Recipes: Strike out on your own and lead the way

Cooking – and food generally – is a constantly evolving adventure and, apart from baking, a pleasingly inexact science. Which is partly, I suspect, why we love it so much. Cooking should be like this; and it needs to be if it’s to reflect the abilities and even the personality of the cook.

A little spice here, a smidgeon of heat there, a dash of this and a pinch of that. Or maybe not. It’s entirely up to you. And once you’ve spent enough time in the kitchen, trying, failing, succeeding, failing and succeeding again, you start to not stick so rigidly to recipes.

As your understanding of what works and doesn’t work deepens, so cooking at home becomes more enjoyable and your food becomes better and better. Or at least that’s the gist of it. It’s certainly what I try to do in this column. Many of my recipes are more like guides, really. This is because many ingredients, such as herbs and spices, can be successfully swapped for something else, if that’s what you like and it works for you.

Don’t like kale? Well, use spinach instead. Don’t like goat’s cheese? Sure feta will do, and if you want to ease up on cheese, mash an avocado and season it up and you’ll get the required creaminess we often crave. It’s all about figuring it out.

Gaining the confidence to cook in this way takes a bit of time, and if you’re a novice cook, it can feel important to stick to recipes as it builds your confidence. But as your skills and confidence grow, well, in theory, the world is your culinary oyster.

And it’s in this spirit of laid-back cooking that this week’s recipes were devised.

The aubergine and halloumi mish-mash is gently spiced with mustard seeds and garam masala – because I have an abundance of them for some reason. But you could just as easily use cumin and coriander.

And the tahini dressing is delicious, not only drizzled over this dish, but will work wonders for harder leaves such as kale and cabbage when you want a creamy, Caesar-like dressing.

Tahini is getting star status at the moment for it’s benefits: it’s rich in minerals such as phosphorus, lecithin, magnesium, potassium and iron and is a great source of calcium.

It’s also high in vitamin E and plenty of B vitamins – B1, B2, B3, B5 and B15.

And even if you’re not that interested in the nutritional bits, then you’ll at least enjoy the fact that this store cupboard – and deeply satisfying dish – partners very well with this thumbs up dressing.

dkemp@irishtimes.com

Food cooked and styled by Domini Kemp and Gillian Fallon