Method

• Cut the pizza dough into quarters or the desiered size and roll flat
• Place the dough directly onto the lowest rack of the oven at 350°F with the door open, KEEP AN EYE ON
• Flip it over after a few minutes and continue to cook until the crust is golden brown
• Put the Prosciutto on it as soon as it comes out of the oven, this will cause it took cook a little and release some wonderful flavors
• Continue to top the sandwich with the cheese, arugula, roasted red peppers and mushrooms
• Finish the dish off with a little olive oil for that authentic Italian flavor
• Fold it up and enjoy..

This recipe requires a 24 hour marinade. I don’t remember how I came up with it, but it definilty did the trick.

Ingredients

• 24 Chicken Wings
• 2 Lemons juiced
• 4 or 5 tbsp of olive oil
• 2 tbsp of soy sauce
• 5 cloved of minced garlic
• 2 inch piece of fresh ginger minced
• 1/2 red pepper finely chopped
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1 tbsp rosemary
• 1 tbsp cracked pepper
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tbsp of chili pepper
• a few splashed of beer

Method

1. Cut up the wings if necessary and place in a plastic ziplock bag
2. Mix all of the ingredients together in a big bowl,  and pour into the ziplock bag
3. Make sure all of the wings are covered and lay flat in the fridge for 24 hours
4. Preheat BBQ (set burners to medium high), place a small amout of oil on a paper towl and wipe the grill so they wings dont stick
5. Cook until crispy

Ok ok, I know what you are thinking..a grilled brie and pineapple jam sandwich? I am totally not a fan of mixing fruit with my dinner, but this is truly an amazing combination. This summer I spent a few weeks on the Azores Island with my girlfriends family. She is a vegetarian and didn’t have to many exciting meals options, manly because the only food options on the islands are chicken, beef, cheese and bread. Good thing the islands also grow some amazing pineapples. We started eating corn bread, cheese and pineapple jam on day one and took it back to Canada with us.

Ingredients

• Fresh egg bread
• Slices of brie ( a little goes a long way)
• Pineapple jam
• Butter

Method

1. Butter the bread on the outsides and spread a thin layer of pineapple jam on the inside
2. Place on a skillet on medium high heat and place something heavy on top of the sandwich to weigh it down. I use a cast-iron pan, this will ensure even and direct heat
3. Cook on both sides until the cheese starts to melt, total cook time was about 6 minutes

This recipe has been a huge hit with everyone who has tried it. It is one of the easiest meals to prepare if you are short on time and its inexpensive to make. The trick to this dish is cooking on medium-high heat the whole time, it brings out an amazing flavor in all of the ingredients.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp of both garlic and ginger
• fresh black pepper
• 1-2 TBSP peanut oil
• 2 veggie chicken breasts
• 2 pack of Udon noodles
• 1/2 cup cabbage sliced thin
• 1/2 cup red pepper sliced thin
• 1 small onion
• 1 tbsp of coriander
• 3 to 4 tbsp of Teriyaki ( I use both Kikkoman and VH brands)
• Sri Racha Hot Sauce (THE ROOSTER)

Method

1. Start by adding 2 tbsp of peanut oil and 1 tbsp of ginger to a Wok on medium/ high  heat.  Cut up the veggie chicken into bite size strips and cooks until they are a little crispy.
2. While the chicken is cooking, slice up the cabbage, onion and red pepper and set aside.
3. When the chicken is done, add the 2 pack of Udon, the rest of the vegetables, the teriyaki and more ginger if you want.  Sauté for a 2-3 minutes or until the vegetables are lightly cooked but still firm, you can also add more teriyaki if you want.
4. Add Sri Racha after the dish is plated, this stuff is spicy!

The Moroccan Veggie Strew wouldn’t be complete without a kind of traditional bread. I got the idea and recipe for this when I was watching a travel show on Morocco. I did not add to many spices because I just wanted to keep it simple.

