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.

Usually for breakfast I like my multi grain toasts with no desire to change but once in a while I like to treat myself with some fancy little bites like these ones. I would have called those mini cakes (which in French gâteaux are what those are), but I feel they’re more muffins than cakes, as per American standards. Cakes are described as sweet, with frosting and no fruits.

They’re light, very airy, moist and perfect for breakfast or as afternoon snack. The base is like the traditional French yogurt cake, but I used Greek Yogurt instead and oat and almond flours instead of regular white flour. I used a pear but you could also use an apple.

Ingredients for 6-8 muffins

• 1 1/3 cup oat flour
• 1/2 cup oat bran
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/3 cup coconut sugar
• 2 tbs stevia powder
• 1 Greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 tsp vanilla powder
• 1/4 tsp bitter almond extract
• 1 pear, peeled and grated
• sunflower seeds for topping

Preparation

Preheat oven at 365F. In a large bowl, mix flours, baking powder and vanilla powder.

In another bowl, beat eggs with coconut sugar, stevia, oil, yogurt, bitter almond extract. At the end add pear. Mix well.

Pour the bowl containing the eggs/sugar mixture into the bowl containing the flour mixture. Mix well.

Divide batter in individual muffin molds. sprinkle with coconut sugar and sunflower seeds.

Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes.

This soup has been made with ingredients that could also be a salad. So if you are tired of lettuce salad, you can turn it into a delightful soup. Soups have a healing and cleansing effect and are so nutritious, so they’re the perfect reason to be part of anyone’s diet.

You can certainly cook lettuce or braise it. Its use is not limited to being eaten raw in salads. Being a leaf, it can be used as spinach or chards or as any other green. Since lettuce tends to be bland, I like to enhance it with fresh herbs. You can also use cannellini beans or chick peas instead of peas.

In France, they often add a tbs of crème fraîche in a velouté, or vegetable cream. I prefer to use yogurt to keep it lighter, it’s a personal choice, but cream would also work. As far as, texture, you can blend it into a fine and smooth texture, I kept it more grainy, it’s all up to your personal tastes.

Ingredients

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 heads of lettuce
• 300 g peas
• 1/2 bunch chervil + 1 tbs, chopped
• 3 tbs tarragon + 1 tbs, chopped
• Vegetable broth
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup Greek yogurt

Preparation

For the soup

Heat olive oil in a pot. Add onions and let soften, then add lettuce. Let it wilt, add broth (to cover the lettuce mixture). Cover and let cook for about 15 minutes. Add peas and herbs and let cook for an extra 10 minutes. Blend soup in a mixer or hand blender. SErve hot with a tablespoon of cream of herbs.

For the cream of herbs

Mix 1 tbs of tarragon and 1 tbs of chervil with yogurt and stir.

After my trip to Iceland, I fell in love with that country…its gorgeous landscape, its friendly people, its peacefulness and its delicious food and products. One of which is called skyr. Basically skyr means yogurt in Icelandic. It’s a very thick yogurt, thicker than the Greek kind, and has 0% fat. It comes plain, or with various fruit flavors and you can eat it as is or use it in desserts. It’s more packed in protein than its Greek counterpart, and fills you up quite fast, since it’s really thick, similar to a cream cheese thickness. I ate skyr everyday, either in a yogurt form or dessert form. Most of their sky desserts are in this type of form or in a glass with a crust layer, then with skyr, then topped with blueberries or caramel sauce.

The good thing is that you can find skyr in the US. There are basically two brands available here in California, one is called “Siggi’s” and one is called “Smaeri“, both of which are locally made by Icelandic guys who moved to the US, and who apparently imported the real recipe form Iceland.

Those yogurts are a bit different from what I tasted in Iceland, and I wish they would import the real ones. I don’t have anything against US made skyr (and I’m thankful I found them even though they’re easy to make), but the taste is slightly different because the cows are obviously different and they are not eating the same type of grass/food than in Iceland; different soil, therefore the milk is different. Anyway, those are just little tiny details, but I think details can make sometimes a difference.

Going back to my beloved skyr, in this dessert, there is a slight resemblance to cheesecake in it appearance but that’s it. It has a lot less calories, because skyr low calories due to its nonfat content. Even adding some cream, it will never compare to cheesecake in its texture or taste. I could call this dessert “Skyr Tart” instead of cake. This dessert is now one of my favorites, and will make it regularly. It’s so delicious, creamy, light and delicate, that you would never believe that it’s made with 0% fat yogurt.

