It looks like artichokes are back, so hard to resist. This crumble is composed of five different kinds of vegetables that have a different kind of textures and colors. The more colors the better. I am not “kale obsessed”, it’s just that I bought a huge bag of it, so I need to use it before it turns bad. Spinach or chards would have worked as well.

I kept the crust vegan using olive oil instead of butter, but using butter is fine too. As far as recipes are concerned I am flexible and not a “food nazi”. Sometimes I like to keep dishes vegan, even if I am not a vegan. I love wild mushrooms of any kind, I found this bag of a nice medley and that was perfect.

If you have a bunch of root vegetables, leafy greens and mushrooms and don’t know what to do with them, this crumble would be the solution. You get to eat your five vegetables in a delicious combo.

This can be served with a green salad. I used endives for their slight bitterness which definitely balances out the sweetness of the carrots and yams.

Let’s go green! It’s the color of the future.

For the yams purée

• 1.5 large yams, peeled and cubed
• 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
• vegetable broth
• 1 tbs coconut cream
• salt and pepper

For the mushrooms/kale

• 2 tbs chopped onion
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 pack mixed wild mushrooms
• 3 cups baby kale
• 3 tbs vegetable broth
• salt and pepper

For the artichokes

• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1lb baby artichokes
• 2 tbs white wine
• salt and pepper

For the crumble topping

• 60 g (or 1/2 cup) oat flour
• 4 tbs finely chopped walnuts
• 4 tbs oats
• 1/3 cup, olive oil (or butter)
• 1 tsp thyme
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the yams purée

In a pan, cook yams and carrots with broth at medium heat until the vegetables are tender, have absorbed the liquid and cooked all the way through. Add salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Add coconut cream and mash with a potato masher. Add more broth if too thick.

For the mushrooms/kale

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add onions and cook until translucent. Add mushrooms and broth. Cover with a lid and cook until the mushrooms are cooked and broth absorbed, about 7-10 minutes. Add baby kale and stir until wilted. Adjust with salt and pepper.

For the artichokes

Start trimming the artichokes by removing the “green leaves” all around and trimming the top. All the “green” part of the leaves needs to be removed. The only part that is left is the heart. Cut it in two or in quarters depending on the size of the artichoke. Place artichokes in a bwol filled with cold water and lemon juice, to prevent discoloring. Heat olive oil in a pan. Add garlic and stir until fragrant (do not burn the garlic). Add artichokes, stir well, then add wine, salt and pepper. Reduce heat, cover with a lid and cook until artichokes are tender and cooked.

 For the crumble

In a bowl, mix all ingredients except the oil (or butter). Add olive oil at the end and using your fingers turn into a crumbly dough with some texture.

In two or three deep dishes, divide the mixtures. Start first with some yams puree, then a layer of the mushrooms/kale and finish with the artichokes. Top with crumble mixture. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 370F for about 20 minutes or until top is golden brown.

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

Summer is gone already but I have a hard time switching my mood for fall…I love summer and its long day light, its products and the vacation spirit. Fall has its own character like every other season but I am not looking forward to winter. I don’t know why but I have not been in the soup mood for a long time nor have I been in the mood for seafood. I guess it all goes by phases. In my case, the less I eat something, the less I want to eat it.

I thought a kale soup would be the perfect dish to celebrate fall, it’s such a wonderful ingredient and so versatile, it can be prepared in so many different ways. This recipe combines two lovely ingredients, lacinato kale (or cavolo nero in Italian) and sea scallops. It might be the new trend to eat kale in the US, but in Europe it’s been consumed for ages. Usually trends don’t last, they come and go, so I hope kale is here to stay on the shelves.

For the next two weeks, I will be experimenting new recipes like this one, so I am quite excited to get extra time to play in the kitchen. You can also serve this soup in small glasses as a little appetizer.

