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 had some leftover saffron quinoa that I didn’t want to throw away but I didn’t want to eat either. Obviously the choices were limited…so I used the quinoa to make galettes. I figured it would be a nice balanced meal with a butternut squash purée with it.

The quinoa was originally cooked using as a risotto ingredients, with shallots, saffron, broth and white wine minus the parmesan. I did not add cheese, I think it would add some heaviness that it did not need. If you want a more pungent galettes, you can of course add parmesan or feta for the matter.

I steamed the quinoa with all the ingredients instead of slowly adding broth while cooking.

Ingredients

for the quinoa galettes

• 1.5 cups cooked quinoa (risotto-style)
• 1 carrot, grated
• 2 tbs amaranth flour
• 2 tbs corn starch
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbs mixed herbs (chervil, chives, basil, parley, etc…), chopped
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbs olive oil

For the butternut squash purée

• 1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed in 1.5 inches cubes
• 1/2 cup of vegetable broth
• 1 tbs coconut cream
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the galettes

Place quinoa in a mixing container. Add flour, corn starch and baking powder and mix well, coating the quinoa with the flours. Add carrots and herbs and mix again. Add beaten eggs and adjust with salt and pepper. If the mixture is too liquid add a little more flour.

Using your hands, form a galette of about 2 inches diameter and 3/4 inch think.

Heat olive oil in a pan and cook galettes at medium heat until golden brown on both sides. Keep warm.

For the butternut squash

Cook squash in a deep pan with vegetable broth at low temperature with lid on. Add salt and pepper. When the squash is tender and cooked all the way through and liquid absorbed, remove from heat and mash with a potato masher until smooth. Add coconut cream and stir well.

I am so happy about the time change, days seems longer, they are definitely brighter. I am very ready for spring and everything it brings us.

This recipe features one more addition to the vegetable galettes chapter, I love those ones, well you need to first like cauliflower to appreciate those galettes…actually, no you don’t need to like cauliflower to appreciate these, you just need to try them.

I used the orange cauliflower kind but of course any cauliflower would work. I just like colorful dishes. It’s a quick dish to prepare and you can use those galettes as a side dish to chicken or any other meat, and for a vegetarian option, they are perfect as is with a green salad. These are a great way to make kids eat their vegetables, they’re fun and don’t look like one.

Ingredients for about 10 galettes

For the galettes

• 1 head orange cauliflower, cut in florets
• 1 zucchini
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 5 tbs parmesan
• 2 tbs chives
• salt and pepper
• olive oil

For the carrots

• 4 large carrots, peeled and shredded
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1.5 tsp lemon juice
• salt and pepper

For the yogurt sauce

• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove, crushed

Preparation

Blanch cauliflower in boiling water for about 3 minutes. Drain and set aside. Using a mandoline slice zucchini finely, place in a drainer and add 1 tsp coarse salt and let it drain for about 15 min. Rinse under water and squeeze excess water.

Chop roughly cauliflower and place in a mixing bowl. Add zucchini. Add parmesan, chives, flour, baking power, salt and pepper.

In another mixing bowl, beat the eggs and add to the mixture. Mix well, the mixture should not be too liquid, if too liquid, add flour.

Heat olive oil in a pan, using your hand, form galettes (2 inches diameter) and place in pan. Cook until both sides are golden brown.

For the carrots and yogurt sauce, mix each respective ingredients together.

Serve galettes on a bed of carrots with yogurt sauce on top.

Going back to my favorite cuisine, vegetarian…I just love the vibrant colors of vegetables and their versatility, they’re too good to keep aside. In this dish, the bitterness of rapini and sweetness of yams and carrots complement each other very well.

I wanted to make the equivalent of rösti but using yams and carrots. Rösti are a specialty from Switzerland and Alsace region, made with potatoes, sometimes bacon and sometimes onions, there are many variations. Growing up close to Alsace and the Swiss border, I got to eat those growing up at my friends’ house. I have to say that those rösti are delicious, they’re not as crunchy as they would be using regular potatoes, so if you are expecting something firm and croustillant, you will be disappointed but they taste so good especially with the yogurt sauce, so you will definitely forget the lack of crunchiness.

