Easter Eve BBQ

Although the weather wasn't very helpful these last couple of days we decided to have an Easter Eve BBQ, if only because our weekly organic box 'De Krat' was so full off lovely ingredient screaming to invite some guests. Only ingredients we had to add for a 6 person BBQ with salads and bread were some steaks, 1 avocado, pinenuts and some fresh basil and thyme. Alright, and some merquez sausages.

Salad 1: Grilled Veg Salad
Slice 1 Courgette and 1 yellow Pepper, brush the slices with olive oil and grill for a couple of minutes on each side. Mix it up with a chopped peace of Garlic, chopped Basil, a squeeze of Lime juice and some salt and pepper. Put aside. Fry some Pine nuts, cut some Cherry Tomatoes in half. Mix up 1 tbsp Red WineVinegar with 3 tbsp Olive Oil for the vinaigrette. Dress 3 hands full of fresh Spinach with the vinaigrette and put all the other ingredients on top. Finish of with some salt, pepper  and fresh Basil

Salad 2: Sunny Salad
This salad was solely based on the fact De Krat brought me pansies to use in the kitchen, so we had to make them into salad that added a little sunshine to our Easter Eve BBQ. All you need to do for this salad is slice and mix and its ready.
Cut and wash (a) Green Lettuce, slice an Avocado, cut Cherry Tomatoes in half, slice up half a Yellow Pepper. Slice a Leek  into thin rings, put in a bowl and pour some boiling water over, put aside. Make a dressing of 1 tbsp (Fennel) Vinegar, 3 tbsp Olive oil, 1 tsp (Spring) Mustard, 1 tsp  Honey and s+p. Dress the lettuce and put on a plate. Drain the leek and put on top, together with the other ingredients. Finish of with the Pansies, some Fresh Herbs (I used fresh Mint and Perilla) and maybe some Pine Nuts.

For the rest we needed some meat and bread. Where else to get your steaks than from butchery Louman who truly sell the best steaks you can get in Amsterdam. Their Merquez Merquez sausages are also not to sneeze at by the way. Bread of course from De Krat, who brought us some nice Walnut bread from Menno this week. And also got some brown Baguette at the Vlaams Broodhuys.

 

Despite the low temperature it was a very successful Easter Eve BBQ with thanks to De Krat en butchery Louman! 

Salad with figs and Parma

What you need for the salad: 

Bunch of Mint

Bunch of Watercress

2 spoons of Hazelnuts

6 dried figs

150 gr of Parma Ham

1 apple into cubes

Dressing: 100 yoghurt, juice + zest of 1 lime, 1 bag of vanilla sugar, peper&salt, mix everything then slowly stir 3 spoons of hazelnut oil through

How to make it:

Mix all the ingredients together and poor over the dressing: bon apetit

Pumpkin soup and a potato salad

We have lots of packing to do for the upcoming move, but I have the rest of the day off and the cabinets need to be emptied so there is plenty opportunity and enough ingredients to cook. It’s a soup and salad again tonight.

Pumpkin Soup with a potato salad 
Lunch or light meal for 2

For the soup:

1 tsp. olive oil

2 shallots, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tbsp. of red curry

1 small pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks

1 liter vegetable stock

3 bay leafs

Spring Onion Soup

After a long day of work, especially at the end of the week we are mostly chosing some easy meal to cook. Let me refrase, we mainly like to take away or order in on those days, but it's still hard to find take out dinners containing enough fresh vegetables to my likings. So tonight we choose the easy cooking:  soup and a salad.

A spring onion soup with a smoked chicken salad 
Lunch or light meal for 2

The salad:
1/2 a cabbage lettuce
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 chicken breast, sliced

Nicoise Salad with Herring

A Simple salad made around the wonderful herring we bought at the specialist Jewish sour shop De Leeuw. If you like souer stuff as much as I do, please go and visit this sweet little shop on a thursday, friday or sunday and get yourself some fish, pickles, onions or even some souer horseradish.

This salad is a mix of boiled green beens, tomatoes and sliced red onion, mixed up with some vinegar and olive oil. Herring, hard boiled eggs and some fresh dill on top.