kenneth's mom's healthy snack

Kenneth is a very good friend of my daughter Camille. Her mom volunteers at school every single week. Here is what Kenneth's mom e-mailed me last week: "Camille is one of our biggest fans for cooked chard in the garden during Nature Zone on Wednesdays at lunchtime. She asked me to send you my recipe. I chop a bunch of chard into small pieces. Sautee it in some olive oil. Add raisins. Serve. Very simple. We serve it on saltine crackers at school. I think the kids like the mix of sweet and salty."  Thanks Kathy for teaching the kids how to grow fruits and vegetables, for taking care of the garden at school, and for giving the kids healthy food habits. Also thanks for sharing your recipe with us. 

chanterelle tart

I bought some fresh (and pricey!) chanterelles at the farmers' market on Sunday. I didn't want to waste my money improvising a recipe... So I made this quiche from Everyday Greens. Money well spent!

dates + almond milk smoothie

You might have bought some almond milk to make the blueberry almond milk smoothie posted a couple of weeks ago.  You might have some almond milk leftovers. You might be interested by another recipe using almond milk...

pesto rolls

A good place to use the almond kale pesto that you just made, right? Any kind of filling works by the way. Great for picnic and lunch boxes.

kale almond pesto

Obviously, it's kale season! I do not know how to cook it anymore*. In such cases, making pesto is always a good solution. See the recipe of the arugula pesto that I mentioned a few months ago. Today pesto has helped me to get rid of my "extra" greens. This pesto version is less oily. First of all, I wanted my pesto to really taste kale. Second of all, because I found out that since you add oil on top of the jar for preserving the pesto, adding too much oil in the pesto itself is not necessary. You can still add it later (or simply add pasta water to liquefy it when used with pasta). Finally, used in some recipes, it's better to have a denser pesto. You'll see what I mean in the next post...

homemade creme fraiche

"Chose promise, chose due". I don't know how to  say it in English. Sorry. The recipe is in English though.

after the soup, the salad

An happy combination ... some beets*, some sour oranges, some lettuce, some sprouts, some extra-virgin olive oil, and salt....

* roasted yesterday; to roast beets, see here.

romaine lettuce soup

Not in a good mood today... It's pouring rain... It's cold... It's lunch time... Need something warm and comforting so that I won't end up eating the tempting banana bread my friend just gave me! Nothing in my fridge except 2 romaine lettuce hearts. Two romaine lettuce hearts I just said?

mac&cheese?

Mac&Cheese? Yes? No? Maybe? Here is a revised version of the traditional US "Macaroni and Cheese". You will never guess what's inside! Neither will your kids. Even when they know, they'll still ask for it.

happy valentine's day

Nothing really new here. Just the pleasure to post for Valentine's day. These hearts are cut in this bread. Except it's the winter version: with dried cranberries and Californian walnuts instead of fresh blueberries. Happy Valentine's day!

brussels sprout salad

A different way to eat Brussels sprouts: as a salad. I was inspired by Heidi Svanson's recipe (here). There is also another version of her recipe in Italian (here). After the jump, I'll give you the original recipe, but I have to say that I didn't follow it because I made this salad only for me today. So I simply put the shredded Brussels sprouts on my plate and then added the nuts, the herbs (cilantro instead of thyme+ chives), a pinch of salt, a splash of olive oil, and a splash of lemon juice according to my taste. Before eating, toss the salad and let it stand 5 minutes. It helps developing the flavors. Then add the cheese (pecorino). In the Italian version, there are also some caramelized apples. Next time...

white beans + kale crostini

Another recipe from Everyday Greens cookbook. In fact I've put together 2 recipes because I had some leftovers from one of them. Perfect as appetizers or quick lunch (especially if you have the beans cooked already).

blueberry almond milk smoothie

To change from your usual breakfast or after school snack... As you know, I like to substitute dairies from time to time (cf. here and here). And smoothies are a great way to do so. For this blueberry almond milk smoothie, blend together: 6 oz unsweetened vanilla almond milk  + 10 oz skim milk + 1 cup frozen unsweetened blueberries + 2 tsp honey. Serves 2. Sprinkle with sliced toasted almonds if you'd like. Enjoy! NB: I like it with almond milk only, but my kids tend to like it mixed with cow milk. 

les macarons de marion

This time you will not get the recipe. If these macaroons are truly homemade, they aren't homemade by me! I would have not been able to obtain this perfection! They look perfect. They taste perfect. They are perfect. Congratulations Marion!

kabosha squash + raisins + cashews turnovers

During my last trip to Belgium, I bought several small cookbooks, easy to put into a suitcase. Among them: "Variations Potimarron", by Clea. The first recipe I tried from the book was a little bit disappointing to me. It was a "terrine de potimarron japonisante, miso, noix et oignons" (p.56). It tasted good, but it looked more like mashed kabosha squash than terrine. Maybe I did something wrong. I'll try again and let you know. On the contrary, her "chaussons individuels au potimarron facon bollyfood" (p.48) are a hit. You have to try them. They are good eaten right out of the oven, or later, and even the day after (in the lunch box for example). My kids get crazy over them.