Tag Archives: Vegetarian

Summer buckwheat salad with grapes, walnuts & feta cheese.

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Don’t let yourself confuse by the name of buckwheat.. It doesn’t have anything to do with ordinary wheat and is even gluten free and a great alternative to the usual couscous or pasta salad which are most popular for summer salads for a picnic or a side for a BBQ! In addition to that it’s also a great source of antioxidants, iron and magnesium – so not only yummy but also worth a try from a healthy point of view.

Instead of the ordinary way to cook it my and my friend Michelle have recently been experimenting with soaking grains. It gives the buckwheat a nicer bite and is super easy to prepare e.g. soak it in the morning when you want to use it for lunch or dinner. By the time you need it it’s gonna be nice and soft, cooled to a perfect temperature and ready for further use. You can now mix it with any kind of vegetables, cheeses, nuts and fruit and give it various flavors to your taste.

My way to prepare it was a very simple and yet delicious one, also it’s very fresh and therefore perfect for a hot summer day.

buckwheat salad with grapes, walnuts & feta

What you need:
(Serving 4)

  • 1 small packet of buckwheat (soaked)
  • 2 hands full of grapes, de-seeded and halved
  • Half a packet of feta cheese
  • Some walnuts
  • A handful of fresh basil leaves
  • Sea salt, fresh pepper
  • Olive oil & lemon juice

What do do:

To soak the buckwheat first rinse it and then put it in a bowl and cover with water, put a plate on top and let it stand for a couple of hours. For the salad drain the rest of the water and mix buckwheat with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Break walnut halves into pieces. Chop grapes and feta, tear basil leaves and add them to the buckwheat. Toss gently.

Buon appetito!!

straight from vegetarian heaven.

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.. this is how my beloved friend e described yesterday night’s dinner in our big guest book. how sweet is that??? full of funny stories and self drawn pictures, this book with its  little notes, mostly taken at a very late stage of the evening, got a true companion over the last two years in vienna and now in malta.. we should reallyget it out more often..

anyways, to be honest. i love vegetarian food a lot, so it was not a problem, but more a pleasure to cook a vegetarian menu for our dear guests… also, the dishes were all very easy and quick to prepare, this is just how i like it most: relaxed, unpretentious cooking, 2h of preperation time without a hurry and still some time to enjoy it!
especially now, as the nights get longer and it gets dark earlier, i like to cook and invite friends over even more than in summer.. always with me on the kitchen desk: my little red cook book with all my recipes (my mum gave it to me ages ago for christmas), i little nibble (a hungry cook is a bad cook!) and a glass of wine (well, just because i like it!).. how shouldn’t this bring you in a great mood!??!

as a starter i made my jerusalem artichoke soup (wrote about it last week) and as a main i made an asian red lentil curry with couscous with tons of fresh veggies and spices. for desert we had our all time favourite: crumble with pumbs and lemon mascarpone cream.

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