“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire”…oh come on, who the hell has time for that? Let’s be honest and admit that Christmas can be quite a nerve-wrecking holiday. It’s not necessarily all the planning and gift shopping that slowly boils everyone up, but it seems to be the food prepping that leads to that post-Christmas burn-out. This year’s countdown to Christmas has been the first year for me to experience all the food stress around me as a food blogger and let me tell you: it’s hilarious! 🙂 The questions people ask me…I don’t even know where to start! It’s always smart to listen well and learn from all the lovely, stressed out humans around you and somewhere between Wham, Mariah Carey and Celine Dion I did pick up a thing or two. Healthy food seems to be the number one wish for all Christmas eaters. As it’s an eating overload (honestly I have no clue how that can be an issue 😀 ) people like to nibble on some healthy, light dishes. Ok, gotcha, what else? Vegetarian dishes are (since the early 1920’s really) quite a hype and people looove a dish that’s easy to prepare. Oh and let’s not forget that it has to be an original creation or even a showstopper!
Well boys and girls, Santa Claus came over for brunch and boy did he make your wishes clear to me. So clear that I felt the urge to cook him ALL the Dishtales Christmas 2014 Recipes. Yup, there´s more than one recipe to share and as we´re counting down along with y´all, we will post a recipe every day until Christmas Eve! Here´s the very first dish, some lovely pictures and an easy recipe: Zucchini Carpaccio!
BUY:
- 1 zucchini
- 1 bunch of cilantro (coriander)
- a handful of black olives
- a handful of feta cheese
- a handful of pomegranates
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 lime
- 1 lemon
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- salt & pepper
DO:
- Put the zucchini in a pot of boiling water for about 1-2 minutes. Take it out and rinse it under cold running tap water. Slice the zucchini in very (very!) thin slices and place them on a plate (see recipe pictures or go wild with your imagination and create a Christmas tree!)
- Finely chop the cilantro, olives and garlic (or use a food processor!) into a 'pesto-proof' mash and add the lime juice, lemon juice and olive oil. Mix well.
- Garnish your zucchini slices with crumbled feta cheese, cilantro pesto and pomegranates.
- There you go, you're done! Now grab this plate and show-off at any of your Christmas dinners. Make sure you serve this at room temperature!
Oh and FYI:
SERVING TIPS: You can top it off with some sprinkles of high quality balsamic vinegar for a cooler look (like we did on the recipe pictures) and some extra flavor! Also, this dish is supposed to be slightly sour. However, if you'd like to balance things a bit more, feel free to add some honey to either your cilantro pesto or just pour a bit of honey over the whole dish. I used 'fig jam' once as well and it really brought the flavors together!
Ahh dit ziet er ZO ZO lekker uit!! Ik wil dit echt nu eten :-)!! xx
The Real Person!
@ Queen of Jet Lags: THANKSS 🙂 >3 Het recept is onwijs easy-to-make so put on your fabulous cooking outfit & start slicing and dicing 🙂 XO
Hi ! We put up a list of the TOP 100 best Christmas recipes for 2015. Your recipe was also included on this list. Go check it out at: http://ohmydish.com/100-best-christmas-recipes-2015/ Greetings, Veronique and Marco from ohmydish.com