Category: Food

  • Mean & green

    Mean & green

    Stinging nettles everywhere! This is a forager’s feast. I’ve made nettle pesto, nettle garlic butter, nettle soup, nettle tea and nettle smoothie in the past week or so.

    Stinging nettles (brandnetels): they tickle the kidneys, cleanse the blood and promote fluid excretion. They contain loads of vitamin c and iron (which is great during menses and pregnancy) as well as minerals. And, did I mention, they are everywhere and they are free :).

    I use a paper bag and a thin glove for carefree picking. I pick only the fresh green tops. Make sure you pick above peeing and pooing level to avoid contamination with worms or eggs in animal feces. Back at home, soak for a minute or so in freshly boiled water, this will remove the sting. Then use the fresh leaves and stalks in this super nice, simple juicy smoothie:

    Recipe for mean & green nettle juice

    • 1/3 cucumber
    • 1 celery stalk (or half, to taste)
    • 1 handful of stinging nettles
    • 1 cup apple or orange juice, or half an apple and some water

    Extra nice with some fresh mint!

    Enjoy 🙂

  • Cabbage and bean curry salad with apple

    Cabbage and bean curry salad with apple

    Recipe for cabbage and bean curry salad with apple

    Combine about 1 spoonful per person of (vegan) mayonnaise with a good dash or two of curry powder and a squeeze of lemon juice.

    Take whole leaves from the cabbage, cut them lengthways, stack the lengths and now thinly cut so you get thin (scruffy) juliennes.

    (By using whole leaves, you can keep the rest of the cabbage for longer than if you would just start cutting away, damaging the whole vegetable. Cool, right?)

    Combine the cabbage julienne with the curry mayo.

    Add in freshly cut apple, sliced celery stalk, cooked beans, mixed nuts (or use your favorite, walnut is great in this salad) and raisins.

    If you like spicy, add some finely chopped fresh ginger. Add salt and lemon juice to taste.

    Serve topped with toasted (black or white, I used black) sesame and pumpkin seeds.

  • Carrot ginger oat sweetbread

    Carrot ginger oat sweetbread

    This one started with a quick experiment that turned out exceptionally well :). Since then, I’ve been adding and subtracting ingredients to tweak it to near perfection. Next time, I’ll use yeast instead of baking powder, as that is more natural.

    Recipe for carrot ginger oat sweetbread

    • 1 cup of oats, ground into flour
    • 1 half cup of whole grain wheat
    • 24 grams of vanilla sugar (3 typical 8 grams sachets)
    • 1 sachet of baking powder (or enough for the amount of flour, check label)
    • 1 half big carrot
    • 1 thumb sized piece of ginger
    • 2 eggs, beaten
    • 1 half banana in small pieces (or use figs, I haven’t yet but imagine they’d work even better with the carrot!)
    • 1 handful of crunched nuts & raisins mixture

    Thinly grate or finely chop the carrot and ginger. I use the herb chopper of my immersion blender (staafmixer).

    Combine the flours, vanilla sugar and baking powder. Add the eggs, half a cup of water (careful! You can always add more), carrot and ginger and mix. The mixture should be thick and slightly running. Spoon in banana pieces, crunched nuts and raisins to taste and put in the oven at 180 degrees for 30 minutes.

    Serve topped with honey and cinnamon (don’t forget, it really boosts the flavors!)

    Lovely, right?

  • Blueberry banana overnight oats

    Blueberry banana overnight oats

    A new craze: overnight oats with topping. Dear friend Eva (check her out here: evennaareva.com) served it last week when we had breakfast together.

    The basics: soak oats overnight in water or some ‘milk’ (almond, rice, coconut). When using water, you may find that adding a bit of honey and salt or vanilla sugar may improve the taste. I like to add dried coconut and chia seeds as well and leave that in the fridge overnight.

