Soba noodle salad with coconut dressing

Last year, my employer invited a nutritionist to give talks on what to eat in order to stay healthy during the colder months, hoping, of course, that less people would have to call in sick. A clever little plot, somewhat less radical and obvious than the free flu jab. There was a lot of talk about vitamins, minerals, free radicals and their friends and relations. Very interesting but not much has stuck, to be honest. And after reading "In the Defence of Food: an Eater's Manifesto" by Michael Pollan, I'm not sure it even matters. I thought the greatest tip we got was to make your plate as colourful as possible as, apparently, a variety of colours (vegetables and fruit, not gummy bears) pretty much equals a variety of nutrients. Nutritional value aside, it looks and tastes great. If all the lectures on vitamins, good fats and bad fats definitely turn out to be complete bogus, you at least had a lovely meal. What more could you ask for? Get that chopping board out!

Soba noodle salad with coconut dressing (serves 2)

• 160g soba noodles
• 1 scallion, white part finely chopped
• 2 carrots, julienned
• 1 zucchini, julienned
• 1/4 head red cabbage, very finely chopped
• 1 small handfull sprouts (rocket, onion, alfalfa)
• 6 radishes, quartered
• 6 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 tablespoons coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• a dash of soy sauce and lemon juice

Cook the soba noodles until soft. Drain, refresh under cold water and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a wok or a large frying pan. Stir fry the onions and carrots for one minute, then add the zucchini and cook for another minute. Add the cabbage and toss. Remove from the heat and put the vegetables into a bowl. Let cool slightly. Add the cold noodles, sprouts, radishes and tomatoes. Stir the coconut milk, sweet chili sauce and sesame oil together and season to taste with soy sauce and lemon juice. Pour over the noodles and vegetables and toss until everything is evenly coated.

I had some grilled paneer with it. Tofu would be nice, too and more "authentic".

Risotto in the speed of light

Purists, avert your eyes, cover you ears. The method for cooking risotto I'm writing about in this post is so unorthodox, it'll have you throw your hands up in horror.

I use my pressure cooker for making risotto, There, I said it. I never dreamt of making risotto any other way than patiently stirring it for twenty minutes or so until I read this post in Sigirid's beautiful blog cavoletto di bruxelles. I reckoned that she knew a thing or two about cooking and if she considered the pressure cooker method to be ok, I'd give it a try. And I haven't looked back, to be honest. I wouldn't say I'd never make risotto the traditional way again, but the pressure cooker method is so fast, you can have a perfectly good risotto on you table in roughly ten minutes, preparation time included. What's not to love about that?

Pressure cooker risotto (serves 2)

• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 160g risotto rice
• 1 glass white wine
• 5dl boiling broth
• 2-3 tablespoons grated parmesan
• 1 small knob of butter
• freshly grated pepper

Remove the steaming device from the bottom of the pressure cooker. Heat the olive oil and gently fry the onion until soft and translucent. Add the rice and cook for a minute or two until it is shiny, then add the wine and let evaporate. Add the broth, stir and put on the lid. Heat until the valve hisses, turn down the heat and cook the risotto on level two of you pressure cooker (for mine, it's when two red rings show on the valve) for six minutes. Place the pan under the tap and run cold water over it in order for the steam to be released. Open the pan, place it back on the stove and stir for a minute or two until the remaining liquid is absorbed. Stir in the butter, parmesan and black pepper (I also added some chopped spring onions and parsely at this stage), cover and let rest for five minutes. Serve immediately.

I have made this with excellent results using carnaroli. I was given a bag of rice called avorio and tried it, too. The end result was even better but it takes longer, I'd say ten minutes. I don't know what this avorio rice is about, it looks like it's been parboiled but I'm not sure. Does anyone know? All I know is that I want more of it.

Lunch, anyone?

