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There’s just something nostalgic about noodle soup. Many people know that this recipe is often used as a get-well remedy or merely a comforting meal. If you’re pining for flavors of the past in a plant-based format then you’ll love this vegan version of the classic chicken noodle soup from Rebecca Hincke, author of The Vegan Pasta Cookbook. What’s better than a vegan “chicken” noodle soup sans chicken? This recipe includes tofu pieces instead of chicken and typical plant-based ingredients that are simple and nutritious.

Read more: This ‘Egg’ Salad Sandwich Is An Easy And Nutritious Vegan Lunch

The recipe swaps out chicken broth for vegetable broth and contains small soup pasta. You can use any small soup pasta at your local grocery store. You’ll likely find orzo, stelline, margheritine, or ditalini pretty easily. This recipe uses stelline which is a pasta shaped like little flowers. Whichever pasta you choose, just be sure the shapes are small enough to cook when put directly into the soup. If you opt for larger pasta, simply cook separately until al dente and add to your vegan chicken noodle soup when it has finished cooking.

Read more: Try These Gooey PBJ Brownies

Vegan chicken noodle soup

Enjoy the chewy texture of baked tofu mixed with classic veggies like carrots, celery, corn, and onion to make a comforting vegan alternative to the classic chicken noodle soup. The addition of rosemary, thyme, garlic, and lemon to the vegetable broth make this soup all the more tasty. Finally, the small pieces of pasta added to the recipe ties all the elements together for a comforting meal.

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Servings6 people

Ingredients

For the baked tofu

297 grams extra-firm tofu

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp soy sauce

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

For the soup

2 tbsp olive oil or vegan butter

1 large white onion finely diced

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried rosemary

4-5 large cloves garlic minced

2 medium carrots diced

1 large rib celery diced

2 litres vegetable broth

1 cup water plus more as needed

2 tbsp lemon juice

2-3 dried bay leaves

Few sprigs each of fresh rosemary and thyme (optional)

85-142 grams dried small soup pasta

1 cup frozen or canned whole kernel corn

Salt and pepper to taste

To serve

Few sprigs each of fresh rosemary and thyme, leaves only (optional)

Small handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped (optional)

Small handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped (optional)

Instructions

Start by making the baked tofu. Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Dice the tofu or break it into small chunks and transfer to a bowl. Add the olive oil and soy sauce, and season with salt and pepper.

Toss to fully coat the tofu, then bake for 30 minutes on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Once golden and crispy, remove the tofu from the oven and set aside. (alternatively, use vegan chicken pieces and add to saucepan).

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onion for 2 to 3 minutes, until softened.

If you’re using vegan chicken pieces, add the chicken, along with the herbs, and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes, until the chicken starts to brown slightly.

Add the garlic, carrots, and celery, and cook for another 5 minutes to soften up the veg before pouring in broth and water, along with the lemon juice, bay leaves, and fresh herbs (if using).

Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cover with a lid. Simmer for 10 minutes, then add the pasta and increase the heat to medium.

Cook for another 10 minutes at a gentle boil, then add the corn and baked tofu “chicken” (if using) and simmer for a few minutes more.

Remove the bay leaves before serving. Season with salt and pepper. If the pasta has thickened the soup too much, feel free to add a little extra water and adjust the seasoning accordingly.

Garnish with herbs and a sprinkle of Almond Parm, if you like.

If the pasta you’re using requires more or less cooking time, adjust accordingly.

If you want the soup to remain more broth-like, you can cook the pasta separately—to al dente—drain, and stir into the soup just before serving.

This recipe was republished with permission from food photographer and recipe developer, Rebecca Hincke. You can find her Instagram here and her cookbook The Vegan Pasta Cookbook here.

Read more: This Caesar Pasta Salad Is Completely Vegan

The post Try This Vegan Chicken Noodle Soup appeared first on Plant Based News.

Try This Vegan Chicken Noodle Soup Try this vegan chicken noodle soup made with chewy tofu, vegetable broth, and classic herbs and vegetables for a comforting flavor.

