Healthy
Brussels sprouts tarte with goat cheese
Oven roasted winter vegetables with hummus
Beetroot-kale-winter-salad
Beetroot burger with goat cheese and spinach
Late summer picnic for two
Banana chocolate popsicles
Chocolate oats
Flammkuchen with butternut squash
Fall granola with apples and cinnamon
Dried apples with chocolate
Plum Pie
Quinoa stuffed aubergine
Avocado lime popsicles
Breakfast served two ways…
Mom´s potato salad
Quinoa asparagus salad
Chickpea salad with spinach and sweet potatoes
You don´t win friends with salad, you don´t win friends with salaaaad….I must admit, I have to disagree with Bart. I mean sure, if somebody makes me pancakes or chocolate cake I might have to marry that person. But I do love a good Salad. I eat salads on an almost daily basis and I´m always on a lookout for new recipes. And then I found this one.
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Homemade almond-hazelnut milk
I know, I know, the trend to make your own nut milk has been overly exhausted by now. There are probably a billion recipes out there, so why should mine be any different? Well, to anyone who says “geez Ineke, get creative, I´ve already done it a thousand times”, I hope you´ll accept me into the nut-milk-lover-club. To anyone else: You have to try this recipe!! Continue reading “Homemade almond-hazelnut milk”
Homemade pita bread with falafel and coleslaw
A couple of weeks ago I talked about my fast food cravings. I´m usually not the burger person, instead I will almost always opt for falafel instead (unless we are talking homemade burgers of course). I´m not quite sure why, maybe it´s because the Turkish or oriental cuisine is more vegetarian friendly or maybe it has to do with my weird relationship with cabbage. I hate cabbage when it is cooked but love raw coleslaw. Does that make any sense? It´s almost as weird as the fact that I make basically all my recipes with tomatoes but I don’t like tomato soup. Continue reading “Homemade pita bread with falafel and coleslaw”
Pancakes with yoghurt and pomegranate seeds
Soooo…how are your New Year’s resolution going? Have you been to the gym three times this week, eating only salad and green smoothies, cleaned out your closet, organized your desk and filed your tax return? No? Well, I´m not surprised. Most New Year’s resolutions are made known fully well that they are never to be kept anyway. Although sometimes having a goal can really motivate you, other times too many resolutions are just frustrating. You know, like when you got so much stuff to do, you decide to take a nap instead? I hear you!
Don´t worry, I am not here today to make you feel bad. Instead, I am here to tell you that you can have your (pan)cake and eat it too! Continue reading “Pancakes with yoghurt and pomegranate seeds”
Veggie Burger with sweet potato fries
Ah, the good old Fast Food. I´m guessing nobody can resist the temptation that comes from the local burger restaurant. Especially not when it´s 6 in the morning and you are on your way home from a night out dancing. We have all been there! While I love French fries I usually ignore the burger and instead order some falafel and bread. It´s just that the regular fast food restaurants never seem to satisfy my cravings for a good burger. The first bite seems right but half an hour after you have eaten the burger all you feel is full and slightly nauseated. But fear not my friends, I´ve got just the thing for you. Continue reading “Veggie Burger with sweet potato fries”
Homemade granola with vanilla, cranberries and nuts
The last couple of weeks I didn´t really get to blogging, mostly because I just didn´t have the time, due to University, being sick and other things that just piled up. I became really restless during those weeks, I just couldn´t wait to get back in my kitchen and behind my camera again. This week, I finally had some time so I whipped up this batch of homemade granola for you.
