Tag: homemade

Sicilian inspired pasta

After browsing my Sicilian cuisine cookbook I had a lot of new inspirations and ideas, and a crave for pasta. I love so much pasta and Italian cuisine that sometimes I wish I could live in Italy or travel there more than once a year! So for the inspiration it was on using pistachios, something I really barely use, may because I prefer them salted and usually they would be used in sweet or dessert recipes. And since I bought a big bundle of fresh celery at the farmers market, I made a very simple vegan spaghetti dish. I boiled spaghetti. In a small pan I hested olive oil, chopped 2-3 tbs of pistachios (I did it with a knife but you can use an electric chopper). Add them to the pan and stir regularly. Chopped 3 celery branches with a bit of the leaves but not too many, add to the pistachios and continue stirring. Drained the pasta, and served, top with the celery-pistachios mix. And have a nice week!

Grilled miso onigiri – 味噌焼きおにぎり

The other day while browsing my IG feed, I saw the beautiful picture of grilled onigiri (rice balls) from my IG friend Junko @junkikat. And instantly I wanted to eat some. I love grilled miso onigiri, but for some obscure reason I never make some… Junko nicely gave me her recipe and I slightly adapted it to what I had in my fridge and my pantry. So here is what I did: first cook some Japanese rice. While it was cooking I prepare a mix of miso, I had only rustic granulous miso, so I used that one, 2 tsp. Then instead of the mirin I used a little bit of rice oil and vinegar, just a few drops. Vinegar can be replaced by a few drops of sake. And then added 1/2 tsp of sugar. Stir well to obtain a homogeneous mixture. Make the rice balls by taking 1/2 of rice in wet hand and shape them as you like with one flat surface for the miso. Spread the miso on the flat surface and then grill them in the oven or in a fry pan. I used the pan because I have a huge oven and I found that silly to turn it on just for that. So I flipped the onigiri miso side on the heated pan (grease it a bit if it is not anti-adhesive) and wait a few minutes until the miso starts to golden. Serve with what you like. For this time it was scrambled eggs and a simple salad with tomato, carrot and ice plant.

Vegan burger

A. is always asking for burgers so I prepared him a special vegan burger with homemade vegan patties, avocado spread and plenty of salad, really plenty, as he lives salad a lot. I guess what he really wants when he says burger is a bloody steack and fries… but I tried to be inventivd and to have a very tasty combination and if worked cery very well. Beware, contrarily to most of the recipes I post this one takes a bit more time, but is very simple. I used what I had in the fridge for that so yoocan adjust easily with yours!

For the patties, inspired by Prunellia’s recipe of pancake seeds:

  • 1 cup of quinoa, mind was black, but red or white works well, can be replaced by bulgur, red beans, rice… 
  • a handfull of pumpkin seeds
  • a handfull of sunflower seeds
  • 1/2 cup of flax seeds, here I used brown, but blond work too, 
  • 2 large sato/taro imo, can be replaced by boiled chickpeas, boiled red beans… 

For the filling:

  • 1 ripe avocado  
  • lemon juice
  • salt and pepper  
  • green beans sprouts or any other sprouts: brocoli, alfalfa… 
  • a lettuce

First grill the sato/taro imo in the oven with the skin until soft and creamy inside. In the mean time boil the quinoa until slightly softer than usual and drain if needed. Peel the sato/taro imo and cut in pieces, add to the quinoa. Add all the seeds, stir well to obtain a thick paste. In a frypan greased with olive oil make 1-1.5cm thick patties of about 8-10cm diameter and cook them until golden on both side. I prepared 2 per person.  They are good cold or warm. You can rheat them in the oven if needed. Manipulate with care because they can break easily. 

Chop the lettuce, smash the avocado and add lemon juice, salt and pepper. Wash the sprouts. Now you are ready to make the burgers. I used half of the avocado spread per person. I spread a thick layer on on patty, added the sprouts and flipped over the other patty. Served on top of the lettuce, finish with a little of olive oil. Et voila!!!  

The sato/taro imo give a very good texture to the patties and help them to keep their shape, the creamy avocado it perfect with the crunchy patties, and the sprouts add freshness.  I’ll do it again!!!!