What's your lunchtime personality? Do you grab a sandwich at the cafeteria and eat at your desk? Devour a huge plate of pasta that will have your blood sugar crash in a major way by 3 p.m. or do you prefer something light like sushi, a wise point from a nutritional point of view but maybe less so from a financial one? A square of chocolate, an espresso, two cigarettes and back to work? Or do you maybe take a carefully prepared packed lunch every day? I am a little bit of everything (except for the coffeine-nicotine-sugar "lunch", but I swear I didn't make that up), only if I'm honest, the packed lunch doesn't feature on the menu as often as I would like it to. Which is crazy because the amount of money I spend on mediocre restaurant lunches and ridiculously overpriced sandwiches is seriously very crazy! I have therefore come up with a plan. I am queen of plans as you might have noticed reading this blog. I will take a packed lunch every time I go to yoga at lunchtime, i.e. usually three times a week. In four weeks, that will save me enough money to buy another ten-class ticket at my yoga studio. How cool is that? Double health factor! I'm starting tomorrow and brimming with optimism with this brightly coloured bulgur wheat salad.

Bulgur wheat salad with chickpeas and vegetables (serves 1)

• 60g bulgur wheat (I used the coarse variety)
  
• 0.5 teaspoons turmeric
• 1 large handfull chopped vegetables - whatever you fancy
• chickpeas (roughly half a can)
  
• 3-4 chopped mint leaves
• juice of half a lemon
• olive oil
  
• salt, pepper

Cook the bulgur wheat for seven minutes in double the volume of salted water to which you've added the turmeric. Remove the pan from the heat, cover, and let the bulgur steam for about five minutes. Let cool a bit. Toss with the vegetables (I used red cabbage, carrots, radishes, spring onions and rocket), the chickpeas and the mint. Stir together the lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the bulgur and mix thoroughly.

Spaghetti with rocket or how not to go shopping

I subscribed to a vegetable delivery service, similar to the neighbourhood CSAs in the US, only my vegetables don't come from a community garden in the city but from a farm nearby. Every other week, I get to collect my bag at the drop-off point in our neighbourhood. I love the fact that the vegetables are organic and haven't travelled around the world before they reach my plate. The killing of a live lobster during a theater performance witnessed by my very dear friend M. sparked a heated debate between a group of friends as to how we treat animals and more generally - how we feed ourselves. I considered the killing - and possibly torturing - of the poor lobster for the sake of theater to be completely inacceptable while M. argued that surely it didn't matter whether lobsters were killed at restaurants or on a theater stage and what about slaughtering chickens, cows, pigs - why wasn't I opposed to that? I'm not going to replay the whole lobster debate here but it did get me thinking about what food I buy and how I handle it. (Which will make M. happy as it proves just how powerful theater can be and because it might mean that the lobster didn't die in vain.) Enough about seafood though, back to the veg. Here's what I got in my first delivery:

• a huge bag of spinach
• a somewhat huge bag of baby salad leaves
• a relatively huge bag of fiercely peppery rocket
• a fennel bulb
• a cucumber

The spinach I polished off right away. For the next dinner it was going to be salad (obviously) and rocket-something. Pizza with parma ham and rocket? I had my shop for pizza dough, mozzarella, canned tomatoes and parma ham all planned out when it hit me: I go food shopping all the time, way too often, always buying new ingredients rather than putting together what I already have. I decided there and then to stop. There was food for many meals in the cupboards and I was going to use it. The result of this new mindset (let's hope I can keep it up - it will not only save me money, but time, too!) were spaghetti with béchamel sauce, ham and chopped rocket*, generously topped with grated parmesan. My grandmother used to make this with peas instead of rocket and bake it in the oven. Quintessentially unitalian. It was a good dish, not something I would want every day, but still good. The real revelation? Not going shopping - every so satisfactory.

* Make a béchamel sauce, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg, add the ham and some grated parmesan. Add the cooked pasta and the chopped rocket and mix carefully for a minute or two over a low heat, maybe adding some reserved cooking water if needed.

