Tagliatelle with Aspargus & Tomatoes

Yesterday I celebrated my Birthday with rainy weather - again! I didn't made something special - this will happen on saturday with the family with grilling and hopefully better weather. On the radio they said, that it's the weted and cold May since 20 years!!!! Unbelieveble. I still don't feel better, still the bad cough and sometimes headache. If it don't gets better I got to visit the doctor.

As I will do a little party on saturday I already prepared some stuff ahead and this took me almost the whole afternoon standing in the kitchen with a mouthmask to preware my virus coming on the food while coughing.
In the evening I anyway cooked, to fait against the weather, a simple, easy but so good "summery" dinner and I immediatly felt better. Incredible who good food can heal your soul....

Of course I will post the food I made for saturday later on, be patient ;)

For now the recipe made on my Birthdayevening.  Enjoy and hopefully you got better weather and enjoy it!


Tagliatelle with Aspargus & Tomatoes




Serves 4

Ingredients

olive oil

2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

1 small bunch basil, leaves and stalks finely chopped

2 x 400 g tinned plum tomatoes

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 bunch asparagus

500 g fresh tagliatelle (egg-free)

extra virgin olive oil, to serve

 

Direction:

Heat a saucepan over a medium heat and add a nice lug of olive oil. Add the garlic and fry until it turns a light golden brown. Add the chopped basil stalks and tinned tomatoes, and bring to the boil. Season with pepper and a tiny pinch of salt, then simmer for 5 minutes.

Snap the woody ends off the asparagus stalks and throw them away. You can either chop the asparagus finely with a knife or use a food processor. Add it to the tomato sauce, let it simmer for 1 minute or so, then take it off the heat. Taste, and add a little salt and pepper if needed. Finish off the sauce by stirring in the basil leaves.

Cook the tagliatelle according to the packet instructions, then drain, reserving some of the pasta water. Toss in the pasta sauce with a little of the water to loosen.

Serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and vegan Parmesan cheese (if desired).

Welcome weekend and welcome back sickness....Yes, I'm sick again with a bad cough, headache and feaver. I already felt bad on thursday and on friday I had such bad headache and the cough started. Not really good, when working and dealing with patients at a doctors office. Well you may say that I'm a the right place, but it's different being a client than working there.

Usually I'm not that sick often, but with this bad - and I mean really bad weather. It's at the end of May and we only have about 10 Celsius. It's so frustrating. I planted my garden last weekend and I hope it will grow. Even the farmers got their problems, not fruit or vegetable will grow.

AND next week is my Birthday and I so badly want to sit in the garden with the grill on and enjoying the evening with the family.

Back to my recipe. Even being sick I had to cook something and all I wanted was easy and fast done dish packed with full of health.

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I had some cooked leftover Quinoa and I just reheated it up and added the rest of the ingredients. It will work well as a cold dish, but for myself I needed a lightly warm dish.

Guess this dish will work well as a side dish when grilling outside.

 

Enjoy and have good weekend!

Mango Avocado Quinoa

 

 

Everything about this quinoa makes me smile. The bright colors. The zesty-sweet flavors. And the wellness superfoods imbedded in each tasty bite.

Mango Avocado Superfood Quinoa
vegan, makes about 5 servings

3 cups cooked fluffy quinoa
1/2 cup chopped kale (cooked or raw)
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1-2 limes, squeezed + a bit of grated zest
1/4 tsp fine black pepper
1-2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
2 Tbsp ground flax seed
2 Tbsp hemp seeds
salt to taste

Fold in:
1 cup diced avocado
3/4 cup diced mango
1 Tbsp goji berries soaked in lime juice and a pinch of salt

Directions:
Toss cooked quinoa with all the ingredients. Fold in the avocado, mango and goji berries last. Garnish with lime wedges.