Ingredients for 2

For the soup

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 leek chopped
• 1 small yam, peeled and cubed
• 2 bunches kale, stems removed and chopped
• vegetable broth
• salt and pepper

For the sea scallops (3 each)

• 6 scallops
• toasted sesame seeds
• dried thyme
• salt and pepper
• olive oil for drizzling

Preparation

In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add onion, leeks and yams. Let it cook stiring for about 10 minutes until fragrant. Add kale and cover with broth. Just a bit below kale level. Cook for about 25 minutes until tender. Adjust with salt and pepper. Blend with a hand blender or mixer. If it’s too thick add water or broth.

Mix sesame seeds and thyme together. Coat the scallops on both sides (you can also dip scallops in egg whites before) and using a grill pan, grill on both sides until cooked (two to three minutes per side approximately). Adjust with salt and pepper.

Serve scallops on soup, drizzle with olive oil and extra sesame seeds.

I called these galettes, anything in that particular shape, is a galette to me, but it can also be called borlotti burger, you can eat them as is, in a middle of a bun, or dress them up a little like I did, it’s all up to your imagination. They’re gluten free for those with Celiac disease, dairy free for the lactose intolerant crowd, light and nutritious for the “gourmands“. I am in the third category.

These are made with the kind of beans called “borlotti“I have always heard call them borlotti, but in English I just found out that they’re called cranberry beans. It’s a Italian variety. Fresh they come with a redish-whitish color skin. It’s the beans I was used to eating in my childhood, therefore they remain special to me.

You cannot always find them fresh, so the canned one work fine. I found an organic brand imported from Italy that is really good.

I made those quite large, the size of a hamburger, but you can make them half the size and serve them as appetizers. The combination of the beans, kale and pungent red pepper salsa was perfect. The textures and flavors really complimented each other.

For 3 large galettes

For the galettes

•  1 can borlotti beans
• 2 tbs garbanzo bean flour
• 1 egg
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 1 tbs red onion, chopped
• 1 tbs savory, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• salt and pepper

For the kale

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 3 garlic clove, shopped
• 4 cups baby kale
• 1 tbs kalamata olives, chopped
• zest of 1/2 Meyer lemon
• salt and pepper

For the roasted pepper salsa

• 2 small bell red peppers, roasted, skin off
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• cayenne pepper to taste
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbs olive oil

Instructions

For the galettes

In a mixing container, place drained beans (if using canned ones) and crush them to obtain a semi-smooth texture. Add all other ingredients and mix well. Form about 3 inches patties. Heat olive oil in a pan, add cook patties at medium heat until golden brown on both sides.

For the kale

Heat olive oil in a large and deep pot. Add garlic and let cook until fragrant. Add kale, salt and pepper and stir at high heat until wilted. Add lemon zest and olives and stir for few additional minutes.

For the bell red pepper sauce

Place peppers under broiler, and let them cook on all sides until the skin starts burning. Remove from oven and place in a plastic bag until it cools down. Remove skin and seeds. Place peppers in a mixer with the rest of the ingredients and mix until smooth.

Serve galettes hot, topped with kale and red pepper sauce. Drizzle with some olive oil

Believe it or not, this dish belongs to the express category. Today feeling exhausted and hungry, and not in the best mood, probably because of a foggy weather (San Francisco weather in the summer), like we say in French, “le ciel me tombe sur la tête“, the sky is falling on my head, which means that everything is so heavy that you have no energy.

I am dreaming on a relaxing vacation on a tropical island with white beach, some sun and nothing else. Since that is not possible right now, I decided to bring some sun inside the house, and what better to enlighten your day, than a vibrant and delicious vegetable dish?

Of course, being exhausted, I did not envision myself, spending hours cooking and cleaning afterwards. Mentally, it was impossible. So here we go, we have broccoli as the lead actor and a bunch of secondary vegetables that play an important role as well. Never undermined the role of a secondary actor, it changes the whole play.

The baby kale saute, is really optional, you could very well serve these galettes with the butter bean salad only. I was in the mood for some kale, and it complement this dish quite well, so I added it. It’s not essential.

