Vegetarian Indian Curry Tofu Pot Pie

A pot pie is a medley of vegetables and meat in a thick sauce, wrapped in a pie crust. I love chicken pot pie. Unfortunately, I can never share this meal with my hubby Lulu since he's a vegetarian. I always try to adapt what i eat to Lulu's dietary restrictions. Today, I tested a fusion pot pie based on the sauce from my Ma-Po tofu recipe and a curry sauce. I added fried tofu for the protein, and included shitake mushrooms with the vegetables that traditionally go into this English dish.

Of course, if you love meat like me, you could substitute cooked chicken for the tofu.

Savory Goat Cheese Panna Cotta with Beluga Lentil Relish (Panna Cotta au Chevre et sa Macedoine de Legumes)

Panna cotta de chèvre frais et sa macédoine de légumes is a summery dish. It was such a sunny day today in the Bay Area, so I decided to make something refreshing and light.

In case you don't know, panna cotta is a firm jelly. It can be either be savory or sweet. Instead of using gelatin, I used agar for the vegetarians in the house. I paired the panna cottas with mixed vegetables and lentils to get a balanced meal with proteins, dairy and veggies.  

I served them in little verrines. Verrine is just a fancy word for glasses but they are the latest trend in French cooking. If you host a buffet-style dinner, it's the ideal way to run a stress free party as this dish can be prepared in advance.

Roasted Bell Pepper Pearled Barley

Barley used to be poor people food during the Medieval times. It's also the food that feeds horses but if it's well-cooked and tender, it's a very healthy meal full of fibers. The texture is chewy and you can add a lot of spices to make it flavorful.

The cooking process is similar to cooking risottos but I added a can of diced tomatoes to make the barley more tender.

Roules d'Aubergines au Chevre (Goat Cheese Eggplant Rollups)

I had half a tray of ice cubes left of my pistachio pesto and 2 beautiful eggplants. We had a very nice sunny day today in Northern California. I wanted to make something light and fresh. The roulés d'aubergines au chèvre are a good starter course.