Spiced pea & potato rolls

Do you know that feeling when you're going through a magazine and seeing a posted recipe, or passing through a food store and seeing prepared food and all you want is to bite into it, cause it makes you mouthwatering?

I often got that with magazines and food-stands. But what's the problem? It is mostly not vegan!

A few days ago, while passing by an oriental foodtruck they selled those vegetable-meat-pastry-rolls, beside the meat they smelled so good and what did I - I asked the owner what - beside the meat he used for them, incl. spices. All he told me that the ingredients are curried. Well anyway I went home and my mind was working. Shouldn't be much work to try them out. 

A few days later I made the first ones, I kept it really simple, like I would cook a pan curried vegetables but then rolled it up in a pastry roll.

I got to say that they were really good and I got many options to fill it. 

Great dish!

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Spiced pea & potato rolls

Serves: 4
Prep: 15 min
Cook: 35 min

Ingredients:
2 tbsp vegetable oil or sunflower oil
2 onions, finely sliced
300g potatoes, cut into small cubes
1 headped tbsp. curry paste
140g frozen or fresh peas
4 large sheets filo pastry, cut in half
tomatoes, onion and mango chutney, to serve

Direction:
Heat oven to 200C. Heat half the oil in a frying pan. Add the onions and cook until soft and golden, about 8-10 min.

Meanwhile, boil the potato cuts for 5 min., until just tender, then drain. Give to the softened onions and fry for 2 min. Stir in the curry paste and cook for 2 min. Pop in the peas, plus 1 tbsp water. Cook for 1 min, stirr well and season. Give into a bowl and allow to cool lightly.

Brush half the filo half-sheets with some of the oil and lay the remaining sheets on top to get 4 x double layers. Spoon a ¼ of the potato mix along one edge of each, leaving a bit of space at each end. Fold in the ends then roll up to seal. 

Place closed-side down on a baking sheet, brush with oil and bake for 20 mins, or until crisp. 

Serve warm along with some mango chutney, salad of your desire, if you like.

Banana-Kiwi-Smoothie

Tuesday morning, being early awake - must have -cause we are having another surgeryday and I will be alone with the doctor - which means doing work for two people (the other assistent isn't here) and what is best to wake up the inner sleepy ghosts and getting some strenght for the day? A healthy smoothie. First I thought about making a orange-clementine smoothie, but I eat clementine every day, therefore my body screamed for different fruits with more calories.

Smoothies are great, various and sooo fast done (well it may depend was you use for your smoothie). Just try out what you like. As I don't have a juicer I can almost only make fruit smoothies - I like more anyway ;)

Ready to start the day. 

Take care and stay healthy!

--------------------------------------------------------------

Banana-Kiwi-Smoothie

2 Persons

Ingredients:
4 Kiwis
1 Banana
1/2 Lime squeezed
250 ml Kokosnusjuice
1 Tbsp.  maplye syrup
1 Tbsp. coconutflakes

Direction:
Peel Kiwi and banana, puree in a blender. Add squezzed Limejuice together with the coconut juice. Taste with maple syrup to sweet up. Fill in glasses and serve sprinkled with coconut.

Basmati-Coriander Rice with crunchy coconut-Tofufilet and spicy asian Wok-vegetables

Lately I saw a cookingchalenge on TV an the theme was asian dishes. AND I can't resist asian dishes, it satisaties me immediatly. 

I had a time  when I really loved to watch cookingshows - then a brake - just had enought watching how someone fry their meat or anything non vegan

While watching I made my notes about the ingredients (of course they didn't cook vegan) and how to cook the dish. As the dish really sounded good I wanted to veganize it. I had many options in mind about replacing the meat, but for me the best seamed to be tofu shortly simmered in coconutmilk and grated coconut to get the crunchy outside. 

The remaking the rice was no problem, but with the tofu it took me about 2 tries till I got the best result.

I even got another idea spinning around in my mind, how I could try to fry the tofu. So many variation are possible.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Basmati-Coriander Rice with crunchy coconut-Tofufilet and spicy asian wok-vegetables

For 2 people

Ingredients:
150 g basmati rice 
200 g firm tofu 
1 tablespoon fresh chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion
1/2 tsp Crema di Aglio
1/2 tsp Wokspice
1 teaspoon soy sauce
250 ml coconut milk
2 tsp whole cane sugar 
1 tsp grated coconut 

stir-fried vegetables
2 tablespoons sesame oil 
1/2 tsp Crema di Aglio
1 tsp Crema di Pepperonchino
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 carrot
1 bell pepper
1/2 zucchini
30 g bean sprouts

Direction:
Cook basmati rice according to package directions. Wash and finely chop cilantro. Depending on your taste wisk into the finished basmati rice.

Peel and finely chop onion. Cut tofu into cubes and fry in oil for about 4 minutes. Add  onion and Crema di Aglio and sauté for 2 minutes. Wisk in soy sauce, wokspice, whole cane sugar, coconut milk and  grated coconut, simmer briefly until the sauce is syrupy.

Wash vegetables and cut into thin strips. Heat the sesame oil in a wok or frying pan and cook vegetables and sprouts about 2 minutes until al dente. Add pepperonchino, garlic paste and soy sauce and sauté 2 more minutes and season to taste.

Put rice on a plate, top with the tofu stew and stir-fry vegetables and garnish with grated coconut .

Tip: A quality feature of good coconut milk is that it is not liquid when you open the can , but the fat part has settled . For that is a sign that no emulsifiers were used - for me a must-have ! If you want to use it liquid, you can briefly heat the can in a water bath, then shake and the milk is liquid.

