How to lose weight when your daily work is an ongoing celebration of taste and smell? When does the result of your labor tempt both you and others to gluttony? No one knows more about temptations than chefs... However, they also manage to get rid of excess weight, simultaneously inventing incredible dietary dishes. Let us allow ourselves to believe these strong-willed people. So, the secrets of weight loss from world culinary celebrities, plus several first-hand diet recipes...

Michael Psilakis

What is he famous for?

Michael Psilakis is the owner and chef of two famous Greek restaurants in New York: Anthos and Kefi. Best Chef of 2008, according to Bon Appetit magazine.

How does he lose weight

Until a certain point, I didn’t limit myself in food,” says Michael. - There was no such habit. I always ate as much as I wanted, and I won’t even lie if I say that I went too far with it. However, at one point I realized that it was time to stop, otherwise it would end in obesity. It was then that I put myself on a three-day fast. Three days of absolute fasting. At the end of these three days, I began to eat as usual with the only condition: not to eat after ten in the evening. I made this simple vow to myself and I still keep my word. No more, no less, lost 80 pounds (36 kg).

Set a goal not just to lose weight, but to lose a specific weight within a specific time frame. Identify possible obstacles and work ahead of time. If you know in advance that you will lose your mind here, you will be able to prevent the moment and not lose your temper, at least on principle. Don't hide behind excuses and rhetoric. At one time there was a joke in the restaurant industry: “Who would trust their dinner to a skinny cook?” I abused it for a long time to justify myself and distance myself from my own health.

Lately, the world has realized that if you don't want to get separated and burst at the seams, then a smart chef is the only one you can trust. A person who keeps himself in shape in this profession probably knows how to make a tasty dish without overdoing it with harmful and fatty ingredients. My clients not only have fun, but also lose weight.

Festive diet dish from Michael Psilakis

Striped bass

Ideally, this dish is prepared from large, whole fish. However, you can use a halibut tail or part of a cod and make an economical version for two to four people. This dish has a lot of vegetables, it is light and very tasty. The combination of herbs with garlic and citrus fruits is just a song! The aroma itself will drive you crazy, and the fish will turn out tender, as if steamed. You can add rice as a side dish.

You will need:

Whole sea bass or croaker weighing 1.5-2 kg. The fish must be gutted and fins removed

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt and black pepper

1 teaspoon oregano

3 lemons. Thinly slice one, leave two to pour juice over the finished fish

6 sprigs each of thyme and rosemary

4 fresh bay leaves or 8 dried leaves

16 cloves garlic

Half a small red onion, thinly sliced

3 plum tomatoes

2 potatoes, cut crosswise into large pieces

1 large zucchini, coarsely chopped on the diagonal

Spanish or sweet onion, 1 piece

Approximately 16 olives

A small bunch of dill and parsley

1.5 cups dry white wine

Preheat the oven to 230°C. Rinse the fish well with cool running water. Wipe it dry. Rub our beauty with salt, black pepper, and oregano inside and out. Stuff the fish with approximately half of the lemon slices, add 4 sprigs of thyme and rosemary, bay leaves and a few cloves of garlic.

Take a large deep frying pan, add oil and place the fish in the center. Top it with the red onion rings, then sprinkle with the remaining lemon wedges. Arrange the tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, Spanish onions, olives, remaining thyme and rosemary, and garlic cloves beautifully around. Sprinkle with fresh herbs. Then pour in the wine and seal tightly with foil.

Place in a well-heated oven for approximately 45 minutes. The vegetables should remain tender, and the fish itself will turn out as if steamed. You can omit thyme from the recipe if you don't like it. Serve all this beauty on a large plate or tray, after draining the oil and pouring plenty of lemon juice over the fish.

Alton Brown

What is he known for?

The namesake of the famous baseball player, Alton Crawford Brown is an American filmmaker, actor and television host. This man voiced the cartoon “SpongeBob SquarePants.” The creator of several famous culinary and humorous shows, as well as the author of cookbooks with practical recommendations. "Best Cooking Teacher" by Bon Appetit magazine and "Food Guru" by Atlanta magazine.

