Cooking up a storm

At the beginning of December, I discovered a delicious-looking quinoa-lentil-shiitake bake recipe posted on No Substitutions, a fantastic blog aimed at vegans, vegetarians, people with food allergies — anyone with "tricky eating habits," as they say. Friday night, feeling in an adventurous mood and ready to expand my culinary horizons, I printed off the recipe and headed out to gather up my supplies. 

This is my creation right before popping it into the oven:

And about 35 minutes later, viola! I was ready to eat my dinner. I paired it with my own version of a tomato and avocado salad, but, as No Substitutions says, it would go well with some crispy greens. I recommend this tasty bake to vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike. Here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Photos by Laura Muir

Cold remedy

Since we're in the thick of winter, it's no surprise that I've come down with a nasty winter cold. But I'm not going to take this lying down! (Well, at least not figuratively.) I want to share with you this special treat I make that provides tons of cold-fighting nutrients in one big tasty glass of juice.

I start with one lemon and two or three Granny Smith apples (depending on their size). After washing them well, I slice the outer peel off the lemon, leaving the white bioflavinoid-rich pith intact.

Then I cut the lemon and apples into pieces and, lemon first, throw them all into my beloved Omega 4000 juicer.

What comes out is a frothy, refreshing glass of juice teeming with Vitamin C. And not to sound gross, but the juice from a lemon has an incredible mucus-dissolving ability. Cold begone!

Photos by Laura Muir