Recipes From Trip to France
As promised, here are the recipes that my daughter Nicole and I made one evening while in Paris. I have got to say, both recipes turned out amazingly delicious! Enjoy… Oh and enjoy some photos too 
Me & Nik in Paris near the Eiffel Tower
Me and Nik in the South of France... Are we cute or what?
Okay, first recipe and first course for the evening:
Soupe Printaniere
Spring Harvest Soup with Fava Beans
This fresh, creamy green soup celebrates the arrival of spring’s first fava beans, they are so tender.
Serves 6
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 onions, finely chopped
4 slices bacon, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
5 cups chicken or vegetable stock
3 pounds fresh fava beans, shelled
Sea salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
A bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves chopped
1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
2. Add the onions and bacon and cook until the onions are browned, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more.
4. Stir in the stock and about three-quarters of the beans. Bring to a boil.
5. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the beans are tender, about 30 minutes.
6. Blend in a blender until smooth and return to pot. (we used a blending wand right in the pot)
7. Add the remaining beans and simmer for 5 minutes.
8. Season with the salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the parsley, mix well, and serve hot.
Nicole & host parents enjoying the soup
Next course:
CHEVRE CHAUD A LA GASCONNE
WARM GOAT CHEESE GASCON STYLE
This recipe is a regional version of the classic warm goat cheese salad.
Serves 6
Endive & Warm Goat Cheese Crostini Salad... It was delish!
A bunch of fresh basil
2 garlic cloves
3/4 cup olive oil
Sea salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 individual small goat cheese rounds (crottins)
1 baguette
1 head red endive, leaves separated (our endive was not the red version, it was green)
1/2 cup pitted black or mixed olives (we used mixed)
To make the marinade, finely chop the basil and garlic, then add the oil, salt, and pepper. Pour the marinade into a shallow dish and add the cheeses, making sure they are coated evenly. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. (Huh? we may have not read that little section when we made the dish, so our cheese only marinaded for about 2 hrs and it was still fantastic
1. Cut the baguette into 12 thick slices and toast.
2. Cut the cheeses in half crosswise, arrange on a baking sheet, and grill under hot broiler until golden.
3. Place 1 cheese on each toast.
4. Divide the endive leaves and olives among 6 plates.
5. Place 2 toasts on each plate, then top with the marinade.
You might be asking, “what about dessert Dianne, you said there was typically 3 courses?” Well, you’re right. However, we cheated and bought dessert. It’s Paris for goodness sakes! They have amazing desserts already made for us 
Hope you enjoy the recipes and have a chance to try them. Let me know what you think.
French Women Don’t Get Fat! Chapters 3 & 4~Recasting
Chapter 3 finds Mireille in a three-month “re-casting” mode… She is resetting her individual equilibrium, with the help and guidance of Dr. Miracle. Yes, the beginning is three months of resetting new/old (French style) habits. Dr. Miracle fully understands that quick fixes will not yield long-term results.
Before beginning this process, it’s important to consider a couple of really important questions…
- Ask yourself, “Why am I doing this?” So often, our reasons are fear and self-loathing based, or what others or media says we should look like… What is your why?
Mireille states in chapter three, “To embrace recasting, you have to be ready to embrace pleasure and individual happiness as your goals… It may be easy for a wife, mother and full-time worker to neglect pleasure; perhaps a part of you even thinks it’s selfish. But you must understand there is nothing noble in failing to discover and cultivate your pleasures. (It will make you not only fat, but grouchy.)” Read more
French Women Don’t Get Fat ~ Chapters 1 & 2
Chapters one and two take us back a little way to Mirielle’s first trip to the United States. She was 18 years old and on a one year exchange…
Here is where her love for brownies and bagels and poor eating habits began, only to return back home to France with an extra 15 pounds and a welcome greeting from her father “Tu ressemles a un sac de patates” (You look like a sack of potatoes”). Ouch, a sting she would not soon forget…
She definitely had feelings of embarrassment. None of her other friends in France had put on what we in the states refer to as the “Freshman 15”.
Enter Dr. Meyer, aka Dr. Miracle, the doctor Mireille’s mom retained to help with her mounting concern.
First things first, what are you doing asks Dr. Miracle? He asked Mireille to log what, how much and where she is eating. Measurements not to be exact, but approximate.
Fast-forward 3 weeks later, as it turns out, Mireille’s dangerous adoptive habits of American eating had gotten out of control.
