vegan french recipe – THEFRANCOFLY

Lentils Continued…

Yes, here is the recipe for lentils I promised you a few weeks back! Oh, Lentils. The mighty, high-protein, highly-economic standby food! Like all simple foods in France, they get the VIP treatment. Lentils are always dressed up with bits of foie gras or smoked salmon. However, considering we just bought an apartment, they rest unadorned, but nonetheless delicious.

Sadly, my husband is opposed to spice. He will find ways to eat around herbs. As I heard so eloquently said recently (in David Lebovitz’s blog), Americans are into fireworks when eating. However, the French prefer something truly simple and well-made. It goes to show that my own personal style is to throw a handful of cilantro on everything. Needless to say, the following recipe is tasty whether you choose to dress it down for dinner for two, served with some baked potatoes and grilled sausages. Or in my case, incorporate some chopped ginger, garam masala, creme fraiche and a handful of cilantro for lunch!

Compromise be gone!

Lentils for one and all (or 8 people)

1 ½ Cup Green Lentils, soaked for several hours or overnight

2 leeks, finely chopped

3 small onions, finely chopped

1 clove garlic

2 carrots, shredded

3 plum tomatoes, grated

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

2 bay leaves

1 tsp. olive oil

6 cups water, more if needed

1.) In a heavy-bottomed pot, sauté the leeks and onions over medium/low heat until soft and translucent. Add bay leaves, carrots, garlic, pepper and tomato. Cook until softened and lightly caramelized

2.) Add the drained lentils and cover mixture with water

3.) Cook for 30 minutes until the lentils are soft and stewy. Add salt

4.) Enjoy!

Carottes Râpées

Exif_JPEG_PICTURE — Photo by Jessie Kanelos

Oh, carottes râpées! One of the few ways to eat raw vegetables in this crazy town. Other than an obligatory green salad, the French prefer their vegetables cooked to death. But when I need to eat something on the lighter side (meaning I have less than 2 weeks to slim down to the size of my vegan NYC days in which I bought my wedding gown. Lay off the fromage, Jessie!), this quick recipe is as satisfying as it is simple. I love carrots, but chewing them can be a bit tedious sometimes. So this is a happy medium between carrot sticks and carrot juice. Just grate fresh carrots on a box grater. Add salt and pepper to taste. Easy. I have tried dressing this up with glug of white wine vinegar, lemon juice, chopped garlic, or even maple syrup. But at the end of the day, if the carrots are fresh, there really is no need to dress them with anything. Maybe just a little bit of olive oil for some added sheen. Hmmm, this might not be a far-off plot to slim down like a French woman….

1 Part Tomatoes+1 Part Red Peppers

There’s nothing like a soon-to-be mother-in-law! Fortunately, as of now, I’ve only good things to tell. When I moved to France, I quickly learned that Sunday was the ultimate day of relaxation. I mean a ‘watching 3 movies, not moving the couch’ type of Sunday. And thanks to France, I was finally able to train myself to do this without feeling a drop of guilt. When I started seeing C, I learned Sunday was the ultimate day of family, too. Whenever we weren’t glued to the couch or scavenging for food after noon, we were more than likely on our way to his parent’s place in the 15^th arrondisement. C’s mother is a very striking beauty. She’s impeccably preserved with radiant, olive skin and dark tresses. Only her slow walk gives away the fact she’s in her early 70s. She’s a retired primary school teacher. Thankfully, she speaks clearly and simply enough for both a 4^h grader and a barely bilingual Americaine like me to understand. And she just adores her son. She beams when she sees him and buys him a chocolate basset hounds every Easter and is quick to pull out his childhood photos. But I knew she finally warmed up to me when she whipped out the vegetables just for me! And plenty of them! Carotte rappe with just a touch of olive olive, cucumbers simply dressed with vinegar, and the most beautifully sumptuous red pepper and tomato salad/confiture/thing you must try at home!

So, it’s just a kilo of tomatoes and a kilo of red peppers. It’s that easy. They are scorched on either an open flame or in the broiler until their skins are completely black and pull away from the flesh. From there, wrap them in a papertowel and wrap in a plastic bag until they cooled. Remove the skins and slice into strips. From there, place the sliced peppers and tomatoes into a skillet with some olive oil and let them slowly concentrate until they morph into their own sauce. Add a little water here and there to keep them from sticking to the pan and to continue the caramelizing. After about 45 minutes-1 hour, you are left with is just the silkiest and smokiest thing that has ever come out of 2 kilos of vegetables. The sweetness of the peppers mellows out the acidity of the tomatoes brilliantly. With the necessary addition of baguette, you’re set for a terrifically light lunch or first course. Or reserve a little for your omelet the day after. Or place on top of a crostini with a little goat cheese for an elegant hors d’oeurves. But from my experience, the salad won’t last long enough to consider sharing.

From this day on, I still haven’t seen this little salad anywhere else! Unlike the Thai chicken wraps or the Mexican tortilla soup my family has adopted as our own family recipes from the supermarket periodical aisle, I can assume this recipe is one of those time-treasured Marseillaise recipes made in C’s family for at least a couple of generations. And nothing can taste as good! Not even a molten chocolate Martha Stewart recipe from my family recipe vault. Enjoy.