Today I had in mind to make something completely different for lunch. I have no idea why I ended up with this recipe. Mysteries of the brain. It certainly made my day. This is vegan, not that I am vegan but sometimes I like a clean, no-animal dish. It just depends on what I had during the week and this week, I think I had too much fish/seafood. My body clearly communicates with me on what he wants, and today he said no dairy and no animals please. So I had to listen. The body knows.

Originally, I was thinking to eat a potatoes or yams mille feuilles as a main dish (literally translated into “thousand leaves”, not sure what the English translation is, and I am not motivated to Google it). Usually mille feuille is a famous traditional French pastry made with layers of puff pastry with layers of vanilla custard. In this case, since it’s a multi layer vegetable dish, we can also call it mille feuille.

Then I thought ok, yam mille feuille sounds great but what do I eat with it…since it’s more of a side dish than anything else. One thought is always leading to another one, and another one, and finally I decided on tofu.

I used heirloom tomatoes because they have a less seeds and not watery like the other tomatoes. Besides, they have sweet delicious flavors.

This dish is simple. What I mean by simple is in terms of flavors, it’s subtle and nothing strong or overpowering, or pungent. Nothing like that, just simple, a few herbs, no spices or chili. Mellow and very pleasant. I enjoyed myself, and ate many portions that I was not suppose to. Tant pis!

Ingredients for 2

For the mille feuilles

• 1/2 large yams, peeled and sliced thin using a mandoline
• 2 zucchini, sliced thin using a mandoline
• 1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed
• 2 tbs basil (or mixed herbs such as parsley, chives, etc…), finely chopped
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

For the tofu

• 1 tbs vegetable oil
• 2 tofu steaks (3/4 in thick, 2.5 inches x 3.5 inches)
• corn starch (enough for dusting two sides of the tofu)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 tbs soy sauce (reduced salt)
• 1 tsp mirin

For the mushrooms/tomato fondue

• 1 tbs olive oil1
• 1 large shallot, finely diced
• 1.5 cups mixed wild mushrooms (maitake, trumpet royale, pioppini, forest nameko, etc…)
• 2 medium heirloom tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 2 tbs dry white wine
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the mille feuilles

Preheat oven at 375F.

Using a mandoline, slice yams and zucchini into very thin slices. Place in a mixing container and combine the two vegetables. In a small bowl, mix olive oil, garlic and basil (or mixed herbs). And add salt and pepper. Mix well to coat the vegetable slices.

Using a muffin rack, place one slice of yam, then a few slices of zucchini, alternating until you reach the top.

Bake in the oven until cooked and browned on top (about 15-20 min)

For the tofu steak

Heat vegetable oil in a pan. Coat tofu with corn starch and remove excess starch. Brown tofu on both sides until golden brown and crunchy. Remove oil from the pan. In a bowl, mix soy sauce, sugar and mirin. Add this mixture to the tofu and reduce heat. Cook for a few minutes until tofu is caramelized and sauce reduced.

For the tomato-mushrooms fondue

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add shallots and cook until soft. Add mushrooms and cook stirring for a few minutes, then add tomatoes and wine. Adjust with salt and pepper. Cook until water evaporates and drizzle with olive oil.

Serve mille feuilles on the sides with tofu steak in the middle topped with tomato-mushroom fondue. Sprinkle with basil and serve hot.

]]> http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2016/09/yams-and-zucchini-mille-feuilles-saute-tofu-steak-wild-mushrooms-and-tomato-fondue/feed/ 0 http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2016/06/no-flour-pizza-cauliflower-crust-pizza-with-mushrooms-fontina-cherry-tomatoes-and-basil/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=no-flour-pizza-cauliflower-crust-pizza-with-mushrooms-fontina-cherry-tomatoes-and-basil http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2016/06/no-flour-pizza-cauliflower-crust-pizza-with-mushrooms-fontina-cherry-tomatoes-and-basil/#comments Sun, 05 Jun 2016 21:03:41 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=17931 La pizza senza farina – Pizza con impasto al cavolfiore, funghi, fontina pomodori e basilico

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

I made these with leftover polenta that I didn’t want to throw away. When you think about all the food thrown away each year, it’s just unbelievable. I was reading an article on the French news stating that each French person throws away 79 kg (about 180 lbs) of food per year, which I find shocking, especially when you think about all those who are starving in the world due to no food supply.

