Terrine de Legumes (Vegetable Pate Recipe)

Terrine de légumes is another attempt on my part to share one of my favorite French "meat" dishes with my husband Lulu, who's a vegetarian. Pâté en terrine, in French, is a jellied meatloaf, so instead, I created a multi-layered vegetable terrine made of black lentils (for protein), grilled asparagus, crimini mushrooms, mozzarella and sun-dried tomatoes. The jellied part of the terrine is replaced by a mixture of goat milk and agar agar.

I dressed the terrine with spicy parsley vinaigrette and decorated it with roasted chestnuts. You won't miss the meat!

Quick and Easy Dinner Ideas

Feel like cooking a delicious meal but don't have much time? Here's a real easy menu that will let you spend more time with your loved ones. All you need is to be a little organized, prepare a few ingredients in advance and store them in the refrigerator until dinner time. 

Vietnamese Shrimp Paste Sauce Recipe (Mam Tom)

As I promised earlier this week, here's the recipe for the condiment that traditionally accompanies the Northern Vietnamese dill fish dish. The dipping sauce is called mắm tôm, which literally translates to "fermented shrimp sauce". It's made from fermented shrimp paste sauce (mắm ruốc, whose aroma smells very pungent), garlic, sambal oelek chile paste, sugar and freshly squeezed lime juice. The preparation is very similar to mắm nêm, the dipping sauce used for bỏ nhúng dấm (Vietnamese beef fondue), except it doesn't contain pineapple. Both spicy sauces are very strong in taste, so if fermented paste is too overwhelming for your palate, you could ultimately use nước mắm chấm (fish sauce) for a milder flavor.

Enjoy this authentic recipe!

No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Recipe (Egg Free Dessert)

If you're searching for a no bake cheesecake recipe, look no more. It looks fancy but it's ultra easy to assemble. As a bonus, it's an egg-free dessert. So what's not to love? Give this mascarpone cheese dessert a try.

I flavored the cheesecake filling with strawberries and added bananas for a thicker texture. Instead of placing the cheesecake in a spring-form pan, I decided this time to shape the dessert in a long triangular mold I usually use for making terrines (French jellied meatloaf). I first covered the molds with store-bought Italian-style lady finger puffs and completed it with the strawberry-and-banana-flavored cheesecake filling. The presentation turned out pretty spectacular. You know the saying: you eat with your eyes first! 

Watermelon Iced Tea Drink Recipe

It's watermelon season again, which means that it's supposed to be really wam here in Northern California, but alas, we're experiencing another cold spell. For those of you enjoying balmier temperatures, I present my incredibly refreshing watermelon iced tea drink.

I flavored the drink with fresh mint and agave nectar; you could omit the syrup depending on the sweetness of the watermelon. In addition to being delicious, this refreshing drink has multiple health benefits thanks to the green tea. It really is the perfect summer drink!