Eggplant and Celery Stew - Easy Vegetarian dish

This stew is a vegetarian dish with can be served with rice. For the story, I wanted to make an Indian Eggplant curry but since a dinner was planned at an Indian restaurant at the end of the week, I decided to use my eggplant in another dish. Celery is a vegetable which is rarely used: it's a pity in my opinion because its taste is very aromatic. I personally use both the stalks and the leaves, the latter being even more aromatic.

Serves 2
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes to 1 hour
Difficulty: *

Ingredients:
- 1 big eggplant
- 1 onion
- 4-5 celery branches, with leaves, chopped - Separate the leaves from the branches
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 cup vegetable broth (more if needed, depending on the consistency)
- salt
- pepper


Cut the eggplant into medium size squares. Sprinkle them with salt and let stand while you prepare the other ingredients.

Chop the onion very finely, cut the celery stalks into small pieces, crush the garlic cloves and cut the celery leaves roughly.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauce pan and add the onion, garlic and celery stalks. Cook for 5 minutes.

In the meantime, rinse the eggplant squares and pat dry. Add them to the sauce pan. Stir and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Let cook for 5 more minutes.

Add the tomato sauce, the heavy cream and the vegetable broth. Add the celery leaves to the stew.

Cover and cook on low heat. Check after 15-20 minutes and add broth if the preparation sticks to the bottom of the sauce pan or is too thick.
There should not be too much liquid but it shouldn't be dry either.

After 45 minutes to 1 hour, the eggplants should be very tender. Adjust the seasoning and serve hot with jasmine rice.

Vegetarian Millefeuille with Summer Vegetables

This recipe came out of my imagination yesterday evening... no meat in the fridge but tofu, one eggplant, tomatoes and feta cheese. By adding some basic ingredients that I always have in my pantry, I prepared this flavorful dish which my husband liked a lot :-)
The presentation in layers is very cute and it's not difficult at all. Try this receipe as an appetizer or an entrée, and make it your own!

Serves 2
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Difficulty: **
--Vegetarian dish--

Ingredients:
- 8 slices of eggplant (1 long eggplant should be enough)
- 8 slices of tomatoes (2 medium size tomatoes should be enough)
Note: try to find an eggplant and tomatoes which are almost equal in diameter
- 8 slices
Note: same as for the eggplant and tomatoes : it's better if the tofu has the same diameter - if not, double the quantity
- 1 handful of basil leaves
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 4 big dried tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon almond powder (or pine nuts powder)
- about 4 tablespoons of crumbled feta cheese
- olilve oil
- sesame oil

Grate the garlic cloves and rub each side of the eggplant slices. Pan fry the eggplant slices in olive oil until golden: you can proceed in batches. Pat dry to remove the excess of oil. Reserve aside.

Pan fry the tomatoes until soft and golden. This should be quick - make sure the tomatoes don't "melt", they need to keep their shape.

Wipe your pan and heat some sesame oil. Pan fry the tofu until golden brown on each side, turning once.

Chop the basil leaves and the dried tomatoes. Mix with 1 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil and the almond powder.

Prepare the millefeuilles - place the different ingredients in this order:
1 slice of eggplant
1 slice of tomatoe
1 slice of tofu
a small quantity of basil/dried tomatoes preparation
feta cheese
1 slice of tofu
1 slice of tomatoe
1 slice of eggplant

Repeat to make 4 millefuilles. Top with crumbled feta cheese.

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 390°F / 200°C, then broil on high for 5 minutes.
Enjoy with a baby greens salad and a balsamic vinaigrette.

Dahl: Indian Lentil Soup

The Dahl (also spelt Dal, Dalh or Daal) is a vegetarian dish, traditionally prepared with pulses. For this recipe, I used red lentils. Deliciously spiced and flavored, this recipe is easy to make and can be served with rice, vegetables, naan or roti (wheat-based flat bread), or as a side dish with Indian curries.
The dahl is an excellent source of proteins. Enjoy!

Serves 4/6
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: *

Ingredients:
- 200g red lentils

- 2 tablespoons lemon juice

- 1 tablespoon fresh coriander leaves (or parsley - but you'll have less flavor), chopped

- 1/2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes

- 2 inches (5 cm) piece fresh ginger, cut into slices

- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

- 2 cloves garlic, crushed

- 1 small onion, finely chopped

- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

- 1 teaspoon ground coriander

- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds

- salt

In a pan, bring to the boil the lentils and 3 cups (750ml) water.

Reduce the heat. Add the ginger and turmeric powder and cover. Simmer for about 25 minutes or until tender. Make sure you stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

Remove the ginger and add salt (about 1/2 teaspoon).

In a frying pan, heat the oil, add the garlic, onion and mustard seeds. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. When the onion is golden, add the cumin seeds, ground coriander and chili pepper flakes and cook for 2/3 minutes.

Add this preparation to the lentils and stir. Add 1/2 cup water and cook on low heat for 5 minutes. Add the lemon juice and season to taste.

Sprinkle with the coriander.

Healthy and Natural: Eggplant and Zucchini Puree

Natural, healthy, easy, tasty... this recipe has all good! It is my own version of the eggplant purée. Usually, eggplant requires quite a lot of oil to cook properly in a pan, which is not a very healthy: the trick here is to brush lightly the eggplant with olive oil and bake it in the oven to soften it. Then I mix it will the other ingredients to create a smooth, light and perfect texture. Try it!

Serves 2
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: *
-you'll need a food processor-

Ingredients:
- 1 small eggplant
- 2 small (or 1 regular) zucchini
- 1/4 red onion
- 2 big leaves basil
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon water
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- salt & pepper
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Preheat your oven at 210°C/ 410°F.
Cut the eggplant in the middle, lengthwise. Brush the interior with about 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the inside is soft.

In the meantime, peel the zucchinis (if you are using organic veggies, I recommend to wash them well and to keep the skin).
Steam then for about 10 minutes, until soft.

When the eggplant is ready, scoop the flesh with a spoon and add it to the bowl of your food processor.
Add the zucchinis and all the other ingredients, except the sesame seeds.

Blend for about 2/3 minutes until the preparation is smooth and all the ingredients are mashed.

Sprinkle the sesame seeds on the puree and served hot with some prosciutto/jambon de Bayonne. Enjoy!

Really Easy Salt and Pepper Tofu

Want to make a vegetarian dish which everybody will love? Try this easy recipe with Tofu. Tofu is not a very tasteful ingredient but the texture is pretty nice. So we'll give it a little kick with pepper and a little crispiness by pan-frying it.
Great served with bock choy.

Serves 2
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Baking time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: *

Ingredients:
- 1 block of firm or extra firm tofu
- salt
- pepper
- mix 1 teaspoon vegetable oil + 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Slice the block of tofu. Then cut each slice diagonally to form triangles. Pat dry each tofu piece with kitchen paper.

Season well both sides of each tofu triangle with salt and pepper.

Heat the 2 teaspoons of oil in a large frying pan and add the tofu triangle. If your pan is not big enough, heat only half the oil and proceed in batches.

Let cook the tofu on the first side until it's light brown and crispy, about 5 minutes.
Turn the tofu triangles and let cook on the other side, until brown and crispy, like for the first side.

Once it's ready, transfer the tofu to a plate covered with kitchen paper.
Just before serving, you can transfer the tofu back to the hot frying pan and reheat for 1 minute.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve hot, with bock choy (quickly pan-fried with soy sauce) and/or brown rice.