Sunny Salad with Goat's Cheese

Summer has arrived here. And after a long, hot day, nothing tastes better than a crispy salad on your balcony or in your garden. Of course with a glass of cool rosé. Or have it during lunch, under a parasol... of course with a glass of cool rosé... Fancy yourself Greek for a moment, minus the huge debts.

Kitchen utensils

• chopping board
• sharp knife
• oven
• butter brush (I have silicone one, because it is easer to clean than the wooden ones. Plus, I suspect the bristles of the wooden ones come of the back of a pig. No... no... no...)

Ingredients

• mixed salad (I used a mixture of rocket, baby leaves and lollo rosso)
• goat's cheese (Dutch Albert Heijn has goat's cheese without rennet)
• cherry tomatoes
• sun dried tomatoes (I usually buy the ones in a bag, instead of the ones in a jar. An opened jar will only keep five days in the fridge, a bag of dried tomatoes lasts much longer and they don't have so many calories as the tomatoes in oil. You need to soak them in lukewarm water for about 15, 20 minutes, rinse them with cold water to get rid of the salt and they are ready to use. Personally, I like the dried tomatoes just as much as the ones in oil. Experiment with brands. I recently had a cheap one that was horrible. Same goes for the ones in jars, there are major differences between brands. Always look on the pack for instructions.)
• walnuts
• pine nuts
• balsamico cream (balsamico cream is thicker and sweeter than plain balsamico and I like it better in these kind of salads or on bread.)
• bread (I used ciabatta.)
• olive oil
• sea salt (optional)

Preheat oven to about 200 Celsius/400 Fahrenheit. In the mean time, chop a few tomatoes, dried and fresh. Crush some walnuts and pine nuts. Cube goat's cheese. Cut bread in long slices, about an inch, two centimetres thick. Rub the slices with olive oil and sprinkle sea salt over them if your blood pressure allows it. Heat slices in preheated oven till warm, this should take about 5 to 10 minutes. Keep watch, because you don't want them to be too crunchy. Place salad in bowl or deep plate, put tomatoes and goat's cheese on top and sprinkle the nuts over it. Pour a little bit of balsamico cream over your salad. Take care not to use too much as it has quite a overbearing taste. Serve with warm ciabatta and rosé or white wine.

Tamari Spicy Noodles

My favourite cuisine is the Asian kitchen. Whether it's Vietnamese, Indian, Thai, Japanese or Chinese, I love their use of fresh herbs and stir fried vegetables. There's nothing I hate more than overcooked vegetables. They loose their taste, their colour and more importantly, their vitamins. Most of the time, the Asian cuisine is quick, easy and extremely tasteful. It is vegetarian and vegan heaven too. Although a lot of Asians love their meat, fish, insects, snakes and even spiders, the possibilities to cook without having to kill your meal first or having to milk a goat are endless.

You really don't need a recipe either. The simplest meals are the best.

But... this wouldn't be a recipe blog without recipes.

So here I'll give you the recipe for a quick but lovely simple noodle dish. As with most of my stir fry recipes, I use vegetables that I like, in the quantity that suits me. Feel absolutely free to use what you want and the quantity you want. If you don't like snow peas but love broccoli, use that. Just take into account that some vegetables need to be stir fried longer than others.

Kitchen utensils

• pan
• wok
• sharp knife
• grater
• wooden spoon

Ingredients

• garlic (to make things easier, I used jarred garlic paste)
• chopped onion
• grated ginger
• chili pepper (again, to make things easier, I used the condiment sambal)
• fresh cilantro (which I cut with a scissors I use only for food, easy peasy)
• noodles (I used thick Chinese wheat noodles)
• tofu (I used spicy tofu cubes that you can buy in most stores these days)
• red bell pepper (cut in pieces)
• shiitakes
• snow peas (LOVE them, I cut them in half)
• scallions (cut in half an inch/one centimeter long pieces)
• tamari soy sauce (you can use others, this one is Japanese)
• oil (I use rice bran... don't use olive oil. Stir frying is too hot for olive oil and the taste of olive oil is quite strong and doesn't suit stir fries in my opinion. You can use sunflower oil or sesame oil if you like the taste)

Cook noodles as indicated on pack. Heat oil in wok. Throw in chopped onion, grated ginger, garlic and chili peppers (sambal). Stir fry until onion and ginger are soft. Throw in shiitakes, bell pepper and snow peas. Stir fry until vegetables are almost done (it needs to be crunchy, I'd do about five minutes). Throw in the scallions and a bit of tamari soy sauce. Stir for some more minutes. I use one table spoon for two servings. Stir in the fresh cilantro and noodles and stir until cilantro is warmed up a bit. This should take a few seconds, if you heat it up too long it will lose it's lovely taste. Turn off heat and bon appetite...

The key with this recipe is to keep the vegetables crispy. Crispy, but warm and not too raw.