Beet & kumquat salad with maple & blood orange dressing

in Savoury, Taste -

The prettiest beet & kumquat salad with maple & blood orange dressing, perfectly finished with delicate greens, almonds & feta.

Beet & kumquat salad with maple & blood orange dressing

I love this salad so much! It’s filled with so many different colours and textures and hits pretty much every note: sweet and salty, lightly bitter and sweet, fresh yet filling. The beginning of it all were blood oranges, those precious winter beauties with the impossibly pretty colour and lovely juice; and from there, I just started adding layers and layers of favourite ingredients: delicate green and purple leaves, some thinly sliced bittersweet kumquats from my seemingly endless supply and quickly pickled red & yellow beets. All those colours… I mean! [READ MORE]

Citrus & rosemary olive oil polenta cake

in Desserts, Taste -

Celebrating the most beautiful fruits of the season with this bright citrus & rosemary olive oil polenta cake, in partnership with Olive Tree London.

Citrus & rosemary olive oil polenta cake

There aren’t many things I love about winter; crisp, icy mornings with the promise of a timid sun, Christmas and the anticipation and family gatherings, comfort dishes with strong, familiar flavours, light fruity desserts, warm coats & fluffy scarves- that’s more or less it. I very much dislike the cold and dark days which drag forever always bring me a little down. Still, the one thing I always like about winter is that it is followed by spring. The cold months seem to prepare us for the explosions in colours and smells which are never too far away and for that, I am forever grateful, forever patient. That and citrus fruits. See, in my mind, they always stand somewhere between winter and spring. Offered in abundance during the cold, gloomy months, yet their beautiful colours alluding to the brightness that’s sure to follow. [READ MORE]

Super green avocado, kale & ginger smoothie

in Breakfast, Taste -

Rise and shine! A super pretty, super tasty, super green avocado, kale & ginger smoothie with chia seeds and fragrant lime.

In the winter, when early morning as usually dark, quiet and cold,  I long for comforting, warming oats with stewed fruit, nut butters and fragrant spices; or hearty, saucy eggs served with thickly sliced bread. And then, there are also those days when all I crave are bright smoothies, filled with all the goodness and freshness, served in big round glasses. Sometimes they are dark pink or pale yellow, most often though they are green: pale and smooth or deep emerald, thick and frothy. [READ MORE]

Spicy savoy cabbage & shiitake miso soup

in Savoury, Taste -

This spicy savoy cabbage & shiitake miso soup is filled with all the vegetables and all the goodness & is perfect for winter weather & nasty colds.

Spicy savoy cabbage & shiitake miso soup

Not surprisingly, this cold and gloomy weather is just heavenly for a house cat like myself. I spent the whole of Sunday between the couch and the kitchen, between dreamily gazing at the snow, sleepily watching bad TV and hungrily devouring carrot soup, more grilled cheese than I should admit and spicy soft cookies baked straight from the freezer. My belly was full, my feet warm and I felt only mildly like a guilty sloth. All in all, a very satisfying winter day. And even though I will probably not have one like it for a while, I can always think about it fondly and enjoy warming, spicy and comforting dishes, like this colourful and fragrant miso soup. [READ MORE]

Honeyed kumquats, yogurt & thyme

in Breakfast, Desserts, Taste -

Honeyed kumquats are a real treat, especially for breakfast, served with thick yogurt & fragrant thyme over crunchy toast. 

I’ve gone back and forth before deciding what to do with the heaps of kumquats from my parents minuscule trees. While your suggestions inspired both research and tremendous appetite, I found it almost impossible to settle on a recipe. While I was trying to make up my mind, I must have eaten a third of them, with no preparation at all, pith, seeds and all. I just find them so very delicious, impossibly fragrant, lightly bitter and with a lovely texture. I’ve added them to salads in place of oranges and in warming, creamy oats and, before deciding anything else, I knew I had to make my mom’s delicious kumquat marmalade. And yet, I didn’t. See, they were so pretty, so bright and shapely I refused to chop them down. Instead, I made a preserve of sorts. [READ MORE]

Cranberry, citrus & pecan brown butter cake

in Desserts, Taste -

Sweet and a little sour, soft and bursting with seasonal goodness- there’s lots to love in this cranberry, citrus & pecan brown butter cake.

Cranberry, citrus & pecan brown butter cake

There was a time when I was oblivious to cranberries and their beauty. They sure are a peculiar bunch: perky and bright red, a sight for sore eyes indeed, yet tart and mostly accessible when they are cooked. Instead, come spring I paid my respects and showed love to other berries: soft sweet blueberries, my favourite of them all, perfect in a summer pie, a fragrant cake or rich overnight oats; also delicate raspberries and the ever so slightly tart and chubby blackberries. [READ MORE]

Leek, bacon & kale pie

in Savoury, Taste -

Comforting and filling, this leek, bacon & kale pie is delicious, easy, adaptable and the prefect start to a delicious new year!

Leek, bacon & kale pie

I wanted the first recipe of the new year, the first to share with y’all here, to be something reflecting my sentiments of the last few days: familiar, comforting, uncomplicated, brimming over with strong flavours and seasonal ingredients. Something that’s easy to make, yet fills you with pride for a meal well-made and utterly satisfying. I’ve always loved pies, of all shapes and forms: traditional Greek with dark greens and delicate herbs, fruity and summery with dark colours or crunchy and salty with beautiful colours and textures. They’re all dear to me and I enjoy making them as much as devouring them as part of any meal of the day. [READ MORE]

Winter cheese & fruit board

in Small bites, Taste -

A very festive and colourful winter cheese & fruit board, easy to put together and perfect to get the festivities for New Year’s Eve rolling.

Winter cheese & fruit board

With New Year’s Eve just around the corner and Christmas celebrations right behind us, I often find entertaining and cooking a little tricky: after all the dinners, outings, crispy potatoes, mince pies, chocolate, roasts, croissants, melomakarona and kourampiedes consumed (not to mention copious amounts of wine), I catch myself craving fresh fruit and simple soups more than anything. Yet, I can’t think of a better way to ring in the New Year than with a beautifully laid table, filled with colourful, seasonal produce shared with close family and friends. [READ MORE]

Spicy satsuma & maple Dutch baby

in Breakfast, Taste -

This irresistibly delicious, sugar and dairy-free spicy satsuma & maple Dutch baby is sure to become your new favourite weekend breakfast.

Spicy satsuma & maple Dutch baby

After just sharing these impossibly chocolaty, fragrant brownies, I’m back to playing with the irresistible mandarin family. At the moment, as it always happens around this time of year, there is an exceeding abundance of citrus in my kitchen. While lemons and limes are favourites throughout the year, come December I’m drawn to other beautiful citrus as well and buy them time and time again. I don’t particularly crave eating them raw (I often find them too acidic) but I love everything else: their colour, fragrance and how they can transform almost every dish they are added to into a wintery wonder: like this sweet & salty hearty salad or them gooey brownies– and how lovely would they be added to this dried fruit & nut couscous? [READ MORE]

Cinnamon, clove & clementine dark chocolate brownies

in Desserts, Taste -

These gooey cinnamon, clove & clementine dark chocolate brownies have a subtle Christmas fragrance and an irresistible texture.

Cinnamon, clove & clementine dark chocolate brownies

After an almost three-month hiatus from baking, boy am I glad to be back! I thought I hadn’t missed it, but I realised how mistaken I was with the first batch of brownies that came out of the oven: the kitchen was hot and smelled like kitchens really should, the brownies were set, but also soft and almost bubbly and I was content. You can never really go wrong with brownies and these came out dizzyingly fragrant and impossibly gooey: filled with almost two bars of dark chocolate, cinnamon, cloves & clementine zest, perfectly seasonal and appropriately festive.

Indeed, you can’t go wrong with brownies and these are definitely a festive winner, made in partnership with Home Run. I’ve enjoyed their excellent services time and time again and perhaps you should too? You could get all the ingredients for these beauties within the hour. Not bad, especially for this time of the year. Not bad at all. [READ MORE]