Edamame Hummus Dip

First I love dips on every occasion. I always got a few (some selfmade, some bought) in my refrigerator, so whenever I feel hungry I got something I could spread on a bread and load with some salad leafs and cucumber or tomatoes or whatever I got on hand. Sometimes I just eat the dip with some crackers. Mostly the dips are pretty fast eaten.

A few month ago I saw cooked Edamame at the store (as a snack) and I immediatly fell in Love. Too sad I can't buy it fresh and prepare a bunch of them as the prepared Edamame snack is pretty expensive. I guess I have to make a stop at the asian store and see if they got them fresh. Well one thing I hadn't been yet at the asian store - it's not around the corner and I have to drive 10 min by train to get there.

Yesterday I found a recipe in the web. A Hummus dip made with green beans and tahin and then suddenly I had an Idea. Why not changing the green beans with the Edamame? And so it happend and soo good! Try it out

Spring Edamame Hummus Dip

 

 

This creamy green dip is packed with protein from the rich, rustic and creamy edamame soy beans, yet light and lovely for spring. If you love giving hummus a creative makeover, give this recipe a try. It is a bit nuttier and textured than traditional hummus, yet still creamy and dippable. Delicious served chilled (thickens as it cools) or serve warm with a drizzle of olive oil on top! Serve with crackers, veggies or as a yummy sandwich spread.

Spring Edamame Hummus Dip
vegan, makes 2 cups

1 cups cooked edamame soybeans (shelled)
3/4 cup white beans, cooked (canned – drain and rinse)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp tahini
2 Tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup parsley

Directions:
Blend all ingredients in blender or food processor until smooth. Serve warm or chilled.

Different Eggplant Casserole

Today I got a day off from work and still the day was very busy and hard working. I found a raised-bed gardening in the web on a selling page and this one was for free with no costs! I had to take it no matter what. I had to pick it up one hour driving away in another city and as I have no car my parents came with me. So we drove up there, pick it up and back home with a stop at a garden center to buy earth and stone plates. After we ate something the project could beging. As the gras in backyard was almost hips high we first had to cut it. After a long and hard working afternoon we were finished at exactly six p.m. I was pretty proud of my little garden!

Back in my kitchen I needed a healthy dish which gave me back energy. Luckely I went for food while my parents ate their lunch, otherwise I had to order something at a foodservice, my refrigerator was so empty.
While the Casserole was in the oven I prepared myself a healthy green salad with sprouts and tomatoes and some garlicbread.

After I ate dinner I was pretty tired laying on the sofa watching TV and going to bed on time. Tomorrow I will have a day with a lot to do.


Different Eggplant Casserole

Serves	1-2
Cook time	30 minutes

 

Ingredients

1/4 cup organic virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves (minced)

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 medium to large organic eggplant

1-2 organic yellow squash or zucchini

1/2 block vegan cheese (shredded)

1 handful organic baby spinach

plain bread crumbs

raw walnuts, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary (minced)

 

Directions

In a small skillet, toss in the oil, garlic, salt, and rosemary. Sauté till they are fragrant and the garlic is a light brown. Pour into a bowl, then it can easily cool off.

Take the eggplant and yellow squash, cut them in slices with a knife.

Pull out an 8-inch greased square pan. Let the layering begin! Cover the bottom of the pan with one layer of eggplant and one layer of yellow squash, then brush on the oil mixture (a little on the generous side) over the squash. Sprinkle a light layer of bread crumbs and walnuts. Sprinkle on some vegan cheese.

Continue with another layer of eeggplant and one layer of yellow squash, then brush on the oil mixture (a little on the generous side) over the squash. Sprinkle a light layer of bread crumbs and walnuts. Sprinkle on some vegan cheese.

Generously layer the spinach on top; try to lay it so it stays on the flatter side. Go ahead sprinkle a little cheese if you want! Don’t worry almost done, lovely!

Continue with another layer of eeggplant and one layer of yellow squash, then brush on the oil mixture (a little on the generous side) over the squash. Sprinkle a light layer of bread crumbs and walnuts. Sprinkle on some vegan cheese.