I used plain regular Greek yogurt which taste much better than the nonfat. Sometimes I use nonfat, but lately I have been using the regular kind of dairy with a little fat content. Make sure you are using Greek yogurt, I was looking at the ingredients of some yogurt brands (I don’t remember which brands) and I was shocked to find pectin in the list of ingredients. Usually you use pectin in jams to thicken them. How terrible is that to find in yogurt!

As for the rapini, what to say…they’re green and bitter, one of my favorite greens, very easy to prepare and delicious. You can use spinach, chards, kale, dandelions, etc…or any other greens. This dish is very filling, it will keep you satisfied for a long time, so a great meal to avoid snacking!

Ingredients for 2-3 (about 8-10 rösti)

For the rösti

• 1 small yam (about 200 grams, a little less than 1/2 lb), grated
• 2 medium carrots, grated
• 2 eggs
• 3 tbs cornstarch
• 2 tbs Japanese chives or regular chives, chopped
• 1/4 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/4 tsp coriander powder
• salt and pepper

For the yogurt sauce

• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• cilantro
• juice of one lemon
• salt and pepper

For the rapini

• 1 bunch rapini
• 2 tbs oil
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Grate carrots and yams and using your hands or a towel squeeze extra liquid. You need to remove as much liquid as you can from carrots and yams to avoid moisture when cooking. Add all the ingredients together, and adjust with salt and and a nice amount of pepper. Heat oil in a pan, place 1.5 tbs of carrot mixture in the pan until you have used all of it. Cook both sides until golden brown.

For the yogurt sauce, mix all ingredients together.

Serve rösti hot with yogurt sauce on the side.

For the rapini, heat olive oil in a pan, add garlic until fragrant but not burnt. Add rapini, salt and pepper and cover with a lid at medium heat. Cook until wilted.

 First, I just realized my old recipes dated from 2008 are gone, well in am in the process of adding them back. I had a major problem with my blog, and all the recipes disappeared. They are still in the blog but don’t show…I hate technology when I cannot figure it out. That made me very frustrated and bummed, but I guess there are things more important in life, and I need to “relativiser” as we say in French.
Where did the time go? And where have I been? I cannot believe it’s been almost one and half month I did not post any recipe. Where is the good old time where I could post every day?  In one month and a half, many things happened in my life, such as a trip to France where my mom was in the hospital and I took care of my dad who had a stroke a while ago. The good thing is, despite the terrible weather I had a great time shopping. I found a lot of fun kitchen gadgets that will make my life easy (who doesn’t like that?)…well, clothes too… Then back to the US, with a tendonitis, and more work, so I had to leave the blog a little on the side. C’est la vie…

I have been testing chick pea galettes for my vegan recipe list, and I finally stopped testing at this one. It took me a while, but I like this version the best. It’s like when you meet the person you want to spend the rest of you life with, you know it’s the one. Voilà c’est la bonne! Yes it’s the one, I am quite happy with this texture and flavor. Moist, soft and airy inside and crunchy outside.

You can serve those with a crunchy salad, or any green thing, I like to make ribbons with carrots and zucchini sometimes, just for the fun shape. I think they can be a remote cousin to falafel, but since I never really made real falafel I would not know for sure. Let’s be careful when making statements.

I used za’atar on top of the yogurt, which is an arabic spice. There are various preparations and versions of this spice mixture, such as the Lebanese one, Palestinian one, etc… but za’atar is usually made of dried thyme, sumac, sesame seeds, oregano, and sometimes other spices. I love it on Labne or Greek yogurt. It’s usually sold in Middle Eastern stores.

Ingredients for 3 (2 galettes each)

For the galettes

• 1 lb (or 500 g) cooked chick peas
• 3 tbs chick pea flour
• 3 tbs panko + 3
• 1 egg
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• a pinch or more piment de cayenne
• 1 tbs parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tbs mint, finely chopped
• 1 tsp baking powder
• salt and pepper

For the salad

• 2 carrots, peeled
• 2 zucchini
• cherry tomatoes
• olive oil (unfiltered preferred)
• lemon juice
• salt and pepper

For the yogurt sauce

• 1/2 lb Greek yogurt, plain
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tbs olive oil
• za’atar spice (optional)
• salt and pepper

Preparation

In a mixing container, puree the chick peas, add chick pea flour and panko. Add egg and mix all ingredients together to form a paste. Add the rest of the spices and herbs, mix well. Add baking powder. Make small galettes of about 2 inches diameter. Dip both sides in the rest of the panko.