Yes, I know that Christmas is around the corner, especially since the first Advent is this Sunday. And I did make the first Christmas cookies already but the recipe for this granola is rather un-christmassy. But then again I thought, a balanced breakfast is the most important start in the day and this is true all year round, so here we are. If you are looking for Christmas cookie inspiration, you can find the world’s best Vanillekipferl recipe here, and my grandmas Zimtsterne and an explanation as to why Germans go crazy during Christmas time here. Continue reading “Homemade granola with vanilla, cranberries and nuts”
Pumpkin risotto with goat cheese and parsley
I´m a big fan of the different seasons. It wasn´t always that way or at least I never really noticed it until I spend time in two countries where the weather is mainly hot and sunny. In Costa Rica the temperature is 25°C the whole year round, the only difference is that it rains one half of the year. And it gets a little colder during the winter in Barcelona (at least that´s how the Spanish feel) but it doesn´t snow and if it ever does, the whole city loses it. I´m not complaining about daily sunshine but once I got back from my studies in Spain, I realized how beautiful fall can be. The colors, the weather, the apple-picking and pumpkin carving…Fall is pretty. Continue reading “Pumpkin risotto with goat cheese and parsley”
Healthy breakfast carrot-cake muffins
It´s official. I moved! My new apartment is all set up and now it´s time to get to know life in the new city. Although I´m still bummed that I had to move at all, my new apartment kind of tries to make up for it. For starters I know finally have my own oven!! I know, it´s amazing. In my old apartment, I had to use the common kitchen for baking, which involved me running up and down all the time, panicking about whether I will get the timing right or everything might burn. I also have those huge windows that face west which means that I have a lot of light. I´m really excited to get behind my camera and experiment with all that light but until then I have a recipe for you that has been in put on hold for quite a while. I think it fit´s this October just right: carrot cake muffins! Continue reading “Healthy breakfast carrot-cake muffins”
Red currant vanilla muffins
Do you know that feeling, when you got something carefully planned and then you end up doing something completely different? My original plan was to try this blueberry-peach galette recipe that I´ve been thinking about for a while. So I went to the famers market to get some fresh fruit and that’s when I saw those red currants. Red, juicy, beautiful red currants that were just waiting to be bought. Of course I couldn´t say no so I found myself buying them without a big recipe in mind. It was the first time I had them this year and they are not my typical go-to fruit but you got to admit that red currants are some of the sexiest fruit out there. Just look at them all cute and delicious. I ended up making the galette as well, while I was thinking about recipes that could use some red currants. The muffin recipe was a spontaneous idea, which turned out be even greater than the galette and deserves to be shown first.
Raspberry coconut popsicles.
Investing in popsicle molds was the best idea of this summer! We used to have some when I was little, filling them with orange juice or yoghurt but it wasn´t until I bought some for myself that I realized just how much fun you can have with them. There are so many different ways and flavors, it´s awesome. The only problem I am having is that my craving for new recipes kind of contradicts with the amount of ice cream one can eat. My freezer is full but I still have so many ideas. Yeah, the life of a foodblogger, it´s tough.
Baked oatmeal with rhubarb and strawberries
I´m a breakfast type of person. I do love dinner though. Actually, I think food is always great, regardless the time of day. But breakfast is very important to me. My Spanish roommates would always make fun of me when they saw me in the morning, eating my bread, eggs and orange juice. Then again, breakfast is not that big of a deal in Spain, typically consisting of coffee and a cookie. But here in Germany and in so many other places in the world breakfast is really important. I just can´t leave the house in the morning without a good foundation for the day. And I absolutely loooove me a good brunch. 
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Quinoa salad with fresh spinach, pomegranate seeds and feta cheese
Since I like to combine my travel reports with some recipes of the typical cuisine I present you: quinoa salad with spinach, pomegranate and feta cheese. A lot of you might be thinking now – what does that have to do with Canada? You are right; Quinoa and pomegranates are not the first thing you might think of when it comes to typical Canadian food. Still, it is the food-experiences I made during our trip that results in this recipe. Local, fresh, organic – those were the keywords, that followed us everywhere, restaurants, supermarkets, farmers markets, you name it. This new trend, that people are developing a higher interest in a healthy lifestyle, nutrition and regional products can also be seen in Europe but in Canada (and I guess also in the USA) it is huge. My last trip to the states was 7 years ago and I remember eating pancakes, pancakes, burger and even more pancakes during my stay. This time it was much easier to find rather healthy recipes, no matter if we stayed in big cities like Seattle or Vancouver or had breakfast in a tiny town on the way. Continue reading “Quinoa salad with fresh spinach, pomegranate seeds and feta cheese”
Asparagus tart with parmesan cheese
With all the rhubarb and strawberry recipes I´ve been making lately I almost forgot about my favorite vegetable that is in season right now: asparagus. In Germany, people go crazy during the asparagus season. It is those three months, between the end of march or the beginning of april until the 24th of June were you can find asparagus everywhere. The white asparagus is typically prepared with potatoes, ham and sauce hollandaise. My family eats it with thin pancakes (kind of like crepes), béchamel sauce and boiled ham, which is the southern way to eat it. Green asparagus is perfect for salad, pasta, quiche or tarts. However you prepare it, I absolutely love asparagus season.
