Sommer Gooi Dip

Last Sunday evening when we had been down to the sports club for a couple of drinks while the dogs and my grandson, Caleb, wore themselves out running and playing on the sports fields I came home and chucked a dip together, just a snack to help fill the hollows before supper was ready. I simply grabbed whatever I could find in the fridge and threw it in the blender, hence Sommer Gooi, which means "just throw" in Afrikaans.

My son-in-law was so taken with it that he's telling our friends when they come to visit about this fantastic dip I made. 

As a consequence, for my sins, I had to try and remember all that went into it…

So here goes…

This one's for you, Craig!

Ingredients:

Flesh of half a large avocado, or a whole one if small

½ an onion, finely chopped

125ml creamed cottage cheese

60ml mayonnaise

60-80ml tomato sauce, 

---- or a whole medium tomato, skinned, deseeded and chopped

10ml roasted red pepper sauce

---- or a quarter sweet red pepper, skinned, deseeded and chopped 

10ml ready-made basil pesto

5ml chopped garlic

3-4 dashes of Tabasco sauce

---- or 2ml chilli powder

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Throw everything into a blender and whiz it together until smooth, dump it in a bowl and serve with potato or corn chips. 

Chilled Avocado Soup

Andalusia in Spain is home to both avocados and gazpacho, so it's not surprising that this chilled avocado soup, also known as green gazpacho, was invented there.

Ingredients:

3 ripe avocados

1 bunch of spring onions, white parts only, trimmed and roughly chopped

10ml chopped garlic

juice and zest of 1 lemon

1.25ml ground cumin

1.25ml paprika

450ml vegetable or chicken stock

300ml iced water

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

roughly chopped parsley to garnish

Method:

starting several hours ahead, put the flesh of one avocado in a food processor or blender. Add the spring onions, garlic, zest and lemon juice; purée until smooth.

Add the second avocado, purée, then add the third avocado with the spices and seasoning. Purée until smooth.

Gradually add the stock, blending it in as it is added. Pour the soup into a metal bowl and chill.

To serve, stir in the iced water, then season to taste with plenty of salt and black pepper. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve immediately. 

Serves 4

Hanneica's Avocado Dip

Ingredients:

1 large Natal Butter Avocado, stone and skin removed

30ml lemon juice

60ml mayonnaise

125ml smooth cottage cheese (optional - garlic and chives)

5ml chopped garlic

½ a small onion, finely chopped

2-3 dashes of Tabasco sauce (optional)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 spring onion, finely chopped, snipped chives or cracked black pepper to garnish

Method:

Place avocado flesh and lemon juice in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add the mayonnaise, cottage cheese, garlic, onion, Tabasco and seasoning. Blend to mix thoroughly. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with spring onion, chives or cracked black pepper. Serve with tacos, corn chips or salted crinkle cut potato chips.

Egg Salad Filled Avocados with Lime Pickled Red Onions

Ingredients:

Lime Pickled Red Onions:

2 small red onions

Juice of 3 limes

15ml oil (avocado, sunflower, light olive oil, or any mild flavoured oil)

15ml salt + more to adjust taste

Egg salad:

8 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and diced

125ml finely diced radishes, about 3-4 radishes

125ml finely diced red onion, about ¼ of a large onion

125ml finely diced celery, about 2 stalks

30ml mayonnaise

30ml unsweetened plain yoghurt

10ml mustard

30ml fresh lime or lemon juice

2.5ml cumin powder

1 jalapeño, seeds removed and finely chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Avocado stuffing:

4-5 ripe but firm avocados, cut in halves, seeds removed and peeled

30ml fresh lime juice

Lettuce leaves

Lime Pickled Red Onions for garnishing

Fresh sprigs of dill  to garnish

Method:

First make the Lime Pickled Red Onions:

Cut the onion in half, slice very finely (a mandolin is very helpful with this part) and place in a bowl.

Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon salt and a squeeze of lime juice, let rest for about 10 minutes.

Cover the onions with lukewarm water and let rest for another 10 minutes.

Rinse and drain the onions. Add the lime juice, salt and the oil, and mix well.

Cover the onions and place in the fridge, the onions will start to turn pinkish after about 3 hours, and will turn very pink if left overnight. Taste again before serving and add salt if needed.

Secondly make the egg salad:

Combine the diced hard-boiled eggs, radish, red onion, celery, mayonnaise and/or yogurt, mustard, lime juice, and cumin powder in a large bowl. Mix well.

Add the diced jalapeño (if using) and salt/pepper to taste.

Use immediately or save the egg salad in the refrigerator until ready to stuff the avocados.

Thirdly, complete the stuffed avocados:

Drizzle the peeled avocado halves with the lime juice, this will slow down the darkening process.

