Monthly Archives: November 2018

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Dal “Makhani”

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There is no point in trying to hide my obsession with Indian food. It’s just too good!

It’s all about connection

Just two nights ago I met an absolutely lovely group of people, all of them, but one, strangers to me. I could not have forseen that 3 hours later we’re all invited to an after-midnight dinner. To a house of a person that I didn’t even know a couple of hours earlier… That’s unheard of these days! 
It wasn’t Indian food that was served yet I realised once more how many meaningful connections are made at a dinner table, over a fine meal and a glass of wine. Good home-made food just has this magic to connect people of all different walks and talks of life, and for that reason alone I love it!

So why did I pick this Punjabi dish for today’s World Vegan Month contribution? Amongst the friendly and open hearted group of people was a sweet young lady from Bombay with family ties to the Punjab and Assam region. We were all dazzled by the stories she shared with us that night. We spoke about Assam tea plantations and Punjabi food, and my mind travelled to these far places whilst she passionately narrated her family stories. 

Despite the fact that we stayed late that night I made a promise to myself. To prepare a Punjabi dish as soon as I’d get the opportunity. I now have a very different relation to Punjabi dishes, thinking of this lovely night and unique connections that were made. It just makes me smile 🙂 

Beans are back

Beans are an absolute staple in my kitchen as they are super healthy and nutritious. Oh, and they’re featuring in so many delicious vegan recipes. I always stock up on black beans, butter beans, kidney beans, and mung beans.  I’ve already hyped black beans when sharing my favourite vegan feijoada recipe, so please check it out if you want to learn more about health benefits of beans. 
This dal uses kidney beans, not black beans, but those fair really well on nutritional value too!

Good things take time

This creamy and rich dal takes some time in preparation. More time that I’d usually give myself for cooking – BUT it’s totally worth it. There is a direct correlation between my growing anticipation and appetite and the time it takes to simmer. I love the power of a mouthwatering aroma spreading through your entire apartment!

This said, to not use up any more of your time – here’s the link to another popular veganized dish I cannot imagine living without. A mouthwatering .

A good home-made dish deserves a good home-made spice mix to further enhance the sensational experience for your taste buds. Please check out my recipe for the Punjabi Garam Masala. 

Credit: Archana’s Kitchen

 Be ready to be dazzled!

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Punjabi Garam Masala

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When it comes to cooking exotic dishes with fragrant herbs and spices I like to prepare the spice mixes from scratch. A freshly toasted and ground spice mix bursts in intensity of flavour, and is a blessing to every dish!

For my veganized Punjabi Dal Makhani, I need my Punjabi Garam Masala. Shall we?

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp coriander seeds
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp whole cloves
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper corns
  • 3 bay leaves, broken up
  • 3 cinnamon sticks or cassia bark, broken up

Now the prep

  1. Toast all ingredients in a small pan on medium heat for 2-3 minutes unil they’re golden and fragrant. Don’t overcook the ingredients or allow the mix to get brown as it can spoil the aroma of the finished spice mix. If in doubt, undercook. 
  2. Take the pan off the heat and allow the toasted ingredients to cool down before tansferring them into a grinder / spice blender. 
  3. Grind all cooled down ingredients in the grinder / spice blender. If necessary, turn off the grinder / blender every few seconds and check for remaining larger pieces, shake the mix, and continue grinding until you will have a fine powder. 
  4. Transfer into small glass container(s) with a tight fitting lid, and store in a dark cool place. It’s most aromatic within the first 3-4 weeks but will last longer if needed. 
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Mini Pizza Snacks

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Do you sometimes get this Pizza craving? Just for a bite or two? Not the whole Pizza? I know, I do. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Pizza and can eat the whole thing, but sometimes it’s just that little bite that I need. 

One of my favourite vegan bloggers luckily came up with a solution to that. Anja once more shows how creative the plant-based cuisine can be, and moreover, demonstrates that we don’t need to cut out on all beloved comfort foods. 

My mouth is watering already, and since it only takes about 20 minutes to get some mini Pizza snacks on the table – I know what I’ll do now 🙂

Here’s to you too!! – enjoy!

Credit: itsPotluck
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MAC ‘N’ CHEESE

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I have a couple of confessions to make before I share this next vegan recipe with you. Having these out of the way at the very start is probably a good idea, but I let you be the judge of that.

