Warm Potato Salad

One of my work mates made a warm potato salad for my boyfriend and I, and we have been enjoying making it in different ways ever since, especially with new baby potatoes.

potatoes (preferably new baby potatoes, washed and boiled)

sun dried tomatoes (chopped)

capers

pepper (grilled and peeled)

red onion (sliced and flash-fried)

a bunch of fresh basil

olive oil

salt

pepper

- While boiling the potatoes, chop all the other ingredients. When the potatoes are just cooked, drain, chop into bite-sized pieces and combine with the remaining ingredients. Best served warm.

Grilled Halloumi Salad with Lime and Caper Dressing

Lime and halloumi are a perfect match. Sweet grilled pepper goes nicely with the salty and sour combination.

halloumi (sliced and grilled)

pepper (grilled and peeled)

green salad (for example with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, radishes..)

Lime and caper dressing:

juice of one lime and zest of half

olive oil

1 clove of crushed garlic

1 tsp capers

a handful of coriander (or parsley), finely chopped

1 dried chilli, crushed

1 tsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp sugar

Combine all the dressing ingredients in a bowl, adding the olive oil last, whisking the mixture until it emulsifies. Serve immediately after the halloumi is cooked as it becomes rubbery when it cools.

Gazpacho

We have been enjoying/suffering a long heat wave so this cold soup was a perfect meal to make - no need to cook anything!

5-6 ripe tomatoes (peeled)

1 yellow pepper

1 red pepper

a whole cucumber

a small onion

olive oil

balsamic vinegar (or cherry vinegar)

salt

pepper

- Finely chop the cucumber, half of each pepper and half the tomatoes.

- Blend the remaining ingredients until smooth.

- Add a splash of balsamic vinegar and whisk in some olive oil. Season well, chill for a few hours and serve with ice cubes.

Paguette

I found this recipe from a Finnish bread blog called Viva Ciabatta! The original recipe is from Richard Bertinet´s book "Dough".

500 g flour

3,5 dl water (hand temperature)

10 g yeast

10 g salt

- Mix all the ingredients well, nead the dough, and let rise for about an hour.

- Make the baguettes and let rise under a kitchen towel for another hour.

- Sieve some flour on top and bake at 220-250 degrees for about 20 minutes or until they have a bit colour.

If you want the baguettes to rise only upwards, you can let them rise with help of a towel. If you do this, move them to the baking tray very carefully in order to avoid knocking the air out.

Spinach, Tomato and Pesto Pasta

This is a simple and quick pasta that serves two.

olive oil

4 cloves garlic (crushed)

half a courgette (sliced)

2 tomatoes

a couple of handfuls of spinach (frozen or fresh)

salt

pepper

(lemon juice)

ready pesto sauce

parmesan/feta to garnish

pasta

- Boil the water in a large pot and start cooking the pasta.

- Fry the garlic for one minute, add the courgette and fry with the lid on, stirring occasionally, until cooked but firm to the bite.

- Add the tomatoes and spinach and simmer until just cooked, then season to taste.

- Sieve the pasta and mix in a couple of spoonfuls of pesto sauce. Serve into bowls and spoon over the sauce.

- Garnish with parmesan or feta.

Jamie's Chickpea Salad

I highly recommend another Jamie Oliver salad; easy to make, healthy, affordable and obviously very tasty! This salad makes a good starter, side or main course depending on your needs.

Carrot Cake

Even my boyfriend, who usually is not a huge fan of sweet desserts, likes this moist cake. This recipe is big enough for an oven sized baking tray.

4 eggs
3 dl sugar
4 dl flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1-2 tsp vanilla sugar 1-2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 dl vegetable oil
6 dl grated carrot (maybe 3-5 carrots depending on their size)

topping:

200 g cream cheese
100 g butter
300 g icing sugar
1-2 tsp vanilla sugar

crushed almonds for decoration

- Mix the dry ingredients (flour, soda, vanilla sugar and cinnamon) in a bowl, peel and grate the carrot and mix it with the oil.
- Beat the eggs and sugar until foamy and add the dry ingredients, oil and carrot to the mixture.
- Spread on a big baking tray lined with baking paper.
- Bake at 225 degrees for about 15 minutes and let cool.
- Mix room temperature butter and soft cheese together and then sieve in the vanilla sugar and icing sugar and mix with a spoon.
- Spread on top of the sponge and sprinkle with crushed almonds.