Author Archives: The Cooking spoon

Peach Halloumi Summer Salad with Sweet Lemon Basil Vinaigrette

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Ripe Sweet summer Peaches and crispy Halloumi, a salty, sweet and tangy element in every single bite. The sweet lemon Basil Vinaigrette just brings the whole salad to WOW level. Make this at your next Barbeque, so you can grill the Halloumi on there too or make it in a griddle pan in the convenience of your kitchen. 

Either way this salad is always good, as a side, lunch or as a dinner on it’s own. And make double the dressing, because it’s delicious on everything, grilled chicken, fish, sandwiches…..

As always, the salad ingredients are all optional and inter-changeable. Use what you have on hand, and leave out what you don’t like


Prep time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 2 minutes
Serves : 4 as a side, 2 as a light meal

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 large bags of prepared salad mix, about 10-14 oz. / 300-400 gr.
  • 1 block Halloumi, drained and patted dry
  • 1 or two ripe peaches, pealed and cut into wedges
  • 1 or two Avocados
  • 1 cucumber, peeled
  • 1/2 cup shredded red cabbage
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts
  • 3 Spring onions
  • 1/4 cup whole Basil leafs
  • micro greens


SWEET LEMON BASIL VINAIGRETTE:

  • a handful Basil
  • 1 lemon juiced
  • 2 tbsp. Honey
  • 1 shallot finely minced
  • 6 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
  • Salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste



INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Get out a large serving platter, plate or salad dish and place all the lettuce leaves in the bowl.
  2. Place all the ingredients for the dressing in blender and blend for a minute to combine everything well.  Set aside until ready to use.
  3. Heat a small frying pan and toast the pine nuts, keep an eye on them since they burn quickly.
  4. Slice the cucumber in half lengthwise and again each half in half. Then cut into thick slices, so you end up with thick quarters. Arrange on top of the lettuce leafs.
  5. Cut the avocado in half and scoop out pieces using a small spoon and place on the salad.
  6. Arrange the red cabbage over the greens.
  7. Arrange the peaches over the greens.
  8. Slice the spring onions and sprinkle over the salad.
  9. Arrange micro greens on top of salad, if using. 
  10. Heat a griddle pan until hot. Slice the Halloumi into 1/4″ slices (1/2 cm) and place on the dry griddle pan and grill each side for one minute. Alternatively, grill on the barbeque.
  11. Place on top of the salad as soon as them come out of the pan.
  12. Sprinkle the toasted pine nuts over the salad and serve straight away with plenty of the sweet lemon basil vinaigrette. 


Enjoy!!

Elotes and Pineapple Salad , Ensalada de Elotes con Piña

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This is our favorite Summer Salad, Elotes Salad or Mexican Street corn Salad with pineapple. It’s basically Mexican Street Corn that you can eat with a spoon rather than digging into a whole corn on the cob covered with Cotija, paprika etc…which can be a challenge, except that I have added some grilled pineapple.
This is a great salad to serve at your next Barbeque, or as we like to do, add it to Tacos and even pile it high on Burgers. So SO good!
It’s very simple, you start by grilling corn and fresh pineapple and once they are cooled you cut off the kernels carefully with a sharp knife, then toss together with the pineapple chunks in a simple dressing.

Prep time : 15 min
Cooking time : 10 min
Serves : 6

INGREDIENTS:

  • 6 ears of Corn
  • 1/3- 1/2 of a fresh pineapple, peeled and sliced thick-ish (see note*)
  • 2 scallions, sliced
  • 1 small red onion, peeled and chopped fine
  • 1 small red chili pepper, deseeded and chopped fine
  • ½ cup crumbled Cotija cheese (see note**)
  • ½ cup coarsely chopped cilantro, more for on top

Dressing:

  • ½ cup mayonnaise
  • ¼ cup crème fraiche
  • Juice of 1 lime, or more according to taste
  • A few dashes of Tabasco ( or Franks hot sauce)
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, more for on top
  • Salt and pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat (an outdoor) grill or grill pan to medium heat. Clean your corn if necessary and rub all over with a little oil. Place on the grill and cook for about 10 minutes, turning every few minutes. Do the same with the Pineapple slices. Remove them once cooked from the grill and let them cool.
Meanwhile mix mayonnaise, crème fraiche, lime juice, tabasco and paprika together in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Cut the kernels off the cob, and cut the pineapple slices into bite-size pieces
Get out a pretty bowl and combine everything… the corn, pineapple, onion, scallions, chili peppers, Cotija cheese, cilantro, and dressing. Reserve some cilantro and Cotija to sprinkle on top.

Enjoy!

* Any left-over Pineapple is great grilled and then served with ice-cream as a dessert.
** If you can’t find Cotija, I think that Feta resembles it most, it has a similar texture and taste.