How does he lose weight

"I've lost 50 pounds since the beginning of March thanks to the boycott of French fries and other carcinogenic garbage," Elton laughs. "The old adage of 'everything is good in moderation' comes in handy here. My profession is conducive to excesses. However, for some time now I have been trying to overindulge in healthier things at work: I load up on sardines, avocados and almonds. I can eat sardines for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is important that the fish is small, in oil or smoked.

Organize your kitchen with some trickery. Buy new small dishes, plates, shallow spoons and glasses. Such dishes will quietly help you regulate portion sizes. Eat slowly and enjoyably, don't eat everything at once.

Chew! Our grandmothers also told us: chew each piece at least 20 times before swallowing. It is generally better to replace forks with Chinese chopsticks. This move will reduce the amount of food eaten and reduce the rate at which food disappears from the plate.

A simple and witty recipe from Alton Brown

Hot toast with sardines (serves 4)

You will need:

1 tablespoon wine vinegar

Quarter teaspoon fresh lemon zest

2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley

Two cans of medium-sized sardines in olive oil

Pinch of ground black pepper

4 hefty slices of rye bread

1 ripe avocado

A little coarse sea salt

While the oven is heating up to high heat (220°C), pour vinegar into a bowl, add zest, half the parsley and pepper, add a little oil from open sardines, and whisk. Dip each piece of bread into the resulting sauce, so that one side is completely soaked.

When all the pieces are soaked, place the toast on the oven rack and bake until deliciously golden brown. We cut the avocado and, scooping out the pulp with a spoon, spread it on toasted bread like butter. Place the sardines on top, using your fingers instead of a fork to press the fish into the puree.

Pour the remaining sauce over the fish, sprinkle with the rest of the parsley and sea salt. Eat greedily. Don't forget to brush your teeth.

Jacques Torres

What is he known for?

Leading New York chocolatier (pastry chef specializing in chocolate)

How does he lose weight

Being the owner of a rare and extremely risky profession for weight, Jacques closely monitors his weight. Torres lost more than 20 pounds (10 kilograms). He cleaned himself up by replacing regular sweets with his own invention - low-sugar chocolate bars, consisting of 70% cocoa.

The entire culinary world has long and widely used all kinds of substitutions. Connect, it works! Every second time, replace meat with fish or soy. And when you still want meat, choose beef and not the fattest cuts.

Replace sour cream with low-fat yogurt. This simple castling eliminates 4 grams of fat from each of your servings. Swap salt for spices. Use lemon, vinegar, mint, rosemary, garlic, ginger, sesame seeds, curry and all kinds of mixtures. An added bonus is that many spices have medicinal properties.

Savory recipe from Jacques Torres

Paella (2 servings)

You will need:

300 gr. squid

Olive oil

3 tbsp. spoons of tomato paste

Red chili pepper

0.5 cups round Spanish rice

300 gr. shrimp

Half a pack (250 gr.) of frozen vegetables

Wash the squid, dry with a towel, cut into small pieces, and place in a deep bowl. Fry with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add 3 tablespoons of tomato paste and half of the red hot pepper, after cutting it into small rings. Fry for 2-3 minutes. Then add half a cup of round rice.

Add previously defrosted vegetables. Cook everything for 3-4 minutes on the stove, then put it in an oven preheated to 190 ° C for 15 minutes. 3 minutes before cooking, you can add shrimp if desired. Once cooked, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and let rest for 5 minutes.

One of the main restaurateurs in Moscow and part-time columnist for the site, William Lamberti, knows everything about delicious food. After succeeding for a year, he now knows everything about healthy eating. It was not difficult for the eminent Moscow chef to combine taste and benefit. In the recipe section of his new project UillToBe, an online platform about a healthy lifestyle, you can find many ideas on how to diversify your diet. We have selected two healthy dinner recipes that can be easily reproduced in your home kitchen.

