Fall Garden Quinoa

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Quinoa, Grated Veggies, Plums and Kale

This is a typical fall recipe, using many of the goodies from the garden. I love the multicolored quinoa, both for the look and the texture, but, of course, any quinoa will work in this recipe. The dish is full of colours and taste. Can be served on its own, or, deliciously with some grilled halloumi cheese.

Serves 4

Quinoa:
250 ml quinoa and water according to manufacturer’s instructions
1 leek, thinly sliced
¼ of a head of kale, torn into thumb size pieces
200 ml roughly chopped plums
1 small red chili, seeds removed, finely chopped
Pinch of salt
Olive oil

1. Cook the quinoa as per instructions on package.
2. In a frying pan, heat the oil and fry the kale. Remove.
3. Fry the leek until soft, add the plums, chili and salt.
4. Return the kale to the pan.
5. Combine the vegetables with the cooked quinoa.

Veggies:
2 small grated beet roots
2 grated carrots
½ large red onion
½ stalk lemon grass
50 ml loosely packed coriander leaves (cilantro)
Salt and pepper
Cooking oil of choice

1. Rinse the grated beets in cold water, combine in a bowl with the grated carrots
2. Slice the onion thinly and add to bowl.
3. Remove the outer layers of the lemon grass, crush a bit by hammering the stalk with the back of a large chef knife, chop finely and add to bowl.
4. Chop the cilantro and add
5. Add the spices.
6. Heat a generous amount of oil in a large frying pan and spread the veggie mix in a thin layer.
7. Leave to fry a few minutes over medium heat, turn and fry another few minutes.
8. Empty pan onto a layer of paper towels (to soak up some of the oil).

Coriander/cilantro oil:
100 ml loosely packed coriander leaves
100 ml spinach leaves
50 ml olive oil
Salt

• Run in small food processor/mini prep until smooth.

Kale layer:
¼ head of kale
Oil
Pinch of salt

1. Tear the kale into large pieces.
2. Fry in a pan a few minutes.
3. Season.

Serve the kale, veggie mix and quinoa on a plate and drizzle with coriander oil.

Marinated Carrots with Fennel Foam

170531 Carrots with Fennel-5470

A healthy, tasty and colourful starter! Sometimes, I add a few drops of brandy to the foam (a little goes a very long way) which adds a rounder flavour. Possible a drop of vinegar would have the same effect?

2 large carrots, thinly sliced (best to use a mandolin slicer)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt

Some fresh spinach leaves on the plate to serve on.

1. Heat oven on high grill setting
2. Toss the carrot slices with juice, oil and salt. Leave for 30 minutes.
3. Place the carrot slices on an oven sheet
4. Roast under the grill for about 10 minutes, until slightly charred and caramelized

Fennel Foam:
1 fennel bulb, tips and “grassy tops” only
Water
Ice wate170600 Carrots with Fennel-5447r

A few drops agave syrup
Dash of salt
½ tsp olive oil

½ tsp lecithin

1. Cut off the tops (including the grassy parts) from the fennel bulb. The bulb can be saved for use another time.
2. Bring some water to boil and blanch the tops for 30 seconds.
3. Remove the tops from the boiling water and put in an ice bath (to secure the green colour).
4. When cool, place in blender with a 2 table spoons of water. Add some more water if needed. You want a smooth, thick mix but do not over blend.
5. Add the syrup, salt and oil. Blend briefly to mix.
6. Set aside until you are ready to make the foam (may be prepared and kept in the fridge until the following day)
7. Mix in the lecithin.
8. Pour the mix into a large shallow container. Using a handheld blender, incorporate air into the mix, thus creating a foam. Might take a few minutes! Spoon off the foam into a separate bowl and repeat until you have a bowl of foam.

Serve the carrots with the foam on top.

Alternative to the foam:
If you’d rather make a fennel cream to go with the carrots, you can either mix in a couple of tablespoons of coconut cream or some double cream. No lecithin. By choosing the coconut cream you will have less of the fennel taste and, instead, some coconut flavour which goes wonderfully with the carrots.

(On this photo I have sprinkled some black, Hawaiian salt on top.)

Lemon infused Carrots and Elderflower infused Beetroots

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Surprise your guest by serving vegetables with a whole new taste to them! First dehydrate your vegetables so that they lose a lot of their moisture, then add a new flavour of moisture by infusing the vegetable for a long time in a chosen liquid. WILL TAKE A COUPLE OF DAYS TO MAKE!

This is such a fun project. You really do need a food dehydrator for this one though. An oven may be used but it will need to stay on low temp for many hours…

I infused the carrots with lemon and the beetroots with elderflower but there are endless possibilities of combinations. A pretty foam and some greens will go nicely with this beautiful dish.

