Helene's Dahl

Cheap and quick

Rice
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup of lentils, rinsed, soaked and cooked (or 1 can )
1 can of diced tomatoes
curry powder
cumin powder
fresh cilantro

Cook rice. Fry onion, add spices to your taste ( i put quite a bit of both curry and cumin, you can also add cardamone, pepper, chili flakes ). Add lentils and tomatoes, heat up. Serve lentils on rice, sprinkle with fresh cilantro.

Tofu pesto

This wonderfully creamy pesto is fast and good.
one square of the soft tofu
one large bunch of basil
4 tablespoons Olive Oil
4 tablespoons lemon juice
4 cloves garlic (best if fried for a couple of min.)
4 tablespoons parmesan cheese
a hand full of almonds
Put it all in a blender and chop until green and smooth.
For extra yummy, roast chopped almonds and mix with chopped fresh tomatoes and basil as a topping.

Poached eggs on spinach and toast

This is a simple, fresh, light supper idea from Diana and Simonne.

1 big bunch of fresh spinach
eggs ( i did 2 each)
1Tbsp vinegar
toast
Optionnal:
1 Tbsp horseradish sauce
1Tbsp mayonnaise ( not so light !)

Steam spinach until cooked to personal taste. Bring water to boil with vinegar ( to help coagulate to eggs), but reduce heat so it doesn't make bubbles before putting the eggs. Pour carefully the eggs in the water for a few minutes.
Toast the bread. Spread some of the horseradish-mayo mix on the bread, add spinach and egg. Pepper and salt.
Serve with fresh salad, tomatoes ...

Denis' pate brisee

Thank you Denis for this easy recipe that is so good and you can use it for so many dishes ( quiches, vegetable tarts etc... )

200 gr flour ( 1 cup 2/3)
1 tsp salt
100gr butter ( 1/2 cup)
100 ml water

Mix salt and flour, add butter and work it so it's flaky and well mixed ( the butter should be hard, not melted). Make fountain, add water. Mix well with hands in a ball. Let stand for 30 min.
Spread on a pie dish. add fancy stuff :)

Zuchini Tart

Use 'Denis' pate brisee' or some frozen Puff pastry for this recipe.

Pastry for base of tart
1 big zuchini
butter
a few mint leaves
1 egg
a dash of milk
salt and pepper

Melt butter in pan, add zuchhini ( sliced or diced), fry untill golden. In a medium bowl, wisk egg with the milk. Lay zuchini in pie dish on the layed pastry, sprinkle the mint on top and add the egg mixture. Salt and pepper. In oven at 400 deg for 20-30 min, or until crust looks cooked.

Serve with tomatoe salad, or lettuce or anything you fancy.

Lea's mozzarella and basil pasta

You choose how much of everything you want to put in this easy, summery dish

Mozzarella cheese, 1 'ball'
Tomatoes
Basil, a lot
Spaguetti
Olive oil

Cook the pasta
Cut cheese in dices, as well as tomatoes. Mix together with basil. Add spaguetti and drizzle olive oil on top.

Vegetarian Chili

1 big onion
2 bell peppers
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 tsp chili powder ( or more according to taste)
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper
2 cans stewed tomatoes
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cans of other beans

Heat some oil in a large pot. Add onion, bell peppers and garlic, saute for 5 min.
Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 30min, stiring occ.
Serves 8.

You can also add mushrooms, grated cheese, sour cream etc... Great with pasta or corn bread.

Squash and kale pasta

Not that much in season right now but still ... this is from Bethanie, a favorite ever since.

1 medium squash, peeled and cut in cubes, bite size
Curry powder
1-2 bunch of kale
pasta
garlic

Bake the squash for 20-30 min. after adding some oil and seasoning it with curry ( to taste)
Cook pasta, set aside
In a frying pas, saute garlic, add kale until crisp ( 5-10 min)

Mix all ingredients together, serve with parmesan.

Asparagus risotto

From my friend Lea, who just had a baby girl !

1 bunch of fresh asparagus
1/2 cup of cheese: goat, feta
Arborio rice (about 1lb, 400gr for 4 people)
Vegetable stock, dried
1 onion, chopped
olive oil
salt and pepper

Boil the asparagus until tender, but still slightly crunchy. Keep the water.
Cut asparagus in bits setting the top parts aside. The rest goes in a bowl with the cheese and blend it until creamy and soft.

Risotto :
Fry onion in a good amount of olive oil. Add rice until transparent, stir regularly.
Make about 1 litre of veggie stock with powder and the asparagus water. Add stock to risotto little by little, stiring reg. This should take 20-30 min.

When rice is cooked, add asparagus cheese mix, stir. Tops for looks and there you go.

Summer Spaguetti

From Jamie Oliver ( Happy Days with the Naked Chef)

500gr spaguetti/linguine
400gr ( 1lb) ripe cherry tomatoes, or chopped fresh tomatoes
2 handfuls of fresh marjoram, basil or oregano
6 lugs of olive oil
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp white or red vinegar
sea salt and pepper

Cook pasta
In a large bowl, mix halved tomatoes with all other ingredients. When pasta is cooked, add, mix and serve with parmesan.