Hanady’s beautiful book…

I have followed Hanady’s food blog for many years and have loved everything about it, every dish and creation, the flavours, the colours, the stories, the endlessly fabulous inspiration. And now, I’m so excited for Hanady as she has had a book published to celebrate all of this! And which is why you’ll find a quote from me on the back…

Please do check it out, the book is full of flavoursome recipes, but also tips on processes, pantry staples and ingredients. And threaded with Hanady’s love of beautiful food made from the heart, drawing on her heritage and travels.

Visit Hanady’s blog for more details and where to find the book where you are.

Enjoy! And once again, huge congratulations to Hanady for this wonderful achievement xx

Cracked siyez, courgettes, herb and dukkah salad…

This was another big bowl of salad, made with whatever I found in my fridge and cupboards. I ate it warm once it was made, then finished it off cold the next day.

As always with my salads, the bowl is full of layers of flavours and textures, this one is made up of the following, listed in the layers as I added them to the bowl. No exact measurements I’m afraid but hopefully it provides some inspiration for a lovely salad:

Cracked siyez, cooked my way (if you don’t have siyez, use any grain of your choice)

Roasted sliced courgettes and garlic

Chopped fresh parsley and coriander

Dukkah (see below)

Toasted pine nuts

Dried barberries

My dukkah was made up of the following, nothing was measured, but I’ve listed the ingredients from the biggest amount to the smallest:

Roasted hazelnuts

Toasted sesame seeds

Roasted ground cumin and coriander seeds

Salt

Add all to a blender and whizz to a crunchy crumb

Rose harissa spiced nuts, butter & dukkah..

 Having had fun spicing up some nuts last week, I then took things a step further.. 

I whizzed up some of the rose harissa spiced roasted cashews into a very tasty butter… 

Look at that lovely rich butter! So tasty! And with a Nutribullet it takes literally seconds to turn into a butter. 

With the remaining roasted nuts I put together a dukkah of my rose harissa spice mix, roasted cashews, almonds, sesame seeds and hemp seeds. I’ve sprinkled this liberally over all sorts of dishes and it adds wonderful flavour and good fats and much needed protein in my vegetarian world…

  

I do love a good play in my kitchen!!

My dukkah with a difference..

  
Dukkah is typically a mixture of roasted nuts, seeds and spices, all chopped to a tasty crunchy crumb mixture. It is very often mixed with olive oil and bread is dipped into it. It is documented as being Egyptian, and a version features in pretty much every Middle Eastern cookbook I own. There are often slight differences between the choices of nuts used, or the addition of roasted chickpeas, or not…like with all recipes, everyone creates their own version.

I’ve blogged about and made it before, and many times since in various guises, and I’ve been known to eat it unadulterated with a spoon from the jar, or thrown it over salads or vegetables, or included it in dips and marinades; it adds a crunch to all sorts of dishes, as well as great flavour.

I recently made it again with a twist..the addition of roasted hemp seeds for some extra flavour and goodness..
  

This dukkah is a mixture of..

Roasted chickpeas

Roasted hemp seeds

Roasted sesame seeds

Roasted hazelnuts

Roasted coriander seeds

Roasted cumin seeds 

 

Each of the ingredients need to be spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and roasted in an oven at 180-200C. 

You need to watch them, as they all take different times to roast, and to ensure that they don’t burn or overcook as they will become bitter and ruin the mixture. 

Let them cool and them chop them all together to a crumb texture in a food blender. 

Then use at will!

  
Today mine became part of a salad with quinoa, grated carrot and courgette, lemon juice and olive oil. Big yum!!!! 

Better late than never..I’m taking this along to this week’s Fiesta Friday, co hosted this week by lovely ladies, Sarah and Kaila, and hope that everyone will enjoy the freshness of this salad 🙂 

Lunch? My healthy midday boost..

I like to know that every meal I eat is providing me with great nutrition; 

I want every plate I meet to be full of goodness, and health boosting food; 

I want it to provide energy, and nutrients that make my body and mind sing. 

That’s how I view my food. 

With everything I eat I want to be aiding my health and happiness, whilst enjoying wonderfully tasty fresh food, and this dish definitely fulfilled that requirement..

  
How’s this for a lunch to help you sail through the afternoon with energy? A feel good factor on a plate, in looks as well as goodness, backed up by great ingredients and fresh produce…

 

This lunch bowl contains chunks of courgette/zucchini pan cooked in spray olive oil, buckwheat groats, crumbled melting goats cheese and dukkah stirred through to add crunch and flavour..

  

In my world, this equals a big fat healthy YUM!!!!