Archive for salad

Bulgur salad with dried fruits

June 14, 2008 at 6:02 pm · Filed under appetizer, cooking, food, salad, summer, vego

Hi, my name is Maggan. Welcome to Maggan’s kitchen!

What is “new year” in Persian or Iranian? This was the contest by the magazine Food and Wine in March. I e-mailed the correct answer to the magazine Food and Wine and won 3 cookbooks: Party Cakes, Table Arrangements and Maria’s Persian Buffet. I received my prize 2 weeks ago. Thank you!

I still have a lamb hangover. In one of the later issues of Food and Wine in May, there is a salad recipe that is perfect for grilled lamb kebabs. Remember my baked lamb sausages? I imagine they’ll make a great couple too. And I’m almost certain that nobody will complain if this bulgur salad is paired with grilled fish and other seafood. If you can do without protein, eat the salad plain.

Here is the recipe for the north African-inspired bulgur salad with dried fruits. It may be luxurious with the dried fruits but, hey, we deserve some luxury every now and then.

Ingredients for 4 persons

  • 2 decilitres bulgur (Choose the coarser or big-grain kind.)
  • 1 tablespoon turmeric
  • 1 decilitre parsley
  • .5 decilitre extra virgin olive oil (I found this too much. I would suggest to use only half this amount.)
  • fresh juice from 1 whole lemon
  • 100 grams dried figs, cut into pieces
  • 50 grams dried cranberries
  • 100 grams whole roasted almonds
  • 50 grams yellow or golden raisins
  • 1 clove garlic, pressed
  • salt and black pepper for seasoning
  1. Cook the bulgur according to the instructions on the pack with added turmeric.
  2. When the bulgur is done, strain it in the collander and lightly rinse with cold water. (This is to wash some of the color from the turmeric, I guess).
  3. Let the bulgur drip and dry because wet salad is not fresh to the taste.
  4. In a big salad bowl, mix the bulgur with the rest of the ingredients.

Serve this bulgur salad with a mix of greens on the side and lamb kebab or sausages on top. Now, that looks like a real winner. Healthy, lovely and delish.

I wonder if I won the second contest that I joined and if the prize, a hand-carry luggage, is just delayed. I’m entering a third one, by the way.

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Salmon salad royale

March 21, 2008 at 7:55 pm · Filed under appetizer, easter, fish, salad, spring

Hi, my name is Maggan. Welcome to Maggan’s kitchen!

It’s Good Friday. Since it’s a non-working day, I spoiled myself in the sauna by sweating the whole afternoon. If I were a fish, I’d be ready to eat and soft to the bones as punishment for indulging.

I learned that Good Friday is a day to eat anything but meat. In my childhood, foregoing meat was the biggest sacrifice to do on this day. And so it was common to feast on tiger shrimps, crabs, grilled fish, mussels, rice cakes etc. Anything but meat. It was a good deal for seafood lovers. These days, you can even add vegetarian pizza and fresh salad to the Good Friday menu.

Last weekend, while going through last week’s newspapers, I came across a salmon recipe which I thought was perfect for Lent. It’s called salmon salad royale by Sweden’s cook of the year (2007). This is a spring salad with creamy egg halves, spinach and lemon dressing.

Ingredients for 4 portions

Salad

  • 200 grams fresh salmon
  • 200 grams baby spinach
  • 1 decilitre fresh dill
  • 4 eggs, boiled for 15 minutes
  • grated lemon rind from one lemon
  • 4 slices of dark sour-bread
  • butter or olive oil for frying

Dressing

  • juice from one lemon
  • 2 decilitres extra virgin oil
  • pinch of salt
  • pinch of ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar (optional)
  1. Remove the salmon skin if the butcher didn’t do it.
  2. Cut the salmon to 1.5 cm x 1.5 cm. Season with salt and leave for 15 minutes.
  3. Wash the baby spinach leaves. Strain of the water.
  4. In a salad bowl, mix the spinach leaves with dill and grated lemon rind.
  5. Cut the eggs length-wise. Take a spoon and spoon the egg halves off the shells. (This is easier than peeling off the egg shells.)
  6. Get a small jar with lid. Mix all the ingredients for the dressing: olive oil, juice from one lemon, salt, pepper and sugar. Put the lid on and shake. If the dressing is still not tasty enough, add a little more salt. It will lift up the sugar’s sweetness.
  7. Tear the bread slices into bits and fry them in butter or olive oil. Don’t brown them. You just want them to be crispy. When done, lay on a paper towel to get rid of excess oil.
  8. Put the seasoned salmon cubes in a baking dish lined with baking paper. (This way, you neither mess the baking dish nor the fish.) Bake in pre-heated oven at 100 degrees Celsius for 8-10 minutes.
  9. While the salmon is baking, lay the egg halves on the salad mix. Pour some dressing over the salad mix and the eggs.
  10. Finally, top it with the salmon and sour-bread croutons.

