Simple Brasserie-Style Salad

INGREDIENTS

-eggs

-lettuce

-tomato

-cornichon

-olive oil

-salt

DIRECTIONS

Rip up 1/4 head of romaine lettuce, slice a tomato into wedges. Put both in a medium salad bowl or plate and add 6-8 cornichon and drizzle 2 tsp olive oil, a pinch of sea salt, and fresh black pepper. Cook 1-3 eggs 'over-medium' in pan lined with a thin layer of olive oil (depending on how many you take). When done, place the eggs atop the salad. Simple, fresh, Parisian brasserie salad easily created at home! Goes well with Baguette and Camembert or 'Fromage Chevre.'

Vegan Caffeine-Free Cafe Creme

1 tsp PIONIER (the company) "Bio-Frucht und Getreidekaffee" / "Cafe aux fruits et cereales bio"

1 cup boiling water

splash of soy/rice/almond milk

I usually wouldn't put a recipe for coffee on a blog; what's easier than making coffee? But, in this case, I found this fruit and grain decaf coffee substitute at Naturalia, a French health food store, that ended up being so good that I had to share it with you! If you are trying to lower your caffeine and/or dairy intake as I am trying to do, or just want a decaf after-dinner espresso equivalent (tres Parisienne!), this is a great substitute. It's like the "Smoking Everywhere" of coffee! And trust me, as both a college student and New Yorker, I have become a black-belt coffee drinker. I love it. But coffee is extremely acidic. It leeches calcium from the bones and stunts growth, dehydrates and overstimulates the heart...and dairy does not agree with me personally...along with the wealth of other problems that accompany dairy consumption...SO, the fact that there is vegan organic caffeine free coffee made of fruit and grain extracts...is a beautiful thing, my friends.

Fish Balls Part Deux: Moins les "Carbs."

INGREDIENTS

-20 fish balls from an asian specialty store (see recipe below)**

-2 cups of soybean sprouts

-3 tbsp olive oil

-3 tbsp light soy sauce

-3 clovesgarlic

-1/2 lemon

-nickel-sized sliver of ginger

**This dish can also be made with sea scallops, or as they say in French, which ALWAYS sounds better: "Coquilles St. Jaques"!

DIRECTIONS

Heat the olive oil on medium in a pan and throw in the fish balls or scallops. Let simmer for a minute or two, then add the soybean sprouts and stir thoroughly while drizzling on the soy sauce. After about 7 minutes of stirring, crush the 3 cloves of garlic directly into the pan, along with a nickel-sized sliver of ginger, chopped into tiny pieces. Squeeze in half of a lemon, and continue to stir everything around for about 5 minutes. C'est fini! Pair it with a buttery Chardonnay or hot sake.

"Boulettes de Poisson Chiu Chow" with Millet Pasta (In other words, this is what you start to cook when you live in the heart of Paris's Chinatown).

INGREDIENTS:

-Tchi Yen "Boulettes de Poisson Chiu Chow" (Basically white fish-cake balls from an Asian specialty supermarket) (There are about 20 balls in the packet)

-2 cups organic millet fettucini

-2-3 tbsp soy sauce

-1/2 lemon

-2-3 tbsp olive oil

-3 cloves garlic

-salt

DIRECTIONS:

First, slice the garlic into small pieces and pan sauté it in the olive oil for a minute (I would tell you a more specific time frame for this step, but I burnt the garlic when I made it the first time so I trust you will do a better job!). Then just throw in all of the fish balls. The pan should remain somewhere between medium and high heat. (Now would be a good time to put the pot of salted water for the pasta on the stove--on high heat.)

Continue to stir the now-sizzling fish balls around constantly in the pan with a wooden spoon for another minute and then squeeze most of the half-lemon on them. Drizzle about 2 tbsp of soy sauce, and continue to stir. The balls should begin to get slightly golden browned.

Once they look slightly browned (and start to smell delicious!), put them on low heat/simmer, still stirring occasionally while you cook the 2 cups of millet pasta in the now boiling water for about 6 minutes. Drain and rinse the pasta, shake out the excess water, and throw it into the pan, tossing it in with the fish balls. Squeeze the rest of the half-lemon onto it and drizzle an extra tbsp of soy sauce. Continue to toss it all together in the pan for about 3-4 minutes on medium-low heat, and serve on a plate. Great with red wine, even though "seafood" usually calls for white.

**The fish balls would be excellent without the pasta as a party hors d'ouvre, with a sprinkle of powdered white pepper to garnish.

Homemade Natural Energy Snack

-1 Wasa Cracker

-Raw Organic Honey

-15 Almonds

- Bee Pollen (optional)

Spread a moderately sized layer of the raw honey on the Wasa cracker, then evenly sprinkle the almonds (whole, chopped or crushed, whatever your preference) on top. Sprinkle 1 tsp bee pollen if you're feeling adventurous! This treat is so good that it might become addictive, so use wisely! Goes PERFECTLY with a hot cup of freshly brewed tea.

(This has been proven in a self-conducted control experiment to help a college student--myself-- stay up later studying! But would probably make a better breakfast or pre-gym snack than a 1 am sugar rush...)

Sinless Deviled Egg

-Laughing Cow Light cheese wedge (any of the flavors will do, personal preference--I like the onion flavor)

-1 hardboiled egg

-salt, pepper, lemon-pepper seasoning and/or paprika

Cut a hard-boiled egg in half, long-ways. Neatly scoop out the yolk and mash it thoroughly in a small bowl with the cheese wedge until it's a whipped looking concoction. Re-dollop the yolk-cheese mixture into the egg-white halves, sprinkle a little salt, fresh ground black pepper, lemon-pepper seasoning, and/or paprika on top. Parsley garnish (if you're feeling fancy). This snack goes well with a sliced fresh tomato.

