Today is the first day of Summer and I think it’s the perfect occasion to share with you this yummy and colorful salad bowl. This bowl is quiet a reflection of my current mood: it’s sunny and hot, the days are going longer so that you can enjoy soft evenings, and so many things are changing in my life at a speed I would have never expected, and all that make me the happiest I have never been.

As you might know, I am working as an engineer for now 3 years, but I have recently felt the need to make big changes in my life. Mainly, I realized how life is short and precious and how sad it is to spend its whole very single life doing things you are not totally in. Many of us spend our life doing a job we don’t really like, hiding behind the pretext that “you have to make a living out”, waking up every morning with a decreasing motivation and patiently waiting for the weekend or the next holiday to finally be ourself and make what we love. And the issue is that many people are not conscious about that and realized it after decades. Right, it is not too late, but why to wait for its late 50 to make a professional reconversion, and to fully enjoy life when you can do it NOW? Your life is the most beautiful gift you were given, take care of it and make it the life you are dreaming of. We all have amazing skills and capacities to shape our lives as we intend to, to follow our dreams even the craziest and unreachable ones. We all have this badass in our deepest that only wait to be free and take the control of our very true life. We spend so much time dreaming on the life of others, influencers on social media, whinging that they are very lucky and that will never happy to us. Stop lamenting and start ACTING! If they can, so you can! Nobody is better than you, or desserves it more than you. Maybe some people start of with advantages in life, but that does not mean you can’t. It all about trust, passion, determination and surpassing your fears. If you want something, so do everything you can to get it, however crazy or scary it might looks, and above all NEVER STOP BELIEVING in YOU and YOUR capacities to do it. Think and act as this was already achieved, keep your vibes high, and I can assure you that things will come to you.

If I tell you that, it is because this is what happened to me. After these 3 years of engineering, I realized that I was boring and entering a routine I didn’t want to, that I cannot find a motivation and objectif in my life, and especially that what I was doing everyday was not my passion. That made me feel very bad and uncomfortable in my life, nearly depressed sometimes. At this moment, I didn’t know what was exactly this passion: photography, cooking … but I knew I had to make big changes if I wanted to be happy. It was a hard journey, especially for someone like me with a strong cartesian perception of life. I had to work a lot on me, on my way to think, face my fears and also to regain confidence. It was hard and sometimes painful, but I saw me changing, opening my mind and raising my frequencies, and with these changed went all the good things. I started really considering my personal projects as possibilities, dedicating more and more time to it, and thinking big, and omg I was amazed of how quickly things changed! To make it short, I saw the quality of my work increasing, my audience growing, brands reaching me, amazing opportunities appearing and more important, my health and life seriously improving. For once, I was happy about what I was doing and felt ALIVE. This is such an exciting feeling that once you get it you would never come back, however scary and hazardous your future can seem to be. Finally, I am going to quit my job in 4 months and am totally happy with that decision. I can’t wait to see where this journey will bring me next.

For now, let’s come back to this salad! It is a bowl inspired by my last trip in Bali where I had the occasion to eat many amazing lunch bowls. They really master this art, bringing the lunch bowl to the next level through awesome associations of flavors and textures. With this bowl, I wanted to compose with the elements I’ve loved the more and which are representative of Balinese food. Each element is pretty easy to make and can be prepared separately, so that you only have to assemble them at the end. I love these bowls, they are my favorite for lunch, it’s versatile, so good yet so healthy! I love being creative with, making new compositions and playing with the colors for a vibrant delicious result. My favorite element in this bowl is definitely the peanut and lemongrass sauce! I discovered this flavor association in Bali and I loved it! If you are a PB lover just like me, so it will become your favorite sauce for sure. Moreover that it is really easy to prepare and you can use it on rice, in pad thai, on vegetables, with tofu… from the jar! Bali has inspired me so much about food and way of life, and it was a major change in my life: this experience has strengthen my desire to build a happy and healthy life. And last week, I felt so nostalgic about Bali that I took the crazy decision to return there during one whole month in November to offer my services as food photographer and recipe developer  to the local cafés and restaurants! I am so exciting about it and already very happy of this spontaneous decision. I am now working on building collaborations there and will tell you more about this project latter 🙂

By the way, you might also have seen if you follow me on Instagram that I have been featured in the world famous THRIVE magazine this month, with this salad bowl recipe along with two other tropical recipes!! There are no words to explain how happy and proud I am, this is the best reward I could have expected. I will make a post next week about it, with the full interview.