  1. I’ve never eaten Mac ‘n’ Cheese in my life. Like in, well, ever. I wonder that that says about me as a person. Now, that I gave up on cheese more than 3 years ago, the idea of having Mac ‘n’ Cheese shouldn’t be appealing any more, right? Strangely though, it is very appealing to me right now. I mean, there is a hype around this dish for a reason I assume. 
  2. I still crave the taste of cheese. There it is. I said it. That insight puzzles me even more than the previous one! I mean, I have never been a big fan of cheese. The only save options I’ve ever considered in over 30 years before turing plant-based were gouda, “butter cheese”, mild camembert, and eventally with some bravery gruyere. Everything else I just snubbed – at best.
  3. I still have some pumpkins from the not so recent any more Halloween season sitting on my window sill. Am I the only one? They seem to last forever, so I tend to dismiss the ‘urgency’ to actually chop them up and prepare a nice dish with them.

Let’s change that – Pumpkins, here I come

Maybe it’s purely for the reason that I still have left over pumpkins that I settled for . Or it was the fact that using processed vegan cheese didn’t feel revolutionary enough for me (nor would I want to endorse processed foods!). Maybe I wouldn’t find a cauliflour-cheese-base that paletable. Or a potato-carrot ‘cheese-base’. 
Most likely, it’s a combination of all the above. There are endless alternatives these days to ‘veganize’ pretty much any dish. 

So much more than Halloween decoration

The natural colour of a whole-food normally gives it away already. The richer and deeper the colour, the more nutritious they are. Therefore : Eat the rainbow!

Pumkins are one of the best-known sources of beta-carotene, which gives them such a vibrant orange colour. Beta-carotene is a powerful antioxidant, which our body converts into Vitamin A when we ingest it. This Vitamin A is essential to prevent degenerative damage to the eyes as we probably all know from our parents, who always told us to eat our carrots. That’s not all though that beta-carotene has on offer. There are certain types of cancer that may be reduced by regular beta-carotene intake.
Additionally, the fiber, potassium, and vitamin C content in pumpkin all support heart health. What’s good for our heart, is almost certainly linked to healthy blood pressure levels too. So that’s two benefits  in one! 

Maybe by now you’ll understand why my whole-food ‘veg-love’ runs deep. It’s so insanely healthy and protects us from almost all Western diet inflicted ailments. Having the prospect of living healthier and fitter? I’ll get me some of that!

If you want this too – 🙂 *

Don’t even bother with pumpkin puree from a tin as the recipe offers as an alternative. It’s not. Use your Halloween decoration to make a healthy comfort meal. Now that’s upcycling, not even recycling 🙂

Again, that’s two benefits  in one! Enjoy!!

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Kale Quinoa Sweetcorn salad

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Credit: Jo Cooks

Did you notice that I hadn’t posted a single salad recipe yet? In nearly 2 weeks? That is probably the most common yet mislead perception that almost all non-vegans have: that vegans only eat salad. I cannot count the times anymore that some helpless looking face in a hotel, a restaurant, or anywhere else for that matter offered me a salad after I informed them that I am vegan. 

Not wanting to disppoint anybody then, here comes my absolute favourite salad recipe 😉 It’s from my beloved vegan cook book, and once more I’ll translate from German to English for you. It’s really worth it! This salad is far from the boring concoctions that I get plated up in aforementioned scenarios. 

Ingredients

For the salad:

  • 50g Quinoa (or if you want a quicker salad: couscous)
  • 100ml vegetable broth
  • 200g Kale
  • 1 small or medium sized onion
  • 1-2 spring onions / scallions
  • 100g Sweetcorn
  • 20g Almonds
  • 2 Tbsp Sesame seeds

For the dressing:

  • 1.5 Tbsp Olive oil
  • 1.5 Tbsp Sesame oil
  • 1.5 Tbsp Lemon juice
  • 0.5 Tbsp Agave nectar
  • 0.5 tsp White wine vinegar
  • Salt and Pepper

