Tag: vegan

  • Turmeric Coconut Cream

    Turmeric Coconut Cream

    This recipe is for Turmeric Coconut Cream, which has concentrated flavors and a large amount of turmeric. It serves as a basis for turmeric milk: warm one or two teaspoons with a cup of (rice/nut/coconut) milk and you’re set. You could also add the cream to your tea, or porridge, or raw pie filling, or even a curry. Be creative!

    Medicine

    Turmeric has many health benefits, according to ancient cultures as well as modern-day scientific research.

    Check out this article if you want a starting point to know more: http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/science-confirms-turmeric-effective-14-drugs. Please let me know if you find a better, more objective overview (i didn’t put in the time).

    How to get the most out of turmeric

    The miracles happen in petri dishes mainly; when you eat turmeric, its effect is more subtle although still amazing. Science is now catching up with ancient knowledge and finding ways to increase the effectiveness of turmeric/curcumin.

    As old cuisines have intuitively known and implemented, there’s some things we can do to reap as much benefit from it as possible: when preparing…

    – combine with some fat,
    – add black pepper
    – don’t cook or heat for too long

    All are taken care of in this recipe!

    Recipe for Turmeric Coconut Cream

    • 1 cup thick coconut milk of good quality (or use santen)
    • 2 heaping tablespoons of ground kurkuma (about 20 gr)
    • 4 cardamom pods or a few pinches of cardamom
    • 1 cinnamon stick
    • 2 star anise
    • 1 clove
    • some ground black pepper
    • a few tablespoons of raw honey or agave syrup

    In stead of the above fresh spices, you may want to use one of these ready-made spice mixes: Chinese 5 Spices or the Indian Chai or Garam Masala. In any case, be sure to add black pepper! Add a tiny pinch or drop of vanilla (essence) to bring out all these flavors even better.

    Slowly heat the thick coconut milk with the spices in a pan. Do not boil. Simmer until the spices give off their taste and the milk has reached the consistency of a rather smooth cream.

    Let it cool down a bit. The cream will set. Then stir in the honey and turmeric. We don’t heat the honey because it would lose its antibacterial power (same reason why we buy real, raw honey and not the cheap one).

    Have you tasted it? It will taste creamy, powdery, spicy, sweet, earthy and delicious. (If it tastes sour, your coconut milk is crappy.)

    Pour or spoon the cream into a clean jar. Sigh… ahhh. I drink turmeric milk every morning and night now. Perfect bedtime drink!

  • 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.

     

  • Raw Avocado Lemon Pie

    Raw Avocado Lemon Pie

    Alive
    Last week i found myself dancing, swimming and chilling out in Portugal, at the bi-annual Boom Festival. It was like a fairy tale, a soothing and hope inspiring experience of what life on earth will be like if we all just respect and love each other and find our space to play and relax into the wonder and abundance of nature’s gifts.

    I felt so alive, brimming with energy and joyful jumpiness while all my senses were heightened – pure natural bliss induced by this environment that brings out the best in people.

    It’s in this place that i had the avocado lemon pie. It was so delicious. I got another piece and shared it with friends. Next day, i got yet another piece to share again. Everybody must know how good this tastes.

    Raw pie
    I loooooove raw pies. Although they’re just as packed with calories as the oven baked butter-flour cakes i grew up with, raw pies also carry an amazing taste and feeling of nutrient-rich freshness. Now, usually, i don’t let any opportunity pass to add copious amounts of raw cacao powder, but this time… i’m giving space to the taste of summer pleasures featuring fruits and flowers!

    This pie holds fresh coconut*, slices of peach, avocado and lemon, and is kept in shape using coconut fat, which is solid at room temperature.

    * not the super-young fresh green coconut but the type that we find in western stores, where you need to break the brown fibery shell open with a hammer or axe to find the 1-2 cm thick white coconut coating inside.