    Good to know: oats contain phytic acid (fytinezuur), which inhibits the uptake of nutrients in your body. So phytic acid is not something we want. Actually, the whole idea of overnight oats is to pre-digest them, making them more beneficial for the body. Adding acids such as fresh fruits, a squeeze of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to your oats before soaking overnight will aid this pre-digestion and hence help you benefit more from the other foods you eat! Many overnight oat recipes skip this, but it is actually pretty essential to the whole thing ;).

    Next morning, add toppings to your liking. My favorites from this recipe: apple, banana, blueberries, nuts, raisins, flaxseed and pumpkin seeds. Super nice bonus: thick coconut milk. But I keep that one for extra special mornings :).

    Recipe for blueberry banana overnight oats:

    In the evening, mix together:

    • Oats
    • Chia seeds
    • Coconut
    • Water or veggie ‘milk’
    • Optional: salt/honey/vanilla/sugar/some syrup/cinnamon
    • Something acidic (I use lemon juice)

    Next morning, add:

    • Freshly cut fruits (apple, banana, blueberries)
    • Raisins
    • Seeds and nuts
    • Cinnamon
    • Cacao

    There are no measurements here as I truly don’t measure often. Just play around and you’ll be fine!

    When in doubt about the amount of fluid, here’s a hint: you can always add but it’s hard to discard (well and just a pity).

    Hmmmm ?

  • Detox green smoothie

    Detox green smoothie

    This simple combo rocks my mornings these days:

    1 celery stalk
    1 small apple
    3cm piece of cucumber
    1 handful of spinach*
    2-3 cm lemon grass stalk
    1 piece of ginger (to your liking)
    spoonful of turmeric powder**
    dash of black pepper
    5 cashews
    good, long squeeze of lemon juice
    1 cup of cold green tea***

    Blend it all together.

    What makes this smoothie fantastic to me, is its tangy freshness. It is not too sweet, nicely green, full of fibers and it has great character because of the celery, turmeric and lemon.

    Spinach

    * Leafy greens are great, but it is important to switch every now and then because of their alkaloid contents. Replace the spinach for kale, for example.

    By the way, I often use frozen leafs becaus those are super easy to use and have better nutritional values than ‘fresh’ leafs that are a few days old!

    Turmeric

    ** This stuff is one of the most powerful foods in the world and helps fight inflammations and tumors, among many other health benefits. For some time, I have put fresh turmeric in my smoothie each and every morning until I decided to look up if that was even healthy… which, as it turns out, it isn’t.

    Because it is so powerful, raw turmeric is treated by the body as a poison and I have read some explanations that really make sense and led me to refrain from eating raw turmeric.

    Look up the 1976 (yes, old) Goodpasture and Irrighi study if you want to know more.

    Green tea

    *** Green tea has been proven to reduce ageing, prolong lifespan and improve health in remarkable ways. Every night, I make a pot full of green tea, drink a cup or two and save the rest for the next morning, where part of it ends in a smoothie and Jan uses the rest for a homemade ice tea.

    When brewing green tea, make sure to let the water cool down to 70 degrees Celsius after you boiled it and to take out the tea leaves after 5 minutes.

    This smoothie is my favorite thing to drink after my morning runs. It clears and replenishes and I feel as if reborn.

    I hope you’ll enjoy it, too 💗.

     

  • Almost-raw quinoa salad with rhubarb

    Almost-raw quinoa salad with rhubarb

    A deliciously fresh, tangy quinoa salad, light and filling.

    We’re used to eating rhubarb sweetened, boiled even to soften it up. But this celery like pink stalk can also be eaten raw and then it has a nice bite and nicely sour, tangy taste, perfect to complement more earthy flavors!

    A beautiful Summer dish (which is when you’ll find rhubarb on the markets), perfect for vegans because it contains proteins and healthy fats from different sources: green peas, pumpkin seeds and quinoa.

    The lemon zest goes together so nicely with the peas and olive oil, wow! You’ll want to remember that combo.

