Vegetables from the Griddle Pan

Dear all, I wrote an article about easy, slimming recipes recently. My griddle pan played a prominent role. For me, it is one of the best instruments for producing dishes that tick all the necessary boxes: They are easy to do, fast to execute and taste delicious. So far, I have never presented any recipes from the griddle pan in my newsletter – time to remedy this omission.   Easy grilling with a griddle pan A griddle pan mimics roasting on a charcoal grill without the fuss of setting up the BBQ-grill and lighting a fire. It has ridges that make contact with the food and leave the desired signs of roasting – a great flavour enhancer, although it might be a bit carcinogenic.   Acrylamide: Low levels in vegetables The keyword here is acrylamide, a potentially carcinogenic substance. It is formed when food is cooked with high heat. Especially potato chips, French fries and brown toast contain a lot of acrylamide. However, I could not find anything about acrylamide levels in grilled aubergines and zucchinis although I discovered information about grilled carrots and onions. These levels are so low that I think our bodies can deal with this tiny bit of acrylamide – considering that eating zucchini and aubergines gives you plenty of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.   Any vegetable can hit the griddle pan Basically, you can throw any kind of vegetable on the griddle pan. I prefer zucchini and aubergines. You can also prepare yellow or red peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, asparagus and even carrots the same way. Low-fat chicken breasts taste great when griddled. The only rule to follow is: You do not oil the pan; you oil the food. Keeping this in mind, you cannot go wrong. Especially aubergines profit from this kind of preparation. This vegetable soaks up oil like a sponge during frying. I salt and pepper the vegetables after roasting them and garnish with mint and parsley. If you like your food spicy, you might want to chop up some fresh chilli. Red ones deliver a lovely colour contrast. Lemon or lime juice adds a bit of zing. Wishing you happy cooking, always!   Kornelia Santoro with family   Vegetables from the Griddle Pan   Ingredients (for 4 servings): 2 medium zucchini 4 small aubergines 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil Juice of 2 limes or 1 lemon Fresh mint and parsley (or any other kind of fresh herb) Salt Pepper Method: It is important to slice the vegetables evenly so they cook at the same time. So far, I had always sliced zucchinis and aubergines lengthwise. For the newsletter I wanted to test if the cutting technique makes any difference. It does not affect the taste. However, lengthwise slit zucchini slices deliver grill marks more evenly. On the other hand aubergines are preferably cut into rounds. The reason: Their skin is quite hard. Slicing them lengthwise results in two end pieces with a lot of skin. After cutting your vegetables, place them into a bowl and coat them with olive oil. The easiest way to achieve this is rubbing the oil with your hands over the slices. Having written this: Just do whatever floats your boat. Because zucchini are quite long, I chop them in the middle. That makes slicing them lengthwise easier.   Heat your griddle pan: You need high heat to achieve roast marks in a short time. Place the vegetables in the griddle pan and let them sizzle for at least three minutes on one side without touching them. When you move the slices around, you will not attain clear grill marks. After they have sufficiently roasted on one side, flip them over. The second side takes a bit less time to cook because the vegetable is already hot. After roasting, place the vegetables on a plate. Salt and pepper them evenly, squeeze lime juice over them and garnish them with the fresh herbs and/or chilli pieces. Serve immediately.

Parsley and Mint

Go green with herbs

Green herbs are packed with nutrients. They do not only add taste to any dish, they also bless us with many health benefits. The humble parsley is as widely used in Europe as coriander is in Asia. The word parsley has it roots in the Greek word petroselīnon meaning rock celery. Native to Mediterranean Europe, it was first used as a medicine.

During the middle Ages, cooks started to season dishes with parsley. This herb contains vast amounts of vitamin C, vitamin A and folic acid. Parsley’s volatile oils help neutralise particular types of carcinogens (like the ben­zopyrenes that are part of cigarette smoke and charcoal grill smoke). According to scientific research, eating a lot of parsley helps keep your heart and cardiovascular system healthy and can prevent rheumatic arthritis.

Mint is actually named after a nymph called Minthe. This delightful creature appeared in the Greek mythology as a female that attracted Pluto’s attention. His jealous wife Persephone changed Minthe into a plant. Sorrowful Pluto could not reverse the magic spell, but he gave her a sweet smell. From ancient times, mint is used all over the world. There are more than 25 different species of mint with slightly different aromas.