    Back home
    Yesterday i had a go at creating my own version of this tangy, creamy, crispy pie. It turned out blissfully tasty, especially if you’re like me and you like the combo of sweet, sour and a hint of salt combined with all kinds of fruity tones. I had kept the avocado-lemon filling quite zesty, so it could use some extra honey dripped on top just before serving or, as my half-indonesian brother-in-law suggested, some gula jawa (palm sugar) flakes – and indeed this goes perfectly with the coconut that is also inside!

    Recipe for Raw (Vegan) Avocado Lemon Pie

    Don’t worry if you don’t have a cake form; a soup bowl will work just as well. These measurements are for a cake of about 12 cm wide and 6 cm high and serve 8.

    Crust

    • 1 handful of coconut (semi-fresh is best, bust desiccated will also work)
    • 1 handful of unsalted cashews
    • 2 tablespoons of coconut oil (liquid so gently heat to just above room temperature)
    • 2 soft dates or figs, or use one tablespoon of marmelade
    • pinch of salt
    • pinch of vanilla or some drops of vanilla essence

    Soak a handful of raw, unsalted cashews in water.
    Open the coconut (here’s how – for Dutchies), take out some flesh and cut in small pieces until you have a handful. I left the brown skin on, it was fine like that but for a more delicate/pure taste you could peel the coconut pieces until purely white.

    In a food processor, combine the cashews and coconut and chop until fine and crumbly. Now add coconut oil, vanilla, salt and dates or marmelade and combine into a dough.

    Spread it out in the middle of a plate into a cake bottom layer. Make sure the soup bowl (if using) fits tightly around it. Put in fridge to cool and harden.

    Fruit layer & filling

    • 1 peach or other fruit
    • 1.5 large avocado
    • 1.5-2 lemons, juice and rind (use grater to grate yellow lemon rind)
    • 0.5 cup of extra virgin coconut oil (not the unscented kind)
    • 0.5 cup honey or agave syrup
    • tiny pinch of salt

    In a clean food processor or blender, combine the avocado, lemon juice and rind, honey or agave syrup, coconut oil and pinch of salt until smooth. Taste and adjust the ingredients to taste. Make it just a bit sweeter than you might feel like as cooling will make the sweetness less prominent.

    Take crust from the fridge, add a single layer of fruit slices and spoon all the avocado mixture on top. Cover with the soup bowl again and put back in the fridge for an hour or two or longer if you want.

    Decoration

    Take the pie from the fridge, gently lift the soup bowl and top the pie and plate with fresh fruit slices, chocolate flakes or (as shown in picture) colorful dried and/or fresh flower buds. I used lavender and dried calendula (marigold). Drip with honey, agave syrup or gula jawa (palm sugar) flakes for added sweetness.

    And… enjoy <3

  • Raw fruity tomato soup

    Raw fruity tomato soup

    If you think this soup looks pale, you’re right. It did! However i’m sure it will give you a healthy blush, for it’s packed with vitamins and fibers.

    One could say this is a gazpacho… yes, let’s call it that. But with a surprising fruity twist!

    Now i’ll be quick and get this recipe out. After all, it only takes one minute to make. The blogpost should hardly take longer.

    Recipe for Fruity raw tomato soup

    In a blender, combine:

    • 3 tomatoes
    • 1 baby cucumber (or 2-3 inches of a normal one), leave rind on
    • 2 prunes
    • one quarter of a small apple
    • one half of a little garlic glove
    • one small handful of sunflower seeds

    Blend until smooth and serve. My vegetables came from the fridge and so the soup was at perfect temperature. Should be fresh but not very cold.

    This a nice and quick starter for a summer evening dinner. Some green herbs would have been nice. Mint or basil and parsley, probably.  That’s for next time. I love these little experiments.

  • Sweet & Spicy Carrot Beetroot Salad

    Sweet & Spicy Carrot Beetroot Salad

    Ahhh yes this one is a classic, fun to make and a big winner – probably because of its nice warm flavors.

    I bought the ingredients already sliced in julienne. If you want to do it yourself, a julienne cutter comes in very handy.