Have a Wonderfull day, and don’t forget to live your best life.

Alice

BALI SALAD BOWL

Temps de préparation: 45 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients:

For the sweet and sour tofu:

– 1/2 cup plain firm tofu
– 1/4 cup fresh pineapple
– 1 tbsp rice vinegar
– 1 tbsp agave
– 1 tbsp tamari
– 1 tsp tomato paste
– 1/4 tsp garlic powder
– 1/8 tsp smoked paprika
– a pinch of chili powder
– 1 tsp coconut oil (to brown)
– 1 tsp sesame seeds

For the rice:

– 2 cup of cooked basmati white rice
– 1 tsp rice vinegar
– 1 tsp lime juice
– 1 tsp black sesame seeds
– 1 tsp minced fresh coriander

For the roasted squash: 

– 4 slices of squash of your choice
– 1 tbsp olive oil
– 1/2 tsp thyme
– 1/4 tsp garlic powder
– 1/4 tsp paprika
– a pinch of salt

For the peanut lemongrass sauce:

– 2 tbsp peanut butter
– 1 tbsp rice vinegar
– 1 tsp agave
– 1 tsp water
– 2 tsp lemongrass stems
– 1 tsp minced ginger

To assemble:

– 1 carrot
– 1/2 avocado
– greens: salad, edamame
– candied nuts
– fresh coriander

INSTRUCTIONS :

1. Cook the rice according to the pack instructions. Once cooked, cover with a lid to keep warm and set aside.

2. Preheat your oven at 400F and line a tray with baking paper. Prepare the roasted squash: In a bowl, combine all the seasoning ingredients (oil, thyme, garlic powder, paprika and salt) and mix. Cut 4 large slices of squash and place them in the bowl. Stir well using your hands to completely coat the squash with the seasoning sauce. Place the squash on the lined tray and bake for 25 minutes. The squash is baked when beautiful golden.

3. Prepare the tofu marinade: Blend all the sweet and sour tofu sauce ingredients (except the tofu,  coconut oil and sesame seeds) in a high speed blender to well combine. Pour the sauce in a bowl. Cut the tofu in medium cubes and place them in the sauce. Marinate for 20 minutes while you prepare the rice and peanut sauce.

4. Prepare the rice: Put the cooked rice in a bowl and add the rice vinegar, lime juice, black sesame seeds and diced coriander leaves. Stir to combine and reserve. 

5. Prepare the peanut sauce: Dice the lemongrass stem and ginger. Blend all the sauce ingredients in a high speed blender until completely smooth. Pour the sauce in a small bowl and reserve.

6. Fry the tofu: Heat a non-sticky pan with the coconut oil. When hot, stir in the tofu with all the marinade sauce and fry for 2-3 minutes. Once the sauce has thickened, add the sesame seeds, stir to coat the tofu and remove from the heat. 

7. Assembly: Prepare carrot ribbons using a vegetable peeler, slice the avocado and wash some greens. Prepare two large bowls. Put some peanut sauce in two small sauce pots and place in the middle of each bowl. Arrange all your elements in the bowls, around the sauce pots. Sprinkle with candied nuts, extra black sesame seeds and fresh coriander.

