July Cookbook Giveaway!

As promised, here is the Chocolate Shavings cookbook giveaway of the month! I'm giving a copy of Clean Start, Inspiring you to Eat Clean and Live Well to one lucky reader! The summer being in full swing, it's really the perfect time to start eating right (if you weren't before!) Terry Walters' book is a wonderful resource for all of us who love food but also want to properly nourish our bodies and eat healthy, delicious, balanced meals. The book takes you through a variety of methods to eat right. The book is based on some pretty fundamentals principals: eat local whenever you can, know where your food comes from, read labels carefully but try to avoid food that need them - and eat foods with beautifully vivid colours with a lot of healthy greens. Terry Walters' gives you some easy to follow tips with some fabulous meals ideas using some ingredients you'll love to add to your diet like miso, ginger root and tofu.



Here are just a few of the mouth-watering recipes you will find in the book: Maple Mustard and Tahini Glazed Carrots, Green Beans with Figs and Pistachios in Balsamic Reduction, Rhubard Cream with Strawberries and Candied Ginger.

To win a copy of the book, leave a comment on this post or write a comment on Chocolate Shaving's facebook page. You can write a comment on both and your name will be entered in the contest twice. Simply let me know what healthy meals you like cooking the most. If you haven't been cooking a lot of healthy meals lately, poke around the recipes on Chocolate Shavings and comment on the ones you'd like to try! The contest ends on July 28th, at midnight. The winner will be drawn at random and you must be a Canadian or American resident to enter. Good luck and I look forward to hearing from you!

Favourite Tomato Recipes

Have you been the feeling the heat as much as we have here in Toronto? It's been incredibly warm and humid these past few days, the kind of temperatures that make you want lighter meals paired with a ice cold drink!

As the full swing of summer is making its way, I thought I would do a little roundup of my favourite tomato recipes to enjoy all summer long!

- Pita Sandwiches with Flank Steak, Tomato and Avocado and Lemony Yogurt Sauce
- Homemade Tomato Sauce
- Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic-Infused Oil and Goat Cheese
- Fresh Tomato Tart with Goat Cheese Cream and Oregano

What to do with Leftovers? Roast Chicken Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette

This is the very first recipe of a new series I'm starting here on Chocolate Shavings. "What do with Leftovers" will bring you some fun and easy ideas to effectively use leftovers and turn them into dishes that will feel new. If your kitchen is anything like mine, there is often a plethora of foods to sample... which usually means a lot of leftovers! Roast chicken is a very common leftover in our house. Let's face it, no matter how moist and flavourful the chicken was straight out of the oven, once it's been in the fridge overnight it tends to get a little dry. Using chicken in a well balanced salad really gives it a new life. The key is to thinly shred the chicken and to make sure there is enough dressing on the chicken itself. This salad is, of course, very versatile. All the ingredients used here meld wonderfully with chicken, but don't hesitate to use any other leftovers you might have in the fridge. I've made this with soft crumbled goat cheese, toasted almonds, mandarin oranges, and baby spinach leaves...


Roast Chicken Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette
Serves 2

1 Roasted chicken breast, discarding the skin
1 cup of chopped romaine lettuce
1/2 avocado, sliced
6 cherry tomatoes, sliced
1 mini mozarella ball, sliced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, finely diced
6 caper berries
3 basil leaves, coarsely torn
A few Parmesan shavings

Shallot Dressing:
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
1 good squirt of lemon
1 tablespoon of very finely diced shallots
A good pinch of salt and pepper
In a small bowl, whisk all the ingredients

Add all the salad ingredients to your serving bowl. Right before serving, add the dressing and mix well. Enjoy!

A Few Favourite Bites

It's been a little silent over here lately, but the wait is up! There will be plenty of new recipes coming this way soon but in the meantime I leave you with some of my favourite photos from a recent trip to France.

















1. Red Mullet Served Over Sauteed Vegetables 2. Melon from the Local Market 3.Salmon Carpaccio 4. Charcuterie Plate with Chorizo, Jambon de Bayonne, Saucisson and Caper Berries 5.Beautiful Roses to Brighten up Any Kitchen Table 6. Colourful Carrots!