I love simple tastes and the pleasure that comes from them. Preparing a tartine, aka open sandwich, is a very easy task – even when there is a variety of ingredients involved. And the result, particularly with a good quality bread, is exquisite.
As I am writing this blogpost, my windows are wide open, I have just a shirt and shorts on me and I’m drinking a cold glass of water with mint. It is, as the last I checked, 21 degrees in Helsinki right now, which means SUMMER! I’m not sure how long this lovely weather will last, so I will make use of it as much as possible.
Last week on Saturday I had a huge catering gig: a birthday dinner for 76 people. It was a big success and people loved the food, but I was utterly exhausted afterwards. So I spent this week giving myself time to rest and lunching out for the first couple of days. Thanks to this, I discovered a very nice little cafe in my neighbourhood and the delicious salad I ate there inspired me to make this one.
I sometimes feel like Bugs Bunny – I cannot get enough of carrots. Then, for a while I completely forget about carrots, after that I remember again.. I generally like to make a simple salad with raw carrots and tomatoes: I just grate carrots, chop tomatoes and bring them together with a bit of salt, olive oil and lemon juice. This recipe though, is a whole new thing for me.
I must admit that I was slightly suspicious about the idea of “hot hummus” when I first saw a recipe in the mezze cookbook I bought in Istanbul last summer. I am not a big fan of hummus anyway, but when it’s hot, I thought it might feel too heavy. Oh boy, was I wrong.. Not only it is light, but also it is so delicious that I could probably eat the whole pot when I first made it.
My mother was always amazed that I’ve loved okra so much. She could hardly make me eat many other things that most people love. But with okra, she didn’t need to force me at all – which was odd because nobody in the family except for her and me liked this beautiful vegetable. Oh wait. No it is a fruit, because it has seeds.
I know, I know… My blog is turning into a “50 shades of hummus” book.. But as I wrote in last week’s gluten free thursday recipe when I published “black-eyed pea hummus”, nowadays I like trying new ingredients for hummus, other than traditional chickpeas. Well, this week’s hummus is made with edamame beans, and it is spread on a loaf of delicious, yellowish chickpea bread.
Throughout 2016, I made kilos and kilos of different kinds of hummus for my catering gigs. I don’t think I had seen so many chickpeas in my whole life prior to that. Finns love hummus! But since I am tired of chickpeas now, I started to search for different options when it comes to hummus – and I started experimentations starting with 2017. The first experiment, I made with black-eyed peas (nope, not the band, I’m talking about the legume!) and I must say that I liked it much more than chickpea hummus!
I feel very happy that some fruits and vegetables do not grow in Finland. This way, we can enjoy them all year round, importing from other parts of the world! Take figs for example. At the moment, we have Brazilian figs in the stores. In late summer, early autumn there are Turkish figs and sometimes Israeli figs. Yes, we cover the whole world of figs!
I have been planning to make a nice gluten free plate for a long time – not one, not two dishes but a full plate that consists of a variety of tastes. Finally I made it! And it is incredibly easy to make!
Vegan & food allergy friendly recipes
Vegetarian cooking - improving my world, one dish at a time.
Eat. Bake. Travel
Definitely hipster & almost vegetarian
If you care for people, cook for them!
She eats. She drinks. She cooks. She travels. She learns. She tastes. She bakes. She writes. She lives. She is a foodie with exceptional taste!
Jodee
A Home Cook's Journal of Tastes & Morsels
food, in so many words.
