Jammy sandwich

I was in Brussels this weekend, and our friends recommended going to a great place for breakfast (as for brunch it's overfilled with people ). You sit down and order what you want to eat-  we ordered cappucinos and a basket of fresh baked breads. At your table is around 6-10 different jams and spreads (sweet stuff like their kind of nutella), and you eat what you want to. But we had a problem, wanting to try out all the jam tastes so we made a colorful jammy sandwich, which basicly involves smearing jam in stripes over your slice of bread. This allows you to try all the jams, they don't mix together and the taste is perfect:). So if you have many jams you like but don't eat every day- this is an option for you. On this particular piece of bread in the photo there is from the top: butter, fig jam, sweet orange jam and raspberry jam. Also, this is so nice loking that the kids sitting not far away from us also wanted some! Great way to feed your babies!

Caprese Salad

We're not going to write here about the origins of this salad, because you can Wiki that. We love this salad, as it's fresh, flavourful, and brings out the best of basil, ripe tomatoes and chewy mozzarella cheese. Classic stuff.

Type of dish: snack, salad

Cost: cheap

Difficulty:  easy

Time:  5 min

Serves: 1-2

Preparation time: 5min

What you need to make this dish:

Cutting board, plate , sharp knife

Ingredients:

• 1 tomato
• 1 mozzarella
• Colored pepper
• Pinch of salt
• 3-4 basil leaves
• Olive oil

How to prepare:

Wash the tomato, and slice in 3-4 mm slices. Cut the cheese same way. On the plate, lay one slice of tomato, on it a mozzarella slice,  continue with rest until you have your plate set. Drizzle over some olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Now roll up the basil leaves so they look like a cigar, and cut them rolled. Sprinkle the plate with this and serve!

Additional information:

You may use dried tomatoes for a different taste, or spread a tsp of pesto on the plate before laying out the tomato and cheese. If you have a rectangular plate, serve up in a line, with chopped basil leaves on the tomatoes and mozzarella.

Basic tomato and cucumber salad

Basic tomato cucumber salad. If you have any leftover cucumber and tomatoes, you can make this simple salad as a side or a quick snack. It’s easy and really good. 

Type of dish: snack, salad

Cost: cheap

Difficulty:  easy

Time:  5 min

Serves: 1-4

Preparation time: 5min

What you need to make this dish:

Cutting board, small bowl, sharp knife, spoon

Ingredients:

• 1 tomato
• 1/4 cucumber
• Colored pepper
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 squeeze of lemon juice

How to prepare:

Wash the veggies and dice them. Put in a bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper, add the olive oil and lemon juice, mix and serve. 

Additional information:

You can add some lettuce if you have some. Additional are: red onion or shallots, black pitted olives, feta cheese. You can serve this in a glass or on a plate with a lettuce leaf underneath.

Caramelized Mushrooms

Try this out for an addition for your salad,or mashed potatoes. Also, great for topping meat with sauce. The mushrooms caramelize on a frying pan with the addition of butter and salt, and it's very easy to make.This stuff is gorgeous. I don't bother doing toppings, I just eat this with a spoon and gurgle with joy.

Type of dish: side, topping

Cost: cheap

Difficulty: easy

Time:  15 min

Serves: 2-4

Preparation time: 5 min

What you need to make this dish:

Sharp knife, cutting board, medium frying pan, wooden spatula

Ingredients:

• 200gr mushrooms
• 2 spoons of butter
• 1 tbsp salt

How to prepare: 
Chop up the mushrooms very finely, this is going to be a sprinkle, so the pieces of mushroom are supposed to be small. Heat frying pan on medium heat, and once hot, melt the butter, and throw in the mushrooms. Add a pinch of salt and mix every 3-4 min to turn the mushrooms. Every time you mix, taste a bit and add more salt. Soon, the mushrooms will become yellow- brownish, and the pieces slightly sticky. When they don't get any smaller, and they taste just right (salty, lightly crunchy), remove the pan from the heat and serve.
 

Colorful arugula salad

This one is a beauty. And of course, quite simple to make. Color up your table!

Type of dish: salad

Cost: medium

Difficulty: easy

Time:  10 min

Serves:4

Preparation time: 10 min

What you need to make this dish:

Spoon, sharp knife, cutting board, medium bowl, salad spinner (or use a large cloth and go outside)

Ingredients:

• 50 gr cream goat cheese
• 2 small bell peppers (red and yellow)
• 1 packet fresh arugula
• 6 cherry tomatoes
• pinch salt
• pinch pepper
• olive oil
• lemon

How to prepare:
Wash the veggies and arugula. Put the arugula in the salad spinner to dry it up. If you don't have one, put the leaves in a large cloth and catch the corners and sides firmly, go outside and spin in wildly around (it will splash, so don't do this inside). Place the spinned arugula in the bowl, cut the tomatoes in quarters and put them in the bowl. Slice half of each pepper into thin pieces and put that in the bowl. Add salt and pepper, a dash of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice and toss the salad gently. Using a spoon, put the cream cheese in spots on top of the salad. Now, you can serve!

Additional information:
If you have lime, you can use lime juice to give the salad a nice kick. Also, any fresh raspberries are also nice.

Serve with:
Croutons or buttered toast. Also, delicious on it's own.