Lavender Design + Cuisine: January 2023

Monday, January 16, 2023

Vegan Lemony Escarole Soup Recipe!

Garden Escarole

Chopped Escarole, Minced Shallot & Garlic

Photo 1

Sauteed Escarole, Shallot & Garlic

Photo 2

Photo 3

Vegan Lemony Escarole Soup

Gorgeous Garden Escarole, one of my most favorite veggies! So many ways to enjoy this nutty, slightly bitter, delicious and nutritious veggie!

Beside wonderful salads especially with pear and berries such as blackberry or blueberry, you can make a delicious flavorful escarole vegan soup with shallot, garlic, chickpeas or cannellini beans and Italian herbs! Easy to make and perfect for lunch or dinner with crusty bread and a glass of red wine such as Pinot Noir.

So let’s get started with this very simple and delicious Vegan Lemony Escarole Soup Recipe!

Ingredients (Serving size 4)

4 Cups chopped escarole
1 Medium shallot minced
2 Garlic cloves minced
1/2 Cup cooked chickpea or cannellini beans
3 Cups water or veggie broth
1 Tsp. Meyer lemon or lemon zest
2 Tbsp. Meyer lemon or lemon juice
1 Tsp. Italian herbs (dried or fresh)
2 Tbsp. Olive oil
1/4 Tsp. Sea salt
2 Tbsp. grated vegan Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1. In a medium pot sauté escarole, shallot, garlic (photo 1) with 2 tbsp. olive oil for 3-4 minutes until slightly wilted, Photo 2.
2. Add 3 cups water or veggie broth, cooked chickpeas, Italian herbs, sea salt (photo 3), bring it to a boil, and then let it simmer for 15-20 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat, add 2 tbsp. Meyer lemon or lemon juice and let it stand for a few minutes, then transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with lemon zest and grated vegan Parmesan cheese.
4. Enjoy this wonderful soup with crusty bread for lunch or dinner with a mixed green salad and a glass of red wine, such as Pinot Noir.

Escarole & Pasta Recipe - You can also sauté escarole with shallot, garlics, Italian herbs, toss them with chickpea linguine pasta, a drizzle of olive oil, Meyer lemon zest and shaved vegan Parmesan cheese! This dish will also make a wonderland lunch or dinner with a mixed green salad and a glass of beautifully aged Pinot Noir.

Escarole History - Escarole aka Scariola is believed to be native to Sicily. It’s a signature ingredient in the Italian soup known as Stracciatella. From a very early period escarole was used as a vegetable by the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, then spread to the British Isles in the 1500s and was brought to North America by English colonists.

Chef Gardener Notes - Escarole is one of the most hardy greens and you can grow it in all seasons. Plant escarole in full sun in well-draining soil that is amended with compost to aid in water retention. And if you cut off the grown leaves just above soil level; it will re-sprout for a continuous harvest. It’s one of those beautiful self-maintained and ambitious veggies that loves to thrive!

Happy Planting & Cooking, make life delicious!

Chef Ellie Lavender
Vegan Mediterranean Personal Chef
Culinary & Wine Pairing Instructor
Lavender Design + Cuisine

Join my network on Facebook & Instagram to receive recipes and information
on upcoming chocolate, culinary & wine pairing classes, and special events!

Monday, January 9, 2023

The kitchen Pantry Wonderful Benefits!

Open Space in the kitchen turned

into a Pantry

Coat Closet turned into a Pantry

Floating Shelves for Herbs & Spices

Having a pantry can help to store small kitchen appliances such as food processor & mixer, non-perishable foods and wines (it can be a mini wine cellar) while keeping kitchen countertops clear for food preps. It also inspires cooking and just being in the kitchen much more fun!

Plus, a well-organized pantry is essential for any good home chef. Learning to store, prepare and use the products we keep in our pantry can lead to better meals, healthier lifestyle and helps create less food waste.

So, ideally, we all should have a pantry, but what to do if we don’t have one?

Well, you can create a pantry with shelves using any suitable open space in your kitchen and even a coat closet, if there is one near by your kitchen.

See the pantry examples above, which do not require constructions and are easily doable as fun DIY projects.

Additionally, you can install some floating shelves for your herbs and spices to make them readily available when cooking and baking!

So many cost effective little things we all can do to make our kitchen not only a place of joy for cooking and entertainments, but also a kitchen, which is clutter-free, organized and inviting!

Happy Cooking & Baking!

Ellie Lavender
Certified Feng Shui Practitioner
Interior Designer
Lavender Design + Cuisine

Join my network on Facebook & Instagram to receive Feng Shui & interior design tips and information on upcoming workshops!

Thursday, January 5, 2023

Picholine Olives, Walnut & Herbes de Provence Gluten-Free Bread Recipe

Picholine Olives,Walnut & Herbes de Provence

Gluten-Free Bread

Greetings Gourmet Bread Lovers!

Whether you’ve never made bread or are an experienced baker, you can and should make this Picholine Olives, Walnut & Herbes de Provence Bread. It will take about 1 hour of your time and will taste amazing! You can enjoy it while it’s warm by itself or with a smear of vegan butter, creamy goat cheese or any other spreads to your liking! Perfect with soup and salad too!

So let’s get started with the recipe!

