A friend of mine, brought me Einkorn flour…and was telling me all about the benefits of einkorn. The question is what is einkorn? Einkorn is an ancient grain form the spelt family, and originally from Italy. Einkorn is the German name for petit epeautre or engrain in French and piccolo farro in Italian. Not to be confused regular epeautre or regular farro or spelt.

This little amazing grain has not been hybridized, it remained like it was 10,000 years ago and has a shell so hard that makes it very resistant to weather or bugs, therefore does not need any chemicals. Einkorn has a lot of nutritional benefits (very high protein content) and most people who are gluten intolerant can actually consume it. What’s not to like about this grain?

So i got very curious about this flour that I decided to make pasta…the result is incredible, the dough is fine, smooth with a gorgeous texture. The flavor is delicate yet bold and nutty, needless to say, I will only use einkorn flour from now on, in all my baking. I bought whole wheat einkorn pasta for the days I don’t have time to make it by hand, and it’s really delicious.

This recipe is quite simple, it combines carrots, wild mushrooms and whole wheat einkorn penne. The carrot pesto provides a delicate sweet flavor that can be enjoyed in many different ways. This pesto could also be used as a dip, or spread…or anything you can think of.

You can keep it vegan without parmesan, either way it is delicious.

Ingredients for 2

• 200 g einkorn penne
• 1 tbs olive oil
• about 8 large oyster king mushrooms, sliced

For the pesto

• 2 carrots, peeled and cut in chunks
• 2 garlic cloves
• 3-4 basil leaves
• 2 tbs walnuts
• 1 tbs grated parmigiano reggiano
• 2-3 + tbs extra virgin fruity olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the pesto

Mix all ingredients in a mixer and mix until smooth. Add some pasta water at the end if too thick.

For the pasta

Heat olive oil in a pan, add mushrooms, salt and pepper. Saute until water evaporates and cooked.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and let it cook for about 10 min until al dente.

In a mixing bowl, add pasta, mushrooms and carrot pesto. Stir well to combine all ingredients together and serve hot

I bought a juicer a long time ago. I thought I would start juicing, then after one week, I got tired of cleaning the juicer, so that went in the basement, where all the unused “things” sit. My basement almost looks like a museum of kitchen gadgets.

One week ago, for whatever reason, I decided to start juicing carrots again and bringing back the juicer from the dungeon. A boost of vitamin A would definitely not hurt my skin. My neighbor was telling me how her forehead skin spots (almost like vitiligo) disappeared after one week of drinking carrot juice. I love those kinds of stories, involving vegetables and proven health benefits, and not reading from a magazine.

So here I am at the store buying a tons of all kinds of carrots, thinking my skin will look soon gorgeous. I bought all the possible carrots I saw on the shelves: yellow, purple, thin, fat, long and short. It seems like there is a carrot party in the refrigerator.

After one day of juicing, I remembered why that machine was left in the basement for so long…the cleaning. It’s really annoying (that’s the least I can say), and it went straight back in the basement. Now, I have a lot of carrots to play with, it is a fun toy because you can use them and their greens in so many different ways.

Like any other root vegetable, you can eat the stems. You can make many things with carrot stems, such as soups, pesto, eat it as a saute green, etc…You no longer have to throw those away when you buy carrots by the bunch.

They don’t have a strong taste such as the mustard greens, they’re more subtle. These galettes are light and you need to eat more than two to feel replete, so eat them with a side dish other than a salad. You can add other spices but I like the combination of cumin, coriander and paprika.

Ingredients for 2

For the galettes

• 1 bunch carrots with stems
• 1 cup oats and oat bran (50-50)
• cashew milk
• 2 eggs
• cumin powder
• paprika
• coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• salt and pepper

For the carrots and edamame

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1/3 onion, chopped
• 4-5 small carrots, peeled and cut in about 1.5 inches pieces
• 1 cup edamame, shelled
• 1 garlic clove, crushed

For the yogurt-tahini sauce

• 3 tbs Greek yogurt
• 3 tbs tahini
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• juice of 1/2 Meyer lemon
• zest of q/2 Meyer lemon
• 1 tbs cilantro, chopped
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the galettes

In a mixing container, mix well carrots greens, oat bran and oats. Add cashew milk and eggs, let sit until the oats start absorbing the liquid and the mixture starts to thicken, and turns into a pasty texture. Add milk gradually so you will see the quantity you need. You don’t want extra milk to sit at the bottom of the bowl. That would mean you added too much. Add all other ingredients and mix well.

