I am bridging the culinary gap

It’s funny how life takes twists and turns...after almost three decades of mothering, you would think I would be grateful for the peace and quiet now that my last child has left home.

I thought it would great, I can watch what I want, have the house to myself while my husband is at work. It was great for about a day then I felt the full force of “empty nest syndrome”. All my little chicks are grown up and left home and I must admit, I hated it. I missed not being able to “mother them”, cook for them and yes, even argue over the fact that the original Captain Kirk in Star Trek is better than the new one... It’sWilliam Shatner all the way for me...Oh, did I tell you that we are all Trekkies in our house...OK, I am digressing but you know I often do. So back to the subject of food and my spicy lemon and coriander salsa which I actually made for the first time last week. I made it for my new houseguest who will be staying with me for a while. The house just seemed so empty and my daughter’s friend Lydia was looking for somewhere to stay. We hit if off straight away, she loves cats and cooking, so that’s two things that we have in common. Lydia is a 20 year old food technologist - there may be a culture gap; there may be a generation gap but there is most definitely not a culinary gap. We are both real foodies - we enjoy designing new recipes, cooking them and best of all eating them!

Last week I made a delicious pan fried chicken and some cumin roast veg. I would usually have that with a little tomato ketchup or some mayo, but Lydia doesn’t eat either...hmm, strange girl. However, I will forgive her as she makes the best chocolate brownies in the world! However, we had to deal with our condiment conundrum. The meal needed a sauce or a dip that was both summery and spicy. After a little deliberation, I came up with a spicy salsa with lashing of lemon and coriander. It’s a salsa but not as you know it - It’s hot, zesty, fresh and a real treat for the senses, which for sure will tickle your taste buds!

INGREDIENTS

2 medium tomatoes ½ red onion

¼ yellow bell pepper 2 tbsp of fresh coriander 2 tbsp lemon juice 2 green chillies (or to taste)

½ tsp salt

METHOD

1. Finely dice the tomatoes, onions, yellow pepper and green chilli. Add into a bowl

2. Chop the coriander and add into the bowl along with the salt -stir well and serve!

For more info, email Parveen via www. parveenthespicequeen. com