Breakfast muffins with walnuts and raspberries
I know, I know, there have been quite a few muffin recipes on this blog lately. But I just had to share this one with you. We are talking about breakfast muffins. That´s right: dessert for breakfast. Plus, these are guilt-free healthy muffins. Meaning they are made without wheat flour and sugar. Say whaaat? It´s a crazy world we are living in.
Usually, I am a bit skeptical when it comes to super healthy vegan, gluten-, sugar- and fat free desserts. Don´t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of eating healthy. I have at least 5 different types of flour in my kitchen, I love whole grain bread more than anything and I can´t go to the farmers market without buying tons of fresh fruit and vegetables. But when it comes to dessert I was always more of a “the more the better” kind of person. Life is too short to not eat dessert. And the best cakes are just the ones made with tons of butter, cream and chocolate. Also most of the super-healthy-low-carb-sugar-free recipes require a lot of ingredients that are (a) hard to get and (b) kind of expensive. That being said, I was very interested when I saw the recipe for breakfast muffins over at Green Kitchen Stories. They are made of things you usually have at home or can easily find at the supermarket, like walnuts, oats, bananas and dates. And the combination sounded really great. So I decided to give this whole healthy-baking thing a try.
The result was AMAZING. The muffins are soft and fluffy and surprisingly very sweet. They taste like a mixture between granola, oatmeal and pancakes. So they really are perfect for breakfast. The original recipe is with turmeric and blueberries. I adapted it a little by using cinnamon instead of turmeric and adding raspberries. I also altered the granola topping by adding some caramelized walnuts. Because things are always better when caramelized!
Makes about 18 muffins:
100 g walnuts
85 g rolled oats
130 g buckwheat flour, spelt flour or whole grain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp freshly ground cardamom
½ tsp sea salt
160 ml buttermilk or plant yogurt
80 ml oil or butter
2 ripe bananas, mashed
5 fresh dates, mashed
3 large eggs
Raspberries, frozen or fresh
For the granola topping:
1/3 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp runny honey
1) Using a food processor or a blender, mix walnuts and oats into a coarse flour. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and mix with the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom and salt. With a blender or a food processor, mix buttermilk, oil, bananas and dates. Mix with the dry ingredients. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl for a minute before carefully adding them to the batter. Add raspberries.
2) Divide the batter among the muffin tins. For the granola topping, mix all the ingredients and let them caramelize in a pan. Add on top of the muffins. Bake the muffins in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes at 180°C.
Bulgur salad
I think there are two very different persons living inside me. One is the inner fat kid that is constantly craving for cookies, cake and ice cream. The other one is a health-junkie, obsessed with fresh and healthy food. If I eat to much cake, bread and pizza, my body desperetaly longs for salad and vegetables. If I try to stick to an all-healthy diet, my body wants cake. The two balance each other out I guess. The health junkie in me makes sure I eat well and take care of myself. The inner fat kid helps me not to take everything to seriously and enjoy life and sugar every once in a while. Maybe it´s not the worst system after all.
