Tapenade (olive spread)

Tapenade or olive spread is made in Provence.
This is the original recipe.

You can make green olive or black olive tapenade.
You can even mix both black and green olives its delicious too!

Ingredients:
1 can of black olives (the best are greek-italian-nicoise style) - or green olives-
----Pitted olives are better and easier to prepare but the non pitted ones are tastier-----
1/2 little jar of capers (see picture)
10 anchovies filets
2 garlic cloves (more or less to taste)
Olive oil

How to make it:

Take a small blender and put all the ingredients together.
Add some olive oil.
Blend until it looks like the picture.
You can add olive oil until you get the needed consistency.

Spread it on some good bread toasts, use it in salads to add some provence flavors to it (use tapenade, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar), or a little bit on your pasta sauce, etc ... .

Enjoy !!

Ratatouille

The ONE and ONLY Ratatouille ! 


I used to cook ratatouille in a large pan, but a friend gave me that recipe, and since that day i only cook it that way.
It's tasty, confit, simply delicious !

Ingredients: 

1 large eggplant
2 zucchini
2 bell peppers ( red and yellow if possible)
1 onion
1 garlic head
3 tbs of olive oil
2 tbs of tomato paste
About 20 little cherry tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbs of mixed herbs (oregano, thyme, rosemary)
1 bay leaf

How to make it: 


Preheat oven at 200C° celcius or 390F°.
Peel half of the zucchinis and eggplant (see picture)
Dice the vegetables (eggplant, bell peppers, zucchinis, onion)
Do not dice the tomatoes
Chop the garlic
Put in a large bowl the tomato paste, the herbs, the bay leaf, the salt and pepper, the olive oil and the garlic. Stir well.
Add all the vegetables and mix them with your hands so that all the veggies are covered with the tomato mixture.
Put them in one layer in a baking oven sheet, in the middle of the oven, ideally.
Stir often so they dont burn and cook heavenly
Cook for about one hour until confit !

Ratatouille can be eaten, cold, room temperature or hot. With rice, bulgur, pasta, bread... Endless possibilities : )

Bon appétit !

Chickpeas salad with sundried tomatoes, zucchini and spices

Today for lunch I made a delicious chickpeas salad... Super healthy, no added fat, and very tasty :)

What you will need :

- 2 cups of chickpeas already cooked ( in a can )

- 1 large fresh white onion

- About 6 sundried tomatoes, that you will rehydrate in boiling water 5 min ( no oil )

- 1 large zucchini or 2 smaller ones, cut in little cubes ( and steamed in microwave 5 minutes )

- balsamic vinegar

- cumin

- soy sauce

- salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

-Drain and rinse the chickpeas

-Peel completely the zucchini ( unless its organic ) and cut in little cubes.

Then, place the cubes in a small bowl, add a table spoon of water and cover with plastic warp.

Microwave 5 minutes, they will be cooked but still very tender.

-Boil some water and put the sundried tomatoes in it. Wait 5 minutes, take thm out and rinse them to bring them to a cool temperature

- Chop the fresh onion ( fine half moom shape is better )

Once all the preparation is done, assemble all the ingredients in a larger bowl.

Add 2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar, and 1 tbsp of soy sauce.

Sprinkle some cumin on top, add salt and pepper to taste.

Mix well.... and chill in the fridge before serving it very cold.

Bon Appetit !

Capers and Sun dried tomatoes Bruschetta

I have been home all day and i decided to create some new recipes, vegan still, and low fat...

I started reading "eat more, weight less" from Dean Ornish and I have to say that this guy is a genius.

I definitely recommend to anyone to read that book, it may help you save your life :)

And on top of that at the end of the book there are a bunch of delicious almost vegan low fat recipes.

Thing is that those recipes are kinda elaborated and either take time to make or need a LOT of different fresh ingredients to make them, and as a result its kinda expensive...

A pinch of this, a tablespoon of this, and a teaspoon of that etc ...

Here is a "easier but as tatsy recipe" from Dean Ornish book.

Making the topping ( for 18 pieces of bread )

6 sundried tomatoes cut in small pieces.

1 small fresh white onion ( or any kinda onion really - add as much as you like ) chopped

1 large or 2 small garlic cloves , chopped

1 ripe tomato, cut in small dices

3 tablespoons of capers

A little bit of dried :

-oregano, basil, thyme, or mixed dried or powdered herbs

salt and pepper o taste

1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar

A small loaf of whole wheat bread, sliced ( from the bakery rather than from publix ) and use 18 slices

Put the whole sundried tomatoes in boiling water for about 10 minutes

Rinse them with cold water and cut them in small pieces.

Add all the other ingredients to a bowl and let marinated for at least 15 minutes at room temperature.

Put each slice of bread, flat, add some dried herbs and bake at 375F* until crispy and golden

Take them out and top them with the mixture while the bread is still hot

A pure delight !

Ideal with a green salad for lunch or as appetizer when you have guests or family

They will certainly be impressed ! : )

( picture to come )

Bon appetit !!!

Vegan Stuffed Vegetables

I haven't been posting for a long while now...

I have to say that I have been very busy lately,...

Moving out from my apartment, going in the caraibeans for a week vacations, and finally moving to France for the summer

...

I am getting a bunch of delicious vegan recipes from here, that I will start posting too .

Tonight dish :

STUFFED VEGETABLES

We are going to use only 5 types of vegetables, very easy to find... nothing too fancy.

