A New Beginning (and Couscous)

Hello world,

I have been absent for quite a while. Not that anyone cares – despite myself. I don’t like the idea of having started this blog and then letting it die. I want to make use of the advantages of regular blogging: reliability, a little mental excercise, fun, seeing your work grow. Which is why my new year resolution was to blog at least once a week, Fridays. And yes, that was my only resolution – my life will be changing quite a bit, and there’s so much I want to and should be doing, and I’d rather have one extra resolution that I’ll really try and stick with, than several that don’t last long.

Anyways, here comes a recipe for a veggie couscous with feta and parmesan cheese. It is from my new cookbook by Donna Hay which Santa brought me, and I love it. However, the original recipe suggested using store bought antipasti, but I scrapped that and fried some fresh vegetables instead. Not because I’m so sophisticated, but because it is cheaper.

Ingredients:
serves 2-3

1 cup couscous

1 large red bell pepper, cubed
2 big handfuls fresh mushrooms, halved
1 can artichoke hearts, drained, halved
1 garlic clove, chopped

olive oil

1 small handful parsley leaves, chopped

salt, pepper

1 cup feta cubes
grated parmesan to taste

Directions:

This is super easy. In a bowl, cover the couscous with boiling water (I’d say with approx. 1 2/3 cups), add a pinch of salt, stir, and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit until the grains have absorbed the water.

In a pan, fry the vegetables in olive oil until soft and nice. Remove from heat, add parsley, and season to taste.

Loosen the couscous with a spoon, and serve with veggies and cheeses.

Easy, right? And really good!

xoxo,
F.

Vegetable Tarte

Hello again!

With this beautiful tarte, I used quark cheese in the crust. Yes, really! And I loved it, because it made the crust kind of soft and chewy, and also adds a slight taste of cheese which went well with the tomatoes. And it’s not complicated at all! I urge you to give it a try.
Here comes the recipe:

Ingredients:
serves 2-3

1 cup flour
1 cup quark cheese
1/4 cup cold butter, cut into cubes
1/4 tsp. salt

You can wash and cut the veggies while the dough is in the fridge:
1 large onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 small zucchini, sliced
2 bell peppers, sliced
2 tomatoes, quartered

olive oil
salt, pepper, oregano
bread crumbs, approx. 1/4 cup

Directions:

For the crust, knead flour, butter, quark cheese, and salt into a smooth, homogeneous dough. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and put into your fridge for at least 30 mins.

In the meantime, prepare the veggies (EXCEPT the tomatoes!) and fry them in a large pan for 3-4 mins., not more. Season the veggie mix with salt, pepper, and oregano leaves (dried or fresh).

Take the crust dough out of the fridge, and roll it out into the shape of your tarte pan. Transfer into the pan, and prick with a fork a couple of times. Sprinkle bread crumbs on the crust; cover with the vegetables.

Preheat your oven to 390°F.

Arrange quartered tomatoes on top, and gently push the crust rim on the veggies (I don’t know how to describe this! I hope you can see what I mean in the picture).

Bake the tarte for approx. 30 mins., until the crust is lightly brown, the tomatoes look crinkled, and the veggies are tender. Serve with a nice green salad, and experience happiness!!

Goodbye for now! xoxo,
F.

Spicy Rice

Hello there,

here’s an easy-peasy recipe for rice with veggies and tofu, seasoned with our very favorite condiments: chili paste and soy sauce. This is a nice weeknight dinner, leftovers to be eaten the next day for lunch, stretched with some peas, nuts, or whatever.
Here we go:

Ingredients:
serves 3-4

1 1/2 cups rice
3 cups water
1/4 tsp. salt

2 bell peppers, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
approx. 14 oz. tofu, cut into cubes (I used store-bought, smoked tofu here; otherwise, use plain tofu that has been marinated)

vegetable oil
approx. 1/2 tsp. green chili paste (store-bought)
approx. 2 tbsps. soy sauce

Directions:

This is super-easy. In a pot, combine rice, water, and salt. Bring to a boil and let bubble over medium heat until the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender.

In a large pan, fry the veggies and the tofu cubes in vegetable oil.

In a large bowl, mix veggies and rice. Season with chili paste and soy sauce. Stir well. Enjoy!

Eat well, my friends. Later! xoxo,
F.

Rice Salad with Grilled Peppers and Avocado

Good evening,

yes, another salad! I know that there are a couple of rice-and-avocado-salads out there on the interwebs, people call them ‘deconstructed sushi rolls’ or something, which is funny. My idea here was to push that into more of a mediterranean direction, hence the grilled peppers, balsamico vinegar, and fresh basil.
I have to admit that preparing those peppers took some time, so if you are in a hurry, I’d suggest simply dicing them raw and then fry them for a couple of minutes, i.e. not bother with the peeling process. About peeling peppers I’m not so sure anyways. I mean I get the idea, but on the other hand, the peel really doesn’t bother me. I don’t peel tomatoes, either. So, as often in life, this totally depends on one’s personal taste, and by all means feel free to do it or not. Aaaaaaanyhoodle, here comes the recipe.

Ingredients:
serves 4

3 bell peppers
1 ripe avocado
1 cup rice

1 handful of fresh basil
3 tbsps. olive oil
1 tbsp. white balsamico vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a pot, cover the rice with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, add a pinch of salt (or vegetable stock powder), and let cook on medium heat until the water is absorbed. Remove from heat, stir, and let sit.

In the meantime, wash the peppers, and cut into stripes. Place the stripes, skin down, in a hot grill pan. Let sit until the skin turns black and blisters.

Take them out, put them into a bowl, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let sit for a couple of minutes.

In the meantime, dice the avocado. I always cut it in half, take out the stone, cut the flesh into little cubes, and then kind of turn the avocado half inside out. That way, nice little avocado pieces fall right into my salad bowl.

Next, take the pepper slices out of the bowl, and start the laborious process of peeling them. Cut into pieces.

In a bowl, combine rice, peppers, and avocado. Add vinegar and oil, and season with salt and pepper. Lastly, chop the basil, and add. Mix gently. Serve with bread.

When we ate our salad, it was still a little warm, which I liked. But naturally, you can also let this salad prepare ahead of time and serve it cold. I think that some leafy greens would also work well in this, maybe baby spinach leaves?

For tomorrow I’m planning a chickpea-mozzarella-tomato-salad. We’ll see how that turns out!
Until then,
xoxo, F.