kale salad with garlic-chili-oil

The minute I saw Miss Boulette's flavored oil, I knew I had found what I was looking for: a suitable dressing for raw kale. The oil is sensationally simple, strong in flavor and makes up the perfect match for the rustic texture of kale (if you prefer it tender, let it sit marinated for a day).

I kept my oil basic so that it can be complemented with different condiments from case to case.

Garlic chili oil adapted from Miss Boulette

Chop

• 1 red chili,
• 1 small spring onion,
• 2 cloves of garlic, roughly the same amount of
• ginger
  

ultra fine.

In a pan heat

• 2 tbsp butter (for a clear optic use clarified butter) with
• 1/2 cup olive oil.

As soon as the butter has melt completely, turn off the heat and add the garlic, ginger and chili.
Add 1 tsp of sugar, 1 tsp salt and the spring onion. It will yield to one small cup of chili oil.

Before using the oil you can add (1 tsp - 1 tbsp to taste)

• soy sauce (for sweetness and umami) and / or
  
• gochujang (korean red chili paste for fruity sweetness) or
• sesame oil (for a nutty flavor).
  

Kale Salad with Chickpeas

For a big bowl of salad

wash, spin dry and cut 200 gr of kale.

Slice the stems thinly.
Toss the kale with 3 cups of precooked chickpeas with at least 1/2 cup of the garlic-chili-oil (I mixed it with 1 tbsp soy sauce).

If wanted, add a dash of lemon juice (I didn't).

Don't be frugal with the dressing! Everything should be coated heavily with the oil so that it becomes a glossy, indulgent salad.

The salad will stay crisp for a couple of days in the fridge and is good to take away (then best eaten with chopsticks :)).

pan fried dumplings with corn salad and braised pears

I love it when you crave for a dish badly and you have everything on hand (with minor deviations) to go for it right away (ok, I waited till daylight). And when the recipe works out like a charm and the result tastes as good as it looked on the picture. Who wouldn't.

These pan fried dumplings (Kaspressknödel, consisting of old bread and cheese) with plain corn salad, fried onions and braised pears made up a beautifully balanced, beautiful winter dish.

I tried it with and without sour cream and found the cream unnecessary.

Rough directions:

Soak old bread (I took toasted whole meal toast which was fine and reduced the soaking time) in some milk and 1-2 eggs. It should yield to a kneadable consistency. Add 1 grated clove of garlic and grated hard cheese to taste.
Add chopped parsley and 1 small chopped onion.
Add salt, pepper and grated nutmeg.

Mold flat dumplings out of the dough and fry them in a pan with butter.

In the meantime braise some slices of pear in lemon juice (i took some cubes of frozen lemon juice) and little agave syrup.

Fry some onion slices.

Serve all with corn salad, sour cream if wanted and additional grated cheese.

roots spaghetti salad

I have slightly amended my opinion on vegetable spaghetti:

They are very impractical to eat.

And if served to guests they can evoke wrong expectations in so far as somehow they are supposed to taste better than ordinarily cut vegetables. But they taste exactly the same :)

As in these winter days one can never get enough ideas for fresh dishes, I present you this salad still.

And again devote it to Ms Bushcook, who has been recently featured in this lovely interview.

Roots salad (beetroot, kohlrabi, little parsley root, salsify, carrot)

with toasted and ground almonds and

a dressing of chopped herbs, orange juice, olive oil, fleur de sel and orange zests.

Chinese Cabbage and Carrot Salad

I can't stop eating this salad. I don't know if anybody could. I don't know either why one should.

A handful of humble ingredients (I added parsnip), foolproof to make and just divine.

Besides: you can spoon it. And salads that can be spooned falls in the comfort food, soul food category - just in case anybody wonders about the label :)

Chinese Cabbage and Carrot Salad adapted from Heike's Blog (= blog for esthetic German cooking :))

For 2 servings, prep time 10 minutes

Finely slice 5 Chinese cabbage leaves and 1 onion.
Grate 1 large carrot.
Mix all in a bowl together with canola oil (1 tbsp), white wine vinegar (2 tbsp), double cream (3 tbsp), sugar and salt to taste.

Let sit for a couple of minutes and (optionally) serve with crushed nuts as topping.

Update for the diary free folks - you can yield to an equally tasty result with coconut milk.