Ingredients for 3-4

For the galettes

• 2 cups broccoli floret (some stem too)
• 1 tbs cumin seeds toasted
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• chili flakes (to taste)
• 4 tbs feta, crumbled
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• salt and pepper
• Greek yogurt (optional)

For the kale

• 2 cups baby kale
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• salt and pepper

For the butter bean-avocado salad

• 1 cup butter beans, cooked
• 2 heirloom tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 avocado, diced
• 1 tbs fresh mint, chopped
• 1 tsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the galettes

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook broccoli for about 3 minutes, until lightly cooked and  crunchy (if too cooked the broccoli will absorb too much water and the galettes will remain soggy). Drain and chop roughly. In a mixing container, mix broccoli, cumin and flour. Mix well all ingredients. Then add eggs and mix to obtain an homogenous mixture. Add garlic and chili and mix well. At the end, add feta carefully making sure not to break the pieces of feta. You need some unbroken pieces of feta in the galettes.

Heat oil in a large pan. Take some mixture (the equivalency of 2 tbs) and form small galettes. Cook on both sides until golden brown and cooked all the way through.

For the kale

Heat olive oil in a large pot, add garlic until fragrant. Add kale and cook at high heat until wilted. Adjust with salt and pepper.

For the butter bean-avocado salad

Mix all ingredients together, keep chilled.

I love simple dishes that are filled with delicious vegetables. This is a late spring, early summer soup when all the vegetables are available. It reminds me of some soups my mom made when I was a child with everything that was growing in the garden.

I was debating if I should call this a stew or a soup, I guess it can be called both. If you like artichokes and in the mood for some greens, this would be perfect. You can replace the lima beans with fava beans and kale with spinach or some leafy greens as well.

This soup cooks quite fast, the longest process would be the trimming of the artichokes.

You can serve this soup with toasted baguette slices and shaved parmesan on top. I kept it simple and it was just what I wanted for lunch.

Ingredients for 2

• about 10-12 baby artichokes, trimmed and cut in quarters or halves depending on the size of the artichokes
• 1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 scallion, chopped
• 1 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
• 1 cup lima beans
• 2 cups baby kale or spinach
• vegetable broth
• salt and pepper to taste
• some toasted baguette (if desired)

Preparation

Trim artichokes and place them in a container filled with water and lemon juice, so they will keep their color and won’t darken.

In a pot, heat olive oil. Add onions and scallion, soften them, then nd add garlic. Add artichokes, peas and beans. Stir well and let cook until fragrant. Add broth and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes until all the vegetable are tender but not overcooked. Add kale and cook for another extra 5 minutes.

Serve hot, drizzle with olive oil and fresh black pepper.

My Friend’s Julia mom, Florence a delightful lady from Paris came for a visit to the Bay Area during the holidays. She is an attorney in Paris but cooking is her hobby when she has time to spend in the kitchen. She wanted to learn some new tricks and recipes she could use while having her large family and friends for dinner (she has six children and and seven siblings).

While in San Francisco, I took her shopping to Berkeley Bowl and then spent the rest of the day preparing a four course meal for the rest of the family who joined us for dinner. I promised that my next recipe would be just for her, I wanted to make something easy, that could be a perfect canape, or appetizer for her large gatherings. Et voilà, c’est fait! Florence je pense que vous apprecierez ces canapés faciles à faire, goutûs et avec une pointe d’originalité.

Florence had all the qualities to be an excellent cook, she is curious, has lots of energy and is an excellent listener, so maybe good attorneys are great cooks after all!

These crostini can also be served an appetizer with a small side of green salad, you can of course adapt their size to the occasion. For canapes use, make them a slightly bit smaller than if you would serve them as an appetizer.

For an easy process, use express polenta, the one that cooks fast.

Recipes for me are versatile and are just ideas, you don’t need to replicate them exactly. For example here if you prefer to use roasted red peppers, you could. I like to combine different textures, so that’s why I made a coulis, just to complement to grainy texture of the polenta, the leafy spinach and crunchy and sweet shrimp.

If you read French, La cuisine du marché avec Silvia is a little note written by Florence to describe her little cooking experience in San Francisco. Lovely isn’t it?