Stuff the avocados with 1-2 spoonfuls of the egg salad.

Place the egg salad stuffed avocados on top of lettuce leaves. Garnish with your choice of fresh dill and red pickled onions.

Serve immediately.

Chicken and Avocado Salad

Ingredients:

2 skinless, cooked chicken breasts

1 ripe avocado

45ml lemon juice

2 spring onions

Salad greens

60ml toasted slivered almonds

Dressing:

30ml mayonnaise

30ml sour cream

15ml chilli sauce

10ml runny honey

Method:

Cut the chicken into strips. Peel and stone the avocado, cut into wedges and brush with lemon juice. Trim and finely slice the spring onions on the diagonal.

To make the dressing, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, chilli sauce and runny honey and toss with the chicken.

Serve the avocado over salad greens topped with the chicken and garnished with the slivered almonds.

Pasta with Avocado and Garlic Prawns

Ingredients:

500g fettuccine or linguini or spaghetti

For the Avocado Sauce

4 avocados, peeled and pitted

60ml fresh lime juice

60ml plain yoghurt or sour cream

125ml chopped fresh coriander

125ml chopped fresh parsley

2 spring onions, chopped

Salt and pepper, to taste

30ml Olive Oil

½ jalapeño pepper

2.5ml ground cumin

For the Garlic Prawns

30ml butter

80ml Olive Oil

8 cloves garlic, finely sliced

2.5ml dried hot red pepper flakes

salt and black pepper, to taste

30ml chopped parsley

500g large prawns, peeled and deveined

Method:

Bring salted water to a boil in a large pot. Add the pasta and cook it according to the package directions until al dente, about 8-10 minutes.

While the pasta is cooking, cook the prawns. 

In a large pan, heat the butter and olive oil over low heat. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper and cook about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is tender but not browned. Increase heat to medium and add prawns and sauté, turning the prawns once with tongs, until prawns are just cooked through, about 2 minutes each side. Set aside.

Make the avocado sauce: 

Place the avocado in a blender or food processor, add the remaining sauce ingredients and process until smooth and creamy.

When pasta is done cooking, drain and place pasta into a large bowl. Add the avocado sauce to the pasta and toss until pasta is well coated.

Using tongs, add the prawns to the pasta and pour the garlic sauce over the prawns. Garnish with parsley or coriander and serve immediately.

Creamy Avocado Soup

Ingredients:

30g butter

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1L chicken stock

5ml lime juice

2 ripe avocados, peeled and mashed

250ml cream

2.5ml ground cumin

60ml chopped fresh coriander

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method:

Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a further 30seconds.

Add the chicken stock, lime juice and avocados and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for about 7 minutes.

Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth. Return to the pot, adding the cream, cumin and seasoning. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the chopped coriander and serve warm.

Best Ever Guacamole

Ingredients:

1 medium jalapeño, deseeded, deveined and roughly chopped
1 red onion, finely chopped
30ml chopped coriander
4 large ripe avocados
30ml fresh lemon juice

5ml fresh lime juice (a squeeze)
5ml coarse sea salt

2.5ml freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Mix jalapeño, onion and coriander in a small bowl. Slice avocados in half and scoop out the flesh. Place in a blender with the lemon juice, and lime juice. Pulse to get a chunky blend.  Add salt and pepper. Mix the onion, jalapeño, onion and coriander. 

Place one avocado pit in a serving bowl and over it with guacamole. This helps to keep the guacamole from oxidizing. Press plastic wrap onto top of guacamole until ready to serve. 

Avocado Salad Mould

Ingredients:

3 large avocados, peeled, stoned and mashed

125ml celery, finely chopped

1 spring onion, finely sliced

250ml mayonnaise or salad cream

250ml sour cream or Greek yoghurt

10ml gelatine powder

65ml cold water

125ml boiling water

37.5ml vinegar or lemon juice

5ml sugar

2.5ml onion salt

2.5ml pepper

Lettuce

Watercress or parsley sprigs to garnish

Method:

Soften the gelatine in the cold water for 5 minutes, then add the boiling water and sugar and stir until the sugar and gelatine are completely dissolved.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and add the gelatine mixture, stirring until well blended.

Pour the mixture into an oiled mould and chill in the fridge until set.

Turn out on a bed of lettuce leaves and serve garnished with watercress or parsley sprigs.

Cooks Note:

For a richer result add 125g cream cheese to the avocado mixture 

before adding the gelatine mixture.

Pasta, Avocado and Corn Salad

Gorgeous creamy avocados are readily available at present here in Natal. 

They lend themselves exquisitely to this blend with sweetcorn and tomato; 

adding a little chilli gives it a marvellous zing. 

Give it a try!

