First, in a bowl mix the yoghurt with the grated zest and juice of half the lemon, a pinch of sea salt and a good grind of black pepper.
Cut the avocados into quarters and remove the stones, then cut each one down to the skin in thin slices. Squeeze over the juice from the remaining lemon half and set aside. Beat the eggs in a little cup with a pinch of salt.
It’s best to cook the tortillas one by one. Heat a frying pan big enough to fit your tortilla over a medium heat. Add a tiny splash of olive oil, then add half the egg and let it set into a kind of pancake for 10–15 seconds. Working quickly, place a tortilla on top of the egg; you want the egg still to be a bit runny so that it will attach itself to the tortilla as it sets. When the egg has set, use a spatula to turn the whole thing over, sprinkle over half the herbs, half the capers and cornichons and half the cheese. Cook until the cheese has melted. Repeat this process for the second tortilla.
To serve, fold the tortillas in half and top with the yoghurt and slices of the avocado. To make a meal of them, serve with a little lemon-dressed green salad.
Beetroot and mustard seed fritters with cardamom yoghurt
This time of year gets a tough write-up; grey, dark and rainy, and yes, sometimes it is. But my kitchen is filled with arguably the most colourful produce of the year: blood oranges, pink radicchio and creamy Castelfranco, splattered with pink like a Jackson Pollock painting. There is so much deep red, orange, pink and scarlet.
Beetroots too, in all their colours: neon yellow, bright burnt orange, candy-cane stripes and of course the deep magenta of the red beets. You can use any beetroot you like for these spiced fritters; I often make them with ready-cooked ones.
Vegans can add some extra flour and a tablespoon of chia seeds mixed with 3 tablespoons of water in place of the egg, and use coconut yoghurt.
SERVES 4
1 x 400g tin or jar of chickpeas, drained (or 250g home-cooked, see here)
coconut or groundnut oil
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
250g cooked beetroot, peeled
2 tablespoons chopped coriander
2 spring onions, chopped
the zest and juice of ½ an unwaxed lemon
1 organic egg
FOR THE YOGHURT SAUCE
2 cardamom pods
150g thick Greek yoghurt
the zest and juice of ½ an unwaxed lemon
TO SERVE (OPTIONAL)
chapatis or flatbreads
a few handfuls of green salad leaves
First, put two thirds of the chickpeas into a food processor and pulse until you have a rough paste, Roughly squash the remainder with a fork so they break into smaller pieces.
Next, make the yoghurt sauce. Bash the cardamom pods to remove the seeds, then lightly toast the seeds in a dry frying pan over a medium heat. Grind in a pestle and mortar until you have a fine powder. Transfer this to a bowl, add the yoghurt, lemon zest and juice and a good pinch of salt to taste. Stir well and put to one side.
Put the frying pan back on the heat, add a splash of oil, then add the mustard and cumin seeds. When the mustard seeds begin to pop and start to smell more fragrant, tip them into a mixing bowl.
Grate the beetroot using a coarse grater, then squeeze the beetroot to remove excess liquid and transfer to a mixing bowl with the seeds. Add the other fritter ingredients, season with salt and pepper and mix well. Using the palms of your hands, take heaped tablespoons of the mixture and shape into small fritters (about 12). Put a little oil into a large frying pan and place it on a medium heat. Fry some of the fritters for 2–3 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper and repeat with the rest.
Serve warm with the cardamom yoghurt, some green leaves and chapatis or flatbreads.
Gentle potato chowder with toasted chilli oil
This soup is like yin and yang: a very gentle, warming potato chowder, cooked in milk, with lentils for sustenance, that I top with a searing chilli and toasted almond oil. The oil sits on top of the white soup like lava, a serious punch of toasty fire. It’s one of the most comforting soups and warms you right down to your toes.
I use ancho chilli flakes. Ancho is a lot milder and has a more rounded, complex, dried fruit flavour than the supermarket dried chilli flakes, which can just add heat, so if you are using those I would suggest a teaspoon, unless you like things very hot. The chilli oil makes more oil than you need but keeps for months. It can be made in the time it takes to simmer the soup, but shop-bought chilli oil will stand in.
SERVES 4
25g unsalted butter or 2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 leeks, washed, trimmed and cut into 1cm-thick rounds
2 tablespoons flour (I use spelt)
1 tablespoon vegetable stock powder or 1 stock cube
800g floury potatoes, peeled and cut into rough chunks
300ml whole milk or soy milk
1 x 400g tin of green lentils, drained (or 250g home-cooked, see here)
FOR THE CHILLI OIL
2 red chillies
1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon dried chilli flakes (see note above)
2 cloves of garlic
1 heaped tablespoon almonds
200ml mild-flavoured oil (light olive or rapeseed)
Fill and boil a kettle. In a medium-large pot, melt the butter over a medium heat. Add the leeks with a pinch of salt, lower the heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are soft and sweet; this should take about 10 minutes.
Stir in the flour and allow to cook for another minute or so to get rid of the raw flour flavour. Gradually add 600ml of hot water from the kettle, a bit at a time, then add the stock powder or cube. Add the potatoes and bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook until the potatoes are cooked through, which should take about 25 minutes, making sure you stir the soup from time to time to stop it sticking.
Meanwhile, make the chilli oil. Put the fresh and dried chilli and garlic into a food processor and pulse until fine, then add the almonds, a good pinch of salt and a generous amount of black pepper. Pulse again, put the lot into a small saucepan with the oil and cook slowly for 10 minutes or so, until everything is toasted and golden, then remove from the heat and set aside. The oil can be used warm (not hot) on your soup. The leftovers should
