Potato salad

You may think "Why on earth she's putting a potato salad recipe?".  Mainly because this is by far the best potato salad on earth.  It's my mother's recipe and although I have tried other potato salads, this still remains my favorite by far.  It has plain and natural flavors, not so many ingredients.  No cream, no butter, no mayonnaise, no vegetable stock.  It has the best flavor combination.  I've tried the vegetable stock version of the potato salad, which I think is a typical way of adding flavor to the potatoes around here, however I much prefer the natural potato taste in this version.  This goes perfect with grilled meat dishes in the summer and you can keep in the fridge for 2-3 days without a problem.  I made a lot of it this time, because I absolutely love the left over of this salad.  I think that it tastes even more delicious the next day.  If you have time, prepare the salad couple of hours in advance so that potatoes can absorb the dressing a little bit more.
I have slightly modified the salad dressing this time by adding some mustard.  I would like to hear from you if you try this salad.

Potato salad

700 g potatoes

2 spring onions - chopped

a handful of fresh parsley - finely chopped

Salad dressing

3 tablespoons of olive oil

2 tablespoons of canola oil

1 teaspoon of mustard

1 tablespoon of apple vinegar

1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon of salt

some freshly milled black pepper

Cook your potatoes by boiling them in water without peeling them.  Be careful not to overcook them.  After they are done let them cool.  When they are cool enough, peel and dice them.  After you chop your onions with their green bits, add them onto the potatoes.  Prepare your dressing by mixing all your ingredients in the above list.  Pour the dressing into the salad and stir it all very slowly.  Try not to mash the potatoes while you are doing this.  At last add the chopped parsley to the salad.  Leave the salad to rest for about an hour before you serve.  

Green Lentil Salad

I grew up eating a lot of lentils and I probably ate every type of lentil dish there is.  Later on when I got to know the Indian dal I loved it.  It was a little bit different than the dal type of dish my grandmother used to make, but it was just a little bit more spicy.  My favorite lentil dish is the red lentil soup that my mother makes, however, I will put that recipe here some other time.  The green lentil salad is something I have tried in a restaurant and I have made it probably only once before this time.  Lentils are very nutritious and very healthy legumes and I always want to cook more lentil dishes for my family but I always end up making the soup.  I had some sun dried tomatoes in my kitchen, which inspired me to make this salad.  It's a very light salad but it's filling.  Perfect for spring and summer meals. 
I will for sure put more lentil recipes here in the future because I just bought loads of lentils again.

Green Lentil Salad

200-300 g green lentils

1 spring onion - chopped

1/2 leek - chopped

7-8 pieces of sun dried tomatoes - soaked in warm water for about 10 minutes (alternatively you can use sun dried tomatoes that are soaked in olive oil)

1 tablespoon of chives - chopped

For the dressing:

1 cup yogurt

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tablespoon of mayonnaise

1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

chili powder - optional

Start with putting your lentils in a pan, cover them with water and bring to boil.  After they start boiling, reduce the heat and simmer the lentils for about 20-25 minutes.  If you overcook them, they will get mushy so check regularly.  After lentils are done, drain them and leave them to cool.  While you are waiting, chop the soaked sun dried tomatoes into small bits.  Start making your salad dressing by mixing all your ingredients listed above and set it aside.  When lentils are cool enough, mix them with the other ingredients and finally add your salad dressing.  You can garnish with some more chives.   The salad tastes even better if you leave it few hours in a cool place, so feel free to prepare it a little bit in advance.

Tomato and Red Onion Salad

I had this in London many many years ago.  It was the first time I was visiting the city during my first travel to Europe and it was the first time I've been outside my home country.  Too many first times of everything, I have been on the road for about 10 days and have eaten in various hotels and restaurants in Europe.  I have never eaten outside my own country before so I wasn't very used to all European food.  By the time I was in London, I have already started craving for something fresh, something Mediterranean, something that had olives or tomatoes or feta cheese or fresh onions in it.  We found a restaurant that looked very good and I saw a tomato salad in the menu.  I instantly thought it was "the tomato salad", the Turkish kind.  In the end how many kinds of tomato salads could there be? How wrong was I?  There was a plate of sliced tomatoes, then couple of red onion rings that were randomly placed on top.  I was slightly disappointed, because there were no cucumbers, no peppers, nothing else in it.  Then they brought some balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  That made that salad divine, which made it worth in the end.  I never forgot this salad and made different versions since.  When I saw some fresh basil in the market last week, I thought of making the classic mozzarella salad with fresh tomatoes and basil, but then I remembered this salad.  It goes really well with a spring or summer BBQ and takes about 5 minutes to make.  You only have to have very nice and tasty tomatoes to make it with.  This one here is enough to serve 2.

Tomato and Red Onion Salad

2-3 fresh tomatoes - sliced

1 medium red onion - sliced

a handful of fresh basil leaves

1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons of olive oil

salt to taste

Prepare your salad sauce first, by mixing the olive oil and balsamic in a small bowl.  Add some salt and taste.  You can add some chopped basil leaves to the sauce if you'd like.  Put your tomatoes and onions in a salad bowl then mix it with the salad sauce.  Leave the salad like that for about 5 minutes before you serve.  Put your portions in flat salad plates and garnish with the fresh basil leaves.