Avocado-Rocket-Salad filled Pita

Yesterday evening I was a Birthdayparty from my Godparent, he turned 60. I knew that I probably won't know much people - beside my parents and my Godparent's brothers and wifes - so, arriving at the apéro I knew nowbody. I stood there for more than half a hour and then the people I knew came. Like I hate that, the other people knew eachother, and I got to say I'm not really that kind of person that just goes to someone and starts talking. I got to be "just happening".

They had a catering and the choice was very small. One green salad, Bulgursalad, Beetrootsalad, carrot salad and some roasted eggplants, a soup and roasted Potatoes and unfortunatly only Meat...... I hold myself to the salads but got quickly very disappointed. The green salad dressing was that uneatable, ugly. Absolutly NO TASTE, NO SPICES, just nothing but a lot of olive oil and few vinegar. The rest was ok, only the eggplant not well cooked.

I was very very close to ask for some spices or something else, I couldn't eat the salad. The soup was also undefinable what exactly it was.
Eating is a big part at a party but not the center of it. I really enjoyed it. BUT the day after I had such bad headache behind the eyes and nausea, guess must have eaten something that wasn't good for me (I got a few intolerances).

Anyway I had to eat something and I wasn't in the mood for long time cooking so I only made myself
hese filled Pitabreads. They are very quickly done and even the kid will like it and they can help or fill their Pita's themself. You can eater put in some vegan cheese, Tofu or a humusdip - what ever you like :)

Enjoy your Pita's

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Avocado-Rocket-Salad filled Pitabread



For 4 Persons

Ingredients:
8 Pita's
3 Avocado
100 g washed Rocket

Sauce:
5 Tbsp. sweet Soysauce
4 Tbsp. Rapeseed Oil
2 Tbsp. Apple cider vinegar
1 Shallot
1 Apple

Direction:
For the sauce give the soy sauce, oil and vinegar in a bowl. Finely chopp the shallot and mix everything.

Bake the pitas according to pack instructions. Cut Avocados in half, remove core, loosen the pulp out of the shell and cut into cubes. Slice the apple in stripes. Mix both with a little sauce and rocket salad. Cut Pitas, and fill with the salad. Also pour remaining sauce.

Green Gazpacho

During winter a hot soup is what I most want for lunchtime. Well not always of course. During summer time a hot soup of course is too much heating when it's hot outside. Then I mostly eat a good salad, but when I was in italy a few years ago I came to knew how good a selfmade "Nonna" gazpacho tastes like and I immediatly fell in love for it.

A Gazpacho is so easy and fast done. The soup even tastes better the next day and as I knew that already I prepared the soup yesterday - for todays lunch.
Saturdays are mostly filled with a lot of work at home and in the garden. Therefore I was glad that lunch waited in the refrigerator, served together with some crostinis. Yummy :)

 

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Green Gazpacho



Ingredients

600 gr of green tomatoes
200 g  cucumber
1 green pepper
2 Celery stalks
½ Fennel bulb
½ clove of garlic
6 Leaves Mint
some splashes of green Tabasco
Salt
freshly ground pepper
2 1/2 tsp. sherry vinegar

Preparation

Rinse the tomatoes, cut into quarters and cut the stem out. Peel cucumber, cut in half lengthways and remove the seeds with a teaspoon. Cut the cucumber into pieces.

The pepper into quarters, clean, rinse and cut into pieces. Clean Celery and may unlock thread, then rinse and cut into pieces. Clean the fennel, rinse, cut into quarters and cut out the core. Dice the fennel. Peel the garlic. Rinse Mint and shake dry.

Puree very fine the coarsely chopped vegetables, garlic, mint, Tabasco, salt, pepper and vinegar in a blender. Pass the puree through a sieve and put 4-6 hours in the refrigerator and allow to cool.

 

After the hours taste the gazpacho again with salt, pepper and Tabasco spicy and serve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Avocado, vegan cream chesse and salsa Pockets

Sun, sun and hot temperature, together with some days off from work - this is how summer should be! I'm definitly more a summer girl than winter. On Saturday I've done what I had to and right after I went - packed with a deckchair, a good book - into the garden till the sun went down.

On Sunday the same procedere after a late lunch (recipe below) - and being back in my apartement I realized I got sunburned. Luckely it was not that bad that it hurt.