Rice porridge with roasted vegetables and Chicken

This wholesome Congee offers a comprehensive approach to supporting your dietary goals, safeguarding vital functions, and managing diabetes. With its tangy flavour, nutritious vegetables and crispy fried chicken, it provides a satisfying and hearty lunch option, perfect for days when fatigue strikes and nutritional needs take precedence.

Ingredients

3/4 cup long grain rice

5 cups water

2 cup chicken stock

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup chicken (boiled)

1 carrot

1/2 cup diced bottle gourd

1 garlic clove

1 spring onions

1 tsp ginger paste

2 tsp olive oil

2 tsp coriander leaves

Salt as per taste

Preparation

1.In a large pot, bring the water and rice to a boil. When the rice is boiling, turn the heat down to medium low.

2.Place the lid on the pot, tilting it to allow steam to escape (the same as you would do when making cooked rice.)

3.Cook on medium low to low heat, stirring occasionally, until the rice has the thick, creamy texture of porridge (approx 1 hour). Add salt, taste and add seasoning if desired.

4.While the rice is cooking, roast the vegetables.

5.In a pan, heat oil, add ginger and garlic paste, spring onions, chicken, carrot, bottle gourd and cook for two minutes.

6.Pour the vegetables in cognee and cook until the mixture attains the consistency of a loose porridge.

7.Serve hot and garnish with coriander leaves.

Warm congee and crispy chicken are a delicious duel for every season Wholesome Congee recipe with crispy fried chicken and nutritious vegetables, perfect for managing diabetes and dietary goals.

This creamy treat’s name translates to ‘cooked cream’ and can be paired with a variety of toppings and sauces. Panna cotta’s smoothness, makes it a favourite finish to any meal. In this recipe the dessert is made with coconut milk for a tropical touch. You can swap gelatin with agar agar and opt for a plant-based full fat yoghurt for a vegan alternative.

Ingredients

2 1/2 tsp powdered gelatin

1 1/2 Cup + 2 Tbsp coconut milk

1/2 Cup sugar

zest of 1 lemon

2 Cup plain full fat yoghurt

1 Cup tender coconut slivers

1/2 C powdered pistachios mixed with 1 tsp of icing sugar

Preparation

1.In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over half a cup of coconut milk and set aside for 10 minutes until well moistened.

2.Pour the remaining coconut milk into a pan, add lemon zest, sugar and stir over a gentle simmer until the sugar has dissolved.

3.Remove from heat and add the gelatin mixture and stir well for 3-5 minutes. This is crucial. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and let it cool.

4.Whisk in the yoghurt until well blended.

5.Transfer the mixture into small individual bowls, cover with cling film and refrigerate for about eight hours at least.

6.Top with slivers of tender coconut and powdered pistachios.

7.Serve outdoors, and enjoy every spoonful as you watch the coconut trees in the distance.

Easy, delicious coconut milk panna cotta Creamy panna cotta recipe with coconut milk, gelatin or agar agar, and vegan options, topped with coconut and pistachios.

Enjoy the simplicity of French cuisine with this Soupe au Pistou(Vegetable soup with pistou sauce). This warm and wholesome soup is perfect for cozy days.

Ingredients

2 large onions, minced

2/3 cups shelled peas or green beans cut into 2-inch pieces

2 zucchini, sliced into half moons

2 potatoes cut into chunks

6 tomatoes, roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves, chopped fine

2 cups cooked white or light kidney beans in their cooking liquid

Salt and freshly ground pepper

3 tbsp Olive oil

6 garlic cloves

2 handfuls of basil or coriander leaves, chopped

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

Salt

Preparation

1.In a large stockpot, heat the olive oil and sauté the chopped onions until soft and translucent. Stir frequently to prevent sticking.

2.Add the peas or green beans, zucchini, potatoes, tomatoes and garlic. Season well with salt and pepper.

3.Cook ,while stirring occasionally , until the vegetables are tender

4.Tip in the white or kidney beans and their liquid into this mixture and top with about 2 1/2 cups of water.

5.Simmer the soup gently for about 10 -15 minutes until cooked through. If the soup is too thick, thin with water and check for seasoning.

6.While the soup is getting done, pound the pistou ingredients in a mortar and pestle. Alternatively, blend the items in a food processor.