Ingredients for 12 canapés

• 1 pint water (or 500 ml) salted water
• 4.4 oz (or 125 g) pre cooked polenta
• 12 shrimps, uncooked
• 12 slices pancetta, thin sliced
• 1 garlic clove, diced
• 1/2 bunch kale, stems removed

For the roasted red pepper coulis

• 1 large bell red pepper
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1 tbs olive oil
• cayenne pepper to taste
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the polenta

Bring a pint of water with salt to a boil. Pour polenta gradually, and stir well for about 3 minutes until the polenta thickens. Remve from heat and spread over a flat food surface in about 1/2 inches (1 cm) thick circle. Smooth the surface with a spatula. Let it cool and refrigerate for about one hour until the polenta is hard. Using a round 2 inches (or 4 cm) cookie cutter, cut polenta disks. Sprinkle with olive oil and broil under broiler or grill until the top is golden brown.

For the kale

Remove stems from kale and cut in about 2 inches pieces. Heat olive oil in a pan, add garlic clove and stir, add kale and cook until it wilts, adjust with salt and pepper

For the shrimps

Wrap one pancetta slice around each shrimp. Saute in olive oil until both sides are golden brown.

For the coulis

Place pepper under broiler, and char broil until the skin darkens. Proceed the same way on all sides. Remove from oven, let cool. Peel and remove seeds. Cut in small pieces and mix in a blender with garlic, oil, cumin and cayenne pepper. Adjust with salt and pepper.

Place one kale leaf on top of polenta, then add shrimp and top it with pepper coulis. Serve hot or warm.

Growing up, I have always asked my parents why did they have to move to the most rainy and muggy part of France where I was born and raised, and not in the South. My dad would nod his head “ma insomma Silvia, siamo andati dove c’era lavoro!”. Ok fine, they moved where there was work, but still that did not justify living in that terrible weather. I always dreamed that one day, I would be living in a very warm and sunny place where I wouldn’t have to wear socks and a weather that would not make my hair curl. Here I am…not exactly warm and sunny but I don’t have to wear socks, my hair does curl…BUT it’s definitely a beautiful city. I guess, you cannot have it all.

Kale is a great leafy vegetables and can be accommodated in so many different ways. In Italy they make wonderful soups with it, and this one is one among many. You could of course use cannellini beans for a variation, or chards instead of kale.

When using kale, I blanch it for a few minutes, to get rid of the dark water it produces. I gratinated it with comté cheese, not really an Italian cheese, but it melts well. You could use fontina for a more Italian touch, but Italians and French are cousins, so their cuisine is quite related. We say Italians are like the French but with a smile…which is quite close to the reality.

This soup is very simple, so if one day, you buy kale and have no inspiration about how to prepare it, try this soup, it’s healthy, delicious and quite simple. Crack a good amount of fresh pepper on top and it’s ready to be consumed…without moderation!

Ingredients for 4

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 celery stick, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• vegetable broth
• 1 bunch kale, blanched and chopped
• 1 lb (or 400 g) cooked chick peas
• comté cheese (or gruyère), grated
• salt and cracked pepper

Preparation

Heat olive oil in a pot. Add onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook for about 10 minutes until the vegetables soften. In the meantime blanch kale or chards in salted boiling water for a few minutes. Drain, squeeze some liquid and chop. Add broth to the vegetables then add kale. Let it simmer for about 45 minutes, then add chick peas, let it cook for another 10-15 minutes.

Serve in bowls and sprinkle with a good amount of comté cheese or gruyère. Place under broiler and let it melt and become golden brown. Crack black pepper on top and serve hot with toasted country bread.

I am not used to eating beets in hot preparations, and I wanted to explore this further. Sometimes, you are so used to eating things in a certain way, that the thought of changing ways makes you uncomfortable. It’s funny how we, humans are creatures of habits. In France, beets are eaten either raw or cooked but in salads, but rarely hot. At least, I never did. I have roasted them a few times in the oven, and I liked them, but that’s it. Ca s’arrête là. It stops there. Beets being roots, I figured that like potatoes, turnips or any other root vegetable, you can accommodate them in many different ways, one of which being stuffed.