Soba noodle salad with tofu-peanut dressing

In march this year, I went to a yoga holiday to Marrakech. It was something I had been longing do for a while but none of the offers I found appealed to me. Bali? Too far for a week. A hut on La Gomera where the yogis would cook their own vegan meals? A little too hippy-dippy for my taste. And the worst - sharing a room with a complete stranger - please, could there be anything less relaxing? I had almost given up when I found in:spa retreats. Exactly what I needed. Pricey, yes, but with its combination of luxury accomodation, yoga, fitness and a healthy dose of pampering it ticked all the right boxes. The package came with nutritional advice, too and while I was probably doing better than some of my fellow retreaters who admitted to downing a bottle of red wine on their own after a hectic day at work (what?) or relying on ready-made meals most days, I had a simple, yet very important lesson to learn: the lesson about protein. I had often wondered why my - in my eyes - rather healthy lunches of some wholegrain or other with vegetables left me hungry and tempted by the sweets in the cafeteria by four o'clock. Lack of protein, of course! I had to pay a handsome sum of money and travel to North Africa to learn that!

Soba noodle salads are a staple in my lunchbox and I like to think that I'm a bit clever, adding protein with silken tofu blended into the dressing. And what's more: you could feed these noodles to people who wouldn't normally go anywhere near tofu and they would gobble them up with delight, the unsuspecting souls.

Soba noodles with tofu-peanut dressing
(serves 2)

• 90g soba noodles
• 3 large handfulls chopped vegetables (cucumber, peppers, radishes, spring onions...)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs - whatever you fancy
  
• a quarter of a block silken tofu (equals roughly 4 tablespoons)
  
• 1 tablespoon peanut butter or thai peanut sauce
  
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon chili sauce
• soy sauce to taste
  

Cook the noodles in salted water until tender. In the meantime, blend all the remaining ingredients except for the herbs and the vegetables together until smooth. Pour some of the cooking water into a cup, drain the noodles and refresh under the cold tap. Set aside. Stir the reserved cooking water into the dressing. Taste the dressing and add whatever you think needs to be added. The measurements given above are approximative, you might want to change them or add other ingredients. Put the noodles, vegetables and herbs and dressing into a large bowl and toss well.

Maccheroni with cavolo nero and red lentils

The Boyfriend and I are moving in one month. Again. I remember saying to him that I wouldn't go anywhere for a while when we moved into the apartment we now live in. That was not even three years ago. And now things turned out differently at work than I ever expected, big and exciting (scary?) changes await and instead of me trying to find a new job in the town where we live now, he gave up his job and is looking for work in the town I've been commuting to for the last three years. Did I mention that I love him?

Moving, of course, equals the cleaning out of cupboards. We filled large bags with clothes to give to charity and are feasting on pulses like they're going out of fashion. Last week: Treberwurst (a large, ground-meat sausage with a local grappa-style spirit and raisins) with lentils, later this week: thai-scented sweet potato soup (featuring red lentils) and yesterday: maccheroni with cavolo nero and red lentils. We'll be ready to tackle the Beluga lentils by the beginning of next week.

Maccheroni with cavolo nero and red lentils (serves 4)

• 1 cavolo nero (a kind of cabbage often used in italian cooking)
  
• 1 small red onion
• 40g pancetta, diced
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
  
• 2 tablespoons tomato purée
• 200g red lentils
• 200g maccheroni or other short pasta
• 1 stock cube
• water
• 10 cherry tomatoes (optional)
  
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Cut the leaves of the cabbage and chop them roughly. Boil them in salted water for 5 minutes, then drain. Finely chop the onion. In a very large and deep frying pan with a cover, gently fry the onion and pancetta in the olive oil. Add the tomato purée and fry for another minute, stirring continuously. Add the drained cabbage, red lentils, stock cube and add enough water to generously cover everything. Cover the pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the pasta and the quartered cherry tomatoes if using and cook, uncovered, until the pasta is done. You might need to add more water. Check the seasoning and serve in deep plates with some grated cheese on top.

Stuffed portobello mushrooms

I used to love to read Bread and Butter, written by Stevi, an Englishwoman living in Greece. Used to because the blog is discontinued - too bad. Stevi once featured a recipe for bulgur-stuffed portobello mushrooms, which I've been meaning to make for ages, only they were never any portobello mushrooms around! I finally spotted some a few weeks ago and immediately changed my dinner plans. The day of the stuffed portobello mushrooms had arrived at last. I roughly followed Stevi's recipe but added finely chopped carrots and tomatoes to the bulgur, as well as some crumbly goat cheese just before I slid the mushrooms into the oven. There's hardly any need for very precise measurements, two mushrooms per person and about 50g of bulgur wheat and then whatever takes your fancy. Serve with a mixed leaf green salad for a too-healthy-to-be-true and (yet) truly delicious lunch.