7.The end product should be a slightly coarse paste. Thin with a little water if necessary.

8.Ladle hot soup into bowls, swirl a generous spoonful of pistou in each and serve immediately.

9.Add a crisp green salad and pass around some crusty bread for a simple, wholesome, and satisfying summer meal.

Hearty, warm french soup with Pistou sauce Savor the simplicity of French cuisine with Soupe au Pistou, a warm and wholesome vegetable soup with pistou sauce.

Unnakkaya is made with mashed bananas, roasted cashews, nuts, and coconut. It is a treat for your palate and is perfect for festive occasions. It can be served as a tea-time snack.

Ingredients

3 ripe bananas (steamed and remove the black seeds inside)

4 tbsp ghee or butter

Quarter cup cashew nuts crushed

1 cup grated coconut

2 eggs

Cardamom powder - as per taste

Quarter cup sugar

Pinch of salt

Vegetable oil - for frying

Preparation

1.Mash the steamed banana without any lump (If banana becomes very smooth, refrigerate for some time or you can add little rice powder) and keep it aside. Consistency should be the same as chapatti / pizza dough.

2.Heat ghee or butter in a pan and fry cashew nuts and then add the grated coconut. Sauté these until golden brown.

3.Add cardamom powder and sugar along with a pinch of salt.

4.Add eggs and sauté for a minute so that everything is mixed well. Switch of the flame and allow to cool.

5.Grease hands with ghee and make lemon size ball with mashed banana. Flatten this in your hands and fill with Coconut filling

6.Close the banana with hands and make egg-like shape.

7.Heat oil in a thick-bottomed pan and fry the unnakkaya by turning them constantly so that all sides are fried well.

8.Once unnakkaya turns golden brown, drain on a tissue paper.

9.Serve hot with hot black tea.

Enjoy banana as a sweet and cripsy Unnakkaya Unnakkaya recipe with mashed bananas, cashews, coconut, and eggs, perfect for festive occasions and tea-time snacks.

This traditional South Indian snack with a twist has poha to make a dish bursting with flavours. Poha vadai is perfect as a crispy tea-time snack or as a filling breakfast option. You don’t have to worry about soaking and grinding rice or dal. This easy recipe comes together in under 30 minutes.

Ingredients

1 cup thick poha (For a healthier option, substitute white poha with the red variant)

1 big onion

1-2 tbsp rice flour

1 tsp grated ginger

3 green chillies, finely chopped

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Handful of chopped coriander leaves

A pinch of hing (optional)

Oil for deep frying

Salt to taste

Preparation

1.Wash the poha and rinse. Soak the flattened rice in about 1/2 cup of water for 10 minutes until it gets soft.

2.Peel and chop the onion into small pieces and set aside.

3.Now mash the soaked poha. Add all the remaining ingredients except oil. Mix very well to make a dough.

4.Add little water if necessary. If the mixture is very sticky, add some more rice flour

5.Heat oil in a fan for deep frying.

6.Divide the dough into small lemon sized balls and shape them into patties. Coat the patties with some soaked poha on the top.

7.Deep fry them in hot until golden brown color and crispy.

8.Serve hot with coconut/ tomato chutney.

Try this crispy and healthy vada made with poha Crispy poha vadai recipe with a South Indian twist, perfect for tea-time or breakfast, ready in under 30 minutes.

Made with a few ingredients, this healthy sattu roti is a beloved dish popular in Bihar, Jharkhand, and parts of West Bengal. It is an easy dish that can be made within a few minutes.

Ingredients

Wheat flour – 4 cups

Ghee – 6 tsp

Roasted gram powder or Sattu – 2 cups

Finely chopped onion – 2

Finely chopped garlic – 5 to 6 cloves

Finely chopped green chilli – 3 to 4

Lemon – 1

Mustard oil – 3 tsp

Ajwain – 1/2 tsp

Salt – to taste

Preparation

1.Take four cups of atta and add ajwain seeds, salt and two teaspoons of ghee. Mix and then add water to knead well into a soft dough. Leave it for 20 to 25 minutes.

