Best Crop of the Season: Herb Salad with Chevre & Beetroot Carpaccio

Last spring we went to Ireland on a short trip. We spent almost three weeks and boy, how quickly time flies when you are having fun! We met up with family and friends, taking millions of photographs and doing quite a lot of wining(no, not whining!) & dining  :)) There's absolutely no reason to whine about Ireland, apart from the high cost of living & unreliable weather, otherwise all is perfect - especially the food & eating out.

This salad is inspired by one great lunch we had with friends in the small town of Athenry, Co. Galway.  For  those who are not familiar with that part of the world or have never been to the west of Ireland, Athenry is 25 km east of Galway. Although I visited it only briefly during two not-so-sunny afternoons, I loved its vibe. It is vibrant, clean & has some great little spots to eat out. I was telling you some time ago about my epiphany about scones & lemon curd. This is a follow-up!

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I have waited for what seems like a long time for spring to arrive & to be able to buy the best greens of the season: spring onions/garlic, ramson aka wild garlic, crunchy radishes and orach.

In Romania we cook orach sour soup with beef stock & lovage, which is very nice indeed, but I had other plans for my favourite purple herb of the season. 

Herb Salad with Chevre & Beetroot Carpaccio in Sweet Mustard Vinaigrette

Type of cuisine: vegetarian/low fat/healthy

All quantities are given for two persons

a small bunch of wild garlic

1 spring onion

1 spring garlic

half a baked beetroot, cut into thin slices

8 slices of chevre

4 small radishes

For the vinaigrette you will need: 4 tbs of extra virgin olive oil, 2 tsp of Dijon mustard, 4 tbs of balsamic vinegar, 1 tbs of clear honey.

Mix and shake the liquids well.

Chop/cut/slice the herbs, the radishes, the cheese and the beetroot and place them on a dish.  Sprinkle the sweet mustard vinaigrette over and enjoy :)

You can serve with croutons, salty crackers, brown bread fried in cumin & olive oil or plain chips.

Couldn't have been easier and/or healthier - apart from the chips or the fried bread, that is :// - and it certainly brought back some memories of green Ireland, Galway, Athenry, and the New Park Hotel where we had lunch. You can click on the link and read their menu. Maybe you can steal some ideas and recreate some of the dishes for yourself...until you visit Athenry and have brunch/lunch/dinner on their premises - I recommend the experience!

New Park Hotel

Cross Street, Athenry,

Co. Galway, Ireland

http://www.newparkhotel.ie

Inspiration

Shopping is great in Ireland. I found that food is mainly organic and people focus more on quality & eco-friendly, free-range products. Milk, butter, beef, chicken and veggies all taste like the real thing - the way they were meant to taste! I fell in love with the place and we will certainly go back. Next time, maybe, we'll rent a small holiday apartment. That will give me the possibility to go shopping, cook indoors and experiment with different local Irish ingredients. 

I discovered this small, family-owned butcher shop which gave me great ideas. The staff was extremely friendly and let me take some snapshots. 

what a great idea!

men @ work :)

A fake door / painted mural



(I don't want to boast, but it was delicious) xx

Spaghetti with Home-Made Sausages & Basil Tomato Sauce

Today it was that kind of a day when my pantry was almost empty & for this reason I didn't feel like cooking. I love veggies and generally meat is barely there as side dish :) Therefore, without vegetables I didn't have too many options.

It's surprising how half a packet of pasta, a can of tomatoes and two home-made sausages (c) by my mother can get you out of the woods.

So if in doubt, cook Italian. You will never go wrong :)

Spaghetti with Home-Made Sausages and Basil Tomato Sauce

Type of cuisine: Italian/Low fat

So hungry! No time for food styling.

Ingredients

half a packet of pasta (spaghetti)

two home-made sausages (I love you, mum) 

For the tomato sauce you will need

a can of tomatoes

basil & rosemary

4 cloves of garlic

a pinch of salt

a pinch of brown sugar

1/4 cup of warm water

Method

Boil the pasta. Simmer the sausages. My mother's sausages aren't supposed to be fried. They are made of beef and packed with herbs. They are amazing! I wish I could make them myself and post them on the blog :)

To make the tomato sauce, fry the garlic in olive oil and add the can of tomatoes & the water. Add the sugar and season with salt. Sprinkle the chopped rosemary and the basil, if they are fresh, all the better.  Let it simmer for around 20 minutes. 

Slice the two sausages and finally set up the dish: the pasta, the sausages and the tomato sauce. Delicious. 

Pasta with tomato sauce is a staple in my kitchen and one of my favourite pasta dishes. Goes well with garlic bread, Parmesan cheese and red wine. For dinner. :) 

Couscous with Mint, Parsley & Pomegranate Seeds

Lunch is that time of the day when people eat to recharge their batteries to keep them going till they get back home. This is why restaurants offer special lunch deals and service must be super fast. No fuss, no delays, no room for mistakes. A quick lunch doesn't have to compromise on the quality nor the taste of the food, so fast food as we know it shouldn't even be an option.

Part of Moroccan heritage, couscous is a very versatile grain which is obtained by steaming and drying cracked wheat. Fortunately, pre-cooked couscous is readily available in most supermarkets and local corner shops. I prefer medium-grain couscous which is coarse and when cooked, looks like tiny pearls. 

Couscous with Mint, Parsley & Pomegranate Seeds

Type of cuisine: Moroccan/Fusion

Cooking time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

a small cup of couscous

a handful of chopped parsley

2 branches of chopped mint

a knob of butter

lemon juice

a pinch of salt

pomegranate seeds

crushed pistachios (optional, for decoration)

Preparation

Boil water in the kettle. Chop the parsley & mint finely. (Crush the pistachios using the blade of a big knife).

Method

Put the couscous in a large bowl and add the salt (to taste) and the butter.  Pour the hot water to cover the grain and cover the bowl with a suitable lid - this way the steam and the heat wiill seal inside the bowl and make the couscous fluffy. 

After 5 minutes, remove the lid and with a fork fluff the couscous, then add the chopped mint and parsley and squeeze some lemon juice and mix again.

To decorate sprinkle some pomegranate seeds on top and halas (that's it, in Arabic), that's your lunch. :) 

Because I was in a mad rush, I had actually forgotten about the pistachios, but normally I would add some pistachios on top. It gives the dish a crunchy texture. The parsley and the lemon juice also pair very well .

Fresh mint can also be replaced with spring onions, if it's their season.

My lunch basically consisted of last night's roast chicken with lemongrass and the couscous as a side dish. SUPER SCRUMPTIOUS. 

Couscous is ideal as a bento type of lunch.  If you have a microwave at the office, you can stick it inside for a minute and you'll have a lunch that will definitely make your colleagues drool.... Enjoy :)