Parisian Tuna Sandwich

Oh, I was sooooo tired of always getting the same old tuna salad every time I was ordering one in the restaurant: corn, some tuna, some onions and here you go... Take it or leave it...
I wanted something more....oh la la.... So, here it is... Parisian Tuna Sandwich... :)

What you need ( for 3 people):

- one fresh black bread ( if you prefer white bread, you can use that too) - I found this wonderful black bread with seeds at KomsuFirin in Istanbul... Is soooo yummy!!!
- 2 medium cans of tuna fish ( I used fish in water, not in olive oil...more light :P )
- 3 eggs
- 1 avocado
- half of an onion cut thinly
- arugula salad
- 3 medium sized tomatoes
- 3 spring onions
- 3 small cucumbers
- olive oil
- red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon whole grain mustard

How to make it:


1. In a medium bowl pour 1/2 cup of olive oil and 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar. Add the thinly cut onion, salt and pepper, give it a mix and put it aside for 10 minutes.

2. In the meanwhile boil your eggs and cut your bread in slanted slices. After 10 minutes add to the onions the drained tuna cans, the spring onions cut in pieces, the radishes, cut as well,  and the whole grain mustard. Separately cut the tomatoes in slices. Do the same for the avocado, the eggs, the cucumbers.

3. Put a slice of bread on your serving plate. Pour on it a little of the sauce from the tuna mix. Then put on top of it a few leaves of arugula, then top it with tomatoes, egg slices, the tuna mix from your bowl and the avocado slices ( just arrange it a little.. it should look a little messy...This is the fun in it anyway... The bohemian Parisian look ) and then top everything with another slice of bread sprinkled with the tuna sauce. Serve it with a small spinach salad for a healthy addition...

Enjoy a healthy lunch or dinner and feel like a french ;)

Pasta with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Wilted Mache

First of all sorry again for the extensive break... Some personal issued to handle... BUT now I am done and I am in Istanbul!!!! I SIMPLY LOVE THIS CITY!!!
I am not in my house, so it takes a few days to get into line and start posting daily on the blog :)...
So, for tonight I thought of something easy to make, tasty and still a little healthy ( OK, OK...not fully healthy!!! ;D )...

What you need ( for one person):

- 200-300 gr pasta of your choice
- 4-5 pieces of sun dried tomatoes
- 4-5 garlic cloves
- 30-40 gr parmigiano, grated
- olive oil
- 20 gr butter (optional- for the less healthy version)
- salt and pepper to taste
- mache salad ( it tastes earthly and is very healthy), but you can use rocca for example as well.

How to make it:

1. Put your pasta to boil in  salted water. While the pasta is boiling, cut the sun dried tomatoes in thin strips and put them aside. Grate some of your parmigiano and put it aside also.

2. Put a pan on fire to heat and put some olive oil and, if you wish, the butter to melt. When is hot, add the cut sun dried tomatoes and the crushed garlic to the pan and give them a toss for 2-3 minutes until they become fragrant ( you can put the garlic in the garlic press directly, without peeling it...The press will do its job ;) )

3. When the pasta is cooked, drain it, but reserve one cup of the water in which it boiled. Add the drained pasta to the pan with the sun dried tomatoes and the garlic and toss them. Add the grated parmigiano, salt and pepper to taste and a part of the reserved water in which the pasta boiled ( don't add it all. You will add more if you think that the pasta gets too dry).

4. Add the leaves of the mache and stir. The mache salad will get a little wilted, so you should add it just before taking the pasta off fire. If you like you can add more grated parmigiano.

5. Serve the pasta very hot with a nice glass of wine.. :)

Trip to Istanbul

Sorry for the huuuuge break... I was on my way to Istanbul and it takes a few days to fight the laziness :P...Hahaha...Good excuse... I will be back with new stuffs in a day or so, after I make some shopping for what I need ... In the meanwhile, you can see how I am spending my mornings...  ;)  

Mini Palmiers

These little crunchy cookies are extremely easy to make and hard to stop eating...Give them a try :)

What you need:

- a sheet of frozen puff pastry ( defrost it in the fridge overnight)
- 55 gr granulated sugar
- 15 gr cinnamon
- 40 gr melted butter

How to make it:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Line a large baking tray with baking paper and put it aside.
Combine in a bowl the sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle half of it onto a clean surface. Place the puff pastry on top of the cinnamon sugar and sprinkle on top of it with the other half of the cinnamon sugar and gently roll over the pastry with a rolling pin to secure the sugar and brush with half of the melted butter over it and then cut the sheet in half.

2. Use your fingers to roll one side of the pastry sheet towards the center and then roll the other side until the two sides meet in the center. You should roll both sides tightly. Do the same to the second piece of pastry.

3. Brush the top of the two rolls wit the remaining melted butter and wrap the rolls in stretch film and put them in the freezer until firm ( about 15 minutes)

4. Take the pastry rolls out of the freezer when firm and cut them in slices and arrange the slices cut side up on the prepared baking tray leaving about 1-2 cm between each. 