2.In a separate bowl, mix together sattu, onion, garlic, green chilli, freshly squeezed lemon juice, mustard oil and salt into an even mixture.

3.Make 10 balls out of the atta dough. Fill each ball with the sattu mixture and roll out rotis.

4.Heat the tawa and cook the stuffed roti on it. Apply ghee on both sides of the roti.

5.It can be had with curd and pickle.

Healthy and tasty, Sattu roti Healthy sattu roti recipe from Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal made with few ingredients, easy to make in minutes.

By AMY QUINTON-UC DAVIS

This early memory loss is comparable to mild cognitive impairment in humans that precedes full-blown Alzheimer’s disease.

The ketogenic diet is a low-carbohydrate, high fat, and moderate protein diet, which shifts the body’s metabolism from using glucose as the main fuel source to burning fat and producing ketones for energy. Researchers from the University of California, Davis, previously found that mice lived 13% longer on ketogenic diets.

The new study, which follows up on that research, found that the molecule beta-hydroxybutyrate, or BHB, plays a pivotal role in preventing early memory decline. It increases almost seven-fold on the ketogenic diet.

“The data support the idea that the ketogenic diet in general, and BHB specifically, delays mild cognitive impairment and it may delay full blown Alzheimer’s disease,” says co-corresponding author Gino Cortopassi, a biochemist and pharmacologist with the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis. “The data clearly don’t support the idea that this is eliminating Alzheimer’s disease entirely.”

Scientists gave mice enough BHB to simulate the benefits of being on the keto diet for seven months.

“We observed amazing abilities of BHB to improve the function of synapses, small structures that connect all nerve cells in the brain. When nerve cells are better connected, the memory problems in mild cognitive impairment are improved,” says co-corresponding author Izumi Maezawa, professor of pathology in the UC Davis School of Medicine.

Cortopassi notes that BHB is also available as a supplement for humans. He says a BHB supplement could likely support memory in mice, but that hasn’t yet been shown.

The researchers found that the ketogenic diet mice exhibited significant increases in the biochemical pathways related to memory formation. The keto diet also seemed to benefit females more than males and resulted in a higher levels of BHB in females.

“If these results translated to humans, that could be interesting since females, especially those bearing the ApoE4 gene variant, are at significantly higher risk for Alzheimer’s,” Cortopassi says.

The research team is optimistic about the potential impact on healthy aging and plans to delve further into the subject with future studies.

The study appears in the journal Communications Biology. Additional coauthors are from UC Davis and the University of Padova.

The National Institute on Aging, a unit of the National Institutes of Health, funded the work.

Source: UC Davis

—

Previously Published on futurity.org with Creative Commons License

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The post Keto Diet Delays Alzheimer’s Memory Loss in Mice appeared first on The Good Men Project.

Keto Diet Delays Alzheimer’s Memory Loss in Mice A ketogenic diet significantly delays the early stages of Alzheimer’s-related memory loss in mice, according to a new study.

By Beata Mostafavi

While most parents of preschool and elementary aged children strive to give their children a balanced, nutritional diet, some of their strategies to promote healthy eating may backfire, experts say.

For example, three in five parents customize meals if their child doesn’t like what everyone else is eating, suggests the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health.

Meanwhile, one in eight parents require children to eat everything on their plate. And while just one in three believe the standard American diet is healthy for kids, few have tried alternative, potentially more nutritional menus at home.

“Feeding young children can be difficult due to general pickiness, hesitancy to try unfamiliar foods and constantly evolving food preferences,” said Mott Poll co-director and Mott pediatrician Susan Woolford, M.D.

“The preschool and elementary age is an important time to establish healthy eating patterns. Yet parents’ concern about whether their child is eating enough or if they’re getting the nutrients they need may lead them to adopt practices that actually sabotage their efforts to get kids to have healthy eating habits in the short and long term.”

The nationally representative report is based on 1,083 responses of parents of children ages 3-10 surveyed in February.

More findings from the poll and Woolford’s advice for parents who want to promote healthy eating habits in young children:

Parents’ beliefs on nutritional diets vary

Just a third of parents think the standard American diet is healthy compared to half who seem to rank the Mediterranean higher in nutritional value. Still, few have tried alternative diets for their child.

