Tag: Non-fattening

The greenest soup: leeks and peas

Confession: I sometimes like to create alternative worlds in my head.

I play detective and follow random people when I walk the dog (she loves it), I sometimes have imaginary conversations with inanimate objects (we all do that, right?) and I confer human traits to various food ingredients. If you’re still here after reading this, I’ll deep dive. For example, garlic is a grumpy grandpa, with a big mustache: he has a heart of gold, lots of good stories and loves to entertain…but you need to get to know him first. Potatoes are construction workers who love beer. Cabbage is a fat lady with a tiny voice, who’s extremely emotional. If you played into the game, you should be wondering what about leeks and peas. Peas are shy demoiselles, who spend lots of time in their boudoir and love silky gowns. And leeks? Well…my inspiration for leeks comes from the French translation: poirot. M. Poirot. M. Hercule Poirot. I love the irony of cooking leeks in Belgium: M. Poirot was, of course, Belgian, even though everyone thought him French. Like all Belgians, he was a grand gourmand and I sometimes wonder if he loved leeks dishes, too. Guys, I live in the city of Magritte, of crazy comic strips and blunt graffiti, so such transgressions are allowed, if not encouraged. But enough madness, back to our green soup. Read More

Southern Indian spicy chickpea and aubergine stew

I learned how to cook Indian food simply because my man loves it and he would, probably, be able to live on it months on end. My fair city of Brussels doesn’t offer many good alternatives; even in my early days of cooking Indian food at home, we always had the feeling that I was doing much better than the restaurants. Little by little, I started embracing it, but not by the way of my taste buds, more by the way of reading and learning about it. I find it fascinating how the food ties into the story of India and how the food itself has been influenced by the religious, political and social changes. I love the rich dishes with lots of yogurt and silky sauces of the north and west and the Mogul cuisine, but I also adore the hot, sharp flavors and spiciness of the south. I like Balti dishes and the blend of different ingredients. The abundance of spices makes me feel great after eating Indian food. This is food that transports you and makes you dream!
I recently read this article about “vegetarian India” which seems to cause quite a debate: if we were to trust it, it seems that about 71% of the population loves their meat. From my European-biased spot, I confess I like both veggie and meat dishes and I don’t really grasp all the deep cultural and social aspects of the debate. I cook and enjoy most variety of Indian dishes, this time we decided to go for a fiery chickpea and aubergine vegetarian stew, from Southern India. It was so flavorful, it combined different textures and tastes, that we couldn’t help for a second serving. We kept the leftovers and had them at dinner the next day as a side next to a simple pork stake on the grill. Sacrilege!, some might say, I simply thought it was pure perfection. Read More

(Romanian) Meatballs for lunch, please!

romanian-meatballs

Traditional Romanian meatballs are very different than the Belgian boulettes. If I weren’t so biased, I’d say they are much better, but hey!, I’m not even gonna dare going there. So what are the differences? Firstly, the composition. Romanian meatballs are made out of pork with lots of grated veggies and herbs inside. The Belgian ones are mostly beef, or a combination of pork and beef/ veal, onion and sometimes parsley. Then, there’s the shape. We like smaller, flat meatballs, while the Belgians make them large and round. And finally, there’s the cooking method. Traditionally, we roll the meatballs in flour and then deep fry them (I confess, I do the light version: no flour, simply cooked on the grill). As for the boulettes? They are, most of the times, fried in butter…yes, yes, this sounds delicious!

So, are you curious to know how the Romanian meatballs are made?  Read More

Pork and plum stew: a childhood memory

pork-with-plums

Autumn means lots of mouth-watering stews, slowly cooked in the oven and a kitchen that smells divine. Here’s an adaptation from my childhood, a delicious plum and pork stew made by my grandma. My grandma came from a different part of the country, where fruit and meat mixed happily, where sweet and savory embraced each other and where it is very common to add fruit to lots of dishes. And boy, how well she did it! Both my dad and I are fans, my mom and grandpa (as far as I can remember) not so much. Well, their loss, don’t let it be yours, too. Read More

