side dishes and starters

Gothenburg sandwich (on toast)

~ aplotzi ~ Leave a comment

This is a big open sandwich which is a traditionally Swedish and famously supposed to be one of the most delicious sandwiches in the world. It really is a tasty prawn salad on a small slice of rye bread with mayonnaise but it’s got lots of fresh flavours from the dill, lemon and pickled onions and cucumber. If you are low carbing, you can omit the bread. It can also be topped with a spoon of lumpfish.

It’s delicious and just an assembly job after you have made the pickled onion and cucumber the day before.

Continue reading →

baby aubergine salad with parmesan and basil

~ aplotzi ~ Leave a comment

These Italian aubergines are so creamy and delicious, I love them. This recipe is fantastic as a side dish to pasta for dinner or just with or on crusty bread for lunch. Its got all the Italian flavours of basil, pine nuts and parmesan with lots of garlic and olive oil. It’s also best served at room temperature like a salad so you can prepare it in advance and eat it at your leisure…

Continue reading →

shaved courgette salad with lemon, parmesan and herbs

~ aplotzi ~ Leave a comment

I think this might be my favourite salad now. I found it on Epicurious and tweaked it to my taste. It’s so delicious and easy to make, it’s kind of summery, although I would eat it all year round, and has the best flavours with toasted pine nuts, lemon and a tiny hint of hot from the dried chilli, but not so you would notice. The chilli makes the dressing unbelievably delicious. It would be perfect with a barbecue or with roasted fish or just on its own for lunch with crusty bread.

Continue reading →

coconut and celery salad with lime

~ aplotzi ~ Leave a comment

This recipe, from The Complete Book of Turkish Cooking is super healthy and tastes delicious and refreshing. I have made a dairy free alternative too. Its perfect with flatbreads falafel and humus or as a side to roast fish or meat and I sometimes eat it with avocados or boiled eggs on roasted sourdough.

Continue reading →

savoury stuffed apples with rice pine nuts and currants

~ aplotzi ~ Leave a comment

I adore sweet and savoury flavours together and this recipe from The Complete Book of Turkish Cooking nails this perfectly. I have tweaked it a bit because the first time I cooked them the cooking apples burst and so I had to start again even though they tasted amazing, so I went with Braeburn apples instead. I have also added more pine nuts and currants as I thought the recipe needed it and replaced the sugar with maple syrup as it’s low GI and used basmati rice. They are perfect as a side to a roast instead of stuffing or cold with a salad.

Continue reading →

whole roast pumpkin stuffed with rice pistachios apricots and cranberries

~ aplotzi ~ Leave a comment

This really delicious stuffed pumpkin tastes and looks amazing, it makes a fantastic center piece on the table for a vegetarian dinner, Sunday lunch, Christmas or Halloween. If pumpkin isn’t in season you can use any large squash or vegetable that you can stuff. It’s packed with nuts and fruit, is perfumed with saffron and based on a traditional Turkish recipe from a cookbook by Ghillie Basan but I’ve made it a bit easier. It’s great with roast potatoes and all the trimmings of a traditional roast dinner instead of turkey or even with turkey or you can stay traditional and serve it with other middle eastern dishes and salads, it’s also perfect with labneh with garlic in it.

Continue reading →

turkish roasted vegetables and peaches with pine nuts

~ aplotzi ~ Leave a comment

This delicious sweet and savoury combination of roasted vegetables and fruit is perfect as a side dish to meat or just with warm flatbreads with humus. I usually serve it with other salads or saffrony couscous. Perfect for a dinner for two or a dinner party.

Continue reading →

beetroot salad with pistachios

~ aplotzi ~ Leave a comment

Apart from being very pretty, this beetroot salad tastes amazing. It’s from the fab cookbook Many Greek Kitchens by Tessa Kiros which is stuffed with brilliant recipes and pictures. I served this at a dinner party with other salads, fries and roast fish, but you could also serve it as part of a mezze. It’s fresh creamy sweet and crunchy, my favourite things.

Continue reading →

chicory salad with anchovy sauce and breadcrumbs

~ aplotzi ~ Leave a comment

OMG this salad is so delicious, the recipe is a traditional Italian salad from the Rome in Italy and its usually served with bread on the side but I’ve made a crunchy sourdough crumb to go on top of it instead. Chicory is a tad bitter, which Italians love hence our love of the aperitif Campari, so you can add a teaspoon of maple syrup or sugar to the sauce if you prefer it a little sweeter. This salad is fantastic with fish or cheese or if you eat meat it would work really well with roast chicken or lamb.

Continue reading →

roasted cauliflower with chilli and anchovies

~ aplotzi ~ Leave a comment

This recipe is Spanish and it’s a really tasty way to cook cauliflower. It’s got lots of garlic and chilli so it’s a fantastic side dish to cook with baked fish or with other salads. It’s also got healthy lemon and parsley so it’s packed with vitamins and also very low carb. It can be served hot or at room temperature.

Continue reading →