Black beans have a Winter image… I refreshed them with greens and juicy items for a nutritive Summer salad meal.
Fragrant argan oil from Morocco, a little garlic, salt and balsamic vinegar for the dressing.
The companions of the kuromame (black soy beans, that were boiled and frozen) are edamame, sliced okra, shimeji mushrooms and green sweet chilis. I’ve added a little minced hot chili. I’ve steamed all that together. Added the dressing, let cool.
We are in the middle of a heat wave. That was hot before that’s hard now. Here is a dish based on refreshing ingredients. I already told you the konnyaku noodles were ultra refreshing and another benefit is their fiber greatly helps digestion.
Melon (Provence style). Itokonnyaku (aka shirataki, konnyaku noodles). Hot green chili peppers.
Rinse longly the noodles. Add bits of chili pepper and raw ginger. Put in the fridge to get it very cold.
Carve pearls of melon.
Lay on the noddles. Add the juice that escaped.
Serve very chilled. At the last minute, decorate with ribbons of basil and balsamico reduction.
The falafel-mania is not over… Summer is just starting. Today with flashy red bell pepper.
It’s a base of pasted soaked chick peas, with onion, green and red pepper additions. To texture it, I’ve used oatmeal. Pan-fried.
Served them with grilled bread, shredded red cabbage, lemon, a little harissa and tahini sauce.
Freshly made tahini (pasted sesame), that I dilute with lemon juice and a little water to make the sauce.
Tahini sauce on the falafels and…
…on the side-dish of red bell pepper and wakame flavored sashimi konnyaku.
For dessert, green melon and a few drop this product that is a sweet reduction of balsamico vinegar. That magically enhances fruit flavor.
Italian lunch all plant-based, with local season ingredients. It’s Summer !
Shimeji mushrooms and green asparagus (only the stalks as I used the tips before) are the guests of this risotto.
I make it stove-top in my rice-cooker bowl, so I can then use the RC keep hot function. Garlic, leek and a chili pepper in olive oil to flavor the rice. I used sakekasu (sake lees) and water as broth to get a cheese-like creamy flavor.
It’s not as creamy as usual. The reason is I used hatsuga mai, polished germinated rice. That’s nice too to have a lighter texture in Summer.
That’s very simple. A good tomato. Sliced. A good tofu. Sliced. Fresh basil. A pinch of salt over the tomatoes. A drizzle of olive oil, one of balsamico vinegar.
An old fashioned cast-iron slow cooked roast, with its sauce and season steamed veggies. The balsamico vinegar brings the char color and some sourness that lights it up.
That’s a meal that takes 5 minutes to throw… and 2 days to cook, but you don’t care as you have nothing to do.
The cut is called sune in Japanese, I think it corresponds to rouelle in French, a round cut in the pork leg. It’s just ideal for this type of recipes.
A grated carrot, a grated onion, 2 chunks of garlic, a handful of oregano, 1/2 of balsamico vinegar, some water.
2 hours low heat. The next day, again, 2 hours.
The meat is easy to cut, with a pleasant soft texture.
The sauce : everything in the pot except the meat, passed in the mixer. I’ve added, paprika powder for the color, salt, pepper, reheated.
Steamed romanesco.
Steamed new potatoes.
And a little plate of stalks of spinach and mustard leaves, stir-fried with spices.
GOURMANDE in OSAKA 