Nutrition - Free Fitness Library
Summer foods
Picture a long summer night with your best friends sitting round the
table, a good bottle of wine and a take away! This seems to be the story
for most of us, our hectic lifestyles have created a nation of fast
foods and convenience meals.
Slow down, step back and make an effort to cook real food.
To help, we've asked chef extraordinaire, Oded Schwartz to create a selection of quick fantastic meals for our active, health conscious readers. His approach to food reflects his philosophy of life and his strong belief that we must pool all our cultural resources to create peace rather than discord. Like Laurence van der Post he hopes the harmony which exists in the kitchen will spread and create a harmonious society and where we are governed 'by the national palate' resulting in 'no apartheid or racial prejudice... because our cooking is the best advertisement in the world for a multi-racial society'. It is a belief that sustained him throughout his early years in Israel and encouraged him to move to London during the culturally liberated 60's. With summer in mind, Oded has gone Mediterranean with his latest book Fast & Fresh Mediterranean. All the recipes are quick to prepare, simply delicious and low in fats.
PRAWN AND ORANGE SALAD
The inspiration for this unusual combination comes from Morocco. There,
the salad is made from a local variety of aromatic oranges which have
a delightful, slightly bitter flavour. They are simply peeled, sliced
and mixed with onion and a dressing of olive oil.
YOU WILL NEED...
3 tablespoons virgin olive oil or walnut oil
Juice of 1 small orange
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
3 large oranges, peeled and sliced into thin rings
1 bunch of spring onions, trimmed and chopped
300g/12oz/11/2 cups cooked peeled prawns
3 tablespoons dill
METHOD...
1. In a large salad bowl combine the oil with the orange juice, zest
and the seasoning and mix well.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss gently. Serve decorated with a few unpeeled prawns and sprigs of dill.
RAW ARTICHOKE SALAD
This attractive salad has a surprisingly fresh, earthy flavour and goes
very well with cold or cured meats, poached eggs or just bread and butter
for a light and elegant supper dish. It comes from the North African
coast of the Mediterranean, where artichokes are supposed to have healing
powers. The water in which the artichokes are cooked is drunk to improve
health and help with problems of potency and fertility.
To clean the artichokes, first peel all the leaves exposing the chokey heart. With a sharp teaspoon scrape away the choke. Trim, and remove the stem if too woody. Immediately plunge the peeled artichoke into cold acidulated water as the cut surface blackens very quickly. Do not throw away the leaves; use them to decorate the salad.
YOU WILL NEED...
4 large artichokes, cleaned as above
1 bunch spring onions
2 large tomatoes, peeled, de-seeded & roughly chopped
3 tablespoons virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon or to taste
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 lemon sliced into thin slices, each slice cut into small wedges
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons parsley, roughly chopped
METHOD...
1. Peel the artichokes as explained above.
2. Combine the rest of the ingredients into a large salad bowl and mix well. Slice the artichokes into thin crescents and immediately coat with the dressing. Decorate with artichoke leaves and serve. The salad improves if left to marinate for a few hours. The artichoke hearts will not discolour if they are coated in the dressing.
PANZANELLA
"As a child I ate my salad only because at the end I could dunk
bread into the wonderfully savoury juice that the vegetables produce"
says Oded. "When I grew up I discovered Panzanella - a way of enjoying
the tasty combination of olive oil, lemon and tomato juices - without
dunking the bread."
This is a clever way of using stale bread and making a salad into a more substantial dish, ideal as a light summer lunch with a glass of chilled white wine.
Bread salads are eaten all around the Mediterranean and they differ in the types of bread used. Panzanella is made from stale Tuscan bread in Italy; in Greece and Turkey, pitta is used. I like to make the salad from the soft, round pitta that has started to appear in many shops and supermarkets. TIP: Whatever bread you choose, make sure that it is a good quality, traditionally baked loaf.
YOU WILL NEED...
5 tablespoons of good olive oil
Juice of 1 large lemon, or more to taste
3 tablespoons of water
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
4 medium, ripe tomatoes, peeled & sliced
1 large purple onion, sliced
1 large red pepper, cored & sliced
4 round pittas or 6 slices of tasty, good white bread
1 large bunch of flat-leaf parsley, leaves only, chopped or 1/2 bunch
of parsley & the same quantity basil
METHOD...
1. In a large salad bowl combine the oil, lemon juice, water and seasoning.
Add the vegetables and toss well.
2. Tear the pitta or bread into small pieces and add to the salad, together with the chopped herbs and mix well. Allow the salad to stand for about 10 minutes for the bread to soak up the juices. Taste the salad and add more lemon and salt if necessary as bread tends to neutralise acidity.
TUNA SERVED WITH PEPPER & OLIVE OIL SAUCE
Since antiquity the dark, veal-like flesh of the tuna has been admired
all over the Mediterranean. This French recipe is type of the Cote d'Azur.
Fresh tuna should be treated carefully: when cooked for too long the flesh becomes dry and unpleasant. Therefore cook it until pink, rather than grey, just like lamb or beef.
If fresh tuna is not available, sword fish, which is plentiful in the sea all over the region, can be used instead.
YOU WILL NEED...
4-6 tuna steaks each weighing about 150g/6oz
50g/2oz/1/4 cup seasoned flour for dredging
4 tablespoons good olive oil
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
1 red pepper, sliced into a thin julienne
3 anchovy fillets, chopped
100g/ 4oz/ 1/2 cup black olives, pitted and chopped
100ml/ 4fl.oz/ 1/2 cup stock
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tablespoons dill or flat-leaf parsley, chopped
METHOD...
1. Dip the tuna steaks in the seasoned flour.
2. Heat half the oil in a heavy bottomed frying pan, add the tuna and fry over high heat for 2 minutes. Turn the steaks over and fry for a further 2 minutes. Remove and keep warm.
3. Add the rest of the oil and the garlic and red pepper and fry for a minute or two until the garlic starts to change colour. Add the anchovies, olives and the stock, and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
4. Increase the heat, add the tuna and cook over a high heat for 4-5
minutes. Baste the steaks frequently with the cooking liquid. If you
like your tuna well done continue to cook until the flesh is just flaking.
Immediately before serving, season and sprinkle with the lemon juice
and the chopped herbs.