When the weather warms up it is always good to have foods that are going to fill us up, be good for us and are simple, easy and fuss free dishes to create. This salad is just that, it ticks all those boxes and the great flavours are an added bonus. I cannot remember how I came about this combination, but I have been making this salad for some years and it is great as an accompanying dish as well as on it’s own for a light lunch. A few basic ingredients put together to create a dish that even children enjoy, as my son loves having this salad.

Greek Salad

I do not add salt to this salad as the feta cheese is very salty, however if you are not using feta cheese then you may want to add a little salt.

Ingredients

Preparation time: 10 mins                 Serves: 2

175 g baby leaf spinach

250 g  cherry or baby plum tomatoes (cut in half if too big)

1 cup black olives (pitted) split in half

1/2 cup feta cheese cubed

a big glug of olive oil

fresh crushed black pepper to taste

Method

1) Remove any large stalks of the spinach. Ensure that the spinach is dry and then place in a large bowl. To this add the remaining ingredients, mix well together and you are ready to serve.

I only started using pesto after marriage and used to buy ready made jars. It was a convenient thing to do, as at the time I was on an interior design course on Tuesday evenings, so that was a pasta day . It used to be a chore to find the vegetarian version of this classic Italian dish. Then about three or four years back I had bought a basil plant for the kitchen window sill and it had produces so many basil leaves, so I thought I should venture into making my own pesto. It was successful and so simple to make that I decided I would buy a basil plant each Spring and make my own pesto.

From looking at various TV chefs and other recipes, as well as a friend (who lives in Italy) telling me that I do not need to add cheese or pine nuts (as they are so expensive), just normal salted nuts are fine – I started making my own version as below. To make it more creamy I sometimes use almond, cashew, and pistachios nuts powder.

There are many uses for pesto, not only as a pasta sauce but also as a dressing for salads, for adding flavour to soups, a spread for sandwiches and roasted mushroom or eggplant. You can also create many different versions like I did by adding the sun-dried tomatoes. Other herbs and vegetables can also be added to give it an extra added flavour.

Sun-dried Tomato & Basil Pesto

I keep sun-dried tomatoes without the oil, if you have that then that is fine to use, you can even use the oil from it to give the pesto an extra tangy flavour. The pesto will store well in the fridge for 3 weeks and can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Ingredients

Preparation time: 10 mins       Cooking time: 10mins       Makes: about 1 cup

2 cups basil leaves roughly torn

1 cup sun-dried tomato (about 12) soaked in hot water for 10 mins

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp salt

Method

1) Boil some water and place the sun-dried tomatoes in 1 cup water, set aside. Pick the basil leaves, wash and tear them roughly and place in a blender.

2) Drain the sundried tomatoes and put in the blender with the remaining ingredients. Blend to a smooth paste, taste for salt and lemon juice, add if required. Hey presto your pesto is ready to be served as needed

We had tried falafels a couple of times many years back, but never attempted to make them ourselves. I started trying out various recipes about 4/5 years back. They used to be a complete disaster – always splitting open when I would try them, or the taste was not quite right. So after trying a dozen different recipes, I have finally come to this, which is a combination of reading the labels of ready to make falafels and a recipe book. The trick to it is to make sure the consistency is right. There is a very good place to eat in Covent Garden (London) which does ‘just falafs’, where I had once tried a particular falafel, thats how I came  about adding a simple relish of carrot and beetroot for this recipe. Now I am happy with the combination of crunchy, tangy and sweet  with a hint of spice.

I find the best thing about falafels is that it has the main food groups, you have wheat, pulses, vegetables and dairy, a full combination for a vegetarian. That is why it is a good complete meal, excellent for picnics or to eat good food on the go.  This is a very good children friendly recipe also. To go with this I sometimes make a simple salad of baby spinach, cherry tomatoes and feta cheese, with a simple dressing of lemon juice, black pepper, olive oil and ground cumin seeds.

Falafel

I mix the pulses – chickpeas & black eye beans, however you can just do it with one or the other if you like. Normally I make my own hummus, but sometimes if I am short of time then I buy the ready made ones.