So since I can´t be living off of cookies and cupcakes, my daily cooking consists of a lot of salad (technically speaking…is that even cooking?) Anyway, I love salad. I tried a bunch of different recipes and ingredients throughout the years and at the moment, my all time favourite ingredients for salad are avocado, tomatoes, green onion and feta cheese. These are the basics for almost all of my salads and from there I start adding things I like, like nuts, chickpeas, cucumber or corn.
Veggie Tacos
I am back! Sorry it took so long but you know…finals and stuff. But now I finally got time for some cooking and we are continuing with the Mexican theme. It´s time for Tacos! I love Tacos and they are even better if you make everything yourself. What I like so much about them is that it´s really fun to prepare them with friends or family. Just get your favourite people together, get everybody busy in the kitchen and in the end everybody is full and happy. And because you can prepare them however you like, there is enough freedom of choice for everyone. It´s a win-win-situation. (Especially when your visitors will help you clean up the mess later).
Tortilla soup
Like I promised, this post is all about Mexican food. We are starting our Mexican weeks with tortilla soup. Which can be seen as an equivalent to the noodle soup we know here in Germany. I love soups, but eating the same recipes over and over again can be a bit tiring. That is why I am always excited to try something different. Like coconut soup. But back to our little trip to Mexico. This soup contains basically most of the important ingredients of the Mexican cuisine – garlic, tomatoes, chili, avocado, tortillas and cilantro. The combination might sound a bit weird but I promise, it tastes great. And it is also very filling. Perfect for dinner after a long, stressful day.
The recipe itself is not very complicated and the true definition of soulfood. The onions are steamed for at least 10 minutes before adding garlic and polenta and even after adding canned tomatoes the soup needs to cook for another 15 minutes. It is one of those recipes that take time but at the same time it is very relaxing. And besides, is there anything better than the smell of steamed onions and garlic? I love it. No matter how bad of a mood I might be in, as soon as I come home and start cooking, this smell makes everything better.
Coconut soup
Brace yourself – winter is coming. And that means it´s gonna get really cold. At least if you – like me – live in the northern part of Europe. Anybody else who is not affected by the typical cold, grey, windy and a lot of times rainy instead of snowy thing we call winter…well good for you.
Aaanyway, the best thing to fight winter depression for me is either hot chocolate or my favourite soup. Which would be coconut soup. This recipe is just so yummie, easy and healthy and overall just so good for you! Trust me on this one. It will cure any cold in no time. Even if you just feel like you might come down with something…eat this soup and you will feel better. The reasons for this are the not-so-secret ingredients: garlic, chili and ginger. I will spare you the detail of why they are so good for you and your immune system. Just trust me. Or go google it, that´s fine too.
Spinach quiche with tomatoes and goat cheese
It´s official. The semester started again. Which means that after 4 months of vacation I need to get used to getting up early, going to class, listening to the professor for 1 1/2 hours, reading a horrible amount of textbooks and studying. It also means that my time left for baking and spending time in the kitchen has been reduced. And that I have to focus on recipes that are easy to adapt to my tiny kitchen. One of those recipes is quiche. I like quiche especially because you easily change the recipe to those ingredients that you personally prefer. Once you found a good recipe for the dough it is up to you to create a filling. Basically any type of vegetable and cheese can be used for quiche, that way it never gets boring. It is not one of those recipes that you can easily prepare on short notice because the dough needs to chill for a while and the quiche itself needs about 40 minutes in the oven. But your patience will be rewarded.
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How to make a perfect risotto
Risotto is one of my go-to recipes. It´s simple, very tasty and perfect to make when you´re cooking alone. And you can always mix it up, according to season. Just exchange the vegetables for whatever might be in season right now, risotto can be made with pretty much everything. Pumpkin, Mushrooms, saffron…
This recipe is for my sister who once told me that she needs 40 minutes to make a risotto. For her and for anybody else who might struggle with risotto or maybe never tried it before: Here is a step-by-step guide on how to make a perfect risotto. Everybody who is more experienced in risotto making is also very welcome to try out this recipe. I am sure, more recipes will follow, but for the start I am going to show you how to make a simple vegetable risotto.