Heat olive oil in a pan and add the quantity of 2-3 tbs of mixture. When the galettes are golden brown on one side, turn on other side. Remove from pan and keep warm.

For the carrots and edamame

Heat olive oil in a pan, add onion, cook stirring until fragrant, then add carrots and edamame. Add 2 tbs dry white wine, salt and pepper and cover with lid. Let cook at medium temperature until the vegetables are soft but a bit crunchy. Add garlic and stir for a few minutes.

For the yogurt tahini sauce

Mix well all ingredients together and serve sauce with galettes.

I love weekends, especially when I have enough time to explore new recipes and cook. That is my perfect weekend, and even more perfect when my experiments turn out delicious.

Strangely beets remind me of my childhood. The first time I had beets was in elementary school, I must have been 6 or 7 years old. I used to have lunch “à la cantine”  (the school canteen where kinds have lunch?) since my mom could not come pick me up for lunch. They were cut in small cubes and served with a vinaigrette. Most kids didn’t eat them, but for some reason, I like them and always asked for a second serving. I have been eating beets since then. Some of my friends in their adult life ended up hating everything they ate “à la cantine” and were traumatized by that food.

A discussion with my mom this morning led to this recipe. She was mentioning a delicious zucchini carpaccio she ate at some friend’s house, topped with parmesan and basil, that she loved. It made me realize that I don’t make vegetable carpaccio very often. Usually when talking about carpaccio, it’s mainly referring to beef or salmon, topped with olive oil, lemon, etc…

I had a bunch of beets in the refrigerator, that I kept postponing to cook and I wanted to explore more recipes using my raspberry vinegar too. What more perfect than this!

Another alternative to Greek yogurt sauce is to shave some pecorino on top of the beets. It’s all up to your inspiration.

I loved this combination of beets, raspberry vinegar, goat yogurt and herbs, especially when you add extra dressing and extra goat yogurt, when everything mixes up; then all different nuances of colors, flavors and textures dance in your plate and palate.

Ingredients for 2-3

• 2 golden or red beets, peeled and finely sliced using a mandoline
• pumpkin seeds, roasted

For the raspberry dressing

• 6 raspberries, crushed with a fork
• 2 tbs raspberry vinegar
• 1 tsp chives, chopped
• 3 tbs olive oil
• salt

For the yogurt sauce

• 1 plain goat Greek yogurt
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbs fresh mint, finely chopped
• zest of 1/2 meyer lemon
• juice of 1/2 meyer lemon

Preparation

In one container, mix raspberry dressing  ingredients together. Mix yogurt sauce ingredients together.

In a plate, lay out beet slices nicely. Drizzle some raspberry dressing on top of the beets. Add one tbs of yogurt sauce. Decorate with pumpkin seeds.

Serve with more yogurt sauce and dressing on the side.

Don’t throw away the green leaves of the root vegetables, they’re completely eatable and delicious. Beets are a zero waste vegetable. You can prepare the beet leaves like any other greens. Saute it, raw in salads, pesto, soups, etc…

The pasta is a mixture of buckwheat flour and wholewheat flour. Buckwheat has no gluten so you need to mix it with some other flour in order to make a pasta that will not break. I have always disliked broken tagliatelle. When I was a child, I would refuse to eat spaghetti or any type of long pasta if it was broken, and up to these days, I really don’t like broken pasta. It’s very important that the pasta keeps its original shape. You can play around with the flours ratio like 2/3 buckwheat 1/3 wholewheat, brown rice flour, etc…but the more flour with gluten you use, the better the texture. I used brown rice flour in this recipe to try out the texture. Also, you can add parmesan in the pesto, I did not add any cheese this time, I wanted to keep it more simple.

