PAN CON TOMATE

A delicious recipe from my country. A Mediterranean pleasure. Bread, olive oil, tomato and garlic. Simple but delicious. A wonderful side and a brilliant way of preparing bread for a sandwich. This means that you can eat it just like that or using the preparation of Pan con Tomate to make your favourite sandwich. Let’s start.

Ingredients:

Your favourite bread, baguettes, ciabatta… But do not use just regular white bread.
Ripe tomatoes
Some cloves of garlic
Some extra virgin olive oil
Some salt to taste

Not much, is it? It is enough, believe me. Just that. Do not add anything else.
We just have to cut the bread. Do it in the way you prefer. Bear in mind that we will have to rub the tomato on the bread.
Once you have the bread ready, cut some tomatoes in half and rub them on the bread. You will do the same with the cloves of garlic. Cut them in half and rub them on your pieces of bread. Chop more garlic and add the little pieces of garlic to the bread.
And finally, add some extra virgin olive oil to the bread. Add some salt to taste and enjoy this wonderful Spanish delicacy.

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DAL

We will cook a vegetarian dish today. And we will go back to India. Lentils. I love lentils. And if someone tells me that Dal is not good, there is only one possibility. I am sure they have not tasted it. I will cook some Dal, in a humble way. I will not say that my Dal is as good as the ones you can find in India. But mine is good too. I enjoy it and I am sure you will enjoy it as well.

Ingredients:

1 cup masoor dal (split red lentils) (you can use a different type of dal too)
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
Some vegetable oil
½ chopped onion
½ chopped green pepper
½ cup chopped squash
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1-2 dried red chillies
8 black peppercorns
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
4 green cardamom pods (without the pods)
Some salt to taste
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
Some cooked basmati rice

First we will prepare the lentils. To do this we will rinse the dal thoroughly. Do this till the water is clear. Then we will put four cups of water in a pan and bring to boil. Now we will add the dal. Cook gently and before they are completely cooked remove from the fire and reserve.
While the dal is being cooked, we will prepare some spices. We will take a mortar and will grind the chillies, the peppercorns, the mustard seeds, the coriander seeds, the cumin seeds, and the cardamom pods. The next step will be to put some vegetable oil in a frying pan and sauté the onion and the green pepper. A couple of minutes later we will add the squash. Finally we will add the ginger and the garlic. We can use other vegetables too. For example, eggplant is a good idea. Now we will add the spices to the frying pan with the onion, the green pepper, the ginger and the garlic. We will stir well.
We will add this to the dal now. We will cook the dal for five minutes more, simmering on low heat. If we need to add more water, we will do it now. This water should be warm.
Just before serving, add some salt if it is needed, the cilantro and the ground cardamom. Serve with basmati rice. Enjoy your Dal!

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HUMMUS

More Mediterranean food. And today we will prepare a delicious Hummus. A delicacy for everyone, not only for vegetarians. Chickpeas could not taste better. This is one of those recipes that, despite being so simple, gives us a lot of pleasure. Chickpeas, olive and sesame oil, lemon, spices… Let’s make it.

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ tablespoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon hot paprika
½ teaspoon sweet paprika
1 tablespoon parsley or cilantro
Some pita bread

We will start with the chickpeas. First, as I use a can of chickpeas, I will rinse and drain the chickpeas. Do this properly. Instead of using a can of chickpeas, you can also cook some chickpeas, but then the process will be longer because you will have to soak them overnight first and then cook them.
Once we have the chickpeas ready, we will put them in a food processor. We will add the garlic, which will be slightly chopped. We will also add the extra virgin olive oil, the sesame oil, the lemon juice, the cumin and the hot paprika.
You can use tahini instead of sesame oil but I prefer sesame oil. You can add more garlic too. Remember that you can adapt the recipe to your taste.
We will turn on the food processor. We must get a soft mixture. We might have to add more olive oil, or if you like your Hummus strong, you can add more sesame oil.
Once you have your Hummus ready, serve it with some sweet paprika, parsley or cilantro and pita bread. Some drops of extra virgin olive oil will be a good idea now.
Enjoy!

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