This grilled calamari dish is something I first made last summer, just before I left for Greece. I’ve come full circle and I’m getting ready to go to Greece again. I’m looking forward to the vegetables from the garden that my family planted, the weekly visit to the farmer’s markets, meeting new friends and some [...]

Inspired by a side dish I enjoyed recently at the newly opened Ruby Watchco, this dish makes for a wonderful vegetarian main course or a colourful side dish. Tourlou is a baked vegetable dish that is cooked often in Greek homes. The Greek kitchen is loaded with vegetarian options and this aspect of our cuisine [...]

I recently was sent some samples from a Pitenis Bros. in Greece that produces dips, pickled vegetables, dips and smoked fish and seafood. One of the more intriguing and delicious items in the care package sent to me was the smoked octopus. Yes, smoked octopus. Much like eel, trout or mackerel, the octopus also gets [...]

Once again last week, a visit to the market offered up inspiration for this dish. The markets are full of  fresh bunches of scallions (green onions). Peppers are starting to appear but I have frozen roasted red peppers in the freezer (for just the occasion like today) and a walk to the fish and seafood [...]

I really enjoyed this dish as a starter. It fills the eyes, it looks exotic and there’s a lot of colour and flavour going on here. The star of the plate has to be all-Canadian BC (British Columbia) spot prawns. These prawns are in season from May and they can appear in markets for up [...]

Last year, one of the stops during my vacation to Greece was to Kastoria. Kastoria is the capital city of the Prefecture of…Kastoria. It’s located in northern Greece, northwestern Macedonia. This region of Greece is located on fertile, elevated plateaus and the economy is centered around its long history of fur trading, tourism and agriculture. [...]

Greek cuisine is full of vegetarian main options and many of those being main courses that are filling, nutritious and delicious. It’s Spring and herbs are abundant at the markets and in some of your herb gardens. The main ingredient of this one-pot dish are flat, runner or pole beans. Fassolakia. These flat beans are [...]

WhenI first scanned over this recipe in a recent issue of Gastronomos, I was smitten with the concept of filling cabbage with seafood. In Greek cuisine, cabbage rolls are usually filled with mince and finished with a creamy Avgolemono (egg/lemon) sauce. This recipe is an obvious take or twist on the Greek classic: shrimp and [...]

One of the reasons I find fasting for Lent more manageable is because when I choose a recipe (and ultimately share it), it has to be good. Not just good enough for Lent but worthy enough to reproduce throughout the year. You should consider cutting down on your red meat intake and boosting vegetables, fish [...]

One of the ways to cope with fasting for Lent is snacking and quite often, I’m left with the constant desire for sweets during this challenging time. No dairy, no eggs makes eating desserts almost impossible. Almost. Enter this easy Lenten treat that’s inspired by the Tahinopites of Cyprus. Close family friend and Cypriot-born Helen [...]