Quick, quick, while they’re still in season! Creamy mushroom soup

seasonal-mushrooms

If it’s autumn, it’s mushrooms! As the seasons comes to an end, we can still rummage the markets for the best finds. Chanterelles, cèpes and brown champignons…I call them filler mushrooms. All of them jumped in a subtle and creamy mushroom soup, one of the easiest soups to make. It will take you about 30 minutes and you’ll consider this well invested time. Read More

Hello boys! Oven baked stuffed sea bass

oven-baked-sea-bass

I’ll keep this post as short & easy as it was to cook these two bad boys. Go to your fish monger, buy two sea bass and kindly ask him to clean them for you. Bring them home, wash them and pat them dry. Smear them with olive oil, salt & pepper and paprika. Fill them with whatever your heart desires, in my case: a head of garlic, onion slices, lemon slices and few rosemary springs. Put some baking pepper in a tray and place the fish on a bed of onion (♫ l wanna lay you down on a bed of onioooooon ♫)(sorry for the cheesy Bon Jovi reference, couldn’t help it). And in the oven they go for about 40 minutes; I didn’t even turn them on the other side. And that IS it. I actually managed to eat almost a full one. Nope, I’m not friends with fish. For now 🙂

Romanian dumpling chicken soup

chicken-soup

With the weather is chilling and turning colder each day, I feel I’m regaining my energy and my joie de vivre. I love cold weather food much more that any fancy summer salad, so I just can’t wait to get home from work and start cooking. Cold weather is a time for soups, slow-cooked stews, root veggies, preserves & pickles, pies and crumbles. Researching new recipes is sometimes the most fun a girl can have (or is it only this girl?), but I confess, I usually fall back on my faithful classics. It was not my idea to share this recipe today, but my man’s. Even though I argued anyone knows how to make chicken soup, he scolded me and said this is something for people to see and try. My dumpling chicken soup is apparently too good not to give it a shot. So please do 🙂 Read More

Sunday tartine: jambon de langue de cochon/ pork’s tongue ham

pork-ham-tartine

After the Taste of Brussels event yesterday (more to come on that soon), I just felt the need to come back to reality, where us, mere-mortals still enjoy the pleasure of the flesh, with impunity. What better place to surround myself with beautiful pieces of pork, veal, beef, ham, sausages & co. than my lovely butcher, M. Gaston? My week-end shopping list included 200gr préparé and a 800gr roti de porc/ pork shoulder (a wonderfully-fatty piece, now marinating in olive oil, smoked paprika, fresh rosemary & crushed garlic). To my surprise, something caught my eye: next to the tête préssée, a bit lonely and distinct: the pork’s tongue ham. I immediately asked M. Didier about it and he confirmed, then I proceeded to tell him about my love affair with pig’s tongue (while my man was telling him about pigs slaughtering in Romania). We ate the fresh préparé yesterday and I saved the best for last.

My Sunday tartine: dark bread + whole grain mustard + tongue ham + green & red pepper + home-grown ruccola. 

For that kind of days: canned mackerel & sardines two ways

mackerel-and-asrdines-tartine

There are days when you can dismember and cook a whole chicken, make pizza or moussaka and there are days when all you can do is open a can of fish. Lately, most of my evenings were like that. I told you how I gradually started to embrace fish...well, I recently discovered canned mackerel and canned sardines. Fish full of good stuff and really, really tasty. I always buy the ones in (olive) oil, I get them from Aldi for less than 1 EUR a piece. Still, I did not resign to just cracking the can open and proceed to eating: a bit of sparkle is always welcome. In this case, the sparkle took the shape of onion, tomatoes, capers, red pepper and ruccola. Easy-peasy tartines!

Bio pumpkin bread + butter + canned mackerel fillets + raw onion + capers + ruccola. Sprinkled with spicy olive oil and freshly ground pepper.

Bio pumpkin bread + spicy olive oil + canned sardines + chopped home-grown tomatoes + charred red pepper + onion + ruccola. Salt & pepper

That’s it guys! Absolutely yummy, healthy and easy to make. The dream of any person that comes home from the office after seven PM and still wants to have a good meal.