FFWD – Vanilla Vegetable Salad

September 26, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 15 Comments

After a summer of salads comprised of whatever the garden’s got on offer, it seems like time to examine the shelves and stalls at the market a little more closely. There are still some remnants of the summer’s harvest on the shelves, but now there are also apples upon apples, winter squashes, root and cruciferous vegetables – things that speak of roasting or stewing, not the quick-dressed freshness of hot-weather meals.

Still, there’s one last summer salad for French Fridays and luckily the markets easily yielded the ingredients. Well, more or less. I haven’t seen a yellow zucchini for a few weeks now, so I opted for a small green one. And since the colour scheme was already in flux, I picked up some heirloom purple carrots in place of orange. For the greens, I chose an herby mix that I thought would counterbalance any dissonance I might experience from the vanilla in the dressing.

Yes, vanilla. There’s a lot of olive oil and lemon in this dressing, with only a touch of vanilla extract, but the flavour is transformed by it. I made the dressing by eye, since I was halving the recipe, so I may have been a bit conservative with the amount of vanilla I used, but the flavour was definitely there. My first taste was surprising – I didn’t even register whether I liked it or not. It was just something new to me. Then, I simply enjoyed it. Kevin told me that he liked it, but didn’t love it. (He’d eat it again, so I consider it a win for him.)

I’d love to try this dressing in a salad that’s already a mix of sweet and savoury, one with strawberries or figs, perhaps. There’s still a little time before cold-weather eating fully sets in.

Find links to the rest of the French Fridays crew’s posts here: Vanilla Vegetable Salad

FFWD – French Lentils

September 12, 2014September 12, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 16 Comments

I’m in a peripatetic state of mind, it seems. Right now I’m in the middle of several books, including Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters, Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth, and Rebecca Solnit’s latest book of essays, Men Explain Things to Me (if you’re not familiar with her, this might be a good place to start). I’m also re-reading Tamar Adler’s Everlasting Meal, as the easiness of summer garden eating is about to wane and I feel in need of a refresher on the simple, thrifty, respectful way she approaches food and eating.

One of the things I need to remember is that making more food than you’re going to eat for your next meal, in both quantity and variety, is one of the best ways to make sure you’re eating well at every meal.

This basic recipe for French lentils is exactly the sort of thing I want to have in the refrigerator when I’m wondering whether I really want to get into the kitchen and cook. The lentils are gently cooked in broth or water, infusing themselves with the flavours of the vegetables that are along for the ride. You can add cognac and shallots at the end, or not. You can chop up the vegetables and stir them back into the finished lentils, or not. You can serve them with another protein, sprinkle them with cheese, chill them and use them for a lentil salad later. Or, you can tuck into them just as they are.

I used vegetable broth in this batch, which makes them a nice vegan treat, though I sprinkled some with cheese, for me. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice that I only had about a half cup of French green lentils left, so I substituted brown lentils. The brown worked well, but I prefer the green – they are both gorgeous and delicious. Time to go back to the food co-op and stock up, since this is one of the recipes from Around My French Table that I make often, especially in the colder months.

You can find this week’s recipe at Serious Eats.

Find links to the rest of the French Fridays crew’s posts here: French Lentils

FFWD – Chanterelles with Cabbage & Nuts

August 30, 2014August 31, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 15 Comments

It’s easy to think of disincentives for being late: a tapping foot, the flustered greeting, that feeling of being out-of-step with everyone else. But sometimes there are advantages, too. I couldn’t make it to last week’s Farmers’ Market, so I don’t know if they had chanterelles for sale, but I do know I couldn’t find them anywhere else all week. This afternoon, though, there were several baskets of the beautiful fungus sitting front and centre on Wild Foraged‘s table. I scooped up a box, but I admit I almost gave up on the idea of this week’s dish when I found out they also had Chicken of the Woods on hand.

My better angel prevailed and here we are, with an appetizer that is sweet and savoury, meaty and vegetal, all at once. I made a small portion of the dish for the two of us to share, substituting savoy cabbage for the napa and using some vegetable stock in place of bouillon. I’d forgotten to pick up hazelnuts on the way home, so I used chopped almonds instead. I think they were as nice as hazelnuts would have been. I also took Dorie’s bonne idée and threw in some green grapes, which added another lovely layer of flavour to the dish.

The hardest thing about this dish is obtaining the mushrooms. The easiest thing is deciding to make this again before chanterelle season is over. See for yourself, here.