Heat sunflower oil in a pan, and cook the galettes on both sides until golden brown, for about 7-10 minutes at medium heat.

For the salad, using a potato peeler, make ribbon with carrots as if you were peeling them. Proceed the same with the zucchini. Bring 1 cup of water to a boil, and cook zucchini for about 4 seconds. Remove from stove and drain. Mix zucchini, carrots and cherry tomatoes, toss with olive oil and lemon juice, salt and pepper.

For the yogurt sauce, mix all ingredients together. Add za’ater on top.

Place some salad in the middle of a plate, plate one or two galettes on top and serve with yogurt sauce on top or on the siade

I don’t often cook with mung beans, but once in a while I like to eat them, they’re so cute and round and tiny with a little white eye staring at you.

Of course, I didn’t grow up eating those beans since they’re mainly used in Asian cuisine, and growing up Asian cuisine was not part of my diet.

I remember in Nancy, the first time I ate Asian food, was in a Vietnamese restaurant, the only one in town, I must have been 13 year old (so it’s been a long time!), it was located in a gallery (and still is).

Then I used crab mushrooms, as an accompaniment, those look like beech mushrooms to me, but they seem to be different. I saw a box of crab mushroom at the Asian store, next to a box of  beech mushrooms so I came to the conclusion that they’re two different kinds of mushrooms. If I am wrong, please let me know. I would love to know.

The exciting part of this dish is that it’s vegan…and absolutely delicious. The tofu dipping sauce is so creamy and fragrant that the non-tofu friendly crowd will forget it’s tofu. I used regular tofu but silken tofu would be even better. Do not be intimidated by tofu, it’s such a versatile little ingredients and due to its neutral flavor, you can create so many dipping sauces an have a tofu makeover session! it’s so much fun to play with it!

Ingredients for about 10-12 galettes

For the galettes

• 170 g dried mung beans
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 poblano pepper, finely diced
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 1 leek, finely chopped
• 1 tsp curry powder
• a dash of soy sauce
• 2 tsp roasted sesame seeds
• 2 tbs mint, chopped
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

For the mushrooms

• 1 box of crab mushrooms
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tsp mirin
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 tbs cilantro, chopped

For the tofu dipping sauce

• 1/4 lb tofu
• 2 tbs soy yogurt
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tsp soy sauce

Preparation

For the galettes

Cook mung beans in water until tender. Drain well and let cool. Mash with a potato masher or with your hands.

Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallots and brown them. Add peppers, and leeks and cook until tender. Add carrots and stir for a few minutes. Add curry powder, stir well and cook for a few more minutes until all the vegetables are coated with the curry powder. Add soy sauce and stir.

Add the vegetables to the mashed mung beans and mix well to obtain a homogenous mixture. Add sesame seeds and mint. Form patties usig your hands. Coat each patty with panko crumbs.

Heat olive oil in a pan, place each galette in the pan and cook both sides until golden brown. remove from pan and serve hot with crab mushrooms and tofu sauce.

For the crab mushrooms

Was mushroom and disassemble them. In a pan, heat olive oil, add onion, ginger and cook the mixture until fragrant, then add garlic and cook for a few extra minutes. Add mushrooms, stir well, then add mirin. Cook until the mushrooms are cooked but still moist. Add cilantro.

For the tofu dipping sauce

Place tofu and other ingredients in a blender, and blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

I have been thinking lately about Thanksgiving menu and I am not sure what to make yet. Last year was mainly a “French” Thanksgiving with of course a Turkey but prepared the French way since the guests were French, and the traditional kind of French, and I wanted to make something different this year since the guests will be the same.

I love to make those vegetable galettes, they’re quick to make, original and delicious…so I might keep this for some side dishes, but not yet sure. You’ll probably think that those have nothing to do in a Thanksgiving menu, but I think it is allowed on my table since I did not grow up here. So that is my lame excuse. For years, I have been invited at friends’ house for Thanksgiving, so I never got to organize one, it’s been three years in a row that I am actually having friends over and it’s been quite fun.