Pop the pan in a preheated oven at 350º for 30 minutes. Eat alone, with pasta, potatoes, or anything your heart desires. Enjoy!

Blueberry Pie on Mother's day

Annual Mother's day and my mother is away in the swiss alps. Anyway now I got this delicious cake for myself and my brother with his girlfriend who came over for a cup of coffee. Unfortunatly the weather is pretty windy and not really warm to be outside, too bad. My sister went for grilling in the forest area.

I bought the blueberries not knowing someone would come over, but when my brother called and asked if they could come over I just that idea what I could do instead with the blueberries (first I wanted to make a jam). I like fruitpie more than cakes, can't tell you why it's just fruitier.
This pie is pretty easy and so fast done, ingredible. My mother would have loved the pie. Well mother's day not the only day you can bake something for your mother. Always show her your love throught the year. It means more than just on one day during the year!!

Blueberry Pie

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Ingredients:
1 ½ lbs fresh blueberries
½ cup light brown sugar
Juice from ½ lemon (discard seeds)
1 tsp cinnamon
2 TBL cornstarch or arrowroot powder
2 TBL cold water
1 baked pie crust 9” (check ingredients if buying frozen crust or make your own)

Direction:
In a large saucepan, heat the blueberries over medium-high heat until they begin to boil. Simmer gently for 10 minutes.

Add brown sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon. Simmer for 2 minutes.

Mix the cornstarch or arrowroot well with the water. Pour mixture into the simmering blueberries while stirring. Cook and stir until mixture becomes clear and thick. Continue to cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and cool.

Spoon mixture into already baked pie crust and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. Whip up SoyaToo Soy Whip to stiff peak and put a dollop on your slice of pie. Garnish with mint sprig.

Monk beard salad

Monk’s beard is a green vegetable which originates from Tuscany. It is similar to samphire in appearance and taste but without the overwhelming saltiness that makes samphire such an acquired taste. Monk’s beard gets its name from the Cappuccino monks who were well known for growing the vegetable.
Monk’s beard has a very short season of approximately five weeks in the spring and while it is predominately grown in Tuscany it is also increasingly being grown by specialist salad and vegetable growers in the United Kingdom and United States.
Monk’s beard is known as Barbe dei Frati in Italy and is also called goat's beard in the United Kingdom.
When it is very young it is suitable to use in salads but it is perhaps best when lightly steamed and dressed with lemon juice, olive oil and freshly ground black pepper (and sea salt to taste) to produce a delicate side platter. It almost look like chive just thicker and bigger, like thick gras.

I've seen monk beard a few times at the supermarket and befor buying it I searched the web. In fact I have a recipe for monk beard since years. I guess I just saved it just in case. And then I bought it and it stayed in my refrigerator for a few days and then I defently had to make it before it went bad. My first try was just roasted monk beard with onions, chilli and deglazed with balsamic vinegar. Thought it does look a little dark cause of the balsamic vinegar, the taste was "oh my God", so good!! I can't even tell you the taste, hard to define, but defently not strange, like what, yes what? Anyway just good I immediatly fell in love and I had just a prepared dish in about 8 min cooking time, so fast done. Yesterday I bought it again and made that great salad!


 Monk beard salad

Ingredients for 2 persons:

1 bunch monk beard

1/2 small onion dice into thin cut

1 garlic clove, finely diced

1 small chili pepper, diced small

2 Tablespoons best wine vinegar

Salt, pepper,

1 Tsp mustard

3 Tbsp olive oil

Preparation:

Generously cut off the roots of the monk beards and then thoroughly wash, he can be quite sandy. Boil water in a large pot, salt vigorously and boil monk beard for about 5 minutes. Drain and return hot again in the pot. Mix with the onion, garlic, chili.