Ingredients for a 9 inch pan

For the crust

• Any cookies of your choice (I used no sugar shortbread), depending on the size of the cookie 10 to 20
• 70 g coconut oil
• 1 tbs coconut sugar

For the skyr filling

• 1 large plain skyr jar (680 g or 24 oz))
• 5 tbs vanilla skyr
• sweetener of your choice (I used stevia) to taste
• 125 g (4.4 oz) heavy cream
• 4 small gelatin sheets (7.5 g total weight of gelatin)
• blueberry jam
• fresh blueberries

Preparation

For the crust

Crush cookies to a medium coarse texture. Add coconut oil, coconut sugar and mix to obtain a homogenous texture. Using a non stick pan, place some parchment paper (the size of the bottom surface) on pan. Make a crust with the crushed cookies/coconut oil, pressing firmly with your hands and spreading crust on pan. Place pan in the freezer or refrigerator for about 15-20 minutes.

For the filling

In a mixing container, mix both skyr yogurts, add sweetener. Soften gelatin sheets in cold water for 10 minutes or until soft. In a small pot add 3 tbs cream and heat it up. When it’s boiling, remove from heat, add gelatin, stir well and let it dissolve. Add the mixture to the skyr mixture. Whip cream and fold carefully into the skyr.

Pour the filling on top of crust and spread it evenly. Refrigerate for about one day.

Spread blueberry jam on top and fresh blueberries.

I could not decide on what to call those…either croquettes or galettes which in the French culinary world mean slightly different things. Croquette come from the verb “croquer” which means to bite something that has a crunchy texture. There is no equivalent verb in English. You can make croquettes with many things, but usually then are rolled in breadcrumbs and deep fried.

Galette refer to a flat and round cake, but can also be used to describe savory flat bread that has a topping or anything that is round and flat.

So here I thought croquettes would be more appropriate.

This is a quick recipe to savor cod. Actually, this would be a good way to make kids eat fish. No one can resist those delicious croquettes. I have a weakness for croquettes or galettes of any sort, because they add a new dimension to the ingredient you are using. It can be vegetables, fish, meats, the result is always a savory, fun and flavorful dish to enjoy.

You can serve these croquettes on a bed of saute spinach, kale, green salad, etc…I like to accompany them with simple vegetables or salad. They have too much character to be combined with some complicated side dishes.

I will soon start experimenting those in a sweet version using fruits.

Ingredients

For the croquettes

• 1 lb cod
• 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
• 1/4 white onion, roughly chopped
• 1 egg
• 1 tbs parsley, chopped
• 2 tbs gluten free flour or regular flour
• zest of one lemon
• salt and pepper

For the carrots

• 2 carrots, peeled and shaved with a potato peeler
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp parsley, chopped
• lemon juice to taste
• salt and pepper

For the caper sauce

• 2 tbs plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tbs light mayonnaise
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tbs capers, rinsed and chopped
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the croquettes

Grind in a blender, cod with onion, celery, parsley. Blend until a semi-fine consistency so the fish and ingredients do not turn into a paste. Pour mixture in a mixing container and add all other ingredients. Mix well and form about 2 inches wide patties and 3/4 inch thick.

Heat olive oil in a pan and cook croquettes on both sides until cooked all the way through and golden brown on both sides.m

For the yogurt caper-sauce

In a mixing containers, add all ingredients and mix well.

For the carrot ribbons

Peel carrots. Using a potato peeler shave carrots from top to bottom to form ribbons.

Heat olive oil in a pan and add carrots. Adjust with salt and pepper and cook stirring for a few minutes until ribbons are softer but still crunchy. Add parsley.

I was reading an article on cauliflower on a French magazine, and I thought I would like to try roasting it whole. What a wonderful idea to slowly cook a whole cauliflower in the oven, rubbed with herbs and spices. For those who love vegetables and who watch their calories intake, this is a perfect meal.

You can serve this cauliflower with various side dishes who will enhance the whole meal. I love mixing cauliflower and bell peppers, probably a childhood combination that my mom used to do.

The cauliflower remains firm yet soft, I like firm vegetables. If you like them more cooked, then you have to leave the cauliflower in the oven longer, or boil it for 5-10 min prior to baking it. In addition to the pepper salsa, I served it with some yogurt sauce, that’s optional. I love yogurt sauce in general with spicy dishes.

I loved it so much that I ate a whole cauliflower by myself. Talking about moderation…I know, that is a bit exaggerated but as we say in French “quand on aime, on ne compte pas“, when we love, we don’t count. Se here we go…

Ingredients

For the cauliflower

•  1 whole cauliflower
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin

For the bell pepper salsa

• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 tbs olive oil
• juice of one meyer lemon
• 1 tsp chives, chopped
• salt and pepper

For the yogurt sauce

• 5 tbs plain Greek yogurt
• 1.5 tsp mixed herbs (parsley, cilantro, tarragon, etc…)
•  1 tsp lemon juice
• salt and pepper

Preparation

First roast the peppers in the oven. Place under broiler and cook until the skin gets burnt. Turn around peppers until the whole peppers are roasted. Remove from the oven and let them cool. Remove skin and seeds. Cut peppers in small cubes. Mix all ingredients together and set aside.
Wash cauliflower and dry well with a towel. Mix together all other ingredients in a bowl and rub cauliflower with it. Let it sit for about an hour.

