We love supporting local and making connections with the people who produce the tasty ingredients that nourish and inspire us – it’s what makes a trip to bustling Granville Island worthwhile. It’s also why we’re stoked on Foodeo, a website recently launched by Granville Island featuring recipes with a unique Island twist.

The name is self-explanatory, since the food-centric site excels in its video recipes, like Market Pho – a perfectly satisfying meal to have in our holsters for the stretch of grey, rainy and chilly Vancouver winter days ahead.

So far, the pho is one of six of the website‘s recipes, ranging from breakfast (Pecorino Fried Eggs with Bitter Greens) to dinner (Apricot Honey Mustard One-Pan Chicken and One-Pot Mussel Pasta), and even cocktail hour (Horseradish Pickle Caesar)…plus a scrumptious-sounding Persimmon Skillet Cake for dessert. Each of the recipes play out in sped up birds eye views of the cooking process, as short (50 seconds to 2 minutes) easy-to-follow videos. But what’s really killer is that every recipe is made completely effortless by pin-pointing exactly where on Granville Island to source each and every ingredient, even attaching a face to some of the vendors you’ll be procuring them from. The guess-work (and most of the leg-work) has been completely removed, proving that you definitely don’t have to be a Foodie or even an especially adept home cook to get the most out of Foodeo (whew!) and execute the entire repertoire of awesome recipes.

Another rad aspect of Foodeo is their Unique Products section. Clearly, the people at Granville Island know how easy it is to be intimidated, confused, amused and/or in awe of a lot of the market’s international and specialty products because they’ve also collaborated with the Island’s experts to encourage you to try out some of the Market’s more unusual offerings. So far, by way of inspiration, they’ve tapped into the passion and knowledge of their vendors (South China Seas, Four Seasons Farms, Granville Island Produce and The Stock Market) to take the mystery out of those fuzzy little rambutans, enjoy the flavour of raw jicama, tackle turmeric in a latte, or simply make your soup decadent with a spoonful of creme fraiche.

The real insider info, though, is in the Expert Tips portion of the website, which is dedicated to making you rethink common kitchen tools and leftovers. No one really likes peeling vegetables, but I sure do like the idea of peeling perfect parmesan shavings, as suggested by the Duso’s Italian Foods expert. Speaking of peeling: we’ll definitely be keeping our eyes peeled for other imaginative ideas the minds behind Foodeo come up with next. In the meantime, see you on the Island!