Chickpea and Leek Soup

Ingredients

½ cup chick peas

1 potato peeled and cut into cubes

2 leeks

2 tsp olive oil

1 tbp butter

2 cloves garlic

salt and pepper

1tsp poppy seed paste.1 cup vegetable stock

1 tbsp parmesan cheese

Method

Soak the chickpeas for a couple of hours

Rinse the chickpeas, cover with potatoes and water and cook till tender. Drain

Remove the outer skin of the leeks. Slice length ways from the root up. Wash and slice

Warm a thick bottomed pan; add butter and leeks and garlic to the pan.

Add the drained chickpeas and potato for a minute.

Add about two thirds of the stockand simmer for 15 minutes.

Puree half of the soup in a processor and then mix it back to the previous stock chickpeas and potato mixture.  Check for seasoning and add Parmesan to taste.

Gazpacho Soup

Ingredients

4 ripe red tomatoes, seeded and diced

1 red bell pepeer diced

1 red onion diced

1 stalk celery diced

1 cucumber diced

2 flakes garlic minced

2tsp red wine vinegar

a pinch of cayenne pepeer

1tsp cumin

Method

Mix diced tomatoes, bell pepper, red onions, celery and cucumber together in a medium sized bowl. Divide the mixture in two bowls. Add garlic to one of the bowls and puree in the blender with vinegar. Add vegetable juice, cayenne and cumin into the blender. Add the puree to the bowl of diced vegetables. Refrigerate overnight and garnish with lemon and cilantro.

Red radish and fennel with mint Salad

Ingredients

½ cup radish

1 stalk fennel bulb, sliced lengthwise and leaves torn by hand

¼ cup feta cheese

2 tbsp mint

1 tsp white vinegar

salt and crushed pepper to taste

2 tsp olive oil 

Method

Mix the fennel bulb, leaves and red radish slices together in a bowl. Heat the vinegar with mint leaves to extract the flavor of mint. Add oil, salt and pepper and vinegar for the dressing. Toss the salad along with the dressing. Prepare a salad plate and garnish with Feta cheese.

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