Spring Pea Soup with Roasted Radishes and Sweet and Salty Cashews / Sopa de Ervilhas com Rabanetes assados e Cajus agri-doces.

Around Christmas time, Kyle Books threw a "Advent Cookbook Quiz" on Instagram and I was the lucky winner.

I had to choose 3, from 7 available books and one of the books I chose was Rita Serano's "Vegan in 7".

A delightful book, full of delicious vegan recipes and very straightforward and unpretentious.

Recipes using only 7 or less ingredients, beautiful gorgeous photos and simple, but delightful, recipe introductions.

You all know I'm not vegan or even vegetarian, but you all also know that I love to have and make vegan and vegetarian meals whenever I want and that's one of the reasons I chose this book as one of the 3 books I had to choose from.

Honestly, I have a handful of vegan and vegetarian books but this one, is truly adorable and my favourite so far!

If you want to know more and win one copy of this gorgeous book, have a look at Kimberly's, The Little Plantation blog as, she is not just offering a copy of the book but, she's also sharing another delightful recipe from the book.

I've marked down several recipes to cook and share from the book but, as a soup lover, this soup had to be the first recipe to cook and share.

Try it and feel healthy and green!

Note: Rita suggests to serve the soup with an optional swirl of Cashew Cream, but I opted for a scatter of the sweet and salty cashews, for crunchiness.

Chicken katsu curry burger / Hamburger de frango com molho de caril katsu.

First of all, I start by saying sorry to the ones that try to comment on my blog but can't find the comments box.
Blogger and Google+ together are a disaster and the amount of messages I received this week from people that was complaining that they couldn't comment on my blog was a nightmare.
I didn't do any changes at all!! It's just that Blogger and Google+ combination that definitely doesn't work!!!
So, if you really want to comment, you need to click directly on the post title instead of trying to comment from the blog link. Annoying I know and I'm getting tired of this but, until I decide to change, theres nothing I can do...
Saying that, let's go to today's suggestion!

Bulgur wheat salad with cherries and feta / Salada de bulgur com cerejas e queijo feta.

Salads with grains are a must and this one is fabulous as the combination of flavours is just amazing and delicious.
A very fabulous suggestion as the cherries are at its best.

ingredients (server 4 to 6):

250g bulgar wheat, washed under cold running water

50g whole almonds, toasted and cut into slivers

50g parsley, chopped

30g fresh mint, chopped

30g coriander, chopped

50g rocket, chopped

1 head of fennel, finely sliced

5 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped

a handful of radishes, washed, trimmed and finely sliced

1/2 cucumber, washed and cut into small dice

juice of 1 lemon, or to taste

4 to 5 tbsp olive oil

250g cherries, washed and dried

150g feta cheese

a good pinch ground sumac (optional)

salt and freshly ground black pepper

method:

Put the washed bulgur in a pan, cover with 1 litre of cold water and add a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, half cover and simmer for about 15 minutes until tender. Drain and refresh under cold running water. Leave to drain in the sieve.

Squeeze out any remaining water from the bulgar wheat and tip into a bowl.

Add in the chopped herbs, radishes, fennel, cucumber and spring onions. Add the lemon juice and olive oil, season well with salt and black pepper and mix well to combine.

Remove the stalks from the cherries and, one at a time, pop out the stone between your fingers. Do this over the salad bowl, so the cherry juices drips into the salad.

Break the cherry flesh into rough pieces and add to the bowl.

Crumble the feta over the top, add the almonds and combine everything very gently.

Sprinkle with the sumac and serve.

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Esta salada é maravilhosa e agora que as cerejas estão no seu melhor, achei que era a altura ideal para a reproduzir e que delícia. Uma salada bem apetitosa, colorida e perfeita para esta altura do ano!

ingredientes (para 4 a 6 pessoas):

250g bulgar, lavada debaixo de água fria corrente

50g amêndoas com pele, tostadas e cortadas em lâminas

50g salsa, picada

30g hortelã, picada

30g coentros, picados

50g rúcula, picada

1 bolbo de funcho, lavado e finamente fatiado

5 spring onions, arranjadas e finamente picadas

um punhado de rabanetes, lavados e finamente fatiados ou cortados em palitos

1/2 pepino, lavado e cortado em cubos pequenos

sumo de 1 limão, ou a gosto

4 a 5 colheres sopa de azeite

250g cerejas, lavadas e secas

150g queijo feta

uma boa pitada de sumagre, para polvilhar (opcional)

sal e pimenta preta moída na altura

preparação:

Colocar o bulgur lavado num tacho. Cobrir com 1 litro de água e levar ao lume. Quando levantar fervura, semi tapar o tacho e cozer o bulgur por 15 minutos, ou até estar macio.

Escorrer, refrescar com água fria e deixar a escorrer muito bem. Deixar o bulgur no coador a escorrer, enquanto se preparam os restantes ingredientes.

Numa taça, colocar as ervas picadas, a rúcula, o pepino, os rabanetes, as spring onions e o funcho.

Espremer o excesso de água do bulgur (se ainda tiver água) e colocá-lo na taça, juntamente com os ingredientes acima mencionados.

