AA (or Avocado Appetizer)

Aaaaaaaaaavocado appetizer - an actually a-complicated and astonishingly appetizing antipasto!  

Yet another simple and healthy dish.  Avocados are a great source of healthy fats (actually reducing bad cholesterol), they are high in fiber contents and packed with vitamins.  But they are also very delicious!  Their creamy, smooth texture makes a great base for various salads and salsas.  They go so well with a whole bunch of different ingredients, which leaves the door open for you to experiment and try to pair them with all sorts of things.  This very recipe is the product of a quick experiment - based on what I thought would go well with avocado and.... what I had in the fridge at that time.

This appetizer has a great combination of different tastes and textures.  You have the smooth and rich avocado, tangy-sweet apple, crunchy shallots and peppers, and nutty roasted pine nuts.  The freshness of the lemon gives it an extra twist, and thick Greek yoghurt combines all the ingredients into one delicious salad.  Avocado really is a great canvas/background that brings out the crunchy, tangy and sweet components.  Yet again, without them, it would be bland and too rich.  With them, it's elevated to the super fruit status it fully deserves.

This appetizer can be served on its own or with a slice of good bread.  Double the portion (two halves per person) and you have a healthy, nutritious and filling lunch.  You could also serve it as a simple salad - a side dish to a main course.   

Makes 4 appetizers

Ingredients:

• 2 ready to eat avocados
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 small crisp, tangy-sweet apple (e.g. pink lady)
• 2 shallots (a big red onion would also work)
• a big handful of pine nuts (approx. 70-80g)
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons of very thick greek yoghurt (or mayonnaise if you prefer the taste - but this makes the recipe a bit less healthy ;-) )
• salt
• pepper

Directions:

• Toast the pine nuts in a very hot dry pan until golden brown (watch out not to burn them!).  Set aside to cool.
• Slice the avocados in half, get rid of the stones.  Gently remove the flesh, leaving the shells intact (this can be very easily done with a tablespoon).  Set the shells aside - they will serve as bowls.  Gently dice the avocado (in rather large pieces), put in a bowl and immediately generously sprinkle with lemon juice (this will prevent the avocado from going brown).
• Dice the shallots (finely), pepper and apple and add to the avocado.  Sprinkle some more lemon juice over the apple (otherwise it will also go brown).  Add the pine nuts, yoghurt and season well with salt and pepper.  Stir gently (e.g. using two forks) not to mash the avocado.
• Serve inside the avocado shells, garnished with basil.

Bon appetit!

Grilled halloumi & co.

Good things take time, great things happen all at once.  This dish is a perfect example of that.  It came together by accident -- without previous planning, without previous inspiration, even without a special occasion.  Yet the result is really good and I would definitely serve it during fancy-ish dinner parties.  The ingredients go very well together: they have such different flavors and textures that they complement each other perfectly. 

 

"So what is exactly in the dish?" you impatiently ask?  Well, let me tell at once: grilled halloumi cheese, roasted butternut squash and sweet red pepper, sprouts (chickpea, soy, lentil, mung bean and other bean) in curry.  Sprinkled with roasted pine nuts and served with a dollop of lime hummus. 

The halloumi is salty and chewy, the grilled veggies -- sweet and soft, the curry sprouts -- spicy.  Lime hummus adds freshness and the toasted pine nuts -- crunch and nuttiness.  A perfect polygamous marriage :-)

Halloumi has always been one of my favorite cheeses -- I used to love it as a kid, and have not grown out of it.  It's great in salads, with grilled vegetables, or simply on a pita bread, with a cucumber-tomato salad and some hummus on the side.  Butternut squash, on the other hand, is a recent addition to my cooking.  I started experimenting with it last Fall, and plan to incorporate it even more in my cooking.  It's great roasted or in soups (for example with lentils, curry and coconut milk).

This dish showcases both perfectly.  Have it with a glass of good red wine and your dinner is complete.  The avid meat-eaters among you won't even notice this is a fully vegetarian dish.  Enjoy!

Serves 2 hungry people

Ingredients:

• 1 package (250 g) of halloumi cheese
• 1 medium butternut squash
• 2 sweet red peppers (mine were long, but sweet)
• 1 package (around 300 g) of mixed bean sprouts (chickpea, lentils, soy, mung beans - whatever you have)
• A small hand full of pine nuts
• Hummus (preferably homemade, but bought is perfectly fine)
• 1/2 lime
• Curry powder (mild or hot depending on how spicy you like your food)
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 180ºC.  Cut the butternut squash and peppers in half, get rid of the seeds using a big spoon.  Cut the vegetables in chunks, put in a bowl with some olive oil, salt and pepper.  Toss until covered with oil.  Line a baking tray with parchment paper, put squash on tray and roast for around 25 minutes until fork-tender.  Add the peppers after 10-15 minutes (the peppers need less time to cook).
• Cut halloumi in relatively thick slices, and grill on a grill pan until golden (not need to add oil).
• Heat some olive oil in a pan, add sprouts and 3 tsps of curry powder (I added more, because I like my food quite spicy).  Stir-fry for around 10 minutes.
• Toast pine nuts in the oven or a dry pan (no oil) until golden brown.  Watch out they don't burn.
• Squeeze some lime juice into the hummus, mix.
• Combine all parts of the puzzle into the dish.

Bon appetit!