CALII LOVE - TORONTO'S NEW POKE BAR AND CAFE

CALII LOVE - 367 King St W (416) 792-5683

Calii Love is the newest addition to Toronto’s King West hip food scene. This California-inspired Hawaiian poké bar and café aims to please the masses – and it does. If you are in the area, waking home from work or just finished at the gym this place is the perfect place to drop in for a quick healthy bite.

What is poke? Well, poke is raw tuna or salmon marinated in shoyu (a by-product of miso that is thicker then typical soya sauce) and it is delicious!

With a healthy ‘Californian Surfer Lifestyle’ in mind, Calii Love’s menu is made up of coffee, acai bowls, super-food smoothies and poké bowls that are all named after emotions and aim to help you find balance in your bustling city life. All ingredients are sustainable and locally sourced and the seafood is delivered twice a day to ensure quality and freshness.

This week I got to sit down with Dan Gunam, one of the owners of Calli Love who described how the menu was inspired by LA’s clean eating lifestyle and a surfer’s diet. Apparently it is typical for a surfer to have a smoothie bowl in the morning before a big ride and a poké bowl for lunch to re-energize, all while maintaining a clean diet.

The restaurant has already been visited by numerous celebrities during TIFF including John Legend, Ann Hathaway, Ryan Gosling, and Natalie Portman, many of who’s signatures can be seen on one of the surf boards that line the walls of the restaurant.

The restaurant features a very bright, energetic, colourful, and clean interior and holds both a large family-style communal table along with small individual tables, and of course free WiFi for patrons. If you typically like to set up shop in a café and work on your laptop like me this is a great alternative to your regular cafe and you don’t have to worry about binging on pasties because they don’t have them.

Other cool features about the restaurant include a second floor that will soon be used to host pop-up yoga classes (coming in 2017).

What did I order? A customized poké bowl with spicy salmon, edamame, radish, tobiko, green onion, pickled ginger and wakami. To drink I had an ‘Awakened’ smoothie and a cappuccino with my face drawn in it by the incredible Barista Brian- what an awesome party trick!

To see their full menu click HERE

'CHICKEN' NUGGETS - VEGETARIAN

As a kid I loved chicken nuggets!!! They were legit my favorite meal as a child. I recently have been trying to eat healthier, but still have cravings for my beloved chicken nuggets. So when I came across this recipe I thought it was a happy compromise. If you are looking into becoming vegetarian or vegan and want to transition yourself into the lifestyle this is a good recipe for you. It is also pretty easy to make gluten-free as you only have to change the panko bread crumbs to a gluten free option like rice or corn crumbs. Either way I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did.

VIDEO POSTED BELOW

INGREDIENT:

1 (15oz) Can of Chickpeas (Drained and Washed)
2 Eggs (or Vegan Egg Substitute) - One will be used for the breading
1 Cup of Chickpea Flour - 1/2 Cup will be used for the breading
1 TSP of Salt
1/2 TSP Onion Powder
1/2 TSP Garlic Powder
1 TBSP of Poultry Seasoning
1 Cup of Bread Crumbs or Rice/Corn Crumbs for GF option

DIRECTIONS:

Place chickpeas in a food processor and pulse until no large chunks remain. Once finished place chickpeas in a bowl and add one egg and mix together.

Add 1/2 Cup of chickpea flour to bowl along with salt, onion powder and garlic powder. Mix until fully incorporated.*

Form nuggets and place on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.

Once finished place baking tray in the fridge for 20 minutes to that the nuggets maintain form.

When ready remove nuggets from fridge and preheat over to 375 degrees.

Beat your last egg (this is your egg wash). Mix your poultry seasoning with the remaining flour in a bowl. Add breadcrumbs (or gluten free option) to another bowl. Dip each nugget into the flour, followed by the egg wash and lastly the bread crumbs and place back on the parchment paper.

Once oven is ready place baking tray with nuggets in the oven to cook for 20 minutes flipping the nuggets over half way through.

ENJOY!!!

*If you find that the nuggets are really wet and hard to form you can add an extra TBSP of chickpea flour.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I do. If you have any comments please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can! Bon Appetite!!!

VEGAN TOFU FRIED RICE

This fried rice recipe has got some POWER! I love a little spice in my food so you know I'm gonna turn it up with this dish but if that's not for you go easy on the garlic chili sauce. I love me some Asian fried rice!!! If you are vegan this tofu dish is perfect for you and if you are not... well dont stop there! I've been known to add some shrimp to this baby or even chicken but you can remix this however you want - just make it your own. Enjoy

VIDEO POSTED BELOW

INGREDIENT:

3/4 Cup of Tofu (diced)
1 Cup of Brown Rice
3-4 TBSP of Soya Sauce or Tamari
2 TBSP of Brown Sugar
1 TBSP of Peanut Butter
1-2 TBSP of Garlic Chili Sauce
1 TSP of Sesame Seed Oil (optional)
4 Cloves of Garlic (Crushed or minced - 1 for Sauce 3 For veggies)
Veggies (Corn, Celery, Peas and Carrots)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven at 400 degrees.

