Summer Night Party Menu

Thanks to Sarah for these wonderful recipes.

Lemon and Rosemary Marinated Olives

• 1 jar cheap green olives (don't buy cheap black ones, they're just green ones dyed)
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• zest of 1 lemon
• lots of cracked black pepper

Crush one of the sprigs of rosemary with a rolling pin or something heavy so some of the fragrance is released. Mix all the rest of the ingredients together and leave to marinate for 30 minutes to an hour out of the refrigerator. If you want to make it more in advance, do so, but remember to remove from the refrigerator half an hour before serving.

Baby Carrot, Snow Pea and Fetta Salad

• 1 bunch baby (Dutch) carrots, washed and trimmed
• 400g (~14 oz.) snow peas, trimmed
• 1 box snow pea sprouts
• 200g (~7 oz.) Danish fetta (this is by far the cheaper kind from most delis, but it is creamier, so a little goes a long way)
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• cracked pepper and sea salt

Place the baby carrots in a saucepan and cover with water; bring to the boil for only 2 minutes or so - just until the colour brightens and they are still crunchy, just slightly tenderised. Drain and rinse with cold water. Mix the rest of the ingredients together, excluding the snow pea sprouts; arrange the snow pea sprouts on a large flat plate. Then place the salad on top.

Orange and Paprika Marinated Tofu Kebabs

• 2 blocks firm stir-fry tofu, cubed
• 2 cups button mushrooms, washed and dried
• 1 punnet (small basket) cherry or grape tomatoes
• juice of 2 oranges
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 crushed garlic clove
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp oil

Marinate all the vegetables in the last 4 ingredients for a couple of hours. When almost ready to serve, thread them onto soaked wooden skewers. Barbeque or grill for a few minutes on each side until the tofu is slightly browned and the vegetables are cooked. Serve on a big plate and let people help themselves.

Apricot and Carrot Cake with Pistachios

• 1 cup wholemeal self-raising flour
• 1 cup white self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp allspice
• 2 cups grated carrot
• 1 cup chopped dried apricots
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup plain yoghurt
• 4 egg whites
• 2 tsp vanilla essence
• ¾ cup apple juice

Glaze: icing sugar, water, ¼ cup chopped pistachios OR shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Sift flours, baking powder, and spices together into a bowl. Seperately combine carrot, apricots, sugar, yoghurt, egg whites, vanilla and apple juice. Add wet ingredients to flour mixture. Mix well and spoon into a greased loaf tin. Bake 30 minutes. Invert onto a rack to let cool. Tip about 1 cup of icing sugar into the bowl and add water very slowly, mixing until the glaze is still firm, but liquid enough to drizzle. Drizzle over the cake, sprinkle topping and place immediately in the fridge to stop the glaze running. It is important that the cake is cold when you put the glaze on, otherwise the icing ends up on the plate and not on the cake! Serve with some tinned apricot halves and low fat custard.