Lentil salad with roasted cauliflower and mushrooms

Lentil salad with roasted cauliflower and mushrooms

I think it was in France, last summer, when Nicolaas FINALLY agreed to eat lentils with me. It was  my 'one-can-of-lentils-a-day-period', which i somehow just get; those cravings for one particular ingrediënt. At the moment i am in my beet-carrot-pear-ginger-juice-period, which just feels awesome to start the day with. Followed by a cup of coffee of course. 

I still love lentils though. And somehow Nicolaas never did. He is a sucker for all kinds of beans, but lentils just didn't do it for him. Which utterly frustrated me of course, because i just didn't get how you could love beans, but refuse to like lentils. So of course, it became a matter of principle and whenever i asked him if he'd want some lentils - prepared in whatever way - he said no. 

You can imagine i just tried to make my lentil recipes better and tastier, until he couln't refuse any longer! Well, that day came in august 2012 on a majestic piece of land in France! I found a recipe with sweet red onions, fresh dill, tarragon, oil and wine vinegar. It was so good, he seriously grabbed it out of my hands. Pure and simple. It was the best! And since that day, i can make whatever lentil recipe i like, and share it with me sweet! It sounds like a fairy tale.

Here is another nice recipe for a lukewarm lentil salad with roasted cauliflower and mushrooms, fresh herbs and chili's. Originally form Happi-food magazine, it became one of my favorites too!

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Oeuf Cocotte

Bonjour!

With a family of five, breakfast can be a real pain in the ass. Most days during the week we're in a hurry, (i don't know why, my alarm -ánd the little one- goes off at 7 o'clock, but we still don't make it) which makes it a challenge over and over again, to get something healthy into every mouth, get them dressed properly and to get those backpacks filled in time. I guess we're just an average family..

So, weekends should be spent well! Despite the fact our youngest is a terrible sleeper, he is also mr. Sunshine himself at 07:00 o'clock sharp. So no laziness in bed for me. But the fact we don't have to hurry, don't have to shower or get dressed immediately to run off, is absolutely a blast.

When everyone is awake (I mostly already have spent several hours reading a newspaper, or some  blogs i like) i just love to have breakfast, and sit at the table together.  Happily enough, the rest of my family enjoys that as well. To celebrate these little moments of joy it's even better to make something special! And something special i found for sure on another Dutch blog; www.sarahaandekook.nl. I had no idea what 'cocotte' meant. I just thought it was a way of preparation. Until i found out about my little pans i have stored in my kitchen cabinet; they are called 'cocottes'.
Very well indeed! They just needed to be filled with whatever i had in my fridge and some homemade pesto and sit in the oven for about 10 minutes!

Very very little tasty breakfast pans, which will enlighten your day for sure!

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Asparagus-Gruyere tart

Finally, the official asparagus season has begun!

Finally! Yesterday the asparagus season has started officially, which means we can cook, grill, chop, steam or mix these green or white fellows, until the 24th of june. And despite the fact we'll still be able to buy them off season, that just won't be as much fun. The'll be more expensive and not locally, which you for sure will be able to taste. So now is the time to get them and prepare them in tons of ways!

I found this simple but delicious recipe on Pinterest and it officially seems to be from Martha Stewart, although i found way more look-a-like recipes on the net. Some slightly different or with more ingredients added, but i decided to go for this particular one, with just some pure ingredients, olive oil, salt and pepper. And you know what, you can eat this warm or cold; either way, it's great! Just make sure to pour yourself a nice glass of Chardonnay, cheers!

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Baked chicory with orange butter sauce and red cabbage puree

Baked chicory with orange butter sauce and red cabbage puree

I think i had this piece of paper sticked to my fridge for about 6 or 7 months, before i actually descided to give it a try. I teared it out of my weekend edition newspaper, somewhere on a saturday or sunday afternoon, just because i loved the combination of colors, not realising it was actually a recipe, or no, better: a veggie recipe!

The recipe itself comes from Alain Passard, and was slightly adjusted by the writer of the article. Anyway, it absolutely isn't a hard dish to make, but a very, very colorful one, for sure! I descide to eat it with some mashed potatoes, which goes with it wonderfully well.

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