“Parents may recognize the standard diet in the U.S. includes high amounts of saturated fats, added sugars, sodium, and refined carbohydrates, which can generate an excess intake of calories beyond nutritional needs and contribute to health problems,” Woolford said.

“However, despite this recognition and evidence suggesting that other diet options may help avoid many illnesses, only about 9% have tried the Mediterranean diet for their children and fewer have tried giving their children a vegetarian diet.”

Parents should ensure children are still getting adequate nutrition if they do try diets that eliminate certain food categories, she adds. Diets that limit animal products, for example, will require alternative protein sources such as meat substitutes, tofu, or legumes for children.

And while ketogenic diets have become popular among adults, they are generally not appropriate for children.

Family dining rules may promote or hinder a healthy diet

Fifteen percent of parents say their family rule is that kids finish what’s on their plate, while more than half say children must try some of everything and a little less than a third say no to dessert if meals go unfinished.

But parents who try to force kids to eat may encourage portions that go beyond feeling full, Woolford cautions.

“Requiring children to eat everything on their plate, or withholding dessert unless all other foods are eaten, can lead to overconsumption, especially if portion sizes are too large for the child’s age,” she said.

She agrees with the recommendation that “parents provide, and the child decides.” This makes parents responsible for providing healthy options while allowing children to select which foods they will eat and the amount they want to consume.

Parents often play personal chef

Sixty percent of parents will make something separate if their child doesn’t like the food that’s on the dinner table – and this often leads to a less healthy alternative, Woolford says.

“Rather than allowing the child to choose an alternate menu, parents should provide a balanced meal with at least one option that their child is typically willing to eat,” she said.

“Then if their child chooses not to eat, parents should not worry as this will not cause healthy children any harm and they will be more likely to eat the options presented at the next meal.”

She points out that children learn through watching and imitating, so it’s beneficial for parents to model healthy eating through a well-balanced diet while their child’s eating habits and taste preferences mature.

Avoiding snacks between meals may also help children have a better appetite and increased willingness to eat offered foods.

Picky eating and protesting veggies among biggest battles

Parents describe their biggest challenges with making sure their child gets a healthy diet as the child being a picky eater, the higher cost of healthy food and food waste. Fewer say they don’t have time to prepare healthy food.

Nearly all parents polled report trying at least one strategy to get their child to eat vegetables as part of a healthy diet, such as serving vegetables every day, fixing vegetables how their child prefers, trying vegetables their child hasn’t had before and letting children pick out vegetables at the grocery store.

Others involve children with preparing the vegetables, hide vegetables in other foods or offer a reward for finishing vegetables.

“Unsurprisingly, parents said pickiness and getting kids to eat veggies were among major challenges during mealtimes,” Woolford said.

“Parents should try to include children in meal decisions, avoid pressuring food consumption and provide a variety of healthy options at each meal so kids feel more control.”

Right sizing food may be difficult

Portion size is key to mitigating the risk of childhood obesity, but it can be hard for parents to “right-size” a child portion.

In determining portion size for their child, nearly 70% of parents polled give their child slightly less than adults in the family while fewer let their child choose how much to take, use predetermined portions from the package or give their child the same portions as adults.

Woolford recommends parents seek sources to help. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, for example, provides a visual called “MyPlate” that can help parents estimate the recommended balance of the major food groups and offers guidance on estimating portion size.

Parents’ concern about whether their child is eating enough or if they’re getting the nutrients they need may lead them to adopt practices that actually sabotage their efforts to get kids to have healthy eating habits in the short and long term.

— Susan Woolford, M.D.

Healthy eating starts at the grocery store

When grocery shopping or planning meals, parents polled say they try to limit the amount of certain foods to help their child to maintain a healthy diet, with more than half limiting foods with added sugars and processed foods.

But it may be difficult to identify unhealthy food. Added sugars or processing may be present in foods marketed or packaged as healthy, Woolford says.

Parents should read labels, avoiding the marketing on the front of packages and focusing instead on the details on the back. They should pay particular attention to nutrition information and ingredient lists – especially if they’re long with unrecognizable items – as well as sodium, added sugars, and fat.

