Eggplant and Tomato Risotto with Pine Nuts & Basil

Here in the south of France summer is officially pushing spring out the door. It is one of my favorite times of year. Shorts and tee-shirts have replaced their winter counterparts. It is still cool in the mornings and evenings but glorious during the day without being too hot. The welcomed arrival of warm weather is particularly exciting for me this year as I have finally planted my own vegetable garden.  I spent 12 years cooking on yachts, peering out of portholes to the surrounding sea, not a vegetable patch in sight. I had an abundance of fresh produce at my fingertips but they all came delivered to my galley in cardboard crates and with exorbitant price tags. I longed for the day when I could just pick a tomato from my own garden. The time has come.

This morning I was admiring my eggplant (aubergine) and tomato plants and thinking - it won't be long until I can make my all-time favorite risotto with my very own vegetables! I know many of my friends in the area have started tending to their gardens too so I decided to share this recipe now so that the first ripe eggplants, tomatoes and basil that they harvest can be put to excellent use - in less than 45 minutes. 

Some people are intimidated by the idea of preparing risotto. Don't be. Practice makes perfect. Aim to make one risotto per week and in a month you'll be a master. It is a wonderful way to eat vegetarian. I can't think of many vegetables that don't go well in a risotto so it is a good way of cramming in some nutrition. So let this recipe serve as a template and get creative! If you are limiting your dairy intake then simply cut back on the cheese and omit the butter. Finish it off with some nice herbs and it is heaven on a plate. 

Eggplant, Tomato and Basil Risotto with Toasted Pine Nuts 

Serves 4

1 medium eggplant, diced

3 Tablespoons (45ml) olive oil

6 ripe plum tomatoes, diced

4 cups vegetable broth or water mixed with vegetable bouillon*

1 large onion, fine dice

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 cups (320g) risotto rice

1/2 cup white wine

1-2 pats of butter (optional)

1 1/2 cups (155g) grated parmesan

1 large handful toasted pine nuts

1 large handful basil leaves, coarsely chopped 

*This is an estimate. When I make risotto I rarely measure the liquid. I place a pot of seasoned water or broth on the stove to simmer and use what I need, sometimes more, sometimes less

Place the diced eggplant in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Place the colander in the sink or over a bowl and allow the salt to draw the bitter juices out of the eggplant for 10-15 minutes. Rinse to remove salt and pat dry. 

Heat two tablespoons of oil in a medium sauté pan until hot. Add the eggplant and sauté until golden. Add the tomatoes and sauté until they are soft and releasing their juice.

 Heat the stock in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and keep the broth on the heat, just barely simmering. 

Meanwhile, in a deep skillet or a wide saucepan, heat the remaining olive oil and sauté the onions until translucent. Add the garlic and sauté another 30 seconds. Add the rice to the pan and stir, coating it in the oil until you start to see it take on more of a translucent color. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and stir until it has been absorbed by the rice.

Start adding the stock to the risotto. I usually do this with a large soup ladle. You want to make sure that you have enough heat under the pan to ensure that the broth maintains a gentle simmer but not so much heat that the broth evaporates before having a chance to be absorbed by the rice. This is the part that will get easier with time. Gradually add more stock as it is being absorbed by the rice, being careful not to let the pan get too dry. Stir throughout but feel free to do other things too! You are not chained to the stove for 20 minutes but you can't go sit and watch television. Start preparing a salad and keep a constant eye on the risotto, stirring frequently and adding stock. When the rice tastes almost done but there is a tiny bit of resistance still in the center of the grain remove the pot from the heat. Add one more 1/2 ladle of stock, a pat or two of butter and the tomato, eggplant mixture and stir to combine. Cover the pan and let sit 3-4 minutes.

Remove the lid. Stir in the cheese, pine nuts and basil and serve.

Voila!

Asian Grilled Salmon with Zuchinni Ribbons - A 20-Minute Meal

 It's 6 o'clock. You've just walked through the door from work or after-school activities or maybe you've been home with the kids all day (all of which warrant a medal and a glass of wine.) The kids are driving you bonkers, the house is a mess, laundry needs to be done, the dog needs to be fed and on top of all that you are required to prepare the family something to eat - preferably something that does not come out of a cardboard box.  Ahhhhh!!!!!

