Ilse's Kitchen - culinary adventures of a girl who loves to eat

The menu headings on this blog probably give it away - I eat a lot of salads. Especially when it’s hot. Or when I feel bloated. Or when I’m particularly lazy. It’s a kind of ‘cooking without cooking’ and as someone with quite a bit on my plate most days (in the figurative sense ;)), I can appreciate that. Ideas that leave me eating well but with time to spare are always quite welcome in this kitchen. Ingredients (serves 2): 1 can tuna in water, drained 1/3 cucumber, cut into cubes 1 avocado, seeded, peeled and diced 1/2 red onion, chopped 1 large scallion, copped 1 handful cilantro and parsley, chopped 1 tablespoon lime juice 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/4 teaspoon chili powder (I used cayenne pepper) a dash of cumin salt and pepper to taste Instructions: 1. Place the avocado, cucumber, red onion, scallion, tuna, cilantro and parsley in a bowl.  2. For the dressing, mix the olive oil, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper.  3...

Before I first made shrimp, it always scared me a little. For some reason - at the time, I had next to no experience to base my fears on - I had gotten it into my head that seafood was difficult to make. Difficult to make, and difficult to get right. Irrational as it was, that fear stopped me from making shrimp dishes for years - until one day, I realised there was hardly anything to it. That it is probably harder to get it wrong, than it is to get it right. Try this simple coconut shrimp dish, and see for yourself. :) Ingredients (serves 2): Coconut Shrimp 250g shrimp, peeled and deveined (if you’re buying them fresh, get them with the tail left on. If you’re using frozen shrimp they may not have tails - that’s ok. Make sure they’re thawed.) 1/2 cup shredded coconut 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs (these are lighter and crunchier than regular bread crumbs) 1/2 cup flour (tapioca flour or all purpose flour - both will do) 1/2 teaspoon salt 1-2 eggs (start with 1, you ...

After my lentil stew leftovers for lunch today (yum), dinner time called for something lighter. Something that was lighter, and made use of the celery stalks I still had sitting in my fridge. And preferably something for which I had everything in the house, as the fridge is still plenty full and I’m trying to limit the number of visits I make to the supermarket. Willow Arlen’s recipe was the answer. This is a slightly adjusted version. Ooo, and also - one of the first vegan recipes on this blog. Yay ;) Ingredients (serves 2 as a starter or side, or 1 as a main): 4 stalks celery, chopped 1 cup cilantro, chopped 1 cup lamb lettuce 20 or so mint leaves, chopped 2 spring onions, chopped (use the bulbs and part of the green stalks) 1 red chili pepper, deseeded and chopped juice of 1/2 lime 1 tablespoon sesame seeds 1 tablespoon rice vinegar 1 tablespoon runny honey (if your honey isn’t runny, heat it to make it run) 1 teaspoon sesame oil Instructions: 1....

I was feeling rather lazy today, so instead of a real meal I decided to make myself a tapas-style dinner. This Spanish recipe for 'champignoñes al ajillo', put up at a girlfriend’s request, came from Linda's Top Tour of Spain website a million years ago. And having spent a year there myself, I feel pretty comfortable vouching for the result. Ingredients (serves 2-4): 400gr mushrooms, quartered if large, halved if small 4 cloves garlic 1 red chili pepper (if you prefer them extra spicy, use 2) 1 tbsp chopped flat-leaved parsley olive oil salt and freshly ground black pepper Instructions: 1. Finely chop two of the garlic cloves and the red pepper. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan, and when hot, add the chopped garlic and pepper. Sauté for a minute, then add the mushrooms. Sauté for two more minutes. 2. During this space of two minutes, take the remaining two cloves of garlic and press through a garlic press. Add a little bit of salt, the chopped parsley, and ...