Sea bass tartare with tahini paste, tomatoes and almonds from the Moroccan restaurant Nofar

Ingredients:

• shallots – 10 g
• parsley - 1 g
• mint - 1 g
• fresh lemon – 5 g
• baked eggplants - 20 g
• chili - 1 g
• radishes - 3 g
• tomato - 30 g
• sea ​​bass (fillet) – 60 g
• tahini sauce with almonds - 40 g

Tahina-almond sauce:

• roasted almonds - 2 g
• sesame seeds - 4 g
• olive oil - 10 g
• water - 0.5 g
• fresh lemon – 0.5 g

For the tahina-almond sauce, grind the almonds, add tahini sauce (sesame seeds with olive oil), water and fresh lemon juice. Mix everything in a blender until smooth. Cut the baked eggplants, sea bass fillet, tomatoes and onions into cubes and mix everything. Serving: Place tahina-almond sauce on a plate and top with chopped vegetables and sea bass fillet. Then add lemon juice, parsley and mint, mix everything. Garnish with radishes and chili peppers, cut into rings.

Vegetable salad with Thai sauce

Ingredients (for 4 servings):

• 60 g bell pepper
• 100 g cucumbers
• 100 g carrots
• 80 g radish
• 100 g celery
• bunch of green onions
• bunch of cilantro
• 80 g romaine lettuce
• a pinch of salt
• pinch of pepper

For the Thai sauce:

• 40 ml fish sauce
• 60 ml soy sauce
• 80 g cane sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 140 ml lime juice
• 60 ml water

For honey sauce:

• 60 g honey
• 20 g Dijon mustard

For decoration:

• pumpkin seeds
• sunflower seeds
• almond petals
• radish

Cooking method

Cut bell pepper, cucumber, radish, romaine lettuce and celery into pieces. Grate the carrots. Finely chop the green onions and cilantro.
Mix all the ingredients for the Thai sauce in a blender. Mix honey with Dijon mustard. Mix all the vegetables with herbs and season with Thai sauce. Serve the dish: coat the walls of a deep bowl with honey sauce. Place the salad in a bowl. Garnish with pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and radishes. Sprinkle the dish with almond petals.

Ellie Krieger

Dietician-nutritionist, host of a cooking show on the Food Network channel.

1. Remember the three-ingredient rule

To make dinner in 30 minutes or less, follow the simple three-ingredient rule: a quick-cooking protein source (fish, chicken, or lean meat), quick-cooking whole grains (like whole grain couscous or brown rice), and pre-washed vegetables (arugula, spinach, snow peas) ).

2. Sharpen your skills

You don't have to buy expensive kitchen gadgets, but it's worth investing in one good chef's gadget. It will save you a lot of time, if, of course, you use it correctly. Therefore, if you want to sign up for any cooking class, it is better to choose a master class on using knives.

3. Don't waste time cutting vegetables

Ideally, you should cut vegetables immediately before eating so that they retain all the beneficial substances. But you can make your life a little easier and buy some vegetables already chopped. For example, pre-chopped carrots, mushrooms or pumpkin will not lose their benefits.

4. Buy frozen vegetables

Fruits and vegetables are frozen at the peak of their ripeness, so they contain no less nutrients than fresh ones. When you really don't have time, you can simply throw frozen vegetables and shrimp into the pan, then dinner will be ready in a few minutes.

Richard Blais

5. Save oil

Many people use too much oil when cooking, so I recommend using a special spray bottle or simply pouring your favorite oil into a regular spray bottle. Instead of pouring oil into a frying pan or into a salad straight from the bottle, spray it. This is especially important for those who are watching the amount of calories in their diet or simply want to use oil more sparingly.

Rick Bayless

Award-winning Mexican chef and host of a cooking show on PBS.

6. Make homemade vinaigrette

Prepare a large portion of this dressing and keep it in the refrigerator; it will go well with almost any salad. The ratios I use are ¾ cup oil, ¼ cup vinegar or lime juice and a little salt. Then you can add any herbs or spices to taste.

