Get out your berets everyone, it’s Bastille Day! This French holiday, also known as “Le 14 Juillet” or “La Fête National” celebrates the beginnings of The French Revolution many years ago. The French typically celebrate this holiday by travelling, being outside (picnic anyone?) and of course, having a fantastic meal. I mean hey, you can’t start a revolution on an empty stomach! So here are four fabulously French recipes that are prefect to celebrate the day!

Tartines

Tartines are a classic French open-faced sandwich that are typically eaten at breakfast or lunch. I personally love to eat tartines no matter what time of day since they are so versatile in terms of flavour combinations!

If there is one tartine that most of us have already been exposed to, its likely been Avocado Toast. While it may not be 100% French, the concept of an open faced sandwich is. Now, I have nothing against avocados on toast (maybe also topped off with an egg), but I feel that a proper tartine needs to be French-ified.

A beautiful tartine that easily rivals avocado toast is this delicious Mint-Fava Bean Tartine. It’s green, bright and full of fresh flavours. I like to enhance the natural flavour of the fava beans with some shaved Parmesan, extra mint leaves and fresh lemon zest. This is a very seasonal tartine which reflects the true French way of cooking: with whatever is in season! I also like to make this Mint-Fava Bean Dip in its own and eat it with crudités (cold chopped veggies), which is also very French and perfect for summertime!

I personally love the classic French Radish & Butter Tartine that is garnished with a bit of fleur de sel… so chic. I strongly suggest that you buy a really high quality butter when making this tartine since there are so few ingredients that go into this recipe. The better the butter, the better it will taste!

Finally, as a Canadian, I can’t leave the wonderful province of Quebec out of the picture. I came up with this gorgeous Montreal Tartine that has hot smoked salmon, crème fraîche, pickled shallots, capers and parsley on top. It’s very similar to lox or lox bagels, but the hot smoked salmon really brings this tartine home with its meaty and flaky texture.

Get these three tartine recipes here!

Niçoise Salad

Niçoise salad is one of the most popular and enjoyable French salads out there. Made with lots of fresh tasty ingredients, this is perfect for spring and summer. I have switched up the traditional recipe by swapping out tuna for some local sockeye salmon. Trust me, this Canadianized version tastes just as great as the original!

Get the recipe for my West Coast Niçoise Salad here!

Stewed Ratatouille

While concentric circles of thinly sliced eggplant, zucchini, onion and tomato may look pretty, I’m all about keeping this classic French dish true to its form. Ratatouille is a rustic, stove-top stewed vegetable dish that originated in Nice, France. It is packed full of delicious Mediterranean vegetables and is fantastic served either warm or cold. Not only does this dish taste delicious, it just so happens to be 100% vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free as well.

Get my recipe for Stewed Ratatouille here!

Simple Cheese Plate

A French meal would not be complete without cheese! On this quintessentially French cheese plate I used a local Vancouver Island Brie made with buffalo’s milk. I mean what’s more French than Brie?! This cheese is smooth, creamy and isn’t too overpowering in taste. I serve this cheese with some freshly grown BC Blueberries and BC raspberries, which compliment the Brie very nicely as a dessert… and which just so happens to be the colours of the French flag! You could also serve this with some crackers and some fig jam if you want to really go all out! This dish is so simple that you don’t need a recipe- just arrange these ingredients on a nice serving dish and you are good to go!

I hope that you enjoy some of my favourite French recipes this Bastille Day! Bon appetit!