I love food. Any kind of food: desserts, main courses and maybe one of my favourite - appetizers. Why is it that appetizers always look so much more tempting than entrees on practically any restaurant menu? Almost every time I go to a restaurant it's a struggle to choose just one starter to eat. Sometimes I secretely wish that I could have a few (or, who am I kidding, a lot) of the small dishes instead of having one entree. I guess this is why people go out to Spanish restaurants for tapas, right? My boyfriend, however, has a very different idea about appetizers. A few weeks ago I listened in disbelief when he mentioned his dislike for tapas. Really? Who doesn't like tapas? Perfect little appetizers they are! One of my favourite things to order as an appetizer is a dip. I rarely get it by myself, but sitting at a pub with a few of my girl friends and sharing a warm gooyey and cheesy dip, drinking martinis or beers and gossiping is a perfect way to spend an evening.

This recipe serves 2-4 people as an appetizer.

I recently visited a fellow cooking enthusiast, and she made the most amazing and delicious lunch I had in a very long time. There was a light, summery salad made with spinach, prosciutto, mozzarella and peaches. Little pancakes with cream cheese, smoked salmon and dill. Grilled herb marinated scallops and tiger shrimp. Spaghetti with lightly cooked vegetables. And there were tiny pastries with eggplant and tomatoes. (There were three different desserts as well!!!) It was the first time she made those pastries and she used the recipe from some cookbook, but the actual dough didn't work too well. It was extremely crumbly and a bit sandy. My friend was really upset about it, but the filling of those pastries was absolutely delicious. So, I got her recipe for the filling and I used the other dough recipe that I knew would work. The result was really good! Juicy, tasty, garlicky filling wrapped in thin layer of tasty pastry. I made a simple dip for those little pies: equal measures of mayo and yogurt cheese mixed with minced garlic and cilantro. Perfect combination!

filling recipe adapted from carina-forum

makes eight medium (12 cm) pies

Pastry

• Unbleached all purpose flour -500ml (2 cups)
• Salt -2.5 ml (1/2 tsp)
• Water - 60 ml (1/4cup)
• Maple Syrup - 15 ml (1tbsp)
• Canola oil - 125 ml (1/2 cup)
• Oil for brushing

Filling

• Tomatoes - 250 g (2 medium)
• Eggplant, cut into 2cm cubes - 500 g (1 medium)
• Onion, chopped - 1 medium
• Cilantro, finely chopped - 1 tablespoon (my store didn't have fresh cilantro, so I used one frozen cilantro cube)
• Garlic, minced - 1 clove
• Cumin - 1/2 teaspoon (I didn't use it)
• Tomato paste - 1 teaspoon (forgot to use it)
• Olive oil, salt, pepper

- Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).

- Heat some oil in a large pan and saute the onion until it's soft.
- Add the cumin and cubed eggplant to the pan and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to boil. Drop the tomatoes in the boiling water for 30 seconds.
- Remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and drop them into cold water for 2 minutes.
- Peel the tomatoes and chop them.
- Add the tomatoes to the eggplant and cook for another 10 minutes until the eggplant is cooked.
- Add the minced garlic into the mixture and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the cilantro, salt and pepper. Let the filling cool.

- In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Set aside.
- In a measuring cup, combine the water and honey.
- Add the oil.
- Pour over the dry ingredients and stir with a fork until flour is just moistened.

- Roll out the dough to 3-4 mm thickness.
- Cut 12 or 8 cm circles, put some filling in the middle and fold the circle in half to create a half-moon shape. Press the edges together with a fork.
- Put the pies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Brush the pastries with milk, eggwash, or oil.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until the dough is baked through and golden brown.

I think I found a new food addiction. Well, I still have about five avacados on my counter, but my newest addiction is this Yogurt Cheese or as it is called in Middle East - Labneh. I now use a little different method, I wrap the yogurt in a lot of cheese cloth and then hang it over a deep bowl for a couple of hours. Those few hours are enough to drain the yogurt and get a nice, soft, creamy and tangy cheese. This time it's paired with peppery arugula (my other new favourite food), salty prosciutto and roasted and caramelized asparagus. Beautiful combination for a very tasty sandwich.

recipe adapted from carina-forum

• Bread
• Yogurt Cheese (or your favourite cream cheese)
• Arugula
• Prosciutto
• Asparagus (+ olive oil, salt, pepper)
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

- Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).
- Wash asparagus, snap off the woody ends, arrange the spears onto a baking sheet, lightly cover with olive oil, salt, pepper and roast for a few minutes until they are cooked to your liking.
- Toast the bread.
- Spread some cheese onto a bread, lightly salt it.
- Arrange a few arugula leaves on the cheese.
- Wrap prosciutto around cooked and still warm asparagus.
- Place the wrapped asparagus on top of the arugula leaves.
- Ground the pepper on top.
- Enjoy!