Ingredients

Preparation time: 1 1/2 hours, plus overnight soaking time      Cooking time: 1 hr        Serves: 4

12 to 16 wholemeal or flavoured pitta

250g plain or flavoured hummus

450g black eye beans, soaked overnight

200g chickpeas, soaked overnight

1 medium onion

1 bunch coriander chopped

2 large cloves of garlic

25g plain, wholemeal or chickpea flour

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp soda bicarb

sunflower oil for frying

For the relish

1 small carrot grated

1 small beetroot grated

4 tbsp natural set yogurt

1 tsp ground cumin

For the salad

6 iceberg lettuce leaves finely shredded

2 tomatoes chopped into cubes

2 inch piece cucumber chopped into cubes

Method

1) Rinse and soak the chickpeas and black eye beans overnight in warm water. Following day drain and rinse them and place in a food processor and grind into a rough breadcrumbs consistency.

2) In a food processor grind the onion, garlic, coriander to a fine paste. Mix with the crushed chickpeas and black eye beans, adding the cayenne pepper, salt, soda bicarb and cumin powder. Gradually mix it all together with a little flour (add this as you require it), the mixture should be able to hold its shape yet still be soft.

3) In a bowl mix together the grated carrot and beetroot with the yoghurt and ground cumin seeds, set aside in the fridge until needed. Chop the salad ingredients, mix together and set aside until required.

4) Heat oil in a frying pan for shallow frying, and drop in the falafel mixture into the hot oil (you can either do this by hand or with a spoon), it should be about 2cm size balls. Fry for about 3/4 mins on medium heat, until they are golden brown on each side, remove with a slotted spoon and drain the excess oil on kitchen paper.

5) Warm the pitta bread as per the manufacturers instructions, cut open and spread a generous amount of the hummus. Place the falafel ball and then the relish, two more falafels and the salad, you are ready to serve them warm. Enjoy

]]> http://radiancerecipes.com/falafel/feed/ 5 http://radiancerecipes.com/couscous-salad/ http://radiancerecipes.com/couscous-salad/#comments Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:17:07 +0000 Kiran http://radiancerecipes.com/?p=259

I first had couscous around five years ago at work where I would regularly have it in various different combinations during lunch. I had seen it being made on TV many times but had never made it at home so I decided to try it one day. After a lot of attempts, I came up with this combination recently of chargrilled vegetables and feta cheese, and it seems to work quite well. Couscous does not have any specific taste, it is a very versatile grain and can take lots of different flavours, this makes it an ideal filler for salads. Due to the stripes created by the griddle pan on the carrots and parsnips, my son says it is tiger & zebra salad. It is a fun way of making sure he eats his food, as I am sure most of you will agree, it is an uphill battle to get them to eat what is good for them.

Couscous salad

You can choose what ever vegetables you like to make this salad, and if you do not have a griddle pan then just spray or brush a little olive oil on the vegetables and cook them in a saucepan until slightly golden. Pumpkin and sunflower seeds can also be added to the salad and the cheese can be changed to halloumi.

Ingredients

Preparation time: 20 mins    Cooking time: 45 mins    Serves : 2

1 cup couscous

1 tsp salt

1/2 lemon, juice and rind

3 tsp harissa herb mix

2 tbsp olive oil

Hot water

1 of each, carrot, parsnip, courgette

200g feta cheese

1 cup olives green or black

Method

1) In a large bowl, place the couscous and all the other ingredients apart from the vegetables, feta cheese and olives. Pour boiling hot water, enough to cover the couscous and 2 cms extra and mix with a fork.  Making sure all the grains of couscous are coated with the spice, olive oil and lemon rinds, keep on mixing at regular intervals just to make sure that the grains of couscous don’t lump together. Once the water has absorbed taste the couscous for the correct balance of flavours and to make sure the couscous is al dente, you can add a little extra hot water if needed and mix again with a fork.

2) Chop the vegetables at a slight angle, about 2 mm thick, coat with a little olive oil and place on a preheated griddle pan or place them on the saucepan if using that. Cook until brown on each side.

3) Once they are all cooked mix with the couscous and add the feta cheese and olives. If you are using halloumi cheese, you can cook this on the griddle pan or saucepan and then add it to the couscous. Your salad is ready to enjoy, warm or cold.