In a large bowl stir a vinaigrette with vinegar, salt, pepper and mustard. Add olive oil stir it beautiful creamy and then give the monk beard out of the pot in the salad bowl and mix everything thoroughly.

Rhurbarb jam

Every year when the spring and summer fruits comes into season you see me in the kitchen making jams. I grew up eating jams from the fruits of our homegarden, I even liked to pick them down, bowls of bowls. Well what can I say the selfmade jams are still the best ones.

During strawberry season I often went to a strawberry field selling them, but you have to pick them by yourself. I really loved that when being a child, though after work the back hurt from bending down.

My first jam this year was a pure rhubarb jam. First I wanted to mix them with strawberries, but the one I could buy didn't taste yet well, so I decide to make a plain rhubarb jam and I have to say I even like it better them plain than mixed.



Rhubarb Jam

 

 

Ingredients:

 

500 g raw Rhubarb, trimmed and weight

500 g sugar or 250 g jam sugar

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

 

Direction:

Wash the rhubarb under cold water, trimm and slice into 2 cm pieces. Take a big pan, preheat and put the rhubarb into the pan, cook for a few minutes then add the sugar and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved, and bring to the boil.

 

Continue to cook at a fairly swift pace until the rhubarb is really tender and the conserve has reached setting point - this should take about 10-15 mins.

 

To test for a set, drop ½ tsp of the jam onto a cold saucer, leave it for 30 secs, then gently push it with the tip of your finger. If the jam wrinkles the setting point has been reached. If not, continue to cook for a further couple of minutes and test again.

 

Remove the pan from the heat and leave to one side for 2-3 mins before pouring into sterilised jars. Seal immediately and label with the date once completely cold.

Zucchini-Spaghetti alla "Carbonara"

Sunday and I'm glad the sun is shining, though I have a lot of thing to do, cause yesterday we had a big family meeting at the lake of Biel (swiss-french part speaking of switzerland). We were about 50 persons, most I knew but some I didn't. We were my fathers three brothers with their children and family and my fathers cousins living in the french part and their families. The reason we came together was in Memory of my grandfather who would get 100 years old.

We left home about 9.30 a.m. driving 1 1/2 hours and came back at 7 p.m. The meeting was nice though the weather wasn't, cold and raining. After the day I was really tired and fall early asleep.

First I found the day - Saturday-  not that great for a family meeting, cause I couldn't to the grocery shopping I needed to do, but today I'm glad it was yesterday, so I could do a long sleeping. Today I was all doing the stuff I wanted yesterday - cleaning, washing cloth, cooking and so on. I worked till my back hurt terrible and then lay myself on the sofa doing a nap.

Luckely I still had zucchinis in my refrigerator I could use for making dinner, otherwise I would had to go for some food at the trainstation's shop. All the left ingredients needed for this dish I had at home or on the balcony. For this recipe I only used the zucchini, but I you feel more hungry feel free to mix the zucchini-spaghetti with whole-wheat spaghetti to get a more hearty dish.



Zucchini-Spaghetti alla "Carbonara"




Ingredients:

Preparation time: 25 minutes

Ingredients (for 2 persons)

100 g white almond mousse
Half bunch of parsley
160 g smoked tofu
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
about 5 Tablespoons olive oil
grated rind of half organic Lemon
1 Tsp lemon juice
iodized sea salt
black pepper from the mill
5 Zucchini (about 1 kg)

Preparation:

Using a whisker, mix almond purée and 240 ml of water. Wash parsley, shake dry and finely chop the leaves.

Cut smoked tofu into small cubes. Peel the onion and garlic clove, chop both finely. Heat 2 TBSP olive oil in a frying pan. Fry smoked tofu for 3 minutes. Add the onions and saute for 3 minutes.

Add the Almond mousse mix, lemon zest, lemon juice and parsley, stir, season with salt and pepper. Boil the Carbonara and let it thicken

Wash Zucchini and with a spiral cutter cut spaghetti. Mix with 2 Tablespoons of olive oil and some sea salt, gently lift under the hot sauce and heat up.

