Saturday, August 1, 2015

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.