I tried a new hair salon today, I think by now I went to almost all the hair salons in San Francisco and I haven’t found a stylist that knows how to cut short hair. I like my hair very short and it seems that most women in the US wear long hair, therefore most hair salons don’t know how to cut short hair. They know how to color and cut long hair, but as far as short is concerned, they just have one hair cut that they do on everyone. So I tried a new salon down town, and I got assigned to a hair stylist. I don’t know if this was me or her, but she did not talk at all, so I tried to make some conversation, nothing really philosophical, but to somehow tuer le temps as we say (kill time), and nothing really seemed to interest her, so I just kept quiet, thinking maybe she was having a bad day…everyone is allowed to have one. Anyway, my hair is short and I still don’t like the cut, nothing different than usual, but on top of it, the hair stylist was not pleasant.

Well, one good thing about today are my lovely rolls…

I love bittery greens, and the bitter the better! Doing my regular grocery shopping I found those gorgeous purple red mustard leaves, they seemed so young and tender, that it would have been silly not to buy them. I always have some spring roll wraps, that I buy thinking I will use them, but never do, which is a shame. So I promised to myself that no matter what, I will prepare something with those wraps. Of course, you can just imagine what happened to the wraps and red mustard leaves…they got married and that was a match from heaven.

The other highlight of this dish is really the beet vinaigrette. The sweetness of the beets was incredibly delicious combined with the bitterness of the greens and melting kasseri cheese. Kasseri cheese is Greek and is made out of sheep milk with a touch of goat milk. Its consistency is similar to mozzarella, and tends to melt easily. You can mix the cheese with the greens, I added the cheese at the end, that’s the reason why it’s barely noticeable on the picture, but you can mix it with the greens. This is a fairly quick dish to prepare and is delicious as a main dish with a salad or as an appetizer.

Ingredients for 6 rolls

• 1 bunch mustard leaves
• 6 spring roll wraps
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tbs kalamata olives chopped
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tbs olive oil (+1 for the pan)
• 5 tbs kasseri cheese

For the beet vinaigrette

• 5 small baby beets
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp raspberry vinegar
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Wash mustard leaves thoroughly. Bring a large of salted pot of water to a boil, and cook mustard leaves for about 5 minutes or until tender. Drain, let cool and squeeze extra water using your hands. Chop finely. Heat olive oil in a pan, add garlic, stir for a few minutes, then add chopped mustard leaves. Adjust with salt and pepper (don’t add to much salt since the cheese and olives are already salted). Add lemon zest and stir for another minute or so. Remove from stove and set aside. Add olives. At this point, you can add cheese to the mixture or add it at then end, like I did.

Place on wrap on a flat surface and add greens and cheese. Roll like a cigar (not that I have ever rolled a cigar). Proceed the same way with all the rolls.

Heat olive oil in a pan, and add each rolls, watch them carefully, they burn easily, turn them around to brown all sides. Remove from the pan and drain extra oil in a paper towel. Serve with arugula leaves and beet vinaigrette on the side.

For the vinaigrette

Cook beets until tender in water. Peel and let cool. Blend in a mixer with the rest of the ingredients.

This post is overdue, I started it before I went to Tel Aviv, but never managed to finish it, so after days of wonderful fresh food, I came back to France where the bad weather conditions made me want to go back to sunny Israel. There is definitely a Greek flair to Tel Aviv, probably the Mediterranean climate and fresh produce you find all over the markets. So Moussaka here we come.

What if you feel like moussaka without meat? People might tell you, then it’s not moussaka. So not to upset anyone, I just decided to use the word fake, even though it is prepared in the same “spirit” as a moussaka.

Since I arrived at my parents, meat, prosciutto, pâté, fois gras and other ingredients have been around the table for the holidays, and I don’t know now how I have to explain my mom that I do not enjoy to eat meat THAT much. Seems like she doesn’t believe me, or doesn’t want to believe me. So I had to somehow cook something for them today, to make them believe that vegetarian dishes are quite tasty and enjoyable. France is certainly not the country for vegetarians, and Italians are not vegetarian either, so I am just wondering if you are a vegan how you will survive here.

We went shopping to a wonderful organic supermarket with so many amazing products called “La Vie Saine” (healthy life) and came back with tons of great healthy products, I am trying to make them eat less animal based products but it’s quite a challenge to change people’s habits in their late 60s. I don’t want to change anything nor anyone but at least make them enjoy other cuisines. My parents are quite open in trying new cuisines and a lot more open minded than some other French or Italians of their generation.

So I found a lentil mix of red, green, and beluga lentils that I absolutely wanted to use, then I had eggplants, so I figured that a vegetarian moussaka would be perfect…and they really enjoyed it. So I will make this dish more often.

I am not sure there is a morale in this story, probably not but I was very happy that my vegetarian moussaka was successful in a traditional Italian and French table!

Ingredients for 4-5

• 1/2 lb (or 250 g) green lentils
• 1 yellow onion, cut in half
• 3 cloves
• 1 carrot
• 1 celery stick
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 eggplants, sliced crosswise
• 5 medium size tomatoes, seedless, peeled and chopped
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 7 oz (or 200 g) gruyère cheese, grated
• 3 tbs parsley, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Cook lentils in water and add carrot, celery, bay leaf and onion with cloves stuck in it. Cook until lentils are cooked but not mushy. Drain water and remove carrot, onion, bay leaf and celeri. Set aside.

Start with grilling the eggplants using either a grill pan or broiling them under the broiler, after sprinkling them with olive oil, salt and pepper. Set them aside.

Heat olive oil in a pan, add onion and brown them. Add tomatoes and cook until water is evaporated for about 10 minutes.

In a mixing container, add lentils, garlic, tomato mixture, parsley, egg and egg white, chili, salt and pepper.

In small ramequins, add a little olive oil, add one layer of eggplant and one layer of lentils. Sprinkle with cheese and proceed with another layer of eggplants, then lentils and cheese.

Cook for about 20 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 375F until the cheese has melted.