A change of scenery - new domain!

I decided to move my blog over to: https://plantstastebetter.wordpress.com . 

Hope to see you 

Oil-free crispy Baked Potatoes

I absolutely love these oil-free baked potatoes and eat them to almost everything, all the time.

ingredients:

500g of potatoes, quartered

1 tsp of dried garlic
1/16 tsp of grated nutmeg
1 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp of paprika powder
1 tbsp of dried herbs of your choice (thyme, basil, lavender, oregano, lovage etc.)
1 tbsp of fresh herbs of your choice  (rosemary, thyme etc.)

preparation: 

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
Steam the potatoes for about 10-15 minutes until you can easily put a fork through them, but they shouldn't yet fall apart while doing so.
Strain the water and put the potato wedges on a baking sheet.
Sprinkle with the herbs and spices and bake them for around twenty minutes or until they acquire beautifully golden color.

Creamy Raspberry Ice Cream with Basil

ingredients: 

500g raspberries, frozen
300g of plain vegan yoghurt (preferably unsweetened and without any weird additives!)
2 portions of vanilla stevia extract or 2 gooey medjool-dates
a pinch of cinnamon
5-10 leaves of basil, finely chopped

preparation: 

If using the dates, put them into your blender and add a little bit of water to prevent them from sticking to your blender's blade.
Once the dates are finely pureed, add the vegan yoghurt and after that half of the frozen berries. When everything is blended to perfection, add the rest of the berries and blend again.
In a bowl, carefully mix in the basil. Don't blend it, as it tends to get bitter when blended.
Voila the easiest ice cream you could think of.

note:
If you do not own a blender, you can still make this using a hand held mixer.
Take out the berries and let them thaw for one to two minutes.
Add 1/3 of the frozen berries and half of the yoghurt to a high bowl and mix. Make sure that the yoghurt is on top, so that the blade is covered, and has an easier job mixing the frozen berries.
Now add some more of the berries and blend again.
Add the rest of the vegan yoghurt and blend everything once more, adding the cinnamon as well as the stevia or your favorite liquid sweetener (as making your own date paste without a food processor or blender is really hard).
Add in the basil and serve.

Aromatic Cherry Tomato Linguine

This summerly pasta dish is creamy and delicious without any added oil, it does not taste low fat at all.


ingredients: 

1 portion of linguine (buckwheat/spelt/kamut)
 a hand full of basil or parsley
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 tbsp of water
1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp of paprika
1/8 tsp of chili flakes
1 small piece of red bell pepper, finely minced
1 tbsp of tomato paste
400g of cherry tomatoes, chopped
 a hand full of basil or parsley
fresh rosemary twigs
black pepper, freshly ground
a pinch of sea salt

makes: 1 portion/ 2 small portions

preparation: 

Cook the linguine.

To make the sauce heat up a non-stick frying pan (cast iron are the best) and sautee the minced garlic and onion until they are beautifully golden and add some water (the less the better!) to prevent them from sticking to the pan.
When the onions are almost ready, add the paprika, chili flakes, balsamic vinegar and the tomato paste and roast them, while frequently stirring, for a few minutes until the vinegar caramelizes.
Then add the tomatoes and the bell pepper, as well as the tomatoes and the black pepper.
Let the sauce cook for about 10-15 minutes, occasionally stirring.

Add in the herbs and spices and serve with a fresh summer salad on the side.

Creamy Sweet Potato Chickpea Curry

This hearty combination of chickpeas and sweet potatoes is a wonderful vegan comfort food for cold (and warm) days.


ingredients:
serves 1-2 people 
1 pink sweet potato (around 300g), chopped
200g of cauliflower
freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp of garam masala - curry powder
3-5 tbsp of cooked chickpeas
1/2 brown onion, chopped
a little bit of lemon zest
parsley, chopped
100ml of water - (start with a little and add more if needed)
100g of canned tomatoes
a little bit of lemon juice
1/4 tsp of chili flakes
more fresh parsley for garnish

preparation: 
Put the cauliflower into boiling water and let it cook for about 3-5 minutes. It should still be a little firm when you drain it.
Meanwhile put the onion, sweet potato, parsley, black pepper and curry powder into a pot and let them cook on medium heat. Slowly add about half a cup of water and let the veggies cook -lid on- for about 10 - 15 minutes. (Be careful not to add too much water. The veggies should be able to soak up all the water you add (!).)
The sweet potato should be really soft before you add the cauliflower and the chickpeas. After adding those let it cook until they too are relatively soft, then add the tomatoes, lemon juice, zest and the chili flakes and cook until the tomatoes are fully incorporated.
Enjoy with fresh parsley.

Japanese Mushroom Soba Hotpot

For  people who do not cook asian food very often, this dish may seem a little complicated, because it calls for a lot of different condiments not everybody has ready at hand.
If you do not possess ponzu, you can substitute it with plain soy sauce, and instead of  mirin, you could try 2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar. 
But ultimately the taste will not be the same, and these condiments can be used in a great variety of all possible asian recipes, so although some of them are a tad expensive, they are definitely worth the investment. At least from my point of view.
I have linked pictures to the least well known ingredients, if you want to know, what the things look like, you would have to buy for this recipe.
I hope you will give it a try and enjoy it as much as my family did.

ingredients: 
2-3 people 

dashi (soup base)
20g kombu 
1 litre of water

soup
1 cup of freshly brewed green tea

2 umeboshi plums, pitted
3 tbsp of sake (good quality)
3 tbsp of ponzu or shoyu (salt reduced is best)
3 tbsp of ume su
3-4 tbsp of mirin
1 tbsp of rice vinegar

1 dried shitake mushroom
1/3 tsp of whole szechuan pepper
1/4 tsp of chili flakes
a very small pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp of dries cremini (or other) mushroom powder


200g of enoki mushrooms
200g of Bunashimeji mushrooms brown 
150g of Bunashimeji, white 
200g of shiitake mushrooms,  quartered

200g of dry soba noodles

optional: chopped spring onion for garnish

preparation:

Soak the kombu in cold water for about 10-12 hours, then remove the algae and use the drained (through colander+cheesecloth) soaking water as your soup base later on.
Prepare 1 cup of freshly brewed light green tea.
In a big pot put the umeboshi plums, sake, mirin, rice vinegar, ume su and ponzu. 
Put a lid onto the pot and let the "sauce" reduce for a while, occasionally stirring to keep the sauce from sticking to the pot.
Prepare the shiitake mushrooms by stemming them and cutting them into quarters, then wash them and squish the water out of them with your hands.
Put them into the pot with the reduced sauce and let them glaze for about 5 minutes.
Stem the other mushrooms and add them together with the green tea and the spices.
Let the mix cook for about 20 minutes before you slowly add in the kombu.
Add as much or little as you want according to your taste buds. 
Let the mushrooms cook through very well and add some more mirin, shoyu and ume su to taste.
Cook the soba noodles in boiling water for about 6-10 minutes and rinse them thoroughly before adding them to the soup, which can be enjoyed hot or cold and topped up with some chopped spring onion.


A happy new year to all of you, 
Nora.