Spicy Aubergine and Tomato Salad

From Tagines & Couscous, Ghillie Başan, Ryland Peters & Small. 2010.

Christmas over it’s time to get back to normal food in normal-sized portions.

I heated the oven up to 200ºC and when it was ready put in an aubergine and two tomatoes. They were left to cook for half and hour, then tested to see if cooked. The aubergine was quite soft so all the vegetables were taken out and left to cool.

The aubergine was cut in half and all of the flesh scraped out and then chopped to a mush-like consistency. The tomatoes were peeled, cut in halves and the seeds removed. These also were chopped into small pieces.

Two garlic cloves were chopped and added to a saucepan with some olive oil. As soon as they began to colour the tomato pulp was added with a teaspoon of harissa and cooked for a few minutes more until it had begun to thicken. The aubergine was now added with a handful of chopped parsley and a handful of chopped coriander. The juice of half a lemon was added, the mixture was tested for seasoning and when adjusted to suit my palate it was ready to eat when it had cooled down to warm.

The salad was dished up and served with a couple of Suffolk Marys. The recipe suggested a sourdough bread, but I had just made the biscuits.

Aubergine and tomatoes are always a tasty combination and with the harissa to add some heat to the mixture and lemon juice to gave it a tang this was a pleasing salad. I found that with the biscuits it was sufficient for a meal.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Tomato and Feta Salad with Aubergine Relish

From Market Vegetarian, Ross Dobson, Ryland Peters & Small, 2008.

This was a salad of tomato and mozzarella. I had feta cheese so decided on using that instead.

The relish was made first. I chopped a red onion and sautéed it for about 2 minutes in olive oil. I then added a chopped eggplant (aubergine) and cooked this with the onion for about 10 minutes when the eggplant had turned golden and was perfectly soft. While it was cooking I chopped 2 garlic cloves, a stick of celery and a red capsicum. I also measured out a tablespoon of capers and about a handful of black olives.

The garlic was added to the eggplant mixture and cooked for about a minute before I added the celery, red capsicum, capers and olives. These were cooked for another minute. I did not want them to lose their crispness. I now added a good dash of red wine vinegar and a couple of teaspoons of sugar. They were brought to the boil and cooked for another minute. The heat was now turned off. It was seasoned with salt and black pepper and left to stand until it was at room temperature. I checked it for taste and it was very good.

When it was time to serve, two large tomatoes were sliced and placed on a serving dish. The eggplant relish was spooned on top and the feta crumbled and sprinkled over. Some mint leaves were scattered on top.

The relish was zesty and a little crunchy. It went very well with the tomatoes. Perhaps the creamy mozzarella would have been better than the feta, but it was all very enjoyable.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Chilli Roasted Vegetables with Feta Cheese

From Market Vegetarian, Ross Dobson, Ryland Peters & Small, 2008.

Looking for a dish that would comfort but would be low in carbs I turned to this salad. It more than fulfilled my need and was delicious.

A red and a yellow capsicum were seeded and cut into sections. A fennel bulb was sliced thinly. Two garlic cloves were sliced thinly. Two red chillies were deseeded and sliced thinly. Three tomatoes were cut in halves. The vegetables all went into a bowl and were sprinkled with sea salt and a dribble of olive oil. They were gently tossed to ensure that they all were coated with oil and then they went into a 180ºC oven for an hour. They were turned over after about half an hour.

The vegetables came out of the oven and were rested for about half an hour after which they were picked out and arranged on a serving plate. Feta cheese (the recipe called for goat’s cheese but I had feta) was crumbled over. Some basil leaves were scattered on the salad.

Now some balsamic vinegar was added to the juices left in the pan and the liquid was poured over the vegetables as dressing.

This was the most mouth-watering salad. Writing this I start thinking about it again and would dearly love to have it again. The recipe suggested having some sourdough bread to eat with it and soak up the juices. I wish I had had the bread for it would have been a great accompaniment.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔ 

Asparagus and Roasted Peppers

From Easy Vegetarian, Ryland Peters & Small, 2007.

This is an easy side dish, colourful and flavoursome.

Firstly I put 2 red capsicums under the grill to cook until they were black and blistered. They were then taken out and put into a plastic bag until they had cooled. The skins now came off easily. The peppers were cut into decent sized slices.

While the capsicums were cooking a red onion was peeled and cut into wedges. They were put onto a grill pan and cooked until they had black grill lines on each side.

Now asparagus was laid on the grill and cooked for about 3 minutes.

The three vegetables were now placed in a bowl and balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper were added. The vegetables were tossed carefully in this and then plated.

Good eating. The onions and asparagus still had a little crunch to them and the capsicums were sweet and juicy.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Green Couscous with a Spring Broth

From Tagines & Couscous, Ghillie Başan, Ryland Peters & Small, 2010.

I’ve never really taken to couscous. I enjoy the grainy texture but it always seems to me to be very bland. Nevertheless, I do every so often make a couscous dish. I may eventually find that I discover the element that I seem to be missing.

For this dish I poured a cup of slightly salted warm water over a cup of couscous and let it stand to absorb the water. I then added a tablespoon of olive oil and rubbed it in with my hand. It then had butter cubes placed on top, it was covered with aluminium foil and placed in the oven while the broth was made.

I heated up about 4 cups of vegetable stock and when it was boiling added ½ cup broad beans, ½ cup green peas, a few green beans sliced, a sliced zucchini and some tinned artichoke hearts. These were let simmer for about 5 minutes until beginning to soften. Chopped herbs were added: coriander, mint and parsley.

The couscous was now served. Some couscous was placed in the centre of a soup dish, vegetables were strained from the broth and added on top and some broth poured around the couscous mound.

This was a pleasant dish though a little on the bland side. I think that I should have upped the flavour of the stock somewhat at the beginning stage. I depended too much on the vegetables flavouring the broth a bit more than they did. Nevertheless, the vegetables came through quite well, bringing their individual tastes to the fore.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔✔