Beetroot Carpaccio

Entree:

Beetroot Carpaccio

(serves 2)

Ingredients:

2 cooked beetroots (you can buy the packaged ones, they work great)

soft goats cheese, crumbled

10 mint leaves

handful of rocket leaves

2 tablespoons almond shavings

For the dressing:

15ml lemonjuice

30ml olive oil

5 ml honey

salt & pepper

Method:

1. Shave the beets thinly using a mandolin or even a cheese cutter.

2. Roast the almond shavings in pan for a few minutes. Careful not to burn.

3. Mix the ingredients for the dressing and shake well

4. Next place the round beets in a circle on a plate, use the prettiest ones for the outside and fill the circle up with the rest. (We're plating 2 plates)

5. Place the rocket and mint leaves in the middle of circle and sprinkle the rest with the goats cheese and almonds.

6. Drip the dressing over the whole plate, make sure to cover the leaves nicely.

Best served immediately but I'm sure you can chill the plates for a few hours.

Should look something like this.

When we arrived in Lyon, almost 2 years ago, we were filled with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. The first couple of weeks was a haze of looking at tiny apartments, trying to drive on the “wrong” side of the road and not understanding a word anybody said. Just as I thought we will never survive this I had my first freshly baked Pain au Chocolat and things drastically changed.

After that day France has become a non stop adventure of exploring amazing food, terrific red wines and slowly merging into their culture, even Harvey (our Staffie) has adapted well to apartment living and having baguettes for breakfast.

Let’s not lie, the French are strange… they stop in the middle of the road to jump out for their daily groceries, and have no idea why you honk at them. They do absolutely no work everyday between 12pm and 14pm and the whole of Sunday AND the whole of Monday and they make you sign 500 pages just to buy a sim-card, but they do know how to eat and eat properly.

We have the most amazing fresh produce markets where I have learned about products I never even knew existed back in South Africa, things like turnips and zucchini flowers, and it has made me experiment much more than I would have back home.

I have to also say, before we lived here Deon used to eat just because “he has to” with no real appetite, but after an amazing experience with a Seafood Spaghetti in Venice he is slowly turning into a proper Foodie.

Of course all the tasty experiences are not so kind to the booty (man I don’t know how these French women do it) but we’ll be skinny again one day, for now we’re living life to the fullest (pardon the pun) and enjoying every bite of it.

I’ve decide to share with you three recipes using Chevre (or goats cheese), another ingredient I never used in SA. We have wonderful fresh varieties here. These recipes are easy enough for a weeknight meal or tasty enough to make for your friends. I hope you enjoy!