My homemade pesto

Pesto ingredients

Who says that you have to make pesto with exactly the same ingredients as recipes? You can add in whatever you fancy until you find the version that you like. Here is my version:

·         Fresh basil 100grs
·         Roast almond flakes 100grs
·         1 garlic clove
·         Salt 1 pinch
·         Olive oil 50ml

Rinse and chop the basil leaves, place them in the blender, crush the almonds, add the salt and blend until smooth while continuously adding oil. Done

Basil is the fresh tomatoes and mozzarella’s best friend. But, you can also try it with tomatoes and radishes, pitta bread or put a dollop on freshly cooked rice noodle…

Serving suggestion Tomato & Radish

Homemade Houmous

 

Ready houmous

Making houmous is a good way to use leftover chickpeas. Use it for work lunch or for a Saturday afternoon snack.  The plate you see below is my lunch on my work place’s kitchen work top.
 
Ingredients:
·         Half a tin of Chick peas
·         30 ml of olive oil
·         2 cloves of garlic
·         Salt & black pepper
·         1 small slice of red chilli pepper

Method:

Rinse the chickpeas and put them in a bowl with the chilli pepper and the peeled and chopped garlic. Using a hand blender, blend for 2 minutes, then add salt and pepper blend again for 2 minutes while adding the olive oil slowly as you blend. Do not add water, it is meant to be a very slightly hard paste.

It is much cheaper to make your own than to actually buy it ready made. Be adventurous and create your own flavoured houmous.

Serving suggestion

Just in case you have never heard of it, houmous very popular in North Africa and in Arabe countries in general. Houmous is the Arabic name of chickpeas and is used as a dip, just like we in the West use mayonnaise, Tara masala, yogurt and chive etc…

On my plate here you can see broccoli, celery, carrots, sweet pepper, but you can also use bread, pitta or naan bread for your platter.

Et voila! It is not magic.

Lentils, Quinoa and soya chunks salad



Salad without parsley

Salad ingredients

  Ingredients:

• 20 or more soya chunks
• 1 small onion few
• 3 twigs of fresh thyme
• 1 medium tomato
• 1 lemon
• 1 glass of precooked quinoa
• 1 glass of precooked lentils
• A small bunch of flat parsley (optional)
• Olive oil  3 spoons
• Salt

Method:

Soak the soya chunks in a bowl with salt and boiling water. Make sure there is enough water to cover the chunks. Cover the bowl and leave the chunks to rehydrate for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes squeeze out the water and cut the chunks in smaller pieces… 2 to 3 pieces per chunk perhaps?

Cut the onion and fry into 2 spoons of olive oil with the twigs of thyme. Fry for 2 minutes and then add the cut soya chunks with one spoon of water. Simmer fry until the water dries and the chunk start browning and become crispy. The purpose of this is so that the soya chunks absorb the flavours from the onion and thyme.

Remove the chunks from the pan and set aside.

Now cut the tomato in small pieces, grate the lemon to obtain zest and squeeze the juice.

In a salad bowl, pour your lentils, the quinoa, the fried onion and soya chunks, the tomatoes, lemon zest and juice, a pinch of salt and the chopped parsley. Drizzle the last spoonful of olive oil. Mix well and leave in the fridge to cool.

This dish is best served on its own very cold. Do prepare some additional lemon quarters for serving is needed.

Serving suggestion wit parsley

This would be great for brunch and for the pack lunch.

Enjoy

Pulse Party for 2

Proportions here are for 2 portions 

For this colourful pulses salad we need the following:

½ Chick peas tin

100grs of green lentil (preferably dry) – or half a tin

100grs black kidney beans (preferably dry) – or half a tin

 1 small tin sweet corn

Toasted sesame seeds (1 table spoon)

 Sundried tomato (5 pieces)

Orange sweet pepper (optional)

Salt & ground thyme

2 Table spoons of garlic flavoured olive oil. You will get this if you buy a jar of garlic in Olive oil

If you are thinking of making this dish, it is best to use dried bean & lentils. This is just because they remain firm after cooking compared to the tinned beans for example. And they maintain their colour, plus it works out cheaper on the quantity purchased. And you just cook the quantity you need for the dish that you are making.

If using dry beans and lentils start by soaking them for 12 hours or more… What? Tasty stuff takes time so get on with it! After soaking rinse them out. Put them to boil in salty water for about 30 minutes minimum. When cooked to your taste. Drain and leave aside.

Open the tin of sweet corn, and half a tin of chick peas, rind them out under running water.

Take the sundries tomato slices and cut them as small as the beans be about the size of the beans.

Roast the sesame seeds until slightly brown.

Now all you have to do is mix all the above in a bowl, with a pinch of salt and grounded thyme.

once served, drizzle on it the of garlic flavoured olive oil.  A squeeze of lemon work well in place of olive oil too.

Et voila!

This can be served with fresh baguette or rice cake like mine.

Bon Appétit