Exotic coleslaw

Exotic coleslaw
Print Recipe
This is a lovely way to make a plain coleslaw slightly more sexy. This slaw makes a great lunch when paired with some cold chicken. It is a great side dish with grilled fish or chicken. Although you can make this dish fresh, it tastes best if you make the salad 1 day in advance and garnish it before serving.
Servings Prep Time
2-4 people 15 minutes
Servings Prep Time
2-4 people 15 minutes
Exotic coleslaw
Print Recipe
This is a lovely way to make a plain coleslaw slightly more sexy. This slaw makes a great lunch when paired with some cold chicken. It is a great side dish with grilled fish or chicken. Although you can make this dish fresh, it tastes best if you make the salad 1 day in advance and garnish it before serving.
Servings Prep Time
2-4 people 15 minutes
Servings Prep Time
2-4 people 15 minutes
Ingredients
Dressing
Garnish
Servings: people
Instructions
Making the salad
  1. Slice and grate all the veg.
  2. Mix the ingredients of your dressing. Taste and season to taste. Add more lime juice if needed.
  3. Mix the veg and the dressing thoroughly. Ideally, you let the salad stand in your fridge for 24 hours.
Just before serving
  1. Chop the koriander leaves. Mix half of the leaves through the salad.
  2. Place the salad on a large serving dish and sprinkle with the remaining koriander and pomegranate seeds.
Recipe Notes

This makes a great barbeque side dish. Find more barbeque ideas here.

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Crunchy kohlrabi slaw

This is coleslaw with a twist. I love preparing a large batch of any type of coleslaw. I bring it to work, serve it as a side dish with some fried chicken (like chicken fingers) or with our barbecues in the summer.

Kohlrabi1

The kohlrabi has both great crunch and lovely subtle cabbage flavor. It pears great with the apple and the fresh dressing. It can be prepared day(s) in advance, making it a practical dish too!

Kohlrabi slaw

  • 2 kohlrabi, sliced in match sticks, or coarsely grated
  • 1 large apple, in match sticks
  • 2 handfuls of walnuts, roughly chopped
  • 1 handful of parsly, sliced in fine slivers
  • 1 handful of mint leaves, sliced in fine slivers
  • Dressing:
    • 1 tbsp mustard
    • 2 tbsp good quality mayo (or even homemade mayo)
    • Juice of 1 lemon
    • 2 tbsp yoghurt

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Spring forest omelet

Daslook1This is a great omelet to make with wild garlic. This humble but delicious plant grows abundantly under trees in the Netherlands. Officially this plant is protected in the Netherland, but where I live I see large patches full of the stuff.

Luckily my mother has a huge patch of wild garlic under her apple tree. As it is in season, she picked a large bunch of the leaves and flowers for me to prepare.

If you are not lucky or brave enough to get your own wild garlic, you can use spinache or swiss chard instead.

This omelet makes a great lunch or side dish. It can be eaten warm or cold.

Spring forest omelet (2 lunch portions)WildGarlic

  • 3 handfulls of wild garlic leaves and flowers
  • 150 gr mixed mushrooms, sliced
  • 3 large free range eggs
  • 100 gr creme fraiche
  • about 75 gr butter
  • pinch of nutmeg
  1. Wash your wild garlic in very salty water, to get rid of any sand and wildlife.
  2. In a bit of oil or butter, fry the wild garlic untill it wilts down.
  3. Let your wild garlic cool slightlybefore roughly shopping it.
  4. Fry the mushrooms in some butter, season them generously with salt and freshly ground pepper.
  5. In a large bowl, combine the eggs and creme fraiche. Season with salt and pepper and a pinch of ground nutmeg.
  6. Mix in the wild garlic and mushrooms.
  7. In a non stick frying pan, melt a generous amount of butter on high heat.
  8. Pour the mix in the hot pan and turn the heat down. If you have a lid, clamp it on.
  9. Wait for your eggs to just set before turning it onto a plate.
    Cooking times vary, so just stay near your stove.

Cheese scones

I have been having a lot of trouble posting this recipe, every time I want to fotograph these fluffy delights, they seem to disappear. I am glad to post this recipe just before Easter brunch. Because it would be perfect for this occasion!

They also make a great side dish with a salad or a soup (like Dutch pea soup).CHScones2

Cheese scones (for 8 scones)

  • Dry ingredients:
    • 225 gr flour
    • 75 gr cornmeal
    • 1 tsp salt
    • 150 gr grated cheese
    • 1 tsp turmeric
    • 1 tsp baking powder
  • Wet ingredients:
    • 55 ml oil
    • 240 ml milk
    • Optional: friend onions
  • For finishing:
    • coffee milk or 1 egg
    • rock salt

CheeseSconesBWS

  1. Combine and mix your dry ingredients.
  2. Pour in your wet ingredients and stir until well combined.
  3. Form into a round flat disc of about 1.5 cm thick, wrap in cling film.
  4. Let this dough rest in your fridge for 20 minutes to 24 hours.
    Resting your dough will ensure a good fluffy end result!
  5. Preheat your oven to 220 degrees C.
  6. Cut your disc into 8 triangles with a sharp knife.
  7. Brush your scones with coffee creamer and sprinkle them with salt.
  8. Back them in your oven for 15 minutes.

