tian
July 24, 2011
According to wikipedia, a tian is a tall, conical earthenware cooking vessel used in the Alpes-Maritimes area of France, with most of them being produced in the town of Mougins. It is traditionally made from red clay and used to cook a traditional braised vegetable stew also called tian. Today, the modern version of vegetable tian is not a stew, but a freeform composite of roasted vegetables baked in a shallow dish. What wiki failed to mention is that it’s damn yummy.
2 tbsps olive oil
2 large onions, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup white wine
sprigs of thyme
1 small eggplant, sliced
2 red peppers, sliced
4 small zucchini, sliced
2 large tomatoes, sliced
a bunch of basil
1 tbsp cane sugar
sea salt and pepper
Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet. Add onions and saute until they start to get soft. Add garlic and thyme and continue to saute until garlic becomes aromatic. Add white wine and cook down until you are left with a onion stew. Place onion mixture in the bottom of a casserole. Start to add your layered vegetables, starting with eggplant, then adding peppers, then adding zucchini. Before adding the final tomato layer, add a layer of basil. With each layer, brush vegetables with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. After adding the final tomato layer, sprinkle the tian with sugar. Bake in an oven at 400 degrees for 1 hour. Serve hot or warm.
tartelettes aux herbes du jardin
July 21, 2011
I just posted the fantabulous tarte aux abricots. In the same fantabulous magazine I found tartelettes aux herbes du jardin. Now I have to say that one of my favourite things about spring and summer are the fresh herbs. I have come to love, and rely on, fresh herbs. I don’t mind dried but they don’t hold a candle to fresh. So supermarket-basil, supermarket-thyme, supermarket-rosemary have to do in the dead of winter but as soon as they start popping up in the garden in the spring, I literally jump for joy. This little vegan French herby tartelette brings out the best of what you have in the garden, alongside herb’s best friends, onions and tomatoes. Again, God love the south of France.
1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup semolina
1/4 olive oil
mixed herbs, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
10 cl water
6 red onions, chopped
thyme
15 capers, chopped
7 black olives, pitted and chopped
3 tbsps olive oil
10 cherry tomatoes, chopped in half
fresh basil
sea salt
For the pastry: Put flour, semolina, herbs, sea salt and oil in a mixer. Start to mix while adding 10 cl of water until pastry starts to form into a ball. Cover in plastic wrap and let sit for one hour in the fridge.
For the filling: Heat oil in a heavy saucepan. Add onions and cook until onions are soft and transparent. Add a little salt, chopped capers and chopped olives. Set aside. Chop the tomatoes in half.
Divide the pastry into 6 rounds. Roll out each round until they are about 3 mm thick. Place fresh basil on top of each round. Then cover with a healthy serving of the onion mixture. Top with a few cherry tomatoes with the outsides facing up. Pinch the sides of the pastry so they form a nice enclosed shell. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. Serve with a nice salad and baguette. Fini.
roasted veggies with chickpeas
April 17, 2011
This is a great dish when you don’t want to expend a lot of effort, have no plan, and just want something simple and nourishing. Like a Friday night at the end of a long week. Just pull random vegetables out of the fridge. Chop. Roast. Serve with spiced quinoa. It’s also really good with tahini sauce. Maybe make a green salad. Maybe. Whatever you serve along with these roasted veggies, they punch above their weight. You can’t go wrong.
12 small mushrooms
2 ripe tomatoes, chopped or a handful of cherry tomatoes
2 bell peppers, red, yellow, or orange, chopped
1 red onion, sliced into thin wedges
1 small fennel bulb, sliced into thin wedges
5 or 6 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole
2 tsps sea salt
2 tbsps olive oil
handful pitted olives
14-oz can chickpeas, washed and drained
2 fresh thyme or rosemary sprigs
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers, onion, fennel, and garlic in a large roasting pan. Sprinkle the salt evenly over the vegetables and drizzle with the oil. Roast in the preheated oven for 1 hour.
Remove the pan from the oven and turn the vegetables. Add the chickpeas, olives, and thyme sprigs. Return the pan to the oven and roast for another 30 minutes, until the edges of the vegetables are just starting to blacken.
