Cook Lively by Laura-Jane Koers | Cookbook review + Recipe + Giveaway

Whether you believe in a raw food diet or not, I think we can all agree that we need to bring more raw food into our everyday meals. Since most of the time, the nutrients are destroyed from high-temperature cooking, adding more raw food to your diet can be more nourishing and, yes, lively. Cook Lively: 100 Quick and Easy Plant-Based Recipes for High Energy, Glowing Skin, and Vibant Living Using 10 ingredients or Less by Laura-Jane Koers (the creator behind the popular Canadian vegan food blog, The Rawtarian) is a great introduction to raw, plant-based food and is the perfect book for anyone interested in eating better and learning healthier ways to cook your food. 

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread with Crunchy Granola 巧克力花生醬香蕉蛋糕

My husband and I both love banana bread, but when it comes to peanut butter, we're not quite on the same page. As a typical American, he naturally loves anything that has to do with peanut butter - from peanut butter and jelly, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, he loves them all! As for me, peanut butter wasn't something I grew up with in Taiwan. In my childhood memory, peanut butter wasn't as popular at the time and the Western food was just starting to come into the market. I don't recall that we had much peanut butter at our house. Therefore, I guess I never quite developed a palate for it, but occasionally there are some peanut butter flavoured things that I like. For example, any peanut butter cereal or cinnamon flavoured peanut butter, and this bread here is also one of those rare occasions where peanut butter becomes my good friend.

Red Bean Tang Yuan in Red Bean & Black Glutinous Rice Soup 紅豆湯圓與紫米紅豆湯

Growing up in Taiwan, I naturally ate a lot of tang yuan (glutenous rice balls or sticky rice balls). Traditionally, we eat them on both the Winter Solstice Festival (Dong Zhi) and the Lantern Festival (Yuan Xiao). There are two kinds of tang yuan: smaller balls without filling and lager ones with filling. At home, my mom would either make it herself or buy them freshly made from the farmers market. After moving to New York alone, I would buy the frozen packages in Asian markets. Of course it wasn't ideal, but it was good enough to fulfill my craving and my homesickness during the holidays, until one day, I saw my roommate making some homemade tang yuan, and it made me very curious. She was always a good homemaker and she loved making everything herself. I, on the other hand, wasn't such a good cook at the time, and thought that it would be good to learn how to make them from her.

Sugar-Free Sweet Red Bean Paste 無糖紅豆餡

Red beans (the name is directly translated from the Chinese name - Hong Do 紅豆) are also called adzuki beans. In Asia, we use a lot of red beans in desserts, and traditionally, red bean paste is made with red beans, water, and sugar. Red beans are a very good source of protein, fiber, and potassium, and are low in calories, but when you add the sugar, it starts to become less healthy. I thought it would be great to make a healthier version of it, so I don't need to feel guilty eating it. You can use it for your bread, toast, pancakes, tang yuan, mochi, or other desserts. It's a great recipe and a good thing for you to have in your freezer!

Vegan Cranberry Chocolate Truffles 蔓越莓松露巧克力

 

When it comes to Valentine's Day desserts, fruits like strawberries or raspberries are widely used, but I've always thought that cranberries are such an under-appreciated fruit. They're often used for Christmas and Thanksgiving, but not much else. The truth is, they're a very powerful fruit. The dried cranberries used here contain good amounts of fiber and heart-healthy unsaturated fats, they're also high in vitamin C and have a lot of anti-oxidants, and so can be quite beneficial for your health. Recently, I visited Nutra-Fruit - a local store that specializes in cranberry products. I was really inspired by their product, so I decided to create this recipe for this year's Valentine's Day. (See my Valentine's Day Cranberry Heart Swirl Cheesecake, Homemade Cranberry-Vanilla Butter, Whole Wheat Cranberry Oat Scones)

Baked Pear & Ricotta Wonton Hand Pies with Rosemary and Chocolate 巧克力梨子奶油起司香酥派

Whenever I make Chinese wontons, I almost always have some extra wonton wrappers left. Of course, the simplest thing is to wrap them and store them in the freezer until the next use, but why not use them to make something completely different? Since pears abundant this time of the year, I thought they would make a perfect filling for the season. With the rosemary, it adds a fragrant woody aroma to make this dessert even more special, not to mention that it goes perfectly well with chocolate, too! There's no sugar, just a little maple syrup, and since it's not fried, you can pop as many as you wish without worrying about your health or feeling guilty. Next time you have some leftover wonton wrappers, turn them into this simple, yet sophisticated dessert!