Canola – 菜の花

The season has come already for canola – 菜の花 – nanohana. They mark that we are now heading towards the coldest times of the year and slightly more gloomy. January is marked by beautiful weather and it moves slowly  into more rainy days. The bright green of the leaves and yellow of the flowers are illuminating these cold days and given a very first taste of spring. They also offer a good green option to spinach and cabbage! They can be cooked in many different ways and are part of Japanese traditional preparation of the season. I’ve already presented a few different, not very classic, recipes with canola: a quiche, an omelet…

Today I tried a new preparation and used the canola as I would use broccoli or cauliflower. I prepared it with chickpeas (boiled before) and with carrots. I first cooked the carrots in a bit of olive oil, then added the chickpeas, a tsp of cumin powder, salt, pepper, then added the washed and cut canola, and cooked under cover for s few minutes until the green leaves become very bright. Then I just added a little of olive oil, stirred and served. That’s all!

Mini corn crepes

In a constant search for better quality and better taste I have almost completely stopped buying processed food. Only when we are in a rush/have forgotten do I buy bread at the combini, otherwise I prepare something: pancakes, scones, crepes, bread, or A. stops at the nearby bread artisan to buy some sordough bread. Of course it requires organization and a bit of effort in the morning but it is also very gratifying to eat freshly made food. And getting used to prepare quickly the routine gets easier and faster, mire accurate too. And it helps for fixing anything not only for breakfast but also lunch, dinner… so when my mum sent me some vegan spread (some kind of salty porridge, I’ll try to make someday) and we are waiting for dinner to be ready, it took me only 5min to prepare a corn flour dough and make some mini thick crepes to try the spread. I used 100g of corn flour, works as well with chickpea flour or whatever you like, 1 egg and s bit of water. The dough must be thick but not too much. Then in a heated pan greased with olive oil I made small crepes (3-4cm diameter) with one tbs of dough each. Flip when almost dry on top. Serve with the topping of your choice.

Fresh lunch

After our tennis game turned short because of a sudden snow fall, we went grocery shopping (beautiful radishes, carrots, spinach, cauliflowers and the first of spring veggies: na no hana (colza flowers) and fuki no to) and then back home for lunch. I was frozen and was about to prepare a warm curry or soup. But then the sun came out and the sky cleared again, so I changed my mind and went for a light radish, carrot and spinach salad, served with bonito sautéed in a crispy  chickpeas flour crust. I just sliced the radish and carrot with a mandolin, washed and drained the spinach and removed the hardest parts. For the bonito I used a puece of a filet for sashimi and sliced it. I dipped the slices in chickpea flour, and then cooked them on both sides in vegetal oil. Dressed the plates and serve with a bowl of rice. Have a nice weekend!

Kabocha-mushroom risotto

This is the perfect winter dish for a busy evening! Super simple to prepare in a short time and you can prepare it before and reheat it just before eating.
For two people I use 1/6 of kabocha, 5 mushrooms, risotto rice of your choice, olive oil, salt and pepper and I finished my plate with freshly grated parmigiano, but it is optional. I sliced thinly the kabocha and the mushrooms. In a fry pan I heated a bit of olive oil and through the vegetables and roasted them until golden and crispy. Then I add the rice and grilled it a bit before adding water and salt. Let cook at low heat until the water is almost gone. Remove from heat and keep until you want to eat.
Before eating add a bit of olive oil, re-heat in the pan and stir softly if needed. Serve, add pepper, et voila!

My Japanese style vegan soup

Largely inspired by the quinoa soups (winter and autumn) I made, I wanted something more Japanese. So I cooked in a pan: one sweet potato, one large sato imo, a piece of kabocha and a leek in a bit of olive oil, and in an other pan I cooked a mix of seeds and beans together with brown rice, I cooked them as you would cook regular Japanese rice. I didn’t cook the veggies and the rice together to avoid over cooking the veggies, to keep their beautiful colors (black rice has a tendency to color a lot) and limit the stickiness of the rice and seeds. Just before serving I added a bit of boiling water to the rice mix to make it soupy, and I deglazed the veggies with a large table spoon of soy sauce. I served the rice mix, the vegetables and topped with golden sesame seeds. A rich and tasty soup for a winter evening.

7 herbs – 七草

Every year in Japan, on January 7th it is a custom to eat 7 herbs rice porridge おかゆ. Since I am not a huge fan of rice porridge I develop a new recipe every year (other recipes). Last year I prepared a 7 herbs rice omelet. This year I prepared it with grilled cod. I cooked some plain white rice. I grilled some fresh Hokkaido cod cut in pieces, and the turnip, then I simply washed the herbs and chopped them roughly and add both the cod and the herbs to the rice. Simple, tasty and delicious! How do you eat your 7 herbs???

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