This salad reminds me of Lolo because he would love it. He was the most religious in the family and enjoyed seafood (I mean, abstained from meat) every Friday of the year.

Oh, that’s right. Lolo spent Lent in a seminary, away from family and loved ones, returning only in the afternoon of Black Saturday probably hungry and looking forward to a meat dish. He would have it then on any Friday, except Good Friday. This is if he were at least 10 years younger and still alive today.

If you don’t feel like eating spinach, use other leaves like mangold, mache, or romaine. Or better yet, mix different kinds of salad leaves with neutral taste. The salad thus becomes a feast for the eyes as well. I used mangold and romaine lettuce. Lolo loved vegetables too.

Croutons are not necessary. I made mine without this accessory. If you want some carbohydrates and can’t get sour-bread, use any kind of unsweetened white bread (baguette, loaf)  as it makes good croutons too. Less healthy though.

The salmon may still seem raw after 10 minutes in the oven. Still soft and moist. But this is okay. It is safe to eat fresh salmon this way. However, this may depend in which part of the world you are located and how the fish is handled. As of this writing, H and I don’t feel any reaction to it.

Preparing the salmon salad royale is quick. Finishing it is even quicker. That’s it? I want more. I wasn’t full after eating my portion. This can be a form of sacrifice, I guess. Anyway, I have half a bag of country chips as safety net.

P.S. Lolo always had a tin of biscuits or cookies hidden in his closet.

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Tofu salad with terriyaki dressing

March 14, 2008 at 11:10 pm · Filed under appetizer, cooking, food, salad, spring, vego

Hi, my name is Maggan. Welcome to Maggan’s kitchen!

Dear Sweet Weekend, hold me and let go only on Monday morning! To welcome the weekend, I started reading the pile of magazines that had built up over the week. I’ll start with the newspapers tomorrow. Or maybe not.

H put on my new CD—Vaya con Dios: The Ultimate Collection. I played it a second time while baking apple pie. Yes, dear friends. H and I celebrated the beginning of the weekend with apple pie a la mode. This simply means apple pie with vanilla ice cream. My apple pie recipe may be a tough entry to beat if I enter it in ICA’s recipe contest.

Speaking of winning recipes, I made tofu salad for dinner the other day. The idea for this recipe, which turned out to be light and wonderful, came from two recipes: fried tofu with spinach and tofu terriyaki salad from Maya’s kitchen where Rory, an old neighbour, used to work as a nutritionist.

Ingredients for 2-4 persons

  • 2x 400 grams hard tofu
  • 2x 1.5 tablespoons Kikkoman soy sauce
  • 2x 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 2x 1 tablespoon diced fresh ginger
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 2-3 teaspoons sambal oelek
  • iceberg lettuce
  • 2-3 carrots, peeled and grated
  1. Drain the tofu squares or bricks. Pat dry with paper towels.
  2. In a small jar, mix the 1.5 tablespoons soy sauce and 2 tablespoons oil. Let this be jar 1.
  3. In another jar, mix the same amount of soy sauce and oil. This is jar 2
  4. Peel and dice the ginger.
  5. With a garlic presser, press of squeeze 1 tablespoon of ginger into the jar 1.
  6. Squeeze the other tablespoon of ginger into jar 2.
  7. Shake both jars to blend the ingredients well.
  8. Put each brick of tofu in a sandwich or freezer bags. Bag 1 and bag 2.
  9. Pour the content of jar 1 into bag 1.
  10. Pour the content of jar 2 into bag 2.
  11. Without crushing the tofu, seal the bags tightly enough to coat all sides of the tofu with the marinade.
  12. Leave for at least 30 minutes in the fridge, turning it every 15 minutes (or 30 minutes if marinading for 1 hour).
  13. For the salad dressing: Get a third jar. Put the pressed ginger in jar 3.
  14. Add 2-3 tablespoons Kikkoman soy sauce.
  15. Add 2 tablespoons water.
  16. Add 2 tablespoons brown sugar.
  17. Put the lid on and shake the jar.
  18. Keep in the fridge.

