Sweet Tomato Beef Recipe

Tomato beef is one of those meals I make when I'm in a rush. The beef needs to marinate in rice wine, soy sauce and ginger for a few minutes. Once you're ready to cook, sprinkle on a little tapioca starch and sauté the beef with ketchup-hoisin mixture and fresh tomatoes.

The sweetness and tanginess from the fresh tomatoes and ketchup make the dish absolutely delicious. I added sugar snap peas for crunch and served with steamed jasmine rice. It’s a great weekday meal when you’re pressed for time.

Stuffed Mushroom Recipe

Making stuffed mushrooms is a great way to put stale bread to use. I served soup the other night and we had 2 leftover rolls, so I decided to make a plate of these savory treats. To start, I sautéed a few vegetables, including zucchini, bell peppers, celery and carrots. You can use whatever you want, but it's a good idea to choose colorful ingredients. Once the vegetables were cooked, I added the bread, a little vegetable broth and fromage blanc. In case you were wondering, the fromage blanc helps keep the top moist even after the stuffed mushrooms are baked. To complete the dish, I topped the mushrooms with sharp Cheddar cheese. 

I didn't add any additional spices, because the bread was already studded with chiles. Otherwise, a little heat is a nice touch to balance the flavor. One final bit of advice: make a bunch of these. They go fast!

Cream of Broccoli Cheese Soup

I made cream of broccoli soup (velouté de brocolis in French) as a cure for two of my girls’ aversion to broccoli. Much of the flavor of the broccoli is concealed by gooey cheese (I used French Chaumes cheese) and a drizzle of heavy cream for richness.

To make the soup, broccoli is first boiled and then blended with vegetable broth. To thicken the mixture, I made a roux, which is a combination of flour, butter and liquid. The result is a beautiful, bright green soup.

I let the kids dip bread into the soup, and they loved it! Now that broccoli doesn’t seem so awful to them, I can try and introduce it in other dishes. And of course, I’ll share them with you so you can trick your kids (big or small) into enjoying broccoli as well!

Vegetarian Pot Pie with Lentil Pasta

If you’ve wanted to make comfort food healthy, this recipe is for you. As I've told you in the past, I often try to make vegetarian versions of the meat dishes I cook. One of my favorite dishes is chicken pot pie, and today I decided to make a variation of the dish with lentils and pastina pasta. I placed the mixture in mini soup bowls and covered them with puff pastry baked until golden and flaky.

The dish is fairly healthy, yet very flavorful due to the generous amounts of ginger, soy bacon bits, coriander, parsley and cilantro. The flavors and texture are spot on for a cold evening meal.

Have a Happy Halloween!