I tried those with Roquefort cheese instead of goat cheese and it was delicious. You can play around a bit with the recipe and I prefer Roquefort than goat cheese, but goat cheese and beets are a perfect combination. You can use smaller beets and serve two instead of one. It really depends on how many number of courses you have. Also, you can serve it on a bed of arugula salad, endives, etc…any kind of greens you like. As you can see this dish is quite versatile, and playful.

As for the color of beets, there is not much difference between red beets and golden beets, other than the golden ones tends to be a tiny sweeter and have a more fragrant flavor, but the difference is really not that big.

Ingredients for 4

For the beets

• 4 medium sized beets
• 4 tbs soft goat cheese (or more to be adjusted according to beet size)
• 4 tsp, chopped walnuts
• 1 large garlic clove, crushed
• 1 bunch kale
• salt and pepper

For the vinaigrette

• 3 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs sherry vinegar
• 1.5 tsp pomegranate molasses
• 1 tbs chives, finely chopped
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Cook beets in water until tender. Drain, let it cool and peel. Cut a bit of the bottom to make it flat so the beet can stand sill, then cut the top and scoop the inside of the beet to make room for the cheese. Scoop about one third, not the whole beet.

In a small bowl, using a fork mix cheese, garlic and walnuts previously toasted. Stuff beets with the cheese mixture.

Blanch kale and when cooked, squeeze excess water.

Place stuffed beets in a tray and broil until the top turns golden brown.

Pour 2/3 of the vinaigrette on top of kale and toss well. Divide kale in plates, add one beet on top and pour the rest of the vinaigrette on top of beets. Serve warm.

Originally I wanted to keep this vegan, then I could not resist to use that beautiful Greek yogurt I had in the refrigerator. Kale is quite THE popular vegetable these days, at least in California, and everyone talks about its health benefits, and how everyone should use it in its diet. It’s even used in juices along with other fruits and vegetables when doing a detox, I tried it in a “Green juice” and I have to admit that I tasted it and really liked it. It seems like juicing is quite in fashion too in California but its real health benefits have been questioned among experts.

I often ate kale growing up, it was regularly found on our table, since my grandfather grew it in the garden. I consider myself lucky enough that my parents always made me eat what they were eating, and there was no special “meal” for the kids. People might criticize this upbringing, and think it’s a little strict, but in retrospective, I think it helped me to develop a palate and tastes opened to so many different flavors and textures.

Kale and chick peas are a wonderful combination, their respective textures complement each other quite well. Tempeh is also a great alternative to chick peas in this dish.

Tzatziki is always a delicious appetizer dish (or meze), I like to serve it as a side dish sometimes like here, it’s always refreshing. Tzatziki is mainly a Greek specialty but often found in Turkey too. It’s made with goat milk yogurt, thinly sliced cucumbers, olive oil, mint, garlic. I would think that everyone has its own specific recipe. I do not consider myself to be an expert in Greek cuisine, and only been to Greece once, but this version of tzatziki is more than delicious. I will have to go and check at my Greek grocer if he has a family recipe to share with me…but I guess if it’s a family recipe, he won’t.

Ingredients for 2 as a side dish

• 1 bunch kale
• 1 cup cooked chick peas
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 1 medium yellow onion, sliced
• 1 tsp ginger, grated
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 red chili, seeded and sliced
• 1 tbs olive oil
  

For the tzatziki

• 1 cup Greek sheep yogurt
• 2 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
• 1tbs mint
  
• olive oil
• salt

Preparation

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, cook kale for 2 minutes, drain and squeeze excess water.

Warm olive oil in a pan, add onions, stir for a few minutes, then add the rest of the ingredients except for the kale and chick peas. Stir well. Add vegetables and cook until fragrant.

Serve in small plates with tzatziki on the side.

For the tzatziki

Squeeze extra water using your hands from the cucumber. Add to the yogurt, then add remaining ingredients and let it rest for about 15-30 minutes.