A “sous vide” to cook the vegetables in low temperature is useful for this recipe but not necessary.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Carrots:
12 small and thin carrots
Liquid: 100 ml lemon juice mixed with 200 ml water

1. Wash and scrub the carrots. Then let dry at 45 C for at least 15 hours (depending on the size of your carrot) in your food dehydrator.
2. If cooking in a sous vide: Place your vegetable in a freezer zip lock bag, pour the liquid in, press as much air out as you possibly can (submerge the bag into water up to the top of the bag, that way the air will be pressed out of the bag, then close the bag). Put the bag in the sous vide pan, set it for 60 C and cook for 10 hours. No, the carrots will not get soggy at this low temperature cooking.
3. If cooking in a pan on the stove, let simmer (or just below simmer) in the liquid until almost soft. Then cool and let sit in the juice for another 4-5 hours.

Beetroots:
4 small beetroots
Liquid: 200 ml elderflower syrup and 300 ml water

1. Scrub the beetroot well removing the outer skin. I usually use plastic gloves for this step.
2. Place in a dehydrator 50C for 24 hours. Or in an oven 70 C for 14 hours. Depending on the size of your beetroot.
3. When all shrivelled up it is time to replace the moisture with the elderflower mix.
4. Either place in a bag (as above) and cook in a sous vide 70C for 3 hours, or, simmer on the stove (covered with the liquid) for 60-90 minutes. Take away from the heat and keep in the hot water for another hour. Then keep in the fridge for 3-4 hours.

Now you have “carrolemons” and “elderbeets”. Serve with some greens, an elderflower/beetroot foam and some salt.

Eldeflower/beetroot foam:
150 ml elderflower liquid (that you boiled the beetroots in).
About 1 gram of soy lecithin.

1. Take 150 ml of the elderflower liquid that you boiled the beetroots in.
2. Pour into a shallow dish.
3. Add the soy lecithin.
4. Tilt the dish and, using an immersion blender, whisk air into the mixture. May take a few minutes to get enough foam. Spoon off the resulting foam and let it sit to stabilize a few minutes in a separate bowl.

Spoon the foam onto the dish. Serve immediately (the foam may start to disappear in about 10 minutes).

Carrots Carrots Carrots

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Sometimes you come across the most beautiful carrots in several colours. Take the opportunity of this and make a Carrot Salad. Soften the carrots a bit with this marinade and serve as a starter or as part of a main course. Beautiful, simple and delicious.

Ingredients:

3 different coloured carrots

Marinade:
100 ml olive oil
100 ml white wine vinegar
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Basil to decorate, cut into chiffonade (thinly sliced)

Day one:
1. Using a peeler, shave long thin strands of the carrots. Reserve the remaining carrot “blocks” (the part that is too small to shave any more strand from).
2. Whisk the marinade. Combine all strands of carrot except for the dark coloured (the colour might bleed and stain the others) and pour the marinade on top, saving some for the dark coloured strands which should marinate in a separate bowl (again, to save the colours from bleeding). Refrigerate.
3. Now take the remaining carrot “blocks”, cut into small pieces (brunoise) and again, keep the dark coloured apart. Add some lemon juice and set aside in the fridge.
Day two:
1. Plate the strands and the brunoise of carrots in a fun way. Now is OK to combine the dark colour with the lighter, they won’t bleed too much.
2. Sprinkle the basil on top and serve as a starter or as a side.

 

Almond Crusted Cod with Sweet Potato Wedges, Roasted Carrots and Tomato Sauce

160113 Almond Crusted Cod-0968
This dish is inspired by a Swedish salmon recipe with mustard sauce. It is a dairy free/low fodmap recipe.

Serves 6

1 kilo cod loins

Crust:
70g almond, blanched and roughly chopped
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp chopped dill
Salt (from a salt mill)

Tomato Sauce:
12 (1,5 kg) tomatoes, cut each in 4 wedges, then in half creating 8 pieces from each tomato
2 red peppers, cut into pieces
1 fennel bulb, cut into pieces
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper

Roasted Carrots:
I kilo carrots, halved lengthwise
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp maple syrup (100% pure)
2 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Sweet Potato, wedges
Salt
Olive oil

2 lemons, wedges
Oven at 200C

  1. Roast tomato sauce vegetables with oil, vinegar and seasoning in 200 C 40 min
  2. Coat the carrots with the oil, syrup, juice and seasing and roast them for 20 min in 200 C
  3. Roast potato wedges with the oil and salt for 30 min in 200 C
  4. Combine the ingredients for the crust
  5. Spread crust over fish
  6. Bake in 200 C oven for 10-12 minutes (depending on thickness of the fish)
  7. With a hand held blender, briefly process the roasted vegetables into a sauce.
  8. Serve with lemon wedges on the side