Category: Vegan

Hotel life: my American favorites

When traveling it’s always hectic with food for me, I don’t like eating out 3 times a day. Most portions are way too big and I get quickly bored with the amount of mix tastes that surpasses my imagination.  As you may know now, I like simple delicious things. So when in the US I really enjoy organic groceries that can be found pretty easily in main cities and sometimes opened round the clock (even better for jetlag and busy working days). It seems particularly true in Boston. There, you can buy things I didn’t even imagine exist, almond milk yogurt with coconut taste, super delicious cereal bars, fresh cut fruits, natural cheese, teas (i usually pack on Chai), tons of different types of flours (well I’m not baking in my hotel room…) and my favorite drink, non organic though but from sustaible harvested ingredients: the Naked fruit smoothies, just perfect for middle-of-the-night-breakfast! 

During this short stay in Boston I tried the new to me (haven’t been to the US for 2 years!) pineapple-mango-coconut water Naked, and just loved it, not as thick as the regular mango one! And I found super delicious bars from Earnest eats, my favorite is the almond trail mix. The taste of almond is really strong but it’s really good and just not too sweet. That and a bowl of fresh raspberries was my post-swimming breakfast.

Because, yes! I always pick hotels with a swimming pool. I love to swim early in the morning to recover from jetlag. Doing laps before starting a long business day, after a long trip is just making me feel really good. How do you do to keep a good balance when traveling?

Anytime breakfast
Anytime breakfast

Chestnut and soya flour bread

Since I’m still trying a few cheese from the Komagata factory, I wanted some bread to eat with. The problem with bread is that it takes at least 3h30 to have something ready to eat assuming that you have a room heated at about 23deg… Knowing that Japanese houses are not well isolated not even well heated, and that it is freezing cold recently, making bread is more about 5 or 6h… Not something you improvise. But this chesnut and soya flour bread, since it is gluten free and don’t need to rise can be ready in 90min!!!! (Recipe from my bakery bible) Wonderful! And not even quick it’s super delicious. It’s quite compact and sweet, with a good taste of chesnuts. Perfect for the cheese I was trying this time!!!

Bamboo shoot and caper salad

A few years ago while I was trying new recipes I was taking notes of any good finding for future use. Of course, after changing job and apartment, I stop making notes, and forgot about it. Recently, I was browsing trough this note book, and it reminded me receipe trials with bamboo shoots and when I came out with this funny mix: Bamboo shoot salad with smoked salmon, capers, and a yogurt sauce. 

Salty sakura flowers and capers
Salty sakura flowers and capers

Now is just the season for bamboo shoots, and I got a few in Ohara. So while preparing them I was wondering which variation I would opt for (with what is available in Ohara: forget about wild or organic smoked salmon, so forget about it!) and I found that just served with capers and salty sakura flowers that would be a perfect seasonal match. Indeed! Salty sakura flowers are a typical ingredient in spring and are used to decorate mochi, to season chazuke, or to make sakura tea. It’s just just fresh flowers preserved in salt. A bit like small roses preserved in sugar. With a very specific taste of sakura. It may be surprising at first, but it’s really delicious!

Oven baked vegetables

With Easter around and the unsual amount of chocolates at home, I needed a basic simple vegan dish. I opted for oven grilled vegetables, to change for the steamed vegetables I often cook. Grilling takes slightly more time than steaming, but if you plan ahead it is really not complicated and delicious!  

Here in the oven dish for two, new carrots, new lotus root, ring onions, asparagus and and one paprika. A leaf of laurel, a bit of thyme, salt, pepper and olive oil. Bake at medium heat as long as you want depending on how you like your vegetables.

Buckwheat spinash cheese thick galette

A quick recipe for a power lunch: buckwheat flour, 2 eggs, some cheese, a few spinach. Mixed altogether and cooked as a thick galette. Prepared in 1 min, cooked in 7 min, perfectly delicious and full of energy for busy afternoon.  

Spelt baguette

I wanted to make some baguette but realized I was running out of white flour, so I replaced it by spelt flour. The result was really tasty and I managed, despite the cold temperature in the house in that season, to obtain a very soft crumb in a relatively short time. 

Et voila!

It didn’t take me long to open the box and try my pasta machine.

It was my very first time using a machine to make pasta so I decided to read carefully the notice and to follow my usual ravioli dough recipe (100g of flour, 1egg, a bit of milk which can be replaced by water, a bit of olive oil).

To really manage to work it out I had to had some flour, and the kitchen was a real mess, but the tagliatelle were delicious, even if there is room for improvements!!! I prepared a simple tomato sauce on the side and served them only with olive oil to enjoy fully their taste and texture.

Cauliflower soup and homemade croutons

Nothing better when it’s cold outside than a hot soup.

Tonight a cauliflower soup with some rye bread croutons. Simple, easy and delicious. 

Just boiled the cauliflower and blend it, then cut the bread in cubes and fry then in a little of oil. Salt, pepper, over.

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