And I am back again with my favourite ingredient - avocado. This time it's paired with my new favourite - arugula. Well, I used arugula before, but only recently I fell in love with this fresh, peppery, a little bitter, spicy and even a tiny little bit garlicky green. It has the most refreshing and complex flavour that I found in any lettuce, cabbage or other salad base ingredient. It's absolutely amazing and it pairs just wonderful with buttery avocado. I really think it's a match made in heaven: buttery avocado and spicy arugula... mmm... The salad is very easy with no real proportions, but it's really really good.

recipe very literately adapted from carina-forum

• Arugula
• Avocado
• Thyme
• Oil (olive, sunflower, or even avocado oil)
• Freshly squeezed lime juice
• Sea salt
• Lots of freshly ground black pepper

I saw this recipe in the latest issue of Everyday Food magazine. Well, it's not even a recipe, just an idea, but what a wonderful and easy idea. One ingredient, a little bit of patience and you get a perfect homemade cream cheese. Mix it with fresh chopped thyme, spread on a soft slice of dark rye bread, sprinkle with lots of flaky fleur de sel, freshly ground coarse black pepper and arrange a few spicy arugula leaves on top - it's a piece of heaven, better than any dessert or chocolate. It's light, tangy and refreshing from the use of yogurt, perfect for easy summer snack. Give it a try, mix it with garlic and fresh herbs, sun dried tomatoes and olive oil, chives and roasted red peppers - the possibilities are endless!!!

recipe from Everyday Food by Martha Stewart (june 2009)

• Greek or Balcan style yogurt - 1 big tub

- Place 2 layers of cheesecloth in a fine-mesh sieve over a large bowl.
- Add the Greek yogurt and loosely cover with plastic wrap.
- Top with a plate that is at least 1 inch smaller than the inside of sieve and weight with a heavy can.
- Refrigirate for 24 hours for Yogurt Spread or 48 hours for Yogurt Cheese.

Comments

- After 48 hours there was still a lot of liquid left in the yogurt, so I let i drain for another 24 hours and then I actually squeezed quite a lot of liquid by hands.
- I think the better way to do it, would be to wrap the yogurt in the cheesecloth and not put it inside the sieve, but actually hang it somewhere. It'll drain from its own weight. That's the way we do cottage cheese in Russia and it only takes a few hours instead of a few days.
- However, no matter which method you choose, the result is absolutely amazing!!!!

In case if you were wondering what was that green thing in the background in my Homemade Tortillas post, it was Avocado Hummus. Since I am currently addicted to avocados, I just knew that I had to try this recipe when I saw it. I can't say that I like hummus very much. I mean I can eat it and enjoy it, but it's not something I usually crave. This recipe was a bit too much on a hummus side for me, so I think it would be better with a little less chickpeas and a bit more avocados. So, here's my less hummus-ey version, but all the ingredients can be increased or decreased based on your personal taste.

recipe adapted from carina-forum

• Chickpeas, drained and rinsed - 1/2 to 1 can (add more or less depending on your love for chickpeas and desired taste)
• Avocados - 2 small
• Tahini paste - 1 tablespoon (optional)
• Lemon juice - 2-3 tablespoons (to taste)
• Olive oil - 2 tablespoons
• Water - enough to thin the dip to the desired consistency (3-5 tablespoons)
• Salt, pepper

- Process all the ingredients except for te water in a food processor, until they become very smooth.
- Add some water to thin out the dip to the desired consistency.
- Season to taste.

I have a love and hate relationship with vegetables. On one hand I like them, but on the other hand I only like them certain way. For example, tomatoes - love them fresh, there's nothing better than juicy and meaty tomato cut in half and sprinkled with a little bit of salt; and the smell, ah... they smell like summers and my childhood, when I went to my grandparents' cottage in the summers and they grew so many different kinds of tomatoes there. But tomato sauce is something I don't like, I also don't like tomatoes in soups or stews. Bell peppers - I love them with dips, but I don't like them in fresh garden salads (go figure) and I also really don't like them in chunky soups, although I like pureed soups with peppers. I know, I am strange! And the list goes on and on, I like eggplants very cooked and soft and thin, if they are too thick, I won't eat them. I like pumpkin in soup, but not in chunks, carrots raw, but not cooked, etc, etc, etc... So, I can't even really say what my favourite vegetable is, because I usually think of myself as a person who doesn't really like vegetables, but then I think of avocados (not technically a vegetable, I know) and I forget all my complaints about veggies. I adore them and I think that probably almost any savoury dish tastes better with avocado. Just puree it with a little bit of lemon juice and sour cream (or tofu) and you get a wonderful, luscious, creamy sauce that works amazing with fish, chicken, steak, salad, savoury cakes, eggs, sandwiches and million other things. Ok, I should stop here, because I can sing the ode to this humble ingredient for a very long time. So, let me present my very simple version of Guacamole recipe.

