Thai vegetable salad

Tags

Appetizers, bean sprouts, chinese cabbage, limes, lunch, napa cabbage, peanut butter, salad, starters, Thai, thai dressing, thai salad, vegetables, vegetarian

Crunchy, zingy, tasty and good for you too.  Now, how good is that?  Before lock-down, I had invited six friends over for a Thai style lunch.  I love Asian cooking but it is not something I often do.  A good friend of mine, Sally Sprinkle, had recently returned from a vacation in Thailand and had brought me back some spices and pastes and I was chomping at the bit to start experimenting with some new ideas. The main course was decided – that was the easy part- we would make a classic Shrimp Pad Thai and a Green Thai chicken curry with coconut rice.  But, what to serve as a starter?  I wanted something light and fresh and full of flavour and preferably vegetarian.  I tried out a few ideas and settled on a very simple vegetable salad which I tossed in a Thai dressing.  It hit the spot perfectly and was thoroughly enjoyed by all, so much so that there was not one peanut or bean sprout left on the serving platter.

If you wanted to serve this by itself you could simply add some cooked shrimp or chicken or even some chilled egg noodles.  If you do not want to add peanut butter to the dressing, simply leave it out and the tasty will still be as delicious, more citrusy but just as good.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

For the Salad

• 3 cups finely sliced Chinese or Savoy or Napa cabbage
• 1 cup sprouts
• 1 finely sliced green and/or red pepper
• 1 cup baby spinach leaves or arugula or both
• 1 finely sliced, seeded red chilli
• 1 small English cucumber, halved lengthwise, gutted and thinly sliced
• 1 cup shredded or finely sliced carrots (optional)
• 1 cup whole sugar snap peas or edamame beans (optional)
• 2 medium scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 cup loosely packed chopped fresh basil, mint and cilantro

• For the Thai Peanut Dressing

  • ¼ cup creamy peanut butter (use unsweetened)
    
  • 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • 4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoons sesame seed oil
  • 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
    
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
    
  • 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
  • 1 fresh red chilli, seeded and finely sliced or ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • Handful of fresh cilantro and basil, chopped

Handful of toasted cashew nuts and/or peanuts

Method:

Place all the fresh vegetables and herbs in a large bowl and toss to combine
In a small glass bowl, mix all the dressing ingredients and whisk well, this can be done using a sticker or immersion blender
Dress the salad with the dressing just before serving
Sprinkle on some toasted cashew nuts and/or peanuts
Bon Appetit!

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Roast vegetables

Tags

butternut, carrots, easy side, onions, parsnips, potatoes, side dish, vegetables

Nadia is recovering from her second carpal tunnel surgery, this time on her right and dominant hand, so I am in charge of making meals for a few weeks. To be entirely honest, she did make and freeze enough meals to last at last 10 days so I do not have too many meals to take care of – luckily.

One of my favourite sides is also one of the easiest to make but, boy, is it tasty. I love my meat and protein but could almost eat just a big portion of these for dinner – I did say “almost”.

Ingredients:

1 small butternut, peeled and seeds removed
2 potatoes, peeled
2 onions, peeled
3 parsnips, peeled
4 carrots, peeled
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon herbs de Provence

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F
Cut the carrots, parsnips, potatoes, onions and butternut squash into cubes
(All the vegetables will shrink while baking, so don’t cut them too small)
Place all the cut vegetables in a single layer on a large baking sheet
Drizzle them with olive oil, salt, pepper and the herbs
Toss well to coat all
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until all the vegetables are tender, turning once with a metal spatula about half way through cooking
Season to taste, and serve hot
Enjoy!

Briam – Greek roasted vegetables

Tags

courgettes, greek, marrows, passata, potatoes, tomatoes, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian, zucchini

 

This is a Greek summertime favorite recipe. Crispy and fluffy potatoes, sweet, flavourful aubergines and juicy courgettes garnished with fresh herbs form an amazing vegetarian dish full of Mediterranean flavours.  The vegetables are coated with olive oil, flavoured with sweet onions and garlic and then baked to perfection.  You can even serve it hot or cold.  This popular dish is traditionally eaten with feta, but it’s also delicious with pork or lamb. Simply delicious!

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 150 ml / 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large aubergine , halved length-ways, then thickly sliced
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 600g / 1.3 lbs potatoes, peeled and cut into 5mm / 1/4″ -thick slices
• 6 medium tomatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 12 cherry tomatoes
• 4 courgettes, sliced
• 300g / 10oz tomato passata (strained tomato sauce)
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley , finely chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 200°C /400°
Heat some olive oil in a sauté pan over a medium heat
Add the onion and garlic to the pan and sauté for 5 minutes, until softened
In a large ovenproof dish spread the potatoes out in a single layer
Season with salt and pepper
Layer on the aubergines, courgettes, tomatoes
Add the onions and garlic
Pour the passata over the top, followed by the olive oil
Sprinkle with oregano and parsley and season generously with sea salt and ground black pepper
Cover the roasting tin tightly with foil and bake for approximately 30 minutes
Remove the foil and bake another 30 minutes or until the top has browned and vegetables are tender
Allow to cool slightly before serving
Enjoy!
If the vegetables have released a lot of juices, carefully pour them off into a wide pan and boil rapidly until nicely concentrated in flavour.

Pour back over the vegetables and leave to cool slightly before serving.