I have just started my own business where I prepare healthy meals for local families. It's exciting. However, I am also a part-time student and, like most moms out there, I am a permanent contestant in that imaginary race that might, one day, earn me the title Mom of the Year. Needless to say, I'm a bit busy.  But, if you have been reading this blog from Day 1 you already know that processed food and quick-fixes are no longer an option in our house. I need to rely only on fresh produce, healthy proteins and good, fast recipes. This is one.

The other night a friend was telling me how she always tries, unsuccessfully, to get her daughter to eat salmon. I told her I'd share this recipe. My husband does not like salmon. Even if I'm preparing it in the dead of winter he has to open doors and windows to let the "salmon smell" out of the house. However, once the weather warms up and the grill makes its long-awaited return to the terrace salmon comes back on the menu. Not even James can say no to this super fast, super yummy marinade. 

The courgette (zuchinni) ribbons might be the fastest way you can cook a vegetable. They are a nice change to the salad that sits on most of our tables mid-week when we can't be bothered to think of a vegetable side. The total cook time for this meal is about 15 minutes but ideally you want to marinate the salmon at least 30 minutes - perfect time to throw in a load of laundry and tidy up the house!  

Asian Grilled Salmon

4 Salmon Filets

1/4 Cup (60 ml) Soy Sauce

1/4 cup (60 ml) Maple Syrup*

1 1/2 Tablespoons (22 ml) Toasted Sesame Oil

3/4 teaspoon grated ginger 

*I used to use brown baking sugar but now use maple syrup as a healthier alternative

Combine all the ingredients in a shallow dish or bowl and add the salmon. Toss to coat and marinate, flesh side down, for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Grill the salmon to your liking or until you just start to see white juices escape from the side of the filet.

Courgette (Zuchinni) Ribbons

2 large zuchinni

Swig of olive oil

1 large garlic clove, minced

a small squeeze of lemon

salt and pepper

Grate the zuchinni on a box grater like you would do cheese. Heat the oil in a medium sauté pan until hot. Add the garlic and cook for 10-30 seconds until just fragrant. Add the zuchinni. Remove the pan from the heat and toss the zuchinni with tongs around in the pan. The residual heat from the pan should be enough to just wilt and cook the zuchinni. If you need to you can return the pan to the heat for 30 seconds. Squeeze over the lemon juice, salt and pepper . 

I made the Green Goodness Quinoa Salad (see previous post) with this last week because I had the time to make it but you can serve brown rice or quinoa as a healthy starch.  

Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins

Every mother's saving grace is the snack cupboard. It comes to our rescue morning, noon and night. The problem is that the contents of our snack cupboards have taken such a turn for the worse in the last fifty years that now the quick fix that is meant to rescue us from cranky children is having negative effects on their health and well-being. A quote from the documentary Hungry for Change has stayed with me everyday since seeing the film "We are no longer eating food. We are eating food-like products." Open up your cupboard and look at the side of the boxes and bags that reside there. Are the ingredients things you can buy at your local market? If not, why are we feeding our children these foods??

The answer is easy - because they are quick and readily available. But the good news is that making your children healthy snacks does not have to take hours. You can have these muffins in the oven in less than 20 minutes and they are made up of ingredients that most people have in their pantry. If you don't yet have whole wheat flour in your pantry - get it! There's nothing that you can make with white flour that you can't make with wheat flour. White flour has been stripped of its nutrients in an effort to make it more easily digestible. That means that it is processed into blood sugar more quickly and has hardly any nutritional value. Get rid of it and buy whole wheat. It's how nature intended it. 

The added benefit of these muffins is that they contain a vegetable! Woo hoo! Score one for mum. They are lovely fresh from the oven but can also be used the next day for breakfast, after-school snacks and dessert. If you want to be a bit more indulgent you can mix some cream cheese (Philadelphia or Smoret) with maple syrup and drizzle it over the tops of the muffins to really make them carrot-cakey but I think they are perfect on their own. Trust me - they won't stay in that snack cupboard for long! 

Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins

1 1/2 cups (195g) Whole Wheat Flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 cup (176g) honey

1 egg, beaten

1 cup (340g) organic applesauce (apple compote)*

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 (75g) cup shredded carrots

1/4 cup (27g) chopped walnuts

1/4 cup (40g) raisins

*If you buy organic the only ingredient on the package will be APPLES - imagine that!!

Preheat oven to 180C/350F. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt. In a large bowl combine the oil, honey, egg, apple sauce, vanilla. Gradually whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Stir in the carrots, walnuts and raisins. Spoon or pour the mixture into pre-greased muffin tins or muffin tins lined with paper muffin cups. This recipe makes 10 muffins. If you have a 12 muffin tin then pour a little water in the 2 extra cups to distribute the heat evenly when baking. Bake the muffins 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Voila!

Green Goodness Quinoa Salad

Everyone these days is singing the praises of quinoa. And with good reason! Quinoa is a complete protein that is also high in fiber, magnesium and iron. It is actually the seed of a plant but is cooked like a grain and can easily replace less nutritious grains and starches like rice or pasta. Best of all it is very easy to make and extremely versatile.

There is an Asian marinade I have made for years that works really well with salmon, chicken and pork. (I will post the recipe soon) This weekend I was craving my omega 3s so I went for the salmon. I knew I wanted to keep the meal as healthy as possible so quinoa seemed like an obvious choice for a side. Keeping in line with my asian marinade I began to think of Japanese flavors and came up with this salad. If quinoa weren't healthy enough for you I've thrown in edamame beans, avocado, spring onions and cilantro. Quite unintentionally everything turned out to be green, hence the name. And it's chock full of goodness - nutritionally and deliciously!

The evening I made this dish we enjoyed it warm, right out of the rice cooker. The warm quinoa was a nice contrast to the cooler vegetables and the vinaigrette. However, I made sure to make enough so that I could stash some in the fridge to eat over the next few days and believe me, it tastes just as good cold the next day.

Green Goodness Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup (180g) uncooked quinoa
1 cup (165g) shelled, thawed edamame beans*
1 avocado, diced
1/3 cup (about 2 large) spring onions/scallions
2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro 
*You can get edamame beans in the freezer section of Asian markets, some supermarkets or Picard here in France

Vinaigrette:
(You will not need all of the prepared vinaigrette but it is handy for other salads)
2 Tablespoons (30 ml) rice vinegar
3/4 Tablespoon (10ml) Soy Sauce
6 Tablespoons (90ml) Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon (15ml) Sesame Oil
1/2 Tablespoon Minced Ginger (from a piece of ginger about the size your thumb knuckle and up)
1/2 clove of garlic, minced

To make the Quinoa:

Most quinoa you buy in stores has been pre-rinsed but it doesn't hurt to give it a rinse just in case. This removes the saponin which can make the quinoa taste bitter. Simply place the quinoa in a mesh strainer and give it a good rinse.

Cooking quinoa is like cooking rice. The ratio is 2:1 (2 parts liquid to 1 part quinoa) and you can use water or stock. I like to make mine in the rice cooker because it is easy but you can do it on the stove too. Place 1 cup of quinoa and 2 cups of liquid (if you use water you may want to add a bit of himalayan or sea salt for better flavor) in a medium sauce pan. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce temperature and cover and simmer over a very low heat for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit for another 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine the edamame beans, diced avocado and scallions. To make the vinaigrette: in a separate bowl or in an empty jam jar, whisk (or shake) together all the vinaigrette ingredients.

When the quinoa is ready, add it to the edamame and other vegetables and toss. Start by adding 3 Tablespoons (45 ml) of the vinaigrette and the chopped cilantro. Add a bit more vinaigrette if you want. (I used 4 tablespoons total).

Voila! 

Provencal Stuffed Vegetables - Vegetarian Style

Vegetable Farci is one of my favorite traditional plates here in the south of France. It's pretty hard to top a lazy Sunday lunch sat in a sunny square with friends, a glass of rosé in hand and a warm plate of local vegetables stuffed with sausage, cheese and fine herbs.

