Recipes from New feast by Greg and Lucy Malouf

BOOK DETAILS: New Feast: Modern Middle Eastern Vegetarian, by Greg and Lucy Malouf. (Hardie Grant, $59.95.)

Summer berry salad with ginger, lime & labneh

Serves 4

450 g summer berries (your choice of raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, red or white currants)

1⁄3 cup finely shredded baby mint leaves

sprigs of elderflower (optional)

Ginger-lime syrup:

150 g castor sugar

150 ml water

4 cardamom pods, crushed

4 thin slices fresh ginger

strip of peel and juice from 1 lime

Vanilla labneh:

1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup

1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)

500 g natural yoghurt

To make the ginger-lime syrup, put the sugar, water, cardamom pods, ginger and lime peel in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. When cool, add the lime juice then chill the syrup until ready to use. Strain and remove the aromatics just before serving.

For the soft-strained vanilla labneh, mix the honey and vanilla seeds into the yoghurt and scrape into a clean tea towel (a muslin square or new J-cloth will also do nicely). Tie the four corners together to form a hanging bag. Twist firmly to give it a good squeeze and kick-start the draining process. Suspend the bag from a wooden spoon set over a deep bowl and allow it to drain in the fridge for at least 4 hours or, preferably, overnight. The longer you hang it, the thicker it will be, but you can always thin it to a looser consistency, if necessary, with a little fresh yoghurt or cream.

Combine all the fruit in a mixing bowl with the mint and elderflower sprigs, if using, and pour on the chilled syrup. Toss gently, then divide between four serving bowls and serve with the labneh.

Honey-roasted carrots with dates, dandelions and Moroccan dressing

Serves 4

60 g hazelnuts

400 g baby

carrots (heirloom varieties, ideally), with tops attached

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses

2 tablespoons thyme leaves

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 shallot, finely sliced

55 g (2 generous handfuls) dandelion leaves or watercress leaves, well washed and roughly sliced

6 Medjool dates, pitted and diced

80g soft goat's cheese, roughly crumbled

Moroccan dressing:

1 clove garlic crushed with 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika

1/4 teaspoon Turkish red chilli flakes

juice of 1 lemon

drizzle of honey

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

splash of orange flower water (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Scatter the hazelnuts into a small baking tray and roast in the oven for 8–10 minutes, or until the skins darken and they start to smell toasty. Tip into a tea towel and rub away the skins. Chop the nuts roughly and set aside.

Scrub (or peel) the carrots well, leaving the tops and wispy end bits attached. Make sure you winkle out any bits of soil that can lodge in and around the stalks. Arrange the carrots in a heavy-based roasting tin, drizzle with honey and pomegranate molasses, scatter on the thyme leaves and season well. Toss them with the oil and roast for 25–30 minutes, or until well browned and cooked through. A little crunchy caramelisation around the skinny ends is a good thing. Remove from the oven and set aside.

While the carrots are roasting, make the dressing. Put all the ingredients in a clean jar with a lid and shake together.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the shallot, dandelion leaves, dates and hazelnuts. Add the warm carrots and enough dressing to coat everything lightly. Add the crumbled cheese and serve straight away, ideally while the carrots are still warm.

White zucchini omelette with mint & melting gouda

Serves 4

100 ml olive oil

1 onion, finely diced

1 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon dried mint

350 g white zucchini (about 3), coarsely grated

4 eggs

2 tablespoons self-raising flour

grated zest of 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

200 g cumin-flavoured gouda (or any other melting cheese), grated

Greek-style yoghurt, to serve (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Heat half the oil in a frying pan over a low heat and fry the onion until it softens. Stir in the nutmeg and mint and fry for another minute. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Pour the remaining oil into a non-stick, ovenproof frying pan and heat in the oven for 5–10 minutes.

Squeeze the grated zucchini firmly to remove as much moisture as possible. Whisk the eggs until frothy in a large bowl. Whisk in the flour, lemon zest, salt and pepper, followed by the zucchini, onion mixture and cheese. The mixture will be quite sloppy.

Pour the mixture into the hot oil. Cover the pan with a lid or some foil and bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until nearly set. Remove the lid and cook for a further 10 minutes to brown the surface.

Cut into wedges and serve hot from the pan with thick yoghurt.

Alternatively, drain on kitchen paper and cut into wedges when cold to serve with pickles or relish.