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Baked falafels with homemade pita bread
A 10-minute job and super healthy That meals can be associative experiences that stand as pillars along our life’s journey has long been established. I vividly remember the very first time I tried falafels. I was vacationing in Toronto, Canada and for some strange reason (because I hate shopping for anything but books, wine, and food), it was in the food court of the huge mall in the heart of Toronto. Falafels. Folded into a pita, topped with tzatziki and tabbouleh. Y.U.M.M.Y. I couldn’t believe what I was tasting.., the flavors had a party on my palate. That I had to be in my twenties to get this delicious meal on my adventurous life path was actually a mystery. As a good source of fiber and protein, falafels support healthy blood sugar levels. But while they are healthy, deep-frying (as they are usually prepared) turns them into a fat and …
Springtime coral lentil soup (v)
Healthy and refreshing Cool mornings and warm afternoons can be a bit of a puzzle when it comes to figuring out what to eat. It’s too warm for hearty winter fare yet, too cold for summer food. If you’re the go-to cook at your house, you know the happy medium can be frustrating to achieve. Well, here’s a wonderful little recipe to the rescue: this coral (or red) lentil soup will warm your bones and give you a taste of summer all in one healthy bowl-full. The secret ingredient? Lemon!Ingredients and preparation – springtime coral lentil soup (vegetarian) 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 1 large onion, finely chopped 2 celery stalks with leaves, finely chopped 1 large carrot, chopped small 1/3 cup of finely chopped bell pepper (paprika) – trio (red, green, yellow) 3 garlic cloves, minced 2 tsp. ground coriander 1 tsp. ground cumin 1/2 tsp. sweet paprika …
Apéro honey-mustard dipping sauce
A versatile sauce for many dishes and we’ve included three! Honey mustard sauce is a very tasty addition to your apéro table. It’s sweet and tangy, it’s sweet and a little bit spicy, and it’s super sweet because it takes no more than five minutes to make and keeps for up to a week. The longer it stores in the fridge, the stronger the flavor. So, if it’s not spicy tasting right when you make it, the next day you’ll catch that hint of cayenne at the back of the throat. It can be served to accompany an array of finger foods. It can be more fatty or more healthy. It can be used for a plethora of things in the kitchen, such as: marinade for barbecue, deviled eggs, as a glaze for a pork roast or ham, as a sauce on a hamburger, glaze for seared ahi tuna, on …
Apéro Mini Vol-au-Vent
For apéritif we handle them quickly! At our house we are not planning to conjure up a big party menu this Christmas and New Year’s Eve. We don’t have any guests and actually “apéro dining” is something we do every Friday evening anyway; just a lot of snacks we like with a cocktail or a bottle of Cava and a nice movie. For us it’s a cozy, relaxing way to end the week. When I prepare vol-au-vent as a meal, it involves a lot of work and love. “In grandmother’s way” you know… I don’t do that for apéro-dining. First, not much filling is needed for the mini-pastries, and second it shouldn’t take so much of my time. These mini vol-au-vents are tasty AND quick.Ingredients and preparation – mini-vol-au-vent For 24 – 30 mini-pastries 2 chicken breasts cut into small pieces 1/2 lemon – juiced 50g/50g butter and plain flour …
Lettuce wraps with beets, endive, and apple (v)
So crispy fresh and delicious It’s a salad, yes. How does a salad become finger food? Simple, by cutting everything extra fine and serving it as a wrap. A lettuce wrap – or in this case I also used endive leaf ‘boats’ – that is at once refreshing, crispy, slightly tart and goes well with any of our other apéro suggestions. It’s just wonderful and I can’t imagine it wouldn’t be equally awesome as a stand alone salad throughout the summer season, or as part of a picnic. I’ll be honest, people who don’t like vegetables might not like this. But that’s okay… more for those who do like this kind of thing!Ingredients and preparation – Lettuce wraps with beets, endive, and apple – Vegetarian Makes about 10 wraps plus some extra (see cup) 1 fresh butterhead lettuce (laitue) 1 sweet apple peeled (preferably Pink-Lady) 1 stalk endive cut in …