These scones are best when eaten the same day, to prepare in advance, just make your dough one day ahead. You find my scone recipe here.

Lemon & Nigella seed salad

If you have never tasted these lovely seeds, go out and find them. Don’t be fooled and buy black sesame seeds, get the real stuff. Ironically, I learned about this lovely seed through THE Nigella, but there is no real connection there, just that I really like both of them.

They are very aromatic and they make any simple salad or dip sing with flavor.

Lemon & Nigella seed salad 

  • 1 quarter iceberg lettuce, in fine slivers
  • 1 tomato, diced
  • 1 red onion, in thin slivers
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • Pepper & Salt to taste
  • 1 tbsp of nigella seeds

GreekStew1

This salad combines very well with a Greek stew.

Add some chicken to make this a lunch salad.

 

Tasty chicory boats

I like making this salad as a starter for a dinner party. It is full of strong flavors, but very well balanced. There is also a great variation in textures. I can guarantee you that this will definately intrigue your dinner guests.

This dish also makes a great lunch salad. When combined with a piece of leftover chicken it is very filling.

Chicory taste explosion

  • 3 chicory
  • 1 apple, finely sliced (no need to remove the skin, this adds color)
  • 1 handful of walnuts, roughly chopped
  • 75 gr blue cheese
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • Olive oil, generous sprinkling
  1. Remove the 4 outer leaves of each chicory. Keep them whole for serving the salad.
  2. Remove the cores and slice the rest of the chicory in 5 mm strips.
  3. Mix your chicory strips with the other salad ingredients. Dress the ingredients well as both the apple and the chicory will discolor without the dressing. Season to taste.
  4. Devide your salad over the chicory leaves for perfect tasty boats.

Eggplant lasagna

This is a great vegetarian family meal. My son will eat anything covered in tomatoe sauce. The melted cheese on top combined with the crispy topping will seduce any vegetable sceptic.

It is essentially a lasagna with grilled eggplant instead of pasta sheets. It makes a great lunch or dinner when combined with a salad.

EggplantLasagna3

Eggplant lasagna (3 person meal)

  • 2 eggplants, in long 5 mm strips
  • 500 ml italian tomato sauce (your own recipe, mine or from the shop)
  • 200 gr kwark or cottage cheese
  • olive oil for frying
  • 250 gr mozzerella and/or dutch cheese in slices
  • Optional for a crust: 2 cups of bread crumbs and 75 gr butter
  1. Cut your eggplant in slices, season them on each side and lightly oil them.
  2. Fry your eggplant slices in a skillet on each side.
  3. Make layers:
    1. Tomato sauce
    2. Eggplant slices
    3. Kwark
    4. Eggplant
    5. Tomato sauce
    6. Eggplant
    7. Kwark
    8. Eggplant
    9. Tomato sauce
    10. Cheese slices
    11. Optional, for a crispy top: Sprinkle on bread crumbs and devide knobs of butter over the crumbs.
  4. You can store this dish in your fridge or bake it right away in a 220 degrees C oven for 20 minutes.

EggplantLasagna2

Together with a Dutch ceasar salad, this makes a great vegetarian meal.

Read more about oven dishes here.

 

Spelt flat bread

These flat breads are the perfect side dish with a curry or a spicy stew. They are also great for dipping in a yoghurt sauce or with a salad. They have a crunchy outside and a soft, velvety and fluffy inside. Perfect for soaking up a sauce. I use spelt flour because I like the flavor it adds, but regular flour will also do.

I like to make the dough one day ahead, this way I can bake it off the next day. The flat breads keep well, keep them in a plastic bag at room temperature. You can reheat them in the oven if you wish.

It can be real fun to let your children help you flatten out the dough!

Pita1

Spelt flat bread (6 pcs)

  • 350 gr (white) spelt flour
  • 7 gr dried yeast
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 100 ml plain yoghurt
  • 100 ml water
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Optional: 1 tbsp nigella seeds, for flavor
  • For frying: 1 tbsp sunflower oil
  1. Combine all ingredients in de bowl. Knead your dough for about 10 minutes. Place in a bowl and cover with cling film.
  2. Let your dough proof for an hour at room temperature or in your fridge for up to 24 hours.
  3. Tip your dough onto a flowered surface, roll it into a sausage shape and cut it in 6 even pieces.
  4. Flatten out each ball into an oval shape, about 3 mm thick.
  5. Heat up a large frying pan with a small amount of the oil.
  6. Fry your bread in the pan, I can fit to flat breads in one pan. The bread will puff up and brown on one side.
  7. When one side is warm, lower your heat to medium and wait till this side is brown too.
  8. You can keep your flat breads warm in the oven or eat them right away!

Yoghurt garlic sauce

  • 3 large tbsp yoghurt
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
  • 1 tsp of dried dill and/or 1tsp of dried mint
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Optional: handfull of freshly chopped koriander, mint and/or parsley
  1. Mix to combine.

Pitasaus1

Best when prepared one day in advance, so the flavors ar well combined.

Keeps up to 3 days in the fridge.

Tastes great with flat bread, curries, chick pea stew and chips.