Taboulé

Taboulé is an easy and refreshing summer dish.

This recipe is my version of the taboulé, so it's not the exact Lebanese taboulé recipe, but close enough and also delicious.

Just a tip before starting: Don't prepare your taboulé at the last minute as the semolina or the bulgur needs some time (about 40 minutes) to cool down.

Here are the ingredients you will need for a taboulé for two persons:

• 2 small tumblers of water
• A small tumbler of semolina or bulgur
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil for the semolina
• Some mint (see picture below, but feel free to adjust depending on your taste)
• Some parsley (see picture below, but feel free to adjust depending on your taste)
• Half an onion
• 2 medium size tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil for the dressing
• Some salt

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Resting time: 50-55 minutes

Start by heating your water in a saucepan or in the microwave, it just needs to be warm to the touch.

Meanwhile, in a bowl add your semolina or bulgur.

Once the water is hot, pour it on top of the semolina or bulgur and let it swell. Pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil and run a fork through your semolina or bulgur. After few minutes outside, place the bowl in the fridge for about 40 minutes.

After 40 minutes, get your semolina or bulgur out of the fridge, run a fork through it to make sure if doesn't stick together, and let it sit outside while your prepare the rest of your recipe.

Finely chop your mint and reserve.

Finely chop your parsley and reserve.

Chop your half onion in small cubes and reserve.

Chop your tomatoes in small cubes and reserve.

Once all your ingredients are chopped, add them to a bowl.

Mix everything together.

Add your semolina or bulgur to the preparation, and mix together.

Pour into the preparation the lemon juice and the olive oil, and mix.

Add some salt to your taste.

Cover with plastic film and place into the fridge for about 10 to 15 minutes before serving. I like my taboulé really chilled, but if this is not your taste, you can skip this step of the recipe, and serve your taboulé right away.

Serve and enjoy!

Tip: you can also serve your taboulé as a refreshing verrine appetizer with any semi-sweet crisp white wine, and you might also want to serve it with our assortment of tartlets, it would be a nice contrast that leave you some freedom for your meal ideas.

Tip: If you use this recipe serve your taboulé as an appetizer, these ingredients will be enough to prepare 8 to 10 verrines (small tasting bowls).

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Charline Leblond

Lasagna Bolognaise

Lasagna ... always a dish that would delight everybody ... I thought I could share my recipe with you. You can even do vegetarian lasagna (but that would be for next time).

The following ingredients are for 6 single servings, so feel free to adjust the quantities if you are cooking for more or less people.

You will need:

• 300 grams of tomato puree
• Some water
• 2 tablespoons of basil (one for the tomato sauce and one for the beef)
• 1 tablespoons of rosemary
• 2 eggs
• About 500 grams of lean ground beef
• 50 grams of breadcrumbs
• 80 grams of parmesan cheese
• Olive oil
• 250 grams of mozzarella
• 3-4 sheets of lasagna

Preparation time: 25-30 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Start by pre-heating your oven at 200 C (390 F).

In a sauce pan, prepare your tomato sauce by adding the tomato puree and the same amount of water to a pot, along with one tablespoon of the basil and one tablespoon of rosemary.

Let the sauce heat up and stir it once in a while.

Meanwile, in a bowl, slightly beat the eggs.

In a bowl, add the ground beef, the beaten eggs, the breadcrumbs, half of the parmesan cheese, and the rest of the basil.

Mix with your hands until the beef becomes evenly coated.

Heat up some olive oil in a pan and place the beef mix to cook.

Cook the beef until he reaches this color.

Pour a little bit of tomato sauce into your lasagna dish to make a thin layer on the bottom.

Add the rest of the tomato sauce to the beef and let them mix together to make a bolognaise sauce.

Let it sit on warm heat for about 3 minutes.

Slice the mozzarella ball.

It is now time to set up your lasagna.

Add a lasagna sheet on the tomato sauce (double-check on your packet if you are supposed to cook the lasagna sheets or not).

Add a layer of the bolognaise sauce.

Add few slices of mozzarella.

Grate some parmesan cheese on top.

Repeat these 4 last actions twice, layering the lasagna, bolognaise sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan, and finish with beef, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese.

Place in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Tips:

 - Feel free to adjust the quantities of basil and rosemary according to your taste.

 - In case you don't use the bolognaise entirely, you can keep it in a sealed container in the fridge for few days, and use the leftovers to make a pizza or add the leftovers with spaghetti.

 - If you don't want to make the sauce, you can also just use a jar of pre-made bolognaise sauce.

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Charline Leblond

Assortment of Tartlets

For a fun appetizer, snack, or a light dinner if you so wish, this is an assortment of tartlets. Of course, you could only do one of these tartlets if you like.

The tartlets we are going to make here are Salmon with Crème Fraîche and Sun-dried Tomatoes* with Goat Cheese. We will use smoked salmon and tinned sun-dried tomatoes, so it is really easy to prepare.

While preparing the tartlets, start preheating your oven to about 175C (350F).

If you have an oven tray, preheat the oven tray in the oven as well.

We start with the pastry; you can buy pastry dough at the supermarket and you just have to unroll it. I like to further thin it just a bit; you will have to experiment with the dough you find in the supermarket. You can use a drinking glass or another round thing to cut out your pastry.

I used a package of smoked salmon and sliced it up to make it easier to arrange the salmon on the pastry.

Place the salmon in a little heap on the pastry circle and sprinkle on some chives, I just used dried chives from a spice jar.

For the sun-dried tomatoes, I place them so that they open up on the top (see the picture for a better explanation).

And in this little pocket, I place the goat cheese. Now, I'm using a goat cheese spread, which I formed into a little ball. You can do it which ever way you like.

Finally, crinkle up the edges of the pastry; almost as if you are folding the edges in just a little bit. Don't sweat it too much, it does not have to be perfect.

Now we are ready to bake! Place the pastries in the oven on the tray for about 15 minutes; but keep checking in on them. (The pastries on the right are Croissants with Ham and Swiss).

And after 15 minutes or so, your crust should be nicely browned and raised, carefully take the tray out of the oven and plate the tartlets.

Finally, drop a dollop of crème fraîche on the salmon tartlets and drizzle some honey on the sundried tomato tartlets and they are ready to eat!

I love doing these tartlets for a light dinner because, as you saw, it is very easy to do and it has quite a nice mix of textures.

*Tip: Don't throw away your sun-dried tomatoes, refer to our "Let's not waste anything!" page, and check out few ideas on how to use your sun-dried tomatoes.

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Shyamal Addanki