Grilled fennel salad with apricots & goat cheese

For ➍ 

2 fennels

4 large apricots

2 tbs roasted hazelnuts*

1 handful of basil

200 g fresh goat cheese

lemon

salt

olive oil

Heat the barbecue.**

Slice half a fennel into thin slices using a mandoline or a sharp knife. Pour the juice of a lemon over it and add a generous pinch of salt. Mix briefly and let it marinate. Cut the rest of the fennel into slightly thicker slices. Rub with olive oil and salt, and grill on the barbecue**. Use a grill with small openings for this, so that the fennel does not fall through. When the fennel is slightly charred and a little soft, remove it from the barbecue. Cut the apricots in half and remove the pits, then rub with oil. Place them on the grill** with the cut side down for a moment, until they soften slightly and develop black stripes.

Assemble the salad by mixing the roasted and marinated fennel (and the lemon juice in which they marinated) with the grilled apricots. Place the goat cheese on top and finish with the basil leaves and hazelnuts*.

Season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with some good olive oil.

*Replace with walnuts.

**Use a grill pan for small quantities if necessary.

Cucumber sandwich with egg salad

For ➍ 

½ cucumber

8 slices of bread (rye bread)

egg salad:

8 cool hard boiled eggs (10 m boil)

3 tbs mayonnaise*

1 ts grain mustard

1 lick white wine vinegar

1 small bunch of chives

1 small bunch of dill

black pepper from the mill

salty

Finely chop the cold peeled eggs and place in a bowl. Finely chop chives and dill. Mix together with the rest of the ingredients under the eggs. Season with salt and pepper. If the egg salad is too dry, stir in an extra tbs of mayonnaise.

Cut the cucumber into thin slices (use the mandoline). Cover the sandwiches with the egg salad, finish with the cucumber.

*for a lighter sauce, replace 1 or 2 tbs mayonnaise with low-fat yoghurt

Fattoush (Lebanese pita salad)

For ➍
1 pepper, julienned
4 tomatoes, in parts
6 mini-cucumbers, in thick slices, or 1 young 'normal', cut in half lengthwise
1 shallot, finely chopped
6 sprigs of mint, leaves only, finely chopped
2 pita bread, open & cut for an extra crispy effect
1 tbs sumac
1 lemon, squeezed
olive oil
1 to 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped*

In a large bowl, mix sumac, lemon juice, oil and any garlic with salt and pepper into a tasty dressing. Add the vegetables and the mint and mix well.
Roast the pita bread golden brown and crispy*.
Break them into pieces and serve them with the salad*.

*Marinate the toasted bread in the dressing, this gives a soft, comforting structure to the salad.