This salad was inspired by one I ate a few times while living in Paris. While there, we occasionally grabbed lunch at a trendy little joint called L’Avenue on avenue Montaigne in the city’s chic 8th arrondissement. There was hardly anything better than sitting on the restaurant’s terrace on a spring day, washing down a chilled haricot vert salad with a crisp chablis, all the while watching the beautiful people pass by on their way to spending oodles of ching on Paris’ premiere fashion shopping street.
Vegetarian
Swiss Chard and White Bean Soup
After what feels like eons of eating nothing but festive cookies and cakes, vats of cream laden vegetables, and a kaleidoscope of well marbled holiday roasts, this week I officially cried UNCLE.
I’ve never been one who went in for New Year’s resolutions, preferring instead to make minor (or major) course adjustments in my life when I feel they’re needed, and have never been comfortable waiting until January 1st of any given year to set them in motion. That said, I’m not looking at my recent dietary makeover as part of a resolution, but rather a bold exclamation point to what has been an unusually rich holiday eating season.
Not sure whether it’s my age, or that this year’s culinary indulgences ran somewhat richer than average, but all I can say is it’s time to stop the fat and sugar train so I can get off before I do permanent bodily damage.
Creamed Kale
This recipe is dedicated to my friend Liz who writes the great blog Liz The Chef , and who upon learning of this dish in my Bittersweet Chocolate Tart post on Tuesday, said that as good as the tart looked, she was really looking forward to hearing more about my creamed kale.
How's that for a switch!
Twice Baked Curried Sweet Potatoes
My never ending quest to turn the kids onto sweet potatoes in a form other than french fries had me crafting these twice-baked darlings the other day. These are a breeze to put together, are infinitely customizable to your tastes, and offer a nice mix of flavors and textures that our kids really liked.
Falafel with Tahini Sauce
I don’t think I ate my first falafel until I was in my forties….late thirties at the earliest, and after hearing a great deal of hoo-ha over the years as to the joys of falafel, I must admit that my first experience left me flat. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand what got people so excited about the little things, as mine were dry and as bland as sawdust on the inside, slick and oily on their surface, and presented with day-old chopped veggies and a REALLY bitter tahini sauce….ugh.
Growing up in Vermont as a kid, I never even heard the word falafel, let alone have any knowledge of what they were. I was probably in college when I saw my first one, and I remember thinking that it was some sort of meatball when I first laid eyes on it. Imagine my surprise (and disappointment) when I finally learned that it was basically just a little veggie patty. Remember, I’m of Italian descent, meatballs make so much more sense to me. To my way of thinking, falafel was to a meatball, what a veggie burger was to a juicy, 80% lean ground sirloin grilled hunk of deliciousness….you can keep the former, I’ll take the latter thank you very much.