Germany has installed public refrigerators outside supermarkets where people can leave leftover food to fight this waste problem. I think more countries should follow Germany.

if you have no leftover, you will have to make polenta first. My polenta was flavored with rosemary and parmesan that I used to make little cakes to grill. I used express polenta, it will save a lot of time (boil water with 1 tbs chopped rosemary, stir well according to package directions, add parmesan at the end).

If you are not using leftover polenta, that your are just making it fresh, it needs to cool down, preferably placed in the refrigerator until it becomes hard.

I used gluten free flour, not because I have a problem with gluten but because I was out of regular flour. So use the flour of your choice, but not a strong flour like quinoa flour, or any other strong flour. You need a mild flour or the gnocchi will taste too strong especially with the rosemary and parmesan in the dough.

Ingredients for 2

For the gnocchi

• 1.5 cups cooked polenta (flavored with parmesan and rosemary)
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cups flour (can be regular or gluten free)

For the sauce

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 small box of cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
• 5 mushrooms, sliced
• 4 tbs peas
• salt and pepper
• parmesan
• chives

Preparation

For the sauce

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add garlic and stir to get the flavor out. Add mushrooms and cook at medium heat until just cooked and water evaporated. Add tomatoes, and peas and cook until vegetables are soft but tomatoes not mushy. Adjust with salt and pepper.

For the gnocchi

When the polenta is solid and hard, take out of the refrigerator, and using a rolling pin, crush it to crumble it to turn it into an homogenous grainy texture. Add egg and flour and mix well to obtain a dough. Take some dough and using your hand roll to form long cylinders (about 2/3 inches diameters) and cut into 1 inch long pieces.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, then add gnocchi. The gnocchi are cooked when they come back up at the surface. Drain and serve with sauce. Sprinkle with chives and olive oil and serve hot (you can also sprinkle some parmesan, but it’s optional since the gnocchi do have parmesan).

This will be my favorite dish for some time. The inspiration came from a dish I ate in a restaurant in Healdsburg where grilled mushrooms were served with fried quinoa, poached egg and miso sauce. I changed things around a bit and added lentils instead of egg to make it vegan. Since I had eggs yesterday, I wanted to skip them today and it came out quite delicious this way.

Of course, you can skip the lentils, or the quinoa, add a poached, egg, etc… you can play around with it, the only thing you cannot skip is the miso sauce.

I love giant mushrooms because you can slice them and use them as meat. These ones have a lovely texture and are quite filling.

I am not a big user of miso. In my mind, it’s a Japanese ingredient that should not be mixed with French or Italian flavors. In this particular dish, its delicate flavor brings harmony and character to the different items combined in this dish. I will play with miso more often from now on.

Ingredients for 3-4

• 5 large king oyster mushrooms, sliced 1 cm thick
• 1/2 cup green lentils
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• vegetable broth
• 2 scallions, chopped

For the miso sauce

• 1 tbs miso
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 garlic cloves, crushed
• red pepper flakes to taste
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp rice vinegar

 Preparation

Steam quinoa in a rice cooker with vegetable broth (it takes about 10 min to cook) and lentils in vegetable broth as well until cooked. Mix them, sprinkle with olive oil and keep warm.

For the miso sauce, mix ingredients together and cook for a few minutes at low temperature until it boil.

Grill mushrooms until both sides are golden.

Dress in a plate. Place lentil-quinoa mixture in the center of the plate, arrange mushroom slices around and pour 4-5 tbs miso sauce per plate. Sprinkle with scallions.

I cannot believe that my last post goes back to one month ago. Shame on me. I have no excuse, so shame on me twice. I have been back from France, then I got sick, then I have been busy working and busy working out, so one thing added to another, voilà, my blog is being neglected. Quelle honte!

In the vegetarian series, here is a good one. These mushrooms make a great presentation, have a lot of flavor and are light as a feather.

Since I found out that portobello mushrooms are just cremini mushrooms grown to an exaggerated size, I have not been as excited to cook them…yes, hélas the excitement is gone.