Rice pudding

I made this rice pudding according to Elise's recipe on Simply Recipes. I must admit that when I read how her father had proclaimed that this was how God intended us to eat rice, I considered that statement somewhat, um, exaggerated maybe? Ok, I love rice pudding, too, but surely it wouldn't be that good. Well. Friends. It is. Which is why I shall not keep you any longer. Go make that rice pudding and prosper. Now. And make sure to eat it warm to fully appreciate its other-worldliness.

Fregola Salad

Do you know that happy jolt that goes through your body when you unexpectedly source an ingredient you have been looking for for ages? A spice mix maybe, or a rare dessert wine or - as in my case - a special pasta shape. I had read about fregola sarda here and there and even eaten it myself when on hoilday in Sardinia but I had never, so far, found a shop that stored it. But now I have. It's an unspectacular place, a storage hall rather than a real shop but who cares with all the culinary finds that make any food bloggers heart beat faster? I spotted chestnut flour - chestnut and chocolate cake, anyone? I very happily walked out with a packet of fregola and a similarly shaped pasta called tempestina which is even smaller, like very thin spaghetti chopped into tiny pieces. Traditionally, those small pasta shapes are used in broths but I think they lend themselves very well to pasta salads, too. They retain a lot of starch clinging to them when cooked which means they have a tendency to stick together but the starch helps to make a very tasty and easy dressing when the pasta is tossed with just a little olive oil and the juice from sautéd vegetables and maybe a spoonfull of lemon juice. In other words: the starch is your friend.

Fregola salad with sautéd vegetables (serves 2)

• 120g fregola sarda
• 1 small courgette, finely diced
• 1 small aubergine, finely diced
  
• 1 handfull of cherry tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
• fresh herbs, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons slivered almonds, toasted
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan with a lid and sauté the courgette and aubergine for a few minutes, then cover and cook until soft. It is important to cover the pan in order to prevent the jucie of the vegetables from evaporating. Season with salt and pepper. Add the tomatoes. While the vegetables are cooking, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and refresh only very quickly under cold water. Put in a bowl and add all the vegetables, herbs and the lemon juice. Stir thoroughly and correct the seasoning, maybe add another spoonfull of olive oil. Serve lukewarm or cold but never straight out of the fridge.

Corn pancakes with chili and chives

I made this dish simply because I could not ignore that can of corn which had been sitting in the cupboard for ages any longer. It's not that I don't like corn - I do, but lately I just never happened to fancy the sweetish taste of corn kernels. Oh, but I should have, in the combination with chives and especially chili to give them a bit of an edge! What a revelation these pancakes were - the sweetness of the corn cleverly balanced by the fiercly hot chili and the aromatic chives. The saltiness of the grilled parma ham (or bacon, if you prefer) rounds everything off perfectly. Definitely to be repeated.

Corn pancakes with chili and chives (serves 2)

• 300g canned corn, drained
• 2 eggs
• 4 tablespoons fine polenta
• 2-4 tablespoons white flour
• 0.5 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons buttermilk
• salt, pepper, nutmeg
• 1 red chili, deseeded and chopped
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
• olive oil for frying

Blend the drained corn into a coarse purée. Separate the eggs and lightly beat the yolks. Add the puréed corn, the polenta, flour, baking soda and buttermilk and stir thoroughly. You may need to add more or less buttermilk depending on the consistency of the batter, which should be quite thick - a bit like cake batter. Add the chili and chives and season generously with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Whip the egg whites until very stiff and fold carefully into the batter. Check the seasoning. In a large nonstick frying pan, heat some olive oil over moderate heat. Pour a little batter into the oil, leaving enough space between the pancakes and cook for a few minutes on the first side, then flip over with a spatula and cook for another few minutes on the second side. Remove from the pan and keep warm in the oven while cooking the rest of the pancakes until all the batter has been used up. Serve with crisply grilled parma ham or bacon on top and a spoonfull of salsa on the side.

