Super Natural Every Day (16 page)

Scoop the spread into a small serving dish and make a few indentations in the top. Sprinkle with the lemon zest and the remaining almonds and drizzle with the remaining rosemary oil.

MAKES ABOUT 450 G

Raita

YOGHURT, CUCUMBER, WALNUTS, CHILLI FLAKES

Refreshing, light, and healthy, the unstructured lemony coolness of this cucumber raita works nicely with the toasted crispness of pitta chips . I also love it on a hot summer day thrown over short pasta, brown rice, or even farro.

1 ½ small cucumbers (about 340 g total), unpeeled, halved, and seeded

1 garlic clove

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

60 g walnut halves, toasted (see
Wholegrain Breadcrumbs
), and coarsely chopped

Grated zest of ½ lemon

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Big pinch of chilli flakes

60 g plain yoghurt

Shred the cucumbers on the large holes of a box grater. Measure out 255 g grated cucumber and give it a gentle squeeze to work out excess water. Put the cucumber in a small bowl.

Put the garlic on a cutting board, sprinkle it with the salt, and work the garlic into a paste by chopping and smashing with a knife. Add this to the cucumber, along with the walnuts, lemon zest and juice, and the chilli flakes. Stir with a fork until combined, then fold in the yoghurt. Set aside for a few minutes to let the flavours meld before serving.

MAKES 370 G

Honeyed feta cheese

HONEY, CHIVES

This recipe is inspired by the wonderful tasting manouri cheese. It is an unassuming cheese with an appearance that could be mistaken for cream cheese. It is bright white, rindless, sliced from a large log, and nothing particularly special to look at. That being said, one night, my friend Karen Merzenich did a simple manouri cheese plate that I completely fell for. She drizzled pieces of the mild-tasting cheese with a runny clover honey. The creamy cheese smeared into the sweet nectar on a crisp cracker was just the thing. When I serve it, I like to finish things off with chopped chives, but you might opt for a generous sprinkling of booze-soaked sultanas or Marcona almonds. You can use sheep’s or goat’s milk feta with the same delicious results.

4 cm-thick slice feta cheese

70 g honey

3 tablespoons snipped fresh chives

Crackers, to serve

Cut the feta cheese into four wedges and arrange on a single plate. Drizzle with the honey and sprinkle with the chives. Serve with your favourite extra crisp crackers.

SERVES 4

Spinach Chop

HARD-BOILED EGGS, GARLIC, ALMONDS, HARISSA

This is the sort of thing I like to have on hand for healthy afternoon snacking. It has protein from the eggs, lots of greens, and fat from the nuts, so it keeps me full for a good while. I like it mounded on a thin crostini or toasted pitta chips , wrapped in a piece of lavash, or tucked into a pitta bread. And it’s the sort of thing you can take to a party or potluck if you want to be sure to have something homemade and substantial to snack on.

450 g English spinach, tough stems removed

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tablespoon harissa

4 large hard-boiled eggs, (see
box
) peeled and chopped

60 g slivered almonds, toasted (see
Wholegrain Breadcrumbs
)

Scant ½ teaspoon fine sea salt

Grated zest of ½ lemon (optional)

Add 1 cm of water to a pot and bring to the boil. Add the spinach and stir constantly until the spinach collapses entirely, about a minute. Drain the spinach and run cold water over it until it’s cooled. Spin the spinach in a salad spinner to get rid of as much of the water as possible. Alternatively, you can press it in a clean tea towel. Finely chop the spinach.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium– high heat. Stir in the garlic and cook for about 1 minute; you don’t want it to brown. Remove from the heat and stir in the harissa and the spinach. Add the eggs, almonds, salt, and lemon zest and stir again gently until everything is well combined. Serve warm or at room temperature.

SERVES 4

Roasted Chickpeas

THREE PAPRIKAS, LEMON ZEST, ROSEMARY, THYME

	Paprika is sold a number of different ways: smoked, sweet, and hot. I like to blend these three together with a bit of olive oil and some herbs to make this alternative to spiced nuts. Using the trio of paprikas gives more flavour than you’d get using a single paprika.
You can also keep these chickpeas on hand to toss into various grains and stir-fries, or to use as the finishing touch on a bowl of soup.

425 g cooked chickpeas (see
A Simple Pot of Beans
), or 1 ½ x 425 g tins chickpeas, rinsed, drained, and spun dry in a salad spinner

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 ½ teaspoons sweet paprika

1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika

1 ½ teaspoons hot paprika

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

Grated zest of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

Preheat the oven to 220°C (Gas Mark 7) with a rack placed in the top third of the oven.

Pour the well-dried chickpeas onto a rimmed baking tray in a single layer and roast for 10 minutes. Shake the tray and roast for another 8–10 minutes, until the chickpeas crisp up a bit. Keep a close eye on them to avoid burning, particularly if you suspect that your oven runs hot.

In the meantime, combine the olive oil, paprikas, salt, lemon zest, rosemary, and thyme in a large mixing bowl. Carefully transfer the chickpeas to the bowl and toss until well coated. Return them to the baking tray and roast for another 3–5 minutes, until fragrant. Allow to cool for 1–2 minutes and serve warm.

MAKES ABOUT 500 G