Ingredients

• 1 pks active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water for the yeast
• 1 1/2 cup warm water
• 3 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/8 cup corn flour
• 2 tsp salt

Method

1. Mix the yeast and 1/4 cup of warm water in a blow. Stir in the sugar and set aside for about 10 minutes
2. Sift  flour and the corn flour into a bowl, make a hole in the centre of the flour and add the yeast liquid
3. knead these together while adding the remaining water until the dough forms into a smooth around ball
4. Flatten this out with your hands until it is about 1 inch thick, cover with a damp cloth and set aside to rise for about 15 minutes
5. In the mean time, place a pizza stone or baking sheet in the oven at 425 degrees F
6. Once the dough has had time to rise, poke the top surface with a fork and flour the bottom so it doesn’t stick to the pizza stone. Place the dough on the pizza stone and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown and crispy

Feel free to add some cayenne pepper, pepper, paprika or any other herbs to spice the break up a little. I might even add some raisins or chopped up apricot next time.

A few years ago I received a Tagine as a gift from my good friend Rich. Not knowing what it was, I quickly rushed out and picked up everything I needed to cook my family a meal. It so easy to use, just add all of the veg/meat you want, some spice and set it on the stove at medium/low for an hour.

Moroccan Spice
I used a pre-made that came with the Tagine, but here is a link to a similar recipe.

Ingredients

• garlic & ginger chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 carrots chopped
• 1 medium size potato cubed
• 1 Large can of  diced tomatoes
• 2/4 can of chickpeas
• 1 fake chicken breast
• handful of pit in olives
• small handful of dried apricots

Method

1. add garlic / ginger and oil to the Tagine and simmer for a few minutes
2. add the can of tomatoes and chickpeas
3. chop up all of the other ingredients and add into the Tagine
4. add a full tbsp of the spice to the stew and stir
5. cook for about 1 hour or until potatoes are soft
6. serve this dish with white rice and bread

A BBQ is a perfect substitute if you don’t have a smoker, make sure you cover up all of the vents on the hood with aluminum foil before you start, this will help keep the smoke in.
You can buy different flavor woodchips at various grocery stores or home centers like Canadian Tire / Home Depot. Simply soak the chips in water for a few hours and wrap in aluminum foil and fold into a pouch. Take a knife and stab about 10-15 holes into the pouch so the smoke has room to escape. I was using a BBQ that had a heat shield on it, this was the perfect surface to place the smoke pouches on. If you have lava rocks, you can probably place the pouches directly on them; just make sure you don’t have the burner turned up to high.

Ingredients  - Dry rub (feel free to substitute or use what ever you have)

• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp ground sugar
• 1 tbsp paprika1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp onion powder

Method

1. Rinse the ribs in cold water and cover with dry rub.
2. Turn on one side of the burner and place the smoke pouches on it, heat up until they are smoking
3. Place ribs on the opposite side of the heat and close lid and cook for 1 ½ – 2 hours
4. Check ribs a few times, but not too often or you will lose the smoke and heat.

 This meal only takes a few minutes to put together if you don’t add tofu or meal. The vermicelli noodles cook in about 3 minutes depending on what size you prefer and the rest is a little slicing.

Ingredients

Vermicelli Salad

• 1/2 of a pack Rice noodles (aka vermicelli)
• 1 Carrot thinly sliced
• 1 small Onion thinly sliced
• 1 handful Lettuce chopped per serving
• 1 small Cucumber thinly sliced
• Cilantro chopped
• 1 sliced lime

Noodle Sauce

• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp sugar (granulated)
• 1 garlic minced
• 1 tsp chili peppers
• 1/2 fresh lime juice

Method

1. Cook the vermicelli as directed on the package, the instructions change depending on thickness of the noodles
2. Slice and chop all of the vegetables
3. Place a handful of lettuce on each plate, topped with the noodles and the vegetables and lime juice
4. For the sauce, add all of the ingredients to a glass and whisk together
5. For Vegetarians use Veggie Hoisin Sauce found at Loblaws
6. Add tofu, chicken or pork if you want

You can make a big batch of these and freeze them for a quick and easy meal when you don’t have a lot of time to cook.

Ingredients

• Pita’s
• Roasted red peppers
• Sun dried tomatoes
• Artichokes
• Asiago cheese
• Onion
• Tomato sauce

Method

1. Spread the tomato sauce evenly over the pitas
2. Soak the sun dried tomatoes in a dish of warm water for 5 minutes to hydrate them a little.
3. Squeeze the some of the water out of the roasted red peppers and artichokes by pressing them in paper towel
4. Top pitas with red peppers, tomatoes, artichokes and asiago cheese
5. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for about 10 – 15 minutes or until cheese is golden brown