Ingredients:

375g snail pasta

15ml olive oil

1 ripe avocado, peeled, stoned and cubed

30ml lemon juice

410g can whole kernel sweetcorn, drained

3 firm, ripe tomatoes cut into small cubes

1 green pepper, deseeded and cubed

5ml chilli powder

125ml vinaigrette

Method:

Cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Drain and toss with the oil.

Mix together the pasta, corn, tomato and green pepper. 

Mix the chilli powder into the vinaigrette and toss in the pasta. 

Toss the avocado with lemon juice and gently mix into the salad.

Chicken Nachos

Chicken Nachos:
Try this with extra tortilla chips on the side.

Ingredients:

2 cooked chicken breast fillets, roughly chopped or shredded

200g tortilla chips

410g canned mixed beans, drained and rinsed

1 avocado, peeled and sliced

½ red onion, peeled and sliced

300g ready-made salsa

125g Cheddar cheese, grated

 Method:

Mix up the tortilla chips with the chicken, beans, avocado, red onion and salsa in a bowl. Transfer the mixture to a shallow, heatproof serving dish.

Scatter the cheese over the top and place under a medium grill until the cheese has melted.

Serve immediately.

Meso-Med Salad with Coriander Dressing

I call this salad ‘Meso-Med’ because of the blend of ingredients: 

the mealies, avocado and tomatoes all originate in Mesoamerica, 

while the red onion, feta and cucumber are very Mediterranean. 

The dressing is very Mediterranean until you add the coriander herb, again reminiscent of Mesoamerica, except there it’s known as cilantro. 

In the dressing I use a small amount of chilli flakes, but if you can get Jalapeno peppers, you could use about half a pepper chopped fine. 

All in all this salad is deliciously satisfying, a perfect accompaniment to a braai.

Salad Ingredients

2 mealies, husks removed, brushed with olive oil and grilled on the side of the braai.

1 large avocado, or 2 small ones, diced and sprinkled with lemon juice to prevent oxidation

5-6 Roma tomatoes, diced

½ a medium red onion halved and thinly sliced

60-70g Feta, crumbled

6 inches of English cucumber, quartered and sliced with the skin on

Method

Cut the kernels off the cobs. Assemble the salad in a large bowl, and top with the mealie kernels. Cover with cling film and refrigerate until ready to use.

Coriander Dressing Ingredients

50-60ml olive oil

30ml apple cider vinegar, or red wine vinegar

2.5ml chopped or mashed garlic

30-50ml fresh chopped coriander herb

2.5ml sea salt

2.5ml chilli flakes

3-5ml lemon pepper

Method

Put all the dressing ingredients in a glass jam jar with a lid and shake really well. Check for seasoning and add more oil or vinegar for your taste. When you are ready to serve the salad, add the dressing and toss the salad gently. Top with a little extra copped coriander to garnish and tuck in.

Avocado and Prawn Cocktail

Prawn cocktail was a popular starter in the 1960's and 70's. Adding avocado to it is a very South African thing but the combination of this creamy fruit and sweet juicy morsels of fruit of the sea is a marriage made in heaven. Adding chilli to the mix reflects the Mozambique influence, where prawns without chilli is a sacrilege. 

Enjoy.

Ingredients:
3-4 small gherkins, finely chopped
30ml capers, chopped
5ml tomato puree
20ml olive oil
250ml Mayonnaise
5ml chilli flakes
24 uncooked fresh or frozen prawns, drained
30ml chopped chives
6 Iceburg lettuce leaves, finely shredded
2-3 avocados, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
juice and zest of a lemon

Method:
Place the gherkins, capers, tomato purée and mayonnaise in a bowl. Mix to combine, cover with cling film and store in the fridge.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium to high heat. add the chilli flakes and prawns. Cook until the prawns have turned pink and started to brown, turning the prawns to cook on both sides. Cool slightly and toss in the chives.

Divide the lettuce between 6 serving dishes. Place a serving of the mayonnaise mixture on the lettuce and top with the prawns and avocado. Squeeze a little lemon over each serving and garnish with lemon zest. 

Cool and serve as a starter or salad.

Chilli Guacamole

There are many combinations for guacamole, a delicious avocado dip,

but this is probably my favourite.

It's really good with corn chips,

potato crisps or with carrot or celery sticks.

Ingredients:
1 ripe avocado
125ml sour cream
10ml lemon juice
50ml olive oil
a dash of Tabasco sauce
2-5ml chilli powder
Sea salt and white pepper or freshly ground black pepper to season.

Method:
Remove the skin from the avocado and mash the flesh.
Mix in the sour cream, lemon juice, oil, Tabasco sauce and chilli powder.
Season to taste with sea salt and white or black pepper as preferred.
(I like to use white pepper as it gives a satin smooth dip with a piquant taste).