7. Wash vegetables immediately

Wash and dry vegetables as soon as you get them home, and then store them in the refrigerator in a plastic bag with a paper towel. This way they will stay fresh longer. Now, if you want to make a salad, all you need to do is remove the vegetables from the refrigerator and chop them.

8. Spice up your dishes

Many people believe that healthy food is tasteless food, but this is not true at all. You don't even have to look for new recipes: cook what you already love, just enhance the flavor by adding a little (or a lot) of chipotle pepper. Grind it in a blender to a paste and store in the refrigerator. It goes great with both meat and vegetables.

9. Buy an immersion blender

A cordless immersion blender is perhaps one of the most amazing kitchen gadgets out there. Its possibilities are almost limitless. For example, you can use it to grind spices or prepare puree soup. Plus, it's much quicker to clean than a regular blender.

10. Substitute out-of-season vegetables in recipes

A dish that calls for fresh vegetables won't taste as good if you cook it with vegetables that were picked months before they hit the grocery store shelf. Therefore, when it is impossible to buy fresh vegetables, it is better to replace them with high-quality canned or.

Alice Waters

Chef, restaurateur, founder of the world famous restaurant Chez Panisse in San Francisco, author of cookbooks.

11. Use a mortar and pestle

I use a mortar and pestle every day. I love making vinaigrette in it. I simply mash the garlic with salt, then add the herbs, lemon juice, vinegar and seasonings. I also make homemade hummus in it. A mortar and pestle produces a completely different texture, not as runny as food processors. In addition, the mortar looks beautiful, and various sauces can be served directly in it.

Sarah Moulton

Chef and host of cooking shows on the Food Network and PBS.

12. Save time on chopping vegetables

By chopping carrots, parsnips or beets in a food processor, you can cut the cooking time by more than half. And eating chopped vegetables raw is easier and tastier. If you really don't have time, just add olive oil, salt, pepper and some nuts to the chopped vegetables.

Elizabeth Falkner

Chef, participant of cooking shows on the Food Network channel.

13. Get inspired

Get out of your comfort zone. Buy a new cookbook or find an interesting food blog and try one new recipe a week. This is the best way to stop treating cooking as an unpleasant chore and start seeing it as something creative.

14. Watch the amount of cheese per serving

When I make anything with cheese, I usually puree it in a food processor. This makes it easier to add no more than one ounce of cheese (about 28 grams) to each serving. This is important for those watching calories.

Masaharu Morimoto

Chef, participant in the culinary shows Iron Chef and Iron Chef America, restaurateur.

15. Don't overdo it with soy sauce

When eating sushi, add just a little soy sauce. Never fill the gravy boat full! If you submerge the sushi completely, you'll eat too much sauce, which is high in sodium. Also, remember to only touch the soy sauce on the fish - the rice will absorb too much of it.

April 21, 2017 No comments

Lenten recipes from chefs are not boring and monotonous, but rather interesting and varied. Lenten dishes with cereals, vegetables, mushrooms, fruits, all kinds of pickled and salted foods are very tasty, and in addition they are also healthy.

Porridges can act as the basis for Lenten recipes from chefs: cereals contain a large amount of vitamins, micronutrients, and most importantly, “slow”, i.e., correct carbohydrates that gradually supply the body with energy, giving it strength, while helping to maintain a slim figure. Don't think that porridge is boring and uninteresting. Chefs, for example, use a fairly large number of different cereals: buckwheat, pearl barley, wheat, couscous, millet, quinoa, rice. In addition, cereals can go well with stewed or fresh vegetables, as well as mushrooms. At the same time, they can be prepared separately - mixed in a dish - or together, in this case the cereal will absorb the juice of vegetables or mushrooms, which will affect the taste of the dish

Chefs pay special attention to Lenten recipes for dishes with mushrooms. Mushrooms are an excellent substitute for meat and fish; they cook for a long time, and therefore will keep you feeling full longer. Dry and frozen mushrooms - porcini, boletus, and boletus are perfect for making soup (in particular, a fragrant, rich broth can be obtained from dried mushrooms). Frozen mushrooms - porcini mushrooms, honey mushrooms, boletuses, boletus mushrooms, chanterelles - can be used to cook stir fry, for example, potatoes or other vegetables. Mushrooms are also combined with buckwheat or pearl barley, resulting in a wonderful dish.

