Three ways with yellow split peas

Hello my lovely readers!!! I have missed the whole September in a terms of blogging but I haven't stopped dreaming about food, cooking, baking and creating new recipes. As usual, I use simple ingredients, seasonal produce, nutritious and always budget friendly. This time the main character is yellow split peas : rich in protein, flavour and very attractive golden colour. Comfort food - made easy!!   

Cauliflower & split peas curry

Ingredients:

serve 4

1 onion, chopped

3 Tbsp green curry paste

2 cups of cooked split peas or 1 cup of uncooked ( soak in water overnight )

half cauliflower, dry grilled in a grill pan 

1 cup of passata 

1 tin of coconut milk

salt and pepper

one mug of rice of your choice 

Heat a grill pan and place the cauliflower florets. Grill them until they get dark colours around the edges. Set a side.

In a large cooking pot heat up some oil, add the onions and cook for 3 minutes.

Add the curry paste and stir for 2 - 3 minutes.

Add the cooked split peas, cauliflower, passata, coconut milk and one cup of vegetable stock or water. Add some salt and pepper.

Stir it all up and cook for 15 minutes. 

Serve with cooked fluffy basmati rice.

Done !!!

Split peas dip

Ingredients:

one cup of cooked split peas

1/2 cup water from the cooked peas

1 heaped Tbsp tahini 

1 clove minced garlic

juice of half a lemon

salt

pepper

Place all the ingredients into a big jar and blend it, using a stick blender.

You can also place the ingredients into a food processor but the first method saves you washing up :)

Add some olive oil before serving .....

This soup is made of all sorts of vegetables such as: leek, carrots, potato, parsnip and celery.

To make the soup more tick I add one cup or more of cooked yellow split peas before I liquidise it .

Yum !!

Summer baking + traveling to Macedonia and Greece 🍩🍰⛱

ok, here I am with some new bakes and some new photos from the summer  

 🍩🍰⛱

Bagels 

These bagels are made using:

200g wholemeal flour

300g white flour

1 pack of instant yeast, 7g

1 tsp salt

325ml warm water

1 egg for glazing

seeds for topping 

Sieve the flour into a big mixing bowl, add the yeast, salt and the water.

Knead the dough for 10 minutes if doing by hands.

Divide the dough into eight equal-size pieces.

Take one piece and roll it into a ball then dip your finger in a little flour and push it through the centre of the dough ball. Make the hole about 4cm wide by spinning it around.

Place the bagel into a baking tray and repeat with the rest of the dough balls.

Spray the bagels with oil and cover with plastic wrap.

Leave to rise for about 40 minutes.

Then brush the bagels with whisk egg and sprinkle some seeds of your choice.

I have used sesame, onion and caraway seeds.

Bake the bagels for 25 - 30 minutes on 200 C 

Birthday cake for my mother in law 

Raspberry, vanilla & white chocolate cake with almond flowers by Lorraine Pescale

Almond twists 

I can only say these almond bakes are divine:

dough; 250ml lukewarm milk

1 egg, beaten

85g sugar

1 tsp salt

1 or 2 tsp crushed cardamom seeds

7g instant yeast

500g white flour

75g butter, room temperature 

filling: 25g ground almonds

25g sugar

50g soft butter

1 egg for glazing

20g almond flakes

Whisk together the milk, egg, sugar, salt and cardamom.

Mix the flour and yeast, add the liquid and mix with a wooden spoon.

Finally add the butter and knead it into the dough.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes.

Return the dough to the mixing bowl, cover with clean tea towel and leave it to rise for 1 hour.

After that, divide the dough into 2 pieces, using a rolling pin, roll each dough into a rectangle size 15x25 cm.

Spread the butter over the dough and scatter the almonds and sugar. Place one dough on top of the other, buttered side down.

Using a sharp knife, cut the pastry into 15 strips.

Twist each strip into a knot and place it on a baking tray.

Brush the beaten egg over the top and sprinkle with flaked almonds.

Bake for 10 - 12 minutes on 200 C 

Sunrise over Macedonia

Olympia, Greece 

The starfish was picked by my brother in law 

Beach read

Skopje, Macedonia

Turkish coffee made on outdoor fire 💜

My dad's chilies 

The basil 

The tomatoes 

The peaches

The 12 kg watermelon 

June favorites 🍴 ☕🍄 🌼 🍓 🍒🍸

 June in photos 

Courgette and mint soup served with homemade bread roll ...

Lunch sandwich doesn't have to be boring ......  
I fried some chestnut mushrooms with oil, salt and pepper. Crunchy radishes, creamy avocado and my favorite salad leaves + mushrooms = perfect lunch ....

