We did promise to provide you with a plethora of vegetable accompaniments for your Christmas feast, so here are a few more for good measure.
Again, we’ve tried to stick to the keep-it-simple and prepare-it-ahead-of-time theme. When you have a house full of Christmas revellers of all ages, an extra glass of bubbles in your hand and, if you’re in Sydney, it's a wonderfully hot and humid day, it is the way to go.
Caren, Jan and Rosie
YELLOW SPLIT PEA SKORDALIA WITH CHARGRILLED ASPARAGUS
Serves 10 as part of a shared meal
Skordalia
175 gm yellow split peas
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon thyme leaves, finely chopped
125 ml extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons grated parmesan or kefalotyri cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1-2 tablespoons olive oil, extra, for drizzling
Rinse and drain split peas then bring to a boil in a saucepan with plenty of water and simmer until cooked through. Drain and allow to cool.
Place the cooked split peas in a food processor with the garlic and thyme and process until smooth adding the olive oil and lemon juice. Add the grated cheese.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
If you feel your skordalia is too thick, you can thin it out a little by adding water, a tablespoon at a time.
Store in the fridge but bring back to room temperature before serving.
Asparagus
5 bunches asparagus
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt flakes
Preheat char-grill.
Toss asparagus in the olive oil, coating well. Place on the char-grill and cook, turning once. Don’t overcook.
To Assemble
Place the skordalia on a serving plate, drizzle with olive oil and top with asparagus. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes.
TOMATO, CUCUMBER AND DILL SALAD
Serves 10 as part of a shared meal
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
3-4 Lebanese cucumbers, roughly sliced
500 gm heirloom cherry tomatoes, halved
1 bunch chives, finely sliced
½ bunch dill fronds, chopped
½ bunch mint, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon good quality white wine vinegar (or to taste)
1 tablespoon good quality red wine vinegar (or to taste)
100 ml extra virgin olive oil (or to taste)
Salt (to taste)
½ teaspoon nigella seeds
Soak sliced onion in a bowl of water for 10 minutes, drain and soak again in fresh water. Repeat one more time, drain.
Combine onion, cucumbers, tomatoes, chives, mint and dill. Whisk together garlic, vinegars and olive oil. Toss salad with olive oil and the vinegars and season to taste. Sprinkle with nigella seeds.