And of course, in their recipes for lean dishes, chefs use legumes: peas, lentils, beans and others. Legumes are good because they contain a large amount of vegetable protein, and its nutritional qualities are not much inferior to animal protein. Legumes are also good because in combination with aromatic spices and herbs (thyme, cilantro, garlic), they turn out very tasty. However, pay attention to the preliminary stage of their preparation: many legumes need to be soaked for 5-7 hours, and the water in which they were soaked must be drained. This will reduce the cooking time and also remove unwanted harmful elements from them.

If you like any of the presented Lenten recipes for rich soups or main courses and cereals, be sure to take note of them.

What do chefs include in recipes for Lenten dinners?
For dinner, you can prepare a salad or appetizer, as well as a main dish (lenten). If you have time and desire, treat yourself and your loved ones to a delicious dessert, also lean.
Below are several options from the chefs' menu of Lenten dishes.

medium beets – 2 pcs.
carrots – 2 pcs.
medium potatoes - 2 pcs.
onions – 2 pcs.
garlic - 5 cloves
parsley - bunch
cabbage – 300 g
red or white beans – 400 g
chopped tomatoes in own. juice - 400 g
olive oil
salt
ground black pepper

Wash beets, carrots and potatoes with a brush. Wrap the potatoes individually in foil. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and bake the vegetables for about 40 minutes until soft.

Cool the prepared vegetables under running cold water and peel. Grate the beets on a medium grater, cut the carrots into small cubes, and the potatoes into large slices.

Place the beans in a sieve and rinse with cold water. Shred the cabbage thinly, then cut crosswise into pieces about 2 cm long.

Crush, peel and chop the garlic. Finely chop the parsley and mix with half of the garlic. Peel and finely chop two onions.

Heat a little olive oil in a deep saucepan and fry the onion and half the garlic for about 5 minutes. Add cabbage, pour in 2 liters of boiling water, bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.

Add prepared vegetables and cook for 5 minutes. Add beans and tomatoes along with their own juice, cook for 5 minutes. Add parsley with garlic, salt and pepper, let it brew under a closed lid with the heat off for 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Ingredients for cooking:
100 g lentils
3 potatoes
1 carrot
1 onion
1 stalked celery
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. dried garlic
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch black pepper

Rinse the lentils, add 2 liters of water and put on fire. Cook for 15 minutes. after it boils. While cooking the lentils, peel the potatoes and cut them into fairly large cubes.

Peel the onion and carrots. Finely chop the onion and grate the carrots on a medium grater. Cut the celery into small pieces.

Fry the chopped onion in vegetable oil until transparent, then add the celery and carrots. Take another pan and fry the potatoes a little.

Add vegetables to lentils. Season with salt, black pepper, dried garlic, as well as soy sauce and lemon juice. Cook for about 20 minutes. until potatoes and lentils are done.

Dry white beans - 200 g
fresh or frozen green peas - 250 g
corn grains - 250 g
fresh spinach - 500 g
medium carrots – 2 pcs.
garlic – 1 clove
parsley – 1 bunch
dill – 1 bunch
olive oil - 3 tbsp. l.
thyme - 2 sprigs
Bay leaf
salt
ground black pepper

Pour cold water over the beans and leave for 8 hours (overnight). Then rinse, add fresh water, add thyme, two sprigs of parsley, bay leaf and cook until tender (about 2 hours). Don't add salt! Drain the beans in a colander, remove the herbs and cool.

If using frozen corn and peas, simply pour hot boiling water over them separately and leave for five minutes. If using fresh peas and fresh corn, pour boiling water over them separately in small saucepans and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Then drain in a colander.

Peel the carrots and cook whole in lightly salted boiling water for about 10 minutes. Cut the carrots into small cubes.