Yesterday, strolling around the vegetable section, some fresh and pretty portobello caught my attention. I have been ignoring them for a while, and since I felt like eating mushrooms, I bought them not really knowing how to prepare them. It ended being a light stuffing with finely chopped vegetables, basil, pine nuts and goat cheese. They are ridiculously light so if you are hungry, I suggest eating two with some side dish. I loved the light texture and flavor of the stuffing…so I would say portobello are back in my kitchen. I don’t know for how long, but so far, they’re in.

Ingredients

• 2 large portobellos
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 zucchini
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 4 mushrooms, sliced
• 1/4 onion, chopped
• 2 tbs basil, chopped
• 1 tbs pine nuts
• 2 tbs goat cheese, crumbled
• 1 tbs kalamata olives, chopped
• 2 tbs panko breadcrumbs (plus extra for topping)
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the stuffing

Chop in a mixer zucchini, onion and bell pepper. The texture needs to be fine but with some pieces.

Heat olive oil in a pan and add mushrooms, let them cook until the water evaporates. Remove from pan.

Chop mushrooms as finely as the other vegetables.

In the same pan, heat olive oil, add zucchini, onion and pepper mixture. Let them cook at medium heat for a few minutes (no water should be left in the pan). If there is still water, remove excess water with a towel or squeeze using your hands when the mixture has cooled down.

Remove from pan and in a mixing bowl mix vegetables with mushrooms. Let it cool. Add the rest of the ingredients (except oil), leaving the goat cheese for the end. The goat cheese needs to keep some crumbly texture so mix carefully all the ingredients.

For the mushrooms

Sprinkle mushrooms with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Broil for 5 minutes.

using a paper towel absorb mushroom water if necessary and pat dry.

Pre heat oven at 375F. Divide the stuffing on each mushroom, sprinkle with some bread crumbs and cook for about 15 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Serve hot with a green salad.

In France Hachis parmentier is something eaten quite frequently and that kids love, due to its combination of potato puree and ground meet. My mom being Italian, she never really prepared this, but when I went to my friend’s houses, hachis parmentier was a dish served quite often. I remember my mom saying that she didn’t like it because it was made with leftover meats therefore not something too exciting (actually people do use meat they had left from pot-au-feu or boiled meats, etc…). A “hachis” is a dish where all the ingredients are ground, chopped alltogether. Haché means ground, viande hachée, ground meat.

Parmentier comes from Antoine Parmentier, a pharmacist and chemist born in the 18e century. After a trip to Ireland, he discovered the health benefits of potatoes and became convinced that potatoes would help treat problems of poor blood circulation, intestinal problems, etc…He introduced potato to Louis XVI to cure starvation and as a result this dish was born. I think the Irish or English version is called Shepherd’s Pie.

I have been wanting to make a vegetarien hachis parmentier and have been thinking about this recipe for quite some time, without really succeeding in finalizing it. Not being a huge fan of potatoes, I wanted to use something “more” than potatoes, so here is a purée of carrots, yams and sweet potatoes and I honestly loved every bite of this hachis parmentier. I cooked the carrots and potatoes in milk so they absorbed a good amount of it while cooking. The hachis is made of wild mushrooms, leeks and celeri…the sweet flavor of the potatoes combined with the nutty mushrooms and melted taleggio is simply fantastic (Taleggio is an Italian soft cheese with a fragrant and strong nutty flavor). Funny, how you can see on the picture some smoke coming up from the hachis, since it came straight out of the oven. I wouldn’t think the smoke would show on a picture.

You can add more mushroom mixture, and play around with the layers, in my version I added a thicker layer of potato mixture, it’s all about how you want it to be. I served this in individual ramequins with a small salad, you can serve hachis parmentier in a large dish and serve it as a meal by itself, it’s a very satisfying meal and really don’t need anything else on the side.

