Banana Bread French Toast with Vanilla-Berry Compote

As autumn comes into full swing, we’re going to need some heavy breakfasts to keep warm throughout the day. If you’re on a cleanse or a diet, make this on cheat day (or you can quit the diet, it’s not worth it to live without salt and fat anyway).

This recipe is not-so-subtly inspired by brunch at The Manx.

Sunday Morning – Shakshuka for two

I love red sauce. On pasta, pizza, made into soup – I love it all. No thank you aglio e olio, I’ll stick with marinara.

What I’m trying to say is: all tomato dishes are welcome in my house. Oddly, I didn’t actually enjoy tomatoes themselves until fairly recently, but tomato soup was my favorite childhood food.

Shakshuka is a tomato-y comfort food, for sure. It’s roots are ambiguously Middle Eastern – some say Lebanese, some say Tunisian – but I’ve come to know it as an Israeli dish. According to Wikipedia, Shakshouka means “a mixture” in Tunisian Arabic or other Maghrebi Arabic dialects.

Tandoori-inspired vegetarian quinoa

So I’ve only got one week left of my cleanse, and I think I’ve become pretty damn good at it.

This is only going to be a short post, but it’s a delicious one! My friend Carl made me this dish for dinner the other night and I was hooked. It’s rich, savoury, spicy, sweet, and all around easy to boot. It’s a vegetarian one-pot wonder full of veggies and protein – flavoured with Indian garam masala.

Easy, sweet and spicy vegan chocolate pudding

So… I’m on a cleanse. I know, I’m fighting not to eye-roll at myself, but hear me out!

Lately I’ve been getting into some bad food habits, getting lazy, and needing a change. Now I know myself, and I know that if I don’t have strict rules, I can’t stick to a diet or a new habit. If I need to eat healthier, I have to go cold turkey on all the bad stuff before I can start fresh. With that in mind, for the next two weeks (I’ve already done 1 week) I am eating a dairy-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, and generally processed-food free diet.

Three-cheese stuffed shells, with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes

Sometimes you need real comfort food. Sometimes you want more than Kraft Dinner can give you. Sometimes you want to spend $18 on cheese.

This is the scrumptious recipe that fulfills all those desires and more. It’s my go-to for cold nights, impressing friends, and… well, just for my own enjoyment. These pasta shells are overflowing with ricotta, parmesan, and mozzarella, and then baked in lots of tomato sauce. Melty and hearty is the name of the game.