Mash white beans and green peas into a puree. Peel the garlic, chop and mix with the resulting puree.

Finely chop the spinach, a bunch of parsley and dill. Heat 40 ml of oil in a frying pan. Fry spinach with herbs for 2 minutes. Add to the bean and garlic puree. Add corn, as well as carrots and the remaining oil. Mix well.

Transfer the mixture into a baking dish, cover with foil and place in a preheated oven (180 degrees) for half an hour.

Let the terrine cool for half an hour, then cover with film, press down with a weight and place in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.

Chef's tip:
To prepare a festive terrine, you need to lay out all the ingredients in a mold in layers. We recommend placing bean puree in the first and last layers. The layers of carrots, corn and herbs look especially beautiful.

Potatoes for frying - 1.5 kg
corn grits for quick polenta
salt
oil

Peel the potatoes and cut them into 5cm x 1.5cm x 1.5cm cubes. Pour in hot, lightly salted water, bring to a boil, remove from heat and leave for 5 minutes. Then drain the water and place the potatoes in cold water (you can add ice) for 5 minutes.

Dry the potatoes and sprinkle with corn grits, mix thoroughly.

Heat the deep-frying oil to 180 degrees and fry the potatoes in small batches until golden brown. Place the potatoes in a sieve lined with paper towels to drain the oil. Add salt and serve immediately.

Quinoa – 400 g
peeled almonds - 100 g
long-fruited cucumber – 1 pc.
multi-colored cherry tomatoes - 300 g
multi-colored soft raisins - 100 g
green onions - 9–10 stalks
mint (leaves) - 8–9 sprigs
lime juice
olive oil
salt
ground black pepper

Rinse the quinoa well and cook according to the cooking method on the package, cool. Finely chop the almonds and fry in a dry frying pan for about 2 minutes.

Peel the cucumber, cut it in half lengthwise, remove the seeds with a spoon, and cut the pulp crosswise into small pieces.

Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Finely chop the green onions and mint leaves.

Mix all the prepared ingredients, add raisins, season with salt, ground pepper, olive oil, and lime juice to taste. Let sit for a while, garnish with mint leaves and serve.

1 lettuce
1 tomato
1 bell pepper
1 red onion
6-7 olives
2 tbsp. capers
50 ml olive oil
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 pinch pink pepper
salt

Line a wide plate with the top torn lettuce leaves. Also roughly tear the stems and place them in a bowl.

Add capers and olives, finely chopped onions, tomato slices and strips of pepper to the lettuce stems, pour in a mixture of olive oil and lemon juice, pepper, and stir.

Transfer the mixture to lettuce leaves and sprinkle with pink pepper.

Long grain rice - 2 tbsp
large quince – 1 pc.
carrots – 2 pcs.
onions – 2 pcs.
garlic - 1 head
dried apricots - 100 g
golden raisins – 50 g
vegetable oil - 100 ml
spices for pilaf
hot peppers
salt

Peel two onions, two carrots and garlic. Cut the carrots into medium-sized thick strips, and the onion into fine strips. Leave the garlic whole.

Wash the quince with a brush, cut into eight pieces, remove the core, cut the quince pulp into small thick slices. If desired, rinse dried fruits. Cut dried apricots into strips.

Take a cauldron or large saucepan with a thick bottom and heat the oil, add the onion, fry over high heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Add carrots, quince, fry, also stirring, for about 5 minutes.

Add dried apricots, garlic, spices and raisins to the carrots, onions and quince, and add salt. Pour in 600 ml of water, stir, cook over moderate heat for about 10 minutes.

At this time, cook the rice using the folding method: i.e. put in a saucepan, add salt, pour in three to four liters of boiling water, stir, put on low heat, bring to a boil, stir again and cook for about 15 minutes. Place the rice in a sieve and let the water drain a little, but not completely.

Place the rice in a pan (cauldron), close the lid tightly, steam should not escape (you can wrap the edges of the cauldron with foil). Cook on low heat for about half an hour. Remove from heat, wrap the pan (cauldron) in a towel (blanket), and let the pilaf brew. Before serving the pilaf, mix thoroughly.