Ingredients for 4 individual hachis

For the mushroom-leek mixture

• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, finely diced
  
• 1/2 lb mixed mushrooms (cremini, shiitake, chanterelles, etc….) cut in small pieces
• 1 leek, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• thyme
• Taleggio, sliced
• Panko bread crumbs for topping

For the potato-carrot mixture

• 2 large carrots, peeled and cut about 1 inch trunks
• 1 small yam, peeled and cut in about 1 inch pieces
• 1 small sweet potato and cut in about 1 inch pieces
• milk (enough to cover the vegetables)
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Start by preparing the potato-carrot purée. Cook carrots, sweet potatoes, yams in milk at medium heat. When cooked remove from stove, drain milk and keep aside and mash vegetables. Adjust with salt and pepper. If too thick add milk set aside.

Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallots and celery and cook until tender and slightly browned. Add leeks and let them cook covered until tender. Remove from pan and set aside. Add some extra olive oil, and cook mushrooms until water evaporates. When cooked, add leeks and mix well. Add garlic and let cook for a few minutes more. Add thyme, salt and pepper.

In four deep individual dishes or ramequins, place one layer of mushrooms, top it with taleggio, then finish with carrot-potato purée. Sprinkle with panko breadcrumbs. Cook in a pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes, then broil top until it turns golden brown. Serve immediately.

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 had bought some adzuki beans a while ago, yes I know there are so many kinds of beans, and this one is one among many others. It’s a bean mainly grown in the Himalayas and used in Asia in sweet preparations, they’re mostly known as red beans. Of course, I am not Asian, therefore in my culture beans are prepared in savory dishes and I wanted to try to prepare them in a more Western way, because after all a bean is a bean. I love black quinoa, it tends to be more flavorful and earthy than white quinoa and its nuttiness in this dish allied with the sweetness of fennel and red beans make it a palate pleasing combination.

Honestly, I was not sure I would post this because I thought it will be another quinoa/bean dish which is not the first on on my blog. After the first bite, I definitely thought it was blog-worthy, the colors were so contrasting all together and it resulted in a delicious and harmonious blend of flavors.

After yesterday delicious snapper with kumquat sauce I had shot, which for whatever reason my camera decided to not “save”, and after I ate everything, realized that not even one shot was there. I was wondering if this would happen again with this red bean dish…It seemed like my Canon was in a good mood today, and decided to keep this one. It happened a few times before and tends to be frustrating, especially after the terrible week I had.

Sometimes to speed up the cooking process of beans that have not been previously soaked, I add a little baking soda, it does reduce cooking time.

You can eat this salad warm or cold, either way it’s delicious.

Ingredients for 4

• 1 cup black quinoa
• 1 cup adzuki beans
• broth (1/2 onion, 1/2 carrot, 1 celery stick, 1 bay leaf, thyme)
  
• 1 shallot, diced
  
• 2 carrots, sliced in half lengthwise then crosswise
  
• 1 fennel bulb, diced
• 1 cup cremini mushrooms, diced
  
• 1 garlic clove
• 3 tbs cilantro, finely chopped
• salt and pepper
  

For the vinaigrette

• 2 tbs olive oil
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/4 tsp cumin powder
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Cook beans in water with all carrot, onion, celery, bay leaf, thyme. Cook for about 45 minutes until the beans are soft. Drain and rinse.

Steam quinoa like you would do with rice.

In a pan, heat olive oil. Add shallot and let brown, add garlic and cook for another minute. Add carrots and fennel. Cover and let cook for about 10 minutes. When the vegetables are half cooked, add mushrooms, salt and pepper. Stir well and cook until the mushroom water evaporates.

Combine quinoa with beans, then add the vegetables. Let it cool.

For the vinaigrette, add all ingredients together mix well. Pour vinaigrette on the vegetable/quinoa mixture. Add cilantro, toss and serve.

Aren’t those irresistible? Turnips tend to be forgotten as a vegetable, even though often used in soups. In France we eat turnips in so many ways, and we even use their leaves in soups. I love turnips, they have a peppery taste and are equally delicious, roasted with lavender salt, braised, or even steamed. They always make great presentations and combine tons of wonderful flavors. Stuffed turnips like any other root vegetable are delicious, I rarely make them, once in a while I get that particular urge, but it’s rare.

Navet in French means of course turnip, but also can be used in a more familiar language to refer to a bad movie, quel navet! meaning, what a lousy movie!

