I find fish to be intimidating. Maybe because it’s slippery, fragile and looks like I can easily screw it up. I’m also particular about my fish. I don’t like the flesh too dry, overwhelmed with heavy sauces or worse, smelling fishy. Enter one evening watching Jamie Oliver, and his simple recipe for fragrant grilled salmon looked too doable to not try. The crispy skin is also the money here. I find that it’s best to keep the side simple, and this yoghurt-dressed cucumber is a treat. Since then I have made this recipe repeatedly, including it in my repertoire for when I want to impress friends.

This recipe works best when the salmon is fresh, as I’ve tried using local Cardiff salmon on a trip there once. You can use either fresh or dried basil.

This recipe serves 2.

What You Need:
2 pieces of salmon, skin on
1 tsp. of dried basil or fresh, chopped
1 tsp. of grated lemon zest
Olive oil
1 cucumber
6 tbspn plain yoghurt
Juice from ¼ lemon
1 red chilli, de-seeded and chopped

What You Do:

1. On a board, place the salmon skin side down. Take a knife and make a criss-cross cut across its flesh, about 0.5 cm deep.
2. Rub the fish all around with the chopped basil, grated lemon zest, salt and pepper.
3. Make sure to get the marinade in between the criss-cross cuts you made. Drizzle and rub some olive oil.
4. Heat a griddle pan or regular pan until hot and smoking. Place salmon skin side down on the pan.
5. Cook for a few minutes until the skin turns crispy and almost wants to come off. Turn on the other side for 2 minutes. Depending on how you like your salmon (my sister likes it a bit raw, for example), remove from pan.
6. Roughly slice cucumber to bite-sized pieces.
7. To the yoghurt, add lemon juice, chopped chili, salt and pepper. Mix well. Drizzle in a few drops of olive oil.
8. Serve salmon, crispy skin and simple salad side by side, pouring the remaining dressing over the salmon if you like.

From top (clockwise): marinated olives, broiled steaks with roast potatoes, basil and lemon salmon, and sides of sautéed mushrooms and and sautéed eggplants and beans. All from the day's market!

I am a huge fan of the one dish wonder. On weeknights I want speedy, warm meals of rice with a single dish that has both protein and veg in it. Ginger chicken is a popular staple around here, with different variations and different tweaks in each household. Here is my favourite by far, as it takes the least amount of time to cook but doesn’t seem to sacrifice taste.

This recipe serves 2.

Here’s what you need:
400 gms of boneless chicken, diced or roughly minced
2 inches ginger, peeled and sliced
½ tsp. turmeric powder
2 tbsp. oyster sauce
1 tbsp. light soy sauce
Black pepper to preference
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 red chili, sliced (for more heat, add some sliced bird’s eye chilies)
Some long beans, sliced (options: broccoli, capsicum)

Here’s what you do:

1. Marinate the chicken with the ginger, turmeric powder, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and black pepper for 20 mins (the longer, the better).
2. Heat tbsp. oil. Add the chicken with the marinade. Cook on high heat.
3. After 7-10 mins (or when the chicken looks almost done), add the sliced garlic and chilies.
4. After 3 mins, add your veg of choice. Stir fry until the veg looks done. (if you feel like getting an extra health kick, you can add a tspn. of flax seeds here)
5. At this point, if you like some extra sauce, add a splash of water.
6. Remove from heat. Eat immediately with steaming rice.