Barley with spicy sausage and mushrooms

This is what I made the third time I cooked barley. After my intial success with the barley caprese, I got a bit cheeky and served it very simply, just seasoned with salt, pepper and a little olive oil. That didn't go down well with all the diners at my table so the next time I reached for my bag of barley, I also made sure I had some spicy sausages and mushrooms at hand to counterbalance the health food aspect of the grains. I'm a bit clever that way, don't you think?

Barley with spicy sausage and mushrooms (serves 2)

• 120g barley
• 1 spicy sausage, meat removed from casings
  
• 150g mushrooms (possibly mixed)
  
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 0.5 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon aged balsamic vinegar
  
• salt and pepper

Cook the barley until soft. In the meantime, fry the onion in the olive oil over a moderate heat. Roll the sausage meat into little balls and add to the onions. Turn the heat up a little bit and fry for a couple of minutes. Cut the cleaned mushrooms in halves or quarters depending on their size and add them to the frying pan. Fry until most of the liquid they will release has evaporated. Add the parsley, balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Mix into the barley and serve.

Pasta with roasted peppers, rocket and goat cheese

I adore roasted peppers in any variation but I don't always find time to prepare them. As much as I would like to do all of my cooking Slow Food style, taking time for things , chopping vegetables into tiny brunoise, simmering stews for hours - generally not rushing, reality (at least during the week) is often nothing like it. Rather, I come home from work at 7 p.m., ravenous and eager to rustle up a tasty and healthy dish in as little time as possible. Dilemma, yes, but this is where the nice people from the supermarket come in by making it possible for me to purchase roasted pepper in jars! They'll never taste as wonderful as the fresh, home-roasted ones but they're a very valid subsitute! I prefer the ones in water to the sott'olio kind, I find the oil always tastes a bit funny.

Pasta with roasted peppers, rocket and goat cheese (serves 2)

• 160g pasta
  
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 handfull cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 jar roasted peppers, drained and cut into strips
• 1 large handfull rocket, chopped
• 80g fresh goat cheese, cut into cubes
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook the pasta until al dente. In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, then fry the onion and garlic over a low heat until soft. Add the peppers and cook for a few minutes, then add the tomatoes and cook for another few minutes, stirring carefully. Season with salt and pepper. Scoop out some cooking water from the pasta, then drain and add to the peppers and tomatoes. Add the rocket and cooking water. Stir carefully until the rocket wilts slightly. Divide between two plates and scatter with the goat cheese.

Cold soba noodles with beans, cucumber and sesame dressing

I sometimes have food phases where I find something I like and then I experiment with it for a while. While the phase lasts, I don't mind eating variations of that food very frequently - which can be a bit hard on the Boyfriend. Reading the food blogs out there, I can see that I'm not alone with the phenomenon, though, it seems to be a foodie thing. Right now, I'm hooked on cold noodles, especially the japanese kind. These cool, slippery soba noodles with crunchy pieces of cucumber and beans are the perfect lunch on days when the heat becomes overpowering: light and refreshing yet filling. Just watch out for your white shirt/tie.

Cold soba noodles with beans, cucumber and sesame dressing (serves 2)

• 150g soba noodles
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  
• 1 small cucumber, peeled and very thinly sliced
  
• 300-400g green beans, cut in half and blanched, cooled
  
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• juice of 1/2 lemon
  
• 2 heaped teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce

For the dressing, toast the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan until lightly brown. Grind into a coarse paste in a pestle and mortar. Tip the paste in a small bowl and add the rice vinegar, sugar and soy sauce and stir well to dissolve the sugar. You may want to vary the quantity of the ingredients according to your taste. Cook the soba noodles according to packet instructions, then rinse under cold water. Place in a bowl and mix with the sesame oil. Add the vegetables and dressing and mix. Make sure only to add the dressing when the noodles are completely cold or they'll soak it all up. For a more substantial meal, serve with beef teriyaki.

Ziti with tomatoes, almonds, taleggio and rocket

One large chunk of use-me-up-now taleggio cheese.
One very hungry and impatient girl.
One Donna Hay recipe.

