Raspberry Salad with Cocoa Balsamic Dressing

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A few years ago, I went to a wonderful local French restaurant called Chez Sophie with my French class. It is a lovely little bistro with all sorts of delicious items. I had a heck of a time deciding between a veggie quiche or a delicious grilled cheese sandwich. But what really caught my attention was a simple romaine salad with a chocolate balsamic viniagrette. Chocolate…in a salad!? I was incredibly intrigued and ended up ordering it to enjoy with a piece of quiche. My curiosity was rewarded, as the salad was wonderful. The dressing was bittersweet + slightly acidic….

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Vegetarian Gyoza (Japanese Dumplings)

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A few years ago, Jesse and I were in Minneapolis for a vacation and we had dinner at an amazing Japanese restaurant downtown. To my surprise, they actually had vegetarian gyoza on the menu. For some reason, vegetarian gyoza is difficult to come by. I find most gyoza is sold with a pork filling. Anyway, the vegetarian gyoza was incredible! The vegetable filling was perfectly spiced with ginger and garlic and served with a delicious dipping sauce. A year later, we returned to Minneapolis for another vacation and headed straight back to the Japanese restaurant to share a plate or…

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Indian Spice Starter Kit

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Last week I posted a recipe for my favourite East Indian dish – Navratan Korma. In the post, I mentioned that I had taken a fantastic vegetarian East Indian cooking course a few years back where we made a number of dishes and learned about a variety of spices and herbs. My teacher had also given all of the students a beginner’s spice kit to get us all started with East Indian cooking at home. After last week’s post, a few people contacted me with interest in knowing what was in the beginner’s spice kit put together by my teacher….

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