Moroccan Tomato Soup with Chick Peas and Lentils

Nutritional value per portion: Calories 280kcal | protein: 18g | fat: 6g | cardohydrates: 38g

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely cut
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1½ tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground paprika
• ½ tsp ground clove
• 1 liter of vegetable stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 800 g diced tomatoes, canned
• ½ bunch of coriander, finely cut (save some leaves for garnish)
• 800 g chick peas, canned, rinsed and drained
• 800 g brown lentils, canned, rinsed and drained
• Greek yoghurt and toasted pita breads, on the side

• Heat the olive oil in a soup pan and fry the onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes
• Make sure the garlic does not burn
• Add tomato puree, spices, and bay leaf and mix and fry for about 1 min
• Add stock, diced tomatoes and coriander
• Bring to a boil, put the lid on the pan, put heat on low and have the soup very slowly simmer and infuse for an hour.
• Add the chick peas and lentils and have the soup very slowly simmer and infuse for another ± 30 minutes.
• Take the lid off the pan and have the soup slowly simmer for another 30 minutes
• Garnish with the saved coriander leaves
• Serve with yoghurt and pita breads

Enjoy! Smakelijk eten!

This is a translation from an original recipe from delicious. magazine in The Netherlands: https://deliciousmagazine.nl/recepten/marokkaanse-tomatensoep-linzen/

Chicken Breast with Thai Green Curry Sauce

• 1 red chili
• 1 stalk of sereh
• 1 can of coconut milk (400 ml)
• 2 tbsp of sugar
• 3 tbsp of Thai fish sauce
• 3 cm of fresh ginger root, peeled
• 1 lime
• butter
• 4 chicken breasts
• salt & pepper
• fresh coriander/cilantro
• pandan rice
• paksoi/bok choi

Clean the red chili and cut it into very thin strips.

Chop the stalk of sereh into large chunks.

In a pan mix coconut milk with sugar, fish sauce, chili strips and chunks of sereh.

Clean the peel of the lime, peel the ginger root and grate the lime peel and ginger root above the pan. Add the juice of the lime as well.

Bring the mixture to the boil and put on a low heat and reduce in about 15 minutes.

Heat butter in a frying pan, lightly salt and pepper the chicken breasts and fry them in the pan in about 10 minutes on a medium heat. Turn after 5 minutes.

Cook Pandan rice according to the instruction on the package.

Chop up the coriander.

Cut up the paksoi and swiftly stir fry (first the stalks, then add the leaf)

Take the chunks of sereh out of the sauce.

Take the chicken breast out of the pan and cut in thick slices and put on the plates.

Pour over the curry sauce.

Serve with Pandan rice and paksoi.

 

This recipe was originally published in Dutch on the AH Recepten website.

This recipe is in metric measurements. For cooking conversions and equivalents, see Basic cooking/kitchen tips in the menu. 

Corbasi (Turkish Red Lentil Soup)

Serves 4

25 minutes prep + 1 hr cooking time

Ingredients

•  1 diced onion
• 2 carrots, in large chunks
• 1 tablespoon of dried mint
• olive oil
• 4 small potatoes, in cubes
• 1 tablespoon of tomato puree
• 1 tomato, in cubes
• 3 mushrooms, in cubes
• 200 grams of red lentils
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 1 lemon, in parts

You will need a large soup pan and blender or food processor to puree the soup

Preparation

Put a little bit of olive oil in the pan and fry the onions, carrots and mint.

Add the potatoes, tomatopuree, tomato, mushrooms and lentils.

Fill the pan with about 3 liters of water* and bring it to a boil.

Have the soup simmer for about 1 hour (the carrots should be soft)

Add the salt and puree the soup.

Serve with parts of lemon.

*for better taste I prefer to use vegetable stock

This recipe is in metric measurements. For cooking conversions and equivalents, see Basic cooking/kitchen tips in the menu. 

Paris Halloumi salad

This is a re-creation of the Salade Frivole I had in Paris last week at “Le Paradis du Fruits“, outside, in the sun, overlooking The Seine and Notre Dame. Great salad, great memories!

Serves 3-4 * Lunch

Ingredients:
Halloumi cheese
1 cucumber
2 big or 4 small tomatoes
1 red onion
Kalamata olives
low fat Greek yoghurt
virgin olive oil
lemon juice
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
little bit of flour
piece of kitchen towel
individual salad bowls/plates

Preparation:
Cut the Halloumi cheese in cubes. Cover the cubes in a bit of flour. Heat up a frying pan and put in some olive oil. Heat up the olive oil, and add the cubes of Halloumi cheese. Fry them until golden brown. Take the cubes out of the pan and let them drain on piece of kitchen towel.

Cut the red onion in slices. Cut the cucumber and tomato in cubes. Put everything in a bowl and add olive oil & lemon juice, as a dressing. Add sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Add the Kalamata olives (I rinse them, as I find them too salty, before putting them in). Mix it all together.

In each salad bowl/plate, put a dollop of Greek yoghurt and spread out over the bottom of the bowl/plate. Put some salad on top of the yoghurt. Then add several cubes of Halloumi on top. Put some more freshly ground pepper on top.

For extra taste you could add fresh herbes like chives, or parsley.

Serve with fresh bread. Bon appétit!

Chicken with Cream, Calvados & Mushroom

Main course – serves 4 – preparation: 30 minutes

Per person: 410 kcal, 35 g proteins, 28 g fat, 5 g carbs 

Ingrediënts

• 150 g of chestnut mushrooms
• 1 apple
• 4 chicken drumsticks
• 400 g of chicken filet
• salt & freshly grind pepper
• 50 g butter
• 1 sprig of fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 dl (dry) cider
• 2 tablespoon calvados
• 1/2 chicken stock cube
• 125 ml crème fraîche

Wipe the chestnut mushrooms clean and cut into thin slices.

Peel the apple, take out the core and cut up in small cubes

Sprinkle salt and freshly grind pepper over the chicken drumsticks and filets

Heat up the butter in a large frying or caserole pan

Fry the drumsticks all around till they brown, in about 7 minutes

Add the filets and fry those till they brown on both sides

Add the apple and chestnut mushrooms and fry softly for about 2 minutes

Add the sprig of thyme, bay leaf, cider, calvados, ½ stock cube and ½ dl of water

Put the lid half on the pan and have the mix simmer for about 8 minutes until it’s all done

Take out the thyme and bay leaf

Stir in the crème fraîche and warm it up

Add freshly ground pepper to taste

Serve right away. Nice with potato croquettes or dauphinoise and string beans.

EET SMAKELIJK!

A tip regarding the cider (which due to it’s carbonic acid won’t keep that long in the fridge): it usually comes in larger quantities than you need in one dish. If you are not a fan of drinking it, as I am, you can freeze it in an icecubes-tray for future use in cooking. One icecube = 1 tablespoon.