Super seed apple Cereal

I thought the weather is going to be better, but this foggy day isn't mine. We had not much sunshine the last few weeks. I always feel tired and even in the news they told that many people got depression cause of the lack of sunshine. They even told that it's going to be the darkest month since 17 years. I really really looking forward to springtime. No longer wearing warm cloth!

Today my cat woke me up, by jumping from the window onto my bed. I was almost shocked and was suddenly awake. She was behind me, trying to go under my blanket - I smiled.

For breakfast I needed something fruity and as I had no leftover bread I made this great tasting cereal bowl. Just what I needed in the morning and I love cinnamon!

Super Seed Apple Cereal

Super Seed Apple Cereal

makes one serving
1 apple, cut into bite sized pieces(I recommend a harder apple, such as Braeburn.)
1 tbsp flaxseed meal
1 tbsp chia seeds
2 tbsp raw almonds
1/2 tbsp cacao nibs
generous sprinkling of cinnamon
1 cup unsweetened almond milk

Mix all dry ingredients into a bowl.  Pour in almond milk.  Enjoy!

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Stuffed Yellow Tomatoes with Walnut Feta 

The walnut feta, sprinkled on top, makes them extra special ;)

Stuffed Yellow Tomatoes

makes about 6
-6 large yellow tomatoes (green or red would work, too!)
-1 teaspoon olive oil
-3 shallots, finely chopped
-3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
-1/2 tsp sea salt
-6 crimini or button mushrooms, sliced
-6 artichoke hearts, from a can(in water, not marinated), chopped
-1 large yellow zucchini, diced
-1 tsp cumin
-3 tbsp nutritional yeast

Walnut Feta
-1/2 cup walnuts
-2 tbsp nutritional yeast
-1/2 tsp sea salt
-1/2 tsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 400°F.

To make Walnut Feta, add walnuts, nutritional yeast, and sea salt to a food processor.  Process until the walnuts become grainy, making sure to stop and scrape down the sides when necessary.  Add olive oil, and continue to process until small clumps form.  Do not over process, it will eventually become a paste-like texture.

 Using a sharp knife, slice the top of the tomatoes off, making sure to include the stem.  Take a large spoon and scoop out the insides of the tomato, leaving about 1/2"-3/4" thickness around the outside.

Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium heat.  Add olive oil, shallots, and garlic.  When it begins to sizzle, add the salt.  Saute until shallots begin to lightly brown.  Add mushrooms, artichokes, and zucchini, continually stirring mixture so that no sticking occurs.  Lightly salt, and saute until mushrooms release their moisture and the vegetables are tender.  Remove from heat and add the nutritional yeast and cumin.  Mix thoroughly until vegetables are evenly coated.

Fill tomatoes to the brim with the vegetable mixture, and then sprinkle on the walnut feta.  Place in a large casserole dish and bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until walnut feta is lightly browned.  If left in the oven for too long, tomatoes will begin to split down the sides.

Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Vegan szechuan shrimps

Finally friday, I'm so glad about that, really. I had a though week with a lot going on.
I work at a doctors office and many people are sick and therefore much of work, even in the team there are two sick.

The first time I ate vegan shrimp I found they tasted weird. My problem was - as I can guess - was that I havn't marinated them very well and so this time I changed and it's taste was just so great a big different to the first time.

Pan-Fried Spicy Szechuan Vegan Shrimp

I decided to crumble up some dried seaweed in with the homemade szechuan sauce to add a bit of that “fresh-from-the-sea” taste

Ingredients
Makes 2-3 servings

1/4 cup water
2 tbsp. ketchup
1/4 tsp. sesame oil
1 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. corn starch
1 tsp. agave nectar (you can sub in honey if you have to)
1/2 tsp. dried chili flakes
Pinch of black pepper
Pinch of cayenne powder
1 1/2 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
1 tbsp. dried seaweed, flaked
1/2 tsp. lime juice
1 tbsp. vegetarian oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 250g package of vegan shrimp (I used Sophie’s Kitchen brand)
Toasted black sesame seeds for garnish
Lime wedges for garnish

Direction:
In a medium-sized bowl, lightly stir together water, sesame oil, soy sauce, corn starch, agave nectar, chili flakes, black pepper, ginger, seaweed and lime juice. Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat and stir in green onion and garlic; cook for roughly 30 seconds. Stir in shrimp, and add a little bit of additional oil if needed. Gently stir in sauce and cook until all shrimp pieces are lightly coated and bubbles begin to form in residual sauce in pan.

Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and serve immediately with rice. Enjoy your super-easy mock seafood dish!

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As you may have regonized I love soups, during winter time I could easly live from soups, they are light and give a nice warm in the stomach.

This soup isn't blended in a food processor so there are littly tomato bits to bite. Great and the taste so good. 

Indian tomato-lentil soup

(sorry about the picture, guess my camera is broken)

Ingredients:

2 pounds tomatoes

2 glove carlic

1 oniob

1 red chili

2 Tbsp. butter or oil

1/2 tsp. tumeric

1 tsp. Graham masala

1 tsp. cumin

600 ml vegetable broth

300 ml coconut milk

175 g red lentils

2 tsp. lemon juice

salt, pepper

2 Tbsp. chopped coriander

Direction:

1. Wash and cut the tomatoes into quartes and chop rughly. Peel and chop the onion and garlic.

Cut the cilli into half and waste the seeds, chop finely. 

2. Preheat a big pan with the butter or oil over medium-high. Add the onion and garlic and roast. Add the tumeric, cumin, graham masala and the cilli and roast for another few minutes or until golden. Add the tomatoes and stir well and let roast for about 2 min. Afterward add the broth and coconut milk, stirr well and add the lentils and lemon juice and let it cook up.

3. Let it cook for about 20 min. At the end taste it with salt and pepper and serve with the coriander on top.

Enjoy.

Roasted garlic falafel

I havn't made a lot of falafel before and my first try about a week ago, looked amazing, tasted great but when I picked them up they crumbled up and I had to eat them with a spoon....

I had to retry it and this time they came up perfectly. The first time I used dried beans and I guess that was my fault. The second time I took canned beans and the result was great. Much more moistend.
I served them with some salad.

For all those who like roasted garlic as much as I do, here's the recipe.

Roasted Garlic Falafel

Yummmmmy roasted garlic! I actually made this for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and wanted to post it. They were quick to make, looked amazing, and tasted even better. But when I tried to pick them up, they crumbled into a million pieces. Had to serve them with a spoon. Sad.

But now I come to you with a recipe for the creamiest roasted garlic falafel and they even stay together! Hurrah! And even if the first recipe was a huge mess, I'm very happy to eat these roasted garlic falafel repeatedly. I think the only issue with my last attempt is that I'd used garbanzo beans that I'd cooked from dry, and they weren't as soft as canned. Canned worked perfectly this time!

If you've never made falafel before, I think you'll be surprised at how easy they are. I was. And it's the kind of recipe that you can easily change to suit whatever your tastes are, or whatever you have in your fridge. I like to make falafel to use up herbs before they go bad, since I always seem to have half a box of herbs in my fridge that risk being forgotten.

But who doesn't love roasted garlic? Seriously. I want names.

serves 4

1 head garlic

2 C chickpeas, rinsed and drained

2 T whole wheat flour

1/4 t ground cayenne

1 T ground cumin

1 t onion powder

3 T olive oil, divided

1 large clove raw garlic (only for garlic fanatics like myself)

pinch salt & pepper

handful of herbs (you really can use as much as you want; I've made falafel that comes out green - nothing wrong with that!)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut just the top off the roasted garlic - just a little bit, so that you cut at least a teeny from every single clove. Place the little lid back on, wrap the whole head in tin foil, and roast for about 45 minutes. Take out and let cool before making falafel.

Place all ingredients (except two tablespoons of the oil) in a food processor and blend until smooth. Form into patties.

Heat remaining oil in a large frying pan and cook falafel until crispy on each side and warmed through. I like to serve them on a big salad or in a wrap. And I poured over some yummy hummus dressing from Trader Joe's - you could just spread on some hummus or thin some out with soy milk for a dressing. Mmmmm.