The first thing Dr. Miracle noticed is that she was doing the majority of her eating on the go… walking from her apartment to school… The second most obvious thing he noticed was what she was mostly eating during those times were pastries… Yikes! And as she said, Paris is a “pastry minefield”. (ooo can’t wait)
She had turned into a pastry junkie and like any addict, her body “came to expect too much of what had once been blissfully intoxicating in small doses.”
“Tout est question d’equilibre (Everything is a matter of balance): this was Dr. Miracle’s quintessentially French mantra” and he was to remind Mireille of this too. But first, a little re-programming…
Equilibrium, which is the French way and what Mireille believed in, had to be cultivated gradually. And for the long-term shift to be successful, Dr. Miracle understood that quick positive reinforcement would be important… and to that he introduced, The Magical Leek soup. The soup would be eaten for a little more than a day and a half and this will be the only time anything “radical” in the diet will happen.
Why the Leek soup you ask… “Leeks are a mild diuretic and low in calories but highly nutritional”.
Here is the recipe and the suggested instructions from Dr. Miracle:
Ingredients:
2 pounds of Leeks
Water
- Clean the leeks and rinse well to get rid of sand and soil. Cut off the ends of the dark green parts, leaving all the white parts plus a section of pale green.
- Put the leeks in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes. Pour off the liquid and reserve. Place the leeks in a bowl.
Dr. Miracle recommends this to be done over the weekend.
The juice is to be drunk (reheated or at room temperature to taste) every 2-3 hours, 1 cup at a time.
For meals, or whenever hungry, have some of the leeks themselves, ½ cup at a time. Drizzle with a few drops of extra-virgin olive oil and lemon juice. Season sparingly with salt and pepper.
This will be your nourishment for both days, until Sunday dinner, when you can have a small piece of meat or fish (4-6 ounces) with 2 vegetables, steamed with a bit of butter or olive oil, and a piece of fruit.
This all seems reasonable to me, sounds like a little reset your system detox to me… I think I will try it very soon. Perhaps even before my trip to France…
What do you think?
French Women Don’t Get Fat… Overture
Mireille Guiliano, the author of French Women Don’t Get Fat seems to have the life many could only dream about… I know it sounds like a dream come true to me.
She was born and raised in France and now shares the United States as her home as well. Her job??? She is the CEO and director of Champagne Veuve Clicquot. Essentially, her job requires her to eat in restaurants approximately 300 times a year, and never without a glass of wine or champagne to accompany her… I’m just wondering, where do I apply???
What’s important to note here is… she is NOT overweight! She has learned to maintain her weight from what she came to learn from her French culture and will share with us how we can do this too…
The book begins with Overture, the introduction, where Mireille reminds us that 60% of Americans are overweight, and the fastest selling books are diet books. She then asks the obvious question, or what should be the obvious question, “why don’t the million-copy wonders put an end to our overweight woes?” Simply put, “unsustainable extremism.” She also let’s us know, that “extremism, has never been the French way”.
However, from what I’ve seen and she also believes, Americans want quick fixes, and are willing to take radical steps to lose weight. Unfortunately, we all know happens once we stop these unsustainable extreme measures… The weight shows right back up.
Mireille says, “Banish the diet books and adopt what French Women have, a balanced and time-tested relationship to food & life!”
“French Women don’t skip meals or substitute slimming shakes for them…They eat with their heads and they don’t leave the table feeling stuffed or guilty.” Mireille also states here, “Learning that less can be more and discovering how one can eat everything in moderation can be keys.”
Depriving ourselves sets us up for failure. All we think about is the very thing we “can’t” have. I understand there are exceptions to most rules, like gluten for celiacs. What none of the diet books express is any consideration for bio-chemical individuality. They do not take into consideration, gender, race, age, activity level etc.
It seems to me that French women eat much more intuitively… This book is already so in line with my training, and how I coach my patients and clients… To stay motivated, variety is important, in our food as well as our activity. I don’t know about you, but I get bored easily!
Mireille also refers to “French Zen” which of course I love with my background in Chinese Medicine. She covers not only the food on our plates, but other elements of healthy living, including physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual health. In my training, I refer to this as Primary food. Our relationships, activity, careers, and spirituality.
I’m already loving what I’m reading…
Stay tuned til tomorrow, Chapter 1 Vive L’Amerique – The Beginning… I am overweight
Let me know what you think so far.
