Caviar Tower with Beet Carpaccio

I came up with this elegant starter for a dinner party we hosted. I knew I was going to have to spend a lot of time on the main course, so I opted for a dish that was quick and easy to assemble. It's made of four flavorful layers: crème fraîche flavored with beet green pesto, pumpkin seed-crusted Russian rye bread, grilled beet carpaccio and a luxurious caviar topping.

I always make extra pesto that I store for later use. If you're storing frozen pesto cubes as I've suggested in the past, this is a recipe that you can whip up very easily. I also used freshly picked beets from our garden, grilled them on the barbecue and thinly sliced them with a mandoline. If you're looking for a vegetarian alternative to caviar, you could always replace it with roasted red bell pepper red pesto-flavored quinoa caviar. Either way, this first course is as appealing to the eye as it is to the stomach. 

Vegetarian Agar Panna Cotta Recipe

Panna cotta is probably the easiest vegetarian appetizer to prepare once you've figured out how to deal with agar agar. It’s all about the liquid to powder ratio. In case you don’t know, agar agar is a seaweed substitute for gelatin. I've created several savory and sweet panna cottas in the past using it.

Like other gelatin-based products, panna cotta can be be formed in any shape you want. I shaped the ones I made today in verrine glasses. I layered this panna cotta with red hummus, broccoli florets, baby spinach leaves, morel mushrooms and sugar plum tomatoes. Assembling them is very simple and they can be prepared in advance. Serve this panna cotta with a large salad and a baguette and you’ve got yourself a delicious, light meal.

Mango Stilton Cheese Muffins

Making savory muffins is one of the easiest fancy, light accompaniments you could prepare. The batter can even be prepared in advance. This time around, I flavored the muffins with mild stilton cheese, dried mango and fresh ginger.

I prepared a full platter of mini muffins and served them with a salad of mixed greens and another platter of rolled smoked salmon (cold sliced meat would work fine as well), crème fraîche and slices of lemons. The weather is getting warmer, so a light lunch along with sweet treats and fresh cold drinks was really satisfying.

Cream of Asparagus Soup Recipe

Cream of asparagus soup is a dish I recently served for a dinner party as a first course. The soup is packed with asparagus flavor. This is because I made the vegetable stock with the roots from the asparagus, then I blended in the asparagus that I roasted for a few minutes. The usual roux helps thicken the soup to which I then added St Félicien cheese, -one of my husband Lulu's favorite cheeses-, for extra creaminess.

This step is optional but if you want to be met with a round of "oohs" and "ahs" when the bowls of soup are brought to the dinner table, I suggest that you cover the bowl of soup with puff pastry. For decoration, top with a little saffron cream and an asparagus spear. It's a truly seductive way to start a meal.

Stuffed Mushroom Recipe

Making stuffed mushrooms is a great way to put stale bread to use. I served soup the other night and we had 2 leftover rolls, so I decided to make a plate of these savory treats. To start, I sautéed a few vegetables, including zucchini, bell peppers, celery and carrots. You can use whatever you want, but it's a good idea to choose colorful ingredients. Once the vegetables were cooked, I added the bread, a little vegetable broth and fromage blanc. In case you were wondering, the fromage blanc helps keep the top moist even after the stuffed mushrooms are baked. To complete the dish, I topped the mushrooms with sharp Cheddar cheese. 

I didn't add any additional spices, because the bread was already studded with chiles. Otherwise, a little heat is a nice touch to balance the flavor. One final bit of advice: make a bunch of these. They go fast!