Avocado and Shrimp Salad

Hello everyone!

I hope you like this delicious avocado salad I cooked today. 

This dish is great for a dinner or just as a starter. It only takes a few minutes to prepare it and it is full of colour and flavour.

In Spain avocados are mainly farmed in the South and at Cannary Islands.

They have become part of Spanish cuisine in the last decade. 

Avocados are delicious and a good source of potassium, vitamin K, vitamin E and fiber.

Ingredients:

(Serves 2)

2 ripe avocados

150g cooked shrimps

Half a lemon

5 tablespoons mayonnaise

5 teaspoons tomato sauce or ketchup

Tabasco sauce

Salt

Difficulty and cooking time:

Easy

15 minutes

Method:

Let’s start preparing the pink sauce. Put the mayonnaise in a small bowl. Add the tomato sauce and mix with a fork until smooth. Then add a splash of tabasco sauce and save it for later.

 

Make a small cut on every side of the avocados,

Halve the avocados, remove pulp using a spoon and save the shells for later.

Remove the pit, dice the pulp into thick pieces and drizzle with lemon juice to keep them from turning brown. 

 

Add the cooked shrimps and salt to taste. Finally add half of the pink sauce and mix carefully using a spoon. 

Fill the avocado shells with the mixture.

Top with pink sauce and decorate. I have used some shrimps here for the topping.

I hope you like it!

See you soon

María

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Salmorejo (Cold Tomato Cream Soup)

Hi everyone! Today I'm going to show you how to cook this delicious dish. This is a traditional and healthy recipe, full of vitamins and  it is very fast to cook. Once ready you only have to chill  in the fridge for an hour and it is ready to serve anytime of the day.

Just pour this delicious "salmorejo"  on a toast for breakfast or serve it cold with chopped Spanish serrano ham and hard boiled egg at lunch or dinner.  I'm sure you are going to enjoy this dish as much as I do.

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

5 ripe tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
250 g. bread
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon of salt
1 egg
4 Spanish serrano ham slices

Difficulty and cooking time:

Easy
10 minutes

Method:

Wash and dice the tomatoes, peel and chop the garlic, and slightly soak the bread in cold water.

Place the wet bread in a mixing jug and pour a tablespoon of olive oil.

Add the diced tomato, garlic and a teaspoon of salt.

Mix well using a blender until the soup has an even and thick consistency. Then chill in the fridge for an hour.

In the meantime boil an egg in salted water for 10 minutes.

Finely chop the hard boiled egg and the serrano ham.

Serve cold, decorated with chopped egg and ham. Finally top with a lug of extra virgin olive oil.

For a real Spanish breakfast  pour a teaspoon of olive oil on a toast, salt to taste and cover with Salmorejo. Serve with serrano ham slices and a glass of orange juice.

I hope you like it!
See you soon,

María

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Lamb's Lettuce & Pasta Salad

Hello everyone! Today we are going to cook something simple, delicious and fast . This colourful pasta salad is perfect for lunch or dinner. This dish contains all the nutrients for a complete meal, although it is also a great side dish. Lamb's lettuce is the base for this salad, however any type of lettuce perfectly combines with the rest of the ingredients. Cheese provides flavour and colour, and it is also a great source of calcium. I used five counties cheese for this salad, which includes Cheddar, Red Leicester, Cheshire, Double Gloucester and Derby and the result has been amazing.

Ingredients:

( Serves 2)

100 g. lamb's lettuce
100 g. tricolour spiral pasta
100 g. sweetcorn
1 egg
1 beef tomato
100 g. five counties cheese
Salt
2 tablespoons of wine vinegar
1 tablespoon of  extra virgin olive oil
Basil leaves to decorate

Difficulty and cooking time:

Easy
15 minutes

Method:

Wash the lettuce and the tomato and drain well.

Place the egg in a small pan with cold salted water, bring to the boil and cook for then minutes.

Place the lettuce on a large dish. Add the pasta to a large pan of boiling, slightly salted water, stir and return to the boil. Cook for ten minutes.

Refresh with cold water and drain well.

Dice the cheese

Place the pasta, the sweetcorn, the sliced tomato and the cheese in the plate with the lettuce.

 

Decorate with the boiled egg and basil leaves. Salt to taste and season with wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. Serve immediately.