Rory is one lady who was into many things during her working years. With three boys to raise, she was into photography at one time taking black and white ID photos for a fee. There were summers when she baked and sold bread. After retiring from Maya’s, Rory managed a neighbourhood clubhouse restaurant. This place is anything but fancy. But thanks to her, its menu improved.

The tofus are ready. Here comes the second part of the tofu salad recipe.

  1.  Fill up to a quarter or two-thirds of a thick-bottom casserole with canola oil. Heat in medium heat.
  2. Cut each of the marinated tofu into 16 cubes.
  3. Deep fry the tofu cubes slightly brown. Don’t fry them crisp.
  4. When done, drain on paper towels. Set aside.
  5. Chop the clove of garlic finely.
  6. Take jar 3 from the fridge and pour in a bowl while straining off the ginger.
  7. Add 1 teaspoon of potato flour and mix well to dissolve.
  8. In a wok, heat 1-2 tablespoons of canola oil in medium heat.
  9. Saute the garlic without browning. Stir constantly.
  10. Add in the sambal oelek.
  11. Saute for a couple more minutes.
  12. Pour the contents of jar 3 and stir.
  13. Add the fried tofu cubes.
  14. Give them a stir. Coat the tofu with the sauce. This takes just a minute.
  15. Take the wok away from the heat.
  16. Lay the lettuce in a wide salad bowl or a big ceramic dish.
  17. Grate the carrots and lay them on the lettuce bed.
  18. Pour in the tofu mix.

Despite this recipe being in two parts, it’s very easy to do. I can explain the length. The procedure is very detailed, which is important in the absence of photos. So, don’t be discouraged. Fear not the length. Pull out your chopsticks and dig in! 

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Fried tofu with baby spinach

March 2, 2008 at 9:24 am · Filed under cooking, food, salad, spring, vego

Hi, my name is Maggan. Welcome to Maggan’s kitchen!

Tofu has no taste but easily absorbs taste when marinated. The simplest tofu dish that I know and grew up with is fried hard tofu which is eaten by dipping in soy sauce with chili and/or Philippine lemon. Then I learned about marinating tofu.

Yesterday was tofu Saturday for H and I. I had found a recipe published in the book review section of a lifestyle magazine. The cookbook is called Under the Walnut Tree by Anna and Fanny Bergenström.

Ingredients for 4-6 portions

  • 250-300 grams hard tofu
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1-2 teaspoons sambal badjak or sambal oelek
  • 150 grams sugar snaps, washed and trimmed ends and side strings removed)
  • 150 grams baby spinach, washed and drained
  • 2 tablespoons ketjap manis (sweet indonesian soy sauce)
  • 1 decilitre roasted cashew nuts, unsalted
  1. Cut the tofu into 2×2 centimetre cubes.
  2. In a jar, mix the soy sauce, oil and grated ginger. Lock the cap and shake to perfect blend.
  3. In a small bowl, put the tofu and pour the marinade. Leave for about 30 minutes.
  4. In medium heat, heat the wok pan and fry the tofu slightly brown on all sides. This should take about 5-6 minutes.
  5. Take the tofu out of the pan. You may change the oil or use another pan all together, if you’re not fuzzy about dish-washing.
  6. Saute the garlic. Do not brown.
  7. Add in the sambal oelek and sugar snaps. Saute for 2 minutes stirring constantly.
  8. Add the spinach leaves so that they only slightly soften while remaining fresh. This should take only about a minute.
  9. Pour in the ketjap manis or soy sauce with sugar (pre-mixed by shaking in a jar).
  10. Put back the fried tofu in the pan and mix carefully.
  11. Pour in a serving dish.
  12. Sprinkle the cashew nuts over the dish.
  13. Serve with steaming hot jasmine rice.

