I got inspired by Indian samosas when I made those. I felt like eating something spicy, salty, but not greasy and since I bought a few brick packs when I was in France, with an expiration date coming close, I figured let’s make something that has the spirit of the samosa but a bit different. Voilà, c’est fait!  If you cannot find bricks, I have seen them sold online tough or in some specialty stores, you can use any kind of dough/wrappers/pastry sheets, etc.. (filo dough, puff pastry, etc…) I love bricks because they get crunchy and are very light.

The stuffing is a mixture of broccoli, yams, carrots and spices. Yams are not often used in French cuisine, but I am starting to like them and use them more often in some savory preparations. I don’t think I can make anything sweet with them, I have a slight blockage about that. In my mind, they’re potatoes and not supposed to be used in desserts. Like my Japanese neighbor has a blockage about rice pudding, I have one about yams combined with sugar.

I loved those crunchy rolls, light, flavorful with lots of texture. It will definitely please vegetarians or vegans if you replace the yogurt sauce with some mint chutney.

Ingredients for 5-6 large rolls

• 1 tbs olive oil (+1 for brushing)
• 1/4 onion, chopped
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1 carrot, peeled and cut
• 1 small yam, peeled and cut
• 1 tbs cilantro, chopped
• salt and pepper

For the yogurt sauce

• 250 ml plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp mint, finely chopped
• 1 tsp scallions, chopped
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• salt and pepper

 Preparation

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add vegetables and cook until tender. Drain and chop vegetables roughly and set aside.

In a pan, heat olive oil, add onion and ginger and let soften. Add garlic until fragrant, a few minutes. Add all the spices, and stir well to combine flavors. Add vegetables, cilantro, salt and pepper and mix well until the vegetables are well coated in the spices. Remove from heat and let cool.

In the meantime, prepare the yogurt sauce by mixing all the ingredients together. Refrigerate.

Take one brick sheet placing it flat on a wooden surface. Place 2-3 tbs of vegetable mixture (depending on how big you want to make the roll) in the middle and roll like you would for a spring roll. Proceed the same way with the other brick sheets. Brush olive oil on top of each roll.

Bake in the oven at 380F for about 10-15 minutes and turn around the rolls to the other side until both sides are golden brown and crunchy. Serve hot with yogurt sauce and a green salad.

Today I said goodbye to my long time and faithful friend, my VW Golf I had for over 10 years, and that over the years turned into an old lady. I gave it to a charity and I have to admit that when the tow-truck came pick it up, I was somehow sad. I know it’s just a thing, and I should not get attached to material, but still, it was the first car I got in the US and I was somehow attached to it.  We went through some good and bad times together. I did not feel comfortable selling it, since the steering wheel was really hard to manoeuvre and I stopped driving it for a month, fearing it would break down in the middle of the street…and many other things were wrong with it, so I figured I would give it to charity.  C’est la vie, nothing lasts and things like people sooner or later quietly go. 

OK, let’s not dwell on this, it’s just a car after all! 

Let’s go back to the fun world of cooking, I love to play with quinoa, it’s delicious in soups, salads, taboule and any kind of side dishes. The great flavor comes from the herb salsa I made, which enhanced this whole salad.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1/2 cauliflower
• 2 carrots
• 1 cup  cooked cannelli beans
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 celeri stick
• 3 cloves

For the salsa

• 2 scallions
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 bunch parsley
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 1/3 bunch mint
• 5 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• a pinch chili powder
• salt and pepper

Preparation

If you are using dried cannelli beans, they need to be soaked overnight in water, if you didn’t have any and don’t have time, you can use canned beans, but they don’t taste as good as the dried ones.

Cook quinoa by steaming it, like you would make steamed rice. Add double its volume of water, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a minimum and cover with lid. Cook for about 20 minutes.

If used, dried cannelli beans, cook them in water for about 30 minutes with 1/2 onion, 3 cloves, 1 celery stick, and 2 bay leaves. When cooked remove onion, cloves, celery, bay leaves, and drain beans.

Cut cauliflower in small florets, cut carrots in slices, then cut in half. Steam for about 10 minutes and set aside.

Mix the salsa ingredients in a mixer to make it into a smooth mixture.

When quinoa is cooked, place in a mixing bowl, add vegetables. Spoon salsa at the end and mix well.