Fried artichoke hearts

Do you ever wonder what to do with the fresh artichokes that you see in the shops when they are in season?




Ingredients:
About 5 or 6 fresh artichokes
1 egg
salt
water (or milk)
Olive oil
few tablespoons of flour

Preparation:

In a plate you put some flour and an egg and mix, adding a little bit of water or milk till you get a pancake batter substance. Add some salt to this mix.
Prepare the artichokes. You are only going to use the hearts. See images to guide you. First, you cut the largest part of the stem (leave about 2 cm). Now you cut off the top part of the artichoke and pull off the leaves and with a sharp knife you cut the skin off the stem.

The artichoke hearts are cut into 4 equal parts and the

Dried tomatoe and oregano spaghetti (vegan)

This pasta might not look all that appealing when you read the ingredients, but do yourself a favour and give it a try. It is really nice and quick and easy to prepare.

Ingredients: spaghetti
2 or 3 garlic cloves
olive oil
salt
a few tablespoons of water
4 or 5 dried tomatoes (you can buy them in a jar in oil, or if you have the dried version, soak them in some olive oil for till they are tender)



a full tablespoon of oregano (seems a lot but makes it taste great)
a tin of plum tomatoes (not triturado if you live in Spain)

Preparation:

Whilst you boil the water with salt for the spaghetti you take a frying pan and add a good splash of olive oil. Meanwhile, you have cut the tomatoes into pieces and either crushed the garlic or cut it into tiny pieces. When the water for the pasta is boiling you add the spaghetti.

Add both to the hot olive oil and stir immediately. The tomatoes and garlic can burn if you don't watch out and you don't want that so make sure you keep stirring. After a few minutes you add the dried oregano and you may add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water. After again a few minutes you add the tinned tomatoes and make sure they are cut into pieces. You can do this with a fork in the frying pan. Sprinkle with salt (to taste)

Leave on a low heat to reduce the sauce somewhat.

When the pasta is ready – al dente – you can add it to the sauce in the frying pan and mix well.

Serve and enjoy!

Spanish style vegan salad

Ingredients:

• avocado
• red or white onion
• capers
• tomatoes
• olives (The photo shoes the recipe without olives, but olives do work really well in this dish)
• olive oil
• vinegar ( I used apple-cider vinegar)
• salt

Preparation:

Cut the avocado into slices, the tomatoes into chuncks, the onion into thin slices, put in a bowl and sprinkle with some salt.

Add  the capers (amounts depend on how many people you are serving) and sprinkle with some vinegar and a good splash of olive oil. Add olives to taste.

Buon appetit.

Low carb crackers

Preparation:

Would you like to cut down on your carbs? Then check out this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 egg

small hand full of cashew nuts

small hand full of hazelnuts

small hand full of wallnuts

or any other nut you have in your kitchen cupboard

2 tablespoons of linseeds

2 tablespoons of chia seeds

2 tablespoons of sesame seeds

4 to 5 heaped tablespoons of grated cheese (for example padano, mature cheddar...)

baking paper

Preheat the oven at 180 degrees

Put a sheet of baking paper on an oven baking tray

Mix everything well and form into balls that you then flatten into as thin as possible crackers. Lay the crackers on the baking tray.

Bake for between 10 and 15 minutes. Keep checking as you don't want to burn them.

You can keep them fresh in a glass jar for up to a week.

Grilled courgette

Ingredients:

courgette

garlic and parsley condiment

or fresh parsley and fresh garlic

salt

olive oil

Preparation:

Wash and cut the courgette into half a cm thick long slices.

Take a grill pan and brush or spray with some olive oil

When the grill pan is hot you put the slices in the pan and sprinkle with some salt and with the garlic and parsley condiment.

In Spain you can buy this in most supermarkets. If you prefer fresh then cut garlic into tiny cubes and fry them till golden brown in a pan, but make sure it doesn't burn and mix it when cold, with some freshly chopped parsley.

Grill on both sides. The courgette will remain slightly crispy.

Simple broccoli salad

Ingredients for the salad:

One head of broccoli

2 tomatoes

1 small onion

Mayonnaise

Apple-cider vinegar

Honey or other sweetener

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Preparation:

Wash and cut the broccoli into pieces

Boil the broccoli in water with a little salt until cooked to your taste. If you like the broccoli to still be a bit crunchy, then do that, if you like the broccoli well boiled then boil it for a bit longer.

Cut the two tomatoes into chunks

Make a dressing with two tablespoons of mayonnaise, a drizzle of olive oil, some apple cider vinegar, some salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar or a little bit of honey (or other sweetener)

When the broccoli is cooked, let it cool down and mix with the other ingredients.

Quick apple pie

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, they say, but they probably don't mean turning it into an apple pie. However, it is so delicious and so easy to make that a little treat every now and then won't harm us. This is a French style apple pie.

Ingredients:
3 or 4 hard apples

one sheet of puff pastry

about 50 grams of butter

brown sugar

cinnamon

1 egg

whipped cream (optional)

You need a pie baking mold and a frying pan

Preparation:

Peel and slice the apple into thin slices. Heat the butter in a frying pan and add about 2 or 3 tablespoons of brown sugar, (if you have a sweet tooth you use 3). If you are using sour apples you might want to put a little more sugar.

Already put the apples in the butter with sugar, so don't wait till the sugar becomes caramelised. Sprinkle some cinnamon over the apples. Mix the apples with the butter and sugar so that all pieces are covered. Keep stirring, this will take about 10 minutes till the butter and sugar start caramelising, it becomes a bit sticky.

Now put the apple mixture in the mold. Put a sheet of puff pastry on the top and prick it with a fork. Beat the egg and brush some of the egg onto the puff pastry.

Put in a preheated oven at 200 degrees and bake till the crust becomes golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Turn the pie upside down on a plate so that the apples are on top and the pastry at the bottom.

Serve (luke)warm and if you like with some cream.

Enjoy!