Category Archives: salads

Mixed Lentils in Tomato Sauce & Ottolengis Spicy Moroccan Carrot Salad.

13 Tuesday Apr 2021

Posted by in Main Courses, salads, Vegan, Vegetable Dishes

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The first time I made these lentils, I happened to have some leftover carrot salad from the day before which I stirred into my portion of lentils. The mix is so successful that now I plan to have the salad one day, and make enough to have leftovers ready to mix in to the lentils the following day.

The Lentils – this makes four good servings

100 grams yellow lentils

40 grams small white lentils

40 grams red lentils

oil or butter for frying

2 medium sized onions – sliced

4 cloves garlic – finely chopped

fresh ginger roughly 3x2x2 cm – cut into small cubes

fresh green chilli – finely chopped

1 level teaspoon turmeric

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon asafoetida

200 gram tin puréed tomatoes

200 grams tomato passata

salt and pepper

Put the lentils in a bowl and pour over enough boiling water to cover. Leave to soak for an hour.

Heat the oil or butter in a deep frying pan and add the sliced onions, garlic and ginger. Fry gently for about five minutes to soften.

Add the chopped chilli and stir to mix.

Once the lentils have had their hour of soaking drain them and add to the pan of onions. Stir to mix in.

Add the turmeric, coriander, asafoetida and the tomatoes. Season with salt. Stir to mix all together.

Bring to a simmer, turn the heat very low, cover and leave to cook for about half an hour. Stir from time to time and add water if the mix is getting to dry.

Once the lentils are cooked add salt and pepper to taste. Serve as they are or with the Ottolengi’s carrot salad which follows, either on the side or mixed in.
Oh and if you were wondering what the little green seeds are decorating the lentils, they are fresh green coriander seeds as my coriander in the veg patch is now going to seed with the warmer temperatures. I can leave the seeds to go brown and dry, but I love the flavour of them, pungent and sweet, so a collect them green, and either use them fresh or freeze them. Enjoy!

Steamed Broccoli & Cabbage with Whole Spices

17 Tuesday Nov 2020

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Although the vegetables in this dish are cooked, you stop the cooking while they still have some crunch, so it’s like a warm spicy salad, which is just as good when left to go cold.

For 2 portions

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds

1/2 teaspoon kalonji/onion seeds

peanut or olive oil

1/2 onion – sliced

4 cloves garlic – finely chopped

1/2 fresh green chilli – finely chopped

1/4 red pepper – cut into small squares

1/4 cabbage – finely sliced

Small head of broccoli – broken into florets

1 teaspoon garam masala

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a shallow pan and when hot add the whole cumin, coriander and kalonji. Fry until they start to pop and release their flavour.

Add the onion, garlic, red pepper and chilli. Fry for five minutes.

Add the cabbage and broccoli. Stir well to coat with the onions and spices.

Season with the garam masala, salt and pepper.

Cover and continue cooking until the cabbage has wilted. Add just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan by about half a centimetre.

Cover and continue cooking, stirring from time to time, for around ten minutes until the vegetables are cooked but still with some bite.

Seaweed Salad & Rice Noodles with Mushrooms

25 Sunday Oct 2020

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Of course mixed seaweed is not a foodstuff that one comes across easily, but if you are, like me, culinary curious and happen across a market stall selling various salted and dried seaweeds the mixed salad is a good one to buy to see if you like it. My sister and I bought 250 grams and I forget how much we paid, it seemed pricey at the time, but that amount makes about 16 portions. The seaweed expandes to more than twice the size when you soak it. Of course it makes a perfect salad to accompany fish.

For 2 portions

60 grams dried seaweed salad – soaked overnight in plenty of cold water

Cucumber – peeled and cut into julienne

6 radishes – sliced

few sprigs of fresh purple basil

1 tablespoon sesame oil

juice of half a lime

Drain the water from the seaweed and rinse the seaweed in more water. Drain and add to the salad bowl together with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well.

RICE NOODLES WITH MUSHROOMS

For 2 portions

50 grams rice noodles – soak for at least an hour in cold water

1 clove garlic

2 cm square piece of fresh ginger – finely chopped

1 tablespoon peanut oil

6 shiitake mushrooms – sliced

6 oyster mushrooms – sliced

1 tablespoon mushroom sauce

1 tablespoon fish sauce – Nam Pla

Drain the noodles from their soaking water, put back into the container and pour boiling water over them.

In a wok, fry the ginger and garlic in the peanut oil for a couple of minutes, then add the mushrooms. Fry for a few minutes to cook the mushrooms.

Drain the noodles and add to the mushrooms. Mix well then season with the mushroom and fish sauce and mix again.
Vegans may want to omit the fish sauce, in which case add some salt to the dish.

If you are serving the noodles with the Sea Bass in Coconut Sauce, then you can add a spoon or two of the sauce to the noodles to moisten them.

Thai Pomelo Salad

05 Saturday Sep 2020

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My grapefruit tree seems to have got itself extremely confused about the seasons this year, so surprised me with five fruits ripe in August. The usual season for ripe fruit is late December to March or April. So to celebrate this unexpected bounty I remembered this spicy salad that I had in Thailand many years ago.

As with most salads a little variation can be made without losing the essentials of what makes the salad successful. For this one the essentials are, of course the grapefruit, peanuts, fresh coriander, coconut slivers and the dressing. I’ve used as well on this occasion some alfalfa sprouts and watercress.

For two portions

1 grapefruit – either pink or yellow fleshed

30 grams dry roasted peanuts

piece fresh coconut roughly 4 x 4 cm – peeled and sliced into slivers

small bunch of fresh coriander leaves

small bunch of watercress leaves

alfalfa or other small sprouting seeds – fenugreek are very tasty

For the dressing

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon Nam Pla fish sauce

1 tablespoon agave syrup / honey

1 finely chopped green Thai chilli

Cut the grapefruit in half and then cut away the skin and pith. Cut in half and then into thin slices.

Put into your salad bowl with the rest of the salad ingredients.

Mix the dressing ingredients together and pour over the salad. Mix well.

I served my salad with a Prawn Green Curry, steamed broccoli and black rice.