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 stick melted vegan butter at room temperature
1 cup plain oat milk
1/2 cup chopped walnut (and additional 1/4 cup to sprinkle over the dough)
1/2 cup chopped pitted Picholine or any other green olives (and a few more thinly sliced to sprinkle over the dough)
1 1/2 tbsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tbsp. dried herbes de Provence
1 tsp. finely ground coriander seeds
1/4 tsp. sea salt

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. Generously brush a Standard Loaf Pan (8-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 2-1/2 inches) with melted butter and set aside.
3. Process the rolled oats in a food processor until they have turned into a fine flour.
4. In a medium mixing bowl combine all ingredients, except for the melted butter and oat milk.
5. Add oat milk to melted butter and pour them to ingredients in the mixing bowl. With a fork, mix all ingredients until well combined.
6. Pour the dough in the greased loaf pan, with a spoon level top of the dough, sprinkle 1/4 cup chopped walnut, 1/4 cup sliced olives, using your hands tap over them so that they are situated in the dough.
7. Put the pan in the preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes.
8. Take the bread out of the oven and place it on a cooling rack for one hour.
9. Then, carefully run a perry knife around the sides of the pan to loosen the bread, place a cutting board over the pan and turn it over to get the bread out, then gently flip over the bread and slice.

This wonderful gluten-yeast-dairy-free bread with your own personalized packaging and label will make a delicious culinary gifts for family and friends too!

Happy Baking!

Chef Ellie Lavender
Vegan Mediterranean Personal Chef
Culinary & Wine Pairing Instructor
Lavender Design + Cuisine

Join my network on Facebook & Instagram to receive recipes and information
on upcoming chocolate, culinary & wine pairing classes, and special events!

Monday, January 2, 2023

Simple & Delicious Romaine Fennel & Apple Salad Recipe!

Romaine Fennel & Apple Salad Recipe

Salads are healthy, delicious and very easy to make. This whole leaf baby romaine lettuce, shaved fennel, apple, radish and blackberry salad with a simple olive oil and white balsamic vinaigrette and freshly ground black peppercorns and a pinch of sea salt is a wonderful way to start the new year!

While chopping salad ingredients and tossing them into a bowl, might be a lot faster when making salads, creating a beautiful plate of salad art is much more fun even if it takes a bit more time!

So let's get started with my very simple recipe!

Ingredients: 2 baby romaine lettuce, one small apple, one fennel bulb, few radishes, few blackberries, 2 tbsp. olive oil, 3 tbsp. white balsamic vinegar, a pinch of sea salt & freshly ground pepper.

Instructions: separate romaine lettuce leaves (cut the core of the lettuce to make it easier to separate the leaves), rinse the leaves a salad spinner and spin it a few times to get every bit of the water out, using your mandoline slicer, thinly slice fennel (remove tough outer layers fist) & apple (alternatively you can use a very sharp knife and thinly slice them), thinly slice radishes with a knife.

Next, arrange everything however you like on a large platter, drizzle olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, a bit of freshly ground pepper, a sprinkle of sea salt and enjoy!

Chef Ellie Lavender
Vegan Mediterranean Personal Chef
Culinary & Wine Pairing Instructor
Lavender Design + Cuisine

Join my network on Facebook & Instagram to receive recipes and information
on upcoming chocolate, culinary & wine pairing classes, and special events!

Morello Cherry Walnut Cardamom Bread Recipe!

Morello Cherry Walnut Cardamom Bread

Greetings Gourmet Bread Lovers!

Whether you’ve never made bread or are an experienced baker, you can and should make this delicious Morello Cherry Walnut Cardamom Bread. It will take about 1 hour of your time and will taste amazing! You can enjoy it while it’s warm by itself or with a smear of vegan butter, orange marmalade and mush more!

This wonderful bread with your own personalized packaging and label will make a delicious Valentine’s Day culinary present too!

So, let’s get started with the recipe!

Prep time 15 minutes

Bake time 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1 Cup rolled oats

1 Cup spelt flour

1 Stick melted vegan butter at room temperature

1 Cup plain oat milk

2/3 Cup chopped walnut

2/3 Cup dried Morello cherries

1 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 Tsp. ground cardamom

1 Tbsp. orange zest

A pinch of sea salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F (this will take about 10-15 minutes and enough time to get the bread mixture together).

2. Generously brush a standard loaf pan (8-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 2-1/2 inches) with melted butter and set aside.

3. Process the rolled oats in a food processor until they have turned into a fine flour.

4. In a medium bowl combine all ingredients, except for the butter and oat milk.

5. In a small bowl whisk oat milk and melted butter. Then, pour them over the ingredients in the medium bowl.

6. With a fork, mix all ingredients until well combined and then pour into the greased loaf pan.

7. Put the loaf pan in the oven and bake for 45 minutes.

8. Remove the bread from the oven and transfer on a wire cooling tack for one hour. Then, carefully run a perry knife around the sides of the pan to loosen the bread.

9. Place a cutting board over the pan and turn it over to get the bread out, then gently flip over the bread. Next, slice the bread with a serrated knife and enjoy!

Happy Baking!

Chef Ellie Lavender
Vegan Mediterranean Personal Chef
Culinary & Wine Pairing Instructor
Event Caterer
Vegan Mediterranean Culinary Services

Join my network on Facebook & Instagram to receive recipes and information
on upcoming chocolate, culinary & wine pairing classes, and special events!