And because we’re heading into the home stretch of Around My French Table, I’m trying to do at least one catch up a week until I’m up-to-date:

Lyonnaise Garlic and Herb Cheese

I’m sort of glad I waited so long to make this one, or else it might have become a staple item in my refrigerator. Fromage blanc (or in my case, ricotta drained overnight until thick) mixed with alliums and herbs makes a wonderful spread for crudités, breads, or crackers. I loved it with oatcakes and slow-roasted tomatoes. If Kevin wasn’t adhering to his vegan diet of late, I’d have filled tomatoes with the stuff for him. I’ve still got quite a bit left and I’m thinking it might find its way into a savoury tart very soon.

Find out what the rest of the French Fridays crew thought about their Chanterelles with Napa and Nuts

And here’s where you can find the verdict on Lyonnaise Garlic and Herb Cheese

Cottage Cooking Club – August 2014

August 29, 2014October 6, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 13 Comments

The drops of rain on this dahlia mark the end of our sunny streak in Vancouver and possibly an early end to summer here. The recipes for this month’s Cottage Cooking Club inhabit the transitional space between summer and fall, as well.

Chard and New Potato Curry

Swiss chard is one of those amazing vegetables that shows up in the spring and keeps on producing right through until winter’s almost begun. Along with some potatoes picked when they’re small and a sauce that’s lightened with yogurt and heightened with Indian-inspired spices, this is a stew that’s welcome in any season. We both loved this curry, eating it without accompaniment on the first night and warming up the leftovers to serve over rice. It’s also one of those recipes that can serve as a template, allowing you to use whatever’s freshest or on hand. We’ll be having this one again and again.

Tahini-Dressed Courgette and Green Bean Salad

This dish hearkened back to my first experiments with vegetarian dishes, when I was in university. We all had jars of tahini in our refrigerators and Moosewood cookbooks on our shelves. Nowadays, I’m more likely to use tahini in Mediterranean or Middle Eastern cooking, but I enjoyed this slightly hippyish salad, especially with the addition of salad greens and tromboncino squash from my garden. The harvest from my first set of green bean vines is over and I’m awaiting more from the second set I planted, so I substituted snap peas, instead. They worked well. I can see myself making variations of this salad for myself (just me – unfortunately, Kevin wasn’t a fan) or using the dressing to marinate vegetables, lamb, or chicken before grilling or baking.

Caramelized Carrots with Gremolata

I couldn’t resist buying some heirloom carrots to use for this dish. These carrots were a deep purple on the outside, with a core of orange – we ate them up too quickly for me to get a shot of that, though. This is another dish I think I’ll be making often, using whatever root vegetables I have on hand. The freshness of the gremolata against the caramelization of the roasted carrots was lovely.

Asian-inspired coleslaw

And lastly, there’s this salad that’s almost like a quick pickle. We loved the combination of flavours in this salad – sweet, tart, earthy, spicy. It felt summery, but the cabbage, carrots, and onions can be obtained at almost any season – this would be a wonderful way to brighten up a late winter meal, too.

Next month, we’ll be exploring vegetarian flavours to pull us into the cooling of the year. I’m eating as much of summer’s bounty as I can, but I admit that autumn’s flavours are on my mind more and more.

Intrigued by this month’s recipes? Buy the book and join us.

Here are the links to the rest of the group’s posts for this month. I encourage you to check them out – you’ll meet some wonderful bloggers and get some great inspiration for vegetarian eating.

FFWD – Quinoa Salad

August 22, 2014August 23, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 33 Comments

I’m a rather mediocre meditator. If I go to a sit or even a day-long retreat, I can meditate successfully and feel as though I’ve gotten a lot out of it (which is entirely the wrong attitude, I know). But, on my own, it doesn’t happen. At least not in that formal, sit and allow your thoughts to pass through, focusing on your breath, kind of way.

My true meditative practice happens when I’m out in the garden or chopping vegetables in the kitchen. It’s in those moments, or in the in-between spaces like a quiet bus ride or a long walk, that I truly reach for a meditative state. The demonstration of this kind of practice is one of the reasons I love the film How to Cook Your Life.

And yes, this week’s French Fridays assignment put me in mind of this, as I cubed or thinly sliced a heaping plateful of vegetables today. Now, I should let you know that the recipe for this week wasn’t actually quinoa salad, it was couscous salad. But, since the other half of the household can’t have gluten, I decided to change it up a bit. It’s a Moroccan-inspired take on a grain and vegetable salad that didn’t suffer at all from the substitution. In fact, I loved the colour the tumeric and other spices lent to my plain quinoa.