    While you’re preparing green peas, make some extra and watch out for my green peas ‘hummus’ recipe, coming soon ;).

    1. Rinse and prepare 1 cup of quinoa following the instructions on the packaging.
    2. Steam half a cup of green peas until nicely creamy with a gentle bite.
    3. Toast a handful pumpkin seeds in a pan until fragrant.
    4. In a bowl, mix two teaspoons of lemon zest with a good gulp of extra virgin olive oil and a spoonful of nut oil, such as walnut or pumpkin seed oil and a teaspoon of honey.
    5. Finely cut beetroot, fennel and rhubarb totalling one half to 1 cup.
    6. Mix everything together. Let sit for some minutes to let the flavours combine. Add salt, lemon juice and pepper to taste.
    7. Serve on a bed of velvety green leafs lettuce and sprinkle with more olive oil.

    Enjoy <3

    PS: If you like rhubarb, try my rhubarb smoothie or breakfast bowl recipe!

  • Rhubarb breakfast bowl & ‘very veggie’ smoothie

    Rhubarb breakfast bowl & ‘very veggie’ smoothie

    I like my smoothies creamy yet light and ‘very veggie’. My love Jan prefers his filling, nutty and just a hint sweeter than I do.

    We both often gladly compromise. Other days, we’ll create the very fruity/veggie base, pour half in a glass (for me) and then mix in some more nuts, seeds and dates to create his favorite.

    Thus, we both get what we need to get us going in the morning <3.

    Cut and put in the blender to create a creamy yet very veggie smoothie:

    • 1 big apple
    • 1 orange
    • 1 inch piece of rhubarb
    • 1 small raw beetroot
    • 2 spoons of fresh fennel (the vegetable, not the seeds)
    • 1 handful of pumpkin or sunflower seeds, or both
    • 2 spoons of flax seeds
    • 1 big spoon of avocado, for creaminess (can be replaced with cashew nuts)
    • 1 inch piece of fresh turmeric, or a spoonful of turmeric powder
    • dash of black pepper (necessary to make the curcumin in turmeric bio-available!)
    • 2 dates
    • dash (or two) of cinnamon
    • water

    Or, the create a breakfast bowl: double the amounts of nuts, seeds, avocado and dates. It’s nice to keep the breakfast bowl grainy by not blending the last addition of nuts etc, all the way. Top off with some more seeds and raisins.

    If you like the concept of the breakfast bowl (a perfect bowl of mixed nuts, fruits and veggies, which I love sooo much better than yoghurt and cereal), read this post, where I feature the favorite recipe of my friend and inspirator of this lifestyle dish: Simone van Putten.

  • Colorful stuffed eggs with hummus

    Colorful stuffed eggs with hummus

    A perfect surprise for a potluck: these colorful stuffed eggs. Ingredients: eggs and hummus. Easy-peasy!

    These were made with store bought hummus by Maza: one with curry, one with beetroot. Hence the amazing colors. Of course, you could make these yourself as well! Watch out for my green peas ‘hummus’ recipe, that would be a great add to this palette!

    1. Boil the eggs.
    2. Cut in half, lengthwise.
    3. Scoop out the hardened yolk and divide over two bowls.
    4. In one bowl, mix in yellow hummus so that you have even amounts of egg yolk and hummus.
    5. In the other bowl, do the same with the red hummus.
    6. In each bowl, mix the yolk and hummus to a homogenous paste.
    7. Add olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.
    8. Use two spoons or a garnish ‘bag’ to fill the eggs back up with stuffing.
    9. Garnish with rocket leafs for festive color effect.

    Have a nice party!

  • The amazing green breakfast bowl – by Simone

    The amazing green breakfast bowl – by Simone

    I don’t mean to be all frantic about green smoothies, but this one actually changed my days. The simple concept of creating a breakfast (or in my case: lunch) bowl out of a smoothie is now a part of my daily routine. My friend Simone van Putten (a yoga teacher, mother of Jara, and generally shiny beautiful creative being) introduced it to me.

