Summer Salads

I love bank holidays! Who doesn't!

Although I have to admit, I didn't have the most productive one...well my debit card did, as did my wardrobe...but I was finally able to cook and eat some some of my favourite foods; Indian on the Saturday evening, Sushi for lunch on Sunday and dinner on Monday, and finally a trip to my favourite cafe in London, Ottolenghi. Delicious!

I couldn't quite wait till Monday to get my Ottolenghi fix, so on Sunday evening, after a day shopping, dinner was to be an array of Ottolenghi inspired salads;

Portobello mushrooms stuffed with a basil infused pearly barley salad

Puy Lentil, red and yellow pepper, sun-dried tomato and coriander salad

Char grilled broccoli with red chilli, garlic and slivered almonds

chilli roasted butter nut squash

Summer Lentil Salad

Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side dish

Ingredients:

2 table spoons olive oil

80 grams dried puy lentils

300 ml vegetable stock

1 small red onion (finely chopped)

1 red chilli (finely chopped)

2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

2 sprigs or fresh thyme

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 a red pepper (2 cm diced)

1/2 a yellow pepper (2 cm diced)

small handful sun dried tomatoes (chopped)

handful of chopped coriander

salt and pepper

Method:

1. Wash and drain the lentils

2. Place a pan over a medium heat. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the onion, chilli, garlic, cumin and thyme and cook for a couple of minutes.

3. Add the peppers and cook for a further few minutes.

4. Add the lentils to the pan, along with the stock and seasoning. Leave to cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally (add more stock if looking too dry)

5. Finally mix through the sun dried tomato and coriander.

Sprinkle with a little extra coriander to serve.

Why cant we have a bank holiday every weekend??

Miso Grilled Tofu / Wasabi Salad

After trying the wasabi chickpea salad featured on Vegan Yum Yum's blog I fell in love with wasabi chickpeas, however I found there were too many ingredients in the salad for my taste buds liking.

So, here is my stripped down version which I served with miso grilled tofu.

Miso Grilled Tofu w. Wasabi Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients

Wasabi Chickpeas:

1 400 gram tin chickpeas

1 tablespoon sunflower oil

1 tablespoon soya sauce

1 heaped teaspoon wasabi powder

1 teaspoon white sugar

Miso Tofu:

400 grams firm tofu cut into 4 pieces

8 tablespoons Japanese Mirin

1 heaped table spoon miso paste

2 teaspoons white sugar

Salad:

4 large handfuls salad leaves of your choice

1 ripe avocado (cut into chunks)

20 cherry tomatoes (halved)

3 small spring onions (finely sliced)

1 red chilli (de-seeded and finely chopped)

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon soya sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Method

First start with the wasabi chickpeas:

1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Heat one tablespoon of sunflower oil in a pan and add the chickpeas.

2. Once the chickpeas start to brown slightly, add the soya sauce, wasabi powder and sugar, mix well and cook for another minute or two. Set aside.

Next make the miso marinade for the tofu:

3. Place the mirin in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the miso paste and sugar and stir until dissolved.

4. Marinate the tofu pieces and set aside ready to grill later.

5. In a salad bowl, combine the salad leaves, avocado, tomatoes, spring onions and chilli.

6. Dress with the soya sauce and sesame oil and season with salt and pepper.

7. Mix through the sesame seeds and chickpeas.

8. Place a griddle pan oven a medium to high heat and sprinkle with sesame oil. Once the pan is hot add the tofu pieces and grill on all sides for a couple of minutes.

Serve with the prepared salad.

Enjoy