You can find the recipe on Epicurious, along with the suggested accompaniment, lemon chicken. Because quinoa is packed with protein, we were able to make a vegan supper of it, along with some corn on the cob.

And as an added bonus, Kevin declared this the best recipe I’ve tried recently. Now, that’s something to contemplate.

Find out what the rest of the French Fridays crew thought about their Couscous Salad

Guacamole and Tomatoes – A French Fridays Catch Up

July 11, 2014July 12, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 11 Comments

Today’s post should be about delicate zucchini blossoms in a tempura-like batter, but I’m not there yet – or rather, my garden is not. I am short on blossoms as yet, but that should correct itself by tomorrow or Sunday, latest.

Instead, I’m catching up on the two previous weeks’ dishes, which were so simple it makes me wonder how I let life get in the way of making them before today. They were perfect for a hot summer’s evening graze, which also included hummus, salsa, and crudités. (Not that it qualifies as hot here by the rest of North America’s standards, I’m aware.)

Guacamole with Tomatoes and Bell Peppers

This recipe came up in the rotation on the last Friday of June and was whipped up in my kitchen in less than fifteen minutes today. The recipe calls for the guacamole to be presented chunky or smooth. I chose smooth and used my food processor to make it, instead of a mortar and pestle, as Dorie does – mine isn’t big enough.

I used a little too much jalapeño for Kevin’s taste, but I enjoyed the bite. The inclusion of the tomatoes and red pepper made this guacamole reminiscent of a green avocado salsa, though I think I like this recipe better. Tomorrow, it’s going to be even spicier than it was today, so I’m going to pick up some sour cream to cut the heat. Along with corn tortillas and some vegetables sautéed in cumin and oregano, I think we’ve got tomorrow night’s dinner covered.

Tomatoes Provençal

For the month of July, the choices for each week’s assignment were made a little differently than usual. Four of our regular participants were each asked to pick one recipe and to start the month, Kathy of Bakeaway with Me chose Dorie’s Tomatoes Provençal.

Local tomatoes are starting to show up in the markets and roasting them is such a nice way to deepen their flavour. I was especially pleased with the topping – minced garlic with a mixture of herbs from the garden. I love being able to go outside and take as much as I need from the plants in my backyard. It’s one of the many pleasures of summer, isn’t it? I used basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary, and chives. Nothing else was needed but a little salt, pepper, and olive oil.

We loved these tomatoes, so much so that I saved the leftover juices to use for salad dressing or cooking down vegetables for the frittata I’m planning for later this weekend.

If I were you, I’d give them a go and then visit Kathy’s blog to tell her what a great choice she made.

Find out what the rest of the French Fridays crew thought about the Guacamole with Tomatoes and Bell Peppers.

You can find links to everyone else’s posts on last week’s recipe here: Tomatoes Provençal

FFWD – Pipérade Stir-fry

May 30, 2014June 1, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 10 Comments

Since the Slow Food movement came on the scene, it hasn’t just been fast food that’s come under fire. Those twenty-minute dinners that get you in and out of the kitchen, often relying on pre-prepared ingredients, have lost their credibility, too. But, fast isn’t always a compromise when it comes to flavour or food value. Sometimes quick preparations with fresh ingredients act as healthy flavour-boosters – think quick pickles or quick kimchi. Sure, it’s worth preparing things the long way, for depth of flavour or shelf-stability, but it’s nice to know you can take shortcuts sometimes, too.

This week’s French Fridays dish is one of those shortcuts to flavour. We’ve encountered pipérade before in the group, when we made Chicken Basquaise. This quick version doesn’t have the where-have-you-been-all-my-life quality that the sauce in that recipe possesses, but it’s a healthy, vegan riff on the same sorts of flavours.

I strayed a little from the recipe, choosing to sauté the onions, garlic, and hot pepper (some jalapeño I already had on hand) instead of adding them raw to the sweet peppers, but I think that was a good choice for us this time. I also skipped the green pepper, because the ones in the market today were a little dubious.

The secret to this take on pipérade is caramelizing the sautéed peppers with red wine vinegar. It mimics the flavours created by slow-cooking in the traditional recipe and can serve as a side or condiment alongside any of the traditional proteins that are paired with the real thing. I think it would also make a great accompaniment for barbequed steak. Our leftovers are going to be featuring in scrambled eggs tomorrow, or maybe even a frittata.