The result: Ziti with tomatoes, almonds, taleggio and rocket, an adaptation (to the momentary contents of my cupboard) of Donna Hay's pasta with blue cheese from Food Fast. Isn't the woman a genius? I love the way she uses cupboard, respectively fridge staples to add a little twist to everyday dishes such as pasta without being over the top or extravagant. Even on days when I'm feeling uninspired to cook (rare occasions but it happens) I only have to flip through one of her books and I'm my normal cooking-enthusiastic self again.

Ziti with tomatoes, almonds, taleggio and rocket (serves 2)
Adapted from Donna Hay's Food Fast

• 160g Ziti or other pasta
• 1 tablespoon butter
• a small handfull slivered almonds
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 2 tabelspoons finely chopped chives
• 4 handfulls rocket, chopped
• 75g taleggio cheese, in cubes
• 4 small plum tomaotes, quartered
• salt and freshly ground pepper
  

Cook the pasta in boiling water until al dente. In the meantime, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the almonds and sauté for two minutes before adding the vinegar. Drain the pasta and mix with the chives, rocket, tomatoes, cheese and almond dressing. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and serve at once.

Tartes aux blettes ma façon

Tarte aux blettes, a kind of quiche with swiss chard, is, it seems, is a traditional dish from the South of France. What I present here is my version, adapted to my ideas du jour. I have seen many recipes which contained cream and eggs - so that might be the "real" way to make it. The dough with potatoes has its origins in Italy. I wish to point this out because an (anonymous) reader got very cross with me, saying that I shouldn't write about italian cooking since I clearly didn't have a clue what italian cooking was. The recipes I write about in this blog are rarely "pure-breed" but usually a mixture of several recipes or dishes I've tried. I never claim to present the one and only way of making something (which, incidentally, I believe does not exist when it comes to cooking) but simply one possibility. If my recipes appeal to you, that makes me very happy, if they don't, you simply ignore them. No harm done.

Tarte aux blettes ma façon
(serves six or more, depending whether you serve other things as well)

For the dough:

• 300g starchy potatoes
• 150g flour
• 30 fresh yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
  
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large pinch of salt

For the swiss chard:

• 1kg swiss chard
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons raisins, soaked in warm water
  
• salt, pepper and nutmeg

Cook the whole potatoes until soft. Let cool for a few minutes and peel, then mash in a food mill or with a fork. Crumble the yeast into a little bowl and sprinkle with the sugar. Let stand for a minute, then mix with a spoon until the yeast is liquid. Add the flour, olive oil, salt and yeast to the potatoes and mix with a wooden spoon until all the ingredients come together. Knead vigourously for a few minutes. The dough should be soft but not sticky. You might need to add more flour - the exact amount depends on how much starch the potatoes contain. Put the dough back into the bowl, cover and let stand for about 1 hour.

Wash the chard and cut off the green leaves. Chop stems and leaves. Boil separately in a large pan for a few minutes (the leaves will only take a short time) until done. Drain and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and sauté the garlic until soft but not browned. Add the swiss chard and the drained raisins and cook for another three minutes. Season with salt, freshly ground pepper and nutmeg and set aside to cool.

Knock back the dough and roll out on a floured surface (about 2 cm thickness). Transfer onto a prepared baking sheet and let stand for 20 minutes. Distribute the swiss chard on top and bake in the preheated oven (200°) for about 30-40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Serve tepid or cold, preferably with a glass of well chilled white wine

P.S. This makes a very large tarte, suitable for a buffet or a drinks party with lots of guests.

P.P.S. Dough containing potato will inevitably be softer and chewier than the flour-only variety. You might want to omit the potatoes if you like your tarte with a crisp dough. Or try baking the dough first, like a focaccia and add the chard afterwards (I haven't tried that yet, I only read about it this morning, but I will sometimes soon).

Barley salad with peppers, tomatoes and mozzarella

The credits for this dish go to Ilva who posted a recipe for farro alla caprese (spelt with tomatoes, mozzarella and basil) in september last year. Last weekend while doing my weekly shop at the supermarket I found myself looking at the different kinds of grains, and I suddenly thought of Ilva's dish and how yummy it had sounded - and looked! I bought barley instead of spelt and added peppers and some balsamic vinegar. The Boyfriend and I both liked the end result very much, in fact, so much that we almost ate the lot and there were only a couple of spoonfulls left to take as a packed lunch the next day (as had been the intention). I let the Boyfriend have them and made myself a sandwich - how nice is that, I ask you? Or we were very greedy, or the instructions on the packet were wrong as I had actually made 150g as indicated for four persons. Either way, I'll know better next time.

