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

I learned this late, but as they say: better late then never. Courgette (zucchini) isn’t just a wonderful vegetable to oven-bake, but it’s also really good raw and makes for lovely salads. Especially when you use a vegetable peeler to slice it into thin, elegant ribbons - much as I’d once learned to do with carrots and cucumber. This courgette salad is fresh, light and colourful: perfect for spring. Ingredients (serves 2): 1 medium size yellow courgette (zucchini) and 1 medium green courgette Juice and grated zest of one lemon (it’s easiest if you grate the zest first, then juice it) 15g shaved almonds, toasted lightly 140g feta cheese handful of mint leaves 1 tablespoon olive oil salt and freshly ground mixed pepper (pink, green and black kernels) 1. Cut the top and bottom off the courgettes, then use a vegetable peeler to slice them lengthwise into long ribbons. 2. In a large bowl, mix the lemon juice and olive oil, then season with salt. Toss in the courgette ribbon...

I usually have yoghurt and cereal for breakfast on weekdays, normally with some raspberries, strawberries or blueberries thrown in. Or, if I'm fresh out of fruit, a teaspoon of jam to make it all sweeter. Maybe a boiled egg on the side. Lately though, I've been finding myself, more and more often, all out of time. So I thought I’d try something I could make ahead. The answer that came to me: energy bars. Except, unlike the store bought kind, you can make these to have exactly what you want in them, and leave out what you don't. And it turns out - making your own energy bars is easy, I don't know why I’d never done it before. Doing it at night and letting them set in the fridge shaves making breakfast right off my morning routine those extra early days :) This is one of those recipes that doesn’t require exact quantities. You can put in whatever you like - dried apricots or figs, any variety of nut, nougat, cereal, etc. Remember, they're going to be your e...

Ingredients (serves 2): 8 ripe peaches 1 cup Greek yoghurt 30g blanched (= white) almonds, halved 2 tablespoons maple syrup Honey and cinnamon to taste few drops of lemon juice Instructions: 1. Wash the peaches and quarter them. Brush each cut side with maple syrup. 2. Pre-heat a grill pan. Place the peaches in the pan until they’re ready but not falling apart. This only takes a few minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. 3. Take the almonds and toast them in a skillet. (You can also do it in the oven, but on top of the stove is faster and less hassle - no pre-heating needed, etc etc). 4. Take the Greek yoghurt and add honey and cinnamon to taste. Add a few drops of lemon juice and stir.  5. Divide the yoghurt over two bowls, top with grilled peaches and almonds and serve.