    I had just returned from Brazil, where people love eating ‘acai’: a not too sweet ice cream made from the famous superfood berries, topped with banana, granola and (for those who want) condensed milk.

    Simone pulled two big green bowls from her fridge, looked at them and laughed: “well, this is actually like green acai!”

    It was amazing: the looks of the dish really did remind me of acai (except, well, deep green in stead of purple red) and it just tasted so nice!

    It’s the perfect combo between a green smoothie and a acai: a breakfast bowl made of fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, dates… topped with banana and granola, or cacao nibs, or anything else you might fancy to kickstart your morning.

    Simone, thank you for inspiring my morning routine in this way <3.

    The pictures in this article’s image are taken from a Simone’s beautifully crafted, handmade recipe book.

  • Chocolate hearts with propolis, cardamom and rose

    Chocolate hearts with propolis, cardamom and rose

    Want to help save the bees? Check out my post on the super simple and fun things you can do to support the little workers: Bee the change.

     

    Bees & propolis

    Some weeks ago, my colleague, friend and beekeeper Fleur gifted me a beautiful bag of bee’s favorite flower seeds and a cute little pot with propolis. The propolis inspired me to make all kinds of medicine out of it, including (of course!)… chocolate :D.

    Propolis is made by bees and contains all kinds of plant resins. The result is a (mostly) dark brown, thick sticky substance with healing and protective properties. Bees use propolis to protect and fortify their ‘city’, hence the name: pro polis in Greek means ‘for the city’.

     

    Benefits of propolis

    It supposedly has strong protective, antibiotic and antifungal properties and is subject of extensive scientific research. I love the sweet, earthy smell and every now and then take a deep sniff from the tiny jar sitting in my cupboard.

    Sucking on a little piece for some time helped relieve a nasty throat ache and a few months ago when I was still in Alto Paraíso, Brazil, I had an unidentified bump growing on my thumb that magically disappeared after I applied propolis cream twice.

     

    Back to chocolates, right?

    Ok here we go.

    It’s a beautiful way to surprise a loved one: create bonbons from their favorite chocolate. Add your own signature by carefully choosing a few extra special ingredients.

    I’ve done from-the-start chocolate recipes before. This one is different: we start with a ready-made bar of fairtrade (should I even mention that?) chocolate. Check the label to see what else is in there except cacao, cacao butter and sugar – less is more. Pick their favorite one, in my case: 1 extra dark and 1 caramel sea salt chocolate bar.

     

    Recipe for Chocolate hearts with propolis, cardamom and rose

    Melt the chocolate au bain marie (in a pan sitting in a pan with hot water).

    Then, what I did is break a piece of propolis and the seeds from one cardamom pod and grind them together finely.

    When the chocolate has melted, stir it well, let cool as far as you can without solidifying the chocolate too far. You want it cool to preserve the medicinal qualities of the propolis but warm enough to stir. Add the propolis and cardamom spice and mix well.

    (Ok I also added a tiny bit of celtic sea salt and rosemary, which was delicious, but in general and especially if you’re just starting out with making chocolate I’d say keep things simple – the stuff is already great by itself.)

    Now scoop full teaspoons of the new chocolate creation in a silicone ice cube tray, sprinkle with dried rose leafs and let solidify for some time.

    If you just use rose leafs, you won’t really taste them. Adding a drop of rose essential oil to the chocolate will change that and give a heavenly rose fragrance… I haven’t done that but will in the future. I’m already dreaming up recipes for chocolate hearts to make next time! Ginger and walnut maybe, or mandarin mint…

    Win a box of chocolates

    What’s your dream chocolate like? Let us know in the comments and win a box of your special recipe chocolates, personally made by me for you!

    With love in the heart <3