Photos by Jeffery Chan

I’ve been told by numerous close sources that what I do in the kitchen can more accurately be described as “assembling” than “cooking.” I can’t deny that. I pretty much use my stove for one of two things: boiling water for tea or popping popcorn. I might as well Carrie Bradshaw my oven into an extra shoe closet.

Yet that might change after my first official cooking class with Chef Nick Liu of DaiLo. I had the pleasure of learning one of his grandmother’s cherished recipes before sitting down to a family meal with some fellow food lovers. Don’t get it twisted — I might not cook, but I do love to eat.

The event was hosted by Joey Salmingo (also known as Articulate Eats), who helped navigate us from hors d’oeuvres and drinks — which were provided by Trail Estate Winery and Samuel Adams Beer — to our cooking stations and back again. Let’s face it, without his yoking, we may have missed out on the best parts of the whole night. It was easy to lose ourselves in jovial conversation, the Luxe Appliance Studio a striking backdrop that felt like someone’s upscale home.

Yet we soon found ourselves hovering over wooden chopping boards, listening to Chef Nick explain the meaning behind the Crispy Hakka Wanton dish he decided to teach us to make (recipe at the bottom) as well how one of the key ingredients was used. In addition to some cooking lessons, we were all there to learn the benefits of using canola oil. In this case, how it can transform wanton skins into delicious crunchy bites filled with pork and shrimp. That’s right, canola oil was what fried up those bad boys. That might sound unhealthy to some, but this local, versatile ingredient is far from that. It’s a good source of vitamins E and K, is packed with omega 3 fat and has the lowest amount of saturated fats.

Once we stuffed our faces with the finished product, we got another hands-on experience. A few canola experts affiliated with Canola Eat Well, Ellen Pruden, Jennifer Dyck and Simone Demers Collins, taught us a bit more about where the oil comes from. Did you know a single seed contains about 44% oil? We crushed a few just to see the oil seep out onto a sheet of paper.

While we were having fun crushing canola seeds, Chef Nick was busy preparing a family-style dinner. Of course, he used the canola oil to create four amazing dishes including fish and Chinese broccoli. Its neutral flavor and light taste allowed the herbs and spices to standout, making it one of the tastiest meals I’ve ever had.

Amidst good food and even better company, the Canola Connect Culinary Workshop: Fusing Flavours slowly came to an end. It was a memorable one and I hope to participate in another sooner than later.

RECIPE: Crispy Hakka Wonton

INGREDIENTS

1 pack wonton skins
1½ lbs minced pork
1½ lbs shrimp, peeled, deveined, minced
1 oz dried shrimp, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes, drained & minced
½ cup water
1 Tbsp soy sauce, more for serving
½ Tbsp shrimp stock
½ cup cornstarch
1 tsp sugar
1 egg
½ tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
3 L canola oil or as needed, for frying
2 Tbsps hoisin sauce
2 Tbsps sesame oil
Sriracha, to taste
cilantro, chopped, for garnish
green onions, thinly sliced, for garnish

METHOD

1. Prepare the shrimp stock: Place the shells in a medium-size pot. Add a pinch of salt and just enough water to cover your shells.

2. Bring up to a boil on high heat. Turn down heat to medium-high and simmer until the liquid reduces to half, approximately 5-10 minutes. Strain and set aside in fridge to cool. Tip: For a more flavourful stock add some onion, garlic, ginger and carrot.

3. Prepare the filling: Option to fry off the dry shrimp in a small saucepan with a little canola oil. In a large bowl combined all ingredients together, except for the wonton skins, and mix well.

4. Prepare the wontons: Place a wonton skin on a clean surface so it looks like a diamond. Place a small amount of wonton mix in the center. Wet the bottom corner of the wonton skin with water and fold it up to the opposite corner. Press the edges to seal. Wet the two side corners with water and bring them together and press firm to join. Repeat above until all your wonton mixture is used up.

5. In a large pot or a deep fryer bring the canola oil up to temperature on medium high

heat, about 350. Gently place 10 wontons in the oil and cook for 3 minutes. With a slotted spoon remove wontons and place on a sheet tray lined with paper towel.

Repeat this step until all the wontons are cooked.

The oil is extremely hot! Be careful not to splatter oil when placing the wontons in the oil.

6. Place the drained, fried wontons in a stainless steel bowl.

7. Add a dash of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce, 2 tablespoons of sesame oil, and Sriracha if you like heat. Gently toss and serve on a plate.

