Savory
Flatbread with potatoes and rosemary
Savory filled pancakes (vegetarian)
Brussels sprouts tarte with goat cheese
Oven roasted winter vegetables with hummus
Beetroot-kale-winter-salad
Late sunny autumn picnic
Beetroot burger with goat cheese and spinach
Flatbread with goat cheese and pears
Pink ravioli
Flammkuchen with butternut squash
Quinoa stuffed aubergine
Mom´s potato salad
Quinoa asparagus salad
Chickpea salad with spinach and sweet potatoes
You don´t win friends with salad, you don´t win friends with salaaaad….I must admit, I have to disagree with Bart. I mean sure, if somebody makes me pancakes or chocolate cake I might have to marry that person. But I do love a good Salad. I eat salads on an almost daily basis and I´m always on a lookout for new recipes. And then I found this one.
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Tortellini filled with goat cheese and chard
I really try to eat as healthy as possible. Most of the times that is not very difficult for me, since I am a big fan of healthy food anyway. I love my veggies, legumes and quinoa and summer is my favorite time because of all the fruit that is in season. I make my own granola and always buy that rye bread but there is one thing where I am really not making any compromises. No matter how many times Hollywood stars and nutritionists are trying to tell me that carbs are the devil, I can´t live without pasta. It´s just too damn tasty. Tagliatelle, ravioli, lasagna or gnocchi, with fancy sauce or just sautéed in butter, pasta is definitely my food soulmate. Ever since I got a pasta machine, my love for pasta has grown even stronger. For daily purposes or when it has to be quick I use store bought pasta but every couple of weeks I get this urge to make pasta the good old fashioned way. It´s like meditation for me, I just love it. Continue reading “Tortellini filled with goat cheese and chard”
Homemade pita bread with falafel and coleslaw
A couple of weeks ago I talked about my fast food cravings. I´m usually not the burger person, instead I will almost always opt for falafel instead (unless we are talking homemade burgers of course). I´m not quite sure why, maybe it´s because the Turkish or oriental cuisine is more vegetarian friendly or maybe it has to do with my weird relationship with cabbage. I hate cabbage when it is cooked but love raw coleslaw. Does that make any sense? It´s almost as weird as the fact that I make basically all my recipes with tomatoes but I don’t like tomato soup. Continue reading “Homemade pita bread with falafel and coleslaw”
Qrichlat harin – Guestpost by Zuckerbäckerei
Since this is a guestpost, it is only available in German at the moment. But if you wish to have the recipe, feel free to contact me and I´ll translate it for you. Continue reading “Qrichlat harin – Guestpost by Zuckerbäckerei”
Veggie Burger with sweet potato fries
Ah, the good old Fast Food. I´m guessing nobody can resist the temptation that comes from the local burger restaurant. Especially not when it´s 6 in the morning and you are on your way home from a night out dancing. We have all been there! While I love French fries I usually ignore the burger and instead order some falafel and bread. It´s just that the regular fast food restaurants never seem to satisfy my cravings for a good burger. The first bite seems right but half an hour after you have eaten the burger all you feel is full and slightly nauseated. But fear not my friends, I´ve got just the thing for you. Continue reading “Veggie Burger with sweet potato fries”
Pumpkin risotto with goat cheese and parsley
I´m a big fan of the different seasons. It wasn´t always that way or at least I never really noticed it until I spend time in two countries where the weather is mainly hot and sunny. In Costa Rica the temperature is 25°C the whole year round, the only difference is that it rains one half of the year. And it gets a little colder during the winter in Barcelona (at least that´s how the Spanish feel) but it doesn´t snow and if it ever does, the whole city loses it. I´m not complaining about daily sunshine but once I got back from my studies in Spain, I realized how beautiful fall can be. The colors, the weather, the apple-picking and pumpkin carving…Fall is pretty. Continue reading “Pumpkin risotto with goat cheese and parsley”
Arroz negro – black paella
What´s your first thought that comes to mind when talking about Spain? Paella right? The fact that there exists a – lesser known – little brother of the traditional paella is often forgotten. Hands up, who has ever heard of arroz negro?