I made those zucchini galettes gluten-free for some gluten allergic guests. I usually make them with regular flour but for those who cannot tolerate gluten, rice flour works fine. The flour I bought was a little more grainy than wheat flour but was not really a problem. I thought cooking without gluten would be tricky and it’s actually not. There are tons of alternative to wheat and it tastes great too.

Ingredients for about 8 galettes

• 5 zucchini, very thinly sliced
• 2 eggs
• 5 tbs or more brown rice flour or regular flour
• 1 tsp chopped thyme
• 3 tbs feta, roughly crumbled
• chili flakes
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Using a mandoline, slice zucchini very finely. Place in a drainer, and sprinkle with 1 tbs coarse salt for about 30 min. to let the water come out. Rinse under running water to remove the salt and squeeze tightly with your hands to remove excess water. Place in a mixing container.

In a large bowl, beat eggs with flour to make a thick paste. If paste is liquid, add extra flour. Mix well to obtain a homogenous mixture. Pour on top of zucchini. Mix well so that the zucchini get coated with egg mixture

Add thyme, chili flakes and adjust with salt and pepper, (don’t add too much salt, since the mixture is usually salty enough due to the feta cheese and salt remaining in the zucchini). Add feta, mix carefully not to break it, you want to incorporate feta pieces in the mixture.

Heat large pan, and spoon about 2 tbs of mixture forming some regular galettes. Cook until both sides are golden brown.

Serve hot as an appetizer with smoked salmon, or with a salad, or as a side dish.

Don’t you love when your refrigerator is filled with vegetables? You open the door and all you can see is a bundle of colors. Unfortunately, today, I only had a bunch of broccoli left with a red bell pepper. The good thing is that tomorrow I am going food shopping with a friend of mine to the Berkeley Bowl! I am already excited about it. It will be her first trip there, I cannot wait to see her when she sees the fruits and vegetable section. Some girls enjoy going to the SPA or get a manicure, and I get the same excitement when I go to the Berkeley Bowl. How weird is that?

Since I only had broccoli and bell pepper, I figured I would combine the two. I love those galettes dearly. They’re tender, melt in your mouth and so light!  You can use any vegetables you like and substitute mozzarella with gorgonzola cheese as well. The vegetables just needs to have some consistency so you can mash them in a puree, so it’s better not to use any leafy vegetable. I mixed a little chopped spinach with it, but more would not have worked because of the liquid they tend to produce. Those galettes are a good way to have your kids eat veggies, in case you have fussy ones. They won’t feel they’re eating vegetables, and the melting mozzarella in the middle is a selling point!

I did not add too many ingredients to the galettes and lose the broccoli flavor, since the harissa sauce will enhance them. Harissa is a hot Middle Eastern sauce, served with couscous. You can buy it in tubes and delay it in water. I like to make mine with red bell peppers.

You can serve those with a light salad, and you’re all set for lunch.

Ingredients for 2

For the galettes

• 1/2 head of broccoli
• 6 tbs pre cooked oats or regular oats soaked in hot water
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 2 handful chopped frozen spinach (optional)
• a few basil leaves 
• 1 fresh mozzarella ball, cut in small squares
• 1 tbs plain breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper

For the harissa sauce

• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• tabasco
• 2 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the galettes

Heat olive oil and brown shallots, add broccoli cut in small florets, salt and pepper. When broccoli are cookded mash them with a potato masher. Add defrost spinach and add to the broccoli. Add basil and garlic. 

Add enough water to the oats to form a thick paste. Add to the broccoli, and mix well. 

Take a small quantity in your hand and place a piece of mozzarella in the middle, close the ball well so that the mozzarella will not leek when in the oven and make a patty about 2 inches wide. Dip each side of the patty in bread crumbs. Cook in a pre heated oven at 375F for about 15-20 minutes, or until both sides are golden.

For the harissa sauce

Broil red bell pepper in the oven until the skin get charred. Remove from the oven, let cool. When cooled, remove the skin, and the seeds and cut in pieces. In a mixer, add red pepper and all other ingredients and mix to a smooth texture. Adjust with salt and pepper and serve with galettes.