Refreshing Tomato and Cucumber Salad

Weird fact: This is my secret blog. It's not entirely secret; my whole family and a few friends know about it - but that's it. Why? I'm not really sure. Maybe it's just because this blog is not as polished as I would like it to be yet, maybe it's just because I'm self-conscious about the fact that it exists for some reason. I'm sure that I'll share this blog with more people, but for now I end up sneakily taking photos of my food when no one is home or awake. Luckily, my roommates mostly seem to sleep until noon so I often see no...

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Creamy Roasted Vegetable and Bulghur Salad

I've been feeling kind of ineffective lately. I'm used to having a regular training schedule requiring me to be awake and present somewhere at ridiculous hours of the morning (last summer I left home at 4:15am to get to practice on time), or at least a full time class schedule which I have to plan my schedule around. Right now, I have a couple of hours of class in the afternoon, train at random times depending on how my ankle is feeling, whether I can get on the water, when I work, and when I drag myself out of bed. For some reason...

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Poached Eggs, Greens, and Potatoes in Tomato Sauce

This morning, I was faced with a harrowing choice. After about ten minutes of agonizing, page-turning, mind-changing, and reading and re-reading, I made the split-second decision about what to order for breakfast. I'm always that person at a restaurant who reads the menu at least five times, asks everyone else what they are eating, debates out loud the pros and cons of various dishes, and then insists on ordering last to put off making a final decision. Breakfast, though, is especially difficult. Breakfast might just be my favourite...

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Strawberry-Ginger Cashew Cheesecake - Kind of Raw, Definitely Vegan

"It's a gamble! It's a gamble, Mira!" cried my brother desperately on Saturday night, trying to convince me that his favorite Thai restaurant would be a better decision than the restaurant I wanted to try - a vegan and largely raw restaurant. I'm not saying that I don't love Thai food, but the gamble was definitely worth it. I have to be honest, I was in love with the place the moment I walked in. Apart from the fact that it is attached to a yoga studio, it just seemed friendly and earthy and a little eclectic.... and there were little...

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Pesto Kale Soup

Saturday morning, I hopped on a bus home to surprise my mom. Five hours later, I got a text from her asking if I was on my way home. Due to some small communication issues, my grandfather ended up telling her that I was on my way and plan sneak-home-for-mother's-day was ruined. Surprising her would have been fun, but the most important part was that I still got to spend Mother's Day with my amazing mother, who I am so grateful to for being the most wonderful mother I could ask for. Thank you for raising me and feeding me and hugging...

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Fiddlehead Barley Risotto [Virtual Vegan Potluck]

In my usual fashion, I'm late. Three hours late, to be precise. For the one thing I am usually not late for: a potluck. If you don't know what I am talking about, today is the day of the May 2013 Virtual Vegan Potluck, a worldwide event where food bloggers post their vegan recipes potluck-style. This is a fun event, so please click through the links and follow along the blog-hop through the different courses (I brought a main dish, so the posts before and after mine are also main dishes). You can either click through the links in order,...

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Sesame Ginger Coleslaw

I just got the key to my new apartment. This is for real. I am moving. I'm moving in two days, and I've packed one box. And a suitcase and a backpack. How do I have so many clothes? Why do I feel like I wear the same three outfits and yet I have so few clothes to get rid of? Why did I decide that leaving my apartment was a good idea? Can I just take a nap instead? Too bad, I did. Don't I have an exam that I should be studying for? Yes, yes I do. My current strategy (naptime aside) is to alternate studying with bike trips to move...

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Arugula, Beet and Lentil Salad

I'm currently in a bit of a tab-closing frenzy. So long, 50 tabs about hydropower in the Ganges basin. Farewell, every lecture and reading on religion and human rights. Auf Wiedersehen, formula sheets and practice problems for stats. Adieu, plethora of Indian recipes I tried to make last night.. while watching the Sound of Music. Can you tell? ...

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Tomato and Roasted Eggplant Pasta

Remember that time when I thought it would be a great idea to start a blog right before the end of the semester? While I was looking for a job? Posting about three times a week would be no big deal, right? Then remember that time when I spent all day every day in the geography library on the computers waiting for my project to (hopefully) work, except for my few escapes to the gym or to work? And all the food I made was when I got home well after dark and I was too hungry to save any of it to photograph during daylight? Except for that...

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Blood Orange, Fennel and Avocado Salad

Exciting news: I have a job! Yesterday was my first day, though I was training and only there for a few hours. But so far, I'm pretty excited about it. I work in a little teahouse which has a huge assortment of looseleaf tea - and I LOVE tea. I have been stressing about not being able to get a job here for the summer, but I feel like I really lucked out with this place. So far, so good - I didn't break anything and didn't get fired, and people are quite friendly. Though, now I might have too much to do - I am also taking two classes...

