Guacamole: the king of dishes for your fiesta!

Guacamole is an avocado-based dip which originated in Mexico. It is quite easy to do and always appreciated as a dip in parties. The traditional recipe only includes ripe avocados and salt. To give it a twist, I like to add garlic, red chili, lemon juice and diced tomatoes. Try it and let me know!

Serves 2
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: none
Difficulty: *

Ingredients:
- 2 ripe avocados
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 small tomato, diced
- 1/2 red chili, very finely minced or 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- juice of 1 lemon (or lime)
- salt

Dice the tomato, grate the garlic and mince the chili.
Note that the chili and the cayenne pepper are optional. The give a nice kick to the dish but you can exclude them if you want to.

In a bowl, place the scooped avocado pulp and add the lemon juice. Using a fork, start mixing and mashing the avocado pulp.

Fold in the garlic, diced tomato and chili or cayenne pepper (if you use it).

Mash more until you reach the consistency you like: you can leave some avocado chucks for a more authentic guacamole of mash it more (even using a potato masher) for a smoother texture.
Serve quickly with tortilla chips or pita bread. Yum!

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.

French Potato Gratin: Gratin dauphinois

This traditional French recipe is very simple and requires only a few ingredients: potatoes, whipping cream, garlic, salt and pepper. Very easy! I suggest you add some grated nutmeg for a light nutty taste. Cooked slowly and for at least 1 hour, the potatoes melt in the mouth, it is delicious!

Mini Herb and Hazelnut Goat Cheese Balls

This fresh appetizer is great if you have a party with a lot of people. You can prepare the Goat Cheese Balls in advance and create a lot of variations, depending on the likings of your guests.
For this recipe, I used hazelnuts but at the end of this post, I'm sharing more ideas to garnish your cheese balls.

Serves 8
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: none
Difficulty: *

Ingredients:
- 1 log of herb & garlic goat cheese (or use a regular goat cheese and mix with 2 crushed garlic cloves and 1 tablespoon of herbes de provence - or savory)
- 10/15 hazelnuts

Prepare your herb and garlic cheese if you did not find one ready: mix the cheese, the herbs and the crushed garlic with a fork, until smooth.
Crash the hazelnuts and chop finely. Spread the hazelnut pieces on a flat baking sheet or plate.

For each cheese ball, take 1 big teaspoon of goat cheese. Form a ball with your hands and coat it in the hazelnut pieces. Proceed in batches and place the cheese balls on a plate.

Other ingredients to coat the cheese:
- freshly ground pepper
- spices: paprika, ground cinammon, ground cumin, ground coriander...
- any type of nuts, finely chopped: walnuts, brazilian nuts, pecan nuts...
- dried fruits, finely chopped: apricots, prunes, raisins, peaches, cranberries...
- seeds: flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds (white and black)...
and more!