Easy Bibimbap

Surprise! You might have noticed that I’m posting on a Wednesday instead of the weekend like I normally do. Well it’s all due to the great outdoors. My family and I are going camping for the weekend so I won’t have access to internet, which is why I’m leaving you guys with this easy dinner idea before I go. I got this idea from a recent episode of MasterChef where I saw all these really yummy looking bowls of bibimbap being made. The contestants on that show are so talented! (I’m cheering for Dan by the way. Love him!)

Let me first explain what bibimbap is. A Korean dish, literally meaning “mixed rice”, it is usually served in a hot stone bowl with rice (the stone bowl is so hot that there is a delicious layer of crispy rice on the bottom) and topped with vegetables, meat and an egg in the middle. The most traditional dishes use raw eggs and raw meat which should get cooked as it is mixed in the hot rice before eating. I, sadly, do not have stone bowls and had to content with these colourful Moroccan bowls that my dad picked up from one of his many travels all over the world. And since I couldn’t heat my bowls over the stove top, I couldn’t get a crispy layer of rice on the bottom, but it still tasted delicious!

My version of this Korean dish leans towards the healthier side, with delicious pan-fried chickpeas, minced turkey and lots of vegetables.

Slow Cooker Turkey and Beans Chili

Comfort food for these cold days. But still healthier than normal, with turkey instead of beef, and kidney beans for antioxidants and protein. And it’s super good! The chili peppers give it a bit of a kick, and with the beans, it tastes wonderful.

With a slow cooker, this is so easy to make. Just dump everything in the pot and continue on with your day! And if your vegetarian, you can always replace the turkey with sweet potatoes, more beans, etc.

Spicy Stuffed Zucchini

Coming back from a beautiful holiday in Europe, I was a bit excited to see if anything had changed at our house. We always leave during the start of summer and the garden is, as always, left untended.

So when the taxi dropped us off, the first thing I did was go the the garden. It was pretty amazing. There were overgrown green leaves everywhere, the strawberries were a bright shade of red, and most of all, the zucchini (10 of them!) had grown to an incredible size.

Since no one wants food going to waste, I scrambled up ideas in my head to use the zucchini.