Kabocha salad, a bento lunch box classic

A colorful alternative to potato salad. This version is very crunchy and the taste of Summer kabocha is incredibly fruity and sweet.

The base is kabocha pumpkin, steamed and mashed.

With a sour seasoning.

Cucumber and nagaimo (raw yam) as garnish. I cut cubes and added to the mix. Let half a day in the fridge.

Serve chilled. It can be stored 2 or 3 days in the fridge, so you get the carotene loaded side dish for a few meals or as a lunch box item.

Colorslaw

Coleslaw is one of those classic that has no classic recipe. So you can make it 1000 times and different each time. Isn’t today’s a pleasure for the eyes.

Shredded.
Red cabbage, negi leek whites, kabocha pumpkin and goya bitter squash.

A simple rice vinegar and olive oil vinaigrette. What makes id special is th handful of negi greens and the 1/4 ts of nutmeg.

It’s delicious one hour after mixing.

Pari pari potato salad, with pickled cherry dressing (via Gourmande in Osaka)

Third potato salad of the series. Pari pari pari… scratch scratch scratch… well that sounds crispy no ? Usually those crispy bits of potatoes are fried. Here they are boiled, dried, then toasted. Healthier ? The taste of potato is intense and very pleasant. Lots of fresh green makes the bed. Pickled sour cherries (cinnamon flavored) bring the orignal touch. Le temps des cerises, the pickling season… The sauce cannot be simpler : the vinegar … Read More

via Gourmande in Osaka

Sanded cauliflower, like a taboulé (via Gourmande in Osaka)

I'm not a big fan of raw cauliflower. It's not easy to digest and that "smells" of cauliflower in your mouth for a whilw. This time, no, that's different. The cauliflower broken into sand texture. Marinated a few hours with lemon juice, salt, curcuma, a little harissa, herbs (mint, sauge, basil), onion, tomato, bell pepper and a few dry raisins for the sweetness. It's soft, fresh, full of flavor. Delicious. … Read More

via Gourmande in Osaka

Salade marocaine de carottes et orange (via Gourmande in Osaka)

A flash of carotene ! Do you prefer carrot or orange ? Have both ! Grate the carrot, the zest of the orange (if it's organic). Twirl the magic wand… It's Ceylon cinnamon. The other magic philtrums are orange blossom water and olive oil, mixed with the orange juice and a little cane sugar. Salad or dessert ? It's divine… … Read More

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Zucchini farro (via Gourmande in Osaka)

Farro or spelt, the ancestor of wheat. Perfect for a lukewarm salad meal, Zucchini "saisi" in garlic herbes de Provence and olive oil, not cooked, no raw, on the way… Farro cooked in the rice-cooker. Dressing it up with tomato passata, capers, olives, negi leeks, then the zukes plus a good drizzle of olive oil. Served with two proteined sides. Orange with sweetened azuki beans. … Read More

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Cooked, raw, cawked ?! (via Gourmande in Osaka)

Eat raw to keep all the vitamins, eat cooked for digestibility and flavor ? I think we need of both everyday. The renewed old veggie soup. Steamed a basket of leftover : the greens of the cauliflower, leek hard leave, chunks of kabocha pumpkin. Juiced : orange bell pepper, spinach leaves. Assembled. The color is naturally like that. Parsley, salt. Raw mushroom, baby shiso, argan oil, salt. And home-made chutney. My chunky ume plum chutney Cal 307 … Read More

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Golden unohana, the fiber up salad (via Gourmande in Osaka)

This is a salad of unohana or okara (soy fibers). I have eaten too much chocolate cake and chocolate sweets, so I needed to compensate… Okara This sort of powder is a by-product when you make soy milk or tofu. It's the fibers that are left after filtering the milk. (source : click on image) This sort of magnolia is unohana, and as it ressembles, okara is also called that way. I rehydrated it, added tomato paste, spices, soy sauce, salt, garlic … Read More

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Geographically variable veggies, and salading those so-niu-men (via Gourmande in Osaka)

That was my general impression, arriving from Europe and shopping for fruits and veggies in Japan : the scale and shape of familiar veggies has been modified. West vs East. Paprika sweet chili/pepper vs shishito sweet chili/pepper. They are relative, close relatives, but… Well, first look at my noodles… I had boiled a bundle yesterday, then I thought I'd eat only half. So before it turned into a block of glue, I quickly coated the hot leftove … Read More

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hot pasta salad (via Gourmande in Osaka)

(last year)

Stir-fried sweet peppers, garlic, flat beans, mushrooms, topping hot soba nooodles. Seasoning is olive oil and aged black rice vinegar (China's version of balsamico). The leaves are …

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Green smoothie with a spicy twist and divine pates de fruits

Saint-Nicolas’s day is approaching. I have restocked in :

Anise seeds. Guess why ? Also, I’m eating rich food these days and I start seeing that on my face. So it’s nice to add a few raw dishes to restore the balance. The aojiru (green smoothie) is ideal for that. I got the idea of adding anise to it. That’s really yummy ! That’s like drinking gingerbread.

The leaves are mizuna. All that in the blender, with a little water. Va va boom…

And I couldn’t resist to eat this. And also to take a few photos. I didn’t make them. They are a present from the students of the bakery school. C’est une tuerie. So delicious that you’d kill to eat some :

Pates de fruits a la framboise et a la pomme verte. (raspberry and green apple jelly sweets)

Merci ! Arigatou !

Cal 247.1 F5.2g C50.5g P4.6g

French lentil salad – Toute simple

With Italian lentils, French salad… I can’t get, at reasonable price, the French lentils I’d use in France (lentilles vertes du Puy). These are good, too, but different. It’s not the origine that matters, it’s a different shape and color.

Lentils washed, cooked in the rice cooker with laurel leaves.

Moutarde forte (strong Dijon style mustard), shallots, oil, wine vinegar (tarragon flavor), pepper, but no salt as the mustard has enough.

Mix well. Top with plenty of parsley. Serve warm or cooled.