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Orange-Topped Chai Rice Pudding

So, I finally told someone that I had created a blog. And then she mentioned it to my mom, who sent me a guilt-inducing "what blog?" message... Oops. Bad daughter moment? Anyways, the moral of the story is that I am no longer the only person reading this blog (hi mom! hi auntie cath!) and suddenly I've stopped posting anything. I guess it's strange to know that someone will actually read this. In the last few days I got a cold, decided to give up on ever rowing again, mourned the end of my rowing career, panicked about being jobless...

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Cilantro & Lime Quinoa Salad

Happy Easter, everyone! Though I am missing out on my family's Easter celebrations, Good Friday was indeed a good day with some beautiful weather. I spent the morning volunteering at a local meals-on-wheels kitchen, where I made 50 servings of finely-chopped fruit salad and a lot of beets. I am a relatively new volunteer at this organization, but I love the sense of community and the assortment of people who come together to provide sustainable and affordable food for those who need it. And even though chopping fruit is not exactly a...

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Roasted Vegetable and Ricotta Quiche

Spring? Is that you? I think it might be.... the sky is bright blue, the temperatures are warming up, and the snow is definitely melting. I am ready to whip out the summer dresses (check) go for a run (hear that, foot?) and... eat some buttnernut squash? I don't believe this "winter" squash nonsense. Squash is a spring food, too. And fall. And summer. There is no wrong time to eat squash. In celebration of Easter, I decided to make my favourite eggiest dish: quiche, featuring roasted vegetables and a coconut oil crust. A little bit...

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Mint Chocolate Pudding Cupcakes

So, here is an ethical dilemma for you: is it ok to have your roommate's boyfriend lie to her and tell her that there are puppies at his place to buy you time to finish baking her birthday cupcakes? I weighed my options carefully, and decided that there are worse things than imaginary puppies. Like, for example, not having cupcakes. I love baking birthday treats, but for the most part I refuse to buy butter or refined sugar, which makes baking a little difficult. Thankfully, I found this decadent, delicious, and deceptive chocolate...

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Butternut Squash and Chickpea Tagine

Dear springtime: please stop being such a tease. Is it just me, or does it feel like every few days the air is full of that lovely feeling of almost-spring? It's not that I don't like snow, but we have now passed the equinox and my calendar says that it is not supposed to be winter. The days are longer than the nights, and the snow piles still towering over bus shelters are throwing me off. The one thing that I appreciate about this week's surprise blizzard was the (hopefully) last chance to curl up by my window with a hot and...

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Orange Beet Quinoa Salad

This weekend, a friend from high school was in town and came by for lunch. I rarely see her, but always really enjoy catching up with her. She is such a sunny and energetic person, and the day was bright and sunny. This punchy and flavourful quinoa salad was the perfect thing for the spring-like day, before being walloped by this week's snow storm. The sweet orange, salty feta, and vinegary beets complemented each other nicely, and were rounded off by the more hearty and subtle red quinoa on a bed of baby kale. This dish was full...

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Lemony Asparagus Soup

10:30am on St. Patrick's day and I'm halfway through my third beer mug full of my favourite green beverage. Green tea, that is. I'm sure the student ghetto is already full of green belligerence, but I am happily sitting in my kitchen making asparagus soup and listening to Cat Stevens. Hey... at least it's green? I promise that this soup is actually green. And yummy. Everyone has different ways of celebrating the coming of spring. Some people choose to celebrate it by drinking a lot of beer and disregarding the university's annual...

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Crunchy Kale Tahini Pita

As the sun starts to rise earlier, I love the feeling of waking up with the sun and taking advantage of the morning to do some laundry and hit the gym before heading to the library to get some work done. I also love heading out on Friday evenings and spending the night dancing my face off. Unfortunately, these two interests never mix well for me. By the time I dragged myself out of bed and to the gym at noon on Saturday, I was craving something to make myself feel refreshed and healthy again. I was also craving bread. This simple mixture...

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Comfort and Spice and Everything Nice: Peanut Tomato Soup

Fact: I love potlucks. I am slightly addicted to potlucks. In my ideal world, every day would be a potluck. Fact: I love peanut butter. I love cooking with peanut butter, and sometimes (read: way too frequently) just eat it straight out of the jar by the spoonful. In my ideal world, every meal would involve peanut butter. Fact: I love soup. I usually have at least three varieties of soup in my freezer. In my ideal world, I would make soup every single day. Can you see where this is heading? ...

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A Thought

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