Nouille in French means noodle of course, but if you call someone a “nouille“it’s not really a compliment and means you are calling this person an idiot. So today, I do feel like a nouille, because I keep buying soba noodles and never eat them. Actually, I rarely think of preparing or eating soba noodles, probably due to my Italian upbringing…even though my pantry is filled with all kinds of soba.

I see them every day, but no… the idea of eating them, does not even cross my mind. I look at them and think, oh wow! I have so many soba in there. That’s it…the thought stops there. Isn’t that strange? It’s funny how we get stuck into habits. Well, today I decided to make a change, free some space in the cabinets = EAT SOBA. Of course, soba being Japanese, I didn’t want to prepare them the Italian way, and offend them. I tried to be faithful to their essence. For whatever reason, soba reminds me of Geisha, something delicate, and complex at the same time.

Since I have been cooking a lot of vegan meals lately, I can assure you that this dish would please any vegan out there. I combined some Eastern-Western flavors and everything made sense in this dish, from the textures, to the flavors, the colors. Yes, everything. The herbs make it fragrant, taste fresh, the lemon gives it a clean aftertaste, and all combined with the natural nuttiness and sweetness of the buckwheat make it a perfectly balanced and delightful dish. As we say in French “Essayer, c’est l’adopter“, to try it, is to adopt it…so just try it.

Ingredients for 2

• 220 g buckwheat soba
• 1 cup edamame, frozen
• 2 zucchini, sliced
• 4 Chinese cabbage leaves, thinly chopped
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1.5 cups basil leaves
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

In a blender mix garlic, basil, salt and pepper. Blend to a fine consistency. Add lemon zest. Set aside.

Grill zucchini on both sides using a grill pan. Cut in 4 pieces. Boil edamame in boiling water for a few minutes or place in microwave to defrost. Saute cabbage in 1 tsp olive oil.

Cook soba for about 5 minutes in a slightly salted boiling water. Rinse in cold water. Combine all ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Add pesto and toss well. Eat cold or at room temperature.

Lately I have not been too well, that’s why I haven’t been posting any recipe on a regular basis like I used to, and my desire and energy for cooking has gone down, hopefully it will pick up at some point. I have no motivation for sitting in front of my computer either, but I sincerely miss everyone, people I met through this blog have been incredibly supportive, kind and generous. Thanks so much for anyone who reads my blogs and leaves genuine comments, they mean a lot to me. I apologize if I have had a difficult time to catch up with everyone, I have had very low energy level and some health issues, but hopefully will get back to my regular routine soon.

I started writing this recipe about three weeks ago and never managed to finish it, it took me forever…so here it is after such a long time. This salad is composed with a well balanced mixture of grains, vegetables, and proteins, such a nutritious and flavorful dish.

I call this a salad since it has a dressing but it can be called anything you like, and can be consumed lukewarm or cold. The particularity of this dish is that I mixed eight varieties of grains and seeds such as brown rice, oats, lentils, pumpkin seeds, etc… for a mixed variety of textures. Maybe you’ll think this look more like a bird meal to you than a gourmet salad. It is definitely questionable, but after you taste it, you will think bird ingredients can taste incredibly tasty.

The grains have been enhanced with vegetables, and seafood which complement the grains quite well. This is nothing complicated, you just need various grains in your pantry.

Ingredients for 2-3

• 200 g of mixed grains such as:
• brown rice
• wheat flakes
• sorghum rice
• buckwheat
• pearl barley
• black rice
• pearl rice
• red lentil
• 1 tbs roasted pumpkin seeds
• 10 large shrimps
• 4 medium artichokes
• 3 tbs dry white wine
• 70 g cannellini beans cooked  (either dried or canned)

Ingredients for the herb-lemon vinaigrette

• 3 tbs avocado oil
• juice of one lemon
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tsp tarragon, chopped
• 1 tsp parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp chives, chopped
• 1 tbs red onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• one pinch cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Mix all grains together and steam them. You can steam them the same way you would steam rice, even if there are many varities of grains, some of them cook a little faster than others but it does not make a big difference cooking them all together. You can use a rice cooker or use the regular technique using a simple pot.

Trim artichokes, removing the hard leaves around, and cutting off the top of the artichoke. Cut in quarters and place in a container filled with water and lemon juice to prevent the artichokes from darkening.

In a pan, heat olive oil, add 1 garlic clove, then drain artichokes and add to the pan, stir for a few minutes, coating the artichokes with garlic and oil, then add wine, salt and pepper. Stir well. Cover with a lid and cook at medium heat until artichokes are tender. Remove from heat and set aside.

Saute shrimps in olive oil, add salt and pepper and set aside.

In a large container, mix steamed grains with artichokes, cannellini beans, shrimps, pumpkin seeds. Pour vinaigrette on top by mixing all ingredients together. Stir well and serve. You can serve at room temperature or cold.

