Muesli for breakfast
Some days ago I made the muesli blend which I enjoy daily for the breakfast. It not necessarily needs to be served in a porridge style but in more appetizing way. Just layer the muesli with fruits and yogurt in a glass or a bowl.
Here are the muesli soaked in milk over night before layering them.
Wok with scallops
As a continuation of our healthy days I cooked today wok with scallops. At the bottom of the plate and below the vegetables and scallops is a pile of whole grain rice. All seasoned with sesame oil, soy sauce, grated ginger, garlic, roasted sesame seeds and garnished with coriander and spring onions.
Home made Muesli
I have always done my own muesli because it is easy and you know what is in it. I divide my muesli content into 3 categories:
- "CEREALS"- soya , oats and chestnuts flakes. I buy the soya and chestnuts flakes in our local Bio shop already roasted. They are crunchy and have a better taste.
- NUTS and SEEDS- hazelnuts (roasted in oven 190°C 10 min, chopped), sunflower and pumpkin seeds ( roasted in a pan)
- DRIED FRUIT - Cranberries, dates and apricots
Red beetroot and horseradish
I love the combination. It gives the salad an extra edge, particularly when seafood is involved. I served today yesterday's leftovers (salmon burgers) with a plenty of vegetables and salad leaves. Instead of any sauce I added the grated beetroots and horseradish. I always think about the colors of vegetables....more deep color and many different colors gives more protection.
Anti-aging food
Yesterday I bought a new book about Anti- aging. It was not only for the subject, I bought it, but I thought it might be easier to read French if you have some interest in the subject. And I was right .... now I have enhanced my collection of healthy books with French one.....and to tell you true I already have many of them in 3 other languages. Anyhow, in this book I have found a salad recipe with my favorite ingredients as fennel, prunes, orange juice, olive oil and nuts (pinenuts or walnuts).....easy and delicious summer food. I served it with few fresh grilled sardines. The fennel is thinly sliced on a mandolin, the prunes are soaked a few minutes in the orange juice and then cut in small pieces. Olive oil and the remaining orange juice are combined into a dressing and the nuts are sprinkled over just before serving.....I have not even used any salt or pepper, it was not necessary.
Chicken Escabeche
I have found recipe of my favorite summer dish "Chicken Escabeche" which is a chicken (could be also fish or pork) marinated in an acidic mixture before serving. It is a simple dish which feeds many and fits very well for informal summer meals. You can cook it a day before, keep it in the fridge and let it rest at room temperature for 2 hours before serving.
For 6 people you need:
12 chicken drumsticks
olive oil
2 large onions, thinly sliced into rings
3 carrots, thinly sliced
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp hot paprika powder
2 bay leaves
dried red chilli
springs of thyme
3 strips of orange rind
1/2 dl sherry vinegar
4.5 dl medium-dry sherry (I used madeira)
1dl orange juice
1/2 cube of chicken bouillon
- Cook drumsticks in olive oil (you can add a little of butter) until cooked well. I fried them first from all side and then cooked them in oven in additional 30min. It depends of the side of the drumsticks but I like them very well cooked.
- When cooked place the drumsticks in a glass or ceramic dish just large enough to hold them in a single layer and season to taste.
- Heat oil and cook the onion, carrots and cumin seeds for 3 min, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft but still holding its shape. Add paprika, bay leaves, chilli, thyme, orange rind, vinegar, sherry and orange juice and the cube of bouillon. Cook for 8 min until the carrots are tender.
- Pour the hot mixture over chicken and cool completely. Serve at room temperature with bread and salad.
Grilled seafood and roasted sweet potatoes
Evening again. My luggage for my trip to Nice tomorrow morning is packed and our dinner is enjoyed. Today I grilled tuna fish and scampi and served it with roasted sweet potatoes, lemon wedges and a sauce done with cream fraiche and fresh grated horseradish. My stove has an integrated grill with lava stones, which is a great solution for the occasion you want to grill and the weather is not yet ready.
I have marinated the seafood in oil, rosemary, thyme and a lot of garlic, then dried it with a kitchen paper before I put in on the grill. The tuna fish must not be cook through if you want to eat it tender.
Sweet potatoes are my favorite....I just cut each potato in 4 wedges and tossed the wedges in olive oil. Then roasted it at 220°C in 30 minutes and seasoned with salt.
Delicious salads
Yesterday I spent some hours reading a food blog which gave me the most inspiration about food ever. I will " cook me through" her recipes as they are sooooo mouthwatering. Today I tested her bulgur salad. I still have some left-overs chicken from the weekend so I needed some side dish to it. The salad is simple to cook and you can eat it warm or cold...a perfect dish for the summer. I served it together with a vegetable salad made on fennel and radishes. For you who want try, you can find the recipe here.
I have sliced the fennel and radishes using a mandolin in order to achieve very thin slices. Then I marinated it in lemon juice, salt and pepper. You can finish it with a drizzle of olive oil.
Fish in oven
This recipe can be done with any fish. I am using the rouget and I fill the opening with green herbs (dill, basil, fennel) and lemon slices, sprinkle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. I prefer to roast it on low to medium temperature 175C for 15-20min depending of the fish size. In this case one fish is like a portion so I serve it as is on the plate.
These are the ends of asparagus which are not so tender therefore I use them for a soup. The tender part of asparagus I will steam and use as a side dish to the fish.
Dinner for two
We have been eating left-overs, salads, soups and sandwiches the whole week. So today I cooked a "dinner for two". Avocado mousse with shrimps as a starter, chicken legs with spring vegetables and garlic-thyme-lemon-butter as main course and fruits in season as dessert. Outside the temperature dropped to 14°C, it's very windy and the rain is coming so we lighted the wood fire and opened a bottle of rose wine....