I really love my apartement, but in summer it's like you live in the oven. Sun shining in on one side in the morning and then on the other side in the afternoon, till the sun goes down. Most times I walk around naked or just dressed with a bikinidress.

Now back to my Sunday Lunch recipe. This recipe - making smaller pockets - will also work as a snack or appetizer on a summer party or as a side dish while grilling.

Enjoy the pockes, equal big or small or for what reason you serve them! I just digged in them... And this will mean something :)

 

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Avocado, Vegan Cream Cheese, and Salsa Pockets

This was SO easy to make and would be an awesome breakfast to make if you have guests staying with you. You don't even have to mix anything together! Just drop some mashed avocado onto a pastry square, top with cream cheese, then some salsa, and make a pocket...simple!

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Ingredients

1 large sheet puffed pastry, thawed

1 ripe avocado, halved and mashed

1/3 cup cream cheese

1/3 cup salsa

salt and pepper, sprinkled to taste

some milk

Directions

1. Heat oven to 200°C and spray two baking sheets with cooking spray. 

2. Thaw puffed pastry for about 10 minutes. With a knife, slice the pastry into approximately 5 cm by 5 cm squares.

3. On half the squares, place a dollop of avocado, then cream cheese, then salsa. Season with salt and pepper. Use the remaining squares as the tops and place over top the filling. Seal the pockets by pressing the edges with a fork. Seal well so no filling oozes out during cooking.

4. Dizzle each of the pockets with some milk (replaces the egg). Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until desired browning and puffing has occurred.

Chives and "Cheese* skillet Omelet (gluten free)

A great sunny and hot day! Yesterday I worked - together with my parents - almost the whole afternoon in the garden, cleaning it up, cutting down small trees and so on. But before I went to buy planting earth and vegetables I wanted to plant in my two old half winebarrel (I got from a winery - for free!!). We finished and I so much enjoyed the shower afterward....

And today my plans were: cleaning up the windows and after lunch going into the garden to fill the barrels with plants. But, as many times plans changes. While cleaning the balcony doorglas I looked outside and decided to wash down the balcony instead of cleaning the left windows.
OH my Good. The balcony was so dirty!! Well, no wonder as I live close to a main street - and I got a small balcony. It took me two hours to clean it. After that I defently needed something in my stomach, I was starving. I needed a dish fast done as I wanted to go into my garden for planting. So I decided to make a Omelett - some eat it for breakfast - I eat it for lunch.

For those who are curious what I planted:
2 Zucchiniplants, 4 fennel, 1 swiss chard, leeks (25!), 1 peperonie, 6 pak choi, 6 kohlrabi (german turnip), 2 different 6 salads, 4 lemon basilicum,  1 gingermint, two date-tomatoes. AND I'm a single person......... let's see

 

I have to say "I'm pretty proud of my garden"

 



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Chive and Cheese Skillet Omelet (gluten free)

Servings: 6 - 8

Ingredients
1 block firm tofu, pressed and drained
1⁄4 cup unsweetened almond or soymilk
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon egg replacer, dry
2 tablespoons gluten-free all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
1 tablespoon brown rice syrup
1 teaspoon sea salt
1⁄4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
1⁄2 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon neutral tasting oil
1 tablespoon light miso paste (non-barley)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon neutral tasting high-heat oil, for greasing pan
1⁄2 cup vegan Shredded Cheese
5-8 leaves fresh basil, finely chopped
1 bunch fresh chives, finely chopped

Direction:
Preheat broiler to high.

In food processor combine tofu, almond or soymilk, baking powder, egg replacer, flour, arrowroot powder, nutritional yeast, brown rice syrup, sea salt, black pepper, turmeric, oil, miso and lemon juice. Blend until mixture is uniform and smooth.

Grease an oven-proof non-stick sauté pan generously with high-heat oil. Place tofu mixture into pan, and spread out evenly. Cook over low heat, covered, for about 5 minutes without stirring.

Remove lid and continue
to cook over medium heat for an additional 3-5 minutes.

Sprinkle omelet with vegan cheese. Place sauté pan in oven and broil
 for 3 minutes, or until browned.
 Top with basil and chives. 

Let cool for 10 minutes, and transfer to a platter. Serve warm.