8. Garnish with chopped coriander and scallions and enjoy!

Photography by Jeffrey Chan courtesy of Baro

I don’t know what had me moving more, the fiesty Latino music or the delicious morsels being served out of Chef Steve Gonzalez’s new food truck. It was the Latino Street Party of the year and everywhere I turned there was something better to take in. Nestled in a spacious alleyway off of King Street West, the festive air was not random. Something big was about to be announced.

After three successful years, Gonzalez was forced to close down Valdez, a King Street staple. But that wasn’t about to stop Gonzalez. Instead, he decided to throw a big party to announce his latest venture — Baro. Set to be an impressive multi-storey space complete with a second floor raw bar, 2,200 loft space for events and private functions as well as an all-season patio, it will reimagine traditional latin culture and cuisine.

Until Baro’s doors open, people will want to keep their eyes peeled for #GonzalezonTour. The food truck will take the party on the road, bringing delicious dishes to such destinations as Toronto Taste, The Stop’s Night Market and The Neighbourhood Festival by Luminato.

About this new venture, Gonzalez shares, “I’m very proud of what our team accomplished at Valdez. We gave Latino culture a home on King West. Baro will take that vibe to the next level and give us an opportunity to share a bigger melting pot of unique Latin American flavours. Being on tour this summer will allow us to reach more audiences and get the word out on the street about latin food — we want everyone to discover their inner latino in our neighbourhood at Baro. There really is something for everyone and every occasion.”

Sit at a restaurant, coffee shop or any place with food and drink long enough and you’re bound to witness a group of millennials standing around a table shifting plates, artfully arranging sunglasses and snapping photos of whatever they ordered. Thanks to social media, everyone’s a food photographer these days. Including me (insert the blush emoji).

But until recently, I just went with my gut when it came to taking these kind of photos. The Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers, a not-for-profit organization representing approximately 220 members who grow greenhouse tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, invited me to a food styling event in which I learned some key tricks of the trade to make my imagery significantly better.

We focused on two #SpringIntoFlavour-themed recipes (a chicken fajita and a soba noodle salad), both of which highlighted the organization’s incredible selection of produce. Below are the three main takeaways that stuck with me:

1. Keep your ingredients looking fresh by brushing them with glycerin. For vegetables in particular, a spritz of water on top of this layer will make it look as though they were just washed with the water droplets will stick more stubbornly.

2. Manipulate the lighting. First of all, natural light is the best kind of light to take such photos in. Yet sometimes due to poor timing or the lack of an ideal space some reinterpretation is needed. To manipulate the light, all a person needs is a white board to bounce lighting, black board to absorb it and foil to illuminate specific areas. All of these can be affordably purchased at an art store.

3. Tell a story. It’s important not to just take a shot of a well-styled plate of food. By placing ingredients or other objects like menus, books or even those sunglasses around the dish, more context is given to the image. This encourages viewers to connect to the image even more.

The latter was made easiest thanks to the inclusion of such delicious, colorful and local vegetables. I used them both sliced up artfully in the dish and whole around it. But my favorite was creating a deliberate mess that made my images look more approachable and, strangely, beautiful. It didn’t hurt that I was able to snack on them throughout the session.

Don’t be afraid to visit your favorite farmer’s market this summer to stock up on local produce. You never know when you might want to style your own mouthwatering photoshoot. Visit my Instagram page to learn how I can help get you started!

(This blog post was sponsored by the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers but the opinions are all my own.)

I’ve been to Mexico before, but it was only after visiting Mexico City that I truly began to appreciate everything the culture had to offer. From the architecture and art to the street vendors and friendly faces, it wasn’t what I’d expected at all. But I loved it all.

The food was one of the things that stood out the most. So when I was invited to sample Fonda Lola’s lunch menu in Toronto, I was 100% down. The newly opened Mexican restaurant might have some surprises up its sleeves, but it looked more authentic than most with its mismatched furniture, subtle but still vibrant colors and welcoming atmosphere.

For the lunch menu, the owner essentially turned some of the most beloved dishes into incredible sandwiches and even added a few unexpected options diverse Torontonians would appreciate. This included a Filipino-inspired sandwich of adobo chicken and rice. Yes, it was stuffed with rice.

Although the food is enough to keep people coming, the atmosphere and service is just as noteworthy, making the entire experience great from beginning to end. I can’t wait to check out Fonda Lola for its weekend brunch, especially now that the weather’s getting nicer and strolling along Queen West is always a great way to spend a weekend morning.

When Marshalls invited me out to channel my inner viking with Svava Sigbertsdottir, celebrity trainer, founder of The Viking Method and brand ambassador, I was 100% down. After all, I felt like this is what I’d been training for. I’m always interested in trying out new workouts and it was only a matter of time before I was lucky enough to train with someone of Svava’s caliber.

