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.

Les verrines,… a very French thing to impress your guests with and it has a stylish presentation!

Ohhhh and maybe the best part of all, you can make these in advance so you have time to enjoy your visitors,…no stress in the kitchen!

Verrine with tuna and mango guacamole

Ingredients (4-6 servings)
-2 avocados, peeled and pitted
-1/2 mango, peeled and cut in small cubes
-1 small red onion, minced
-juice from ½ lime
-salt and cayenne pepper (or small chile pepper) to taste
-fresh coriander, chopped
-150 g fresh tuna (or salmon), cut in small cubes
-vinaigrette:
1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice and 1 teaspoon of wasabi

Directions

1.Prepare the guacamole
Cut the avocado in half and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Mash the avocados. Add the mango, onion, lime juice, spices and koriander.

2.Prepare the vinaigrette 
Add together all the ingredients: olive oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, lime juice and wasabi.

3.Prepare the tuna
Mix the vinaigrette with tuna and let sit for 15’.

4.Assemble the verrine
One layer of guacamole, one layer of tuna, a layer of guacamole and finish with tuna.

Optional: You can garnish with fresh coriander, sesame seeds or something green.

Tips
-You can make the guacamole in advance. Save guacamole in a long container and cover with a plastic wrap so no air can get in. Leave the pit of the avocado in.
-The verrine can be made several hours in advance.

Verrine with quinoa, eggplant tapenade, prosciutto and pinenuts

Ingredients (4-6 servings)
Quinoa
-100 g quinoa, rinsed
-vinaigrette for quinoa: 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon mustard, 1 tablespoon lemon, pinch of pepper and salt

Caviar
-3 eggplants
-100 g tomatoes (from a can is ok)
-1 onion, ruffly chopped
-1 clove of garlic, chopped
-spice mixture: 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon ground coriander,1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, pinch of cayenne pepper
-handful chopped flat leave parsley
-1/2 lemon: juice and zest
-pepper, salt to taste (if needed)

-3 piece of prosciutto, cut up in small pieces
-handful of roasted pinenuts

Directions

1.Prepare the quinoa
Cook the quinoa following the instructions on the packaging. I usually use 1 cup quinoa and 1 1/2 cup of water. Make sure you don’t use too much water or the quinoa will be too mushy.
Let the quinoa cool down and mix with the vinaigrette (olive oil, mustard, lemon juice, salt, pepper).

2.Prepare eggplant tapenade

Preheat the oven to 180 C and poke the eggplant six or seven times with a fork so steam can escape and roast the eggplant for 30-40’. The eggplant is ready when the inside of the eggplant is soft.
Let the eggplants cool down and cut the eggplant in 2 (in the length) and scoop out the flesh with a spoon.
Heat one tablespoon of olive oil and saute the minced onion and garlic (~2 minutes at medium heat). Add spices, tomatoes and eggplant flesh and let simmer for 5-10’.
Add lemon juice/zest and add salt if needed.
Let the eggplant tapenade cool down. 

3.Assemble the verrine
One layer of eggplant caviar, one layer of quinoa, some prosciutto and pine nuts and repeat the layers. Garnish with some parsley or another herb or green.

Tiramisu with a Belgian twist- speculoos tiramisu

Ingredients (~6 servings)
-250 g mascarpone 
-50 g powdered sugar
-12 speculoos cookies (I like the Lotus brand)
-2 egg yolks
-1 egg white
-2 or 3 tablespoons Amaretto
- ~20 cl strong black coffee (espresso)
-2 tablespoons cacao (for decoration)

Directions
1.Prepare the mascarpone mixture
Whip up egg yolks, gradually adding the powdered sugar (until foamy
mixture) and add amaretto and mascarpone. Mix well.

Beat egg whites until quite stiff and fold egg whites into the mascarpone mixture.

2.Prepare espresso

3.Assemble the verrine
Dip speculoos cookie briefly in the coffee, do not oversoak the cookies so they remain a little firm. Place cookie at bottom of verrine and add a layer of mascarpone mixture and repeat the layers 2 to 3 times. Finish with mascarpone mixture.
Add cocoa powder to the top when you are ready to serve the tiramisu.

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.

Fresh cranberries have arrived!

Yeah it’s that time of the year,…

the fresh cranberries have arrived ,…it gets me in the mood for the holidays!
Cranberry juice with apples and ginger

Ingredients
-250 g (~1 cup) fresh cranberries
-3 apples
-piece of fresh ginger (~optional)

You can also swap apples for orange juice and carrots or another piece of fruit with a sweet flavor

Directions

1. Wash all ingredients well and put in your juicer

2. Serve with a fresh mint sprigs and done!

Note: I use a slow juicer but you can also use a regular blender

Have you already tried Pumpkin Soup with Turmeric and Coconut Cream?

Around this time of the year you probably have plenty of pumpkins lingering around,…

Ingredients (4-6 persons)

-1 medium sized pumpkin, roughly chopped (~4 to 6 cups)

-1 tablespoon coconut oil

-1 onion, chopped

-2 garlic cloves, chopped

-1 tablespoon finely grated ginger

-1 small red chili, seeds removed and diced (start with ½ or ¼ for less spicy version)

-1 tablespoon coriander

-2 teaspoon turmeric

-salt to taste

-1 liter vegetable stock

-200 ml coconut cream

-fresh coriander (optional)

Directions

1. Saute the onion for a few minutes and than add the garlic, ginger, chili pepper and spices (coriander, turmeric and a pinch of salt) in coconut oil for a few minutes.

2. Add the pumpkin and sauté for 5 minutes.

3. Add vegetable stock and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes (~until pumpkin is cooked).

4. Puree with a hand-held blender or food processor until smooth, than add the coconut cream

5. Serve with some fresh coriander.

Tip: I’ll add some garlic bread crumbs for the kids.