Not exactly guacamole, aka avocado with lemon juice

If  we look around the world cooking tradition we'll see dishes popular in every geographical latitude: mayonaysse, spagetti, pizza, hummus, burgers, falafel, guacamole. Most festive and joyful is Mexican guacamole, dip well known by Aztecs and cherished by Mexicans now. Traditionaly, it's avocado mashed with lime. Other additives are dependend of our creativity and taste and the best part is it can't go wrong!

Avocado is called super healthy and so universal: I've eaten chocolate cream of avocado, avocado icecream, I spread bread with avocado, I use mashed avocado when I nead my soup or sauce smooth and creamy. I use it all the time. Today I used it to make dip sauce with lemon juice, linseed, parsley, corriander, garlic and olive oil.
Served with sweet potato chips. Best snack ever.

Avocado with lemon juice

Avocado (I used 1 and 1/2) - mashed

Lemon juice (of half lemon)

Fresh corrianfde nad parsley (few twigh of each or any herb you like)

Dash of olive oil

1 garlic clove

pinch of salt and pepper

1/2 tsp linseed

• Mix it. 
• Serve it. 
• Eat it.
• Bon Appetite!

Tagliatelle with smoked salmon in lemon juce with vegan parmesan

I love pasta. I could eat it every day and I'm so grateful I can eat gluten. It usually takes few minutes to make it. Just cook pasta make sauce and serve the dish.

This one is the effect of my lazieness and the result is great. I cook it quite often, change propotions and greens: once it's dill, other time basil - depends what I have in my tiny fridge. Taste is always good.

Tagliatele with smoked salmon in lemon juice

for 2 people

6  slots of tagliatelle

100g smoked salmon sliced

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 garlic clove crushed

hand full of parsley/basil/dill

2tbsp olive oil

black pepper for seasoning

Almond parmesan

1/2 cup almond flakes

1/4 cup inactive yeast

pinch of salt and pepper

•  Almond parmesan: blend all ingredients until crumbly. Keep in fridge for 1 week.

• Cook tagliatele al dente.
• Heat olive oil on large pan and fry salmon on medium heat for approximietly 2 minutes.
• Pour lemon juice, add parsley, garlic, pepper and tagliatele, stir all ingredients gently, serve immidiately when combine.
• Season with almond parmesan and pepper.
• Bon Appetite!

Shakshuka with grilled lemon tofu

Shakshuka is a traditional Near East and North Africa breakfast dish of baked eggs cooked into super flavourful tomato sauce. It became one of my top breakfasts ever, it is filled with good carbs, proteins and fat. Perfect morning fuel, however it gets longer to cook it than scrambled egg. I like to eat it on lazy Saturday or Sunday mornings, but sometimes I cook it on the evening and eat it next morning or take Shakshuka to work and have it for lunch. You can have it for dinner even.

In this recipe I replaced eggs with grilled tofu marinated in lemon juice, soy sauce and garlic. It did very well!

Shakshuka with grilled lemon tofu

 (for 2 people)

Tofu

150 - 200g tofu (I use hard one, no need to drain it) cut in slices

lemon juice of 1 lemon

2-3 tbsp soy sauce

chili powder

2 garlic gloves minced

Shakshuka 

2 diced bell peppers

2 big tomatoes, blanched, peeled and sliced

1 chopped onion

1 tbsp tomato puree

2 chopped garlic gloves 

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp cumin 

1/2 tsp sugar (optional)

salt

pepper

chili powder (optional)

fresh parsley (for garnish)

delicate oil (I use rapeseed oil)

•  Lemon juice, soy sauce, chili powder and minced garlic mix together and pour on tofu. The best solution is to keep it in plastic lunch box tightly closed in a fridge for at least 30 minutes.
• Grill tofu on both sides. Leave it aside when is ready.
• Heat the oil in a large pot, minimise the heat and simmer onion for +/- 10 minutes, then add coriander, turmeric and cumin (this way releases aroma hidden in spices and our dish will be rich in flavor). Stir gently and do not let it burn, as spices getting bitter and whole process is ruined. When scent of spices is rich and deep, add garlic, let it mingle with onion, turmeric, cumin and coriander for some minute and add peppers, stir thoroughly with spices and onion and cover with lid. Saute for around 7-10 minutes on small heat.
• Add chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, salt and pepper to taste and if you like it hot'n'spicy some chili powder. If needs some flavor balance add some sugar. 
• Serve with tofu, garnished with parsley. Taste great with bread. 
• Bon Appetite!
  
