The New Nordic Diet & IKEA 2/3

I am continuing my IKEA collaboration series with yet another super simple recipe. These bite sized avocado and gravlax wraps make a great party food, but also a delicious lunch. Instead of using the soft thin bread as a wrap, you could also use dark bread (cut up in small pieces, if used as finger food, of course) or a combination of both! The combination of avocado and gravlax is quite mellow, so you may want to considering offering a dab of mustard and dill sauce alongside. This is such a quick and easy recipe idea even if guests are already on their way! 

Avocado and Gravlax Wraps

(makes 20-25 pieces)

soft thin bread, thawed 

gravlax (marinated salmon), thawed

2 avocados

fresh dill, to serve

mustard and dill sauce, to serve

1. Peel the avocados and remove the seeds. Mash the avocados with a fork. 

2. Spread some avocado on a piece of thin bread and top with 2-3 slices of gravlax. 

3. Wrap the bread into a roll and cut to bite sized pieces. Decorate with fresh dill and serve with mustard sauce. 

Tomatoey Salmon Soup

I am enjoying a day off work and treated myself to some fresh flowers and a loaf of sourdough this morning. What better to accompany a slice of such bread than a hearty soup? We are having quite a warm July here in Sydney this year so soups haven't been on my menu as much as they usually are at this time of the year. I do, however, love making (and eating) soups when the weather allows.

It's been a while since I've posted a non-vegetarian recipe here on my blog, but I am making an effort to include a bit more fish on my weekly diet. This soup is so easy and quick to whip up and it was a perfect lunch to make between shopping and house-cleaning. I'm certainly fuelled to keep going now!

Tomatoey Salmon Soup

olive oil

1 brown onion, chopped finely

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 x 400g tin crushed tomatoes

2 tablespoons tomato paste

600-700ml water

vegetable or fish stock

4 large potatoes, peeled and chopped

400g salmon, skinned, boned and cubed

a bunch of dill, finely chopped

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan and add onions and carrots. Cook for a few minutes, then add tomatoes, water and stock. Add potatoes and cook for 15 minutes or until potatoes are almost tender. 

2. Add salmon and cook for a further 5-10 minutes until just cooked. Finally, add dill.

Tomatoey Salmon Soup

Baby's Breath flowers

Easy Apple Tart with Vanilla Custard

We finally had some sun after a few days of rain and it was really warm sitting on the balcony soaking up the rays. A quick and easy apple tart with thick vanilla custard was a perfect afternoon treat for this Sunday. I don't remember making such an easy version of this classic favourite before; just mixing the ingredients in a bowl (no electric beaters or other special equipment needed) and laying apple slices on top. I always serve these types of cakes with vanilla custard (as we do in Finland), but you could substitute with good vanilla ice cream.

Easy Apple Tart with Vanilla Custard

(Recipe adapted from Kotivinkki)

230g plain flour

170g (raw) caster sugar

1/2 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon pure ground vanilla

100g butter, melted

200ml sour cream

3 apples, cored and sliced

 cinnamon, to taste

Vanilla Custard

250ml milk 

1 egg yolk

1/2 tablespoon potato flour*

1 tablespoon (raw) caster sugar

1/4  teaspoon pure ground vanilla

* potato starch is sold as potato flour in Australia.

1. Preheat the oven to 200C and grease a pie dish (25cm).

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and vanilla in a bowl. Add melted, cooled butter and sour cream and stir until smooth. Spread on the bottom and sides of the dish (wet spoon works well for this). 

3. Top the base with apple slices and sprinkle with cinnamon (and extra sugar if you wish).

4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Leave to cool slightly before serving.

5. For the custard, add all ingredients to a saucepan and whisk well to combine. Place on medium heat, then whisk continuously until the mixture thickens. Take off the heat and serve warm with the apple tart.

Marinated Fennel and Pear Salad

I finally had a chance to try lemon and olive oil marinated fennel, highly recommended by a friend who also happens to be one of my favourite bloggers. I love fennel as it is, but the simple marinade of lemon and olive oil truly take it to a whole new level. I whipped up a quick lunch by adding baby spinach leaves (but you could use rocket, if you have it), thinly sliced pear and macadamia nuts to fennel I had marinated for a couple of hours in the fridge.