One block down the street, we have a “fruit and vegetable barn” a great little grocery store filled with fresh fruits and vegetables of all kinds, owned by a very funny Greek guy, who sometimes works at the cash register making jokes with its clients. This morning he started singing La Marseillaise (the French anthem) as soon as he saw me, then gave me a bunch of gossips about the French president Sarkozy. Since I am not following the teledrama, I had no idea of what was going on, but he seemed to be well au courant! I told him I came to get some turnips and one was going to be for him because I was very impressed by his “knowledge”…no matter what, it is still knowledge!

Ingredients for 6 turnips

• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 6 medium sized turnips, peeled
• 6-7 medium size mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1 cup cooked spinach, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 tbs Roquefort cheese or Stilton, crumbled
• 2 tbs walnuts, finely chopped
• butter
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

After peeling the turnips cut the top and start removing the inside with a small scoop or melon baller. Chop finely and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a pan, brown the onions, then add mushrooms and chopped turnips. Cook for about 5-10 minutes, then add spinach. Add garlic, stir well and cook for a few minutes. Adjust with salt and pepper

In the meantime, cook turnips for about 5-10 minutes in boiling salted water. Drain and remove excess water.

In a mixing bowl, combine mushroom mixture with walnuts, and Roquefort.

Fill in the turnips with mixture. Cook in a 370F pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes add a small piece of butter on top of each turnip and let it melt and brown for another 10 minutes.

Serve hot with a salad, as a side dish, or any way you want to enjoy them!

Feeling like quinoa? after quinoa salads, I wanted something cakey but savory…My baby parrotlet Lilou ate all of the quinoa I made last Saturday, he loves quinoa and barley so now we share the same meals. There is always an extra portion for Lilou – Seems like quinoa is a bird seed along with millet but I do love bird seeds.

This particular parrotlet loves when I cook, he is so curious and intrigued to the point that when I chop vegetables, he gets so excited, he flies from his cage into the kitchen and starts chirping; just adorable.

I had a quinoa galette a few years ago in Paris at “La Maison du Danemark” on the Champs Elysées, a quite famous fish and seafood restaurant serving a Danish contemporary cuisine with an elegant touch and once in a while when preparing quinoa, I think about that galette.

With years going by, I really don’t remember what was in the galette, it seemed plain, I just felt like turning those cute seeds into something solid to bite on. After all, galettes are delicious, you don’t need to add too many ingredients into the mixture, you just enhance them with a coulis or a cream of vegetables like this one.

Dans le même esprit (in the same style), I made millet galettes a while ago, that are a derivative of those, so you can just play around with the ingredients and have fun. I used almond flour to thicken the batter and it added a pleasant nutty flavor. I like to steam quinoa, like I would do for steam rice, and usually I use 2 doses of water for one dose of quinoa.

Ingredients for 3-4 galettes

For the quinoa galettes

• 2 cups cooked quinoa (or 1 cup uncooked)
• 1/2 orange bell pepper, finely diced
• 4 cremini mushrooms, chopped
• 2 eggs
• 3 tbs almond flour
• 1 tbs mint, chopped
• salt and pepper

For the cream of leeks

• 1 large leek, chopped
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1 tbs crème fraîche or heavy cream
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Cook quinoa in a pot covered with twice its quantity of water. Cover with a lid and cook slowly until the water has been absorbed.

Heat olive oil in a pan, brown onions, then add mushrooms and bel pepper. Adjust with salt and pepper. Cover with a lid and let it cook until the vegetables are tender but still firm. Remove from heat and add to the quinoa.

Add eggs and almond flour, mix well. Add mint and adjust with salt and pepper. At this point, the mixture will be thick but still smooth.

Place in silicon molds of about 10 cm diameter or greased ramequins. I love silicon molds because the food doesn’t stick and cooks quickly. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 370F for about 20 minutes.

While the galettes are cooking, prepare the cream of leeks. In a pan, heat olive oil then add leeks. Stir for about 3 minutes, then add broth, salt and pepper. Cover and let it cook until the leeks are tender, about 20 minutes. Add cream and stir well, cook for another additional 5 minutes.

Blend in a mixer, and if the sauce is too thick add more broth.

Serve each galette with a few spoonful of leek cream around.