RECIPE - sage pesto, with a twist

Classic pesto is made with fresh basil; this is the variety everybody knows and loves, be it from their vacations in Italy or a visit to their favorite Italian restaurant. But how about trying something new? With the abundance of sage plants in our herb garden, grown from seed and growing in massive bushes, I one late spring afternoon decided to try this wonderful herb in a pesto. Et voilà, it not only tastes almost like basil, it tastes even better! And it tastes best when the leaves are young so in late spring, though it is possible to use the leaves all year round but the taste will become stronger and more pungent.

During our yoga & organic vegan cooking retreat last weekend Top Vegan Chef Paul decided to add some green olives and freshly squeezed lemon juice, and my o my, was this pesto a treat!

Sage is a very versatile plant, a quintessential Mediterranean herb used in cooking, as an essential oil, as a decorative plant in the garden with its pretty purple flowers. Salvia officinalis can  be used to make a delicious tea.

on croutons as an appetizer

Pesto is easy to make, considered a "raw food" as none of the ingredients are heated and can go on anything, from pasta bien sûr to sandwiches or tasty little croutons as appetizers with an apéritif or on pizza in place of or with tomato sauce

the ingredients:
* fresh sage leaves
* nutritional yeast
* toasted pine nuts
* depitted fleshy green olives
* freshly squeezed lemon juice
* garlic
* olive oil
* freshly ground sea salt
* freshly ground black pepper

All ingredients are approximate as this is really to everyone's personal taste. If you can get a hold of this season's fresh garlic use it sparingly and allow the fresh taste of sage to be the most prominent. Make a paste in your kitchen machine and season to taste. The great thing about pesto is that its all about personal preference.

on pizza as a base

Try something new today and remember to enjoy not only the result but also the process! Preparing food from scratch is a fantastic way to spend time, observing the making of something delicious, with one's own creativity, passion and hands!

bon appétit! 

YOGA - extra retreat in June vegan cooking

Top Vegan Chefs

We just finished our first yoga & organic vegan cooking retreat and would like to thank the participants, Paul & Anna who were already here for last year's 6-day retreat, and Justine & Sofiane from Taiwan, for coming here to La Vudèle and sharing their spirit and enthusiasm with us during this weekend!

And for those who would like to attend this summer we have 2 more dates before August: Tuesday, 14.6. - Thursday, 16.4. & Friday, 1. - Sunday, 3. July

retreat goodie bag

Friday afternoon we started out with a welcome workshop, blind-folded with the eye mask of the La Vudèle goodie bag and using the sense of smell only to explore the various beautiful aromas of herbs and flowers like lavender, thyme, sage, and essential oils like orange, rosemary and fennel. Also contained in the goodie bag were
~ the yoga & nature en Provence apron
~ the La Vudèle guest book with recipes, mantras, yoga sequences and various information
~ a post-yoga tea blend
~ a special herbes de Provence salt
~ all presented in a typical Mediterranean straw basket

This was followed by our first afternoon yoga session outdoors, enjoying the beautiful sun, vistas and sounds all around.

Using the freshest ingredients from the market and our favorite organic food store "Nature & Vous" in Manosque we prepared an apéritif dinatoire in the evening, with lots of delicious delicacies like
* caviar d'aubergine
* black olive tapenade
* white bean dip
* our freshly baked sourdough bread
* and a superb quiche, with the recipe to be found in the La Vudèle guest book

Saturday morning we met for an invigoration morning yoga session and a mindfulness meditation, to the rising sun, followed by breakfast in the morning sun. Afterwards we went to the local market in Riez to purchase delicacies for dinner like artichokes, the first courgettes and strawberries. In the afternoon another lovely yoga session outdoors, under the beautiful blue sky of Provence, with a Metta meditation and some challenging asanas!


We then started cooking in our farmhouse kitchen, with everywhere assigned to different tasks: there was a dessert station, a pesto making station, pea shelling of peas fresh from the field, marinating the tofu, and the artichokes also had to be prepared, cleaned and then boiled, to be grilled for dinner.

Sofiane at the grill

Anna, a trained nutritionist

master sage pesto maker

Mia the cat with Justine

lavender custard - yum!

Sofiane and his new toy

The copious gala dinner, with lots of candles, we enjoyed accompanied by local wines of Quinson, thanks to Jim's selection and expertise. The two desserts, a lavender custard and a chocolate mousse, finished off our meal, and we all went to bed feeling accomplished and light-hearted.

Sunday morning started out with another morning yoga session to the rising sun - simply wonderful -  and breakfast with crêpes à la Jim were served at the breakfast table.

the flag ceremony

As a parting gift the participants designed their own flags, to be added to the Tibetan prayer flags fluttering in the wind....

This was a wonderful weekend, thank you so much, you all! 

And for those who would like to attend this summer we have 2 more dates before August:

yoga & organic vegan cooking

Tuesday, 14.6. - Thursday, 16.4.

and another weekend of yoga & fun
Friday, 1. - Sunday, 3. July

On our web site is more information, photos and prices, or simply email us 

Hope to see you here

this summer!