Woolford also encourages involving children in grocery trips, spending time in the produce section and asking them what they may like to try.

“Have them help in the process of choosing the healthiest options, not ones that necessarily directly advertise to children, but foods that they are willing to try that are lower in sugar, fat and salt,” she said.

“Spend most of the time in the produce section and try to make it fun by maybe selecting new options from different parts of the world that they haven’t tried before.”

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Previously Published on michiganmedicine.org with Creative Commons License

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The post Playing Short Order Cook, Forcing Clean Plates May Sabotage Healthy Eating Habits in Kids appeared first on The Good Men Project.

Playing Short Order Cook, Forcing Clean Plates May Sabotage Healthy Eating Habits in Kids Many parents struggling with picky young eaters try different tactics to get their kids to eat healthy but should make sure they’re the right ones, experts say

I’ve been testing recipes for a birthday party that I’m going to cook for myself in a couple of weeks. Full of spring, a bit Garden of England (cherries, broad beans and cucumber) and quite a bit of Italian.

My dream is that I’ll prepare all of this in advance and leave platters around the place along with bowls of roasted nuts and chipsticks. It will, of course, be sunny and I’ll receive our guests into our tidy house, perfectly relaxed, having done all the work in advance. Revellers will spill outside enjoying beer from the local brewery and boxes of cheap wine. The kids will behave impeccably throughout and I’ll be ready to embark on the second half of my life. This may be fanciful, but I hope someone (hint, hint) will also bake me a cake so I’ll have candles to blow out.

Broad bean and almond pesto

This is a great, fresh, pasta sauce but can also be served on grilled polenta, on toast, in a sandwich, through boiled rice or steamed spinach. Serves 4. Ready in 15 minutes

blanched almonds 30g
broad beans 150g shelled (about 500g in pods)
garlic ½ clove, peeled
basil ½ small bunch
pecorino or parmesan (or half and half) 40g, grated
olive oil

Bring a pot of water to the boil with the almonds in it, to soften them a little. Into this, blanch the broad beans for 2 minutes, then fish them out, along with the almonds, and drop them into a bowl of cold water. Double pod the beans, by squeezing out the more vivid kernel, and place them in a bowl with the almonds. In a food processor or a large mortar and pestle, blitz or pound the garlic and basil and a pinch of salt until a fine paste. Add the beans and almonds and process again. Lastly, stir in the cheese and 5 tbsp of olive oil. Use this sauce with a short pasta shape, like fusilli. Serve with more cheese.

Grilled duck, cucumbers and mint

Dishy: grilled duck, cucumbers and mint. Photograph: Romas Foord/The Observer

Should you decide to cook this outside on a barbecue in place of the grill pan, make sure it’s over indirect heat, with charcoal placed off to one side and a pan underneath to catch rendered fat. Serves 4. Ready in 30 minutes

duck breasts 2, roughly 280g each
garlic 1 clove
sherry or red wine vinegar 3 tbsp
olive oil 3 tbsp, plus a little extra
black pepper
cucumbers 2, medium
mint 2 sprigs
tarragon 2 sprigs
sugar 1 tsp

Score the duck in stripes through the skin, but try to avoid cutting too deeply into the flesh. Salt both sides.

Make a dressing by crushing a garlic clove and mixing with 3 tbsp of sherry or red wine vinegar, 3 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tsp of sugar. Add to this many grinds of freshly cracked black pepper.

Using a peeler, remove stripes of cucumber skin so that it looks like a stick of rock. Cut into rounds about 1cm thick. Lightly salt these, too, and set aside while you heat a grill pan over a medium heat.

Ever so lightly grease the skin of the duck breasts with the scantest amount of olive oil and set them in the middle of the grill, skin side down. The pan should be hot enough so that they don’t stick, but not so hot that they scorch. Grill, lifting them and replacing them every so often. They will release a lot of fat. After about 5 minutes, pour this off and, once it’s cold, keep it in the fridge for future roast potatoes.

