Pimped Muesli

When ever I buy ready made muesli, I always gets sooo disappointed. Too many mummified raisins, not enough nuts, just oat, I could go on. So today it is pimp your muesli and not a cookbook. Please forgive me. But you can do so much better than "Alpen".

So here is my muesli. I don't make too big a portion at the time. I want it nice a fresh.

Take 1 cup of oat, 1/2 cup flaked almonds - toasts it gently in a wok. I use a safepan, that is a brilliant non stick wok with no nasty side effects added when heated up.

The add 1/3 cup coconut flakes, 1/3 cup mixed pumpkin and sunflower seeds, 1 tsp w/top cinnamon, a dash of real vanilla powder (from a real vanilla pod) and add while still toasting a good squirt of Agave syrup or runny honey. Don't go mad with this, you only want it to stick together a bit. Take the wok of the heat!
 Now you can add some dried fruit of our liking. I like dried cranberries or sour cherries. Leave it to cool completely and put it into a airtight jar. Eat this muesli with in a week or two. Nice, simple and so yummy - and pimped! Alpen go home!

1001 Nights Pimped Pomegranate Salad

London is boiling in a heatwave. The perfect time for a BBQ. My husband LOVE to BBQ, but doesn't often think about what we are going to have with those kebabs or that grilled fish etc. So the salads and things that makes it all come together is my department.

This recipe is taken from a lovely cookbook called Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons by Diana Henry. But pimped by me!

You will need 1-2 fennel bulbs, that depends of the size. Clean them and cut them paper thin, use a food processor or kitchen mandolin if you got one. 1/2 Cucumber, peel it and scoop out the seeds and cut it fine.
Chop a small red onion or a small bunch of spring onion. Cut it fine. Remember a good salad is all about the cutting, that makes it delicious to eat.


Now make a the dressing : 10 ml White wine vinegar, 40 ml Olive oil, 1tsp honey and salt and pepper. Whisk it all together and pour it over all you choped up veggies. Cover it and put it in the fridge to marinate. At least 1/2 an hour or more.

Before serving add some fresh finely choped hebs : Parsley, coriander and optional chives. Crumble a 200 gram packed of real greek feta cheese (sheeps milk) and the seeds from a 1/2 to a whole pomegranate into the salad. Ready to serve!!
Fresh and lovely! Have a great BBQ

Pimped picnic Tabbouleh

Sometimes the best food happens, when you are preparing for a dish, and you find out you are missing some of the ingredients. This is where "pimping a dish" gets into action.

So yesterday I wanted to cook Tabbouleh for a picnic, using Nadia Sawalha’s very funny and great cookbook “Stuffed Vine leaves saved my life”.
I can recommend this book, just to read and have a laugh.

Didn’t have cracked Wheat, so I cooked some quinoa instead. My cherry tomatoes was getting a bit soft, so I oven dried them. And so on…!!

 And this pimped tabbouleh ended up being really, really nice. Almost better than the original. So here my pimped picnic Tabbouleh :

First the cherry tomatoes!  Cut the tomatoes right across the tummy (the fattest part) and leave them face up on a baking sheet. Drizzle them with olive oil and a few drops of balsamic olive oil. In the oven on 110 degrees for about 2-3 hours. Keep an eye on the little buggers! They need to shrivel up and get concentrated in their own flavour.

100gram (1/2 cup) Quinoa put it into a dry pot and toast the grains. When they start smelling slightly toasted and gives a popping sound, add water about 2-3 cm over the grains. Add 1 tsp veggie stock powder (marigold) an let in simmer under a lid for 10 – 15 min. Don’t let it stick to the bottom of the pot. When the qunioa is cooked, remove from the heat and leave to cool. Whisk in a separate bowl juice from ½ a lemon, 3o ml cold pressed olive oil, salt and pepper. And optional 1 tsp of thai fish sauce and a dash of vanilla powder, the real stuff from a vanilla stick – not the sweet baking concentrate. These two ingredients act as flavour enhancers. Trust me!

Chop up finely a huge bunch of parsley and some mint. It has to be chopped very fine, no cheating or it won’t be nice. Add a bunch of spring onions, chopped into small rings and a ½ peeled and deseeded cucumber chopped into small pieces.

Take out the cherry tomatoes of the oven! Leave to cool.

Mix it all together, taste! You might want to add more lemon juice and olive oil. Then add the oven dried tomatoes.

This is a great salad for picnic or side dish for BBQ.