  
  
  

  

  
  

Garlic Mayo

Since I don't do lactose my life changed a bit. I don't suffer with alergies (especialy hay fewer) so badly I used to, my hair and skin are not greasy anymore, my immune system is stronger and I lost a lot of water stopped in my body for ages. I lost good few inches and old jeans fits again. That is my favourie benefit. One pizza won't destroy that effect.

I love pizza. It's my cheat meal, usually on Fridays evening I have one. I pay the price for lactose, but once a month it's ok. The best pizza is with garlic mayo and its vegan option is really easy and won't take longer than 5 minutes to preppare.

Based on that recipe.

Garlic Mayo

175 ml soy milk

50 ml oil (I used rapeseed)

pinch of Kala Namak salt

2 tbsp apple vinegar

1/2 tsp mustard

2 tbsp inactive yeast

2 garlic cloves

salt

chili pepper (or any other pepper)

• Soy milk, Kala Namak, mustard, vinegar, inactive yeast and garlic blend togather in a blender on high speed. When done pour slowly the oil in small parts and keep blending for another 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper and it's done.
•  Bon Appetite!

My Favorite Salmon Pasta

I cannot and I shouldn't been eating or drinking any milk, cream or cheese. It always ends up badly, very badly. Because I can't resist, I have my cheat day on Saturday, but only when evening is quiet and at home and I can let myself chill out.
Many years ago I've seen this recipe on TV and it became one of my favorite ever since. It's simple, fast in cooking and does not require any special sills or talents, but will amaze your friends and family. They will beg for more!

Creamy Salmon Pasta

for 2 persons

  1 pack (200g) smoked salmon

2tbsp capers

200 ml white dry wine

250 ml creme fresh

1-2 bunch of dill (I love it and always use as much as I can)

250g / half pack tagliatelle

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

blackpepper

• In a large pot heat salted water. Start cooking tagliatelle pasta when water boils. Cook it very al dente.
• Place capers in a cup and rinse gently with cold water, drain and chop sloppily. Heat large pan, pour the oil and fry capers for 1-2 minutes on medium heat (don't let it burn), pour the wine and reduce the heat. Let it cook slowly for around 10 minutes, until 30% of liquid evaporates.
• Chop dill. Put 1/3 of it to the wine with capers and leave it for a while. 
• Cut salmon in small pieces and leave it aside for a while.
• Now, the tricky part - shocking the cream. Pour 1 table spoon of hot mixture of wine, capers and dill to the cream and stir carefully and very thoroughly and pour into the pan, stir all the ingredients, add salmon and rest of dill, sir again and add cooked tagliatelle let it cook on very small heat for 4-5 minutes, but do not let it boil, as it destroy whole dish.
• Ladle the pasta with salmon and cream into plates and serve seasoned with freshly grounded pepper and parmesan cheese.
• Bon Appetite! 

Flavor of Summer

I love the seasonal food. Spring is full of green goodies, the best salads of young spinach, red radish and anything that announcing new life delivered by early sun. Summer brings strawberries, cherries and asparagus. All these remind me of my grannie standing in the kitchen, stirring in a huge pot exactly like a witch in Shakespearean play when making her magic. 

One of her extraordinary charms were asparagus soup. Asparagus is the royal vegetable, very sophisticated. It appears suddenly sometime in late May, stays with us until July and vanish for the rest of the year. I love white asparagus, thicker and harder than its green cousin, way more distinct in flavor and very fleshy. I’ve never seen any white in Ireland, but the green one was very present on the shelf in my local grocery shop. I took three packs and run home, dreaming of reproducing the flavor of my childhood.

Before you cook asparagus remember to break the end off of it, as it is very hard, “uncookable” and uneatable. It’s about 1 inch /2.5 cm. Don’t need the knife, simply keep the end in hand and break it off – it breaks exactly in the part where asparagus gets soft and tender.

Asparagus soup

3 packs green asparagus

2 bunches dill

0.5-0.7 kg baby potatoes

1.5l boiling vegetable broth

half glass unsweetened almond milk (or any veg milk)

half glass of inactive yeasts flakes

salt

fleshly grounded pepper

• .      Cut potatoes in small parts and put into boiling veg broth. Cook around 7 minutes on medium heat.
• .      Cut asparagus in small pieces 2.5cm/1 inch long and put to veg broth and potatoes. Add milk and inactive yeasts flakes. Cook for another 10 min.
• .      Chop dill and add into the soup. Season with pepper and salt (I like it bit spicy, but not too much. Don’t kill asparagus flavor!)
•     Share with Friends :)
•     Bon Appetite!!!