summer has come to malta and i feel very guilty not blogging so much anymore.. i guess this is what happens easily, but as you can imagine eating and cooking is still on my mind and in my kitchen, so these are my latest salads for sunny days in june! perfect for a quick lunch or to take away on the beach, on a boat or if you’re invited for a BBQ.
fresh chickpea salad with avocado
all you need….
chickpeas (soaked over night and cooked or out of the tin), a soft and ripe avocado, a hand full of cherry tomatoes, half a cucumber, juice of a lemon/lime, rock salt, cayenne pepper, your best native olive oil
Mix ingredients and season depending on your taste of heat! alternatively you can also use fresh coreander if you get it instead of mint. also gives it a fresh & oriental touch! totally quick and easy so you can spend enough time outside at the beach 🙂
beetroot salad with feta cheese & pine nuts
another lovely and super quick summer salad! what you need….
a couple of beetroots (fresh, peeled & boiled or pre-cooked out of the veggie shelf), greek feta cheese (look out to get sheep or goat cheese which is much nicer than the fake feta out of cow milk ;), pine nuts, fresh rosmary, dark aceto balsamico vinegar, best native olive oil, rock salt & fresh pepper, balsamico glaze.
cut up the beetroots (careful you’re not wearing white clothes, you’ll never, ever get the stains out again 😉 ), crumble the feta cheese, roast pine nuts without oil in a small pan (the pine nuts are oily enough so no additional oil is needed) and add to the salad, now marinate with the balsamico, season with salt and pepper and fresh rosmary. finally top it up with same balsamico glaze which gives it a very pretty finishing and a sweet touch. enjoy!
tasty couscous salad
as promised – another quicky 😉 ingredients: couscous, spring onions, carrots, cucumber, tomatoes, feta cheese, raisins (alternatively cranberries), fresh parsely, juice of a lemon/lime, best native olive oil, rock salt & fresh pepper
cook the couscous according to packet instructions (don’t forget to season it with a bit of salt before), let it cool down and losen it up with a fork a couple of times (otherwise it will get sticky), chop up the carrots, cucumber, tomatoes, crumble the feta cheese and add it all to the cold couscous, season with freshly squeezed lemon/lime juice, rock salt and pepper, now chop up loads of fresh parsely which makes it taste even fresher and look lovely! bon appetit!
austrian farmer’s salad
this is what we call farmer’s salad in austria. what you need for it:
green salad (lettuce, iceberg etc), some boiled potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, AND tyrolean or southtyrolean speck (which you can also buy at lidl in malta ;)), pumpkin seeds (health shops), white wine vinegar, pumpkin seed oil (ask your austrian friends to bring you a small bottle ;)), salt, pepper, optional: field salad, soft boiled egg
boil the potatoes and cut up in little pieces, let them cool down, wash the salad and other veggies, chop them up in bite-sized pieces, cut up the speck in little strips or cubes and fry them in a pan (hmmmm.. the smell is just amazing…), fry the pumpkin seeds and then add it all up in a nice little pile of salad. drizzle with dressing made out of the pumpkin oil and white wine vinegar, salt and pepper. decorate with soft boiled egg and field salad if you like.
oriental chickpea salad with ginger
another chickpea delicacy! ingredients: chickpeas (soaked & boiled or from the tin), cherry tomatoes, onions, garlic, loads of ginger, cumin, cayenne pepper, rock salt, fresh mint.
this salad is actually cooked and then cooled. chop onions and roast them slowly in olive oil, later on add the garlic and roast gently, add a lot of ginger (at least a chunk of the size of your finger!), keep roasting for a little while. then add the cherry tomatoes and the chickpeas and add a little bit of water. now let it simmer gently on low heat. add a lot of cumin, cayenne pepper depending on your tast of heat and some rock salt. take it off the hob when tomatoes are soft and tender but not overcooked. now let it cool down. finally add some fresh mint and off we go 😀
Nadisunshine 