The Recipe Room

I’m a fan of fresh sea bass that’s cooked right through. Not so well cooked that it turns dry and hard, but just enough to remove what I would describe as the gelatinous texture of the raw meat. I know that there will be many of you who prefer seared or flash fried sea bass, so cook them to your taste, and of course the rarer they are, the faster you’ll get your dinner on the plate. Although my sea bass with white bean mash take that little bit longer to cook, I still have the meal prepared and in front of me in little more than 15 minutes.

Mash made with white beans is simply delicious; and so very fast to make. I mix mine up with garlic, fresh herbs, lemon, and a sprinkling of salt; it’s a wonderful alternative to potato mash if you’re in a hurry, or if you just fancy it, like I often do. If I’m making the mash to go with another type of meat, I often use lemon juice and zest instead of lime, but I’m sticking to lime here as we’re also using it for the fish. I also like sticking potato chips in for a crunchy texture.

If you want an extra accompaniment, this meal is really nice served up with tomato salsa, or if you prefer something green, try these steamed spring vegetables with Parmesan and toasted pine nuts. Or serve with just a few simple lettuce leaves.

I try not to eat a lot of meat, but recently I have taken a shining to finding lamb dishes, and the other day I went on a splurge to a Moroccan restaurant searching for something new and interesting. There I realised that couscous is a rice substitute that I had overlooked. After seeing that I could combine lamb and couscous together, I thought I’d try this lamb with couscous and apricot salad, which is a really light and fresh lunch that won’t leave you feeling heavy in any way.

If you are a vegetarian, you could also try this pistachio and cranberry couscous with goat’s cheese. Either way, couscous makes a satisfying salad!

As it is equally delicious served warm or cold, it is also ideal for a spring picnic. Just put the lamb in one container and the couscous and apricot salad in another and combine them on arrival!

What we need:

• 600g lamb, cubed or cut into small pieces
• 400g of couscous
• 12 dried apricots
• 1 tablespoon of pressed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 dl of cashew nuts
• 30g raisins
• a handful of chopped almonds
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 3 pinches of ground pepper
• 2 pinches of salt
• 10 coriander leaves
• 1 cinnamon stick (to garnish)

How to make it:

1. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.
2. Fry the lamb in a frying pan in the butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Place the meat in an oven-safe form and place in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes until ready.
4. In a sauce pan, boil the couscous according to the instructions on the package.
5. Meanwhile, chop the apricots into small pieces.
6. Mix the olive oil with the lemon juice and cinnamon.
7. Add the apricots, cashew nuts, raisins and almonds with the lemon juice/olive oil mixture.
8. Add the couscous when it is ready. Mix it all carefully. Add salt and pepper according to taste.
9. Serve the couscous salad as the base on a plate and place the lamb on top.
10. Sprinkle over the coriander leaves and garnish with the cinnamon stick.

Time needed: 30 minutes
Serves: 4
Level: Easy

A few years ago, I visited Bangkok while backpacking around Asia, and several times I bought shrimp soup with coconut milk and red curry paste from one of the small food stalls. I remember how delicious and cheap the soup was, and how happy it made my taste buds.

After having been in Asia, I feel a sense of “something missing” when I arrive home from school and only find rather bland food in my pantry. I recall my holiday’s exotic flavours and dishes made with a blend of spices that I wouldn´t dream of trying myself because it seems so overwhelming. I remember dishes that had that hard-to-describe tang that made my taste buds somersault with pleasure. And I sigh and think that those types of food are for holidays or restaurant visits only.

Although nowadays we are flooded with recipes of Thai dishes, often we think we don´t have time to “go exotic”, and that they just seem too difficult to make at home. Nothing could be further from the truth.

After doing some research, I found a recipe for a Thai soup that is easy to make, and which has both the delicious mildness of the coconut milk and the spicy tang of the red curry. Add to that the meaty taste of the shrimp, and your taste buds will be back in Bangkok! (If you are a chicken lover, don’t worry. This chicken in coconut milk broth will do the trick as well!)

