Hummus
Hummus is a well known dish that originates from the Middle East and is incredibly easy to make! This dish is mainly made from chickpeas, which are high in protein.
440 g chickpeas (dried or canned)
1 crushed garlic clove
1 teaspoon of tahini
1/2 lemon
50ml olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of salt
If you have bought dried chickpeas - soak overnight and boil until tender in salted water
If you have bought canned chickpeas - drain and rinse them
Add chickpeas to food processor, add tahini paste, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and salt.
Process until smooth or pulse if you prefer more texture.
Add salt, tahini or lemon to taste.
Transfer to a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Serve with warm Turkish bread or pita chips
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Curry Potato Soup
Potatoes are a staple of diets all around the world, and contain vitamin C and B6. Emergent studies on potatoes point towards exciting health benefits, though these are yet to be ascertained.
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 kg potatoes cubed
1 tsp curry powder
1 carrot chopped
220ml milk
salt and pepper
dried bay leaf
vegetable stock
Cook onion and garlic in a large saucepan until transparent, add curry powder, vegetable stock, salt and pepper. Add potatoes and carrots, cook for five minutes.
Add two litres of boiled water (or approximately to the top of saucepan) then add a bay leaf. Simmer for half and hour.
Add salt, pepper or vegetable stock to taste. Take out the bay leaf and put everything into a food processor when cooled (do this in batches if it doesn't all fit at once). Put soup back into the pot and add a cup of milk and simmer for five more minutess. Turn off heat and add fresh chopped parsley and chives.
Serve with fresh bread.
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Turkish Tomato Soup
Tomato soup is perfect for winter and their health benefits are amazing! Recent research shows that tomatoes are full of antioxidents which help protect your body cells. Tomatoes also promote heart, prostate, and colon health and contain high levels of Vitamin A, C and K.
1 onion
2 tins of tomato (chopped or whole)
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
Chilli flakes or whole dried chilli or fresh chilli (I find that dried chilli is stronger)
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
Olive oil
Angel hair or Risoni noodles
Salt
Dice onion into small cubes. Heat saucepan to medium heat add olive oil (enough to line base of saucepan) and add onion, cook till browned or soft and transparent. Add a little salt, some smoked paprika and chili (as much as you can think you can handle! I use about half to one teaspoon).
Add tinned tomatos (if you buy the whole tomatoes variety, you can cheat by chopping them up with a sharp knife while they're still in the tin - make sure you drain some of the liquid into the saucepan before you start or it will be messy!)
Stir everything together, put lid on saucepan and bring to boil.
Simmer for about five minutes then add dried noodles (about one handful). Continue boiling for about ten minutess, taste and see whether more favour is required.
Serve with a slice of lemon + a good toasted bread and some hommous for your bread .. YUM! :)
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Simple Summer Salad
Cos lettuce
Chives
Basil
Parsley (flat leaf)
Majoram
Rosemary
1/2 Lemon
Pecorino cheese
Wash cos lettuce and herbs. Roughly chop the cos and herbs add to a bowl. Shave pecorino over the salad and squeeze lemon juice.