Arroz negro translates to black rice and that is exactly what you are getting. Don’t let the appearance scare you, it is actually really delicious. In fact, I think I might like arroz negro even more than paella. You don´t really taste the ink of the calamari, instead the rice is very aromatic with a hint of lemon and tastes like summer, vacation and the sea. So the next time you are in Spain, you should definitely go ahead and try an arroz negro. It´s worth it. Continue reading “Arroz negro – black paella”
How to make the perfect Tortilla de patatas
Everyone who´s been to Spain or has ever eaten Tapas should know Tortilla de patatas. The Spanish specialty, made from eggs and potatoes is one of the most typical dishes you can make. The Spanish eat it all the time, lunch, dinner, tapas…you can serve it to anything. I am not saying that I make the perfect Tortilla but I know who does and I was able to get some secrets.
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Quinoa salad with fresh spinach, pomegranate seeds and feta cheese
Since I like to combine my travel reports with some recipes of the typical cuisine I present you: quinoa salad with spinach, pomegranate and feta cheese. A lot of you might be thinking now – what does that have to do with Canada? You are right; Quinoa and pomegranates are not the first thing you might think of when it comes to typical Canadian food. Still, it is the food-experiences I made during our trip that results in this recipe. Local, fresh, organic – those were the keywords, that followed us everywhere, restaurants, supermarkets, farmers markets, you name it. This new trend, that people are developing a higher interest in a healthy lifestyle, nutrition and regional products can also be seen in Europe but in Canada (and I guess also in the USA) it is huge. My last trip to the states was 7 years ago and I remember eating pancakes, pancakes, burger and even more pancakes during my stay. This time it was much easier to find rather healthy recipes, no matter if we stayed in big cities like Seattle or Vancouver or had breakfast in a tiny town on the way. Continue reading “Quinoa salad with fresh spinach, pomegranate seeds and feta cheese”
Asparagus tart with parmesan cheese
With all the rhubarb and strawberry recipes I´ve been making lately I almost forgot about my favorite vegetable that is in season right now: asparagus. In Germany, people go crazy during the asparagus season. It is those three months, between the end of march or the beginning of april until the 24th of June were you can find asparagus everywhere. The white asparagus is typically prepared with potatoes, ham and sauce hollandaise. My family eats it with thin pancakes (kind of like crepes), béchamel sauce and boiled ham, which is the southern way to eat it. Green asparagus is perfect for salad, pasta, quiche or tarts. However you prepare it, I absolutely love asparagus season.
Bulgur salad
I think there are two very different persons living inside me. One is the inner fat kid that is constantly craving for cookies, cake and ice cream. The other one is a health-junkie, obsessed with fresh and healthy food. If I eat to much cake, bread and pizza, my body desperetaly longs for salad and vegetables. If I try to stick to an all-healthy diet, my body wants cake. The two balance each other out I guess. The health junkie in me makes sure I eat well and take care of myself. The inner fat kid helps me not to take everything to seriously and enjoy life and sugar every once in a while. Maybe it´s not the worst system after all.
So since I can´t be living off of cookies and cupcakes, my daily cooking consists of a lot of salad (technically speaking…is that even cooking?) Anyway, I love salad. I tried a bunch of different recipes and ingredients throughout the years and at the moment, my all time favourite ingredients for salad are avocado, tomatoes, green onion and feta cheese. These are the basics for almost all of my salads and from there I start adding things I like, like nuts, chickpeas, cucumber or corn.
Veggie Tacos
I am back! Sorry it took so long but you know…finals and stuff. But now I finally got time for some cooking and we are continuing with the Mexican theme. It´s time for Tacos! I love Tacos and they are even better if you make everything yourself. What I like so much about them is that it´s really fun to prepare them with friends or family. Just get your favourite people together, get everybody busy in the kitchen and in the end everybody is full and happy. And because you can prepare them however you like, there is enough freedom of choice for everyone. It´s a win-win-situation. (Especially when your visitors will help you clean up the mess later).
