These recipes from David Lebovitz can be served as an appetizer or as a light dinner, with some French or Italian bread, in a salad, or even with pasta.

This is Mediterranean gastronomy at its best!

Ingredients for the confit of tomatoes (preserved tomatoes):

- 1 kg / 2 pound tomatoes

- abundant olive oil

- black pepper

- salt

- 3 or 4 garlic cloves, peeled

- a few bay leaves

- the herbs you prefer: I added some dried rosemary and oregano

Cooking instructions for the confit of tomatoes:

Wash and cut the tomatoes in two.

Put them in a baking tin, season with salt, pepper and herbs. Tuck in the garlic and the bay leaves as well.

Pour about 1 cm/ half an inch of olive oil on the tomatoes. Don’t worry about the quantity, if you cannot finish it afterwards it can be recuperated and used to season a salad, pasta, or it can be even drizzled on a slice of (toasted) bread.

Put in the oven at 180°C / 350°F until the tomatoes are soft. Serve at room temperature.

Ingredients for the tuna spread:

- 280 g / 10 ounces of tuna canned in olive oil, drained

- 70g / 5 tbsp butter (I used unsalted), at room temperature

- 1 tbsp light soy sauce

- 1 tbsp lemon juice

- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

- a pinch of chili powder (I used Spanish hot paprika powder)

- 2 tbsp heavy cream (which I did not have, unfortunately as it would have contributed to the “spreadability”)

Instructions for the tuna spread:

Mix the soy sauce, the balsamic vinegar, the chili powder, the heavy cream and the lemon juice together.

In a food processor, mix the tuna flakes with the liquid mixture.

Add butter little by little, until incorporated.

And there you have it! Your fabulous tuna spread is ready, enjoy!!

Today we’ll do another good recipe from Blogchef…

I particularly like it because the beef stays tender and moist, because it contains yummy vegetables and because the sauce is delicious!

Ingredients:

- 750g / 1,65 pounds steak sliced into thin strips

- 3 tbsp cornstarch

- vegetable oil

- 2 cloves of garlic, minced

- 1 red bell pepper, I sliced it in thin strips too

- 1 green bell pepper, also in thin strips

- 1/2 onion, in slices

Ingredients for the marinade:

- 1 egg

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 3 tbsp water

- 1 tbsp cornstarch

Ingredients for the sauce:

- 4 tbsp water

- 4 tbsp sugar

- 3 tbsp ketchup

- 1 tbsp vinegar

- 1/2 tsp dried chili flakes

- 2 tsp cornstarch

Cooking instructions:

In a bowl, mix the ingredients for the marinade together with the beef. Marinate for 15 minutes.

Then mix the ingredients for the sauce in a separate bowl.

Add the 3 tablespoons of cornstarch to the beef, and deep fry in a wok in batches until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Remove all the oil from the wok except a couple of tablespoons. Add the garlic and fry for a few seconds. Add the peppers and the onion and stir fry as well, until you reach the desired level of “softness” for the vegetables. It should take less of 5 minutes though, or else the vegetables will disintegrate. Set aside the vegetables.

Remove all the oil from the wok and pour the ingredients for the sauce in it. Heat until it boils and remove from the heat.

Add the beef and the vegetables into the wok and coat them with the sauce.
I served it with some white rice,

Enjoy!

The gastronomy of the Near and Middle East is really something to explore. I can’t say I know much of it, but more often than not, whenever I try something new, I am quite pleasantly surprised.

Today we will recreate a quite popular sauce called hummus. Great with some pita bread and other appetizers.

Ingredients:

- 1 420g – 14 ounces can of chickpeas, drained

- 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, pressed

- 1 tsp cumin

- lemon juice to taste

- 1 tsp Cayenne pepper or Spanish hot paprika powder

- olive oil and sweet paprika powder for decoration

Cooking instructions:

Mix everything, but the olive oil and the sweet paprika powder, in a blender.

Serve in a bowl, drizzle some olive oil and sprinkle some paprika powder on top.

Enjoy!!

The “plantain” banana is a staple food in many tropical countries. This specific banana is not very sweet when consumed green, and it is very often fried, to serve it either as a side or as a snack.

Here in Europe I don’t think it is available in regular supermarkets, but you should be able to find it in shops selling African food products.

Today we are making “aloco”, or fried plantain as they named it in Ivory Coast. Aloco together with spicy tomato sauce (and grilled fish or meat) is a popular dish in West Africa.

