Spicy yogurt marinated trout with quinoa tabbouleh

The fish marinade is spicy, with a touch of sweet from yogurt. Definitely one of my favorite this one. Allow at least 2 hours for fish to marinade. You can use salmon or cod instead of trout and if you don’t mind wheat and gluten, using bulgur wheat can be nice too.

Serves 2 as usual

2 skinless and boneless trout fillets
200g soy yogurt, preferably the one which is a bit sweet, like Alpro
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 small red chili, deseeded and chopped (remember to wash your hands afterwards!
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
juice of one lemon

For the tabbouleh:

1/2 (150g) quinoa
1 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1 large ripe mango, peeled and chopped
1/4 cucumber, diced
2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
salt and black pepper

1. Place fish in a shallow dish, mix together all marinade ingredients, poor over the fish, cover and let it stand in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

2. To make tabbouleh, cook quinoa as per instructions on the pack (usually 10 minutes in boiling water is enough). Put the red onion, mango, parsley and cucumber in a bowl and add drained quinoa.

3. Whisk oil and lemon juice together with salt and pepper and pour over the tabbouleh. Mix well and let it stand until the fish is done.

4. Grill the fish with the covered in marinade under the moderate grill for 20 minutes, then serve on top of tabbouleh.

King Prawns Sticks with Almond Satay Sauce

In this recipe, I use raw almond butter rather than traditional peanut butter to make satay sauce. Almond butter is much healthier then peanut butter and I think it taste better too! You can buy it in bigger health stores.

Serves 2:

For the sticks:
250g large cooked prawns with tails on
Juice of one lemon
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
Salt
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp groundnut oil
150g wild rice
Fresh coriander leaves to garnish

For the spicy almond sauce:
1/4 of large onion or 1/2 medium onion, peeled and very finely chopped.
1 tsp demerara sugar
50g creamed coconut
Pinch of cayenne chilli powder
1 tbsp gluten free tamari sause
2 tbsp raw almond butter
120 ml water

1. If you use bamboo skewers, soak them in cold water for at least 30 minutes so they won’t catch fire.

2. Meanwhile, place the prawns in a bowl with lemon juice. Mix garlic with all spices and oil to make a paste. Pour the paste into the bowl with prawns and mix well. Cover and place in the refrigerator to marinade for at least 30 munites.

3. Boil the rice as per instructions on the pack.

4. While the rice is cooking, make the sauce. Pour water into a small saucepan, add the onion and sugar and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Stir in the creamed coconut, chilli powder and tamari. When melted, remove from the heat and stir in the almond butter. Spoon into a serving dish.

5. Preheat the grill. Thread three to four prawns on to each skewer (depending on length). Grill the skewers, turning occasionally for about 5 minutes, or untill slightly golden. Do not burn them.

6. Arrange rice on two plates and place the skewers on top. Serve with the warm sauce.

Yum!

Grilled scallops with green sauce, vegetables and noodles.

For this recipe try to find fresh king scallops. I’ve used frozen ones and the dish was very good, but I had to defrost them for 8 hours and I think fresh ones are softer. I remember melting-in-the-mouth taste when I used to live by the sea and scallops were available daily and were cheap and fresh…and not farmed. This recipe is for two people; you will need:

1 carrot
100g french beans, trimmed
1 small pointy pepper
6 spring onions
50ml-100ml vegetable stock
Rice or udon noodles
12 scallops
a little extra virgin olive oil

Green sauce:

100-120g spinach, washed and drained
a bunch (about 25g) of chives
25g fresh coriander
15g fresh basil
1 tbsp (app. 2 cm) fresh ginger, grated
250ml vegan gluten free vegetable stock
2 tbsp greek youghurt
*optional – 1 tbsp potato flour

1. First make the sauce. Place first 6 ingridients in a food frocessor and blend until smooth. Stir in yoghurt and leave until required.

2. Cut all vegetables into long stripes and steam-fry it for a few minutes, until just soft. Remove from the heat. Cook the noodles according instructions on the pack, then drain and toss with vegetables. If using pre-cooked noodles, add them to vegetables and heat through.

3. Brush the scallops with a little oil and cook under a very hot grill for 3 minutes on each side. Do not overcook. If you are not sure whether they cooked or not, cut one in half – it should be white through. They also tend to shrink a bit when ready to eat, but if you overcook them, they will shrink too much.

4. This step is optional and depends on whether you like thicker or lighter sauses. If you do prefer thick consistency, pour the sauce into a pan over a medium heat and bring to the boil. Add the potato flour, stirring all the time until the mixture thikens. Remove from the heat. I personally skiped this step, because I prefer runny sauses and it’s healthier if you do not boil it

5. Spoon the noodles with vegetables on plates, arrange cooked scallops on top and drizzle Green Sauce over the top. Alternatively, you could coat the plates in sauce first, especially if you skip step 4, because you’ll have more sause then.

I washed it down with a glass of Rieslig