Guilt-free crisps?

My weakness for salty snacks knows no bounds. Give me a pack of peanuts or a dish of salted almonds and I cannot stop until each morsel has found its way down my gullet. Friends know never to pass the sharing bowl of crisps to me first. But a summer holiday pig-out has taken its toll on my waistline. Crisps are out of the question for now – but what to have with that nice cold beer? There is, I guess, the option of baked crisps but the ready-made ones just don’t do it for me. So, I rustled up my own. It’s as easy as thinly slicing a couple of potatoes, placing in a single layer on a baking tray greased with a little olive oil, and waiting for them to turn golden in the oven (about 20 minutes should do it and do turn them over half-way through). Then sprinkle with a top-quality salt such as Maldon.

Nice, rice baby…

Oh yeah, this one is good, really good – it started with leftover chickpeas (balilah if you must know, from the delightful Jerusalem cookbook) and ended with the best and easiest pilaff ever. It was make-it-up-as-you-go-along-time as I was in no mood for a recipe book. Improvise as you wish but as a quick summary: Fry a teaspoon of whole spices (I used cumin and cloves) in butter, stir in a big mugful of basmati, top with water (until there is around a 1cm puddle left on top of the rice) then boil until large holes appear in the surface. Turn right down low, place on the lid and let it steam away until cooked. Meanwhile, slice an onion into rings and dredge in seasoned flour. Heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil in a frying pan and on a medium heat, cook the onions until golden. Heat up whatever you have left of the chickpea dish (or simply drain a tin of chickpeas, warm through and season well), scatter into the cooked rice and top with the crispy fried onion. Add some fresh herbs for interest: parsley or dill are good. Then serve with grilled meats, yoghurt and chilli sauce.

Twice as nice

 

You say potato…

…I say, yep, but let’s spice it up a little… taking inspiration from Nigella’s recipe, this makes a wonderful side dish with tandoori-style salmon and a dollop of tomato and onion raita. My cupboard isn’t as ample as Nigella’s – so I dropped the, erm, Nigella seeds and swapped chilli powder for chilli flakes. Make sure you get the potatoes nice and crispy…

 

Spice up your life

Beet’ poet

I love beetroot. For one thing, it’s a happy colour and always makes for a striking salad. For another, it’s damn delicious, especially sprinkled with a little red wine vinegar. If I have the time, I’ll buy fresh, boil in their skins, then slough off the skin under a cold running tap. Okay, so your red-stained hands will mark you out as a serial killer for weeks to come but hey ho – great for getting your own back on the neighbourhood’s trick or treaters. Anyway, I was too lazy to bother this week so I grabbed some supermarket pre-packed (au natural though) and simply sliced, scattered over some feta, mint and a little balsamic and olive oil.

Chorizo girl

Another of my obsessions (I have many but that is another story) is chorizo. Love the stuff and always have a supply in the fridge to chuck into pasta and so on. Here I mixed it with some cannellini beans for a summer salad that goes well with barbecued chicken.

So…

In a deep frying pan, lightly sauté some sliced chorizo with some diced peppers and halved cherry tomatoes. Stir in your tinned cannellini beans, then toss with a lemon, garlic and oil dressing. Scatter on some basil to finish.

Has bean

Get your freekeh on

So they may look like mini Sugar Puffs, but freekeh is the new quinoa, darling. Fashion fads aside, the smoky tasting freekeh is young green wheat that has been roasted. It makes a great salad to go with barbecued meat. I cheated and bought a pack of the pre-cooked freekeh, then added some gently fried peppers, onion and pine kernels, a handful of parsley and dill, and a dressing of garlicky lemon and oil (quick cheat tip: add a crushed clove of garlic to a slug of olive oil and microwave for 30 seconds, leave it to permeate the oil, then either remove the clove or squash it into the oil, depending on how garlicky you like it).

Go with the grain

Italian ketchup

Well, not strictly ketchup, I admit, but I love this stuff and could quite easily eat it slathered on chips. So, what on earth is it? Admittedly it looks like green sludge but what a herby piquant sludge it is. I’m still honing (ahem) my food photography skills, and I hope Nigel Slater won’t mind as its his recipe, but this is salsa verde. Nige’s version uses a few too many anchovies for my taste, so I’d cut it down to four rather than six. If you still find it salty, you can always dilute it with a few drops of water. It’s delicious with roast lamb or cod, and, yes, chips (of if you want to get posh, oven bake some potato wedges with a scattering of chopped rosemary).

salsa verde

You say zucchini…

My love affair with my Polpo recipe book continues. This salad is a stunner – I’m determined to make it again before we plummet into the depths of winter and I face-plant into bowlfuls of stews, curries and casseroles. The idea of raw courgette was something of a turn-off but I am converted – you must slice the courgette thinly though with a potato peeler or else it will be like chewing on Cinderella’s insoles (not sure where I am going with that analogy but I guess I’m thinking delicate squidge texture). Make a dressing of lemon, olive oil and finely grated parmesan (plus a little chopped garlic if you don’t care about fellow colleagues the next day), then mix with the courgettes, rocket, basil leaves, and season well.

Lip sumac-ing

Lovely bunch of hazelnuts

Okay, another salad, I know, I know.  This one was semi-inspired by our local Turkish restaurant, which serves up the most delicious hazelnut salad as part of a vast selection of meze.  All it requires is some chopping of a cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, flat-leaf parsley and lightly toasted hazelnuts. Then scatter with the zingy spice sumac, add lemon and olive oil, and plenty of seasoning. The belly dancing is optional.

Maftoul salad

Yes, I know, another salad. I can’t help myself. This one is a tastebud teaser for sure. It zings with the chopped flesh and juice of a lemon and a hit of fresh herbs, preferably coriander, but flat-leaf parsley will do. Maftoul (Palestinian couscous – blame Yotam Ottolenghi for its sudden popularity) holds up well in a salad and there’s less chance of it turning into an unpalatable mush, unlike regular cous cous. Once you have simmered your maftoul, all the rest of this dish requires is some chopping – red and green peppers, spring onions, chuck in some chickpeas, lemon, herbs, and seasoning – salt, pepper, and ground cumin to taste.