Tortilla soup
Like I promised, this post is all about Mexican food. We are starting our Mexican weeks with tortilla soup. Which can be seen as an equivalent to the noodle soup we know here in Germany. I love soups, but eating the same recipes over and over again can be a bit tiring. That is why I am always excited to try something different. Like coconut soup. But back to our little trip to Mexico. This soup contains basically most of the important ingredients of the Mexican cuisine – garlic, tomatoes, chili, avocado, tortillas and cilantro. The combination might sound a bit weird but I promise, it tastes great. And it is also very filling. Perfect for dinner after a long, stressful day.
The recipe itself is not very complicated and the true definition of soulfood. The onions are steamed for at least 10 minutes before adding garlic and polenta and even after adding canned tomatoes the soup needs to cook for another 15 minutes. It is one of those recipes that take time but at the same time it is very relaxing. And besides, is there anything better than the smell of steamed onions and garlic? I love it. No matter how bad of a mood I might be in, as soon as I come home and start cooking, this smell makes everything better.
Coconut soup
Brace yourself – winter is coming. And that means it´s gonna get really cold. At least if you – like me – live in the northern part of Europe. Anybody else who is not affected by the typical cold, grey, windy and a lot of times rainy instead of snowy thing we call winter…well good for you.
Aaanyway, the best thing to fight winter depression for me is either hot chocolate or my favourite soup. Which would be coconut soup. This recipe is just so yummie, easy and healthy and overall just so good for you! Trust me on this one. It will cure any cold in no time. Even if you just feel like you might come down with something…eat this soup and you will feel better. The reasons for this are the not-so-secret ingredients: garlic, chili and ginger. I will spare you the detail of why they are so good for you and your immune system. Just trust me. Or go google it, that´s fine too.
Spinach quiche with tomatoes and goat cheese
It´s official. The semester started again. Which means that after 4 months of vacation I need to get used to getting up early, going to class, listening to the professor for 1 1/2 hours, reading a horrible amount of textbooks and studying. It also means that my time left for baking and spending time in the kitchen has been reduced. And that I have to focus on recipes that are easy to adapt to my tiny kitchen. One of those recipes is quiche. I like quiche especially because you easily change the recipe to those ingredients that you personally prefer. Once you found a good recipe for the dough it is up to you to create a filling. Basically any type of vegetable and cheese can be used for quiche, that way it never gets boring. It is not one of those recipes that you can easily prepare on short notice because the dough needs to chill for a while and the quiche itself needs about 40 minutes in the oven. But your patience will be rewarded.
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How to make a perfect risotto
Risotto is one of my go-to recipes. It´s simple, very tasty and perfect to make when you´re cooking alone. And you can always mix it up, according to season. Just exchange the vegetables for whatever might be in season right now, risotto can be made with pretty much everything. Pumpkin, Mushrooms, saffron…
This recipe is for my sister who once told me that she needs 40 minutes to make a risotto. For her and for anybody else who might struggle with risotto or maybe never tried it before: Here is a step-by-step guide on how to make a perfect risotto. Everybody who is more experienced in risotto making is also very welcome to try out this recipe. I am sure, more recipes will follow, but for the start I am going to show you how to make a simple vegetable risotto.
Homemade Ravioli
Recently I became the proud owner of a pasta maker. His name is Leonardo and so far he has done good work. Homemade pasta isn´t that hard to make but it takes a while and one definetely needs patience. Sometimes it might take longer because your dough consists of a mass of crumbs. Sometimes the ravioli you carefully made yourself decide to open up while cooking and everything floads around in the pan. Or everything sticks together like crazy. But life is not always easy and every desaster helps to prevent future ones. So don´t give up! You will get there! Trust me! I´ve done everything mentioned above and more.