I’ve made this recipe twice. I was satisfied with the result of my second attempt. The reason: I modified the recipe and I used Kikkoman. Any Japanese soy sauce would suit my taste. In my first attempt, I used Chinese soy sauce. Very dark.

I marinated the tofu whole in a plastic bag or cling wrap. Fried it whole without pouring the marinade in. I fried the whole tofu until all sides were slightly browned. Took it out. Cut it into 2×4 centimetre squares. Put the squares back in the pan and fried the non-brown sides. This way I ensured that all sides were slightly brown.

The first time I tried this recipe, I marinated 2×2 centimetre tofu in a flat dish or container. I turned them every half hour to ensure that all sides got marinated. Tough. Frying them was also tough. Some got crushed. Food has to look beautiful and appetizing. Crushed tofu is neither of the two.

I haven’t found ketjap manis. So improvised with Kikkoman and brown sugar with this proportion: 1 Kikkoman: 1 water: .5 sugar. Sweetness is a personal preference. But do start with this amount. Kikkoman is strong for my taste so I added water.

I love spinach. Popeye’s fault, really. I watched a lot of Popeye cartoon in my childhood. I thought cooking the fresh leaves even for a minute would put them to waste. I didn’t cook them at all. I laid them on the dish, like a bed.

When the tofu and sugar snaps were done, I poured them on the spinach bed. The spicy and sweet soy sauce coated the fresh spinach leaves. And voila! The fried tofu with baby spinach became spinach salad with tofu.

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Winter salad with saffron and pomegranates

November 24, 2007 at 7:06 pm · Filed under christmas, cooking, food, fruits, salad, vego, winter

Hi, my name is Maggan. Welcome to Maggan’s kitchen!

Saffron has made its premier early. ICA has been selling saffron buns since the beginning of this month. Soon after, Arla released its recipe booklet called Winter party! 

If fashionista is to fashion, then foodista is to food. Maggan’s kitchen followed the winter trend, naturally. Last week, pomegranates were specials at Homebuy and ICA. 2 for 10 bucks. This week, they are extra special at ICA—3 for 10. Yesterday, I picked the 6 biggest pieces and bought them. Am I depressed? ([whispering] Psst, I’ve also bought 6 pieces of the yellowest and sweetest pineapples this week at 10 a piece.) I blame it on seasonal affective disorder. Sure.

I’ve read about Persian cuisine, especially about their lovely rice. One recipe uses saffron and pomegranates. It does not only look very lovely on picture, it looks delish too. To this day, I can only dream about it. I’m not ready to make a trip to Iran.

Winter salad. This is my answer to Persian rice. Or the closest I could get to actually tasting it. It’s from Arla’s kitchen.

Ingredients for 4 portions:

  • 2 decilitres bulgur
  • .5 gram saffron
  • .25 gram butter (or olive oil)
  • 4 decilitres chicken bouillon (optional)
  • 400 grams chicken thigh fillets (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • pinch of ground black pepper
  • 2 pieces avocado, seeded and diced
  • 1 piece pomegranate
  • 150 grams feta cheese
  • 5 decilitres mixed salad leaves
  • 2 decilitres light creme fraiche tomato and basil
  1. Saute the bulgur and saffron in butter in a casserole in low heat.
  2. Pour the bouillon, put the lid on, and bring to boil following the instructions in the bulgur pack.
  3. Cut the chicken into bits. Fry them in butter in a frying pan in low to medium heat for 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Open the avocados cutting them lengthwise. Remove their seeds and dice the fruit.
  5. Open the pomegranate cutting it lengthwise. Cut the halves further. Pick the seeds and set aside.
  6. Drain the feta cheese. Crumble it into small pieces.
  7. Put the salad leaves in a big serving dish. Alternately lay the bulgur, chicken, avocado, pomegranate, and feta.
  8. Serve with creme fraiche.

Well, if you’re not big fan of butter, substitute the ingredient with olive oil. If you don’t like the fat in the chicken thigh fillets, substitute it with breast fillets. If you’re a vegetarian, omit the bouillon and chicken all together.

With the colours saffron yellow, Persian red, and nutritious green, this recipe promises to light up the Christmas dinner table. H actually took a picture of this salad. Unfortunately, our kitchen lighting was insufficient by photographic standard. My description gives a better picture. Ahem!

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