Allô Allô – Recipe: Stuffed Vegetables with a Quinoa Filling

In one of my previous posts, I described the difficulty I was facing learning French. Since arriving in Paris, I’ve felt like I’ve been navigating through a very thick and persistent fog. Well, at least a fog of nasally French. The first week, I completely clammed up. To my dismay, everything I had learned at Alliance Francaise seemed to have gone down the toilet, and I felt utterly confused, lost and/or misunderstood. Let me try to illustrate what was going through my head:

Waiter: Bonjour, mademoiselle. ...(and then he goes on)...
In my mind: @!$%^&!!*&^%$@#@!!!@#%^*(@)!@!%%$#@. HELP!

Le Restaurant at Musee d'Orsay, great dining experience if only they understood what I was saying

It is true that Paris has gotten more cosmopolitan and a little friendlier in recent times, but from what I have observed so far, the French take great pride in their language, and are rather reluctant to reveal that they do in fact understand English. For example, last week I caught the salesman at the mobile shop in the act when he responded to something I was asking my friend next to me in English, even though he vehemently insisted he couldn’t speak Anglais. What this means is that it’s really up to me to learn the language, and learn it fast, or give up and spend this year never really immersing myself in the culture and lifestyle of Paris. I’m bent on the former – I do not want to be the perpetual tourist. So each day, I’ve been reciting phrases from my trusty French language pocket book, just before bed and while eating breakfast. The French are much more receptive, I’ve figured out, if you at least try to fumble through with a spattering of French. It doesn’t always work, but I think they feel rather sorry for me, and are more likely to reciprocate by offering me a few words in English. In any case, I have committed to memory what is surely going to be THE  phrase I will be using while I’m here: “je désolé, je ne parle pas Francais. Parlez vous Anglais?”

Ah, but last week I hit a spot of light – I don’t quite know what changed, but suddenly I began to understand what people were saying to me, or more accurately, a couple of sentences here and there. It’s still mighty foggy, but I sort of feel like I’ve had a glimpse of the lighthouse now and I’m no longer afraid I’m going to sail into the abyss.

Man on the street: Bonjour mademoiselle...(and then he goes on)...
In my mind: @!$%^&!!*&^%$@#@!!!@#%^*(@)!@!%%$#@ Petite chien (your small dog) @!$%^&!! Jolee (pretty) *&^%$@#@!!!@#%^*(@)!@!%%$#@ Tu s’appelle (What’s his name?) *&^%$@#@!!!@#%^*(@)!@!%%$#@ Quel age (what’s his age?).

And I verbalise something like this: Bonjour, err, Hi......err, Cooper......errr.....dix (10)....errr...months, err what is months in French?

I’m by no means proud of myself, of course, and far from a model student of the French language. I continue to disgrace myself on a regular basis as I go about my business in the neighbourhood. Just the other day, I mistakenly thought the grocer was talking to me, to which I responded, when he was in fact, doing something quite different.

Grocer: Allô, Allô
Me (excitedly): Hello!
Grocer (with indignation): Pah! Not you, I’m asking my worker to answer ze telephone. Allô, Allô not hello!
Me: Oh, sorry... How much for these strawberries?

Alamak! :) 


I’ve always liked stuffed vegetables – they look lovely, and are a shoo-in for dinner parties. Many types of vegetables can be made to be natural “receptacles” for fillings – whether eggplants, mushrooms, capsicums or zucchini – as long as they have a relatively sturdy skin and rather supple flesh, they should work. I was stoked to discover quinoa and soy cheese at a health food store this weekend. Being quinoa-based, this recipe, partly Middle Eastern, partly Mediterranean -inspired, is a healthy and delicious way to meet your essential fibre and protein needs. Essentially quinoa can be treated like rice both in terms of pre-cooking preparation and the cooking process itself. Wash it in a couple of changes of water and remove grit, and use about 1 cup quinoa to 1 ½ cups of water. Here I used eggplant and green capsicum to stuff and added a bit of ground coriander for a subtle touch of spice. Baking the vegetables first covered with aluminium foil achieves two things – it helps to keep the stuffing moist and soften the vegetables without the need for additional breadcrumbs or sauce.  Serve this dish with lightly sautéed greens of your choice.

Pack the stuffing into the vegetable shells using the back of a metal spoon

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
• 1/2 head garlic
• 2 small eggplants or 1 medium plus 1 medium green capsicum for stuffing
• 2 to 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 red bell capsicum, cored, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• Lemon zest from 1 lemon, finely grated
• 1/4 cup low-fat ricotta cheese or vegan substitute
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish
• 125 g cherry tomatoes, chopped roughly
• Extra virgin olive oil to drizzle

Heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Place garlic in a piece of aluminium foil, drizzle a bit of extra virgin olive oil over, and wrap to make a parcel. Bake in the oven until cloves are soft, 20 to 30 minutes. Let cool, and squeeze the soft garlic from the cloves, mash into a pulp and set aside.

Meanwhile, cook quinoa according to package ingredients. (It should take between 10-20 minutes). Stand for 10 minutes, fluff with a fork and leave to cool for a bit.

Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise, and place the halves cut sides up on a cutting board. Using a paring knife, cut around the perimetre, leaving a 1/3-inch-wide border and being careful not to cut through skin. Cutting down through flesh, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-wide strips. Using a teaspoon, scoop out the strips, keeping skin intact. Cut strips into 1/4-inch dice. Set both the diced eggplant and shells aside. Halve the capsicums, scoop out white membranes and discard seeds.

In a large skillet set over medium heat, warm 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add onion, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and slightly browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Add eggplant, bell pepper, coriander, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Cover; cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, 6 to 8 minutes. If mixture starts to become dry, add the additional tablespoon olive oil. Lower heat and add quinoa. Mix well.

Add lemon zest, cheese, parsley, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir to combine.

Fill each reserved vegetable shell with quinoa mixture. Cover with aluminium foil, give the dish an ever so light drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Bake until warm throughout and shell has softened, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove foil, and continue cooking until tops are lovely and toasted,  a further 20 minutes or so. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with parsley, and serve.