South of France - Provencal cuisine is all about Simple, healthy, in season products ...

This is a recipe for 16 stuffed vegetables, or 4 people.

Preparation : 30-40 minutes

Cooking in oven : 1 hour

Vegetables to be stuffed:

4 big tomatoes

4 medium eggplants

4 bell peppers ( color of your choice )

4 zucchini

The stuffing:

1 1/2 cup of long grain rice

1/4 + 1/2 cup of olive oil

1 large onion ( chopped )

1/2 cup of parsley ( chopped )

2 carrots ( grated )

2 medium size zucchini ( grated )

1 small eggplant ( grated )

salt

pepper

breadcrumbs

Preparing the vegetables:

Wash the vegetables.

Cut the caps off the tomatoes and peppers.

Cut both ends of the eggplants and zucchinis.

lay the eggplants and zucchini on their more stable side, so they dont roll all over, and cut open the top, carefully leaving an inch on each end of uncut vegetable.

( see picture )

With a spoon, spoon out th pulp and seeds of the peppers, eggplants and zucchini.

Discard all or save the zucchini and eggplant pulp to make a ratatouille type sauce-dish later on.

Scoop out the tomatoes and save the pulp, we will need it for the stuffing.

Lightly salt the inside of the vegetables.

Save the caps off all the veggies, we will use them to cover them once they are stuffed.

Preparing the stuffing:

In a large pan, warm up 1/4 a cup of olive oil, and the onion, chopped.

When the onion becomes transparent, almost golden, add the chopped parsley.

Keep stirring for 3 minutes.

Add the grated vegetables all at once.

Cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes or until well softened.

Add the tomato pulp ( if possible, crush it well ) and cook for another 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and let it cool for about 15 minutes.

Then add the rice, salt and pepper and mix it well.

Assembling everything:

With a spoon fill in the vegetables with the stuffing , loosely ( because the rice will double or triple in volume ).

Prepare a mix with 1/2 cup olive oil and 1/2 cup of water , and pour it over the veggies.

Close back each vegetable with its cap, and sprinkle with breadcrumbs.

Cook for about an hour at 450 Fahrenheit or 220 Celsius.

Check that the veggies do not burn if placed too close to the top of the oven.

If they brown too fast, cover them with aluminium foil.

It is simply delicious, not heavy at all.

Without the breadcrumb its a gluten free dish as well as vegan.

Bon Appetit From South of France !!!

Brown Rice with vegetables

Tonight, I am making a very simple yet tasty and healthy dish...
Brown rice with vegetables ...

For 1 person:
-1/4 cup of brown rice
-1 cup of mixed vegetables ( cut in small pieces - frozen or not )
( mine has green beans, peas, corn, carrots, edaname)
-1/4 cup of chopped onion
-olive oil

Preparation...
1)Chop your onion and sauteed it until golden in a pan with olive oil.
2)Add the brown rice and sauteed the rice too for another 3 minutes ( med-high heat)
3)Add the vegetables and sauteed for another 3 minutes, while stirring.
4)When the veggies are half cooked or defrosted, add 1/2 cup of water ( or double the volume of whatever amount of rice you put in there )
5)Cover and let simmer and cook for about 15 minutes ...
Stir occasionally
Add salt and pepper to taste
When the rice has absorbed all the water, taste it, and if it is too crunchy add a bit more water, cover and let simmer for another 5 minutes.
I like to add some fresh thyme to it when it is done cooking, it adds more flavor to the dish.
Also I usually add a tbsp or 2 of mixed seeds and nuts to almost everything i cook. Read below why !

FDA only approved the heart health claim for almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, some pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts as these nuts contain less than 4g of saturated fats per 50g. However that doesn't mean you should restrict yourself to these 7 nuts only. In addition to nuts, seeds such as flax seeds, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds may offer the same heart health benefits. Again moderation is the key - limit your intake to 1 to 2 oz of unsalted nuts per day. Source: http://www.healthcastle.com/nuts-benefits.shtml


And as a side dish, I am making sauteed spinach with olive oil and garlic... to add some fiber intake to my dinner.

BON APPETIT !!

Quinoa and sauteed veggies with marinara sauce

Today for Lunch I had planned on going to go and try one of the Vegan restaurant downtown...OM GARDEN, But it's such a beautiful day that I did not want to waste 1h30 sitting inside a restaurant.... I'd rather be at the beach... So I opened my fridge and made up a quick lunch with leftovers ...
And it ended up very good : )

Ingredients for 2 persons :
- 1.5 cup of Cooked Quinoa ( or as much as you want )
- 1 squash
- 1 zucchini
- 1 cup of diced raw eggplant
- 2 button mushroom
- 1/2 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup of organic marinara sauce
- Olive oil
- Basil
( you can use any veggies really... those are what i had in the fridge )

Preparation:

Dice the eggplant in big pieces and set it in the microwave, full power for 2minutes ( its a secret way of cooking eggplant and so far I haven't found better ! )
Dice all the other veggies, all at approximately the same size.
First put some olive oil in the pan, warm it up, and sauteed the carrots first. then add the eggplant ( make sure it roasts on each side ), the zucchini, squash and mushrooms.
Sautee them all together until golden. Add chopped fresh basil, salt and pepper to taste.
When done, add the marinara sauce ( I love the Whole foods market brand for the organic marinara sauces ) and heat it up.
Place quinoa in a bowl, top it with the veggies and decorate with some fresh basil leaves.

VOILA !

Bon appetit !