When beginning my Clean Cuisine challenge and trying to think of creative vegetarian dishes that would satisfy my meat-loving husband it seemed like a no-brainer to try and recreate these veggies we love so much without the meat.  At first I considered stuffing them with quinoa or whole grain rice but decided that would be altering the dish too much. I wanted to keep the stuffing soft and a bit cheesy like its sausage predecessor. So, in the end I decided on eggplant as the base. It is combined with roasted peppers, mushrooms and a little bit of cheese to make a lovely interior for roasted vegetables. 

This is a great dish for entertaining because it is easily made ahead of time and just placed in the oven once your guests have arrived. It does require a bit of work but they are worth it!

The full recipe makes enough for 4-6 people as a main course, depending on what you are serving with it. The photo below shows how many I made more recently when cutting the recipe in half.

Half the recipe, unbaked.

Provençal Stuffed Vegetables - Vegetarian Style
(4-6 servings)

Ingredients

2 large or 4 small/medium eggplant (about 1200g/2.5-3lbs)

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

4 oz (114g) leeks, sliced in half lengthwise, washed and thinly sliced (pale green and white parts only)

5 oz. (140g) mushrooms, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon capers, minced

1 teaspoon ground himalayan or sea salt

ground pepper

1/3 cup (35g) finely grated parmesan cheese plus a small handful for sprinkling

1 handful of finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

For stuffing:

6 small or 3 medium vine-ripened tomatoes

4-6 round courgettes (zuchinni) or summer squash (or 4 small/2 large long courgettes)

1 large red pepper or 2 small
(This depends a lot on size too - if the tomatoes and round courgettes are pretty large they can be cut in half and stuffed. If they are cuite small they can be stuffed on their own. You have to use a bit of judgement.)

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C. Rub the eggplants with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and place on a baking sheet. Place in the oven and roast the eggplant until soft on the inside, about 45 minutes to 1 hour or more depending on the size of the eggplants. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool. When they are cool enough to handle pierce the skin with a knife and peel away the skin. Discard the skins and chop the eggplant.

Turn the oven from bake to broil (grill) and roast the peppers. You can do this by placing the whole peppers on a tray lined with aluminum foil and placing them directly under the heat. You have to watch the peppers and rotate them once each side is nicely charred. Alternatively, you can cut the peppers in half and scoop out the seeds. Place each half, cut side down, on your aluminum covered tray and place directly under the heat to roast until charred. I prefer this method because you don't have to flip the peppers or deal with the seeds in the next step.

Once the peppers are charred remove them from the oven and place them immediately in a bowl and cover the bowl with cling film to allow the peppers to steam. Once they have released their steam and are cool enough to handle, peel off the charred skin and remove the seeds (if you roasted them whole). Cut the roasted peppers into a dice. 

While the peppers are roasting, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large sauté pan over medium-low heat and cook the leeks until soft, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté another minute until fragrant.  Add the mushrooms and sauté until they are soft and have released their juices. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Add the roasted eggplant and peppers to the pan and sauté 7-10 minutes, being careful not to let the mixture burn. Season to taste with one teaspoon of salt and freshly ground pepper. Remove from the heat and stir in the capers, 1/3 cup of cheese and the parsley. 

To prepare vegetables for stuffing: Slice a small bit off the bottom of the tomatoes and round courgettes to allow them to sit perfectly upright in a dish. Slice the top off of the tomatoes and round courgettes and, using a melon baller or spoon, scoop the seedy insides out of the vegetables. Alternatively, if they are on the big side, cut them in half first and then scoop out the seedy insides. If using long courgettes, slice them in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Cut in half crosswise if they are very large to make nice serving sizes. Cut the peppers into 4-6 pieces each to make nice stuffing size pieces. Generously salt and pepper the insides of the each of the vegetables before stuffing with the eggplant mixture. 

Place the stuffed vegetables on a lightly oiled baking sheet or dish. Sprinkle the tops with more grated parmesan cheese and roast in a 350F/180C oven until vegetables are soft and stuffing is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Serve with a nice tossed green salad and crusty bread.

Voila!

Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter "Ice Cubes"

Since starting this blog - as with life in general - I have had moments of high and low. The first week I started the blog I was under the naive impression that I would add a recipe every day (HA!!) After one frenzied week of non-stop cooking, followed by frantic photographing (while our hot meals sat there getting cold as I desperately tried to decipher the pictograms on my camera), and nights sat on the couch until past midnight trying to convert pounds to grams and think of something clever to write, it finally dawned on me If I continue like this for 8 more weeks James will divorce me!  And he would have been justified!  

My house was a mess. There were mountains of unfolded laundry scattered around the house, strategically placed by me in the hopes that they might blend in with the furniture. The kitchen perpetually looked like I was having a car boot/garage sale of healthy ingredients while hosting a dinner party for 20 - at the same time! And that oh so willing husband of mine was being forced not only to eat vegetarian meals but to eat them cold at 9 pm. If I continued at that pace I would be healthier in 8 weeks time but I might also be single. That was a low.

The highs have come from having not only friends but also perfect strangers write to me and say that they have tried my recipe and loved it! Woo hoo! One of those messages came with a photo of the Minestrone Soup she had made and a really sweet email. She was a mum herself, living near Monaco and a professional photographer and she wondered if I would like to get together to take some photos of my food. Hell yeah! 

So, one morning Emilie came over and we tried, each of us with baby in hand or a toddler glued to hip, to make and photograph some food. She took this photo of Siena (21 months) reaching very excitedly for these chocolates as well as the beautiful photo of my Thai Veggie Cakes and some other photos for meals I have still not had the time to write about (I decided I did not want to get divorced and slowed my pace down a bit!!). 

Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter "Ice Cubes"

I called these ice cubes because I made them in a flexible silicone ice cube tray which I bought at Casa and I'm sure you can find them just about everywhere these days. You can also use a flexible mini-muffin tin or paper muffin cups but I think the small size of the ice cube tray is perfect.

Ingredients

(This makes 32 "ice cubes" - they will be gobbled up quickly but can be stored in the freezer for a couple months)

Peanut Butter Base:

1 1/2 cups (380g) organic, sugar-free peanut butter

1/4 Cup (50g) Organic Coconut Oil

2 Tablespoons (30ml) Organic Maple Syrup

Chocolate Topping:

3/4 cup (67g) Raw Cacao Powder

3/4 Cup (150g) Organic Coconut Oil

2 Tablespoons (30 ml) Organic Maple Syrup

For the peanut butter bottom;

Melt the coconut oil if needed over a low heat. Mix it with the peanut butter and maple syrup until everything is well combined. Spoon the mixture evenly into the ice cube trays and then pat the tray on the counter to level the tops smooth. Place in the freezer for about 15 minutes or until hard.

Meanwhile, for the chocolate topping - melt the coconut oil if necessary and then stir the cacao powder and maple syrup into the oil until smooth. Pour the mixture over the top of the peanut butter and return to the freezer until solid, about 15 minutes. Keep stored in the fridge or freezer.

Voila!

Pink Detox Smoothie

Many of us on the Cote d'Azur had the pleasure of attending the beautiful Mimosa Ball last night - a wonderful evening organized by some lovely ladies to raise money for Cancer. It was great fun and a measurement of its success is that we all stayed up way past our bedtimes, danced our feet sore and drank a few too many glasses of champagne - but all for a good cause!

I finally bought a Vitamix this week so I have been blending things I never knew could be blended! I have been making my own concoctions as well as surfing the internet for healthy, healing recipes. This morning, in light of the fun-filled evening I was recovering from, I had one word plugged in to my search engine - DETOX. I found a good recipe on one of my new favorite sites, Oh She Glows, and changed it only slightly to make use of what I had in the fridge. 

So, if you are like me this morning and in need of a bit of healing.........

Pink Detox Smoothie

1 small-medium beet (cooked or raw if you have a blender that can handle a raw beet)

2 stalks of celery

1/2  an avocado

1 cup strawberries (frozen preferably)

1 apple or pear (I made this both ways and preferred the pear because it made it sweeter)

1 tablespoon coconut oil

Juice of 1 lemon

1 cup cold water

4 ice cubes

Place it all in a blender and Voila!