Ingredients for 3-4

for the pasta

• 200 g buckwheat pasta
• 100 g brown rice flour (or wholewheat flour)
• 2 eggs

For the pesto

• 2 bunches of beet leaves
• juice of one lemon juice
• 2 tbs toasted walnuts
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 tbs parmesan (optional)

For the beets

• 1/2 lb golden baby beets, peeled and quartered
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the pasta

Mix both flours in a large container. Add eggs and mix well to obtain an homogeneous texture. Knead dough until soft and smooth, make a round ball with dough and let it rest for 30 min under a cloth. Using a long rolling pin, start rolling the dough until thin (1mm). Let it rest a few minutes. Add extra flour if needed, and fold dough bringing two sides toward center. Cut into strips about 3/4 cm thick. Let it rest for about 20 minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta, stir carefully and make sure not to break pasta. When the pasta comes at the surface (a few minutes later), drain pasta. Add beets and a few tbs of pesto. Mix well and serve hot.

For the pesto

Mix all ingredients together in a mixer to form a paste. Adjust with oil if too thick

For the beets

Place beets on a tray. Add salt, pepper, oil and vinegar and coat the beets. Roast in a pre heated oven at 390F until tender.

I am not sure how this recipe was made alive, I kept looking at my two packs of polenta, thinking I need to use them at some point. I love polenta, I just never think of making it. It’s one of those things that you need to have it in your pantry but then, in the pantry it remains. I grew up eating the traditional polenta from Marche region in Italy, the way my mom used to make it, with tomato-rabbit sauce. It was delicious but a little too stuffy.

Polenta has many uses and is quite a versatile ingredient. You can make sweet cakes, or use it as a thickening agent, or anything you like.

I used almond milk in this recipe, the natural kind which contains only almonds and water, and no thickening agents and flavors.

This is a simple dish, enhanced by the sweet pepper coulis. A perfect dish for a hearty lunch for one of those muggy days in the city. This pepper coulis could be the base of pesto, but I didn’t add any parmesan nor nuts so it has a smoother texture and more liquid.

Ingredients for 3-4 cakes

For the cakes

• 300 g baby spinach
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup natural almond milk
• 6 oz (or 170 g) express polenta
• 3 tbs feta, crumbled + 2 tbs
• 1 tbs mixed herbs, chopped
• salt and pepper

For the pepper coulis

• 2 red bell peppers
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/4 tsp cumin powder
• 1/4 tsp piment d’espelette
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs basil
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the cakes

Preheat oven at 380F.

Heat non stick pot, add spinach and cook until wilted. Remove from pot, squeeze water and chop roughly.

In a mixing container, combine milk and eggs and beat well. Add spinach, onion and polenta. Add crumble feta and herbs. Adjust with salt and pepper and mix well.

Using silicon molds (about 8 cm each) or non stick mini pans, divide the mixture in each container.

Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes until the top gets golden.

Serve hot with pepper coulis.

For the pepper coulis

Roast peppers under broiler until the skin gets burnt on all sides. Remove from oven and let it cool in a plastic bag.

Remove the peel and seeds.

Add all ingredients in a mixer and mix to a smooth texture.

This vichyssoise recipe has been on my mind for ever, but for whatever reason I never managed to finalize it. I have always wanted to make a vichyssoise, but a different version from the traditional one which is made out of leeks, potatoes, milk, parsley and consumed cold.

Its origin is unclear, so I will not discuss something that we don’t know. One thing I know is that it’s delicious, no matter where it originated from.

This vichyssoise is served with a salad of asparagus placed in the middle of the plate, which gives an crunchy texture to the velvety soup. Soups are considered a meal that is supposed to warm you up, so the notion of cold soup is not very appealing to some people. Soups are so nutritious and delicious that they don’t have to be enjoyed only in winter. Here is one to enjoy cold, warm or hot. But if it’s hot, don’t call it Vichyssoise!

