Category: Vegetables + Salads

Ratatouîa, also known as ratatouille, is a traditional French vegetable stew of tomatoes, eggplant and bell peppers.

Ingredients:
1 medium-sized eggplant, peeled and diced
2 zucchinis, green and yellow, diced
2 bell peppers, red and yellow, seeded and chopped
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 onion, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried thyme or herbes de Provence
fresh basil leaves
salt, pepper, olive oil

1. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven. Sauté onions, garlic, eggplant and zucchini.
2. Add 3/4 cup of water. Simmer. Stir in peppers and let it boil for five minutes. Stir in tomatoes and thyme. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook in low fire for about 20 minutes. Turn off fire when vegetables are tender and add basil.

Related post/s:
Another dish using herbes de Provence

I love serving this salad because it’s so different from just a lazy bowl of mixed greens.

Ingredients:
3 fresh portobello mushrooms, brushed off dirt using paper towel
1 leek, roughly chopped and thoroughly washed minus the hard green leaves
a handful of baby spinach, roughly chopped
goat cheese
balsamic vinegar
salt, pepper, olive oil

1. Preheat oven at 450º. Drizzle balsamic vinegar and olive oil onto the pleat side of the mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake them for about 17 minutes, pleats up.
2. Top with chopped leeks and spinach. Bake for about 10 more minutes until leeks are soft. Top with goat cheese during the last 3 minutes.

Related post/s:
Goat cheese and beets

You can use olive oil to roast these potatoes but they would just be more evil if you use duck fat. Sometimes, potatoes call out to be more evil.

Ingredients:
1 bag of small white potatoes, rinsed thoroughly, halved
duck fat
1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
salt, pepper

1. Put potatoes on roasting pan. Drizzle with duck fat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and parsley. Bake for about 30 minutes.

Related post/s:
Even better if you use duck fat

Nigella Lawson suggested to serve this salad with roasted duck. I didn’t want to disappoint her so I followed her advice.

Ingredients:
Belgian endives, separated into leaves
a bunch of watercress, thoroughly washed, patted dry with a paper towel
1/2 cup hazelnuts, shelled and crushed into smaller pieces
1 tsp grain mustard
2 tsps lime juice
2 tsps lime juice
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp vegetable oil
salt

1. Toast hazelnuts in a dry skillet. Transfer to a bowl and let them cool.
2. In a bowl, whisk mustard, lime juice, orange juice, honey, salt, sesame oil and vegetable oil. Set aside.
3. Toss endives and watercress in a salad bowl, sprinkle with hazelnuts and drizzle with citrus and mustard dressing.

Related post/s:
Roasted duck with blueberry sauce

This recipe calls for clarified butter. In a small pan, melt a few sticks of butter over low heat. Brown the butter until there is no more sizzle, but remove from heat to avoid burning it. Using a cheesecloth, strain to remove the burnt sediments. Transfer to a ramekin and put inside the fridge to solidify. You can use regular butter if you think that’s too much work. Make sure it’s good quality butter, though, like Lurpak.

Ingredients:
Brussels sprouts, halved
3 tbsps butter
salt, pepper

1. In a Dutch oven, brown butter over medium heat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add sprouts when butter is hot and cook until browned on both sides.

Related post/s:
Brussels sprouts without butter