Ingredients:

- green plantains

- vegetable oil

- coarse salt

- onion

- tomatoes

- optional: 1 chicken Maggi cube

- dried chili flakes, or sliced fresh chili

Cooking instructions:

To make the tomato sauce, first make a cross at the base of each tomato with the tip of a knife. Then submerge the tomatoes a couple of minutes in boiling water, peel them and chop them. Chop the onion as well.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a skillet (in Africa they would add much more oil), and fry the onion on medium heat until soft. Then add the tomatoes, the Maggi cube (or some salt instead) and the chili. Let cook until the sauce thickens up.

In the meantime, peel the plantains, then slice them either in rounds or in the length. Sprinkle some coarse salt on top. Fry them in abundant hot oil until they are brownish outside and tender inside.

Serve the plantains together with the tomato sauce. I sprinkled a little bit of parsil on top for the visual effect.
You will see, this combination is absolutely irresistible!

Enjoy!!

Today we are having a great, Mexican-inspired dinner…The recipes are of an amazing simplicity, but ohhhh so good, and they go perfectly together! Spicy, tender, pork bites combined with a great guacamole and some paprika pita wedges instead of tortilla chips.

The recipe’s were adapted from the David Lebovitz blog…

Ingredients for the “carnitas”:

- 2 pounds/1kg pork shoulder, cut in bite-sized slices

- salt

- 3 tbsp oil

- 1 tsp ground cinnamon

- 1 tsp dried chili flakes

- 2 bay leaves

- 1/2 tsp ground cumin

- 3 garlic cloves, chopped

Cooking instructions:

Pre-heat the oven to 350°F/180°C.

Salt the meat.

Heat the oil in a skillet and fry the pork in it until brown. Get it out of the skillet and put it in an oven-proof pan. Add the spices and the garlic. Add water until the pork is submerged by two thirds. Roast in the oven for about 2 or 3 hours (the longer the better), until most of the liquid has evaporated and the pork is crispy outside and caramelized.

Guacamole:

- 2 avocados, mashed coarsely with a fork

- 1/2 tsp ground cumin

- 1 tomato, diced

- 1 tsp dried chili flakes

- a handful of chopped cilantro leaves

- 2 tbsp lime juice

- salt to taste

It can’t be easier. Mix all ingredients and serve!

Pita wedges:

Cut the pita bread in wedges, brush with a mixture of olive oil and smoked Spanish paprika powder (pimentón), sprinkle some salt and grill on both sides.

Now all that is left is serving with some ice cold Mexican beer. And do not forget the sombrero, it does not taste the same without it

Enjoy!!

Finally spring has arrived, nature wakens up, the days become longer, one feels like spending the day outdoors…It’s time to open the BBQ season!!

Here is the perfect complement, a BBQ sauce based on a recipe from The Perfect Pantry that has nothing to envy to the manufactured versions…

See for yourself…

Ingredients:

- 1/4 cup (60ml) vegetable oil

- 1 cup (125g) minced onion

- 2 tbsp minced garlic

- 28-ounces (800g) can crushed tomatoes

- 2 cups (500g) ketchup

- 1/2 cup (125ml) water

- 3/4 cup (175ml) Worcestershire sauce

- 1/3 (80ml) cup cider vinegar

- 1 cup (200g) brown sugar

- 2 tsp dried chili flakes

- 1/4 cup (60ml) mustard

- 2 tsp ground black pepper

- 1/2 tsp ground allspice

Cooking instructions:

Pour the oil into a large saucepan at medium-high heat. Toss in the onions and stir, cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook for a minute.

Then add the rest of the ingredients, bring to boil, simmer for 10 minutes to thicken.

Cool or chill and then use to slather the meat when it is about to be grilled.

Remainings can be frozen, or else you can choose to halve the recipe

Enjoy!!

I love red kidney beans, and it turns out that they are rich in proteins, vitamins and minerals, so I frequently have them in order to limit the intake of meat.

This time I based myself on a recipe from Zaiqa, who writes in her blog about a special type of Indian cuisine. I will omit here below the curry leaves because they gave a rather bitter flavour to the dish, so I think it is better to skip them.

Ingredients:

- 1 pound/500g red kidney beans, cooked
- 1 28 ounces/450g can with peeled or chopped tomatoes
- salt
- ground black pepper
- 1 tsp dried chili flakes
- 3 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 large onion, chopped
- vegetable oil
- 5.6 fl ounces/165ml coconut milk

Cooking instructions:

In a saucepan, stir fry the onion in a bit of oil. When the onion turns transparent, add the beans, the tomatoes, the salt, pepper, coconut milk, chili flakes and garam masala. Stir and cover the pan, let simmer for 15 minutes. Serve warm with some rice.