5. Bake them for about 8-10 minutes and then take the tray out and turn each palmier on the other side and bake again for another 1-2 minutes. Let them cool on the tray and then keep them in an airtight container. 

Guess what the blogger is doing when not blogging? ;)

Blogger on holiday... Will be back soon :)

Peanut Butter, Banana & Coffee Smoothie

For coffee lovers, this is a wonderful refreshing smoothie... It gives a good kick of energy in the mornings and is wonderful on a summer's day...

What you need ( for 2 people):

- one ripe banana
- 70 gr creamy peanut butter
- one tablespoon of honey ( if you like it sweeter, then you can add a little it more)
- 7-8 cubes of ice
- 200 ml semi skimmed milk
- 7 gr instant coffee

How to make it:

1. Put all ingredients in a blender and give it a good whiz. Pour it in the serving glasses and decorate with chocolate stick, or chocolate curls ( if you want to, of course).  You are done!!!! Isn't that fun?!?!?  ;)

The Minimalist's Sweet Potato Salad

Sweet potatoes are rich in complex carbohydrates, fibers, beta carotene, vitamin C and vitamin B6. That's why they are the healthier choice instead of the normal potatoes. But, they don't taste the same as normal potatoes either. They are sweeter...

This salad is a very easy one to prepare and is packed with vitamins and fibers...That is why is a good choice for lunch or dinner...And the colors are simply beautiful...

What you need ( for 2 people):

- 3 medium sweet potatoes 

- 1 red onion

- 10-12 olives ( optional)

- 8 quail eggs boiled ( optional)

- 2 red bell peppers

- a handful of parsley leaves chopped coarsely 

- a handful of dill leaves chopped coarsely

- 5 tablespoons olive oil

- 1 garlic clove

-freshly squeezed juice of two limes

- pepper and salt to taste

- chilli flakes to taste

How to make it:

1. Peel the potatoes and clean the onion and chop them in bite size pieces. Put them on a baking sheet and bake them in the preheated oven at 175 degrees for about 35 minutes

2. Separately, in a bowl, cut the red bell pepper in pieces and add the chopped parsley and dill. When the potatoes and red onions are baked add them to the bowl. Add, as well, the olives and the boiled quail eggs. 

3. In the blender put the olive oil, the freshly squeezed lime juice, pop the garlic clove as well and season with pepper, salt and chilli flakes to taste. Give all a good whiz until well blended. The dressing should be acidic and a little spicy. 

 4. Add the dressing on top of the salad and give it a good stir. You will love the colors and the definitively different flavor of this sweet potato salad... Have fun with it :)

  

"Don't Wanna Cook" Tomato, Basil & Sausage Pasta

After being in the dentist's chair for two hours today, you can imagine my mood for spending time in the kitchen. Not to mention that half of my face is still numb... Maybe I am lucky that is still numb, otherwise it would hurt, no?!? All I wanted was something tasty and fast to calm me down from the dentist stress...( And yes, is something which also makes me feel guilty, but after such a day, nothing works better than tasty guilt ;) )
So, here is my pasta recipe which I basically always make when in a rush ( most of the times I skip the sausage..Thank God!!!! )  ..Plus watching " Eat, Prey, Love" while eating it :)

What you need ( for 2 people):

- 300-400 gr pasta of your choice
- 7-8 pieces of small sausage ( whichever you prefer)
- 5 garlic cloves
- a small handful  of basil leaves
- a can of good quality chopped tomatoes in sauce
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- chilli flakes

How to make it:

1. Bring to boil a pot of water in which you put a tablespoon of sea salt. Is good to have salty water to boil your pasta in because they will be more tasty. Also, do not put olive oil in the water where you boil your pasta. It will only make your pasta more slippery and your sauce won't stick to them.

2. In the meanwhile heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and add to it your cut or crushed garlic and the sausages, cut in pieces. After a few seconds add to the pan the cut basil leaves ( I like to add the basil leaves now because the oil in the pan will get the flavor of the basil).

3. Stir all the ingredients in the pan and then add the chopped tomatoes can. Let all come to a boil. Season your sauce with pepper, chilli flakes and a little bit of salt. Be careful with the salt because you have already salted the water from the pasta.

If the pasta is boiled, drain it but reserve a cup of the water in which the pasta boiled. Add the drained pasta on top of the sauce in the pan and stir it slowly while still keeping the pan on fire. Add half - or more-of the reserved water from the boiling pasta ( I do this because pasta tends to absorbs the sauce and juices from the pan even after is being taken off fire and it becomes dry by the time you serve it. If you add extra water from the boiling pasta to the sauce then you avoid having dried out pasta).
Arrange your pasta on your serving plate and add some more fresh basil leaves on top..Mangiamo :)))