halloumi wraps
Yay, summer is finally here! All those long, dark winter nights have been replaced with light and sun and warmth! Well, with light anyway, becuase the past few days have been horribly cold. But last week when the weather was fine we had a nice picnic by the water with wine and these very easy to make and easy to bring wraps.
If you’re not familiar with halloumi, it’s a salty cheese from Cyprus that that has a very unique texture. Since it has a much higher melting point than oridnary cheese, it’s perfect to grill – it turns out nothing like your ordinary grilled cheese! If you haven’t, you should find some and try it. It’s delicious!
Balsamico syrup is one of those things I over-use. I’m crazy about anything slightly acidic so I’m a huge fan of vinegar. This way, however, you get some of the tartness of a vinegar but with a lot of added sweetness and the texture of, say, mustard, which makes it much more easy to manage.
You need (per person):
1 tortilla (mine was flavoured with garlic and herbs)
1 tbsp cream cheese
lettuce
5 cocktail tomatoes, coarsely chopped
some spring onion, chopped
100 g halloumi
balsamico syrup
a little olive oil
salt, pepper
How to:
- Rinse and shred the lettuce and chop the tomatoes and the onion.
- Slice the halloumi and grill it in a frying pan in a little oil until it is golden.
- Spread the cream cheese over the wrap and put the lettuce, tomatoes and onions on it
- Add as much balsamico syrup as you like and add a little salt and pepper.
- Finish by putting the slices of halloumi on top and wrap it up.
Now, put on your bikini, grab a wine bottle and a blanket – and head out into the nice summer weather!
asparagus w parma ham
I love asparagus, but I prefer the green variety and the best way to cook it is to grill it in the oven with a little olive oil. It’s absolute YUM! This recipe the rather sweet aspargus with some salty parma ham which was a very nice combination.
asian style salad
This is a way of serving ordinary salad that I like to make and eat either as a condiment or as a starter. I like the tanginess of the vinegar, combined with the sesame. The trick is to use balsamic vinegar since it’s so sweet it makes any extra sugar unnecessary.
You need:
a variety of green leaves or Chinese cabbage
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Japanese soy sauce
1 tsp furikake
How to:
- Rinse and cut the vegetables into smaller pieces.
- Mix the ingredients for the dressing.
- Mix it well (I usually put it all into a plastic container and shake it).
- Let it rest for about five minutes.
Enjoy!
cauliflower soup
I’ve said it before. I think soup is the perfect fastfood. It usually takes under 20 min, can be made from almost anything and most often requires minimum washing up afterwards.
Today’s option was a cauliflower variety, spiced up with some cheese and a little of my own forest spice blend. Yeah, I know I use that in everything, but there’s a very good reason for that! It’s amazingly good.
There. Today’s bragging session over. Lets get back to the cooking!
You need:
1/2 head cauliflower
1/2 liter chicken stock
3 tbsp grated cheese
1 tsp forest spice blend
salt, pepper
How to:
- Cut the cauliflower into smaller pieces
- Bring the stock to boil and add the cauliflower.
- Let it boil until soft – I’m not going to give you an exact time as this depends on the size of the pieces etc. I’d say around ten minutes, but just test it with a fork and you’ll be able to tell when it’s soft.
- Right before you decide it’s finished, add the forest spice.
- Mix it with a blender stick and add the cheese. Blend some more just to make sure it’s all properly mixed.
- Taste with salt and pepper and you’re all set for dinner!
update
So, I’ve been absent lately. I have been so busy that I just haven’t had time to post – or even cook. Hello, fast food!
But that is a thing of the past. This is the first day of the rest of my life and all that, and in the future I’ll try to manage at least one post a week. That’s a promise.
With that said, I have another confession to make. I’m no longer 100% vegetarian. I still eat vegetarian as much as I can, but I’ve slipped into eating meat at least a couple of times a week. This means that this site won’t be 100% vegetarian either. I’ll try to mark the recipes that are clearly though.
So, not that I expect anyone missed me, but I’m back!
gnocchi gratin
I think I’ve mentioned before that I love gnocchi. The other day I decided to try something new with them – putting them in a gratin. The results were quite good. I mean, it won’t win any prizes for good looks, but it tasted great and was really easy to make.
You need:
250 g gnocchi (Italian pasta/potato dumplings)
2/3 cup cottage cheese
50 g feta cheese
100 g of frozen spinach
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tsp forest spice blend
salt, pepper
How to:
- Defrost the spinach.
- Mix the cheeses, the spinach, the garlic and the spices using a food processor.
- Put the gnocchi in a bowl and pour the cheese mix on top. Stir until it is thoroughly blended.
- Put it in a oven-proof dish and bake it at 200 °C (400 °F ) for 20 – 25 minutes.
