basesixty

Tag: salad

  • Baked Gateaux Piment

    Makes 12 balls.

    You will need:

    • 125g yellow split peas, soaked overnight
    • 1 large or 2 small spring onions, finely sliced
    • 1-2 green chilies, minced
    • Handful of chopped fresh parsley (or coriander)
    • 1 teaspoon dried cumin
    • ½ teaspoon sea salt
    • If required, a paste made from 2 tablespoons gram flour + 1 tablespoon water
    • Olive oil

    Drain and rinse the split peas well, then blitz in a food processor until broken down, still leaving some texture. Add the onions, chilli, parsley, cumin and salt. Blitz again very briefly.

    Turn out into a bowl. Press the mixture into a small ball in your hand. If it doesn’t stick together easily, then make a paste from the gram flour and water and stir into the mix till well incorporated.

    Using your fingers and the palm of your hands, gather the mix into 12 equal sized balls. Place on a plate and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.

    Pre-heat oven to 200C (fan).

    Place the gateaux on a lined baking sheet and brush with olive oil. Bake in the oven for 18 minutes until crispy and browned, turning over half way.

    Serve warm or cold, ideally with a flavourful dip such as a vegan chive mayo, hummus or coconut raita.

    Original recipe: Ceri Jones

  • Fried Falafel

    Serves 2/3

    You will need:

    • 250g chickpeas from a can
    • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
    • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
    • 2 tsp ground coriander
    • 2 tsp ground cumin
    • 2 tsp paprika (optional)
    • small pack flat-leaf parsley, chopped
    • 2 rounded tbsp plain/gram flour
    • 2 tbsp vegetable oil

    Cook the onion in a frying pan until soft.

    Add the garlic, ground spices and parsley to a food processor and pulse until it looks like a consistent powder.

    Add the chickpeas to the food processor and pulse further until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

    At this stage, the onions should be soft. Add the onions and the flour to the food processor and pulse until it is all mixed together.

    Tip the mixture out onto some greaseproof paper and roll into a long sausage about 3-4cm in diameter. Sprinkle the mixture with a bit of paprika and cumin if desired and put in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.

    When ready to cook the falafel, slice the sausage into individual falafel around 2cm thick. In a large pan, heat the oil and fry the falafels on each side for 2-3 mins or until golden (you may need to do this in batches).

    Serve with flatbread and salad.

    • Lettuce
    • Sliced cucumber
    • Grated carrot
    • Sliced spring onion
    • Sliced peppers

    TIP: Paprika is not essential, but makes a nice change

    TIP: You can cook the mixture without chilling first, but it does work better when chilled.

    Original recipe: BBC Good Food

  • Halloumi Souvlaki

    Serves 2

    You will need:

    • 1 block of halloumi (225-250g)
      For the marinade
    • 2 tbsp olive oil
    • 1 tsp dried oregano
    • ½ tsp dried mint
    • ½ tsp ground cumin
    • ½ tsp coriander
    • ½ tsp sweet paprika
    • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
    • zest and juice ½ lemon, plus ½ lemon cut into wedges to serve
    • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
      For the pitta wraps
    • 250g strong white bread flour
    • 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast
    • 1 tsp golden caster sugar
    • 2 tsp olive oil, plus a little for greasing
      For the tzatziki
    • ¼ cucumber
    • 100g Greek yogurt
    • small bunch mint, finely chopped
    • 1 small garlic clove, crushed
    • juice ¼ lemon
      To serve
    • 1 butter or round lettuce
    • 4 large tomatoes, seeds removed, chopped
    • 1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced

    Halloumi prep: Cut the halloumi into cubes, roughly 2cm. Tip the halloumi into a bowl and add the marinade ingredients, along with plenty of black pepper. The marinade does not need salt as the halloumi is already salty. Mix well, ensuring each cube is well coated. Cover and chill for at least 3 hrs, or overnight if you have time.

    Pitta wraps prep: A few hours before you want to eat, make the pitta. In a bowl, mix the flour, yeast, sugar and 1/ 2 tsp salt with your fingertips. Add 150ml lukewarm water and 2 tsp olive oil, and combine to a dough. Tip onto a work surface and knead for 8-10 mins (or use a tabletop mixer for 5 mins). Clean, then lightly oil your bowl, return the dough and cover loosely with cling film. Leave to rise for 1 hr or until nearly doubled in size.

    Divide the dough into four equal pieces. Roll out to circles, as thin as you can. Cover with sheets of oiled cling film and leave to rise for 15-20 mins.

    Tzatziki prep: To make the tzatziki, halve the cucumber lengthways and scoop out the seeds. Finely chop, then combine with the remaining ingredients, along with a pinch of salt. Chill until ready to serve.

    Meal cooking: Heat a large non-stick frying pan (or two if you have them) over a medium-high heat and brush the breads with oil. Gently lift one into the pan. It should sizzle, and bubbles should appear on the surface after 1-2 mins. When the underside is golden, flip it and cook for another 2-3 mins. Continue until all the breads are cooked, wrapping them in foil as you go. Keep the bread warm in the bottom of the oven while you cook the halloumi. Alternatively, cook on the barbecue for 5-8 mins, turning occasionally.

    Heat the halloumi and the remaining marinade in a non-stick pan on a low heat while regularly turning for around 20 minutes until golden on all sides. You do not need any oil for this.

    Take the halloumi out of the pan and serve in the warm bread, with lettuce, tomato, red onion, lemon wedges and tzatziki.

    TIP: Can use fresh herbs instead of dried if you have them, just double the amount stated in the recipe.

    Original recipe: Cassie Best – BBC Good Food

  • Baked Falafel

    Makes around 8 (serves 2/3)

    You will need:

    • 1 tsp olive oil
    • 1 small onion finely chopped
    • 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, rinsed and drained
    • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
    • 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
    • 1 tsp ground coriander
    • 1 tsp sea salt flakes
    • 1 handful flatleaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped
    • 1 egg
    • freshly ground black pepper
    • olive oil spray (or some gram flour to sprinkle)
    • 200ml (1 small pot) sour cream
    • bunch of chives

    For the sour cream and chives, finely chop the chives and mix in with the sour cream. This is best done a couple of hours before serving to let the flavours sit, although it is fine to be served straight away.

    When you are ready to make the falafel, preheat the oven to 180C Fan/Gas 5 and line a baking tray with baking parchment.

    Heat the olive oil in small frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onions and cook for about 10 minutes, or until softened and starting to brown. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

    Put the chickpeas, garlic, spices, salt, egg, chopped parsley and some pepper in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is fairly smooth, stopping every so often to scrape down the sides with a spatula. You want to retain some texture but the paste should be able to hold together. Add the onions after the mixture has reached the consistency you want in the processor.

    Divide the mixture into 8 equal pieces and shape into patties. Place on the prepared baking tray and spray the patties with 10 sprays of oil (or dust the baking sheet and falafel with gram flour). Cook on the top shelf of the oven for 20–25 minutes, or until golden-brown. The falafel will need turning about halfway through cooking once they have set.

    Serve with the sour cream and chive dip, along with wraps and salad and a little bit of hot sauce!

    TIP: Can be made without the egg if you want, just add a little olive oil in the mix instead to prevent it from becoming too dry.

    Original recipe: Tom Kerridge