If you make this Elotes salad, be sure to leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you and if you love it, pin it. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! @thecookingspoonblog or hashtag it #thecookingspoonblog

Thai Peanut Curry with Chicken Meatballs and Zucchini

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Curries are always a great hit in our home, whether it’s just us or whether we have guests joining us for dinner. It’s so easy to prepare, everyone loves a Curry and it can be made in advance. This particular Curry is one I make very often because we love Thai Curries and also because it has Peanut butter in it. We love all things Peanut sauce, have you tried our Sate sauce?

TIP: I usually double the sauce and freeze half for later in small containers, it works so well for a quick dinner.

Prep time : 20 min
Cooking time : 20 min
Serves : 4



INGREDIENTS:


Meatballs
• 1 lb./450 gr. Ground chicken
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1 tsp. soy sauce
• 1 tsp. fish sauce
• 1 tsp. Thai red curry paste
• Ground pepper
• Grated lime zest, just a little bit

Curry sauce
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 medium shallots, minced
• 2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and grated or minced
• 3 garlic cloves, grated or minced
• 1 zucchini in bite-size pieces
• 2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
• ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 can coconut milk, 13.5 oz./400 ml.
• 1 tbsp. Palm sugar or brown sugar
• About ½-1 cup water
• 1 tbsp. Fish sauce (adjust to taste)
• Juice of ½ – 1 lime (adjust to taste)
• fresh cilantro, rice and chopped nuts for serving

More Thai ideas: 


INSTRUCTIONS:


1. In a large bowl, add the chicken mince and add the garlic, soy sauce, fish sauce, Thai red curry paste, ground pepper and lime zest. Mix to combine and shape into meatballs about the size of a golf ball, set aside.
2. In a large pot, bring the oil to medium heat. Add the shallots, and cook for 3 minutes, or until translucent. Next add the ginger and garlic. Stir and continue to cook for about 5 more minutes.
3. Now add the curry paste, stir for a minute and add the peanut butter, fish sauce, sugar and coconut milk and water, bring to a simmer. Carefully add the meatballs.
4. Bring to a simmer again and cover partially with a lid, cook for about 15 minutes then add the Zucchini, cover and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes or until Zucchini is bite tender. Check throughout cooking if you need to add more water.
5. Add the lime juice and check the seasoning, add more fish sauce if you want it saltier. I always check that the meatballs are fully cooked by cutting one in half.
6. Serve warm over cooked rice, with more cilantro, lime wedges and some chopped nuts.

Enjoy!

Fideuá – Spanish Seafood noodle dish similar to Paella

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Fideuá, is a Spanish dish very similar to Paella but uses “fideos” which is a tiny pasta (it looks like thin spaghetti cut into one inch pieces), instead of rice.

Fresh fish, squid, prawns, tomatoes, noodles all cooked together in a good home made fish stock.

Fideuá is similar to paella, mostly because it is cooked in a Paellera which is the large pan used for Paellas and Fideuás. You can buy them online, using a regular frying pan will only work if you are cooking for two people at the most, since the rice or the noodles need to be in a thin layer to get the perfect texture.

The best way to cook paella is outside on an open fire. But I make it on the stove all the time, when I’m using my 4 person paella pan. For larger amounts I cook it outside.

Serves : 4
INGREDIENTS:

  • 6 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil (for cooking)
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 400 gr. Cleaned Squid, cut into pieces
  • 400 gr. Firm fish, Halibut, Monkfish , Seabass….
  • 4-8 large Shrimp (optional)
  • 400 gr. Fideos nr. 4, or thin spaghetti broken into one inch pieces
  • ¼ cup canned tomato sauce (tomate frito)
  • 2 tsp. smoked paprika (Pimentón de la vera)
  • A pinch of saffron
  • 4 cups (good quality) fish stock, preferable home made
  • Salt to taste
  • Aioli to serve
  • Lemon wedges to serve
  • Parsley to serve
  • Lot’s of Sangria to serve (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

First bring your stock to a simmer and have a ladle ready.
Have your onion chopped, garlic chopped, fish cut into large-ish pieces and squid cut into bite size pieces too.
Everything happens rather quickly so have everything portioned out, a little bowl with your paprika powder, the tomato sauce etc…
Heat the Paellera, (the paella pan) on medium high heat. Add the olive oil, and add the onion and stir for a few minutes until it starts to color slightly, add the garlic and stir for one more minute. Add the squid, and fry for a minute or two, add the fish and stir around carefully for another few minutes.
Now add the paprika powder, stirring all the time but and add the tomato sauce and Saffron.
Now add the the noodles , making sure to coat all of them in the oil and sauce, add about half of the hot stock, adding more as needed. If you need more liquid, add hot water.
Cook on high heat for about 10 minutes, lower the temperature and taste the liquid to see if you need to add more salt. Cook for another ten to fifteen minutes until the noodles are cooked. There should still be some liquid in the pan and the noodles will have stuck to the bottom of the pan in the middle and is considered the best part. Enjoy!
Serve straight away with Aioli and lemon.