My Kitchen Love

making everyday family meals extraordinary

Smoked Salmon with Dilly Cucumber and Radish Salad

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Smoked Salmon Salad - My Kitchen LoveI’m a west coast girl in the sense that I was born and raised here in the Vancouver area. I’ve only left briefly for some training for work back east, but haven’t lived anywhere besides close to the Pacific Ocean. Occasionally, this comes through in my food cravings, specifically in seafood. I’ve always loved seafood and generally crave the flavours of salmon, mussels, prawns, and other sea living creatures.

Smoked Salmon Salad - My Kitchen LoveThis salad derived from one of my post-pregnancy cravings that brought back so many memories of living and loving the West coast. It’s made up in mere minutes and has wonderful combinations of flavours that are light and fresh. The crunch of the radish against the melt in your mouth salmon with the hit of crème fraîche dill is a combo that I’d like to revisit. Stat 🙂 And, you can make things on toast! One of my favourite lunches ever.

Smoked Salmon Salad - My Kitchen LoveServes 2

Ingredients:

200 gr smoked salmon fillets
4 radishes, thinly sliced
1/4 cucumber, cut into matchstick pieces
1/4 cup crème fraîche
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1/8 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Optional side: rye crostini or toasts of your preference. 

Directions:

Whisk crème fraîche, dill, garlic, and oil in a small bowl. Set aside.

Assemble salmon, radishes and cucumber on a plate. Drizzle with crème fraîche mixture and serve alongside crostini or toasts.

Enjoy!

Sesame Crusted Tofu with Sweet Chili Sauce

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My Kitchen Love Blog - Sesame Crusted Tofu with Sweet Chili Sauce

I went on a bit of a personal journey a couple of months ago. It was a restorative yoga workshop held by two inspiring yoga teachers, Christine Price-Clark and Chantal Russell at Bowen Island Yoga. My time there, while doing yoga, was spent reflecting on some of my darker moments in life that surround grief. I am so thankful that I was surrounded by so many lovely women and two gifted teachers that filled my heart with more lightness and allowed me to sit more comfortably with my personal grief. More to the point of this blog however, I was lucky to break some seriously delicious bread with a lot of great ladies.

We had lunch at a cute cafe on Bowen Island – Artisan Eats. Although all of our lunch was delicious, there was one dish that really stood out to me. Here, I’ve taken my impression of the tofu with sweet chili sauce and recreated it to share with you all.

It’s incredibility simple to make and so very tasty. My minis love tofu like this! Crusted with sesame and pumpkin seeds, it is the perfect dish to have in my repertoire for those days when I have little reserves in the fridge to make a meal.

Serves 4 to 6 as an appetizer or snack 

Ingredients:

1 349 gr / 12.3 oz package of extra-firm tofu
2 tbsp white sesame seeds
2 tbsp black sesame seeds
4 tbsp raw pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
Salt and pepper

Store-bought sweet chili sauce

Directions:

Open tofu package and gently put tofu into a strainer to drain.

Meanwhile, place all seeds in a shallow flat dish. Season with salt and pepper and stir to mix.

Cut tofu into 1/2″ wide pieces, but still keep the length. Roll tofu pieces in seeds. (Not all the seeds will adhere, but don’t worry about it as some white of the tofu will still shown.)

Heat oil in a non-stick pan on medium heat. Place the tofu sticks in the hot oil and briefly sear each side of the tofu, until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Be very careful when turing the tofu over, it is fragile.

Carefully remove from pan and briefly drain on a paper towel lined plate.

Serve with a sweet chili sauce on the side for dipping.

Enjoy!