Wreak in pasta dishes, dizzle with some olive oil and grind black pepper.

Tomato & Basil tarts with a lemon "cream cheese" filling and a cold eggplant salad

International Workers' Day (also known as May Day) is a celebration of the international labour movement. May 1 is a national holiday in more than 80 countries and celebrated unofficially in many other countries.

 

I really like to have one more day off from work especially just in the middle of the week. The perfect break. The wheater forcast says it's going to be a nice day, well let's see..... As the last few days weren't really "spring"days, still cold and sometimes rainy. Hopefully we will have springtime this year!!! I really do love the spring when you can see everything growing in the garden, the birds singing in the morning - all that stuff.

 

After a short breakfast I made myself ready for doing some cooking. As most time I don't already really know what exactly to cook, but this time was different. I had some puff pastry I had to do before getting bad and I wanted to make those small tarts I really like. Only the filling would be different from the other times. I found the inspiration on the german web and I immediatly knew I wanted to try it. The result was great and so creamy and fresh!

Tomato & Basil Tarts with a Lemon "Cream Cheese" Filling

 

Servings: about 8 tarts

Ingredients
Lemon Cream Cheese Ingredients:

1 bulb garlic, (2 cloves used)
½ cup Vegan Cream Cheese
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon brown rice syrup or agave nectar
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon finely ground black pepper

Remaining Ingredients:

4-6 leaves fresh basil, finely chopped
1 organic tomato, large dice, plus dash sea salt and pepper
1 package vegan puff pastry (2 sheets used)

Instructions
Thaw the puff pastry sheets before using according to the package.
Pre-heat oven to 375°.

To roast garlic, place garlic bulb, with top sliced off, in a heat proof ramekin with a dash of high heat oil. Roast about 30-35 minutes until cloves are soft.

To create lemon cream cheese filling, in a medium bowl, combine 2 cloves smashed roasted garlic, cream cheese, lemon juice, brown rice syrup, sea salt and pepper in a large bowl. Whisk until uniform. Set aside.

Turn oven up to 425°.

Finely chop the basil and set aside in a bowl. Place tomatoes in a separate bowl and season with sea salt and pepper.

Slice each sheet of puff pastry into 8 or 9 squares.

Fill each puff pastry square with 1 tablespoon cream cheese filling, a pinch of basil and piece tomato. Repeat for all squares. Fold corners to meet in middle.

Place on baking sheet and bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until tarts are golden.

When serving, garnish with fresh basil.

 

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Cold Eggplant Salad

 

Ingredients

450 g eggplants

SAUCE
1-1/2 Tbsp sesame oil
1-2 tsp chili oil
2 Tbsp finely chopped garlic
1-1/2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
3 Tbsp finely chopped spring onions (scallions)
2 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp Chinese black vinegar (if you don't have take balsamic vinegar)

GARNISH
Handful of fresh coriander sprigs (optional)

Directions

Cut the aubergines into 2-inch squares. Do not peel them.
Next, set up a steamer or put a rack into a wok and fill it with 2 inches of water. Bring the water to the boil over a high heat. Put the aubergines onto a heatproof plate and carefully lower it into the steamer or onto the rack. Turn the heat to low and cover the wok tightly. Steam gently for 30-40 minutes or until the aubergines are very soft to the touch.

When they are cooked, remove from the wok, transfer to a platter and allow to cool thoroughly.

Now, make the sauce. Wipe the wok clean and reheat it. When it is hot, add the sesame and chili oils. When they are very hot and slightly smoking, add the garlic and stir-fry for 40 seconds.
Add the rest of the ingredients, mix thoroughly, and stir-fry for 1 minute. Remove the wok from the heat and allow the sauce to cool.

When you are ready to serve, pour the sauce evenly over the aubergines and toss well. Garnish with the coriander if using and serve at once at room temperature.