Herby Quinoa and Plum Salad

Quinoa is a nutty flavoured seed from the South American Andes and it has been used for over 6000 years. I use quinoa in this recipe, but it can easily be replaced by bulgur wheat or couscous. The herbs, plums and dressing in this fresh and healthy salad go really well together.

Serves 4:

Salad:

- 250 g quinoa

- 2 cups water

- 1 small onion, finely chopped

- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped

- 3 tbsp olive oil

- 6 tbsp lemon juice

- handful of parsley, finely chopped
- handful of mint, finely chopped

- 10 plums, depitted and cut in 4

- salt

- pepper

Yoghurt dressing:

- 150 ml yoghurt

- squeeze of ketchup

- chives, finely chopped
- 1 small clove of garlic, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder 

Soak the quinoa for about an hour and resoak or rinse it very well under running water while rubbing it with your fingers to get rid of the natural bitter soapy coating (saponin). Drain. 
In a pan with the water bring it to a boil, cover with a lid and simmer for 12-15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to sit for 5 minutes with the lid still on. Fluff with a fork and let cool for 30 minutes, then transfer to a salad bowl.
Mix in the onion, garlic, parsley, mint, oil and lemon juice.
Season with salt and pepper.
Add the plum wedges and refrigerate for at least half an hour.
Mix the ingredients for the yoghurt dressing in a small bowl.
Serve the salad piled up on a big serving plate with the dressing in a little bowl on the side.

Mixed Paella

Paella, which has its origins in Valencia, is a very grateful dish. I really enjoy preparing it, serving it and eating it. You can make it with whatever you like (rabbit, chicken, shellfish, sausage, frogs or snails). Served in a big paella pan it looks and smells fabulous and it's a great dish to dig in with the whole family. There are many different types of paella, but this one has everything I like in it.

Serves 6

- good splash of olive oil

- 1 onion, finely chopped

- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

- 600 g semi-long grain rice or short grain rice (like risotto rice)

- about 0,8 l stock

- 6 chicken drumsticks

- 1 red pepper, chopped

- 1-2 g saffron

- 1 small and thin dry sausage like a dry salami, cut in thick coin sized slices

- 2 tomatoes, deseeded and chopped- 2 handfuls of peas (frozen will do)

- (15 mussels)

- 12-15 big prawns
- handful of parsley, finely chopped
- pepper, salt

- 1 lemon, cut in wedges

If possible use a big paella pan. This is a wide, shallow, thin base pan. If you don't have a paella pan, just use a big frying pan or a wok.

Start with sauteing onions and garlic on medium heat in some olive oil. When translucent add chopped red pepper and rice and stir until it's coated with oil.

Add some ladlesful of stock and stir. Let it come to a gentle boil and when all the fluid has been absorbed, add some more stock.

Roast your saffron in a dry hot pan. Then crumble it in the rice an stir.

In the meantime fry the seasoned chicken in a separate pan and keep warm (in some aluminum foil or on low heat in the oven) when crispy.

When the rice is close to being "al dente" add the sausage.

Fry the seasoned prawns in some olive oil.

Cook the mussels in their shells.

A few minutes before serving, add peas and tomato.

Taste and, if necessary, season with salt and pepper.

A few minutes later stir in tomato and peas.

Finish off with the chopped parsley.

Arrange drum sticks, prawns, mussels and lemon on top of the rice and serve.