Navarin d'Agneau
6 persons
2kg boneless leg or shoulder of lamb,cubed
3tbs flour
olive oil
1litre vegetable or chicken stock
2gloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
6 shallots
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
1tbs tomato puree
150ml red wine
bouquet garni
1/2 tsp paprika powder
salt, peppar
Vegetables:
Asparagus
New Potatoes
Carrots
Green peas
- Trim the lamb of any fat. Place in a bowl with the flour, salt and pepper and toss to coat.
- Heat the olive oil in a large casserole dish, add just enough meat to cover the bottom of the pan and brown the meat. Remove and repeat with next batch.
- Return all meat to the casserole dish, add the stock and bring to a simmer, mixing well.
- Add garlic, shallots, tomatoes, puree, red wine, paprika, bouquet garni and simmer for 2 hours.
- Cook the potatoes and the carrots, steam the asparagus and green peas.
- You can combine the vegetables with the stew in the casserole dish or do it when you arrange the plates. I prefer to have it separated (as shown in my pictures) but both works well.
Bouquet garni (bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, persil)
Mise en place
Asparagus, Pasta - pure vegeterarian
When the weather is like today, 27°C and sun you do not have the inspiration to spent a lot of time in the kitchen. For those days the fresh pasta is an alternative. I still do not like the content of white flour in it but in this case the positive thing is that the dish is pure vegetarian. 
As a starter I served steamed asparagus with a good quality balsamic vinegar and Parmegiano-Reggiano cheese. That's it....the asparagus are in season and so tasty that they do not need "much attention"
As a main course we enjoyed freshly made pasta with rocket salad, Parmegiano-reggiano cheese, roasted pine nuts and a few dropps of truffle oil.
Daurade fillet, fennel puree and black rice
Another of my favorite recipes. Daurade is a mediterranean fish with a lot of taste. I bought today on the market a wild daurade, which is more expensive than the cultivated one but has even more taste. You can use whatever fish is available like salmon, cod etc. The key in this dish is the fennel puree, so simple and so tasty. Just cook a chopped onion in oil and add the chopped fennel. Cook it with little of water and chicken bouillon for 15min. Mix it, by using an electrical blender, together with a little of light creme fraiche for a smooth consistence. I served the pure in the bottom of the deep plate, topped it with cooked black rice (white rice works as well) and finally with the fish fillet, which I roasted in butter on a medium heat. When I have guests, I make the fillets in the oven.
Turkey "Rosa di Parma"
Today I tried an Italian recipe from WebMD site called "Rosa di Parma". It uses all the lovely Italian ingredients as sage, garlic, Parma ham and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. However, I exchanged the pork for turkey meat and then followed the recipe. The smell of the garlic, rosemary and sage make this dish irresistible already during the cooking. I served it with fresh asparagus only but it could taste well with mashed potatoes or another pure.
When roasting the meat I used the meat thermometer in order to not overcook the turkey. I took it out from the oven when the inner temperature reached 165°C. Then I allowed it to rest for 5 min before I cut in slices.
Easy dessert
Vegetarian Chili
I tried today cook a vegetarian version of the Chili con carne based on the ingredients I had at home. Actually you do not need so much, onion, garlic, chili, can of tomatoes and kidney beans, tomato paste and some fresh tomatoes. I tried to avoid any vegetable bouillon as it also includes the chemical substance called glutamate. So I created an ultimate healthy dish and it was so tasty. I also used some other spices like curcuma, worcestershire sauce, tahini (sesame paste) red wine, fresh coriander, fresh green onion and also a piece of tofu.
You could use other spices as well or keep it simple. This is a fresh, spicy, hot, healthy and very cheap dish. I served it with home-made sourdough bread but bulgur could be another alternative....and of course plenty of fresh green salad.
Red Beetroot
In France you can buy the beetroot freshly cooked which saves you some time. I always buy 2-3 pieces and keep them in the fridge the whole week. I use them often in salad mostly for their nutrition but also for the color and taste. Sometime I shred them together with horseradish, sometime I chop them or like today I used the mandolin to slice them into thin pieces together with fenouil and red onion. I also added some chickpeas and marinated anchovies. The result was a pink colored mixture which I served together with various green leaves. This is the type food which helps to protect your body by strengthening your immunity system.
My Quinoa Dinner
Quinoa is rich on protein and low on carbohydrates therefore it is wonderful as evening dish. It has been recommended to those who suffers of insomnia. So while my husband enjoyed whole wheat flour pasta with tomato sauce I preferred the quinoa for dinner. I cooked it and mixed it with yoghurt and grated apple. I served it with various fruits and berries. As my fruits were very ripe I didn't need additional sugar. In other case I would use agave syrup which is low in GI.
Sunday....Dimanche
This is the food palette which I served today. For lunch we had salad with green salad, avocado, red beetroot, tomatoes, cooked salmon and also the leftovers from my cauliflower dish. Then we went for a hike and after we had returned home we spent the rest of afternoon in sun with a cup of tea and my oats cookies. For dinner I roasted a chicken together with sweet potatoes. I served it with a lot of carrot and green salad. We also enjoyed a glass of local red vine. As desert we had a fruit salad, similar as yesterday.....
Saturday dinner
Our pizza is made of whole wheat flour and is very thin. The tomato sauce I cook with onion, garlic, olive oil, tomato and rosemary. We like to garnish it with nordic shrimps which I defrost and peel before spreading them over the pizza. I use only a little of cheese so I dare to claim that our pizza is healthy. I also top the pizza with fresh rocket and few drops of chili oil just before serving.
As desert I served a delicious fruit salad with ripen mango, raspberries, pears, strawberries, blueberries and fresh mint.
