• 1 tin chickpeas (400 grams / ± 11-12 oz.)
• 1 sweet onion, minced
• ½ to 1 tablespoon dried parsley gedroogde peterselie
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon ground coriander/cilantro seeds
• 1 teaspoon salt
• a dash of freshly ground black pepper
• a dash cayenne pepper (or another kind of spicy pepper to taste)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice (try lime juice for a different zing)
• ½ teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, extra virgin, cold pressing (I always use Carbonell)
• about 100-125 grams / 3.5-4.5 oz. dried bread crumbs
• oil for frying. DON’T use olive oil for this, because it will start to smoke at high temperatures. I prefer using arachis oil / peanut oil, because of its higher smoking point.

Tip for vegans: use agar instead of the egg to bind the falafel.

Directions:

1. Take a big bowl and mash the chickpeas into a thick mass. DON’T use a blender, because that will result in the stuff becoming a thin soup. Use the blender to blend the onion pieces, parsley and garlic into a creamy thin sauce. Mix this into the chickpea mash.
2. In a smaller bowl, mix the egg, the herbs, the lemon juice and the baking powder. Add this to the chickpea mass together with the olive oil.
3. When everything starts to look as a homogenous mass, add the breadcrumbs bit by bit. Add as much as you need to make it thick enough to be able to knead small balls. Flatten them a bit and creat a small hole in the middle. This will help the disks stay flat, even when they expand during frying.
4. In a frying pan, pour about one inch / 2 centimeters of oil and heat this on a medium fire. When the oil is hot, fry the disks until they get golden brown at both sides. Put them in a strainer covered with paper towel to drain the oil. Serve with a cucumber-yoghurt salad.

Source:

• Adapted from Allrecipes.com

• 1.1 lbs. / 500 grams lean minced beef
• ½ medium sized onion, minced
• ½ big green bell pepper, seeds and veins removed, minced.
• lasagne sheets
• sugar (to taste)
• 1 litre / 32 oz. tomato sauce (sugo)
• ½ litre / 16 oz. sifted tomatoes
• 1 smal tin (70g/ 1 oz. ) tomato purée
• Cheese: Ricotta, Mozzarella (according to taste)
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Oregano
• Basil
• Thyme
• Salt (to taste)
• Parsley (freshly minced, to taste)
• 1 clove of garlic (finely minced)
• White wine (to taste)
• 2-3 cups of  Béchamel sauce

Directions:

In a pan, fry the minced beef until it’s loose. Put some paper towel in a strainer and allow the minced beef to drain on it after it’s done. Clean the pan with a paper towel and fry the bell peper and the onion, add the drained minced beef and heat it through on a moderate fire. Then allow it to simmer on a lower fire for about 5 minutes. Move everything over to a regular pot and add the tomato purée, the herbs and season it with salt to taste.

After another short period of simmering, add a little bit of white wine and a bit of sugar (to taste). Stir well and allow it to simmer for another 20 minutes. Keep stirring from time to time to prevent burning. Preheat the oven (200 °C / 400 °F) and layer the sauce, the cheese and the lasagne sheets in a skillet. What I usually do is start with sauce, then add a layer of sheets, then a layer of sauce, then a layer of ricotta/mozarella and then a layer of lasagne sheets again. Repeat this until the sauce is finished, make sure that after the last layer of sauce, to finish with a layer of béchamel sauce and grated cheese. Finish the dish by baking it for 30-45 minutes in a 200 °C / 390 °F oven (electric), subtract 10% of the temperature if you have a convection oven (hot air). For a gas oven, use mark 6.

• 100 g / 3.5 oz Rocket lettuce
• 100 g / 3.5 oz. oak leaf lettuce
• 1 small container of cherry tomatoes
• 1 piece (125 grams / 4.5 oz.) Mozarella Cheese
• pine nuts
• ± 100 gram / 3.5 oz Jamón serrano
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• basil
• grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Take a salad bowl and cut the salad leaves in small pieces. Cut the cherry tomatoes in halves and add them to the salad. Cut the mozerella in small slices and add that too.