Ingredients

• 1 lb large asparagus (remove 4-5 asparagus from the bunch)
• 1 fennel bulb, cut in pieces (remove one piece to slice on a mandoline)
• 1/2 onion
• 1 small leek
• 2 small potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup (or 300 ml) vegetable bouillon
• 1/2 cup milk (or 150 ml) milk
• salt
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt or 2 tbs heavy cream

For the salad

• 4-5 asparagus, sliced lengthwise with a potato peeler
• 1 piece of fennel (2 inches) sliced thinly with a mandoline
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp, roasted fennel seeds
• 2 boiled eggs, chopped
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the soup

Heat olive oil in a pot. Add onion and cook slowly until translucent. Add leeks and potatoes. Cook stirring for about 5 minutes. Add broth. Cook for about 20 minutes, then add asparagus. Cook for about 5 min or until tender. Adjust with salt and pepper. Using a blender, mix the soup to obtain a smooth texture. Add yogurt or cream. Let it cool and place in the refrigerator to chill.

For the salad

Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Using a mandoline cut, asparagus lengthwise to form ribbons. Cook asparagus in water for 30 seconds, drain and set aside. In a small bowl, mix all ingredients except for the eggs. Add eggs at the end.

Serve soup cold, with a spoon or two of the salad in the center.

I wanted to take more different pictures of this pizza with a more close up on a cut slice but unfortunately, my battery went off, so all I had time to take was a whole pizza uncut.

Since everyone has been talking about this pizza from a friend in Island to another friend in Italy, I wanted to try it out for myself. The particularity of this pizza is that the crust is made out of ground cauliflower, cheese and eggs, no flour. The first time I made it, the crust was a bit soft and soaked, due to the fact that I did not squeeze enough liquid from the cauliflower, but with a delicious flavor, so I wanted to make it right with a decent textured crust. The secret is to squeeze all water from the cauliflower after it’s been microwaved.

I am used to Italian pizza, the way they’re served in Italy. Usually, they don’t put any garlic, or onions, the ingredients are simple and of good quality so I like to keep simple. Of course, you can put any toppings of your choice, the focus of this pizza is primary its crust, not the toppings.

For the tomato sauce, I like to use whole San Marzano tomatoes, that I crush in the mixer, make sure you don’t buy the kind with added basil or garlic, or onion. They tend to be acidic and with a strong unnatural flavor.

I was skeptical at first, then after tasting it, I was amazed at the crust texture, it was so delicious that you forget that there is no dough…no flour, no yeast, just cauliflower. Now it’s an all time favorite in this house!

Ingredients for a large pizza

For the crust

• One large cauliflower, finely grated
• 120 g hard mozzarella, finely grated
• 50 g parmigiano reggiano, finely grated
• 2 eggs
• salt

For the toppings

• 1 small can of plain and whole San Marzano tomatoes
• about 10 large crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 50 g Italian fontina cheese, thinly sliced
• 100 g mozzarella, sliced
• 1 box of cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
• dried oregano for sprinkling
• 4-5 large leaves of fresh basil, chopped or en chiffonade
• extra virgin olive oil for sprinkling

Instructions

For the toppings

Cook mushrooms in a little olive oil and salt, until water evaporates. Keep aside. Cook crushed tomatoes with a little salt in a pot until you obtain a thick sauce, with no water (about 10 minutes). Set those aside.

For the crust

Microwave ground cauliflower in a large container for about 8-10 minutes. Remove from microwave and let it cool. Place cauliflower in a cheese cloth or a large cotton towel and squeeze firmly until the water comes out. You need to remove the excess moisture from the cauliflower. In another container, mix cauliflower, cheeses, eggs and salt. Mix well until you obtain an homogeneous dough.

Pre heat oven at 420F. Cut parchment paper the size of your pizza pan. Spread the dough evenly on top of the parchment paper. The crust should be about 3-4 mm thick. Form a nice a smooth round circle with your dough.