Marinated Fennel and Pear Salad

(serves 2)

1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced

1 lemon, juiced

2-3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 pear, thinly sliced

baby spinach or rocket leaves

macadamia nuts, roughly chopped

1. Add fennel, lemon juice and olive oil in a bowl. Toss to combine and refrigerate for a couple of hours.

2. To serve, simply toss the marinated fennel with the rest of the ingredients.

Leek and Potato Soup

Sydney is still sweltering in summery weather, with temperatures reaching 30C almost daily. There was, however, a cooler break some days ago and I just had to take the opportunity to make another soup. Potato and leek soup has been a favourite of mine for a long time, and even though I've shared a recipe for it before, I thought it won't do any harm doing it again.

I used nutritional yeast to flavour this soup, but you could easily use a dash of cream or soft cheese (flavoured cream cheese, for instance) instead. All it needs is a little drizzle of good extra-virgin olive oil and another one of those rye-crisp breads with cheese to serve with.

I'd like more of these cool days please!

Leek and Potato Soup

(serves 4-6)

5 big potatoes

2 big leeks

1 litre vegetable stock

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast 

freshly ground pepper, to taste

extra-virgin olive oil, to serve

1. Peel and chop the vegetables and place in a large pot with vegetable stock. Bring to boil and simmer for about half an hour or until vegetables are tender. 

2. Turn off the heat and season the soup with nutritional yeast (or cream) and pepper. Purée the soup in a blender and serve drizzled with olive oil.

Finnish Spinach Soup

There is nothing better than a comforting soup on a rainy day. I made the most of it yesterday and whipped up spinach soup, a childhood favourite served with hard-boiled egg and rye-crispbread with cheese. If you're in the Northern Hemisphere, and soon have fresh nettle available, try a similar soup using those instead. I have a recipe here.

It is supposed to be another warm one here today, so no more soups before autumn really sets in.

I am so ready for a cool change, I'm really looking forward to it!

Finnish Spinach Soup

(serves 4)

1 litre organic full-cream milk

3 tablespoons plain flour

200g baby spinach/English spinach/frozen spinach (thawed), blanched and finely chopped

a good pinch of salt

freshly ground black pepper or a tiny pinch of white pepper

hard-boiled egg (free-range, organic), to serve

1. Add milk and flour to a saucepan and whisk well to combine. Whisking continuously, bring milk to a boil and add blanched, finely chopped spinach. Let simmer for a further 10 minutes, then turn off the heat and season.

2. Serve with hard-boiled egg and crispbread.

Brown Rice, Grape and Feta Salad

A quick mid-week update as I had the luxury of having a friend for lunch today. This brown rice salad was completely effortless to make, but it will definitely become my new favourite. When grapes are in season, I love eating them as they are, but also adding them to salads and desserts. This dish has a perfect combination of flavours and textures!

Brown Rice, Feta and Grape Salad

(Recipe adapted from Coles)

400g brown rice, cooked and cooled

2 big handfuls of seedless red grapes, washed and halved

200g feta, cubed

1/2 red onion, finely sliced

bunch of parsley, finely chopped

2 tablespoons lemon-infused olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

freshly ground black pepper

handful of raw cashews, lightly toasted

Combine all ingredients and enjoy!

Everyday Meals

 

I thought I'd share a few simple and quick everyday meal-ideas with you. These are the kinds of meals I cook all the time: they are virtually zero-effort, even during those hot summer days when the last thing you feel like doing is standing next to a hot stove. 

Firstly; salads. Just take a peek into my Recipe Index and you'll realise how keen I am to feed myself (and my husband) with colourful, fresh salads that are really more like meals than just sides. This Greek-inspired salad consists of simple ingredients like cherry tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, mixed salad leaves, Sicilian olives (instead of traditional Kalamata) and feta cheese. Drizzle with good extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar and grind a bit of black pepper on top. Voilà, lunch or even a light dinner is sorted.

 

Vegetables are obviously always heavily featured even in our main meals. This mushroom and eggplant stack has grilled eggplant smeared with a miso-honey-tamari mixture, layered with pan-fried button mushrooms and toasted sesame seeds. It is a perfect little meal served with a fresh salad and a slice of chunky bread, if you like.

 

Another easy summer-meal is barbecued portobello mushrooms topped with basil-walnut pesto. Simply grill or pan-fry olive oil-drizzled mushrooms (with stalks removed) and top with a pesto made with a bunch of fresh basil, half an avocado, lemon juice, olive oil, a handful of walnuts, pinch of salt and pepper.

Finally, desserts. I can't think of anything better than seasonal ingredients (like figs, in this case), served with cheese, ricotta or yoghurt and drizzled with pure Australian honey. Really, what more could you possibly need?