Afternoon tea

My dear friend Gosia throw an afternoon tea for two of her lucky friends, one of them was ME !!!
The theme was Alice in Wonderland, nupkins, serving plates, tea cups, tea pot and even the tablecloth - everything was Alice in Wonderland.
To start with, we had tofu open lettuce wraps and red rice salad with a bit of a rose wine.
Lots of nibbles as well.....
We eat those gorgeous cakes followed by green tea served with some fresh mint ....

Lettuce wraps are made of fried tofu, spring onion, corn, tamari and piri-piri seasoning .

Salad made of wild and red rice, tomatoes, peppers, feta cheese, spring onions, radishes, rocket salad leaves and seeds.

Lavender in my garden 

My ultimate summer detox salad

This is very light and yet very fulfill salad that I have been eating this summer . The combination of raw cauliflower, herbs, protein-rich lentils, creamy avocado and some colourful salad tomatoes it's just divine. The honey and mustard dressing is the icing of the cake - seriously, this salad is absolute winner this summer ....  

Ingredients:

half head of cauliflower

150 gr brown lentils ( soaked overnight ) or 1 tin of lentils 

3 - 4 springs of onions , chopped

handful of tomatoes, halved 

1 avocado, chopped into chunks 

herbs such as parsley, mint and basil

for the dressing: 

2 Tbsp wholegrain mustard

1 Tbsp honey

3 Tbsp water

3 Tbsp olive oil

juice and zest of 1 lemon 

little salt ( the mustard is salty )

pepper

Cut the cauliflower into small florets and place it into a food processor.

Blitz until breadcrumbs look-like.

Cook the lentils for 20 - 30 minutes or until cooked.

Combine all ingredients into a large salad bowl and set aside.

For the dressing, put all ingredients into a clean jar, put the lid on and shake it.

Pour over the salad that you are going to eat. The rest of the salad / dressing can be stored in fridge for up to 3 days ...

Green ice tea with nectarines and mint

Summer is finally here and this is one of my favorite drink. It's refreshing and elegant as well as beautiful and healthy . Gave it a go this summer - you will love it too 💗💗🌞🌞

Ingredients:

4 green tea bags

1 fresh nectarine, pitted and sliced 

1 small bunch fresh mint

honey to taste ( optional )

sliced lime or lemon ( optional )

Bring water to a boil in a kettle, place the tea bags in a cap and add 1 cup of water. After 5 minutes remove and discard the tea bags and allow the tea to cool before you pour into a jag. Add 3 cups of cold water as well as the fruit and mint.

Sweeten with honey to taste if you wish.

 Add some ice cubes before serving.....

National Vegetarian Week 15th - 21st May

I am very excited to share this ideas of a truly nutritious plates of food. 

Roasted butternut squash with chili and garlic served with kale and seeds.....

Pizza made with organic unbleached flour, topped by pesto, cheese, veggies and rocket salad  I have been buying this flour for the past four years, making and baking pastries, pizzas, bread, cakes, cookies and much more .....

Hummus, quinoa, beetroot, carrot, celery, tomatoes, peppers, avocado and seeds

French toast sticks with maple syrup and fresh fruit .

 I used leftover loaf bread, thick cut into a sticks.

 Dip into eggs and shallow fry.

 Serve with maple syrup and fruit - this was a perfect brunch after a long walk with the kids!!

Three ways with leftover rice - eat your greens

Sunday is the day when I cook grains and pulses, roast seeds and nuts  for the next five days. My favorite grain is short brown rice, it's sticky, grainy and flavoursome, perfect for a quick and healthy lunch . Organic Suma short brown rice is my favorite, I simply soak 1 - 2 cups in cold water over night, the next day I rinse out the rice and cook it for 20 - 25 minutes on a very low temperature.... 

This one is the easiest dish ever, ideal for one of those days when I haven't been for a run or long walk: simply cut one broccoli head in half and cook / steam it . The rice is flavored by one Tbsp of tamari . 1/4 to 1/2 avocado is must have !

This fresh salad is very rich of nutritional food: chickpeas, chopped fresh tomatoes, spring onions, sunflower seeds, topped by some homemade hummus as well as red pepper and cucumber. 

Roast sweet potatoes, kale and cooked rice was already in the fridge, I just had to chop some avocado and red cabbage and season it with olive oil and lemon juice !



I am sharing this post as a contribution to  eat your greens the lovely blog called Allotment 2 Kitchen 

I am also contributing to Cook once eat twice , another blog that is dear to me, it's called Searching for spice

April favorites

I love these little beauties, I make them all the time and I always use different vegetables, sugar snap peas and spring onions are added to this batch. The recipe is from this blog - click here to find out more ...

Tried something new this week, meatless meatballs, really easy to make and they taste ok. Two out of three children eat their dinner without any comment, one child did not eat . The recipe is from the blog called Wholefully

This is my guilty pleasure - white bread !! It is not just any white bread, it's organic, slow-proved,  made and baked by me. For the recipe click here