You definitely have to be cut from warrior cloth to be able to endure The Viking Method unscathed. It was an incredible class that had me questioning my own fitness level. Thankfully, I had enough juice left to ask Svava a few questions after the experience:

What’s your health and fitness background?

I have been exercising my whole life. Football, handball, resistance training, yoga, kickboxing, dancing. Love moving. Love all sports. I moved to London 12 years ago to study musical theatre. After I finished my degree, I realized I wanted to work more with people and do work that was pure fitness and health. I wanted to create something of mine as well. So I trained and studied; I qualified as a personal trainer, sport nutritionist, fitness manager and a yoga teacher.

How did The Viking Method come about?

Through everything that I had done, I had never found that one training genre that gave me everything that I thought it should. The power, the strength, the agility, the leanness, the great nutrition, the contentment and the inner wellbeing. I also wanted to create a method that is performance based – one that is all about you and what you do and not just about what you look like. Therefore I founded my Viking Method. I took the best from everything that I had studied, everything that I had read and researched along with the way that I had mastered my training and put it together. It’s one method that brings it all to you.

What is your biggest piece of advice when it comes to health and fitness?

First of all – know what you are doing. Have a plan. Do not just go to the gym/park and do whatever. Best thing, in the beginning especially, is to see a professional to get the technique down – squats, lunges, planks, press ups, core work. To get the best out of your training, you need to know how to do the exercises properly. Then get a plan. Whether it is with a PT, classes, online training programs and do the same with your nutrition. Plan. Also find a genre that you do enjoy. Don’t do anything that you really get no enjoyment out of. Another thing that is really important is to set goals. To do challenges. It gives you so much and keeps you progressing and into your training. Every month set a new goal, do a new challenge. Anything. And then high five yourself when you smash them.

How does workout gear fit into the equation, and why do you like stores like Marshalls?

Fitness gear is so fantastic now! So cool and fashionable. You of course need the right gear for whatever type of training that you are doing – functionally it has to be on point. Good supportive shoes, bras that properly hold you in, leggings that have a thick waist string so they don’t keep on falling down and not being see through ( these are my requirements ☺ ) After that it comes down to what you fancy and feel great in. I love stores like Marshalls because they have quality brands at a price that doesn’t break the bank, and also because they have everything! For any genre of training that you are doing you will find the best gear in all shapes and sizes. I am constantly in training clothes and love to coordinate my outfit, and like having loads to choose from! So Marshalls is definite one for me as I can get more for less. I feel like a kid in a candy store when I go there!

Last month I was lucky enough to have breakfast with an amazing group of women in celebration of the launch of Stacey Garlicky’s debut book, Food, Sex & You. Through this book, the mental health advocate and registered psychotherapist shares her own exploration of body image, self-esteem and self-worth in an effort to help others overcome similar challenges.

This is a hot topic right now.

From the phenomenon of selfies to controversial ad campaigns and unnecessary Photoshopping, positive self-image has been taking a harsher beating than usual these days. We’re all guilty of putting ourselves down, but the ideal standards of beauty continue to go in an impossible direction, especially since manipulating your own image has become easier than ever with the proliferation of photo editing apps.

Kim Kardashian and everything she represents — or doesn’t represent — took over much of the conversation during our breakfast at Colette. It’s interesting to see how one person can be so polarizing — or perhaps confounding would be a better descriptor. Yet at the end of the day, we all walked away understanding that as much as the landscape is changing for women, much still remains the same.

I can’t wait to crack open the book. My reading list has become pretty long, but once I do I’ll be back with my thoughts on it.

Up until recently, I’ve never experimented with supplements. But the more active I’ve become, the healthier I behave and the more research I pore into what I should be doing to stay as optimally fit as I want to be. Short answer? You really are what you eat.

When I was first introduced to Genuine Health‘s products, it was to try out its greens+ Extra Energy line just before a tough workout. I genuinely loved it (pun intended). So I was excited to try out its newest line, fermented Greek yogurt proteins+.

On the technical side, Genuine Health’s fermented Greek yogurt proteins+ packs in 25g of protein, but in a way that is more fully digested and absorbed by your body. The fermentation of this particular supplement promotes just that. The first of its kind to be made out of Greek Yogurt, the supplement is also very tasty. Stay tuned for my own original recipe soon!

In the meantime, Genuine Health has also created some delicious fermented Greek yogurt proteins+ bars for those who really need to grab and go — my favorite being the Cinnamon Pecan. I swear by these. With 15g of protein — also harnessing the power of fermented foods for better digestion and absorption — the bars are coated in vanilla, making them seem more like a treat. There’s really no reason why you’d choose, say, a chocolate bar over these. They’re that good.

