Heart-warming winter foods

Some leftover vegetables? Roast your winter vegetables in the oven with some herbs  Roasting vegetables caramelizes them, which brings out the full flavor.

You can use pretty much any vegetables to prepare this recipe.

Here is one of my favorite combinations

Ingredients

-1 onion, peeled and cut in 4 pieces

(pearl onions are even better but they take some time to peel,…)

-8 whole garlic cloves, peeled

-4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced in ~1 cm pieces

-2 large parsnips, peeled and slices in ~1 cm pieces

-100 g (mixed) mushrooms, cut in 2

-1 zucchini, cut in ~1 cm pieces

-4 thyme sprigs or sage leaves or rosemary sprigs

-3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

-1 teaspoon sea salt

-1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

-2 tablespoons lemon juice, some lemon zest

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 ºF/200 ºC.

2. In a large bowl, toss the vegetables with the olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest and herbs until the vegetables are coated evenly and season generously with salt and pepper.

3. Spread the vegetables on a baking sheet and roast for about 20 minutes (depending on size you cut the vegetables), tossing a few times, until the vegetables are tender and golden.

4. Ready to serve !

Tips and tricks

-This is a dish you can make ahead of time and leftovers can be used cold the day after in a salad.

-You can also use other vegetables: butternut squash, cauliflower, broccoli  green/yellow/red peppers, cherry tomatoes, any root vegetable will do.

Healthy comfort food - beef steef

January is an interesting month with a double personality,...

First of all, after the holiday season filled with rich, indulgent foods, most people are looking for healthy, nutritious light recipes.

But January is also one of the coldest months,…so everybody is craving comfort food.

This next recipe does the job for me,…and kids like it too!

Beef tagine with plenty of vegetables

Ingredients (8 people)

-1 kg stewing beef, cut in cubes (ask for lean cut of beef)

-olive oil

-1 onion, peeled and chopped

-600 g chickpeas, drained

-600 g chopped tomatoes (canned is ok)

-500 g carrots, chopped

-1 squash, cut into 5 cm chunks

-1 liter vegetable stock (low sodium vegetable stock)

-100 g dates, take stones out and chop in 2-4 pieces

-2 tablespoons flaked almonds, toasted

-handful fresh coriander leaves

-250 g cooked quinoa or couscous

-Spice mix: 1 tablespoon ras el hanout, 1 tablespoon ground cumin, 1 tablespoon

ground ginger, 1 tablespoon paprika, 1 teaspoon cinnamon

(this looks like a lot of spices for it’s actually not a spicy stew)

Directions

1.  Prepare spice mix and mix it with the beef. If you have time let it sit in your refrigerated for several hours so spices can mix well.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and fry the meat over medium heat for 5 minutes in a casserole-type pan or a tagine. Add the chopped onion and fry for another 5 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes and vegetable stock  and bring to a boil. Put lid on the pan and continue cooking (simmer) for another 1 ½ hours.
3. Add the vegetables: chickpeas, carrots, dates and squash and let stir for another 15’ or until the meat is soft. The beef should be really tender and flaking apart.
4. Add some salt and pepper (cayenne pepper for a spicier version) and serve with some toasted almonds and fresh coriander leaves.
5. Serve with couscous or quinoa if you like a gluten-free option

Tips & Tricks:
-Great make-ahead dish and freezes well. I always prepare more than needed and freeze a portion to have an extra meal available when I don’t have time or a desire to cook.

-Easy to make this dish vegetarian, just leave out the meat and add some extra veggies if needed. Other great options: cauliflower, parsnips.

-Make sure the stew simmers and does not cook vigorously.

Tabouleh salad with lentils and quinoa

Lentils are one of those ingredients that I have in my pantry for quite some time but that never made me excited to cook them,… so I challenged myself to prepare a dish that I would enjoy with lentils,...

Happy with the result, I decided to post the recipe.

Ingredients (~ 8 people)

-30 g quinoa, rinsed and cooked

-30 g green lentils (I prefer the ‘Lentilles Vertes du Puy), rinsed

-1 sprig of thyme

-1 bay leave

-250g cherry tomatoes, chopped in 4

-1 cucumber, peeled and chopped in small cubes

-6 spring onions, sliced

-2 lemons, juich only (you can add some lemon zest as well)

-2 bunches flat-leaf parsley (~100 g)

-30g mint

-4 tablespoons of olive oil

-pepper, salt, ras-el-hanout (optional)

Directions

1. Cook quinoa based on instruction on the package. Don’t use too much water or the quinoa will be soggy. Let cool down.

2. Cook the lentils in a large saucepan, add thyme and a bay leave and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20-25 minutes, until the lentils are tender. Be sure not to overcook. Let cool down and remove thyme and bay leave.

3. Juice lemons and add the olive oil and spices (pepper, salt, ras-el-hanout (optional))

4. Wash the herbs in cold water, chop most of the stalks off the parsley (roughly), and slice it as finely as you can. 

Pick the leaves from the mint and do the same. The best way to chop the herbs is to gather them into a tight wad then using a chef’s knife to chiffonade them, cutting them in thin strips.

5. Add the herbs, tomatoes, cucumber, spices, lemon juice to the lentils and quinoa mixture. Add salt, pepper and ras-el-hanout if you like to spice it up a little bit.

The 

6. Serve at room temperature. The flavor will improve if the tabouleh sits for a few hours.

Tips:

-You can use it as a salad, a side dish or serve it as a dish with grilled chicken or fish.

-You can also scatter pomegranate just before serving or add some feta.

-You can keep this several days in your refrigerated. Perfect as a quick lunch the day after.

Kids Friendly Dish - Shepherd's Pie with Sweet Potato

My daughter Sienna is convinced that the candy 'Fruitella' has tons of fruit in it and therefore doesn't need to eat her fruits,…

Long way to go!

However my picky eater loved this recipe,...

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

-500 g ground beef or lamb

-1 onion, chopped

-2 cloves garlic, chopped

-spice mix: 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon ginger, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon salt

-500 g sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-1 teaspoon salt

-2 tablespoons milk

-500 g mushrooms, chopped

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-1 small onion, chopped

-1 clove of garlic, chopped

Directions

For the filling:

1. Add olive oil to the pan along with the onion, garlic, cumin, ginger, chili powder, salt and cinnamon and cook for 8-10 minutes on medium heat until the onion is softened.

2. Add the meat to spice mix and brown the meat over medium heat. 

For the mashed potatoes:

1. Boil the potatoes for 15 minutes, or until tender.

2. Drain well and add the olive oil, milk and salt.

3. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher or food mill (passe-vite), blend until they reach a creamy consistency.

For the mushrooms:

1. Add olive oil, onion, garlic to a pan and brown the mushrooms. Add peper and salt.

Assembly:

1. Preheat the over to 180° Celsius.

2. Fill a casserole dish with the meat filling, add a layer mushrooms and spread the mashed potatoes mix on top.

3. Bake for 40 minutes until the topping is beginning to brown.

Tips:

-This is a perfect make ahead dish. You can prepare everything in advance and basically just heat it in the over when needed.

-There are plenty of variations you can make to this dish (use duck confit as filling or chicken) or make a vegetarian version of this dish (replace meat with lentils, chickpeas, etc).