Another blogger asked me to write a recipe for homemade vanilla extract as I make my own. It’s so easy, and makes a sweet gift for another baker in your life.
vanilla extract
lower carb
blood orange and radish salad with pistachios
A really easy salad that can be made in minutes and looks really pretty, and tastes divine.
Serves 2-4.
Ingredients:
4 oranges (blood oranges if available), peel, pips and pith removed, cut into thin slices
A bunch of mint finely chopped
A large handful of pistachios roughly chopped
A bunch of radishes, washed and shaved into thin slices
Some salad leaves (optional)
carrot salad with orange flower water
Yes I am obsessed with carrots. Here’s another carrot salad recipe, just in case you are also a carrot person. Fragrant, fresh and delicious, this salad will transport you straight to Marrakesh
Serves 4 as a starter.
Ingredients:
500g carrots, peeled and grated
2 large juicy oranges or 4 clementines
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons of orange flower water
Juice of 1 orange
3 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
aloo gobi
This is my own version of the Leon Aloo Gobi. Even though it’s got a lot of ingredients, it’s worth making as a stand alone veggie dish. It’s perfect for a vegan or vegetarian dinner party served with basmati rice or a paratha. I think it has all the right flavours and textures. Sweet and savoury and very creamy. Everyone loves it, including die hard carnivores. It has been wheeled out for many a dinner party and vegetarian dinner à deux.
Recipe
Serves 3-4.
Ingredients:
1 medium onion finely chopped
2 carrots thickly sliced
2 tablespoons olive or coconut oil
1 red chilli
2 thumb sized pieces of fresh ginger
5 cloves peeled garlic
1 heaped teaspoon madras curry powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon black onion seeds
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/2 a cauliflower broken into florets
1 x 400ml tin coconut milk
1 cup frozen peas (thawed)
Juice of half a lemon
A handful of sultanas
Finely chopped parsley or coriander
A handful of desiccated coconut (and some optional coconut chips to sprinkle on top)
fennel and ruby grapefruit salad with pomegranate molasses
A summer-tasting salad with winter vegetables. Fresh, healthy, and perfect for a detox.
salade de tomates
I always had this as a child, my parents lived in Paris when they were young, and came back with lots of recipes, so french food is comfort food to me. This is very nice with just crusty bread, or as a side dish to a risotto or pizzetta.
Serves 2.
Ingredients:
300g approx. of large-ish tomatoes
1 small red onion, very finely chopped
Small bunch of basil, finely chopped
Small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon sherry or white wine vinegar
1-2 tablespoon maple syrup
1 crushed clove of garlic (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
jerk chicken
A friend’s husband asked me to make this for dinner, because he hadn’t had jerk chicken for a long time. He’s a chef, and he loved it.
Serves 3.
Ingredients:
6 chicken thighs, bone in, skin off
A couple of limes
Marinade
1 bunch of spring onions
1 tablespoon of fresh chopped ginger
2 garlic cloves
2 red chillies, chopped
A few sprigs of thyme
Half a lime juiced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup or brown sugar
1 heaped teaspoon ground allspice
classic waldorf salad
Created at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York in 1896, this salad doesn’t need changing. The sweet tartness of the apples make it perfect on its own or with meat.
watermelon and feta salad
This salad, though simple, is summer on a plate even if it’s not outside. The saltiness of the feta means it doesn’t need salt, just a grinding of fresh pepper.
Serves 4.
Ingredients:
700g watermelon cubed
280g feta
A few sprigs of finely chopped mint
A big splash of extra virgin olive oil
mozzarella pizzaiola
This recipe is from the Polpo cookbook and the only change I’ve made is that I’ve added maple syrup instead of the sugar. The salad dressing is made in the oven with the roasting tomatoes and takes on their flavour. Yum.
Serves 4.
Ingredients:
A punnet( approx 500g) of cherry or plum tomatoes
Olive oil
Red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
A handful of chopped fresh oregano leaves
4 x 125 g mozzarella balls
Salad leaves
Salt and pepper