Broccoli sautéed with garbanzo beans and tofu

-1 medium-large head of broccoli

-4 cloves of garlic

-1/2 cup garbanzo beans

-1 cup extra firm tofu

-Extra Virgin Olive Oil

-cut broccoli and tofu into bite-sized chunks and steam them in a steamer

-simmer olive oil (a few tbsp) with 4 cloves of crushed garlic in a pan for a few minutes until the garlic cooks (but isn't burnt...)

-toss in the broccoli and tofu, add the half cup of cooked (canned or steamed) garbanzo beans and make sure everything is evenly "garlic-and-oiled"

-let it all simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring it around constantly

-Serve. Optional accompaniment: 1/2 cup of either brown rice, quinoa, millet, kamut, buckwheat...or a pasta made out of any of the aforementioned grains.

Soy Smothered Sprouts

-2 cups Brussel Sprouts (fresh or frozen)

-2 slices Veggie Slices caesin-free soy cheese (mozz, provolone, pepper jack all work)

-low sodium soy sauce

-lemon pepper seasoning

Steam the brussel sprouts until they're as soft as you like, then melt the soy cheese on them in the microwave for 30 sec-1 min depending on microwave strength...

Next, stir it all together until you have gooey, soy-cheesey brussel sprouts! Drizzle a little soy sauce on it and sprinkle lemon pepper seasoning (then stir well again). It's so satisfying, flavorful and healthy, and takes about 7 total minutes to make. I usually pair it with a microwaved "Boca original vegan" burger or two... c'est fini, quick healthy meal.

Stevia lemonade

Wanna feel like a kid again?

-1 lemon

-2 pkts Truvia

-water

-Ice

Take a large glass and squeeze an entire lemon's worth of juice into it. Then pour 2 pkts of Truvia in and stir with the lemon juice to create a "concentrate." then add 3-4 ice cubes and fill the glass up with water. It's sugar free and actually, lemon water creates an alkaline/neutral balance in the body which is ideal for staying slim/cleansing/ridding your body of toxins. Drink up!

Low-fat, no carb Macaroni and Cheese

-2 Packages of Tofu Shirataki fettuccini or tube noodles

-1/4 cup or less of skim milk

-2 slices Trader Joe's organic american cheese 

-1 tsp. butter

-Wash the shirataki in a colander in water thoroughly, then pat dry with a paper towel thoroughly, then place in a bowl and microwave for 4 min.

-Then in a pan, place the shirataki in 1 tbsp of olive oil and stir around the pan

-let the noodles "dry out" in the pan a bit, stirring constantly as the water steams out of them

-In a separate pan on low heat melt the butter, milk and cheese together by putting them all in and stirring at a medium pace until it becomes a cheese sauce.  Let it get a little thick by continuing to stir over the heat for a few minutes.
-Toss the dry tofu noodles into the cheese sauce and stir until it looks like the consistency you want it.
-add a little fresh black pepper if you want!

(High-carb) Herb Quinoa Fettucini with Kabocha Squash

-2 cups fresh herbed quinoa fettucini

-1 cup eggplant infused Provencale tomato sauce or some equivalent (jar is fine)

-1 tbsp crushed garlic

-1 tbsp olive oil (if you want)

-1/2 steamed Kabocha squash

PASTA:

-Cook the pasta in water with a tsp of salt added

-Empty pasta from pot and rinse in colander

-Crush 1 tbsp of garlic and olive oil and put back on medium heat in the pot

-Once simmering, add the cup of Provencale eggplant tomato sauce

-Stir until bubbling, then add the Pasta back into the pot with the sauce and mix thoroughly. Keep on warm.

SQUASH:

-Wash a Kabocha squash in bowl of water and white vinegar, soak for 10 min then rinse thoroughly

-fourth the squash and steam it until it's thoroughly steamed (in a steamer or microwave)

-chunk as much as you like of it in 1'' cubes, add a bit of salt, and toss in with the pasta

Voila!

Proscuitto, egg and cheese buckwheat crepe, Paris style!

This is NOT really Veggie-Vixen worthy, but it was so delicious I'm going to add it anyway for those of who (like myself) who don't always adhere strictly to the health regimen...because it was SO delicious!

-2 eggs

-2 tbsp minced or grated Parmagiano Reggiano

-2-3 slices of prosciutto

-1 organic buckwheat savory crepe

-1 pat butter

Take out 2 pans. Put a pat of butter in each and turn stove on medium heat for both. Make sure butter evenly coats (very thin layer) the bottom of both pans. In the first pan, crack the 2 eggs and let them cook sunny side up. In the second pan, place the buckwheat crepe flat. Then dice (or grate) the Parmagiano Reggiano, sprinkle it on the crepe and let it begin to melt. Next, lay the prosciutto on top of the cheese/crepe. By now, the eggs should be about done. Flip them out of their pan and on top of the cheese/prosciutto/crepe. Fold the sides of the round crepe in (all four) just enough so that it looks like a square with an opening revealing some of the innards in the center--Au Boulangerie! Leave cooking for about two minutes, sprinkle a pinch of salt and fresh ground black pepper, and serve.

Soy yogurt with stevia raspberry jam

- Soja fig soy yogurt (1 small container)

-1/2 sliced banana

-1/2 cup frozen raspberries

-1 tbsp warm water

-2 pkts Truvia

Mix frozen raspberries, Truvia and warm water in a small bowl until chunky/syrupy. Add container of "Soja Figue (Yaout Vegetal)", stir thoroughly until completely evenly mixed, add half a sliced banana and stir in. You won't believe this is actually "health food." Try it on your vegan-skeptical friends!