Flour - 1 cup
soda - 1 tsp.
salt - 1/2 tsp.
ground cinnamon - 1 tsp.
ground cloves - 1 tsp.
fresh grated ginger - 1 tsp.
ground cardamom - 1 tsp.
marzipan - 3-4 tbsp. l.
raisins - 4 tbsp. l.
coconut, almond or soy milk - 1 cup
honey – 75 ml

For filling:
medium apples – 2 pcs.
brown sugar - 3 tbsp. l.
peanut butter - 2 tbsp. l.
cinnamon
vanilla sugar

Prepare the filling: core the apples and cut into slices. Melt the sugar in very hot butter and slightly caramelize two apples in it with the addition of vanilla sugar and cinnamon. Cool slightly and place in an even layer in a slightly greased mold.

To prepare the dough, heat milk and honey. Mix flour with soda, a small amount of salt and spices, add chopped marzipan and raisins. Stir in honey and milk mixture. Take the dough and pour over the apples, cook the pie in a double boiler for about 1.5 hours. If the pan is wide and the layer of dough is thin, then reduce the cooking time to 1 hour.

Remove the pie, invert onto a plate and serve warm or cold.

Firm tofu - 500 g
young carrots – 10 pcs.
garlic - 4 cloves
cumin - 1 tsp.
almond petals - 1 tbsp. l.
olive oil - 2 tbsp. l.
lettuce leaves
salt

For the sauce:
orange juice – 1 glass
lemon juice – 50 ml
spicy mustard - 1 tsp.
fresh grated ginger - 2 tsp.
orange confiture - 3 tbsp. l.
dried chili pepper - 1/2 tsp.

Wash the carrots, peel them, cut them into bars. Peel the garlic and cut each clove in half lengthwise. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the carrots over low heat for about 2 minutes. Add cumin and garlic, add salt and cook for a couple more minutes.

Take another frying pan and fry the almonds until golden brown.
do not add oil.
To prepare the sauce, bring orange and lemon juice to a boil in a saucepan, reduce heat, add grated ginger, hot mustard, chili, and orange confiture, mix well. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Cut the tofu into rectangular pieces about 1 cm thick. Brush with olive oil and fry in a preheated and dry frying pan on each side until golden brown.

Assemble the salad: place lettuce, fried tofu, carrots and garlic on wide plates, pour over the sauce and sprinkle with almond petals. Serve immediately.

Eggplant – 1 pc.
sweet bell pepper – 1 pc.
tomatoes – 3 pcs.
medium zucchini – 2 pcs.
garlic - 2 cloves
onions – 1 pc.
rosemary – 1 sprig
thyme - 3 sprigs
sugar – 1 tsp.
lemon juice - 2 tbsp. l.
olive oil - 2 tbsp. l.
salt
black pepper

Peel two cloves of garlic and press down with a blunt knife blade. Wash other vegetables, dry and cut into cubes about 1x1 cm in size. Remove leaves from 2-3 thyme sprigs.

Heat the oil in a large heavy frying pan, fry the garlic, after it gives off the aroma, add the eggplant and add a little salt. Fry over high heat, stirring occasionally or shaking the pan slightly for about 4 minutes. Transfer the eggplants separately and leave the pan on the heat.

Place the onion in the frying pan, add a little oil if necessary, fry, stirring, until the onion becomes soft. Then add the zucchini and thyme leaves, stir, lightly salt and cook for about 4 minutes. Make sure to brown the vegetables evenly, but not to let them burn.

After frying the onions and zucchini until half cooked, also add fried eggplants, chopped bell peppers and tomatoes. Stir. Add sugar and lemon juice. Taste for salt and add salt again if necessary. Pepper, stir and add a sprig of rosemary to the vegetables. Cover tightly with a lid and cook for about 5-6 minutes over very low heat.

Turn off the heat and leave the vegetables covered to soak in the flavors for 5 minutes. Serve our ratatouille either hot or cold.