Donna Hay’s cookbook Fresh and Light is the quintessence of 21st century cuisine. She offers a joyful, varied and sensible kitchen that gives an alternative to the current trend of restrictive cooking, wheat-free, sugar-free, lactose-free, gluten-free, fruit-free, to name a few. She invites to use fresh, seasonal and regional products, and substitutes traditional ingredients for their healthier equivalent.  Donna made sure that all her recipes are easy and quick to prepare.

After all; overly complicated cooking instructions just make convenience food seem all the more appealing.

It was hard to pick just one of her enticing dishes for this introduction of her book.  She actually translates my own way of thinking  and cooking into beautiful creations….

Donna Hay’s spiced chickpea salad
(slightly adapted)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon smokes sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
250g chickpeas (soaked over night and cooked )
3 carrots , peeled and shredded using a julienne peeler
a few mint leaves
a few coriander (cilantro) leaves
some dollops fresh goat cheese (combine wonderfully with the dressing!)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon olive oil, extra

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over high heat. Add the oil, cumin, paprika, salt and ground fennel seeds. Cook for two minutes or until fragrant. Add the chickpeas and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until the chickpea are toasted and coated in spices.

Place the carrots, coriander, mint, lemon juice, honey and extra olive oil in a bowl and toss to combine. Add the chickpeas and mix in gently. Divide between serving plates and top with the dollops of goat cheese.