• Avocado - 1
• Tomato, seeded and chopped - 1
• Chili pepper, seeded and chopped into tiny pieces - 1 small
• Cilantro, chopped - 2 tablespoons (not used here)
• Lemon juice - 2 tablespoons (or more)
• Salt, pepper

- Cut avocado in half, remove the stone and scoop out the flesh.
- Cut the avocado into bite size pieces.
- Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix gently if you'd like a chunkier guacamole.
- Or alternatively, mash the avocado with fork and fold in the rest of the ingredients for a smoother version.
- Serve with flat bread.

Well, apparently I was really excited when I saw those small cute eggplants last week, because I didn't just buy a couple, I bought a lot of them. And although I wasn't impressed by their taste, I still had half of them left and they were looking at me every day, begging to be cooked. So, yesterday I finally had a chance to make something with them. Since I am still not back into my full cooking mode, my fridge is a little (a lot) empty nowdays, but I had a couple of tablespoons of the Dill Garlic sauce left from last week (it keeps really well in the fridge, similar to pesto). And with a few simple ingredients found in my pantry and on my fridge shelves, I was able to transform the eggplants into something quite delicious and completely different.

recipe loosely adapted from carina-forum

• Baby eggplants - 3
• Dill Garlic Sauce - 2 tablespoons
• Your favourite oil (sunflower, olive, walnut, etc) - 70 ml or more
• Maple Syrup - 2 teaspoons
• Chilli Garlic Sauce (store bought) - 2 heaping tablespoons or to taste
• Balsamic vinegar - 2 teaspoons
• White wine vinegar (I had Cava vinegar) - 2 tablespoons
• Salt, pepper

- Slice the eggplants into 1 cm slices.
- Put them into a colander, salt them liberally and let stand for 30 minutes to drain some moisture.
- Wash the salt out of the eggplants and broil them in the oven for 10-15 minutes until they are cooked through.
- Meanwhile mix all the ingredients for the sauce together.
- Put the cooked eggplant slices into a dish and cover them with the sauce.
- Leave the eggplants into refrigerator to marinate for a few hours.

I went to my dentist a couple of weeks ago for a routine exam. It was an early sunny Saturday and I really didn't want to be there, but I was prepared to grit my teeth (not literally obviously) and sit through an hour. But it turned out to be not as boring as I thought since there was a tv up at the ceiling and I had a remote control at my disposal. So, what do you watch on Saturday morning? Why, Food Network of course. I can't say I am a fan of Giada. The thought that she only has one bite and doesn't eat the rest really bothers me, it just seems fake to me. But I didn't have much choice and I lazily watched her show with my mouth opened and half falling asleep under the bight light. I am not sure why on her Italian Everyday show there was a recipe for Spring Rolls, but it inspired me and hence this recipe was born. Not real spring rolls since I used phyllo dough, but close enough and tasty!

recipe for 10 spring rolls

For the dough

• Phyllo dough - 5 sheets
• Vegetable oil for brushing
• Mixture of cornstarch and water to "glue" the spring rolls

For the filling

• Carrot, peeled and cut into few pieces - 1
• Green onion, cut into few pieces - 1
• Bell pepper, seeded and cut into few pieces - 1/2 big pepper
• Hot chili pepper, seeded - 1 small
• Cilantro - to taste (1/4 bunch)
• Sesame oil - 1 teaspoon
• Soy sauce - 1 teaspoon
• Rice vermichelli, cooked in hot water and drained - 1 portion

For the sauce (to taste)

• Peanut butter
• Hoisin sauce
• Soy sauce
• Orange marmalade (optional)
• Coconut milk

- Process all the ingredients for the filling in a food processor until the mixture is smooth.
- Add soy sauce and your favourite spices to taste.

- Brush some oil onto one phyllo sheet and fold it in half.
- Cut it into two rectangles.
- On a short side of the phyllo rectangle, put some of the filling with a little bit of cooked vermicelli.
- Brush the other three sides with cornstarch mixture.
- Start rolling the dough, folding the brushed sides inside.
- Put the roll seam side down onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Lightly oil the top of the rolled spring roll.
- Repeat with the rest of the other phyllo rectangles and the other 4 sheets of phyllo dough.
- Bake at 350F (180C) until the spring rolls are golden. Since the filling is already cooked the time in the oven is not too important as long as the filling gets hot.

- For the sauce mix all the ingredients. I like salty and sweet, so I added a tablespoon of bitter orange marmalade. I also added some coconut milk to get thinner consistency.
- If you cannot use peanut butter, then the sauce can be substituted for another tasty soy sauce from this recipe.