From spicy beans to a fishy traybake: Yotam Ottolenghi’s 30-minute healthy recipes will leave you feeling special and good.
Yotam cuts down the time with a trio of recipes you can make in half an hour (or so): fried tofu, a salmon and potato bake and a spicy bean brunch.
The irony of a column about 30-minute dishes was not lost on me and the team, as we grinned, sheepishly, at such an apparently simple yet challenging task. We decided not to stray too far beyond our natural habitat by keeping the flavours complex and the ingredient lists, um, generous. So to stay within the time limit, we had to resort to microwaving potatoes (heaven forbid), opening tins and generally operating like cheetahs in the kitchen. So, here you have it: uncharacteristically easy, half-hour meals (give or take a minute or two).
Black lime tofu
Dried limes are intensely sour and effective at giving dishes a uniquely earthy acidity. They are especially popular in Iran, Iraq, Oman and the Persian Gulf, and you can buy them online or in Middle Eastern food stores, and they come whole or ground, black or white (they also go by different names such as Omani limes, Iranian limes or noomi basra). Use the black variety here, if you can. I like to serve this dish with steamed white rice or warm flatbreads to scoop everything up.
Prep 10 min
Cook 20 min
Serves 4
1 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tsp caster sugar
1 small red onion, peeled and cut into thin rounds (use a mandoline, if you have one)
Salt and black pepper
600ml sunflower oil, for frying
2 blocks extra-firm tofu (560g), patted dry and cut into 2cm cubes
2 tbsp cornflour
2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
60ml olive oil
2 tsp cumin seeds, roughly crushed in a mortar
10g dried black limes (about 2-3), blitzed in a spice grinder to get 2 tbsp
2 tbsp tomato paste
20g parsley leaves, roughly chopped
250g baby spinach
In a small bowl, mix the vinegar, a teaspoon of sugar, the red onion and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt, then leave to pickle while you get on with making the rest of the dish.
Heat the sunflower oil in a medium saute pan on a medium-high flame. In a bowl, toss the tofu in the cornflour until well coated. Fry the tofu in two batches, until crisp and lightly browned – about six minutes a batch – then transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper, to drain.
While the tofu is frying, make the sauce. Pulse the onion and garlic in a food processor until very finely minced (but not pureed). Put the olive oil in a large saute pan on a medium-high heat, then fry the onion mixture, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly browned – about seven minutes. Add the cumin, lime powder and tomato paste, cook for a minute, then add 400ml water, the last teaspoon of sugar, a teaspoon and a quarter of salt and a good grind of pepper. Bring to a simmer, then cook, stirring occasionally, for six minutes, until thick and rich. Add the tofu, parsley and another grind of pepper, stir to coat, then add the spinach in increments, stirring, until it has just wilted – about three minutes.
Transfer to a shallow platter, top with the pickled onion and serve.
Salmon and potato bake with wakame butter
Microwaving the potatoes may be a bit cheeky, but it’s a shortcut I happily admit to when I’m short on time. You could also bake them at 200C (180C fan)/gas 6 for about 45 minutes, until crisp and cooked through, but in the interests of time, we cheated.
Prep 5 min
Cook 25 min
Serves 4
7g wakame seaweed
2 medium baking potatoes (500g)
Salt and black pepper
200g frozen petit pois peas, defrosted and roughly crushed
150g baby spinach, roughly torn
2-3 tbsp coriander leaves, roughly chopped, plus extra chopped leaves to garnish
1½ tbsp olive oil
90g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 limes, zest finely grated, to get 1 tsp, and juiced, to get 1 tbsp, the rest cut into wedges
40g capers, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
4 x 120g sustainably sourced salmon fillets, skinned and boned.
Heat the oven to 270C (250C fan)/gas 9+. Put the wakame in a bowl, add boiling water to cover and leave to rehydrate.
Prick the potatoes all over with a fork, then microwave on high for 10 minutes, turning them once halfway, until cooked through. Cut each potato into four wedges, fluffing up the flesh lightly with a fork, and sprinkle each wedge with a pinch of salt and pepper.
While the potatoes are cooking, in a large bowl, mix the peas, spinach, coriander, olive oil, a third of a teaspoon of salt and lots of pepper.
Drain and finely chop the wakame, then mix in a bowl with the butter, lime zest and juice, capers, garlic, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and plenty of pepper.
Arrange the spinach mixture in a high-sided, 30cm x 20cm baking dish and lay the potato wedges on top. Season the salmon, then nestle the fillets in between the potatoes. Rub the seaweed butter all over the top of the potatoes and salmon, then bake for 12-15 minutes, until the fish is cooked through and the dish has taken on some colour. Sprinkle over some extra coriander and serve straight from the pan with the lime wedges alongside, for squeezing over.
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By The Guardian
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