Paleo Banana Bread 無奶油無糖香蕉蛋糕

I recently came across this popular paleo banana bread recipe from Civilized Cavemen Cooking. Even though I'm not paleo (nor do I follow any other diet), I generally try to avoid using sugar and highly processed foods. I noticed in the recipe that you could replace the grass-fed butter with coconut oil (which I often like to do when baking), and instead of regular flour it calls for coconut flour, which I'd never used before. But these aren't the only good things about this recipe. There's no use of sugar or any sweeteners at all! I mean anywhere. Right away, I knew this was my kind of recipe, and I was determined to make it and eat it! (*≧▽≦) Since it's less sweet than regular banana bread, plus it's high in fiber and protein, it makes a perfect nutritious breakfast for your everyday morning! Though the texture is slightly different than the banana bread we're used to, it's really similar, and each bite is moist and full of rich banana-y flavour! Check out the recipe here, I hope you'll like it!

Coconut-Banana Chia Pudding with Lime 香蕉椰奶奇亞籽布丁

For a while, I've been waiting to make this delicious-looking super creamy coconut banana chia pudding from Fedelicioso, and I finally have some ripened bananas on hand! I love anything with banana or coconut, and when I saw her recipe on Instagram, I just knew that I'd have to try it. The end result was indeed very creamy as she described! 

Kahlua-Chocolate Banana Bread 卡魯哇巧克力香蕉蛋糕

I don't know about you, but whenever I surf around online looking at yummy food photos, it always makes me hungry. And I mean anytime, anywhere, and even after I just ate! That's how this banana bread recipe was born. （／_＼）I was pinning photos from Pinterest one night and I came across this Espresso-Chocolate Banana Bread recipe from Yes To Yolks. The idea of espresso, chocolate chips, and banana all together sounded so mouth-watering to me. I had just finished my dinner and had a belly full of food, but at that moment, nothing was going to stop me. I didn't care how late it was, I was determined to make that darned espresso-chocolate banana bread! (*≧m≦*)

Cranberry Heart Swirl Cheesecake 越莓蔓愛心乳酪蛋糕 on Foodies In Quebec City

I would like to announce to you that starting this month, I'll be working on a new food blog with Allison Van Rassel (a journalist, media personality, and blogger whom I grew to admire soon after arriving to Quebec) and several other very talented people. I will contribute one post a month, starting with this Valentine's Day Cranberry Heart Swirl Cheesecake recipe! (Click Foodies In Quebec City to view the complete post and recipe.) 

 

As an anglo foodie, it was (and still is!) quite difficult for me to try to read about restaurants in French and find out where to go in Quebec City. When I searched in English, there weren't that many reliable and thorough reviews, but Foodie in Quebec City was an exception. I was able to count on Allison's reviews when I wanted a good meal or I would often agree with her critiques of places I knew. She knows a lot about food and gives her honest opinions, but what I like the most is that she includes the music in her restaurant reviews as well! As a musician, I've always been very aware of how music changes our mood and sets the tone of the place. I was really glad to see that someone actually thought to write about it!

A few months ago, Allison decided to expand her blog and invite more foodies to collaborate with her! I feel very fortunate and honored to be part of this blog and team! So what's the new blog Foodies In Quebec City about? It's all about the love of culinary culture in Quebec City, recipes that are inspired from local ingredients, why you should eat locally, and much more! Come and like Foodies In Quebec City's Facebook page and discover the heart of French cuisine and new tastes in Quebec City!! ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

想在這裡與大家分享一個好消息：最近與一位我自己很欣賞、很欽佩、也是魁北克知名的媒體主持人與部落客 - Allison Van Rassel，以及其他一些也很有才華的部落客們一起合作。從今天開始，我會每個月在Foodies In Quebec City寫一篇文章，這個蔓越莓愛心乳酪蛋糕是我在那裡的第一個食譜，也是為這個情人節特別寫的！(閱讀整篇文章與食譜，請看這裡)

身為英語系的美食家，要在這裡上網以法語閱讀餐館的相關資料並非容易，而要閱讀英文又沒有太多可靠且很詳細的網頁或部落格可以選擇。但某一天在不經意的情況下，找到了Foodie In Quebec City，發現Allison對餐館的評論不但可靠，對於我已經嚐嗜過的餐廳，也通常都很同意她的意見。然而我最喜歡的是她在餐館的評論中，經常會提到音樂及餐廳的重要關係。身為一個音樂人，我非常清楚音樂對我們心情上的影響及給予整個環境的氣氛，我當時很高興看到有人能了解並指出它們的連接關係。

幾個月前，Allison決定擴展她的部落格，並邀請更多的美食者與她一起合作，我感到非常幸運能成為這團體成員的其中之一。那麼這個新改革的Foodies In Quebec到底有什麼特別的呢？它將會為大家介紹魁北克市獨特無一的美食及使用當地食材製成的美味食譜、並呼籲大家多吃當地季節性的食品等等，歡迎大家到我們的臉書(請按這裡)來按讚！ ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

Vanilla-Peach Cupcakes/桃子香草杯子蛋糕

*This post first appeared in 2 sisters et 1 cat. 

I apologize for not posting for such a long time. A lot has been happening in my life lately and it seems to continue to be that way. I'm not complaining. It has been a great summer, and I've done a lot of what I wanted and needed to do, but I just haven't been able to write and come up with many words. One thing that keeps me going is that I'm still able to function in the kitchen!