Mint relieves cramps of the belly because it is able to relax muscles. It is a useful herb in case of indigestion, dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome. Animal studies have shown that the phytonutrient monoterpene in mint stops the growth of pancreatic, mammary and liver tumors and protects against caner in the colon, skin and lungs. However, there are no proper human studies yet.

View more recipes at Kornelia's Kitchen

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Green herbs

Go green with herbs

Green herbs are packed with nutrients. They do not only add taste to any dish, they also bless us with many health benefits. The humble parsley is as widely used in Europe as coriander is in Asia. The word parsley has it roots in the Greek word petroselīnon meaning rock celery. Native to Mediterranean Europe, it was first used as a medicine.
During the middle Ages, cooks started to season dishes with parsley. This herb contains vast amounts of vitamin C, vitamin A and folic acid. Parsley’s volatile oils help neutralise particular types of carcinogens (like the ben­zopyrenes that are part of cigarette smoke and charcoal grill smoke). According to scientific research, eating a lot of parsley helps keep your heart and cardiovascular system healthy and can prevent rheumatic arthritis.

Mint is actually named after a nymph called Minthe. This delightful creature appeared in the Greek mythology as a female that attracted Pluto’s attention. His jealous wife Persephone changed Minthe into a plant. Sorrowful Pluto could not reverse the magic spell, but he gave her a sweet smell. From ancient times, mint is used all over the world. There are more than 25 different species of mint with slightly different aromas.

Mint relieves cramps of the belly because it is able to relax muscles. It is a useful herb in case of indigestion, dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome. Animal studies have shown that the phytonutrient monoterpene in mint stops the growth of pancreatic, mammary and liver tumors and protects against caner in the colon, skin and lungs. However, there are no proper human studies yet.

Tabbouleh, big vitamin bomb from the Middle East

Dear all, I start my new blog with a super healthy recipe: Tabbouleh. This dish comes from the Middle East where it is one of the most common salads. In recent years, Tabbouleh has conquered the world with other Mediterranean delights like hummus, Baba Ganoush and falafel. During this voyage it has seen many transformations, similar to pizza that exists now in versions that have little to do with the original. I like to prepare Tabbouleh in a way that resembles the original. That means my main ingredient is flat leaf parsley, followed by mint. You take about double the amount of parsley to mint. What I use sparingly (though more than in the Middle East) is the wheat. For the original Tabbouleh Lebanese and Syrian housewives use bulgur wheat. Although you can find this in India, where we live, it is quite expensive and not as fresh as the local cracked wheat that is called daliya. In some western countries Tabbouleh has morphed into a salad whose main ingredient is bulgur. Although this can make quite a pleasant meal, it has little to do with the original. The seasoning of the salad differs widely. Please use anything you fancy. I like it with plenty of black pepper and Zatar powder, but people also add cinnamon or other spice mixtures. Tabbouleh makes an excellent side dish for meat or fish. The downside of this dish is that you have to eat it preferably on the same day it is made. It is not a salad, which you can keep in the fridge for any length of time. I actually like Tabbouleh as a main course with a bit of bread and a piece of cheese. It makes a perfect light lunch on a hot day. Wishing you happy cooking, always! Kornelia Santoro with family Tabbouleh Ingredients (for 4 big servings): 2 big bundles flat leaf parsley (about 200 grams or around 3 cups of uncut leaves) 1 big bundle mint (about 100 grams) ½ cup bulgur wheat (daliya) 2 big spring onions or several tiny ones 3 tomatoes 2 – 3 lime 8 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil Salt Pepper Zatar powder Method: Wash the tomatoes and dice them. Place them into a bowl and add the daliya. Some people recommend soaking the wheat in hot water, but I don’t think that is necessary. The moisture from the tomatoes and the herbs is enough to soften the cracked wheat when you let the tabbouleh sit for a bit before serving it. If you want to serve the salad immediately, you might want to mix the wheat with three tablespoons hot water. Wash the herbs and drain them. Pluck the parsley leaves from the stems and cut them. You should not use the food processor for this job because it is damaging the structure of the leaves too much. For tabbouleh you have to cut the parsley by hand with a sharp knife. Take a handful of leaves, bundle them with one hand and cut them as finely as possible. Do the same with the mint leaves. Wash and clean the spring onions and slice them finely. Add them to the bowl. Squeeze the lime over the salad; add the olive oil and season with salt, pepper and other spices. I like Zatar powder because it adds a bit of zest to the salad. Zatar is made from ground thyme, salt, sumac and sesame seeds. View more recipes at Kornelia's Kitchen Sign up for my monthly newsletter