Poached egg with smoke salmon and collard greens

This recipe is a real feast. Perfect for a sunny Sunday brunch! Of course the collard greens can be replaced by any greens of your choice like; spinach, kale, mustard green etc..

Serves 2

Ingredients
2 - 1/2 thick slices of pumpernickle bread (or other kind of bread)
2 tbl spoon of butter
1 medium garlic clove, minced
1 tbl spoon of fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 packed cups of collard greens, chopped bite size
2 thin slices of smoke salmon
2 eggs
2 tbl spoon of white vinegar
2 slices of provolone, (or other kind of cheese)

Directions
Mix butter, garlic and fresh parsley and spread over the slices of bread. Grill under the broil until nice and brown, approximately 1 minute. Remove bread from oven and set aside. Boil some water in a medium size pot filled to 1/2 it's capacity. When the water is boiling, reduce heat to medium-low so it barely simmers, add vinegar, then the eggs and simmer for 4 minutes. The white will be set but the yolk will still be runny. Remove from water with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add 2 tbl spoon of olive oil to a medium size skillet and sautee onion on medium heat for 2 minutes or until transparent. Add collard greens and sautee for an additional 3-4 minutes or until wilted. Remove from skillet and set aside. To assemble: place the slices of bread on a baking sheet, add on each slice, in this order, collard greens, smoke salmon, poached egg and cheese. Grill under the broil for 2 minutes or until the cheese is nice and brown.

I seasoned the tomatoes with some fresh basil, drizzled with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a dash of salt and pepper.

Tofu sautee in a garlic infused oil with a tomato and fresh herb pistou

Tofu is like mushrooms or eggplants. They are very spongy and kind of tasteless. I like that because you can give them practically any taste that you want and if you add a little salsa, relish or pistou then you could end up with a pretty explosive mouthful.

This low method of cooking the tofu infuses the oil in which the tofu cooks and gives it a nice Mediterranean flavor with the cumin, the sweet roasted garlic and the smoky pepper. The pistou complements the dish perfectly bringing all the flavors together.

Serves 2

For the tofu:

Ingredients

4 - 1/2 inch slices of tofu
Olive oil, enough to cover bottom of a medium size skillet
10 medium size garlic cloves, chopped roughly
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp chipolte pepper
4 tblsp fresh cilantro
Salt

Directions
Heat up medium size skillet on med-low heat. Add olive oil. When oil is hot (but not smoking) add garlic. Reduce heat to low and cook for 1 minute. Add tofu. Sprinkle tofu with half cumin seeds, half chipolte pepper, half the cilantro and a bit of salt. Cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Turn tofu, sprinkle with the other half of cumin, chipolte pepper, cilantro and give it a final dash of salt. Cook for another 10 minutes always on low heat. Raise up the heat to medium and continue cooking tofu for an additional 2 minutes on each side to give it a nice golden, crispy crust.
Transfer to plates, drizzle with the infused olive oil from the pan - don't forget any of the crunchy pieces of sweet garlic, they are delicious-. Serve with a green salad, a wedge of lime and spoonful of pistou (recipe follows)

For the Pistou:

Ingredients
1 loose cup of fresh parsley
1/2 loose cup fresh basil
1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lime (or to taste)
Salt and pepper

Directions
Place all ingredients in food processor and pulse 2-3 times until almost pureed but not quite. I like to keep it a bit chunky.

Ratatouille

In August we are getting all the right vegetables for the best ratatouille ever. Serve it on rice, or on noodles. My favoite way to eat it is as a side dish with a quiche!

Serves 4

Ingredients
1 eggplant
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 medium tomato, chopped roughly (about 1 cup)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves

Directions:
Cut eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, and bell peppers into 1/2-inch dice. In a large heavy skillet cook onion in 1 tablespoon olive oil over moderate heat, stirring, until tender. Add zucchinis, squash, and bell peppers and cook for 3-5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper to taste and cook for an additional 10 minutes. If the tomatoes are evaporating too fast you can always add a bit of chicken or vegetable stock to keep the ratatouille nice and moist.

Collard Green Vichyssoise

I did this recipe last Monday in my cooking class, it was good but a bit too thick. So the next day I added a bit more almond milk to make it thinner and I adjusted the seasoning and it was a lot better.

I revised the recipe and changed the 1/2 cup almond milk to 1 cup.

Ingredients
4 cups collard greens, chopped roughly
3 leeks, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 lb potatoes, cut into ½ inch cubes
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
3 cups vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon packed fresh thyme leaves
1 cup chilled almond milk
Salt and pepper

Directions
Cook leeks in butter in a heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add potatoes and garlic cook 1 minute. Add broth, bay leaf, and thyme and simmer, uncovered, until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
Add chopped collard and simmer, uncovered, until collard is tender, about 4 minutes.
Puree soup in batches in a blender (or with a hand mixer) until very smooth.