Roast the pine nuts without the use of oil. Once the nuts change colour they are ready. Stir it through the mixture. Cut the Jamón serrano into very small pieces and fry them very shortly with a tiny bit of olive oil in a frying pan. It shouldn’t take more than one minute. Drain the jamón serrano on some paper towel and add it to the salad.

Use a bit olive oil (extra virgin) and balsamic vinegar to make a dressing (I use 3 units of oil to one unit of vinegar). Finish the salad with a bit basil and grated parmesan cheese.

Ingredients

• 350 grams / ± 12 oz. cod, without bones
• 250 grams / ± 9 oz. sheets for lasagne (verdi)
• some salt
• a dash of freshly ground black pepper
• 50 grams / ± 2 oz. butter
• 1 small onion, minced
• 3 tablespoons of flour
• 425 mililitre / ± 14 fluid oz. milk
• 1 tablespoon freshly minced or a teaspoon dried minced chive.
• juice from ½ lemon.
• 225 grams / ± 8 oz. minced spinach (when you use spinach from the freezer, make sure it’s thawed and strained)
• 250 grams / ± 9 oz. ricotta
• 1 teaspoon minced or  ½ teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon minced or ½ teaspoon dried basil
• 1 tin (400 grams or 14 oz.) tomato cubes
• 2 tablespoons dried bread crumbs
• 30 grams / 1 oz. grated cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven (Electrical oven 175 °C / 345 °F; gas oven mark 3-4; for a convection oven subtract 10% of the temperature and monitor the process: cover if the top starts to get dark). Add the fish in a big pot and add enough cold water to cover the fish. Cook the fish in about 10 minutes, until the fish starts to fall apart. Cut the cooked fish in small pieces.Cook the sheets of lasagne for about 2 minutes in salted water. Drain and rinse. Pat the sheets dry with a piece of paper towel.

Heat half of the butter in a pan, stir fry the onion about 4-5 minutes on a moderate flame until it starts to get brown. Add the flour and fry for a minute while continuing the stirring. Take the pan from the fire and add  the milk slowly. Put the pan back on the fire and allow it to cook slowly. Add chive, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Heat the rest from the butter in a sauce pan and add the spinach. Heat for another 2-3 minutes. After that mix in the fish, ricotta and the herbs and spoon it gently through the spinach. Take the pan from the stove.

Put a bit of the mixture in every sheet of lasagne and roll them. Put the tomatoes in an oven dish and add the rolled lasagne sheets on top of it. Sprinkle cheddar cheese and bread crumbs over it and put the skillet in the preheated oven. Bake in 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Serve with white wine, like Chardonnay. Bon appétit!

Ingredients:

• ± 75 grams / ± 2.5 oz. mushrooms (sliced)
• 2 small tins of tuna (on water)
• 400 grams / ± 1 lb. mixed Italian vegetables (cut in pieces)
• a couple of cubes frozen spinach (I use a kind which has cream cheese added to it)
• cooking cream (preferably soy-based, because that’s lighter)
• 1 bag grated cheese (I use the generic pasta cheese, a mix of Emmentaler, gruyere, cheddar, etc.)
• a piece of spicy blue-veined cheese like  Gorgonzola
• herbs (parsley, celery, green bruschetta herbs)
• salt
• ground white pepper
• a dash of white wine
• a small piece of butter

Directions:

Heat the butter in a sauce pan and add the sliced mushrooms. Cover them in butter while frying them, it will prevent them getting brown. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes, until they softened up. Add the spinach cubes and the herbs, keep stirring. Add the vegetables and lower the fire. When the veggies are about done, add the tuna, the cream and the cheese, heat it through and keep it simmering for about 5 minutes. At the very end add wine, salt and pepper to taste. Your sauce is ready. You can also make it a bit thicker and add béchamel sauce and use it as a sauce for lasagne.

Variance:

• use fried bacon instead of tuna and add spring onions
• use spam instead of tuna.