Tag: low-fat

Curried lentil and coconut soup

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Curried lentil and coconut soup

Another lentil soup! Similar ingredients to my previous post, but a quite different result. This one does work really well with red split lentils. I stumbled across it on the Food & Wine site, but amended it to suit my taste, since I found their version too bland and lacking spinach. The recipe makes a vast quantity, enough for at least six generous servings, so you can halve it if you want. As I was on my own, once it was cooked I ladled out enough for me into a smaller pan, and added spinach to that part. The rest will go in the freezer. It will certainly improve by being kept in the fridge until the next day.
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Moroccan spiced lentil soup

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Moroccan spiced lentil soup

A rather eccentric, messy image complete with splatters, taken immediately before we dived in to eat it! Known as “still life on the run” in our household.

I believe this soup originated in Delicious magazine. Since I discovered it via sister-in-law R, I’ve cooked it multiple times, improving it every time. It has become one of my favourite soups. Delicious, healthy, low-carb diet friendly, vegetarian — what more could you ask?

The first thing to note is that the original recipe specified red split lentils. R didn’t happen to have any when she made it, so she used Puy lentils. Good move — having tried both ways, the Puy lentil version is vastly superior. Other than that, don’t miss out any of the ingredients — they are all essential. That said, you can get away with tinned tomatoes, but fresh are better. I particularly like it with cherry tomatoes, cut in half.

The serving suggestions top the soup off to perfection, with the lemon juice adding extra zing. This amount will make about four servings, unless you are greedy like us.
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Flan libanais

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Flan libanais
Before I start, a humble apology to all the people who left comments over the last, er, five months … I’ve only just found them! Now all approved. And now, my first post for six months …

We had this dessert in our local pizza restaurant a month ago. It was so light and delicious that when I got home I googled it, and immediately found a recipe that looked like a very close match, at La Cuisine de Lya. It took me a while to get round to making it, as I first had to source rose water (I ended up ordering it online) and unsalted pistachios. Lya says you can omit the rose water, but I think it’s really worth making the effort as it adds a distinct exotic flavour which is what makes the dish special; with just the orange flower flavour it would be more run of the mill. I also replaced the sugar syrup topping with honey, because that’s what the restaurant did. Choose a light, well-flavoured runny honey (mine was from the Pyrenees), and avoid the bog-standard supermarket kind.

It’s ridiculously easy to make, and diet-friendly. It’s vegan too if you use plant milk, and sugar syrup instead of honey.This quantity will make four very generous helpings, or six small ones. Serve in pretty glass bowls or glasses.
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Sourdough blini

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Sourdough bliniI came across this recipe via Google, and it’s such a quick and easy method of making blini, with good results, that I decided to record it. It doesn’t rely on the starter for rising, so you can use surplus starter straight from the fridge, or refreshed starter —- it doesn’t matter. The recipe makes a large quantity, but they keep well covered in the fridge for a couple of days, or you can freeze them. Reheat for 20 seconds or so in the microwave. As well as the obvious topping of smoked salmon and soft cheese, I like them with butter and honey, or maple syrup and cream.

Officially, blini are made using buckwheat flour (which is gluten-free), but if you don’t have any then wholemeal wheat flour is a fine substitute. And while they are quick and easy, try to plan ahead so you can keep the batter in the fridge overnight, or at least a few hours.
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“Asian” salad

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I think I could live on Spanish salads, at least in the summer months. They’re always so colourful, and usually include protein and a bunch of vitamins, with different textures and a balance of sweet and sharp. Fruit often features, especially on the Costa Tropical, where avocados and mangos are a major crop.

I’ve already featured ensalada tropical; this salad is one we had in our favourite restaurant, which describes it as “ensalada asiatica”. It doesn’t seem that Asian to me; I guess it’s because it features Thai sweet chilli sauce. This is Steve’s first attempt at replicating it, and it was a little on the sweet side; next time about half of the mango will be replaced with slices of orange, so that’s how I’ve written the recipe. It was absolutely delicious though. I’m normally ambivalent about prawns but these were amazing; I am a convert now.

