Crispy spinach salad with orange-gorgonzola vinaigrette

Have it fresh!

It's been an incredibly good summer this year, and I can tell, since we've stayed home and really hoped for some sun and do-able temperatures. It was exactly what we got: it was a blast to be able to go outside with only some flip-flops, tops and shorts.

We live in the south of Amsterdam, just a few hundred meters near the famous Vondelpark, where friends and family meet each other after work or in weekends, with bottles of chilled drinks and  baskets stuffed with goods. So you can imagine what we've been doing night after night!

Barbecues and little gatherings with kids and friends, sun and fresh food... staying out 'till the sun is long gone..  it's like the ultimate summer joy. And since I kind of know how to get around in my kitchen I've been sorting out some good salads to bring along.

 This spinach salad really isn't hard to make but has this nice twist because of the gorgonzola mixed with orange, which makes it a dish of it's own.

Healthy as hell, and great on your plate! ;-)

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Spinach-arugula salad with oven roasted tomatoes, mushrooms and croutons

Let's pretend it's summer!

As happy as I was last weekwith the first sign of spring, as drairy it is again today. Just went outside for some skating in the park with my kids, but went straight home when my ears started to freeze off.. There is this saying in Holland, which goes like this:

 

'March moves it's tail, april does as it pleases, and may adds some more..' When i write this down in english it sounds ridiculous, due to the fact it makes no sense at all, and doen's even rhyme! Well, anyway, it means we're not yet done with wintery days, and as beautiful the weather seemed to be last week, as cold and wet it is today, which isn't particularly an exception for this time of the year. It actually means carpe diem. Just run outside, when you see a bit of light! That rhymes for sure.

 

So. If the sun won't come out just yet, we just have to pretend. And nothing beats a summery salad on your plate. It's weekend right? Pour yourself a nice glass of wine, mayby an icecold Chardonnay, and enjoy the crispy spinach salad with sun dried oven roasted tomatoes. By the way, you can save these tomatoes for about two weeks in your fridge by cover them with olive oil, in a sealed container. Very nice over some pasta.

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Happy couscous with eggplant and zucchini

Happy couscous with eggplant & zucchini

Oh my, it's incredible what a little sun can do for ones mood! These last few days where amazing. We were caught by surprise when we woke up in the first sunrays of spring. And here in Amsterdam, or actually in the rest of Holland as well, it's funny to see that just everybody decides to go outside and make a pitstop at a terrace at some point. To enjoy a drink or two and have some good conversations. (they always turn out better with some drinks, you know)


But ok, no, i didn't make that pitstop. But happy, i was for sure. I just can't wait for summer to start. The long evenings in the Vondelpark around the corner, the picknicks, the 'mum-i-don't-want-to-go-to-bed-yet-it's-still-light-ousides', staying up late, the kids playing and running in- and out, nice dinners with friends in some gardens and ahh... it's all just too good to be true.
So, to celebrate this victory of sun, some happy couscous on the table, to pre-taste a bit of summer! Cheers!

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Tripple color bean salad, with crispy mustard seeds

Tripple color bean salad, with crispy mustard seeds

It's really funny how the idea of a new dish comes to live. It always begins with the thought of one particular ingredient, (kind of obsessively actually) and once the idea has settled itself somewhere in my head, it's almost impossible to get rid of it. It doesn't really matter what i'll make with it, as long as it's something with that particular vegetable or ingredient. Ridiculous, if you think about it.

Anyway, this morning i thought of beans. I know, i often do, but this wasn't about 'just some' beans, but about beans in different kinds and sizes, and in different colors and structures. It had to be something beautiful on your plate, (because people like to eat things that look good, it's a fact) but also as simple and pure as possible. Not anything like a Mexican-style-kindney-beans-and-corn-saladbar which you can find already prepared in you supermarket, for example. I'm just saying.

So, at a certain point this picture popped into my head of some very, very greenish broad beans, and didn't go away. Which was a good thing, of course. Broad beans do take some time to prepare, but are awesome in salads if you keep them fresh and crispy. They combine beautifully with the white giant beans and the darker green haricots vert. But more important, it's just a very nice and tasty salad, with crispy mustard- and cilantro seeds and some zest of an organically grown lemon. Need i say more?

 SEE THE WHOLE RECIPE