Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

Tomato salad with onions,walnuts,seeds and labneh with sumac.

Nothing beats simplicity on life. A simple tomato salad. Full of flavour and a taste of summer. A salad only to be eaten in season when the tomatoes are local and fresh and in abundance. I love labneh and with the added sumac, it adds a mediterranean flavour to the salad.

Recipe:

  • A variety of tomatoes in colour and size
  • A handful of mixed seeds, pumpkin seeds, lin seeds, sunflower seeds, and dried black currants
  • A few walnuts, roughly crushed
  • 1 large spring onion, diced on the diagonal
  • Plenty of fresh basil leaves
  • Labneh, torn in chunks
  • Sumac
  • Salt
  • Olive oil
  • Balsamic vinegar
  1. Labneh: Place a piece of muslin, or clean cotton towel over a sieve over a bowl. Scoop about two heaped TBSP of greek joghurt, or Skyr, onto the muslin. Add one heaped teaspoon of salt to the joghurt. Pull the ends of the muslin together and twist to form a ball of the joghurt. Put in the fridge and let it drain overnight. Remove the ball of joghurt(labneh) from the muslin and place in a separate bowl. Sprinkle liberally with sumac.
  2. Cut the tomatoes in different sizes and slices for interest. Add to a large bowl.
  3. Add the slices onion, sprinkle with salt and pepper some more sumac and mix the salad gently.
  4. Transfer to a large platter .
  5. Sprinkle the nuts, seeds and currants without mixing the salad.
  6. Add the torn labneh chunks.
  7. Liberally add some basil leaves.
  8. Drizzle lastly with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
  9. Serve with crusty bread and some more labneh and sumac on the side.

Serves 4

Pinch of salt:

  • Use goats cheese instead of the labneh.
  • Use seeds or nuts of your choice.
  • Add slices of peach to the salad.
  • Use Skyr, zero percent fat joghurt instead of fullfat greek joghurt for a healthier version, you won’t even know the difference!
  • Omit the onion if you have small children who dont eat onion, it won’t change the salad.
  • dont hesitate to mop up the tomato juices with your country bread!

Labneh: Place a piece of muslin, or clean cotton towel over a sieve over a bowl. Scoop two heaped TBSP of greek joghurt, or Skyr, onto the muslin. Add one teaspoon of salt to the joghurt. Pull the ends of the muslin together and twist to form a ball of the joghurt. Put in the fridge and let it drain overnight. Remove the ball of joghurt(labneh) from the muslin and place in a separate bowl. Sprinkle liberally with sumac.

Save any leftover labneh in a bowl with olive oil.

Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

Chimichurri, my Provencal way

We love chimichurri with fish and meat.But we dont like hot, spicy foods. So I adapted the chimichurri to a more mediterranean, provencal taste with herbs and vegetables that grow in abundance locally.

Recipe

  1. A big handful of fresh parsley
  2. A big hanful of fresh coriander
  3. Two cloves of garlic
  4. Half a red sweet pepper, diced into small cubes
  5. small white onion, finely chopped
  6. Olive oil to taste
  7. red wine vinegar to taste
  8. Salt and pepper
  9. A pinch of piment d’espelette
  • Finely chop the fresh herbs.
  • Cream the garlic cloves in a mortar and pestle and add herbs.
  • Add the vinegar to taste.
  • Add the diced red sweet pepper.and chopped onion.
  • Add the olive oil and other ingredients and mix until you have a thick runny sauce.
  • Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  • Finish off with a pinch of piment d’espelette.

A pinch of salt:

  • Use chilli peppers instead of sweet pepper to give punch to your chimichurri.
  • Add other fresh herbs from you garden, reduce the quantitites the more herbs you use.
  • I prefer two different herbs at the most.
  • Add a little white balsamic vinegar for a touch of sweetness.
  • Can be kept for about 4 days.

Serves 8 people