Serve with spiced quinoa, tahini sauce, and salad.
vegetables in thai red curry
March 27, 2010
This recipe is from the Tassajara cookbook. I made it last night – Friday night, after a long week, it was getting late, didn’t have a tonne of motivation, wondered about pulling some shriveled left-overs out of the fridge, but instead I dug in, bucked up, and pulled out the necessary ingredients for this veggie Thai red curry. I’m so glad I did. It was quick. It was easy. It was yummy. Andrew’s reaction? “It’s kind of hard bothering to eat meat when you’ve got food like this. And kind of hard to justify going out for Thai food. That was ridiculously good.” I made one batch since I hadn’t made it before and, post-dinner, we concluded that I should have doubled or tripled it.
Since it was the end of the week and I hadn’t refreshed the supplies for a couple of days, I didn’t have exactly the “right” ingredients so I made some substitutions – tomatoes for red pepper, sugar snap peas for beans, shitake mushrooms for crimini. It worked beautifully so my guess is that you could probably throw in any veggies and it would be awesome. This one’s a keeper for sure.
1 small head of cauliflower, cut into florets
1 cup green beans, stems removed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup crimini mushrooms, ends trimmed
1 14-oz can coconut milk
1 – 2 tbsps Thai red curry paste
2 tbsps brown sugar
2 tbsps tamari
1 small sweet red pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into slivers
20 – 30 fresh Thai basil leaves, whole
In a pot of boiling salted water, blanch the cauliflower to al dente, about 4 minutes. Rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. In the same pot of water, repeat with the green beans; set aside. In a saute pan, add the oil and cook the mushrooms until they’re browned and have released some juices; set aside.
In a wide saucepan, add the coconut milk, sugar, and tamari. Add the curry paste – start with a small amount of curry paste and then taste for spiciness. Add more as desired. Add the cauliflower, green beans, mushrooms, red pepper, and half the basil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Garnish with remaining basil and serve with rice.
coconut curried vegetables
February 2, 2010
This is a mainstay in our family. LOVE this recipe. It’s from the amazing Vij in Vancouver and goes with almost anything. Make double or triple as it keeps well (and even freezes well).
1/2 cup olive oil
25 to 30 fresh curry leaves
1 tbsp black mustard seeds
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions
1 tbsp + 1 tsp chopped garlic
2 cups chopped tomatoes (2 large)
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 12 ounce can coconut milk, stirred
1 lb zucchini, chopped into 1-1/2 inch pieces
1 lb cauliflower, cut into 1-1/2 inch florets
2 red and yellow bell peppers, seeded and chopped into 1 inch pieces
3/4 cup cilantro, chopped
In a large pot, heat oil on medium heat. Keeping your head at a distance from the pot, add the curry leaves and mustard seeds and allow them to sizzle for about one minute or until a few seeds pop.
Immediately add onions and sauté until golden brown, about 8 minutes
Add tomatoes and remaining spices and sauté for 8 minutes or until oil glistens on top.
Stir in coconut milk and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low. Add zucchini. Cover and simmer to five minutes. Add cauliflower and bell peppers, cover and simmer for another five minutes. Stir in cilantro.
Serve over basmati rice.
winter portobello stew
January 31, 2010
This is incredibly delicious. It’s so hearty it’s almost like a beef stew. We love this on a cold, snowy, wintry night in January.
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 teaspoons chopped rosemary
salt and pepper, to taste
2 pinches red pepper flakes
1/2 pound portobella mushrooms, sliced 3/8-inch thick
1 pound large white mushrooms, thickly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbsps tomato paste
1 1/2 cups quick mushroom stock or water
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped parsley or tarragon
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and rosemary and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and remove to a bowl. Return pan to medium heat and add half remaining oil. When pan is hot, add portobella mushrooms and saute until nicely browned, about 5 minutes. Add them to bowl with onions, and repeat with remaining oil and white mushrooms. Return everything to pan and add garlic, tomato paste, stock and vinegar. Simmer gently 12 to 15 minutes. Add parsley and taste for salt and pepper. Makes 4 servings.
– Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison
v:gourmet 