After that, I might have to make another batch.

Find out what the rest of the French Fridays crew thought about this week’s recipe: Pipérade Stir-fry

Socca From Vieux Nice – A French Fridays Catch Up

April 25, 2014April 25, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 13 Comments

I won’t be making this week’s French Fridays recipe, Green as Spring Veal Stew, until next week, so I thought I’d throw in a catch up instead. I’m not sure why I didn’t make this when it came up in the rotation, and I’m also not sure why I overlooked this recipe until now. Socca is naturally gluten-free and the chickpea, in whatever form, is one of my partner’s favourite foods.

Unfortunately, I’m out of chickpea flour at the moment, so I substituted garfava flour, instead. It’s a blend of garbanzo bean (chickpea) and fava bean flours that’s a staple in Bette Hagman recipes. I’ve mostly moved on from using it, so I was glad to have an excuse to use up some of what I’ve got left. It wasn’t the greatest substitute – Kevin disliked the flavour of the resulting flatbread, but I thought it wasn’t bad. Next time, I’ll stick to pure chickpea flour.

There will be a next time because I loved the method and the loveliness of the flatbread that came out of the oven, garfava flour or no. I mixed up the batter the night before and was pleased to read that most of the cooking time would be for heating the pan. The bread itself bakes for only five minutes and is then broiled until crispy, and blackened in spots, for another three minutes or so.

It’s traditional to eat it hot, dusted with pepper, but Kevin said he would have liked it better with a dip. I agree. Some yogurt, mixed with lemon and dill, would have been nice with it. I’m looking forward to trying the chickpea version – paired with the yogurt dip, it may become a summer favourite.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this FFWD recipe here: Socca From Vieux Nice. And you can see what the rest of the French Fridays crew got up to this week here: Green as Spring Veal Stew

FFWD – Baby Bok Choy, Sugar Snaps, and Garlic en Papillote

April 19, 2014April 19, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 13 Comments

We’re having a lot of conversations in our house, lately, about what constitutes healthy eating. Kevin is convinced that going vegan is his path, but there has been considerable backsliding. My position is that moderation, in moderation, is the ticket to a well-rounded diet.

This week’s French Fridays recipe is vegan, but it’s also a side dish. I could have continued down that road, but instead, I served it with one of our favourites from Around My French Table, Roasted Salmon and Lentils. All in all, it was a very healthy meal. Low-fat, high fibre, and probably many other buzzwords besides. What stood out for me was the flavour. Like the salmon, these vegetables are simply seasoned, but surprisingly flavourful. The title gives you the recipe, but it’s the subtle addition of fresh mint and orange zest that really brings this dish together. It’s also a versatile dish, which worked as well with the French flavours of the salmon and lentils as it would with Asian cuisine.

For now, we’ve agreed that increasing the number of meatless meals over time is probably Kevin’s path to success, but tomorrow will definitely be a meatless day. We went out for fish and chips with my parents yesterday and had fish again today. Whatever we end up having tomorrow, there’s still lots of bok choy and snap peas in the refrigerator, so there will be more en papillote cooking involved.

You can find many other blogged descriptions of this FFWD recipe here: Baby Bok Choy, Sugar Snaps, and Garlic en Papillote

FFWD – Vegetable Barley Quinoa Soup with the Taste of Little India

March 28, 2014March 29, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 27 Comments

My little brother is a mean, mean man. He’s a chef, working at the sort of locavore, casual-to-fine-dining restaurant that you know I love. The problem is that it’s 50 kilometres away and Sean sends me photos of what’s on the night’s menu, when he knows there’s no hope of me booking a car and heading out deep into the heart of the Fraser Valley. Like I said, mean.

If you don’t believe me, here’s one of the photos he sent me tonight.

Yes, that’s a perfect Caprese staring back at you. Sigh…

Luckily, we have a delicious, vegan soup on our own fresh sheet tonight, keeping me from becoming too morose. It’s flavoured with garam masala, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes. It’s also meant to have barley in it, but we went gluten-free and used quinoa instead. It’s the sort of meal Kevin has been working toward, as he eats vegetarian or vegan most of the time now. There’s lots of protein in the quinoa and the soup itself is surprisingly hearty. Meatless meals have always been a big part of my diet, but I might find myself crumbling some bacon on tomorrow’s leftovers, as my brother the chef suggested. Then again, I might not – this soup doesn’t really need it.