Warm Zucchini Salad and Spinach Soup.... as light as a feather

Friday night...and like we always do...ate too much, way too much and drank too much (way too much)...Saturday morning...no, afternoon...err noo, early evening...wanted something light...so made Warm Zucchini Salad and Spinach Soup

Warm Zucchini Salad

Had seen this on a TV cooking show a couple of years back... I don't exactly remember the original recipe so end up doing my own thing and make it differently every time and yes, I refuse to call it pasta...

Ingredients:

• Zucchini,washed with peel on, ‘noodled’, 1 large (sorry I don’t know how else to describe it, but u get this vegetable peeler that can do this with or just use a normal peeler and make “flat ribbon noodles”...run it through all sides till u get to the core – please don’t use the seeds as that makes it quite mushy (but, if like me you don’t want to throw away the seeds/core – grill it separately on the pan and eat it when no one's looking)
• Garlic Cloves, sliced finely,3 
• Olive Oil, 1 tbsp
• Onion, chopped fine, ½ large
• Mushrooms, chopped, 1 cup (and/or any veggie of your choice)
• Parsley, chopped very finely, 1 tsp (can use  1/2 tsp dried and/or any herb of your choice)
• Salt, Crushed Pepper, Red Chili Flakes, to taste
• Lemon Juice, to taste
• Roasted Garlic Flakes out of a bottle, to taste (optional)

Instructions:

Spread out the ‘noodles’ on the kitchen counter for an hour or so to get rid of the excess moisture .

Heat oil in a frying pan over medium flame. Add garlic & onions and cook for a couple of minutes till onions go soft. 

Increase the flame to high, add mushrooms and seasonings and cook till the water from mushrooms completely dries up. 

Add zucchini and with a fork, stir in with the rest of stuff for no more than two minutes. 

Switch off the heat and add lemon juice. 

Garnish with Parmesan, chili flakes and roasted garlic. Serve warm.

Spinach Soup

This is Rachel Allen's recipe from one of her many TV shows...I am copy pasting her recipe below...feel free to play around with quantities but ensure to keep the stock to milk ratio the same i.e. both in equal quantities...I didn't have fresh Rosemary to make the oil so I sprinkled some Parmesan....and if you think I am experimenting with angles and cropped pics...nope, I spilled some as I was walking outside to take a picture in daylight...and was too hungry to try again J

Ingredients:

For the rosemary oil:

• 1 sprig of Rosemary, broken in half
• Olive oil, 50 ml

For the soup:

• Butter, 1 tbsp
• Onions, chopped, 110 gms
• Potatoes, peeled and chopped, 150 gms
• Vegetable stock, 600 ml
• Milk, 600 ml
• Spinach, large stalks removed, chopped, 275 ms

Instructions:

For the rosemary oil: 

Put the rosemary in a small saucepan with the olive oil and heat gently on a low heat until tepid. 

Remove the pan from heat and let the rosemary infuse for 10 minutes. 

Strain the oil through a fine sieve into a small container.



For the soup: 

Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the onions and potatoes, season with salt and pepper, cover with a lid and cook on a very low heat for 10 minutes, stirring every now and again.

Meanwhile, pour the stock and milk into another saucepan, bring to the boil and add to the vegetables. 

Bring the mixture back up to the boil, then tip in the spinach and cook, uncovered, over a high heat for 1–2 minutes or until the spinach is just cooked.

To preserve the fresh flavour, blend the soup straight away in a blender or hand-held blender. 

Serve in individual bowls with a drizzle of rosemary oil over the top.