Enjoy!!

So far, my all-time favourite Thai dish. Sweet, sour, spicy and salty at the same time. Shrimps, noodles, egg, vegetables and sauce in perfect harmony. Impossible not to love it!!

I base myself on a recipe from Chez Pim. Yum, yum, yum.

Ingredients:

- 1 pound peeled, clean shrimp (500g)

- 13 ounces rice stick (375g)

- 3.5 ounces beansprouts (100g)

- 2 handful peanuts, grilled and roughly ground on a mortar

- 2 eggs

- 3 garlic cloves, chopped

- 2 tsp dried shrimp paste (how can an ingredient stink so much and still give such an amazing flavour?)

- 1/2 cup lime juice (I’m not so fond of tamarind) (125ml)

- 1/2 cup sugar (125g)

- 1/2 cup fish sauce (125ml)

- (dried) chili to taste, chopped

- vegetable oil

- coriander, chopped

Cooking instructions:

Fill in a cooking pan with water, when it boils add the noodles and a bit of salt. Let cook during 3-4 minutes, drain. It should not be too soft or else it will turn all mushy when mixed with the other ingredients in the wok.

While the noodle are cooking, prepare the sauce by mixing the fish sauce, the lime juice, the chili and the sugar.

Heat a large wok over high heat, when it becomes smokey add a splash of vegetable oil.

Add the garlic and the shrimp paste, let the oil infuse with these flavours for one or two minutes.

Now add the noodles and toss. Then push the noddles to one side of the wok and crack the eggs open on the open space. Let the egg set for 15 seconds and then toss everything all together.

Add the shrimp, the peanuts, the beansprouts and the sauce. Toss everything together again, leave for 5 minutes, remove from the heat. Sprinkle with a bit of coriander, and ta daaaaaaa! There you have it, a dish of pure glory.

Enjoy!!

I had often read about chicken enchiladas and had no idea of what it was, really. But hubby was so delighted with this dish that it won’t be the last time!! So based on a recipe of Elise, from Simple Recipes …

Ingredients:

- 1 small onion, chopped

- 3 garlic cloves, chopped

- vegetable oil

- 1 500g can of tomatoes (chopped, peeled, whichever way you like them really)

- chili powder

- salt

- ground black pepper

- soft corn or wheat tortilla’s

- 330g grated cheese

- a whole chicken breast, cooked and shredded or chopped

Cooking instructions:

Preheat the oven.

Prepare the sauce: Coat a large skillet with oil and sauté the onions on medium heat until translucent, a few minutes. Add the garlic for a minute more. Add the tomatoes to the onions and garlic. Bring to a low simmer. Start adding the chili powder, one teaspoon at a time, tasting after each addition, until you get to the desired level of heat and chili flavor.

Mix the chicken with some cheese and some sauce.

Prepare the tortilla’s: Heat a small light skillet on med-high heat. Add a teaspoon of oil to coat the pan. Dip a tortilla in the sauce to coat the tortilla with sauce on both sides. Place the tortilla in the skillet and heat for a few seconds, until the tortilla begin to show some air bubbles. Use a metal spatula to flip to the other side for a few more seconds. Set aside on a plate. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Assemble the enchiladas. Place a couple spoonfuls of the chicken mixture in the center of a tortilla and roll it up. Place in a baking dish and repeat with all the tortillas. Cover the tortillas rolls with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese.

Place in the oven and cook for 10 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.

Serve with some salad and sour cream, enjoy!!!

Let’s say you are at home, starving. Let’s say that you only have 10 minutes to prepare yourself a (preferably yummy) meal. Well, do not despair, this recipe will save you!!

Inspired by a recipe from Nigella, I gave it my twist and you may too! I would recommend searching your refrigerator for any fresh veggies you may have,  and throw them in the wrap. Feel free to explore different combinations of veggies too.

Ingredients:

- some mayonnaise

- a tiny bit of wasabi paste

- a couple of drops of sesame oil

- 2 soft flour tortilla wraps per person

- veggies cut into matchsticks: lettuce, cucumber, carrot, avocado…

- canned crab (crab sticks will do too)

- canned tuna

Cooking instructions:

If you keep the tortillas in the refrigerator, soften them a bit by heating them in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

Mix the mayonnaise, the wasabi paste and the sesame oil. Paint each tortilla on one side with this mixture.

Arrange a vertical row of veggies on each tortilla. Add on top the different layers of veggies. Top with crab or tuna.

Roll up the wraps beginning from the bottom. Fix with toothpicks if needed. Serve.

Enjoy!!