I hope you like it!
See you soon,

María

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Gazpacho (Cold Vegetable Soup)

Hi everyone! Today I prepared this traditional recipe of southern Spain. Gazpacho is a cold soup made of vegetables and seasoned with olive oil and wine vinegar. In Spain it is mainly consumed during the summer. This is a delicious and healthy dish, full of colour and vitamins, perfect for hot days. Once cooked, just chill in the fridge for an hour and it is ready to serve. This dish keeps all its vitamins and properties up to 3 days and it is very low in calories. 

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

3 big  ripe tomatoes
1 green pepper
1/2 cucumber
2 cloves of galic
200 g. bread
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of wine vinegar
1/2 tablespoon of salt

Difficulty and cooking time:

Easy
20 minutes

Method:

Wash the vegetables in cold water, removing stems and pepper seeds. Peel the tomatoes, the cucumber and the garlic.

Soak the bread in cold water until soft (about 3 minutes)

 Chop the vegetables into small pieces.

Place the chopped vegetables and the soaked bread in a large pot or jug, and mix everything with a blender.

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly, until the soup has a soft and even consistency.

Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, a tablespoon of vinegar and half a tablespoon of salt. Stir well and chill  for an hour at least.

Don´t forget to stir well before serving it. Decorate with chopped pepper and cucumber.

Serve very cold.

I hope you like it!
See you soon,

María

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Mussel Pate on the Shell

Hi again! Today I cooked this recipe for you all. This dish is a delicious starter for a dinner and it is very easy to prepare. Galician seafood is worldwide known. The farming system for the production of mussel in Galicia is called "batea". This is a floating rectangular structure made of wood with several ropes attached, where mussels seeds grow. Mussel is highly consumed in Spain and it is a natural source of iron and B-group vitamins. Since I moved to the UK I have been using Scottish live mussels for my recipes and the result has been amazing too.

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

500 g. live mussels

1 small onion

300 g. passata (mashed) tomato

100 ml. extra virgin olive oil

100 g. breadcrumbs

Salt

Difficulty and cooking time:

Easy

45 minutes

Method:

Scrub and wash the mussels. Place them in a large pot with salt. Cover with lid and cook them over a high fire until they are done (about 3 minutes).

You don't need to add any water. The resulting steam is enough to cook the mussels.

Leave to cool for 5 minutes.

In the meantime chop the onion.

Remove mussels and place them on a dish, saving the shells for later.

Place the mussels, the mashed/ passata tomato and the chopped onion in a large bowl or jar.

Beat well using a blender.

Put the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the resulting mixture. Stir-fry for about 5 minutes.

Put the mussel pate on the shells using a spoon and place the shells on a baking tray.

Sprinkle with breadcrumbs, preheat the oven to 200ºC  and bake in the centre of the oven for 10 minutes using the grill too.

And now our dish is ready.

Place the mussel shells on a dish and serve hot.

I hope you like this recipe.

See you soon,

María

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Small Fried Squid

Hello everyone! Today I cooked for you all these delicious fried squids. This is one of the most popular dishes of Spanish cuisine. The secret for a soft result which keeps the natural flavour of squid is that it has to be fried for little time over a high fire. When the squid  is quite big, I always cut it making rings. On this occasion  I have used whole small squids, my son's favourite. For this recipe you will need whole fresh cleaned squids.  Your fishmonger can clean them for you. However you can use frozen, cleaned squid as well.

Ingredients:

(Serves 2)

500 g. fresh small squids
200 g plain wheat flour
300 ml. extra virgin olive oil
Salt

Difficulty and cooking time:

Easy
15 minutes

Method:

Clean the squids, removing guts and rinsing well with cold water (Keep the tentacles because they are very tasty) and salt to taste.

Coat the squid in flour, shaking off flour excess and place the battered squids on a dish.

Put the extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan over a high fire. When the oil is hot enough fry the squids until golden brown and crisp. It will take about a minute. (You can use an anti-spatter lid to avoid oil burns)

Using a straining spoon put the fried squid on a dish with kitchen paper. This will absorb the unnecessary amount of oil.

And our dish is ready. Serve hot with lemon.

I hope you like it!
See you soon,

María

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