At the 10 minute mark, the skin will be golden and crisp. Turn the duck breasts over and cook for another 2 minutes, then place on one side for 90 seconds, then the other side for a further 90 seconds. Finally, cook for 3 more minutes with the skin side still facing up. Set aside on a plate to rest while you tackle the cucumbers. Drain any more excess fat and grill the cucumbers for 2 minutes on each side, placing them with the duck once ready. Slice the duck crosswise into thin strips and arrange on a serving plate with the cucumbers, herb leaves torn over and dressed with the strong vinegar sauce.

Sweet cherry focaccia

‘I cannot let the cherry season slide without making this at least once’: sweet cherry focaccia. Photograph: Romas Foord/The Observer

I cannot let the cherry season slide without making this at least once. The warm ye**ty bread is delicious on its own or, as I prefer, with a fresh spring goat’s cheese. Over and above the active time, there are long pauses in this recipe while the dough proves. This gives the focaccia a deeper, more complex flavour and is well worth the wait. This is a forgiving bread and the times can be extended to suit your day.
Serves 6. Ready in 9 hours

wholemeal rye flour 100g
00 flour 400g
dried instant yeast 7g
sea salt 10g
sugar 20g
cherries 400g
olive oil 25g, plus more for drizzling

Make a starter dough by mixing the rye flour with 100g of the 00 flour and 200g of water and 2g of the dried yeast. Mix well, cover and set aside for 4 to 5 hours until much risen and sweet smelling.

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When this is ready mix the remaining flour and yeast with the salt, half of the sugar, 25g of olive oil, 150g of water and the starter dough. Set aside for 30 minutes, then knead the dough in a stand mixer with the hook attachment for 10 minutes. Cover and leave somewhere warm to rise for 2 hours.

Oil an oven sheet – mine is 35cm by 25cm. Turn out the now well-risen dough on to the sheet and shape into a round in the middle of the sheet. Rest for 20 minutes, then, with wet hands, gently and evenly press the dough out from the middle to fill the pan.

Halve the cherries and remove the stones. Press each half cut side up into the dough. Sprinkle with the rest of the sugar, a good pinch of salt and drizzle even more olive oil over them. Heat the oven to 240C/gas mark 9 without the fan on, or as hot as your oven will allow. After 30 minutes, press each cherry half back into the pillowy dough before baking for 18 minutes turning the pan once, so that it cooks evenly, three-quarters of the way through. Serve fresh, preferably still warm.

Coffee and chocolate granita

‘Use de-caffeinated coffee if you are serving this at night’: coffee and chocolate granita. Photograph: Romas Foord/The Observer

You can churn this in an ice-cream machine if you have one and prefer a smoother result. My advice is to use de-caffeinated coffee if you are serving this at night. Serves 6. Preparation 10 minutes, plus 4 hours to cool and freeze

sugar 100g
cocoa powder 50g
dark chocolate 100g, broken into pieces
water 225ml
vanilla extract 1 capful
espresso coffee 150ml
salt small pinch
whipping cream 300ml

Heat a saucepan filled with 225ml water, the sugar and a pinch of salt over a high heat. As soon as the sugar dissolves, add the cocoa and whisk in. Continue to whisk while it simmers for 1 minute, then move the pan from the heat and stir in the chocolate until it melts. Next, add vanilla extract and coffee and pour into a shallow container to cool – mine measures 25cm by 25cm.

Set aside for 30 minutes, after which it will be cool enough to put into the freezer. Leave it there for 90 minutes; by then it will have frozen a little on the top and around the edges. Break up the frozen parts with a table fork and stir them in. Repeat this forking every 30 minutes for the next 2 hours to achieve a smooth frozen consistency scattered with ice crystals.

When it’s time to serve, whisk the cream to firm peaks. Serve the granita in water glasses, topped with 2 heaped tbsp of whipped cream each.

If left to go solid, remove from the freezer a few minutes ahead and mash with a fork again before serving, or very quickly pulse in a food processor.

Joe Trivelli is joint head chef of London’s River Café (rivercafe.co.uk)

Food styling by Henrietta Clancy

Tempting springtime party food to prepare in advance Celebratory Italian treats which won’t keep you busy in the kitchen on the day