Ottolenghi's cucumber and poppy seed salad

Although the best tasting cucumbers will be available in July/August, then the cucumbers on sale at the moment aren't really so bad. So when I was looking for dishes to serve at our Easter Brunch table, this vivid green salad in Ottolenghi's book immediately caught my eye. The Ottoleghi guys recommend you make this with small cucumbers (sometimes called 'Lebanese cucumbers' in British recipes), but those won't be available until mid-summer. Until then, nice thin long ones will work as well.

I loved the colour, the piquancy of the dressing and the crunchiness of the poppy seeds. Again - suitable for gluten-free and lactose-free and vegan and vegetarian diets.

Cucumber and poppy seed salad
(Krõmpsuv kurgisalat krõmpsuvate mooniseemnetega)
Recipe from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook (slightly adapted)
Serves 6 to 8 as part of a buffet

500 g fresh cucumber (about 2-3 long green cucumbers, choose slim ones with small seeds)
1 mild red chilli pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
3 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander/cilantro leaves
4 Tbsp white wine vinegar or rice vinegar (I used Prosecco vinegar)
5 Tbsp rapeseed or sunflower oil
2 Tbsp poppy seeds
2 Tbsp caster sugar
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Wash the cucumbers, cut off the ends and discard. Halve the cucumbers lengthwise, then cut into 1 cm slices at a slight angle. Place into a large bowl.
Add coriander leaves, vinegar, oil, poppy seeds and sugar, then season with salt and pepper. Use your hands to massage the flavours into the cucumbers. Taste for seasoning - you're aiming for a sweet and sharp taste sensation.
Serve immediately.

Beet and Quinoa Salad

I'm on a quinoa mood these days. First I gave you colourful quinoa salad with crayfish and avocado, then a vegan quinoa salad with coriander/cilantro and lime. Both have been served with a success on several occasions at our house, and I have it on good authority that my brother-in-law served the crayfish version to a grateful audience on his recent birthday party as well. Having been so successful with the first two quinoa salads, it was only natural that I decided to serve some kind of quinoa salad at the Easter Sunday brunch. It's was universally enjoyed by our over dozen guests and thus provided another great opportunity to introduce this rather unknown "grain" here in Estonia.

The recipe is very slightly adapted from a book by a New York based holistic health and nutrition councelor Marika Blossfeldt (you can read more about her practice here), who also runs an international center for the performing, visual and healing arts here in Estonia).

As it happens, the salad is vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, lactose-free and very pretty on top of that :)

Beetroot and Quinoa Salad
(Kinoasalat peediga)
Serves 6 to 8, or more as part of a buffet

200 g quinoa (1 cup/250 ml)
2 cups water
0.25 tsp salt
200 g cooked beetroot, grated
1 small fennel, thinly sliced and cubed
1 small bunch of scallions/spring onions, chopped
large handful of fresh basil, chopped
1 to 2 lemons, juiced
4 Tbsp olive oil
freshly ground black pepper

Rinse the quinoa under cold running water, using a fine mesh sieve (this is an important step, as otherwise the quinoa can be bitter). Drain.
Place the quinoa and stock (or water and Marigold bouillon powder) in a saucepan. Season with salt, then bring to the boil and simmer on medium heat for 15-20 minutes, until quinoa is soft and the water has evaporated.
Stir in the oil and the lime juice. Place the quinoa into a large serving bowl. Stir in the grated beets, chopped basil, spring onions and fennel. Season with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and serve.

Nami-Nami Easter Brunch 2010

Hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend, wherever and however you celebrated it! We hosted our traditional Easter Sunday Brunch yesterday, with 11 adults, 6 children and 3 toddlers around the table. Last year I tried to follow a green/yellow colour scheme. This year I simply chose dishes that made me think of spring :)

Here are the dishes from yesterday:

We started with Mimosas again:


Baby spinach with hot-smoked salmon, quail eggs, green beans and asparagus spears:


Quinoa salad with beets, fennel and basil


Savoury cheesecake with chives and goat's cheese:


Ottolenghi's cucumber salad with chilli and poppy seeds


Bean salad with lemon and parsley:


Estonian national fish, Baltic herring, with cherry tomatoes and herbs (recipe from an Estonian foodblogger Mari-Liis):


Home-made Estonian cheese with curd cheese, eggs and caraway seeds, served with dark rye bread:


Choux puffs with ricotta, mint and green pea filling (recipe from the latest issue of the French Regal magazine; the only dish that didn't rock and won't be repeated)


As for the sweet dishes, our friends Paavo & Kristiina brought along a delicious paskha:


I made a traditional British Simnel cake, topped with 11 chocolate eggs that we bought from the gorgeous Péclard café in Zürich last weekend:


And last, but not least, a delicious cake with coconut, lemon curd, elderflower cream and lemon balm leaves (recipe from the Swedish BAKA magazine):