Tag: turnip

  • Roots, nuts & fruits with fennel

    Roots, nuts & fruits with fennel

    Don’t be depressed because the sky is grey, when there’s mushrooms and clouds and brightly colored leafs to enjoy. The wind, the rain, the waving of the grass in the fields, the stormy sky… and then the comfort of home with sweet and hearty tastes. Let’s love autumn.

    A very autumny dish that celebrated the abundance of green grapes and root vegetables during these rainy days. The sweet and earthy taste is grounding and soothing for the body. After a summer outside, it’s time to turn inward again.

    Or, you just like the amazing combination of celery and cashews, like me. For a nice snack or side dish, softly cook celery pieces in oil or butter, add the cashews and some fennel (or rosemary is also great!) and salt and pepper.

    Recipe Roots, nuts & fruits with fennel

    • Cut turnip, potatoes and celery stalks. Keep separated.
    • Heat oil and fry the potatoes with salt.
    • After 10 minutes, add turnip, slices of celery stick and one teaspoon of fennel seeds per person.
    • After another 5 minutes, when the potatoes are starting to brown and the celery is softening, add onion rings and cashew nuts.
    • When the potatoes are browned, the celery is soft and the fennel is fragrant, add the grapes.
    • Add honey and pepper to taste. Very nice with some Chinese 5 spices powder, too.

    xXx

  • Vegan Spring Rolls

    Vegan Spring Rolls

    I wish i had taken the time to make a photo that did more justice to the crispy, fresh, nutty, soft-yet-crunchy bite of these darlings.

    The truth is i didn’t realy make these spring rolls myself; i just put all the ingredients on the table and had people have their own way with stuffing the Vietnamese rice paper sheets. So in order take a nice picture, i had to grab their creations from their plates and hold them up into the last sun rays of the day… well. You get the picture. The above is the best i could come up with ;).

    Now i’ll keep this short and dive straight into the secrets of rolling spring rolls. The idea is: anything goes. I especially like combining two or more vegetables with some green leafs, sesame seeds, sprouts and avocado and then dip them in soy or sweet chili sauce.

    raw-salads-stuffing-springrolls-pixlrFor these (almost) raw vegan spring rolls, i made three colorful vegetable combinations:

    • Zucchini with thyme
    • Carrot with hemp and black mustard seeds
    • Turnip with roasted sesame seeds

    We also had three dip varieties: spicy chili, tahin (= sesame paste) with olive oil and lemon, and soy sauce.

    And instead of using avocado (which is really definitely very great for adding creaminess to spring rolls), we enjoyed these with a store-bought lentil sauce that i spiced up a bit.

    After all, there was already enough avocado going on inside the avocado lemon pie we’d have for dessert..

    Zucchini with thyme

    Grate the zucchini or cut it using a julienne cutter. Add a little bit of salt and leave to drain for 20 minutes. The salt will draw the excess water from the zucchini. You may want to catch the fluid and add it to a sauce or soup.

    Add thyme to the zucchini to taste, preferably fresh but dried is also ok.

    Carrot with hemp and mustard seeds

    Grate the carrot or cut it using a julienne cutter. Meanwhile, slowly heat the mustard seeds in a tablespoon of coconut or olive oil. The seeds are ready when they pop rather enthusiastically (whatever that means – just be careful not to burn them and you’ll develop a feeling for it).

    Add hemp and mustard seeds including the oil to the carrot. Stir.

    Turnip with sesame seeds

    Grate the carrot or cut it using a julienne cutter. Add a little bit of olive oil and the sesame seeds. Mine were ready-roasted. Freshly roasted is even more tasty. Roasting obviously makes this dish non-raw, so if raw is a must for you, don’t roast ;). Same goes for the mustard seeds above, by the way.

    Rice paper sheets

    Soak each sheet in hot water for 10-20 seconds. Take out, spread on plate, fill with desired filling, make sure it has both creaminess and crunch. It’s a nice effect when you see little black sesame or mustard seeds shining through. Roll up while also folding at least one side in, so that sauce inside will not spill all over the place.

    Eating with hands and double dipping are allowed.