OVEN ROASTED BEETS

Roasted beetroots are just fab and one of our family summer favourites.

Roasting gives them amazing sweet caramel taste.

And it is so easy to do.

Ingredients:

3 beetroots/ washed and sliced

olive oil

kosher/sea salt

balsamic vinegar

pine nuts

Preheat the oven in 200C/400F
Toss beets with oilive oil and season with salt.
Roast in oven for 50-60 minutes.
Take out from the oven and add some balsamic vinegar.
Toast pine nuts on the dry pan. Mix with beetroots.

VEGETABLE STIR FRY WITH HOMEMADE PLUMSAUCE

It is not complicated to prepare homemade healthy food for you and your family.

Buy whatever vegetables you want and mix them all together with some good olive oil, soy sauce and homemade plum sauce.

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

1 onion /chopped

2 cloves garlic /crushed

2 cm fresh ginger /crushed

1 broccoli /chopped

2 carrots / chopped

5 baby tomatoes / halved

1 cauliflower / chopped
handful of chopped walnuts

2-3 tbsp soy sauce

salt/pepper

olive oil or sesam oil

Plum sauce:

3 ripe plums / chopped

2 tbsp sugar

pinch of salt

1 cup / 200 ml water

In a large saucepan boil plums over medium heat with sugar and salt. Boil 15 minutes or until plums are very tender. 

Press the plums through sieve and put aside.

Heat large sauce pan on medium heat and add some oil. Saute onions with garlic and ginger. Add carrots. Mix well and add some more oil if needed. 

After 1 minute add all the other vegetables.

Add soy sauce

Mix well and season with salt and pepper.

Stir fry 4-5 minutes.

Add plum sauce and stir well for 1 minute.

ASPARAGUS&MELON&DATE SALAD IN PARMESANO BASKET

 Just a salad.

Easy, or?

Only when you master the art of combining a salad with the right balance between the 4 basic tastes -sweetness, saltiness, sourness and bitterness - 

a whole new world opens up to you.

It's time for Revolution...

Serves 1 (just double the amount for 1 more)

Ingredients:

40g or 1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Handful of mixed baby salad 

2 asparagus 

2 dates/ chopped

1 tbsp good olive oil

1/2 tbsp cherry vinegar

2 slices of melon /peeled and chopped

pinch of sea salt

Preheat oven to 200C /400F.

(You can do the parmesan basket also on the pan)

Spread thin circle of grated parmesan evenly on the baking paper. Bake 4-6 minutes in oven until golden brown. Let parmesan cool 1/2 minute and then carefully remove it from the paper. Drape it over a bowl or water glass. Shape it into a cup form.and let it cool. Then remove it from the bowl and voila, you have a parmesan basket.

Snap of the woody ends of asparagus. Cook them 1-2 minutes in salty water. Cut asparagus into smaller pieces.

Fill the basket with salad, asparagus, melon and dates.

Add olive oil and cherry vinegar and pinch of salt.

This recipe is linked to Foodie Friends Friday

VERY SWEET POTATO SOUP

Such a sweet soup.

A winter soup.

It is soon summer but we might get some snow this week.

Prrrrrrrr.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

300g sweet potatoes / chopped

1 onion /chopped

1/2 apple / chopped

1/2 can of coconut milk

1 clove of garlic/ chopped

1 chili  chopped

1 l vegetable stock

1 bay leaf

1 can of tomatoes

In heavy bottomed pot saute onion together with garlic and chili in oil.
Add vegetable stoc and all the other ingredients.
Cook 20 minutes or until potatoes are cooked.
Remove the bay leaf.
Puree the soup.

Top the soup with some drops of balsamic vinegar, basil and bread croutons.

SWEDISH WONDERFUL POTATO DUMPLINGS

 

 

Eating...

Is it positive for you?

Why to so many of us eating means something negative?

Actually eating is one of the biggest pleasures in life.

Enjoy it.

Listen to your body.

Take your time.

Food is wonderful.

Below is the recipe for swedish wonderful potato dumplings or Kroppkakor how they call it. I made my own version of this classical dish.

Ingredients:

600g boiled potatoes (not the new ones)

100g flour

1 egg

200g mushrooms, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 little chili, chopped

1tsp salt
pepper

oil or butter
water

100g creme fraiche

Mash the potatoes well or press them through a potato ricer. Wait until totally cold. Add flour, egg and salt and mix everything together.

Fry onions and garlic in a little oil or butter until soft. Add mushrooms and chili, salt and pepper. Fry another minute.
 Cut dough into 10-12 golf ball size or bigger pieces. Flatten each piece in hand and place 1 spoons of mushroom filling into the centre of the piece. Form it back into ball.
Boil the dumplings in a large pot of salty water about 10 minutes.
Fry the dumplings with some oil and leftover mushrooms.
I love to eat them with creme fraiche.

Fancy another filling than mushrooms? Check out Lovefoodies Flavour Dancing Dumplings that she did after my recipe above. She has some great fillings like moroccan and chinese.

This recipe is part of the Blog Hop: Recipe Sharing Monday.
 



HEALTHY MR. COTTAGE CHEESE SALAD

Cottage Cheese - you love it or hate it.

I have a very personal long relationship with mr Cottage Cheese. I adore CC. There was even a time when I wanted to have a break in our relationship. I felt like we were growing apart. I wanted someone more fancy and cool. French Dressing oh lala for example and Italian Mr Olive Oil. They were somehow cooler and more colorful than the white boring Cottage Cheese.

Fortunately our break up didn't last long. I realized the problem was me not the Cottage Cheese.

Now we are best friends again.

Forever.



For 1 person:

 1 Tomato, chopped

1 avocado, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

100 g cottage cheese

Pinch of salt&pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

1 bunch chives, chopped

 Mix everything together and you have a healthy and yummy salad in notime.

 

JAPANESE PICKLED GINGER - GARI

Lately I have been discovering Ginger. What a great and healthy knotty root it is. I know for most of you Ginger is very common but I grow up with only Mr Salt and Mrs Pepper. 

Japanese pickled ginger is perfect with sushi or as a spicy side dish.

 
100-150 g fresh ginger, cut in thin pieces. Boil the ginger 5-10 min in water. Put the ginger slices in a jar. Mix 1 dl rice vinegar with 1 dl Sugar and 1 tsp of Salt in a pan and bring it to boil. Pour the Rice Vinegar mix over Ginger. Let it marinade at least 3 hours before eating.