Overall, my experience with fermented Greek yogurt proteins+ has been positive. As someone who leads a very active lifestyle, it’s important for me to fuel my body properly. Genuine Health helps me do that.

Photos by Kailey DeRubeis

A tea drinker all my life, coffee wasn’t something I really thought about as a staple until just a couple of years ago when cute cafes like Pilot Coffee Roasters and its sister shop Te Aro started to pop up more and more around the city. Now I have a full-fledged love affair with lattes. But I’ve been determined lately to expand my caffeine experiences. With spring finally in the air, I decided “coffee alfresco” was a great place to start.

So I picked up the famous Aeropress Coffee Maker and a few other camping items from MEC along with a bag of quality Pilot coffee beans and trekked to the Scarborough Bluffs for a sunny Sunday afternoon with one of my oldest friends, Paulina.

Paulina and I met at my first full-time publishing job. We unfortunately (or fortunately) bonded over our mutual hatred of it, often escaping to the nearest coffee shop to lament over the (now hilarious) dramas of working there. Thankfully we both left unscarred, able to drink coffee peacefully in the great outdoors.

Paulina and I prepared everything on the beach, from grinding the beans to boiling the water and then “pressing” the coffee. Making fresh coffee without a kitchen was easier than I thought and I couldn’t have asked for better company.

Using the GSI Javamill

Using the SBIT Solid Fuel Stove & Cookset

And I couldn’t have asked for a better backdrop. I grew up in Scarborough and was also astounded that such a place existed so close to the suburbs. A lot of Torontonians don’t realize that there are so many amazing pockets like this all around the city. A day trip to escape the hustle isn’t as tough as it might seem and a place like the bluffs feels like a true getaway.

Where is your favourite place to enjoy a cup of coffee?

I’m a smiley person by nature. I’m also a very giggly, excitable person — natural byproducts of the smile. So much so that I tend to annoy even myself from time to time. Yet I’m pretty sure, especially after learning about the benefits of smiling at a recent event held by Nivea, that it is because of this specific trait that people mistake me for being nearly a decade younger than I actually am.

Now that I’m almost 32 years old, I feel very good about this.

Research conducted by Nivea Q10plus verifies my personal experience. The study revolved around 12 female portraits showing three distinct emotions — happy, neutral and sad. When 2000 people were asked to guess the age of each woman, emotion had a resounding effect.

Louisa Jewell, President of the Canadian Positive Psychology Association explains, “In general, we receive smiling faces as more attractive and we therefore tend to judge them as younger than they actually are. People with smiling faces also appear more sincere, sociable, likeable and competent.”

In addition to looking younger, smiling has the benefit of making people feel younger as well. Happier people tend to live longer, have better cardiovascular health and achieve greater success. Not to mention that smiling helps others. It’s contagious, after all.

What I loved about the Nivea Q10plus presentation was the fact that the brand was promoting an achievable way to feel younger. Although addressing your emotions might not be the quick fix plastic surgery is, it is much better in the long run for obvious reasons. Not to mention that laugh lines relay much more than age.

Of course, wrinkles are a sensitive subject even at the happiest of times. That’s where Nivea Q10plus comes into play. In just four weeks, it helps to reduce them in as natural way possible. Q10 is an energy coenzyme that decreases significantly as we age. This cream is chock-full of it.

Every time I visit my Nana, she pulls me into a kitchen and tries to force me to cook. Or simply calls me up listing all of the family recipes that will disappear if I don’t learn them. The thing is, I’ve never had an interest in cooking. My brother loves it — which I remind my Nana every single time, but I, sadly, do not.

At least, I thought I didn’t.

A while ago I started seeing ads for Chef’s Plate pop up in my Facebook Timeline. I was instantly intrigued, but again, my impartiality towards it made my attention waver immediately as I continued to scroll down the page. Then I went to an event that offered me a discount on the service and I signed up for one week instantly.

The experience was amazing and I’m basically a chef now. Just saying.

When Monday rolled around, I got the delivery in a box insulated and iced to keep the ingredients fresh. The ingredients themselves were measured out perfectly and conveniently packed in ziplock bags that I would eventually use for all the waste as well.

As for the directions? While the recipes themselves seemed complex, making the dish was so much easier than I could have expected. AND FAST. Before I knew it I was eating Mango Chili Chicken and it was good. Like, really good.

Overall, Chef’s Plate gets a 5 star rating from me. It might seem pretty high, but at its cost and convenience, not to mention variety and ease to make, it’s hard not to fall in love with the service.