Place in the oven for about 15 minutes until the dough gets lightly golden. Remove from the oven and start adding the toppings.

Spread tomato sauce first, then add mushrooms. The next layer is the cheese, place cheese slices evenly on top, add cherry tomatoes, and finish with oregano.

Cook in a pre heated oven at 420F until cheese has melted. Add basil and drizzle with some olive oil. Serve hot

Today I am celebrating zucchini, this vegetable that is quite considered ordinary, with not a lot of character. It’s its day of glory (son jour de gloire) and it’s well deserved. By dressing it up a bit, you can make delightful little meals with it. Zucchini is naturally bland, so like any other bland ingredient, it absorbs the flavor of whatever you are combining it with.

I love the simplicity of this dish, yet with character. Thinking about it, I love simple things with character and that is true for people I like in general too. In my opinion is if you add too many powerful ingredients to a dish, it tends to lose the true nature of its key ingredient, then it’s confusion for your palate.

The interesting part of this dish is that you have cooked zucchini in small pieces in the farro, then puree zucchini which has such a velvety texture, then raw and marinated zucchini for a more crunchy bite. I love all the contrasts you get with these three kinds of preparations.

As far as farro is concerned, I used Italian farro instead of the domestic one. I find it easier to cook, and it remains a little softer. You can substitute barley to farro. If you want to keep it vegan, don’t add the parmesan.

For 4 people

For the cream of zucchini

Cook zucchini in vegetable broth until tender. Add thyme and cook for an extra 5 minutes. Adjust with salt and pepper. Blend in mixer and add more broth if it’s too thick.

For the farro

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 zucchini, finely diced
• 1 handful of shitakee, chopped
• 3 tbs peas
• 2 tbs dry white wine
• salt and pepper

For the cream of zucchini

• 1/2 cup of vegetable broth
• 4 zucchini, peeled and cut in pieces
• 1 tsp fresh thyme
• salt and pepper

For the zucchini ribbons

• 1 zucchini
• 1 tsp olive oil
• juice of 1 meyer lemon
• 1 tbs basil, finely chopped
• salt and pepper
• shaved parmesan

Preparation

For the zucchini ribbons

Using a potato peeler, form stripes going from one end of the zucchini to the other end. Place in a bowl and add olive oil, lemon juice and basil. Marinate for about one hour. When ready to use, add salt and pepper.

For the cream of zucchini

Cook zucchini in vegetable broth until tender. Add thyme and cook for an extra 5 minutes. Adjust with salt and pepper. Blend in mixer and add more broth if it’s too thick.

For the farro

Cook farro in vegetable broth until cooked. Drain and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add shallots and onions and let cook a few minutes until fragrant. Add zucchini, mushrooms and peas. Adjust with salt and pepper. Cover with lid and cook until the vegetables are soft. Add farro to the vegetable mixture. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add 2-3 tbs of cream of zucchini, mix well and keep warm.

In a plate, using a rind, place some cream of zucchini first around the rind. Then add a few tbs of farro in the rind. Pressing so that the shape does not collapse. Add zucchini ribbons on top with shaved parmesan.

After a recent trip to Japan I came back with tons of recipes, ideas, inspirations, and a fascination for this wonderful country. Needless to say that for someone like me who spends most of her time cooking, and who loves to cook, Japan is the place to go. Everything is perfection, to the quality of the products, to the gorgeous presentations, to the meticulous creations, Japanese strive for perfection and they do it better than any other country. Everything is an art, and people take pride in whatever they do. Many countries should take example on Japan.

Since I took pictures and notes on everything I ate, in order not to forget it, I have the goal to reproduce most of the delightful dishes I ate to the best of my abilities. So within the next month or two, the dishes will be Japan-inspired.

The amazing things about Japanese cuisine is that it seems simple, with simple ingredients, but it’s not that simple. It all depends of the cut of the ingredients (the types of knifes they have is incredible, almost one knife for one ingredient, definitely one knife for one particular type of fish). The herbs are cut very finely which gives a subtle and distinct flavor to the dish.