Apéro fried ravioli and marinara sauce dip (v)
Quick and easy. AND tasty! Fried ravioli is kind of a finger food staple for as long as I can remember. It’s cheap to make, quick and is sure to please everybody around the apéro table. What’s more, measurements are not really necessary, because you can’t go wrong. We use sunflower (tournesol) frying oil, but you can use whatever you’re used to, use a deep fryer or a pan like we d0. You can also use any fresh ravioli you like, stuffed with cheese or other things.Ingredients and preparation – fried ravioli with marinara sauce (vegetarian) 1 or more bags of fresh ravioli from the supermarket breadcrumbs eggs marina sauce – make your own or buy at supermarket as you wish spices: paprika powder, dried parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper – no set measurements, use them liberally sunflower or other frying oil and paper towel for draining …
Préfou de Vendée – garlic bread (v)
Making Préfou from scratch surprised me! Until this moment we had only ever bought the pale préfou at the supermarket… well… never again! This homemade garlic bread, a Vendéen delicacy although we’re relatively sure that the term delicacy in relation to loads of garlic is a total oxymoron, is scrumptious. Until now we had only been familiar with the Italian garlic bread which we now realise is like the “milquetoast” version of REAL garlic bread. (Milquetoast is a word that has been around since 1925 and means ‘meek’). So, what is préfou and where does it live in Vendée history? In the countryside near Fontenay-le-Comte, long before we had the modern convenience of thermostats to tell us when the oven was hot enough to bake, Vendéen bakers had the clever idea to throw a piece of bread into the oven to check the temperature. Once the bread was pale but …
Chickpeas and Kale (v)
In the Kale-for-Winter post I had already described how I typically stock up on this healthy treat before winter by blanching in broth and freezing for soups and stews. This vegetarian (or vegan with just a small change) recipe is an example where I use one of my ‘treasure packages’. I call them that because I love this ‘green gold’ that much. Kale is a superfood with many health benefits. Like Popeye and his spinach, I feel stronger when I consume it. This is where my work before winter pays off because this recipe is so tasty and easy to make, and all I have to do to finish it is to drop one of my kale-frozen-in-broth packages into the pot at the very end. If you really don’t like kale, another potent green vegetable will work too, including spinach. This is not a chickpea stew, nor is it a …
American-style Meatloaf
Meatloaf or meatbread can be found in many cultures around the world! Meatloaf is typically something we like to eat in fall and winter as it’s so delicious with mashed potatoes and other winter veg. But it’s just as good in the summer too, as a sandwich on toast with spicy mustard and mayo, perhaps a pickle to accompany it, and with an ice cold beer to accompany it. The concept of turning a large amount of minced meat (ground meat) into a large loaf to feed a family, is not new. From Austria to Vietnam and everywhere in between, many countries around the world have some version of meatloaf in their cuisine. Pinpointing the origin is not easy, but we can be quite sure that the tradition for meatloaf is rooted in frugality. To feed a large number of people with just pennies to spend. When I was a …
Baked salmon roll with endive and leeks
Leeks and endive are two veggies that we love at our house. Growing up, they were regularly served in one way or another and even as a child, I loved it all. Both leeks and endive are vegetables are incredibly versatile. If I could have had one Euro for every time that a cashier in the U.S. asked me these two strange vegetables they were ringing up for me and how to cook them, I would sit behind this keyboard with heavy pockets. How could I possible answer that question anyway. The meals you can make with them certainly do not begin or end with leek soup or endive au gratin. THIS recipe surprised even me. It is incredibly delicious. Silky… lemony… With the Holiday Season coming, this salmon roll with endive and leeks baked in a delicate sauce can be the star on your festive table. A little background …
