Super Natural Every Day (10 page)

Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more salt or curry paste, if needed. Serve each bowl topped with some of the tofu croutons.

SERVES 6

Chickpea Wraps

WHOLEMEAL LAVASH, CELERY, DILL, MUSTARD

This is a simple wrap made with lavash, a thin, soft Middle Eastern flatbread, enveloping a chunky celery- and dill-accented chickpea salad. I keep my eyes open for wholemeal lavash; the thinner the better. Alternatively, you can substitute wholemeal tortillas or pitta bread—pretty much anything flat, bendable, and edible that you can use to wrap or stuff with the chickpeas. On occasion, I’ll toast the whole wrap (after stuffing) in a frying pan with a bit of butter. You can make the filling a day or two ahead of time. It just keeps improving as the ingredients have a chance to intermingle.

425 g cooked chickpeas (see
A Simple Pot of Beans
), or tinned, rinsed and drained

45 g chopped red onion or shallots (eschalots)

60 g chopped celery

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

1 ½ tablespoons dijon mustard

155 g plain yoghurt

Scant ½ teaspoon finegrain sea salt, plus more if needed

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more if needed, and a bit of grated zest

4 pieces lavash, wholemeal tortillas, or pitta breads

30 g mixed salad greens

Pulse two-thirds of the chickpeas in a food processor a few times, just enough to break them up. Transfer them to a large mixing bowl along with the remaining whole chickpeas. Stir in the onion, celery, and dill.

In a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, yoghurt, and salt. Toss the chickpeas with about two-thirds of the yoghurt mixture. Add the lemon juice and zest and toss again. Have a taste and add more salt or lemon juice, if needed.

Spread a bit of the remaining yoghurt across each piece of lavash. Sprinkle each piece with one-quarter of the mixed greens (the yoghurt will help hold the greens in place), top each of the four wraps with one-quarter of the chickpea mixture. Fold or roll into a wrap. If you are using pitta bread, spread a bit of the yoghurt dressing inside each pitta half, tuck in the salad greens, and finish by filling with the chickpea salad.

SERVES 4

Mostly Not Potato Salad

DILL, LEEK, CELERY, MUSTARD, POTATOES, TOFU

I enthusiastically adopted this as my go-to potato salad recipe not long after catching a glimpse of it in my friend Olivia’s Flickr stream. Generous amounts of green beans, celery, cucumber, and tofu are tossed with a dill and caramelised-leek base. For you traditionalists, there is just enough mustard and red wine vinegar to give it that classic French potato salad flavour. I use the smallest pink potatoes I can find for a touch of added flare, but any small, waxy potatoes will work.

4 small pink or red-skinned potatoes, unpeeled, quartered

Big handful green beans, trimmed and sliced into 2.5 cm pieces

2 tablespoons
Wholegrain Mustard

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Extra-virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon natural (unrefined) cane sugar or agave nectar

Fine sea salt

10 g finely chopped dill

1 small leek, white and tender green parts, trimmed and chopped

6 stalks celery, trimmed and diced

1 cucumber, unpeeled, seeded and cut into tiny cubes

170 g extra-firm tofu, cut into small cubes

1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives

Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Salt generously, add the potatoes, and cook until tender but not falling apart, about 10 minutes. Thirty seconds before the potatoes are done cooking, add the green beans to the pot. Drain the potatoes and beans and set aside.

In the meantime, make the dressing by whisking together the mustard, vinegar, 1 tablespoon olive oil, the sugar, and ¼ teaspoon salt in a bowl. Alternatively, combine the ingredients in a glass jar with a lid and shake until blended. Taste and adjust if needed.

Sauté the dill in a splash of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium–high heat. Add a couple pinches of salt, stir in the leek, and sauté until golden and slightly crispy, 4–5 minutes.

In a large bowl, gently toss the potatoes and green beans, celery, cucumber, tofu, chives, and half of the leek with most of the dressing. Taste, and add a sprinkling of salt, if needed. Turn out onto a platter and finish with a final drizzle of dressing and the remaining leek. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

SERVES 4–6

Chickpeas & Dandelion Greens

CHILLI FLAKES, HOT OLIVE OIL DRESSING

This is the salad to make when you stumble upon young, tender dandelion greens. Look for leaves that aren’t much longer than a pencil, with waif-like stems. More mature dandelion greens can be a bit tough, and their backbones are more stalk-like. If you can’t find dandelion greens, there’s no problem swapping in chopped silverbeet, or English spinach, or whatever greens happen to look best at your market; the selection will change throughout the year. Whatever you buy, be sure to give any unruly stems a quick trim. For something a bit more substantial, and to make this feisty salad a great one-dish meal, I like to top it with a crumbled hard-boiled egg.

280 g cooked chickpeas (see
A Simple Pot of Beans
), or 1 x 425 g tin chickpeas, rinsed and drained

60 ml extra-virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

½ teaspoon chilli flakes

Fine sea salt

3–4 handfuls young dandelion leaves, stems trimmed

Grated zest of 1 lemon

Put the chickpeas in a medium bowl.

Take out a large frying pan, and, while it is still cold, add the olive oil, garlic, chilli flakes, and 2 big pinches of salt. Stir over medium heat until the garlic starts to sizzle; it should not begin to brown. Toss the dandelion greens into the frying pan and stir until they begin to wilt, 15 seconds or so. Stir in the lemon zest.

Pour the greens over the chickpeas and toss. Taste, and add a bit more salt if needed. Transfer to a platter and serve warm or at room temperature.

SERVES 2 AS A MAIN DISH, 4 AS A SIDE DISH

Wholegrain Rice Salad

BABY SPINACH, BASIL, GOAT’S CHEESE, WALNUTS, CHERRY VINAIGRETTE

One afternoon a local farmer said to me, “Cherries don’t have a season. They have a moment.” True enough. And when that moment reveals itself each year, you’ll find me buying cherries by the case. This salad features the best cherries you can find pureed into a bubble-gum pink vinaigrette, then tossed with rice, baby spinach, toasted nuts, and torn cherries—with maybe a bit of crumbled goat’s cheese, too, if I’m in the mood. You can substitute just about any grain you like—brown rice, wild rice, red or black quinoa—but I lean toward dark-coloured grains here. The cherry vinaigrette lends a funky pink cast to lighter-coloured grains. The rice you see in the photo is sustainably farmed Black Japonica rice.