I ate this daikon dish in a small Izakaya (pub serving small dishes and sake, wine, beer and other types of alcohol) in Kyoto. I had no idea what to expect, but the owner told me that this would be good for me, so I let her decide.  Basically daikon is a big radish, some are smaller, some are bigger. Western supermarkets in San Francisco like Whole Foods carry them, but for this steak, you need a large one (about 10 cm diameter), available in Japan town at Nijiya supermarket.

The original dish in Kyoto was served without any herbs. I took the liberty to add herbs at the end. Adding them or not adding them would be your choice. I got this recipe from my Japanese neighbor, Rui. it tasted identical to the one I ate in Kyoto.

This dish is very simple to make yet delicious.

Ingredients for 4

• 1 large daikon, peeled and cut in 2 cm slices
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs butter
• 2 tbs soy sauce (I used the reduced salt one)
• salt
• 2 scallions, cut very finely
• 2 tbs mitsuba, cut very finely (Japanese parsley)

Preparation

In a large pot of salted water, cook daikon  for about 30 minutes, until soft (a knife should be able to go through the slice) but still firm. Drain. In a pan, heat olive oil, and brown daikon on both sides at high temperature (about 3-4 minutes). Add a little salt.

Add butter and soy sauce, stir well coating the daikon and serve. Sprinkle with herbs.

Originally, I had something else in mind, I wanted to use this tofu as the stuffing of some filo dough triangles. Unfortunately, sometimes things change…since I had no filo dough in my refrigerator. The funny thing is that I was so convinced I had some, so here I am all ready to roll the filo dough but no filo dough at the horizon. I needed a plan B.

Since tofu works well in many different ways, I figure cakes it will be, just no dough.

I wanted some Mediterranean flavors in my tofu, and what’s more Mediterranean than tapenade? This wonderful olive paste that is so fragrant. In this tapenade, I did not include anchovies, I kept it vegan which would go better with this dish.

The great thing about tofu is that it’s naturally bland, so you can season the way you like. It absorbs whatever spice and ingredient you combine it with.

I loved this dish and will definitely make it again for vegetarians and non vegetarians, including myself.

Ingredients for 2

For the tofu cakes

• 230 g extra firm tofu
• 1 carrot, peeled and grated
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 handful kale, finely chopped
• 2 tbs parsley, chopped
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbs + oat flour
• salt and pepper

For the salad

• 1 large red bell pepper
• 1 large yellow bell pepper
• 1 medium eggplant, sliced 1 cm crosswise
• 2 tsp Meyer lemon juice
• 2 tbs extra virgin unrefined olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tbs cilantro, finely chopped
• salt and pepper

For the tapenade

• 150 g green olives, pitted
• 1 tsp capers, rinsed
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 tbs olive oil

Preparation

For the tofu cakes

Squeeze water from tofu, using your hands. With a paper towel, pat dry all excess moisture. In a mixing container, crumble tofu using your hands to obtain a very thin and smooth and almost non-grainy texture. There should not be any thick pieces of tofu.

Add carrots and garlic to tofu.

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add shallots and cook until soften. Add tofu mixture and cook for about 5-7 minutes until carrots soften. Mix well. Remove from heat and place in a mixing container. Add all other ingredients and add the flour at the end. If the mixture is too liquid, add a little more flour.

At this point, the mixture is ready to form little cakes of about 2 inches diameter.

Heat olive oil in a pan. Cook cakes at medium temperature until golden brown on both sides.

For the salad

Char broil the peppers under a broiler. Turn peppers on all sides until the skin is burnt. Remove from oven and place in a plastic bag until cool. Peel the peppers and remove seeds. Cut strips of 1/2 inch wide.

Heat skillet, add eggplant slices and cook until golden brown on each sides. Cut each slice in quarters.

In a mixing container, add peppers, eggplant, and all other ingredients.

For the tapenade

Mix all ingredients in a mixer until smooth but a but with a bit of a grainy texture.

Place some salad on a plate, top it with tofu cakes and add a tsp of tapenade on top