Place diced tofu on a baking tray covered in parchment (wax) paper. Place in the over for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.

Next get your rice cooking (I usually do two parts water to one part rice)

Time to compose the sauce, add the soya sauce, brown sugar, peanut butter, sesame seed oil, garlic and garlic chili sauce to a bowl and mix!

Once the tofu is ready throw it in the sauce and let it marinate for 5 minutes and soak up all that goodness. 

After five minutes you want to throw it in a pan on medium heat and let that cook up for 5 minutes. DO NOT throw all the sauce in with the tofu, just whatever it is coated in is fine - keep sauce for the veggies and rice.

Remove tofu from pan once cooked and throw in a little more sauce along with the veggies. You want them to soften so you may want to cover the pan to speed up that process and keep moisture in - stir every couple minutes.

Once the veggies are soft add the tofu back in along with some cooked rice and the remainder of the sauce. Mix it all together before serving.

*If you are adding an alternative protein (i.e. chicken or shrimp) you can make extra sauce and marinate it in that prior to cooking it separately and then adding it in at the end.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I do. If you have any comments please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can! Bon Appetite!!!

PESTO SHRIMP WITH GLUTEN FREE PASTA

I love me some pasta and this is one of my easiest recipes. If you are hungry or dealing with some 'hangry' company/kids this is the fastest and easiest meal to get on the table. The longest part of this recipe is waiting for the water to boil, after that it's done in 10 minutes. I'm not celiac but I like using gluten free pasta whenever I can. In this case I used qunioa pasta (my fav gluten free kind of noodle) because it is easier to digest plus its a complex carb (1 part protein to 2 part carbs) making your noodles that much healthier for you. I also find that taste and texture wise it's the closest to regular aldente wheat pasta from a box. Enjoy! 

Serves 2 Adults

INGREDIENTS:

2-3 TBSP of Olive Oil
2 TBSP of Butter
1 Clove of Garlic (minced)
1 Shallot (Finely chopped)
15-20 Shrimp (de-vained and shell removed)
Pre-made Pesto*
Quinoa Pasta
Salt to taste
Parmesan Cheese (garnish)

*make sure it's gluten free

DIRECTIONS:

Bring a pot of water to a boil add 1-2 TSP of salt and your quinoa pasta. You have to stir quinoa pasta for the first two minutes so that it doesn't stick together. Continue to cook for another 8-10 minutes for aldente.

Add olive oil and butter to a skillet and allow to heat up on medium heat before adding in your garlic and shallots.

Once shallots become transparent add in your shrimp and pesto. Mix and allow the shrimp to cook until pink.

Once pasta is aldente remove 3-4 TBSP of water from the pot and set aside. Drain the remaining pasta water and add the pasta into the skillet with the shrimp and pesto. Mix well so that the pasta is well coated.

If you need a little more liquid to cook the pasta a little more add in the pasta water you set aside now. This will also help remove anything stuck to the bottom of the skillet.

Twirl pasta and plate. Add shrimps from the skillet and garnish is pesto sauce and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I do. If you have any comments please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can! Bon Appetite!!!

CINCO DE MAYO SPICY SHRIMP TACOS

Cinco de Mayo is one of my favorite holidays! That's mainly because it's another great excuse to eat tacos more than once a week. I have been doing some experimenting and have come up with an amazing shrimp taco marinade which of course I just had to share with the world. I will warn you that this marinade is spicy (not kick-you-in-the-pants spicy but has-some-bite spicy) so if you're not into spicy stuff you probably wont enjoy this as much as my other recipes. If you can stand a little heat then more to ya my friend!!!!! Enjoy!

Makes 4 Tacos - VIDEO BELOW

INGREDIENTS:

16 Shrimp (de-veined with shells removed)
1-2 TBSP of Olive Oil
1/4 TSP Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 TSP Chili Powder
1/4 TSP Paprika
1/4 TSP Cayenne Powder
3 Cloves of Garlic (minced)
1 Lime Zest and Juices
1.5 Cups of Shredded Cabbage
1 Stock of Green Onion (Chopped)
Salt
Avocado (sliced)
4 Tortillas

Garnish:
1/4 Cup of Cilantro
Sprinkle of Cotija Cheese or Feta Cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Mix shrimp, olive oil, red pepper flakes, chili powder, cayenne powder, minced garlic, pinch of salt and lime zest in a bowl. Allow to marinate for 15 minutes or so.

In another bowl mix together the shredded cabbage, lime juice, chopped green onion and a pinch of salt.

Warm up a skillet on medium heat and add in the marinated shrimps, cook for about 5 minutes or until pink. You can add more oil if you think you need it.

Warm tortillas up under oven broiler for a minute or two.

Plate your tortillas, add your avocado slices, cooked shrimp, cabbage slaw, and garnish with cilantro and cheese.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I do. If you have any comments please leave them below and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as I can!  Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!