    Recipe for Sweet & Spicy Carrot Beetroot salad

    serves 4, as a side dish

    • one handful of raw carrot, en julienne
    • one handful of beetroot, en julienne (raw or cooked, i used cooked)
    • ginger syrup, two tablespoons
    • Chinese five spices (fennel-pepper-cinnamon-coriander-anisseed-mixture)
    • handful of raisins
    • handful of seroendeng (Indonesian dried coconut & peanut mixture) *
    • dried chili flakes
    • sesame seeds (i may have added some hemp seeds as well..)
    • greens to decorate, such as diced peppers or coriander leafs
    • some oil, sesame or sunflower for example

    Toss everything together. Let sit for 10 minutes (or more) so that the tastes can all combine nicely.

    Enjoy!

  • Heartwarming quinoa

    Heartwarming quinoa

    A few days ago, i found a leftover of soup in my fridge. I wanted to finish it, but felt like eating something more substantial than soup. I took a small oven dish and put in a handful of quinoa, some dried tomatoes, a rosehip, some herbs and spices and then poured in the soup. Wow.

    The trick is to combine any tasteful, light soup with quinoa (or couscous, or bulgur) and herbs and put in the oven. Here we have a tomato soup from soup veggies, tomato paste, cooked chick peas (half of those mashed) with cumin, paprika and laurel. If you like spicy food, now is the time to add some harissa or curry paste.

    In an oven dish, make a 1 cm layer of quinoa/couscous and for every person, add about 1/2 tbs curry powder, 1/2 tbs sundried tomato, some cinnamon, some kaffir lime leaves (or thinly sliced lemongrass, or grated lemon rind) and other herbs and spices to your liking.

    Combine with (leftover?) soup so that there is 3 cm of food in the dish, stir gently and put in the oven, about 30 mins at 180 C.

     

    Even better the next day; reheat with a little bit of soup and serve with crunchy lettuce.

  • Gazpacho: Spanish cold tomato soup

    Gazpacho: Spanish cold tomato soup

    You know that camping feeling? Living with little, in a tent or caravan, wearing flip flops to the toilet, wet grass tickling your toes… That’s me right now! Not because i’m on holiday, but just because i CAN.

    Well, and because my relationship broke up.

    I went to live somewhere i can be with my feet on the ground: in a friend’s caravan (thank you!) on the premise of another friend thank you too!).

    Now that i am processing and waving bye to nine years of love and also some mutual pain, too much pain in the end, many things are shifting. Sadness, incomprehension and especially: all the more love. Everything is open. And what happens? A world of new opportunities, new possibilities and new encounters is appearing. Wow. And yes: outch :(.

    As i’m embrazing the raw truth, much of my food here is also raw. It’s full of life and has all sweet and bitter tastes life has to offer. Every morning i wake up in my caravan, make a nice pot of tea and then blend a smoothie of vegetables, fruits and other healthy ingredients (check this one, for example: Morning glory power smoothie). Quick and easy, beautiful start.

    Raw is also the soup i’m sharing today: gazpacho with carrot. Throw all ingredients in the blender together en put itin the fridge for a while. So make sure to use clean ingredients; the carrot used in the soup was cleaner than the one in the picture. (My friend who saw the pic wanted you alt to know that. So now you do ;).)

    Gazpacho

    (cold tomato soup)

    serves four plates

    Blend

    4 large tomatoes
    one half bell pepper
    one half onion
    one carrot
    handful of basil
    small handful of celery leaf
    one garlic clove
    two tablespoons tomato paste
    some water

    Add pepper, salt and herbs to taste. You may also want to add some sweetener.

    Cool in the fridge while preparing the rest of the meal.

    Enjoy!

  • Zucchini spaghetti

    Zucchini spaghetti

    A week and a half ago i met superchef Michael in an ayahuasca workshop. I’m not sure whether it was his fantastic guitar music and drumming and singing, or his wild ginger hairdo, his wonderful little daughter, the zucchini spaghetti he and Ariella served us, or all of the above, but since then i’ve felt a little bit in love – with the whole wide world.

    Of all those beautiful things, there was one that i could recreate at home. Spaghetti made of zucchini, isn’t that brilliant? Now that i’ve encountered it, it seems to be everywhere. But until last week the thought had never occurred to me.