Preparation

  • If you settle for the quinoa: boil quinoa for appr. 10-15mins in the vegetable broth. 
  • If you settle for the couscous: put cousous into in a small bowl and pour the boiling vegetable broth over; place a lid over it and let it sit for a couple of minutes 
  1. Wash the kale and chop finely, including the stem. Kale stems are loaded with vitamins, fiber and nutrients because the stem is the component that is rooted in the soil!
  2. Finely chop the onion. 
  3. Heat up a deep frying pan with some olive oil and once the oil is hot, add the chopped onion and glaze at a high heat for 1-2 minutes. Then add the chopped kale and fry for appr. 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then set aside to allow it to cool down a bit.
  4. Wash then finely chop the spring onions / scallions
  5. Chop the almonds with a chef’s knife
  6. Dry-roast the sesame seeds in a small frying pan until golden. Place a lid to avoid sesame seeds popping out of the pan!
  7. Pour dressing ingredients into a small glass jar (that you have a lid for, too), add salt and pepper, close with a lid and shake to mix ingredients.
  8. Place all salad ingredients into a salad bowl and mix well. Then pour the dressing over, and mix again.
  9. Enjoy every mouthful 🙂 
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Peanut Butter & Jelly Smoothie Bowl

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Credit: Pick Up Limes

New morning, new week – new start. Let’s do some positive re-framing and skip the Monday morning blues but instead look at Monday as an opportunity for a fresh start! 

And what better way to start fresh than with a nutritious and delicious breakfast? Better still, having the beloved combo of peanut butter and jelly to kick-start your day sounds very managable. If you don’t give your subconscious mind something to rebell against, you can eat happily ever after. 

I can hear you say though “but….there’s no time!”

Monday morning rush

5minutes is all you need for this healthy smoothie bowl. 
So, without further ado, respecting your time, find the simple steps .

Credit: Pick Up Limes

Have a healthy week <3

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Feijoada – Black bean stew

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Credit: Vegetarian Times

I felt inspired to find a ‘veganized’ version of my favourite Brazilian dish because I met a beautiful lady from Brazil today. We had a nice chat and I am so happy I got to practice my Portuguese skills again. Believe me, it’s not that often that I meet somebody speaking Brazilian Portuguese, which is completely different to Portuguese from Portugal! As different as their cuisines dare I say. 

Brazil’s national dish

Many of you may immediately think of churrasco when you hear Brazilian food, but did you know that feijoada is the national dish of Brazil? 
Feijoada is a hearty black bean stew that is commonly served on a weekend. You’re meant to take your time to sit down with family and friends, and chat and laugh over a prolonged lunch that may last for hours. No rush when it comes to feijoada. Relax and enjoy!

Whilst the traditional feijoada is prepared with lots of meat, it can be easily modified to be vegeterian of even vegan. Once more I browsed the www and found a from Larissa. Tofu-free because I know that some of you don’t want to consume soya products, or not too much of them at least. I’ll do some more research on soya products and shall write up an article with some more information, pros and cons, soon. 

Spilling the beans

Beans like any other legume are low in calories, rich in protein, and packed with fibre and nutrients. I mentioned some of the amazing health features of legumes some days ago here, when I spoke about small but mighty peas.

Black beans come with an additional benefit: they strengthen your bones, help warding off heart disease and cancer, and help you maintaining healthy blood glucose and insulin levels. Moreover they help in managing high blood pressure, and weight. 

So – no more unhealthy weekends then! Right?

Typical feijoada side dishes –acompanhamentos

A traditional feijoada always comes with plenty of side dishes like white rice, chopped and fried collard greens, farofa, and either peeled oranges or fried plantain. So let’s not skip these sides.
Unknown to probably most of you will be the farofa. It’s a toasted cassava flour mixture, which, I admit, you need some time to get used to. It can be quite dry at times, so I recommend to mix it in well with your feijoada. 

farofa

Simple farofa side

  • 1 small red onion
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 50ml olive oil
  • 200g cassava / manioc / yuca flour

Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic and add the onion to a frying pan over a medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently, until soft.
Then stir in the garlic and cook for 1 more minute, and add the cassava / manioc / yuca flour.
Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 to 10 minutes, until it is lightly golden brown and resembles toasted breadcrumbs.
Serve in a bowl alongside your feijoada as a side dish.  Any leftovers can be reheated in a frying pan.

side dishes – acompanhamentos

Oh – and don’t forget the classic accompanying drinks: an ice-cold beer, cachaça, or caipirinha.

Bom apetite!

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Chocolate spread

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Oh yes!!! I cannot live without chocolate spread, or shall I say I don’t want to?
I am still trying and testing different recipes, and there are many, believe me. Luckily I found this super easy one recently, which I REALLY like. Its main ingredient is basically dates, oh, and some cocao. Good thing: I love dates; the edible ones I mean!
This heavenly spread is rich and creamy, and the hazelnuts give it the extra flavour punch.


