Tell us all about your blog
Coriander Kitchen is a food blog for the vegetarian and vegan in everyone. My practical and simple meal solutions make it easy for those with little time to incorporate healthier meals into their busy lifestyle. I’ve transformed the old idea of the granola vegetarian by creating modern and contemporary dishes.
My healthy recipes focus on easy ways to incorporate super foods into popular everyday dishes that we all love. Being a mother of two, I know it can be difficult to get kids to eat their vegetables. When creating recipes, I keep a child’s palate in mind and use sweet tasting ingredients and various textures to mask the otherwise “unappealing” taste of vegetables.
What inspired you to begin writing about food?
I’ve been a vegetarian for 20 years and have raised two healthy and active kids on a lacto-vegetarian diet (no meat, fish or eggs). With a background in the food industry, people often ask me for dinner ideas and advice on how to get their children to eat more vegetables. I find that more and more, people are leaning towards a plant based diet which inspired me to start a food blog and share my experiences and interests with others.
Describe your favorite food memory
I love to travel and try the food from different cultures. On a trip in Southern France, I visited a farmer’s market in a small town in a wine producing region. Beautiful Large rounds of cheese were on display for sale and many that I had not even heard of. The helpful cheese makers guided me through the selection process and during it, I sampled many types of cheese.
To go perfectly with the cheese was the largest assortment of olives that I’ve ever seen. Olives are one of my favourite foods and that day I went home with a few different varieties. I still dream about that market.
Cook or bake—which one? Either, both, and why?
I love to cook and being Indian, food is an integral part of my culture. I grew up on curry and savory foods and around the age of one, I was taught to make roti, Indian flatbread. Traditionally Indians are not big bakers, so my time in the kitchen was spent cooking.
I believe that the foundation of a good dish is it’s ingredients and I spend time sourcing the best ones. Every weekend when it’s open, you can find me at the farmer’s market, where I buy the bulk of my groceries. I love the glow of the freshly picked seasonal produce and the beautiful artisan foods that are for sale.
What is the best thing you've ever eaten? Where did you eat it?
I love Indian food and when I travel to India, the first thing I do is find a South Indian Restaurant and order a masala dosa with a chai. I tear the thin crispy lentil crepe, scoop a bit of the spicy potatoes and dunk it in sambar and coconut chutney. Heaven in a bite. Sipping on a sweet chai for dessert finishes the meal perfectly.
Share your favorite recipe
I now eat my vegan French toast almost every week and my favourite time to eat it is at dinner. I still eat French toast the same, with freshly sliced strawberries and dusted with icing sugar. The only thing that has changed, is that I’m lighter on the maple syrup.
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