Pumpkin Tart (v)
Pumpkin pie … Just one of the things to look forward to each year for Thanksgiving for 24 years of my life! Along with sweet potato pie and my sister-in-law’s wonderful squash casserole. Yummy! But guess what. My husband HATES any of these things. It’s decidedly un-American. So… this year I have devised my very own recipe for a pumpkin pie. It’s more tart than pie, so I’m calling it a pumpkin tart. Listen. You don’t have to try it. But I challenge you to. The test-kitchen for this recipe happened to be at my mother’s house. My mother who also doesn’t like pumpkin pie. I’ll tell you what was left of this 4-person pie after it came out of the oven… 1 wedge. One. Which is how I know it’s as delicious to eat hot or cold. I can’t wait to serve it my pumpkin tart to my husband, …
Judy’s Chicken tagine with apricots and almonds
Introduction Hello everybody! I was so very happy that Judy Lipton, our Facebook group member who is dying to visit the Vendée on her next trip to France, whom I am humbled to call my friend and… who is a chef, volunteered one of her amazing recipes for our Recipe Corner! I can honestly say that I can’t wait to see Judy again (she owns a home elsewhere in France) but until then, I know that when I try this recipe it will feel a little bit like putting my feet under her table. It will feel like a warm hug. I can’t wait. Let’s head to Judy’s kitchen in Tucson, Arizona, for this mouthwatering Middle Eastern inspired recipe!Ingredients and preparation Chicken Tagine with apricots and almonds For 4- 6 people 4 oz dried apricots (125 g) 1 chicken, cut into 8 pieces, or just thighs 1 tsp ground ginger 1 …
Crispy broiled Kale Chips
Fancy an unusual and unusually healthy apéro snack? Kale chips fit the bill just perfectly. They are incredibly light, airy and super crispy. Finish them off with a sprinkling of Vendée fleur de sel and prepare to ‘wow’ your guests! Kale is a superfood with many health benefits but it is not that easily found in France. Apparently I wasn’t the only person shocked by the sparsity of it… New Yorker Kristen Breddard, who’d moved to Paris years before we did, started a website called The Kale Project – essentially a mapping and information project of where we kale enthusiasts can find our precious fix in France. Yes, you can report your kale findings and have them mapped.Ingredients and preparation – Crispy broiled Kale Chips A few handfuls of kale leaves Kale Fleur de sel or coarse sea salt Garlic powder Good olive oil Method Prepare an oven dish with wax …
Broccoli Pie with Vendéen Jambon Blanc
I fell in love with this incredibly tasty broccoli pie from the very beginning but adding the beautiful Vendée (white) ham makes it extra special. It’s a lovely meal on it’s own, served with a salad in summer or with buttery mashed potatoes in fall/winter. With store-bought dough so inexpensive and readily available, it’s also super easy but of course you can make your own. If you’re intimidated making the roux, don’t worry. If you follow the recipe to the letter, you can’t go wrong. And if you wish to make it vegetarian, simply leave the ham and switch chicken broth with veg broth.Ingredients and preparation Broccoli Pie with Vendéen Jambon Blanc For up to 4 people Pâte brisée – 1 pie crust (or 2 because you can make it prettier by creating a lattice to cover the pie with) 750g of broccoli florets cooked for 3 minutes in salt …
Renée’s Chicken Enchilada Soup
Introduction Hello everybody! The following recipe was submitted to inthevendee.com by Renee Schouten-Janssen and we can’t wait to try it! In starting this recipe corner and writing down my recipes the most difficult task is to figure out “how much of that do I use?” …. I love that Renée is just such a cook too! Truth is, for recipes such as this it’s okay to have a starting point and adjust to your taste as you go along. Let’s head to Renée’s kitchen for her delicious soup!Ingredients and preparation – Enchilada Soep met Kip For 4- 6 people Chicken thighs 2 cans of peeled tomatoes 1 or 2 chopped onions Chopped garlic 2 TBSP flour Chili flakes Cumin powder Coriander powder Can of corn Red kidney beans and/ or black beans canned 3 liters chicken stock MethodPrep Remove the skin from the chicken thighs. Fry the chicken skin in …