What we need:

• 1 squash
• 1 small leek
• 1 tablespoon of rapeseed oil
• 1 pressed clove of garlic
• 1 small red onion
• 2 tablespoons of lobster stock
• 4 decilitres of coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon of red curry paste
• 5 decilitres of chicken broth
• 400g of shrimp
• 1/2 decilitre of fresh thyme and some fresh coriander (as decoration)

How to make it:
1. Rinse and cut the squash and leek into strips.
2. Sizzle them in the oil in a saucepan together with the pressed garlic.
3. Cut the red onion in slices and add in the saucepan.
4. Add all the other ingredients except the shrimp.
5. Let it all simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Add the shrimp.
7. Pour the soup into large bowls and place the fresh coriander on top. Serve with fresh wholemeal bread and butter.

Serves: 4
Time needed: 20 minutes
Level: easy

Like I said in an earlier post, spinach is one of my new favourite foods, and I try to incorporate it into as many meals as possible. Fortunately, when you buy it fresh, it usually comes in a huge bag which will last you for many dishes. Another reason I like to use it fresh is because in this form, it retains more of its nutrients.

Another one of my favourites, this time an herb, is the exquisite coriander which gives a dish a lovely exotic feel. I thought mixing spinach and coriander might be a good idea, and yes, it turned out to be tasty. Interestingly, apart from being really delicious, did you know that coriander can help alleviate certain kinds of hay fever? Good to know in springtime, folks!

Here is a simple recipe for a pita bread with fried vegetables, coriander and ricotta cheese. If you don’t like tuna, you can just as well add any protein, such as smoked salmon or chicken. It feels like you have just made a luxury sandwich! (I also recommend this hot smoked salmon bruschetta.)

What we need:

• 150g of ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
• 1 small tin of tuna
• 2-3 pitas
• 1 small onion
• 90g of fresh spinach
• 1 tomato
• 10 small mushrooms
• 60g of fresh coriander
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1/2 -1 teaspoon of salad herbs

How to make it:
1. Wash and cut the mushrooms, tomato and onion. Place the olive oil in a frying pan and heat. Once at a medium temperature, throw in the veggies and fry until soft.
2. Wash the spinach and coriander. Cut off the stems and discard. Chop the leafy part into small bits and mix them together in a bowl.
3. Mix the salad herbs into the ricotta cheese.
4. When the vegetables in the frying pan are soft, pour out some of the excess liquid. Add the tin of tuna and the salt and let it all fry together for 3 minutes while mixing.
5. Preheat the pita bread in the oven.
6. When hot, cut a slit in each pita bread and fill them with fried vegetables, ricotta cheese and the spinach/coriander mix.
7. Serve with a glass of cold beer.

Serves: 2-3
Time needed: 20 minutes
Level: Easy

In honour of the versatility and history of Feta cheese, here is a recipe for Greek grilled toast with Feta cheese and cherry tomatoes.

Feta cheese is delicious on just about everything. It makes salads more interesting, such as in this healthy and original superfoods salad. I love the name “superfood” because to me, it means a food that is well-rounded and gives me all the nutrients and vitamins I need to get through the day. I think these toasts are superfood as well because it has elements from all the food groups.

Did you know that this Greek curd cheese is believed to have been made for thousands of years? Due to its proud heritage, the title “Feta cheese” has been copyrighted since 2002 so that only cheese made exclusively in Greece with sheep or goat’s milk has the right to bear the name within the European Union.

Try forming them into different shapes to give them an extra twist! How about cutting these toasts into small pizza slices? Or perhaps a Mickey Mouse head? Why not try them in the shape of a heart for your sweetheart? All you need for the shapes are cookie-cutters or a large glass, and some imagination. Serve and surprise your friends or partner with your ingenious toast shapes! They’ll love it!

What we need:

• 8 slices of toast bread
• 1/2 a teaspoon of butter on each
• 16 cherry tomatoes
• 8 black olives, pitted
• 150g of Feta cheese
• a few leaves of fresh basil or coriander leaves

How we make it:
1. Cut the bread into the shapes you want them (I am partial to the heart-shaped ones, but I made the round ones that you see in the picture for simplicity’s sake. To do so, I used a large glass to cut around the bread).
2. Butter the bread that you are going to use.
3. Chop the tomatoes into small pieces.
4. Chop the olives into fine pieces.
5. Mix the tomatoes and olives and spread them on the toast.
6. Grate the Feta cheese and sprinkle over the toast.
7. Place some leaves of fresh basil on each.
8. Grill in the middle of the oven for 8-10 minutes.
9. Serve with an iceberg and tomato salad.

Serves: 2
Time needed: 20 minutes
Level: Easy