Nutrition facts per serving: Calories: 265; Calories from Fat: 116; Total Fat: 12.8g; Saturated Fat: 1.7g; Cholesterol: 0mg; Sodium: 14mg; Total Carbohydrates: 30.6g; Dietary Fiber: 7.1g; Sugars: 4.4g; Protein: 8.7g

serves 4

1 head garlic

2 cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained

2 Tbsp. whole wheat flour

1/4 tsp. ground cayenne

1 Tbsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. onion powder

3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided

1 large clove raw garlic (only for garlic fanatics like myself)

pinch salt & pepper

handful of herbs (you really can use as much as you want; I've made falafel that comes out green - nothing wrong with that!)

Direction:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut just the top off the roasted garlic - just a little bit, so that you cut at least a teeny from every single clove. Place the little lid back on, wrap the whole head in tin foil, and roast for about 45 minutes. Take out and let cool before making falafel.

Place all ingredients (except two tablespoons of the oil) in a food processor and blend until smooth. Form into patties.

 

Heat remaining oil in a large frying pan and cook falafel until crispy on each side and warmed through.

 

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Sweet Potato and Orange Zest Soup

 

 

 

 

Ingredients
3 cups sweet potato, cubed
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
Salt and black pepper to season
5 cups vegetarian broth
1/2 tsp. dried cumin
Pinch of dried cloves
1 tsp. orange zest
1 tsp. fresh ginger, grated
Salt to taste

Direction:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a large roasting pan, toss sweet potato, onion, garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast, uncovered, for 25 minutes stirring once halfway to make sure everything is cooking evenly.

In a large pot, add the roasted mix. You will not need any extra oil since the sweet potatoes will still be lightly coated from the roasting. Add broth, cumin, cloves, orange zest and ginger, and bring to a boil. Add salt if necessary. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for 10 minutes.

With a hand blender or with a food processor, blend the soup until completely smooth and no chunks remain. Serve hot with sour cream or croutons.

Spicy Carrot Slaw

Spicy Carrot Slaw

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
12 ounces carrots, peeled and sliced (I used long shaved pieces)
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons refined sugar
1/2 teaspoons sea salt, plus more for seasoning
2 jalapeños, stemmed, seeded, diced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
Fresh ground black pepper


In a large bowl, toss together the carrots, tomatoes, grapeseed oil, fresh lime juice, sugar, sea salt and jalapenos.


Let sit for 15 minutes, tossing occasionally.

Add in the cilantro and coriander and season with black pepper.

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Garlic Knots

These are really delicious and go great with fresh home made spaghetti and vegan organic wine.






Yield: 12-14
Ingredients:
3 cups flour
30 grams yeast (1 packet)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoon vegan margarine
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
pinch salt

1-2 teaspoons Italian herbs
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

1. Put the warm water in a bowl, add the sugar and the yeast and allow to grow in a warm place for 5 minutes or until bubbly.
2. Place the flour, and salt in a bowl and mix so that the salt is mixed in with the flour.
3. Pour the water and yeast over, add oil and mix well using a blender.
4. Allow to rise in a warm area with a clean towel over the top.
5. Allow it to double in size, that will be about 1/2 an hour to 45 minutes depending upon the temperature.
6. When the dough is ready, turn it out on a lightly floured surface and kneed it lightly.
7. Sprinkle the baking powder over the dough and kneed a bit more to even the mixture.
8. Take a small handful (about 2 tablespoons in amount) of the dough and roll it out as a “fat snake”.
9. Make a small circle and bring the last end through the hole thus making a knot.
10. Bake in a preheated 450 F / 232 C oven for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
11. While the knots are baking, prepare the garlic butter.
12. Melt the vegan margarine and olive oil in a small sauce pan.
13. Add the minced garlic, but keep the heat low, as you do not want to brown the garlic.
14. Add the rest of the seasonings and keep the mixture warm.
15. When the knots are done, remove from the oven and drizzle the garlic “butter” over each of the knots.
16. Sprinkle extra minced parsley as a garnish.