After a rainy monday the sun is back and it looks like the sun will stay the whole week. AND I had two hard working days and always went home after 6 p.m. totally tired and just wanted to lay down and relax for a while before entering the kitchen.... but - there are two hungry cats waiting for me to be feed first and right after I will start to cook my dinner. As you might imagine most times I'm not eating before 8 p.m.

Anyway, I had to eat something and for today I decided to make a fast and easy dish, served with some roasted bread and a salad. Which just gave me back the strenght and energy I needed.

This small and easy done lunch/ dinner snack you can either do on the grill or in the oven. I decided to make it in the oven, as I'm living on the second floor and I would have first clean my grill (after standing in the shadow over years..) would have taken to much time for me to prepare the peppers. 

Result: The taste was just great -  lightly warm and fresh... enjoy

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Guacamole-Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Makes: 4 servings, 1 pepper each
Active Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

5 small-to-medium poblano peppers

2 ripe avocados, halved and pitted

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup thinly sliced hearts of romaine

 

Direction:
Preheat broiler to High.

Place peppers on a large baking sheet. Broil 3 to 4 inches from the heat source, turning once or twice, until the skins blacken and blister, about 10 minutes total. Transfer to a large bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and let stand until cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes. Peel the peppers, leaving the stems attached.

Meanwhile, scoop avocados into a medium bowl and coarsely mash. Add cilantro, onion and salt; stir to combine.

Stem and seed 1 pepper; chop. Stir into the avocado mixture. Make a lengthwise slit through one wall of each of the remaining 4 peppers and carefully remove the seeds. Divide romaine among the peppers, then fill with a generous 1/3 cup guacamole each.

Tempeh Bacon BLT and another sandwich

What a great sunny and really warm day. It's been a while since we had a sunny weekend and the more I enjoyed it. After doing all the household I went into the garden for planting my small tomatoes and some herbs. Working in the garden is so much calming down.

A few weeks ago I already planted fennel, zucchini and swiss chard, but after planting we only had rain and so two fennel went bad and I had to pick them out.  Hopefully the sunny day will remain otherwise the plants won't grow right. Well let's see, but I'm hopefull, it's does not look too bad.

As I wanted to spend as much time in the garden as I could I made a quick lunch sandwich. I so much enjoyed it as it was just what a needed after two hours working with plants. The sandwich was light and fresh with vegetables and if you marinate the tempeh the day before you will save time the other day! For the bread I took normal bread and toasted it and layed the vegetable, salad and tempeh bacon on it, covered with another toasted bread.

Hopefully you will like the sandwich as much as I do!

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Tempeh Bacon Sandwich

 

 

Makes 24 slices

 

The tempeh strips can be left marinating in the fridge 2 to 3 days. Just be sure to eat the bacon as soon as it's cooked—otherwise, it may lose its crispness.

 

Ingredients:      

1 big pkg. tempeh, sliced into 24 very thin slices

¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce

2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar

1 tsp. light brown sugar

½ tsp. ground cumin

½ tsp. ancho chile powder

2 tsp. liquid smoke, optional

1 Tbs. canola oil

Smoked paprika, optional

Toasted bread

some Cherry tomatoes

salad greens

 

Direction:

1. Lay tempeh slices in 2 13- x 9-inch baking dishes. Bring soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, cumin, ancho chile powder, and ½ cup water to a boil in small saucepan. Boil 1 minute, then remove from heat, and stir in liquid smoke, if using. Pour over tempeh slices. Let cool, then cover and chill 2 hours, or overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 300°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Carefully transfer tempeh slices to prepared baking sheet, and discard marinade.

3. Brush slices with canola oil, and sprinkle with paprika, if desired. Bake 10 to 15 minutes, or until beginning to brown. Flip tempeh slices, brush with oil, and bake 5 to 7 minutes more, or until crisp and dark brown.

4. Toast two slices of bread, spread some vegan butter or the two bread loafs and lay with baby salad and some tomatoes and put the tempeh on it and cover with another toasted bread loaf. Season with fresh herbs and enjoy a gread sandwich!

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Roasted Vegetable Sandwiches with Zesty White Bean Spread

 

Serves 4

      

Roasted Vegetables

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. kosher salt or sea salt

½ tsp. coarsely ground black pepper

2 large zucchini, cut diagonally into ½-inch-thick slices (1 ½ lb.)