Whole weat threeking bread

Always on the sixth of January we "celebrate" the holy three kings from Bethlehem with a special formed round and mostly quite sweet bread. The bread looks like a party bread with one big bowl in the center surrounded by little ones. AND in one of these little balls hinds a little plastic king.

Traditional one likes this

The one who got the bowl with the king in it, will be the king on that day and can do what ever she/he wants. (well you know what I mean)...
This tradition is of course most liked by children - wearing a crown, being proud and directing everone around ;)

Been grown up, it's still a special day and it's always funny, cause everyone hopes to catch the king, some are pretending to find the king - it's like an exitement.

The last few years I havn't eaten from the bread as it isn't made vegan and the traditional one got dried grape berries in it, and is sprinkled with a lot of almond flakes and sugar. Now, not mine anymore.

This year I made my second vegan threeking bread, (my first have been a few years ago)- a different one - with no berries and almond and made with wholeweat instead of whileweat flour and with no sugar and butter in it. Instead of sprinkling it with sugar I took sesamseeds (you can really see them on the picture).

This threeking bread I will bring to work and let's see who will be the king, ;)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wholeweat threeking bread

4 Persons
resting: 1 hour
baking: 30-40 min

You will need a round cake form, lightly oiled, a crown and a plastik king 

(if you don't have one, use a knob or something else, you won't get hurt if biting in it!!!!!!!)

Ingredients
500 g wholeweat flour
2 tsp. salt
1 (42g) fresh yeast
1 tsp. agave nectar
300 ml vegan milk (or halve water, halve milk, if you want less milk)
seeds to sprinkle on

Direction:
Weight the flour and mix with the salt. Resolve the yeast in the handwarm milk together with the agave nectar, add to the flour and knead till you got a smooth dought. Let it rest and rise covered on a warm place for about one hour. 

Preheat your oven up to 210 °C.

Meanwhile lightly oil out the baking dish. 

When the dough rised put on a floured place, cut pieces and form one big bowl and place in the center of your baking dish. From the rest form smaller bowls and place around the big one. Of course don't forget to hide a king in one of your bowls. Brush with some milk and sprinkle on the seeds (or sugar if you desire).

Place a heat-resist-water-filled-dish in your oven and bake the threeking bread on the middle rack of your oven for about 30-40 min. (Depends on your oven).

When done, take out and let it cool down before eating. 

Enjoy and maybe you will be the king for this time!

Tomatosalad-Sandwich

A few days have past since the holy festive days and some of you may have eaten too much and feel like doing something good for your body.  

For myself I defently ate too much, though a lot of vegetables but with a lot of selfmade dips and sauces and in there hides it. 

For today's lunch snack I decided to prepare a fresh vegetable loaded sandwich - fast, healthy and no worry about your weight. ;)

If you desire a spread on the bread I would recomend a selfmade arugula pesto would be best.

The perfect lunch snack on this rainy, windy day.

Let's see what kind of healthy dish I will eat for dinner...... 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tomatosalad-Sandwich

Ingredients:
500 g tomatoes, halved
1 red onion, cut into fine strips
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
0.5 tsp sugar or agave nectar
0.5 tsp salt
little pepper
100 g salted butter, softened
1 clove garlic, crushed,
8 slices whole weat bread
50 g arugula

Direction:
Mix up the tomatoes and all remaining ingredients, including sugar and spice.

Airy stir up the butter for about 2 minutes. Stir in garlic, sprinkle slices spread this on the top of the bread slices. Distribute arugula and tomatoes on one half of the bread slices and top with the second slice of bread. 

Ready is your fast snack of office lunch paket

New Year's "Kale and Brussels sprouts Soba Noodles"

It's New Year's Eve. 

Basel at the River Rhine

Every year there will be a hug firework at the River of Basel (City). A few times I've be in the crowd, watching the great firework. 

This year I watched I from a little bit more outside of the crowd and my jacket won't smell smoky with some burned holes in it. 

I just love the feeling by then in the city.

Hope you enjoyed also a great evening with your friends or even alone by yourself.

The time before the firework I spend alone at home and made myself something good, with a drink and then some wine. Nothing to be sad about. 

For my festive New Year's dinner I made a good delicious meal. I kept it simple, but even a simple meal can look and taste great!

Kale and Brussels sprouts Soba Noodles

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 bunch tuscan kale
5 tsp. toasted sesame oil
10 brussels sprouts
1 plump clove garlic
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tsp. low sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds (white or black)
2 pinches red pepper flakes
500 g soba noodles
4 slivered green onions, for garnish

Direction:
Slice the kale leaves from their stems and discard the stems. Working in batches, stack the leaves, roll them up tightly lengthwise, and then thinly slice them crosswise into narrow ribbons. Put the ribbons in a large bowl with 1 tsp. of the sesame oil and 1/4 tsp. salt. Massage the leaves with your hands until they glisten.

Discard any funky outer leaves from the brussels sprouts. Slice them paper thin (mandoline works best, peeling them by hand would take you some time..) then toss them with the kale.

Pound the garlic until smooth in a small mortar (I used a bowl and minced the garlic fine). Stir in the vinegar, remaining sesame oil and soy sauce. Pour the dressing over the greens and toss well. This much can be done in advance and kept in the fridge until ready to serve, or enjoyed alone as a salad.

Bring the water to a boil. When starting the noodles, finish the salad with the sesame seeds, pepper flakes and green onions. Cook the noodles according to package instructions and drain well. Toss the noodles with the greens. The noodle salad can be served warm or cold.