Version Française

BALI SALADE BOWL

Prep time: 45 minutes
Quantité: 2 personnes

Ingredients:

Pour le tofu sauce aigre douce:

– 1/2 cup de tofu ferme
– 1/4 cup d’ananas frais
– 1 tbsp de vinaigre de riz
– 1 tbsp de sirop d’agave
– 1 tbsp de sauce tamari (sauce soja)
– 1 tsp de pate de tomate
– 1/4 tsp de poudre d’ail
– 1/8 tsp de paprika fumé en poudre
– une pincée de piment
– 1 tsp d’huile de coco
– 1 tsp de graines de sésame

Pour le riz parfumé:

– 2 cup de riz basmati blanc cuit
– 1 tsp de vinaigre de riz
– 1 tsp de jus de citron vert
– 1 tsp de graines de sésame noire
– 1 tsp de coriandre fraiche hachée

Pour la courge rôtie: 

– 4 belles tranches de courge au choix (butternut, potimaron …)
– 1 tbsp d’huile d’olive
– 1/2 tsp de thym
– 1/4 tsp d’ail en poudre
– 1/4 tsp de paprika en poudre
– une pincée de sel

Pour la sauce cacahuète citronnelle:

– 2 tbsp de beurre de cacahuète
– 1 tbsp de vinaigre de riz
– 1 tsp de sirop d’agave
– 1 tsp d’eau
– 2 tsp de branche de citronnelle
– 1 tsp de gingembre frais

Pour le montage:

– 1 carrot
– 1/2 avocat
– salade, edamame
– noix caramélisées, cacahuètes
– feuilles de coriandre fraiche

Instruction :

1. Cuire le riz en suivant les instructions. Une fois cuit, le couvrir pour le garder au chaud le temps de préparer la suite. Réserver.

2. Préchauffer le four à 200°C et préparer une plaque de cuisson recouverte de papier cuisson. Préparation de la courge rôtie: Dans un grand bol, mélanger l’huile, le thym, l’ail en poudre, le paprika et le sel et mélanger. Couper 4 grosses tranches de courges et les mettre dans le bol. Mélanger avec les mains de façon à bien recouvrir les tranches de courge du mélange d’assaisonnement. Placer les tranches de courge sur la plaque de cuisson et enfourner pour 25 minutes. La courge est cuite lorsqu’elle prend une belle couleur dorer. Vous pouvez également vérifier la cuisson en plantant la pointe d’un couteau.

3. Preparation de la marinade pour le tofu: Mixer tous les ingrédients de la sauce aigre douce, à l’exception du tofu, de l’huile de coco et des graines de sésame, dans un blender jusqu’à l’obtention d’un mélange homogène.  Verser la sauce dans un bol. Couper le bloc de tofu en cubes de taille moyenne et les mettre dans la sauce aigre douce. Mélanger pour bien recouvrir les dés de tofu. Laisser mariner pendant environ 20 minutes, le temps de préparer le riz et les sauce cacahuète.

4. Préparation du riz: Placer le riz cuit dans un bol et y ajouter le Bonaire de riz, le jus de citron vert, les graines de sésame noir et la coriandre hachée. Mélanger et réserver.

5. Préparation de la sauce cacahuète citronnelle: Hacher finement la tige de citronnelle et le gingembre frais. Mixer tous les ingrédients dans un blender jusqu’à l’obtention d’une sauce parfaitement lisse. Verser la sauce dans un petit bol et réserver.

6. Cuisson du tofu: Faire chauffer une poêle anti-adhérente avec l’huile de coco. Une fois la poêle en température, y ajouter le tofu avec toute la marinage, et cuire pendant 2-3 minutes en remuant régulièrement pour éviter que le tofu n’accroche trop. Une fois que la sauce marinade a épaissi, éteindre le feu, ajouter les graines de sésame et remuer pour bien enrober. 

7. Assemblage: Préparer deux grands bols pour le service. Préparer les rubans de carotte à l’aide d’un économe, trancher l’avocat et laver la salade, edamame ou autre légume de votre choix. Verser un peu de sauce cacahuète citronnelle dans deux petits bols à sauce et les placer au milieu des grands bols. Placer les différents éléments dans les bols, tout autour du pot à sauce. Finir en décorant de noix caramélisées, de cacahuètes, de graines de sésame noir et de feuilles de coriandre.