The basic recipe is below; adjust quantities and proportions according to taste, and you don’t need to include all the elements as long as there’s a good balance of crisp, soft, sweet and sharp. Needless to say everything should be perfectly ripe. If you can’t get miel de caña (a very local product), pomegranate molasses or maybe reduced balsamic vinegar would be good substitutes.

We eat this as a starter, but you could make it a light main course.
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A glut of figs

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A bowl of figs

The other day, the Guardian published an article on what to do with a glut of figs. It featured one lonely recipe, which required six figs. Luckily the Guardian community stepped in to provide many ideas for dealing with an actual glut.

I don’t personally have a glut, but I did notice the three fig trees groaning with fruit in a children’s playground I pass on the way to my daily swim. The ripe fruit was simply dropping to the ground, which seemed a terrible waste. So in the last few days I’ve picked over 2 kg, which is only a fraction of what’s there. Thanks to BBC Good Food and a commenter on the Guardian article, this post includes twice as many recipes as the Guardian article, and actually preserves the figs for future enjoyment. I’m very happy with the results of both: a delicious fig chutney, and spicy fig jam. Both very easy too. I adapted both of them according to taste and local circumstances.
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Espinacas con Garbanzos: spinach and chickpeas

Veronica 3 Comments

Spinach and chickpeas

This is a classic Seville tapa: every bar has a version of it. It might not sound exciting, but you will never regret trying it. It’s delicious and much healthier than the many deep-fried or meat-heavy tapas available. Suitable for vegans as well as vegetarians. We don’t often have it as a tapa at home — it makes a great light lunch or first course, with some flatbread. I use the recipe from my favourite Spanish cookbook, Anya von Bremzen’s The New Spanish Table, which I can’t recommend too highly.
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Classic scones

Veronica 7 Comments

I went through a phase of failed scones, and eventually returned to the tried and tested, never fails, Katie Stewart recipe, from the Times recipe book that was one of my formative culinary influences. Here it is converted to metric. The secret of scones is to handle the dough as little as humanly possible, and be particularly gentle rolling it out. Katie also says you have to sprinkle the baking sheet and the top of the scones with flour. No idea what effect this has, but since she says so, I always do it.

Scones are great if you need to suddenly provide afternoon tea, as it only takes 20 minutes or so to make them. They can really only be eaten on the day they are made; they just aren’t the same after they’ve hung around for a while. If you do have leftovers, it’s best to freeze them and then reheat from frozen before serving.
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Ensalada tropical

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ensalada tropical

This is a ubiquitous dish in the beach bars of Spain’s Costa Tropical, using locally grown exotic fruits. It’s a lovely refreshing starter which can also be quite substantial, while providing a large contribution to your five a day. We usually share one between two of us before a platter of grilled fish.

I will confess to not being a fan of conventional fruit salad: a variety of soggy fruits swimming in sickly sweet liquid does not float my boat. Bananas are especially loathsome in this context. But ensalada tropical is completely different: the dressing adds a welcome acidity that complements the fruit beautifully.

The recipe allows for considerable variation. The essentials are crisp lettuce, some kind of citrus, and something crunchy (although apple is not tropical, I think a few slices add the necessary texture). You won’t go far wrong by including mango, avocado and pineapple, in fact I think it’s incomplete without at least two of these. Melon in some form is good, and a few slices of kiwi fruit are attractive. We added persimmon to our last one, and that worked well too. I think passion fruit would be a lovely addition. Other than that, use what you like and is available (although I have to say I have never seen one featuring bananas, thank goodness).

We also toss in some of the handy fruit and seed mix sold as “salad mixture” in Spanish supermarkets (I always stock up on it when there). This usually features raisins, chopped walnuts, sunflower seeds, and maybe some chopped roasted hazelnuts.

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Vegetarian chilli

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Adapted from a recipe in the Slimming World magazine — a useful source of low-calorie recipes that don’t compromise on flavour. I cooked my lentils from scratch, but if you’re lazy or in a hurry, you can use a can. A very easy midweek dinner.
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