I wanted to embed the link to the original food blogger, as I normally do, but she’s posting in German only. I thought I may spare you the google translate experience and give you the English version directly.

Ingredients

  • 250g soaked and softened dates 
  • 100ml non-daily milk (or water)
  • 80g soaked hazelnuts
  • 50ml coconut oil (optional)
  • 4 Tbsp cocao powder 
  • 1tsp vanilla powder

Preparation

Add the pre-soaked hazelnuts and non-daily milk (or water) into a and mix until you’ve got a homogeneous hazelnut milk. If you like some crunch to your chocolate spread, don’t soak the nuts for too long, and mix for a shorter time so you get some remaining hazelnut bits.

Add all remaining ingredients into the processor and mix until you’ve got a smooth creamy texture.
If the consistency is too thick, add tiny amounts of water or non-daily milk until you reach the desired consistency.
If the consistency is too thin, add another date or two.

That’s pretty much it. You’re done. Fill into a glass or other sealed container and store your vegan chocolate spread in the fridge. Use it within a week, I’d say…. if it lasts that long 🙂

It goes well with toast, pancakes, in your oats, and with banana. That’s all I can think of now. What do you combine it with? Please let me know in the comments below!

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Chole Rajma Curry

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Is it just me, or do you think of Curry as well as soon as Friday is lurking around the corner? After more than 12 years of living in the UK I learnt one thing; i.e., the British love their Curries – and so do I! And who better to ask than my favourite Indian ‘mother figure’ Manjula?

My ‘Indian mother’ teaching me to cook

I first came across Manjua’s website and YouTube Channel when I turned vegeterian some seven to eight years ago. My journey continued into a purely plant-based lifestyle later on, and discovering the multitude of options I had available in the Indian cuisine most certainly helped! I’m an addict to Indian food now! I love rich flavours, spices, different textures and levels of spiciness, and the gorgeous aroma that spreads through your entire flat when you cook any Indian dish. 

Not knowing back then how to cook great Indian food, Manjula’s discovery was my saviour. With over 200 recipes she gave me plenty of opportunity to explore. Manjula tought me how to cook authentic, home-made Indian food, and I am deeply grateful for that.

Travel experience in India

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am by far no expert in the Indian cuisine, but travelling to India a couple of times now and learning even more about their colourful and rich culture, helped. Their cultural variety is greatly reflected in the variety of their dishes. Did I bring shiploads of spices back? Of course I did! That is my kind of ‘souvenir shopping’.
I’m still blown away by the fact that they have 22 major languages in India, 13 different scripts, and more than 720 dialects. That doesn’t make communication any easier, does it? I still managed to get a wholesome dish plated up in front of me, every single time. English is widely spoken, but you may as well find yourself in situations when pointing at stuff is the only option. 

None of that today though. No finger pointing. Find your mouthwatering Curry recipe !

Credit: Manjula’s kitchen

Enjoy and Namaste

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Yellow split pea soup – Ärtsoppa

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from Ethiopian Wednesday to Swedish Thursday

I love travelling and I love food. Can you tell? I find an amazing amount of inspiration in foreign cuisine and am easily carried away. It helps of course to have a passion for cooking, too! 

Many countried I visited over the past 20 years have, what I call, ‘specific food days’. I think that’s a great idea and takes some pressure off. I mean, I love being creative in the kitchen, don’t get me wrong; but sometimes it’s nice when you just have an ‘inherited food plan’ that you can follow. Pea soup and pancakes on a Thusdday is apparently a Swedish tradition that goes back to the middle ages! How about that?

Small but mighty peas

Dried peas are a small but nutritionally mighty member of the legume family and are a stellar fiber source. This in turn helps managing your blood sugar levels directly after a meal. Like the vast majority of legumes, vegetables and fruit, peas have so much more nutritional goodness to offer. They’re not a one trick pony and solely celebrated for their high fibre content. They’re virtually fat free but macro- and micronutrient rich, and they feature valuable phytonutrients.
These phytonutrients shield us from cell damage caused by free radicals, hence aging, chronic low-grade inflammation, bad colesterol, and infections in general.

Health-hungry now? 

I don’t know about you but I am off to prepare my pea soup now, and celebrate a long-standing tradition. No, not IKEA – but you can get split peas there too. Now you know why 🙂

You’re just one click away from the ! God aptit!

Credit: GoGreen

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