Barley salad with peppers, tomatoes and mozzarella (serves 2)

• 150g barley
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• half an onion, very finely chopped
  
• 2 peppers, preferably red and yellow, diced
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 ball of mozzarella, cut into small cubes
• 5-6 basil leaves, finely chopped
• salt and pepper
• a dash of balsamic vinegar

Soak the barley in cold water for 2 hours. Cook in a large pot of salted water until soft (about 40 minutes) or in a pressure cooker for ten minutes. Drain and set aside in a bowl to cool. Heat the olive oil, then fry the onion until soft. Add the peppers and fry for another few minutes over a medium heat, covered, until cooked. Leave to cool slightly, then season with salt and pepper. Add the peppers, tomatoes, mozzarella and basil to the barley and mix. Season with balsamic and maybe more salt and pepper.

East meets west noodle salad

I've mentioned before that lunch on saturdays is my preferred mealtime of the week. There is nothing more relaxed and more pleasurable as far as I'm concerned! This is what I came up with last saturday, a creation of my own, so to speak - M., this one is for you! The vegetables can be varied according to whatever you happen to have (but I know some people who would never leave the mangtout out). I called it east meets west because of the smoked salmon, which is completely optional, of course, though the saltiness works well with the sweetish dressing (plus, I just needed to use it up).

East meets west noodle salad (serves 1 very hungry or 2 moderately hungry persons)

• 80g dried egg noodles
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 0.5 teaspoon olive oil
• half a spring onion, finely chopped
• half a red pepper, cut into thin strips
• 50g mange-tout (I used frozen)
• 1 slice smoked salmon, cut into strips
• 1 handfull mustard cress
• a couple of mint leaves, chopped
• a sprinkle of Nanami Togarashi or chili flakes
  

For the dressing:

• 2 tablespoon coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons nuoc nam
• 1 teaspoon demerara sugar
  

Cook the noodles, drain and refresh under the cold tap. Place in a bowl and mix with one teaspoon sesame oil in order to prevent them from sticking together. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and gently fry the spring onion until soft, then add the pepper and fry for a couple of minutes but make sure it remains crunchy. Add the mangetout and cook briefly until just done. Don't overcook or they'll lose their beautiful colour. Set the vegetables aside to cool slightly. Stir all the ingredients for the dressing together, adjusting the quantities according to taste. Add the vegetables, the salmon strips, mustard cress and mint to the noodles and mix carefully. Pour over the dressing and toss. Serve in bowls with a sprinkling of Nanami Togarashi or chili flakes and eat with chopsticks.

The heart of the matter: pasta

Ilva is the host for this month's Heart of the Matter, a foodblogging event dedicated to heart-friendly recipes. An event after my own heart (no pun intended) as I don't only like to cook but I also like to cook healthily. If you like creamy pasta sauces but have to give them a miss because they don't agree with your diet, then I've got just the thing for you: pasta with yoghurt. The combination sounds unlikely but it does work if you use good-quality greek yoghurt, such as Total which is strained to remove the whey. Without it, the yoghurt doesn't curdle when heated (but not boiled!), even the low-fat and fat-free versions which I used here. I found the recipe on the Total website, check it out if you want to find out more about cooking with yoghurt. For another creamy, yet heart-friendly pasta dish, I recommend the pasta with smoked haddock, a variation of which you'll also find here on my blog.

Pasta with mixed mushrooms, greek yoghurt and herbs (serves 2)

• 160g pasta (wholewheat for extra-healthiness if you like)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 spring onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 150g mixed mushrooms, wild if you can get hold of them, cleaned and sliced
  
• 150-200g greek yoghurt, such as Total 0% or 2%
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
• 10 basil leaves, finely chopped
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Cook the pasta until al dente. While it is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion and garlic and fry gently until soft. Add the mushrooms, turn the heat up a little and sauté the mushrooms until cooked, adding the parsley after a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Drain the pasta and add to the mushrooms and mix. Add the yoghurt to the pan and mix thoroughly. The pasta and mushrooms must be piping hot when you add the yoghurt but make sure not to boil it as the yoghurt will curdle (which doesn't affect the taste, only the looks of the dish). Stir in the basil and check the seasoning. Serve immediately.