Preheat oven at 375F and bake cauliflower for about one hour. Check after 45 min with a knife to see if it’s cooked or still hard and add more cooking time according to how you’d like to eat the cauliflower.

For the yogurt sauce, mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

Cut cauliflower in portions, like you would cut a cake. Serve with side dishes.

Yesterday the lunch was light since we had been invited by our neighbor’s for the Chinese new year to a restaurant. Usually, if I know my dinner will be more substantial than usual, I balance it out with a light lunch. After all, it’s all about balance…

I love this soup, I love it even more, because of its beautiful dense color. The flavor is naturally sweet, fresh and very delicate. I made two versions, one with a poached egg, and one with a yogurt cream with chopped mint. They’re equally delicious and nutritious. This soup is quick to make, the peas don’t need to cook for a long time to keep their flavor and color, so here we have a quick and delicious soup. The picture with the poached egg is a bit off, the egg got a little messy.

For 2-3 people

• 3/4 large yellow onion chopped
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 lb peas either fresh or frozen
• 1.5 cups baby spinach
• 1/2 bunch mint, chopped
• 2 eggs or more (depending on the version)
• 3 tbs plain yogurt (depending on the version)
• vegetable broth
• salt and pepper

Preparation

In a large pot, heat olive oil, add onions and soften them. Add peas, stir and cook for about 1 minute, then add broth. Cook for about 15-20 minutes, then add spinach and mint. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Adjust with salt and pepper. Blend soup to obtain a smooth mixture.

Poach egg and add to the soup or mix yogurt with some chopped mint and add ti the soup.

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.

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.

I realized this blog really lacks meat recipes, even though I cook it for clients every weeks, I don’t really eat it, (unless I am forced with a stick!!), I just taste it for seasoning, so I would say this blog is a sample of the dishes I really enjoy eating.

I got so excited to find monkfish in the store, that I had to buy it (you need thick fillets to make medallions). Monkfish in France is a quite famous and reputable fish, but it can be confusing to figure out what species of monkfish it is. There are two kinds, one living in lakes and rivers, and one commercially sold as “queue de lotte” which means monkfish tail, with its bone which can be the kind living in the oceans. The main bone is very easy to remove since it’s has no small ones. In the US they sell fillets so its easier to make medallions. I love monkfish, it’s delicate, subtle and with a firm texture. In this recipe monkfish has been marinated in spices, then pan fried. It cooks quite fast and it’s a very simple meal to prepare, for your guests, your family or for yourself. In my case myself.

You can serve it with saute greens, or any other vegetable. I wanted to add a bit of exotism so I used eggplants; not that eggplants are exotic but combined with lemon confits, it adds a touch of Northern Africa. I never know what to do with those strange lemons. I have a huge jar of those that I stare at anytime I open the refrigerator as if they’re aliens. Today I took the aliens out of the jar, rinsed, them, chopped them and ate them….and they tasted  wonderful. Lemon confits are often used in Moroccan cuisine, to add the final sour flavor to a dish and complement spices very well.

Ingredients for 2

For the Monkfish

• 1 lb monkfish fillets
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• zest of one lemon
• 1 tbs dill, chopped
• 1/4 tsp cumin, ground
• 1/2 small red onion chopped
• 1 tbs capers, chopped

For the eggplant purée

• 1 large eggplant
• 1 tsp pomegranate molasses
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tbs mint, chopped
• 1 tbs parsley, chopped
• 1/4 tsp cumin, ground
• 2 tbs Greek yogurt
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 lemon confit, rinsed, pulp removed and chopped

Preparation

Cut monkfish into 2.5 inches pieces. In a small bowl mix all marinade ingredients together and pour on monkfish, mix well to coat all the pieces cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

In the meantime, pre-heat oven at 400F, then prepare the eggplant. Cut them lenghtwise, Using a knive, make small incisions in the eggplant (not the skin side) sprinkle with salt and a little oil. Place the eggplant under broiler skin up, and cook for about 15 minutes until it gets soft. Remove from the oven and let it cool a bit. Using a spoon scoop the eggplant and let it drain for about 30 min so it gets rid of the water. When it has completely cooled, add all the rest of the ingredients except for the confit lemons. They need to be added at the end.

Heat oil in a pan, pan fry the monkfish pieces until golden brown, then add the rest of the marinade. Stir well, adjust with salt and pepper. Turn down heat and cook until fish is cooked all the way through. Serve with eggplant purée topped with lemon confit.