2 medium red and/or yellow bell peppers, seeded, cored, and cut into eighths

3 small onions, cut into eighths

2 Tbs. olive oil

 

Bean Spread

1 tsp. olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)

1 ½ cups cooked or 15-oz. can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1 Tbs. lemon or lime juice

 

1. To make Roasted Vegetables: Preheat oven to 375°F. Stir together cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper in small bowl. Set aside.
2. Toss together zucchini, bell peppers, onions, and oil in large bowl. Add cumin mixture, and toss to coat.
3. Divide vegetables between 2 baking sheets, and roast 30 to 45 minutes, or until tender and golden brown, turning vegetables once or twice and rotating baking sheets from top to bottom. Cool.
4. To make Bean Spread: Heat oil in small skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, and cook 30 seconds to 2 minutes, or until translucent and fragrant. Add beans, and coarsely mash. Stir in 3/4 cup water, and cook 10 minutes, or until mixture is consistency of refried beans, stirring occasionally. Stir in lemon juice, and cool.
5. To assemble Sandwiches: Spread 2 Tbs. Bean Spread on each bread slice. Top 4 bread slices with 1 cup Roasted Vegetables, 2 or 3 tomato slices, and 1/2 cup arugula. Place remaining 4 bread slices on top. Cut in half to serve.

Celebrating Birthday dishes

As I promissed here are some of the things I made for saturday evening, celebrating my birthday with the family. I made those two salad and two dips and cucumber stick for appetizer. My mother made also two salad (one green and a beet & apple salad), my sister made a rolled up herb bread from the recipe I gave her and a rhubarb cake. My brother brought the prosecco to prost. This way everyone made something. For the grill everyone brought their own stuff as I didn't won't to support their meat eating! I guess I can never change their mind about the meat, too bad..
Anyway I had a great eveing, thought the weather was cold and rainy and I missed sitting outside so badly.

Back to basic. Those two salad are one of my favorite beside other salad serving as side while grilling. They are good to make ahead and this will let you timespace the next day if you need to prepare fresh stuff.  A few days ahead I also made vegetable antipasti, stored in big glases in the refrigerator, of course this was too much and so still got them, which I'm not mad about. This way I already got my dinner done and with the leftover salad - perfect - no cooking today! Glad about that!

On note: The carrot salad is quite spicy and therefore not really made for small children. If you know that you will have children at the table eather make the salad less spicy or make on part without the harissa!

Now enjoy!

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Moroccan carrot salad with Harissa

Serves 8

 

1 kilo carrots

2 tablespoons Harissa

4 tablespoons chopped preserved lemon (about one lemon)

5 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped

salt & pepper to taste

Direction:

Cut the carrot to rounds about 1/2 cm thick.

Boil 4 cups of water and add salt.

Boil the carrot for 10 min until soft but still have some bite to it. Drain, let dry and cool.

Mix the carrot with the rest of the ingredients and let it sit in the fridge at least over night.

 

Before serving check and see if the salad needs more salt or vinegar. If its too spicy for you add a little agave nectar to reduce the spice.

 

Serve at room temperature.

 

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Gazpacho Salad

 

 

Serves 4

 

Ingredients:

2 big tomatoes (about 600g)

1 Cucumber

salt & pepper

1 yellow pepper

1 red pepper

1 piece of watermelon or normal melon

3-4 springonion

1 Tbsp. tomatopuree

2-3 Tbsp. vegetable broth

1/2 - 1 tsp. Harissa

1 1/2 Sherryvinegar or white vinegar

4 Tbsp. native oil

 

Direction:

Cut the tomatoes crosswise and overbrew them a short time (to peel them afterward), drain under cold water. Peel and cut out the stalk. Cut into quartes, deseed and chop into 1 cm pieces.

Peel the cucumber and cut lenghtwise in half, dessed and cut into 0.5 cm pieces. Put them together with the tomatoes in a big bowl and season with salt and pepper.

 

Cut the watermelon from the Peel, deseed and dice small. Peel the peppers with the peeler thin, quarter, core and dice small. Wash the scallions, and cut into thin rings. Mix the vegetables.

 

Mix the tomato puree with broth, Harissa and vinegar, stirr in after and after the oil, and season with salt and pepper. Taste the sauce and pour it over the vegetables, cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours with frequently stirring.