Pork belly, if cooked just right, has an inherent balance to it. A textural balance. A crispy exterior with a tongue-tender interior creates a lovely symmetry for the palate. But unfortunately, it is also more than half fat and very decadent.

Now, try pork belly paired with light flavors. It is no longer just texturally balanced but something different entirely. These pork belly lettuce wraps are topped with a sweet fennel and apple salad with an earthy miso dressing. This makes a sexy and inviting appetizer, or have several as a main course.

Imagine the size of that breaded calamari.

If you are looking to try cooking a new protein this year, try buying yourself some fresh or frozen squid. You can find frozen squid in many Asian or Mediterranean markets. Just don’t defrost it until the day before you are planning to use it as it is highly perishable.

Despite their oddities squid or calamari are delicious sauteed, fried and braised. The key is either very quick cooking, or long cooking otherwise you will have rubbery little mini tires that will take minutes to chew through. If you are looking for recipes for squid, then this cold calamari salad recipe is, in flavour, very much like a ceviche. However, in this case the squid is very quickly cooked and chilled before being marinated. Serve as an appetizer with nice crusty bread.

I think that is because usually I bake or microwave spaghetti squash, toss it with salt and pepper, and serve some curry or stew on top so the squash is merely a vessel. However, since this was my first winter squash of the year I wanted to do something interesting.

So here is an idea for a spaghetti squash recipe that will please everyone. Call it a squash gratin, or a squash casserole if you prefer. This recipe can be made ahead or even reheated the next day as it makes great leftovers. I think you could make this healthier if you wanted too by reducing the sour cream. Next time I think I am going to mix in some curry powder. If you like this post, don’t forget to sign up to get all my recipes by email or via rss.