I love digital! I love the marketing world of it, the interactivity and the viral effect. But most importantly the quick and constant access to all kind of information AND recipes of course:-) Yes, when there is no one of my family to reach, Google is my best friend and all the food blogs out there who did a great job with their search optimisation. But I have to admit: what I also love is to cuddle up on the couch with a good cooking book in my hands.
My latest finding was a recommendation of friends of mine: The beautiful cook book “Plenty More: Vibrant Vegetable Cooking from London’s Ottolenghi“. I am not a Vegetarian as you know, but I could try out every single recipe from this cooking book! Yotam Ottolenghi is a German-Italian Israeli chef based in London. He revolutionized the Vegetarian cuisine and clearly demonstrates that Vegetarian food is anything but boring. A few weeks ago my mother and I cooked together (remember the South African Lamb Chops?). That’s when I tried out Ottolenghis’ spring salad. The ingredients are still available in the summer season, so I called the post “early summer salad”. For the broad beans my mother went to a deli. The black sesame seeds make the vegetables look even nicer. All in all, it is a really fresh salad with a spicy twist. I was a bit surprised by the dressing which is very mild in taste. Although the vegetable itself has a very delicate taste and it might not need much more, I prefer the dressing to be a bit more dominant. But I leave it up to you. Can’t wait for the next Ottolenghi recipe to try!
- 350g green asparagus
- ice water
- 200g green beans
- 300g broad beans, fresh or deep-frozen
- 50g baby spinach leaves
- 1 shallot
- 1 small red chili
- ½ tsp of sesame oil
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp black and white sesame seeds
- 1 tsp of black cumin
- Clean the green asparagus and cut in thin slices
- Remove the broad beans from the shell
- Clean the green beans and cut off the ends
- Wash the spinach
- Slice the shallot finely in thin slices
- Finely dice the chili
- Roast the sesame seeds
- Bring a big pot of water to boil and blanch the asparagus for about 3 minutes
- Take out the asparagus with a skimmer and cool off in the ice water (like this it maintains the bride green color)
- Blanch the green beans for about 5 minutes, cool off in the ice water together with the asparagus. Then pour off the ice water and let drip off.
- Blanch the broad beans for about two minutes and let cool off under cold running water
- Peel of the skin by pressing the beans between your thumb and trigger finger.
- Mix all the vegetable with the dressing, season with ½ tsp of salt and serve immediately.
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