    I make spaghetti from zucchini now using a julienne cutter, which i got for only € 6,95.

    Here you go, my version of the recipe by Michael and Arielle (from Restaurant Golden Temple in Amsterdam):

    Recipe for Zucchini Spaghetti

    Cook some tomato chunks (ca 390 ml) with herbs in a pan and cook slowly until the sauce thickens and tastes a bit more sweet. Roast 100gr of roughly chopped walnut in a dry pan. Chop 8 dried tomatoes with a small handful of pine nuts, a tablespoon of fresh parsley and one tablespoon of fresh basil. Stir in the tomato mixture with the tomato sauce.

    Cut one zucchini into spaghetti strings. Drizzle with some olive oil and lemon zest (grated lemon rind).

    Put the zucchini on a plate, spoon on the tomato sauce and to with walnuts and some pepper and salt and olive oil if you wish.

    Zucchini with walnut (oil) and lemon rind is really a winning combination. Try it!

    For an extra tasty, hearty tomato sauce:

    Fry a small onion in some oil until it’s brown (but not burnt). Add a small clove of garlic, fuinely chopped. fry for an additional 30 secs and then add the tomato chunks.

    In stead of onions, you can also use black semi-dried olives. Make sure to use good ones. The ones we in Holland get in the supermarket, are not good. Go to a specialist and taste a few different varieties. You’ll be amazed by the differences in taste and say goodbye to the salty supermarket crappy ones forever!

  • Basics of juicing: avocado-apple-kiwi juice

    Basics of juicing: avocado-apple-kiwi juice

    My best kitchen purchase ever: a juicer. A bought it a year ago and have been using it about every two days. Superhealthy and really, really delicious. Friends love it, too.

    Here are some good-to-knows, tips and tricks:

    How does a juicer work:
    This is how the juicer works: vegetables and fruits are grated into pulp. The pulp is being centrifuged and thus pushed outward against the walls with very fine holes. Only the juice and finest pulp goes through. The result: superfresh, naturally cloudy juice. Best is to choose a machine that fits whole apples in the shaft.

    The above is for high-speed juicers. If you want to retain even more nutrients in your juice, choose a mechanically driven slow juicer.

    What do you need for juicing?
    For fruit juices, use apples or pears as a basis. Jason Vale (Philips’ marketing puppet juice chef): apple-sandwich. Start with an apple, stuff in anything else you lie in your juice and then end with an apple again. It works for me! I always have apples, pears, kiwifruits, carrots, lemons, ginger, mint, beetroot and leafy greens lying around so i always have my favorite juice ingredients at hand.

    Don’t peel your veggies!
    Apples, pears, carrots, beets, cucumbers, zucchinis, and even lemons and pineapples (well, be a bit careful with those): don’t peel! That would be a waste of vitamins ánd time! They can all go inside the juicer without peeling.

    Juicing oranges
    Oranges and clementines do need to be peeled (but not lemons and limes), because the rind holds bitter oils which will spoil your juice.

    Juicing bananas
    Veggies and fruits with a lot of starch, are not suitable for the juicer. The filter would get clogged with pulp. Ideally, use a blender or hand mixer to blend banana, avocado, papaya, mango, prunes etc into the juice.

    Superfast juicing process
    I’ll let mr. Vale do the talking:

    Recipe for Apple-kiwifruit-avocado juice:
    Juice 3-4 apples and 1-2 kiwis. Blend the juice with one half avocado. The avocado creates a deliciously light, luffy, creamy texture. It’s like ice cream, everybody loves it!

    (Update, 4+ years later: I still love juicers, nothing beats the taste of fresh juice! But I found with all those juices, I was drinking a LOT of sugar and missing most of the fibres. And although I often used the pulp to make something different, it felt like a pity to leave so much of the fruit and veg unused. Long story short… I’m back to smoothies, using the blender. Simply add water or any kind of juice to chunks of whole fruits and vegs in the blender and you can basically drink your daily dose.)