Chinese steamed buns

I really like these steamed buns but strangely enough, chinese restaurants here never have them on their menu. I just have to make my own then, don't I? And so I did. They're a little time-consuming but actually very easy to make. The filling could be made with whatever your fridge just stocks as long as it can be chopped up finely.

Chinese steamed buns (makes six)

For the dough:

• 200g plain flour
• 1.5 dl luke-warm water
• 15g fresh yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• a pinch of salt

For the filling:

• 1 spring onion
• 1 small carrot
• 1 small zucchini
• 1 nut-sized piece of fresh ginger
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 strips of smoked bacon, chopped
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
• 4 mint leaves, chopped
• salt and pepper
• soy sauce
• rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• a few drops of sesame oil

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Put the flour in a large bowl and add the sugar and salt. Pour in the water and yeast, mix, then knead vigorously to form a soft dough. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 30 minutes. Knead again and let rise for another 30 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the filling. Chop all the vegetables and the ginger very finely. Mince the garlic. Heat the olive and sesame oil in a large frying pan. Add the garlic and the chopped vegetables. Fry for a few minutes, covered until just barely soft. Stir in the mint and bacon and season with salt and pepper. Add soy sauce and rice vinegar to taste. Let cool a bit.

Form the dough into a roll and cut into six pieces. Using a rolling pin, roll each one out to a circle with a diameter of about 8cm. Place some filling in the middle and gather up the sides, pressing them together. Place the buns in lightly oiled steam basket and steam over simmering water for 15 minutes. Serve with salad and some soy sauce and sweet chili sauce for dipping.

Salmon with miso and soy noodles

The 2007 challenge dish for week 17 comes from Cool Food, which I've had for years and really like - I've leafed through it countless times, admiring the mouthwatering pictures and mentally selecting all the recipes I would try. I suppose now, finally, I'm on the way... Miso-glazed fish, it seems, is a signature dish at Nobu's, the celebrity hangout. An unrelated question pops to my mind here - do those stick-thin people actually eat when they go to a restaurant? Well, I hope they do because that miso-glazed salmon steak was truly delicious. I altered the recipe ever so slight (nothing new under the sun) - not because I tought I knew better but because it gave me the chance to finish things like the packet of udon noodles that has been hanging around for an annoyingly long time now. And no mustard cress for serving, alas. Here's the recipe according to Cool Food:

Salmon with miso and soy noodles (serves 6)

• 300g soba noodles
• 1 tablespoon soy bean oil
• 3 tablespoons white miso paste
• 100ml honey
• 1.5 tablespoons sesame oil
• 6 salmon fillets, boned and skin removed
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 carrott, julienned
• 6 small spring onions, thinly sliced
• 70g soya bean sprouts
• 80ml rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil, extra
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
• mustard cress
  

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Fill a large saucepan three-quarters full with water and bring to the boil. Add the soba noodles and return to the boil. Cook for 1 minute, then add 250ml cold water. Boil for 1-2 minutes, then add another 250ml cold water. Boil for 2 minutes, or until tender, then drain and toss with 1/2 teaspoon of the soy bean oil.

Combine the miso, honey, sesame oil and 1 tablespoon water to form a paste. Brush over the salmon, then sear on a hot chargrill for 30 seconds on each side. Brush the salmon with the remaining paste and place on a baking tray. Bake for 6 minutes, the cover and rest in a warm place.

Heat the remaining soy oil in a wok. Add the garlic, ginger, carrot, spring onions and sprouts, and stir-fry for 1 minute - the vegetables should not brown, but remain crisp and bright. Add the noodles, rice vinegar, soy sauce and extra sesame oil and stir-fry quickly to heat through.

Divide the noodles among six serving plates and top with a portion of salmon and sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Garnish with the mustard cress and serve.