Simpel starters: salmon salad

Salmonsalad2This salad is a great way to make the most of slices of smoked salmon. This salad is inspired on carpaccio. It is an easy way to impress your guests without too much fuss. If you buy good quality salmon, you just need to bring the ingredients together to create a beautiful harmony of flavors and textures.

I like making 4 individual servings, but if you want you can make a large serving platter.

Salmon salad (4 servings)

  • 200 grams smoked salmon
  • 2 handfuls of your favorite lettuce leaves
  • 1 (spring) onion finely sliced
  • 1 handful of pine nuts
  • olive oil
  • 1 lemon. Use half for dressing the salad and cut the rest in wedges for presentation.
  • parmesian
  • Optional: sliced tomato and cucumber

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After slicing your ingredients, assemble your salad. Dress your leaves with olive oil and lemon juice and divide them over the plates. Spread your ingredients over the leaves. Finish with an extra drizzle of olive oil, freshly ground black pepper and a sprinkling of sea salt.

This salad also works great with slices of fresh tuna.

Quick and easy mini veggi pizza

This is not a recipe for real pizza (Read more about pizza dough and pizza toppings). These mini pizza are delicious glutenfree vegetable bites. My son loves making these and having them for dinner. But they would also make a great party treat or be part of a great high tea.MiniPizza2

Once you have sliced your ingredients, you can assemble these mini pizzas with your toddler.

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Mini veggi pizza’s

  • Eggplant/aubergine in 5 mm slices
  • 1 cup of my no fuss Tomato sauce / or a jar of ready made sauce
  • 1 cup of grated Parmesan
  • 1 mozzarella cheese ball in slices
  • 1 tomato in small cubes
  • optional: 1 onion in small cubes
  • Oregano

Lay your eggplant slices on a baking sheet. Spoon a small spoon of sauce on each slice. Sprinkle with some oregano, then add your tomato and union. Sprinkle with Parmesan and top with a small slice of mozzarella.

Bake in a 220 degrees C oven for 15 minutes and enjoy!

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We tried this recipe with courgette as well, this worked fine but we just love eggplant more.

Read more about cooking with toddlers here.

Simpel starters: courgette soup

GSoup1In the summer I find myself overwhelmed my the bounty of produce. One vegetable that grows in abundance in the summer is the courgette. When I have a large surplus, I like to make this soup. It can be eaten warm or cold, my favorite! When it is cold you really appreciate the smooth texture and the subtle flavors.

Courgette soup

  • 2 courgette
  • 500 ml vegetable stock
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1 onion
  • 1 cup of Greek yogurt
  • Fresh herbs to your taste
  1. Dice your courgette and finely slice your onion.
  2. Gently fry your courgette and onion in the oil for five minutes.
  3. Add the stock and let this mix simmer for 15 minutes until the courgette is soft.
  4. Blend your ingredients to a smooth soup and add in the Greek yogurt.
  5. Mix in some finely sliced fresh herbs like dill, basil or mint.
  6. Season to taste. If you plan to eat the soup cold, season you soup well as cool soups need intenser seasoning.

Gsoup2Combine with some carrot soda bread for a healthy vegetarian lunch!

Barbecue side dish: beetroot carpaccio

Beetroot is a vegetable I had to learn to appreciate. Beetroot carpaccio always does the trick for us and our guests. I make it on a festive and large dish, this recipe serves about 2 people. In these fotographs I used yellow beetroot.Beetroot2

I make this dish very often, so I like to vary the ingredients depending on the contents of my refrigerator. Just discover your own favorite set of ingredients and let me know how it turns out!

Beetroot carpaccio

  • Three boiled beetroots (boil in water for 75 minutes and then peel)
    Use mixed colors of you can.
  • 200 grams white cheese – my favorite is soft goats cheese, but feta cheese works as well. On occasion I have use crumbled Boursin as well.
  •  Generous sprinkling of fresh or dried herbs. I like using mint, basil and/or dill.
  • 2 spring onions finely sliced – although your plain onion would work as well.
  • Honey
  • Olive oil
  • Balsamic vinegar or other sweet vinegar
  • Optional extras:
    • Ribbons of smoked salmon
    • Capers

1. Make fine slices of beetroot and arrange these on your plate.

2. Crumble your cheese on the beetroot. I like a generous cover of cheese.

3. Sprinkle on the herbs and onion. (And optional extras.)

4. Drizzle with honey, vinegar and a generous helping of olive oil.

5. Season with freshly crushed black pepper.

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Tip: This salad tastes great on a piece of fresh bread too.

Sweet mini veggie burgers

I love making my own vegetarian balls and falafel look-a-likes. I was looking for a new way to cook with sweet potatoes. I sometimes find them overly sweet. This is why I thought of a sweet potato and chick pea mini burger. I packed the mini burgers full of flavors and textures complementing each other. Instead of mixing salt into the burgers, you coat them with it. The sesame seeds add even more flavors.

These little veggie burgers make it easy to eat a vegetarian meal, because they are so satisfying and filling.

SweetVeggieMiniBurger

Sweet veggie burger

  • 1 tin of chickpeas (265 grams)
  • 1 large sweet potato
  • 1 cup of grated grated carrot
  • 1 finely sliced union
  • 1 garlic clove finely sliced
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp carraway
  • 1 tsp sweet paprika
  • 1 tsp crushed black pepper
  • For the coating:
    • 2 tbsp sesame seeds
    • 2 tbsp black sesame seeds
    • 1 tbsp sea salt
  • Sauce:
    • 1 tsp mustard
    • 1 tbsp mayonaise
    • 3 tbsp greek yoghurt
    • 1 tsp mint
    • 1 tsp dill
    • 1 garlic clove, finely sliced
  1. Preparations
    1. Preheat your oven to 220 degrees C.
    2. Prick some holes in your sweet potato and place it in your microwave for 3 to six minutes until it feels soft to the touch.
    3. Fry your union and carrot in some oil until they are soft.
    4. In a blender, chop your chickpeas. Don’t blitz them to a pulp, keep some chunky bits in for a bite.
  2. Shaping your mini veggie burgers
    1. Mix all the ingredients the veggie burgers. Mold them into mini burgers or balls, whatever shape makes you happy.
    2. Mix the coating ingredients in a plate. Place the mini burgers in the coating on each side.
    3. Place the mini burgers on baking parchment on an oven tray. Be careful your mini burgers are delicate and slightly crumbly!
  3. Bake the veggie mini burgers in your oven for 20 minutes or until golden. You can bake your mini burgers for 15 minutes, then refrigerate or freeze them. They can be reheated at 200 degrees for 20 minutes.
  4. Mix the ingredients for your sauce and prepare your side dishes while your mini burgers bake.

Veggie mini burgers taste great squashed inside pita bread with some Dutch Ceasar Salad on the side.