Asparagus Tempura with Ginger Mayo and Matcha Salt

Asparagus Tempura with Ginger Mayo and Matcha Salt
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We’re in peak asparagus season here in Ontario, and I’m trying my best to get my fill. Unfortunately, I am a bottomless pit when it comes to this green, so it’s an inevitability – I will never have enough. But I’m still down to try, and today’s Asparagus Tempura with Ginger Mayo and Matcha Salt is vital to that effort. I know what you’re thinking: If you love a vegetable so much, why deep fry it? Well, there is a method to my madness, which I will get to. But I promise you won’t lose the asparagus in this recipe. Asparagus is such a short and special season; it would be a shame not to showcase its star in all its glory. 

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Seared Tuna Salad with Spicy Cashew Dressing

Seared Tuna Salad with Spicy Cashew Dressing
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Spring has been, um, lacklustre up to this point. Cold rain is the dominant theme and my least favorite form of precipitation. So, yeah, I’m far from impressed. But even this slow and painful spring can’t keep me from daydreaming about the summer fare that will soon be on the menu. The weather may scream soup, but my heart wants this Seared Tuna Salad with Spicy Cashew Dressing. I particularly love this dish because it features my current obsession: An ahi tuna saku block. Although when I refer to it as an “ahi tuna saku block”, I’m being redundant because saku means “block” in Japanese, and ahi means yellowfin and bigeye tuna in Hawaiian. So in reality, I just called this piece of fish a “tuna tuna block block”. Sometimes you just have to laugh. 

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Salt and Vinegar Chicken Karaage with Umeboshi Mayo

Salt and Vinegar Chicken Karaage with Umeboshi Mayo
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Chip varieties constantly inspire me. Yes, I know how funny that sentence sounds. I guess chips have this pull on me because they are the flavours I most closely associate with my childhood. I particularly tie chips to summer vacation. We ate pretty healthy most of the time when I was growing up, but when we headed to the cottage, all bets were off: Potato chips, marshmallows, hot dogs, the whole nine yards. It’s hard not to have blissful nostalgia for that time. Childhood summer vacations were a cut above. No obligations, just endless acres of free time. It just doesn’t happen in adult life. So, for me, I associate flavours like sour cream and onion, and salt and vinegar with that very unique brand of freedom. And that’s the vibe of this Salt and Vinegar Chicken Karaage with Umeboshi Mayo.

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White Chocolate Chèvre Mousse with Lemon Curd

White Chocolate Chèvre Mousse with Lemon Curd.
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I don’t have the biggest sweet tooth in the world. That’s not to say I don’t have one. I do. It’s just a bit of shrinking violet. It doesn’t speak up often, but when it does, it is next-level annoying. And it usually wants something that is far from sophisticated. Gummy bears, Swedish Fish, Mars Bars – these are (sadly) a few of my favorite things. But occasionally, my bratty sweet tooth aids me in my work. It gives me a kernel of an idea, and the more grown-up parts of me take it across the finish line. These White Chocolate Chèvre Mousse Cups with Lemon Curd are one such example. Usually, a white chocolate craving doesn’t lead anywhere good, but this time, against all odds, it took me somewhere very good indeed.

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