]]> http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/grains/salad-of-grain-medley-with-cannellini-shrimps-artichokes-in-a-herb-lemon-dressing/feed/ 28 http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/meat/no-i-did-not-miss-you-roasted-chicken-thighs-with-lemon-herbs-olives-and-sunburst-squash/ http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/meat/no-i-did-not-miss-you-roasted-chicken-thighs-with-lemon-herbs-olives-and-sunburst-squash/#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:59:58 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=5075 Non, tu ne m’as pas manqué -  Cuisses de poulet rôties aux herbes, citron et olives à la courge

Since I don’t really eat meat, I know my blog lacks meat recipes, I figured that when I cook for some non-vegetarian people who do eat meat, I take the opportunity for putting up the recipe on the blog. I look at those chicken thighs and it reminds me of my cute and sweet parakeet and I really have to think about something else or I won’t be able to cook them. Sometimes, I have to detach myself from things that bother me, or I won’t be able to do anything.

I love fresh herbs, all of them! When I first moved to California, I was amazed to see tons of houses with bushes of rosemary as a decoration plant. I thought that was funny, I was wondering if people used it for cooking or if it was just as a decoration…and still I have no answer to that. I used to live on a street where almost all houses had huge rosemary plants bordering them and coming all the way on the sidewalk. Sometimes, when I was out of rosemary, I would help myself. I know it’s not very appropriate but at the time, I thought it was not a big deal especially considering the size of the rosemary spreading in a public zone.

This chicken is very flavorful and mainly due to the tons of herbs I use in it. Sometimes I marinate it overnight so it gets infused with herbs and you get a wonderful roasted chicken. You can also use pearl onions instead of yellow onions.

Squash being in season, I figured I would use it, but some other vegetables like potatoes, carrots, turnips, etc…would work as well. If you have guests over, and want to spend time with them rather in your kitchen, roasted chicken is the key, you just need to baste it once in a while and that’s it. It’s like the kid that doesn’t need any attention, you just give him a toy and he keeps himself busy.

You might need to cover the dish with some aluminum foil for about 20-30 minutes, depending on how your oven cooks, then removing the foil to let the chicken brown. I am still trying to figure out how my oven works with the circular heat.

Ingredients for 4 people

• 4 chicken legs
• 1 whole butternut squash, cut in large pieces
• 2 tbs green olives
• 1 tbs strong Dijon mustard
• 3 rosemary sprigs and chopped
• 3 thyme, sprigs and chopped
• 3 tarragon sprigs and chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/2 yellow onion, sliced
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 5 lemon slices
• 4 tbs chicken broth
• chili flakes
• salt and pepper

Preparation

You can marinated the chicken overnight with herbs, garlic, mustard and onion, but it’s optional. You can get a fragrant chicken even if you don’t marinate it.

Keep some herb sprigs, chop some of it. Mix all ingredients together in a mixing container except chicken broth and mustard. Place chicken in a oven tray, add herb mixture on top of chicken and coat chicken with it. Spread mustard on both sides of legs.

Cook in a pre-heated oven at 370F for about 30 min, then add broth and regularly baste chicken with it.

Add squash, salt and pepper, and cook until chicken is well roasted and squash tender.

]]> http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/meat/no-i-did-not-miss-you-roasted-chicken-thighs-with-lemon-herbs-olives-and-sunburst-squash/feed/ 13 http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/express-less-than-30-minutes/grilled-pepper-tuna-steak-with-parsley-lemon-pesto-and-medley-of-vegetables/ http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/express-less-than-30-minutes/grilled-pepper-tuna-steak-with-parsley-lemon-pesto-and-medley-of-vegetables/#comments Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:30:23 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=2697 Steak de thon grillé au poivre avec pesto de persil et citron – mélange de légumes et pois chiches

I don’t know about you, but I cannot get tired of eating fish and seafood. Ideally, I would like to become a complete vegetarian and stop contributing to the pollution of our planet by consuming animal based food, but I think I have not quite reached that level of dedication, maybe one day, hopefully soon. In the meantime, I will keep playing with fish and seafood and try to come up with wonderful ways to cook it.

Even if Ahi tuna tends to be more popular in restaurants, sometimes, I like the white flesh and lighter flavor of the albacore tuna. Ahi is fattier than albacore and is mainly used for sushis.

As you know, pesto can be made with all kinds of ingredients, this particular kind is parsley-lemon based, the lemon zest flavors the mixture wonderfully and you get this zesty-citrusy taste that goes perfectly well with the fish. You can use leftover pesto to serve with grilled chicken as well, or any white meat such as pork.

Ingredients for 2

For the tuna 

• 2 albacore tuna steaks
• 1 tbs coarse black pepper, grinded
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

For the parsley-lemon pesto

• 1 bunch flat parsley
• 2 garlic cloves
• zest of one lemon
• 3 tbs pine nuts
• olive oil 
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• salt and pepper

For the vegetable medley

• 1 fennel head, finely sliced
• 2 zucchini, sliced
• 1/2 can chick peas or 4 tbs of overnight soaked chick peas
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1/2 red onion, finely sliced
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• garlic powder
• 2 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the pesto, mix all ingredients together in a mixer, and add enough oil to get a smooth consistency. You can keep it in a air-tight container for a couple of days.

Char broiled the red bell pepper in the oven, close to the broiler, and when the skin is dark and grilled, remove from the oven and let cool. Remove peel, and seeds, then cut in strips.

In a grill pan, grill all other vegetables, and place in a container, add chick peas, and red pepper strips. Add lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Grind black pepper and coat the tuna steaks in it. Add salt and balsamic vinegar, then broil under broiler for a few minutes until the tuna is cooked but do not overcook or it will get dry.

Serve with a tbs of pesto on top of tuna and vegetables on the side.