Strawberries with lime curd

A little bit different from the norm, strawberries with lime curd is a true crowd-pleaser. It's a "Barefoot Contessa" recipe, and I've served it at a number of events now to rave reviews every time. The juice and zest of 4-5 limes are combined with sugar, eggs, and butter. All ingredients are stirred over low heat for about 15 minutes until thickened. The result is both sweet and tart and decadent and delicious. Served alongside strawberries for dipping, it is absolutely sensational...

Chilled cucumber soup

For a perfect first course or light, warm weather entree, this chilled cucumber soup is ideal. It's also really easy with a food processor. I tossed in unpeeled, seedless cucumbers, green onions, chopped jalapeno, watercress, and garlic with lowfat yogurt and sour cream. I then whirled it around before adding fresh dill, mint, cilantro, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper. The result is a cool, refreshing, tasty soup that is sure to surprise and satisfy. I garnished mine with chopped grape tomatoes and mint leaves.

Mango gazpacho with shrimp

Here's my new favorite summer appetizer that requires no cooking (or virtually no cooking). It starts by tossing two cups of fresh ripe mango, a peeled and diced cucumber, diced yellow pepper, onion, and a seeded and diced jalapeno into the food processor. Add 2 cups of orange juice, a good drizzling of olive oil, and salt and pepper and puree. And that's it. Just refrigerate it for a couple hours and it's ready to serve. To put it over the top, add some poached shrimp. Beautiful, refreshing, delicous.

Berry trifle

The perfect spring (or summer) dessert...

Start with freshly-baked country cake flavoured with vanilla and lemon and orange zest. Spread on a layer of raspberry jam with a hint of raspberry liqueor added to it. Next comes a layer of Marscarpone cream ( Whipped Marscarpone cheese, freshly whipped sweetened cream , vanilla, and orange zest). Add a layer of fresh berries, in this case strawberries and blackberries. Now repeat two times. The result? A dessert that will leave your family and friends smiling with absolute contentment...

Manchego quince skewers

Simple, yet dramatic. These appetizers are from Tyler Florence's book, Tyler's Ultimate, and though they only contain a few ingredients, they are delicious. To begin, roll cubes of quince paste in finely chopped almonds which have been lightly toasted. Then thread them onto the skewers folled by watercress and cubes of Manchego cheese. That's it! They're done. Pretty simple, but really delicious.

Sauteed scallops with vegetable risotto

A special dinner for any occasion, or no occasion...

I love risotto. For me, it is pure comfort food, and the bonus here is it's good for you. I started by sauteeing onion in a bit of olive oil for a couple minutes before adding the arborio (short-grain) rice. It is important to stir the rice to make sure each grain gets coated with oil. Then I started adding warm chicken stock. Whenever possible, I prefer to add homemade stock as the flavour is just so much better than store-bought. I added the stock a little at a time and stirred until it was absorbed by the rice. In total, I added about 4-5 cups of stock to 2 cups of rice. Once all the stock was absorbed, I added about 1 cup of white wine and stirred it in so it was absorbed. I then removed the pan from the heat and stirred in 1/2 a cup of asiago cheese, 2 tablespoons of butter (for flavour and richness), and the vegetables (summer squash, asparagus, and carrots) which I had already steamed. The risotto would make a fantastic meal at this point, but to make it really special, I topped it with sauteed sea scallops which take less than 5 minutes to cook. So good...it's one of my current favorites.

Salmon, cucumber, and wasabi cream cheese on crispy wontons

A beautiful and elegant appetizer that's delicious too... I bake the wonton wrappers until crisp. Then I add a mixture of cream cheese, wasabi paste, soy sauce, honey, and lemon juice. Next I add cucumber slices, smoked salmon, and a sprig of dill. And that's it! So good, I could eat a whole tray of these...oh wait...I did.

Chili-roasted salmon with pineapple salsa

Celebrate spring with this delicious dish...
I coat the salmon with a chili and garlic paste, salt and pepper. I then roast the salmon for 20 minutes at 450 degrees until the fish flakes easily. To compliment the salmon, I serve a pineapple salsa made of fresh pineapple, red onion, mint and orange juice. The sweetness of the salsa is perfect with the spice of the salmon. Zucchini couscous completes the delicious and healthy meal.