Temperar com o sumo do limão, o azeite, sal e pimenta e misturar tudo muito bem.

Retirar os pés das cerejas e, sobre a taça da salada, espremer as cerejas (uma a uma), por forma a retirar-lhes o caroço e para que o sumo que escorrer das cerejas, caia directamente sobre a salada.

Cortar ou partir as cerejas em pedaços grosseiros e adicioná-las à salada.

Esfarelar o queijo feta sobre a salada e adicionar as amêndoas tostadas e laminadas.

Muito delicadamente, misturar tudo muito bem.

Polvilhar com o sumagre e servir.

Recipe / Receita:

Prawn tostada / Tortilhas com camarão.

Sometimes I buy books and when I am reading them, there are recipes that appeal to me straight away and some others, or either I even don't notice them, or I don't give them much importance, and this one was one of them.

Well, saying that, when I first got this book, I didn't find it anything special and now, that I'm watching the series of Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Home Cooking on TV, I totally changed my opinion about the book.

It's amazing how we can change our minds and just because I'm watching him preparing mouthful plates of food and all of them better than the previous ones, I totally fell in love with the book.

So, this meal is  fresh and delicious, packed full of flavour, vibrant colours and contrasting textures.

Very easy to prepare, it makes a fabulous light and relaxed lunch.

ingredients (serves 4):

400g raw king prawns, peeled, clean and deveined

2 garlic cloves, peeled and very finely sliced

1tsp chilli flakes

olive oil

2 ripe avocados, peeled, stoned and diced

4 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped

1 red chilli, seeded and finely sliced

8 to 12 radishes, trimmed and quartered

8 to 12 cherry tomatoes, halved

juice of 1 lime

2 baby gem lettuce, shredded (I used a bag of mixed leaves)

small bunch of coriander, chopped

4 corn flour tortillas

salt and freshly ground black pepper

method:

Put the prawns, garlic, a drizzle of olive oil, salt, pepper and chilli flakes inside a bowl. Mix well and set aside.

Put the avocados, chilli, spring onions, radishes and tomatoes inside another bowl and mix together. Taste and season with salt and pepper and half the lime juice.

Mix well and stir in the lettuce and coriander and set aside.

Heat a dash of oil in a frying pan. Extract the prawns from their marinade and fry them for about 2 minutes on each side, or until they are cooked through.

Sprinkle the prawns with the remaining lime juice and stir to combine.

Toast the tortillas on a dry frying pan until nicely coloured.

Divide the salad between the tortillas and serve topped with the prawns.

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É engraçado como ás vezes a nossa opinião pode mudar de repente e por coisa pouca, ou seja...
Já me aconteceu várias vezes, comprar livros e depois, ao lê-los, achá-los "normalitos", ou nada de especial e este foi um deles, tanto que ainda só tinha testado uma receita nele contida.
Ora bem, agora que estou a ver na televisão o programa do Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Home Cooking, vejo o senhor a preparar pratos maravilhosos em família e sempre com os filhos a ajudar, pratos cada um melhor que o anterior e de dar água na boca e dou por mim a pensar porque é que não achei piada ao livro de início.
Esta conversa toda para dizer que o livro é espectacular e estou completamente rendida a ele e assim sendo, esta é a segunda receita a sair deste livro e garanto-vos que não será a última.
Recheado de sabor, cores vibrantes e texturas contrastantes, este, que para o senhor Gordon e família é um pequeno almoço, foi para nós um almoço leve, fácil de preparar e super delicioso.

ingredientes (para 4 pessoas):

400g camarão cru, descascado, arranjado e limpo

2 dentes de alho, descascados e fatiado muito finamente

1 colher chá de flocos de malagueta

azeite q.b.

2 pêras abacate, descascadas, descaroçadas e cortadas em cubos

4 spring onions, arranjadas e cortadas em rodelas finas

1 malagueta vermelha, sem sementes e cortada em rodelas (eu não usei)

8 a 12 rabanetes, arranjados e cortados em quartos

8 a 12 tomates cereja, cortados ao meio

sumo de 1 lima

2 alfaces pequenas cortadas (eu usei um saco de mistura de folhas de salada)

um ramo pequeno de coentros frescos, picados

4 tortilhas de farinha de milho

sal e pimenta preta q.b.

preparação:

Colocar os camarões numa taça, juntamente com os flocos de malagueta, os alhos laminados, sal e pimenta e um fio de azeite. Envolver tudo muito bem e reservar.

Numa taça à parte, colocar a pêra abacate, a malagueta em rodelas, as spring onions, os rabanetes e os tomates e misturar tudo. Temperar de sal e pimenta, regar com metade do sumo da lima.

Adicionar a alface e os coentros picados, mexer e reservar.

Entretanto, aquecer um fio de azeite numa frigideira. Retirar os camarões da marinada e fritá-los no azeite quente, por cerca de 2 minutos de cada lado, ou até estarem cozidos.

Regar com o restante sumo de lima e mexer.

Numa outra frigideira seca, tostar as tortilhas de ambos os lados, até começarem a ganhar cor.

Dividir a salada pelas tortilhas, cobrir com os camarões e servir.

Recipe / Receita: