by on January 14, 2019   •   2 Comments Dinner

Sheet Pan Zesty Lamb Chops and Cauliflower

If you make a habit of pencilling in a weekly menu plan, you may want to add this recipe to the top of the list.

It’s simple enough for a weeknight dinner, but delicious (and pretty) enough for a special weekend feast. Either way, it only requires about fifteen minutes of active time, one large sheet pan and the broiler in your oven.

Lamb chops are ideal for quick, uncomplicated cooking and when the barbecue is buried in a snowdrift, the broiler does a decent job in its stead. Here I’ve paired the chops with wedges of cauliflower, which cook up in the same amount of time, making for an easy meal – and a fast clean-up.

This Sheet Pan Zesty Lamb Chops and Cauliflower hits all the buzz words: one-pan, low-carb, 15-minute meal, but you should make it because it’s so tasty!

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by on August 8, 2018   •   4 Comments Dinner

Grilled Peach and Chicken Kebabs

Every August when the Ontario peaches arrive in our markets, we tend to go a little stone-fruit crazy.

There’s always a large bowl of peaches ripening on our dining room table next to a stack of cloth napkins for a sticky afternoon snack. We slice peaches into our morning oatmeal and ice them for afternoon lemonade. I pair them with fresh tomatoes and soft cheese for a twist on a Caprese salad and stew them with brown sugar and spices into a sticky barbecue sauce.

And this summer, we’re skewering peaches with chicken and grilling them to perfection. It’s a fast and fun dinner that pairs perfectly with my Watermelon Greek Salad. There’s still time for plenty of patio meals before fall arrives, so read on for the recipe and start planing your next cookout.

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by on April 10, 2018   •   16 Comments Dinner

Comfort food for somber days: Red Lentil Lasagna

Canadians from coast to coast are mourning the loss of half a junior hockey team and their crew after a tragic accident last Friday in rural Saskatchewan.

Geographically, we’re the second largest country in the world but when in crisis, we’re a small, tight-knit community.  Yes, we’re around some 35 million people, yet I can imagine that the majority of us are keenly feeling this loss. I know I am. As a mother to hockey-loving boys, as a sister to a big brother, as a wife…I just can’t stop thinking about it and the tears keep coming.

I lost two friends when I was in my twenties – one to cancer and one in a freak car accident. That pain of loss is impossible to put into words, but I have experienced it. Twice.

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by on February 8, 2018   •   14 Comments Dinner

One-Pan Roast Sausages with Winter Vegetables

Hearty winter vegetables aren’t nearly as appealing as their lush summer counterparts, yet during these cold winter months, we have no choice but to embrace them day in and day out.

Fortunately, roasting brings out the best of winter vegetables, especially if they’ve been sitting in the crisper drawer for a while. I’ve always got a container of roasted vegetables in my refrigerator – onions, sweet potato, Brussels sprouts and so on – and I add them to everything from breakfast burritos to grain salads.

Today’s recipe is a simple one; a basic one-pan supper of sausages paired with an assortment of winter vegetables, roasted up together and finished off with a squeeze of (also roasted) lemon. It’s fast, it’s easy to clean up, and you probably have all of the ingredients already.

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by on January 23, 2018   •   7 Comments Dinner

January Carb-Lover’s Pasta Round-Up

We’ve been immersing ourselves in winter sports ever since we started our vacation in British Columbia and boy, do you work up an appetite while exercising out in the crisp winter air.

Downhill skiing on the incomparable Hudson Bay Mountain, cross-country skiing at the scenic BV Nordic Centre, ice skating on Lake Kathlyn and snowshoeing up around Crater Lake – if there is a snowy adventure to be had, we’re game.

A decent chunk of the remainder of our time has been cooking for the incredible appetites of the six rosy-cheeked cousins (my kids plus my brother’s). A humungous bowl of pasta always does the trick for dinner, and the little customers love it too.

Inspired by the mountain of spaghetti and meatballs I prepared for dinner tonight, I’ve decided to share a round-up of pasta recipes from the Simple Bites archives. Whether you’re looking for a simple weeknight dinner or you need to carb load after a day on the slopes, there’s a recipe here to inspire you in the kitchen.

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