lunch – Page 50 – Myfrenchkitchen

Recently, our youngest has also left home leaving only the two of us for dinner. But I still make too much food. And I still buy too much food. In my fridge is a butternut, far too big for two people. We have had roasted butternut, risotto with butternut, butternut soup…and I still have butternut left. I’ve pushed it right to the back in the fridge. I don’t want to see it. At least for a while.

Butternut soup with orange.

1 Tablespoon of organic coconut oil
About 500 g of butternut, peeled and cubed
1 big shallot
750 ml of vegetable broth, organic
350 ml freshly squeezed orange juice
grated rind or one orange
bouquet garni(parsley stems, thyme, bay leaves wrapped and tied in green part of leek)
salt and pepper

Sauté the shallot in the coconut oil until tranclucent.
Add the butternut and sauté for a few minutes more.
Add the hot vegetable broth, the bouquet garni and the grated orange rind and let simmer gently for 30 minutes or until the butternut is very soft. Remove from the heat and remove the bouquet garni.
Puree with a handmixer until smooth. Place back on the heat and add the orange juice. Bring the soup to a simmer and season to taste. If you have some undesired orange pulp in your soup, you can mix it again to a smooth consistency.
Decorate with some orange slices or a swirl of cream.
Serve warm with a hearty wholewheat bread.

Serves 4 as a main meal

I am currently in South Carolina US for about three months. My blog was very quiet up to now – I was busy exploring. Because of the incredible heat and humidity we’ve encountered here, I don’t have the desire to cook in front of the stove. Although, I have to admit that the airconditioning sometimes stirs up the desire to warm up with a steaming stew! I still have to figure out this air conditioning thing.

Seeing that it is so hot out and it is summer and we’ll have enough time for stews and soups soon, we still enjoy quick, cool meals…and snacks.

On one of my exploring trips recently here in South Carolina, I came across these wonderful flatbreads at the Wholefoods Market in Greenville, SC. They have great organic produce, great wines, great cheese…

These flatbreads make wonderful lunches, served with a handful of green side salad or on its own for a quick snack. All natural and no preservatives.

For the first one I used:

Margaret’s artisan flatbread – sundried tomato & olive.

Spread the flatbread generously with some cottage cheese

I chose a filling of shrimp, quickly sauteed in olive oil and drizzled with ltmeon juice. Then added some peppadews, some capers, shredded some baby spinach leaves and topped off with a sprinkling of freshly ground pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

Serve on its own with a glass of chilled Etude rose wine from Napa California. Or serve with a green salad drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice.

The second example is again:

Margaret’s artisan flatbread – cracked peppercorn and spice.

A spread of cottage cheese followed by a topping of shredded prioscutto, quartered figs, some small, currant table grapes and a few basil leaves.

Finish with a drizzle of balsamice vinegar over the figs. And of course some pepper.

Serve with a green salad on the side or on its own.

The third flatbread:

Margaret’s artisan flatbread – jalapeno & rosemary

Cottages cheese

topping of cherry tomatoes, green peas(shelled or frozen), some blue berries, small chunks of parmigiano(broken off pieces using the point of a sharp knife) and lastly sprinkled with some pumkin seeds and drizzled with olive oil.

Serve with a side salad of enjoy as a snack.

There are many healthy fillings and many different flatbreads and crackers, Matzos, Wasa crispbreads…Play around and enjoy !