Turmeric Tofu Quinoa Pilaf

This lovely recipe was recommended by my good friend Olga. It is taken from some celebs cookbook. Oh well, if Olga says it's good...
Ingredients:
200g quinoa
olive oil
3-4 spring onions
300g chopped cherry tomatoes
a handful of finely chopped parsley
a handful of finely chopped coriander
6 slices of firm tofu
a good sprinkle of ground turmeric
for the dressing:
4 tablespoons crème fraîche or yogurt
zest and juice of 1 lemon
black pepper


Cook the quinoa for 12-15 minutes, set aside to cool while adding a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.
Mix the herbs, tomatoes and spring onions and then put in a large bowl with the quinoa.
Heat some olive oil and saute the turmeric sprinkled tofu for a few minutes, both sides, till it gets a nice golden colour.
Make the dressing by mixing all ingredients, it should be very thick. You want that. Crack some black pepper over it mix well and add the tofu on top.
Here is a protein bomb for you.

± carrot and soya bean salad ±

It feels like there is a duel between the lemon zest and the chili here. Very special taste.


200g frozen soya beans

60ml olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 finely chopped onion

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp dried coriander
1 tsp dried parsley

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

½ tsp dried chili flakes

1 tsp salt

8 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1cm buttons
, or same amount shredded
1 tsp honey

Grated zest of 1 lemon

200g feta, broken into chunks
20g sesame seeds

Steam the carrots for 10-15 minutes and also steam the beans for 20-25 minutes, until they are cooked but still retain a bite.
Drain, shake well and transfer to a large bowl. About three minutes before the beans are done, heat two tablespoons of oil in a small frying pan and add the onion, garlic and the seeds.
Cook on medium heat, stirring often, until the onion is transparent and the seeds start to pop – about three minutes – then pour the honey and caramelize.
Remove from the heat and pour the mix over the beans, along with the vinegar, chili and salt.
Add the carrots to the bean bowl and stir gently. Transfer to a shallow serving bowl, sprinkle over lemon zest, dot with feta and drizzle with olive oil.
Then sprinkle over some sesame seeds and serve while still warm.
Also ideal to serve with quinoa.

Spellbound : Pumpkin, Spinach & Chickpea Casserole

200g chickpeas cooked or organic canned for lazy days
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium red onions, chopped
600 g pumpkin, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
a nice mix of paprika, black pepper, dried parsley, salt and turmeric
250ml vegetable stock
100 g baby spinach
50g grated cheddar cheese
50g grated Parmesan cheese
200g long grain rice
lemon wedges to serve

Preheat oven gas mark 5.
Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion vegetable stock and pumpkin.
Cook, stirring, for 10minutes or until soft. Add the garlic, chickpeas and spice mix and cook for another 10 min then finally add the spinach and cook till it disappears. Remove from heat, add the cheddar cheese and stir well. At the same time cook the rice in a separate pot for as long as the package indicates.
Mix pumpkin and friends with the rice and place in a pyrex type roasting tray that has been coated with olive oil. Put grated Parmesan on top.
Place in oven. Roast for 30 minutes or so. Serve with lemon wedges.


This recipe was made while listening to :
Birthday Party - Release the Bats
The Shags - It's Halloween
The Cramps - Goo Goo Muck
Boris- Spoon
Charles Mingus - Pithecanthropus Erectus
Explosions In The Sky - Welcome, Ghosts
Gang Gang Dance - Nomad For Love (Cannibal)
Guards- Don't Wake The Dead
Male Bonding - Bones
Os Mutantes - Ave, Lucifer
Radio Birdman - Murder City Nights
Abe Vigoda - Dead City

Gluten Free Vanilla Cupcakes

for the cupcakes

• 150g room temperature unsalted butter
• 150g vanilla sugar (that is a homemade version and can be made with a vanilla pod planted in a jar of caster sugar)
• 3 eggs (take out of fridge ahead of time so it's room temperature)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsb xanthan gum
• 150g gluten-free white flour
• dash of organic full fat milk

Preheat oven gas mark 5
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy then beat in the eggs one at a time.
Add in the baking powder, xanthan gum, flour and milk.
Pour into cupcake liners in a cupcake tin and bake for about 20-30 minutes or until golden brown on top and a cake tester comes out clean.
Let cool and then frost.

For the cream cheese frosting

• 150g cream cheese
• 150g softened butter
• 110g icing sugar
• 3 tbsp good quality berry or fig marmalade. I used my friend's Serafim 's mother's excellent fig marmalade.

With a hand mixer, mix together cream cheese and butter until combined.
Add marmalade to the cream cheese-butter mixture.
Sift in the icing sugar and mix well with a spatula. Chill in fridge for at least an hour before use.
Spread on top of cupcakes with the spatula. Decorate with a couple of raspberries on top or other.

Roasted Broccoflower With Prawns

Broccoflower is a piece of art. You will not want to eat it, it's that beautiful, but at some point in it's life it has to happen.


• 1 broccoflower cut into florets
• Salt and cracked black pepper
• 250ml olive oil
• 1/4 cup currants
• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
• 1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 24 large green king prawns, peeled
• 1/2 cup coriander leaves
• 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
• Lime wedges, to serve

Preheat oven to 200C.
Place broccoflower florets on a roasting tray and season well. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat. Roast for 25-30 minutes or until cooked.
Mix currants and vinegar in a saucepan, bring to the boil, then drain.
In a small frypan over low heat, dry fry cumin, coriander and paprika until fragrant. Add garlic, chilli flakes and 120ml oil and cook until garlic is golden. Remove from heat and season.
Heat remaining oil in a large frypan and stir-fry prawns until almost cooked. Add spice mixture and cook until just heated through. Stir in currants and herbs and remove from heat.
Top cauliflower with prawns and serve warm or at room temperature with lime wedges.
Serves 6 and they will all ask for more.

To The Pacific

Ignore any tasteless 'easy on the fig' jokes the punters might crack, based on a recent review of the place in Time Out. The fig toastie is actually delicious.
This is a little diamond in Hackney which survived the week of the riots and is serving good coffee and more, with some cool calypso tunes. Went sans baby which was a good idea as it is not ultra spacious and also I wouldn't like to see the little one chewing their lovely postcards from all over the world.
Walking distance from home. So happy about this place!
Do not fret guys: I will keep M. away or strapped in his buggy.
The Pacific Social Club :
8 Clarence Road
Hackney
E5 8HB

Kounoupidi Kapama Oh What Is That

That is cauliflower cooked in tomato sauce with cinnamon and cheese on top. My grandmother used to cook that a lot and I hated the smell of cooked cauliflower back then. She used to top it up with feta cheese but I think parmesan works much better.
By the way, I love cauliflower now.
Ingredients
• 85ml olive oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• garlic cloves, crushed
• 8 tomatoes, seeded and chopped or just a can of peeled tomatoes if you are lazy like me
• large pinch of ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 75g parmesan, grated

Heat 2-3 tbsp olive oil in a heavy based frying pan and sauté the onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes, or until the onion has softened.
Add the chopped/tin tomatoes, cinnamon and oregano and season with salt and pepper. Stir and simmer, covered for 5 minutes.
Add the cauliflower to the tomato mixture, cover, and simmer for a further 10-15 mins or until the cauliflower is tender. There is an alternative way to cook this, just by steaming the cauliflower in advance for 10 minutes and add to the mix. I prefer this method to be honest.
Sprinkle over the lemon juice and grated parmesan. the cheese has melted. Capers will go well with this too. Serve warm with rice, quinoa or pasta.