Baked bean loaf with salad and baked potatoes

Hi there :) Today I am sharing with you a very easy recipe for a bean loaf. You can combine it with really any veggies on the side. This time I made some baked sweet potatoes (everyone's favorite :P), some lettuce, kohlrabi, sprouts, dried tomatoes and caramelized onions...or well, sort of ;-).
These onions were a bi-product of a coughing syrup made out of onions. This method is super effective against coughing and it is all natural :) The onions are well known for their antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties. The syrup tastes better than it sounds, so give it a try next time someone gets ill in your family. I describe how to make the syrup in the Method section below. 

What will you need:

For the bean loaf:
- 2 cans of any type of beans (use fresh beans whenever you can)
- 1 zucchini
- 4 carrots
- 1/2 white onion
- spice mix
- a bit of chili
- salt, pepper
- 2 tbsp ground flax-seed with 6 tbsp water
- 1/2 cup of finely cur oats 
- a bit of water, if needed
- a small amount of coconut oil to coat the baking pan 






For the salad:
- 1 head of lettuce of your choice
- 2-3 sweet potatoes
- 1 kohlrabi
- sprouts of any kind
- 2-3 dried tomatoes in olive oil

For the caramelized onion
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 tbsp raw cane sugar
- tiny bit of oil

Method:
Bean loaf:

1. Rinse and drain the beans from the can. I normally cook my own beans, but when I forget to pre-soak them, or I am under time pressure, I use canned beans. Please make sure, that you wash the beans under running water, as the cans contain BPA, which you don't want to eat..
2. Prepare the egg replacer: mix 2 tbsp of ground flax-seed with 6 tbsp water and set aside for a couple of minutes, until the flax-seed soaks up the water.
3. Wash the zucchini, peal and wash the carrots, peal the onion and put everything  into a food processor with an S-blade. Start to mix using the "Pulse" functionality. If the dough gets too dry, add some water. If it gets over sticky, add some more oats.
4. Place the dough into an ovenproof pan, coated with a bit of coconut oil. 
5. Bake on 200° for about 25-30 minutes, or until the bean loaf starts separating from the side of the pan and it becomes golden brown.

 Salad: 

1. Wash the lettuce, divide the leaves and make smaller pieces using your hands.
2. Peel and slice the kohlrabi. Cut the dried tomatoes into smaller pieces. 
3. Bake the sweet potatoes at the same time as the bean loaf on a separate tray :) I describe how to make the sweet potatoes in this recipe.      
4. Add some sprouts of any kind :)

 Caramelized onion

1. Peel and slice one yellow onion (it can as well be red). Place it into a small bowl and add the sugar on top. Wait until the next day (6-8 hours). The onion will release a sweet nectar, which is amazing against coughing! You can leave the onion for 1-2 days.
2. Instead of throwing the onion out, take a bit of oil and saute the onion in a pan until it gets translucent. voila.. you have caramelized onions :-) At least a version of them:) 

Place everything on a plate, arranging the ingredients like a rainbow with many different colors :) The more attractive your food looks, the better it will taste :) 

 

Enjoy <3

Delicious carrot cake

 
I have always loved carrot cake, but I have never found a vegan alternative, which would resemble the original one.  This has changed, when a friend of mine, Maren, baked the PERFECT carrot cake for my bachelorette party. I instantly fall in love with this cake and have made it a couple of times since then :) 
She found the recipe on the internet and I made a few modifications to it. 
This cake has the perfect consistency, it is fluffy, moist, but sticks together at the same time. Give it a try, I am sure you and your family will love it :-)

Here is what you will need:
 - 400 grams carrots
 - 400 grams of spelt flour
 - 1 package of baking powder
 - 1/2 tsp of baking soda
 - 200 grams raw brown sugar
 - 100 grams chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts)
 - 1 tsp pure vanilla powder (or vanilla sugar - in this case use less raw sugar)
 - 1 tsp cinnamon
 - 1/2 tsp cardamon (optional)
 - 1/4 tsp ginger powder
 - a pinch of salt 
 - a few drops of natural orange essence
 - juice of 1 lemon
 - 175 ml cold pressed sunflower seed oil (or coconut oil)
 - a little bit of powder sugar
 
Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 165° on circulating air, or 180° top and bottom heat. 
2. Peel and wash the carrots. Grate them into small, fine pieces. I used a food, which made this step much faster :)
3. Add the carrots to a mixing bowl, add the oil, lemon juice and orange essence. Mix well and set aside at least for 10 minutes. 
4. In a separate bowl mix together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamon, ginger powder, salt.
5. Add the carrot mix to the dry ingredients and mix well. Use your hands to mix the dough together. It takes a while until all ingredients are mixed, so stay with it, it will nicely come together :)
6. Take a rectangular cake pan (or whatever pan you have at home) and coat is thinly with coconut oil.
7. Pour the dough into the pan and press is slightly with your fingers, evenly distributing it throughout the pan.
8. Bake on 165° for about 60 minutes. 
9. Leave the cake inside the pan for about 10-15 minutes. After that, take it out from the pan and leave it on a rack to cool.
10. I didn't put an icing on the top of the cake, as I found it already sweet enough. If you like, you can add a bit of powder sugar on the top of the cake just before eating.  
    
    Enjoy :) 

 

 

ps: this is a view from the terrace where I took the pictures in the Sunset. Every day I am grateful to live in such a breathtaking place <3

Hungarian warming lentil soup

I made this soup yesterday morning and took a picture during Sunrise, therefore the blueish color :) In Switzerland everything is covered by snow, and the morning sunrises are wonderful :)
Lentil soup is a are very common Hungarians dish, but mostly contains some smoked meat. I have used a little smoked paprika instead and got the nice smoky taste. Something very special for Hungarian soups is called "Rántás". This is a procedure of mixing oil, flour and paprika powder and adding it to the soup at the end of cooking. This gives the soup a nice red color and makes it more thick.  I will explain below how to prepare one :) For this amount of soup I was supposed to use much more oil and flour, according to the traditional recipes. But I tried to keep the soup light and not too oily with too much flour in it.
The soup is very warming and a great for lunch or dinner :)

This portion serves 5-6 people.

What will you need:

For the soup:
- 1 medium onion
- 1 clove of garlic

- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 5 medium potatoes
- 6-7 carrots (different colors)
- 500 grams brown lentils (preferably soaked overnight)
- 5 celery stalks
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 bay leaves
- salt and pepper
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp mom's vegetable stock (or one cube, if bought)
- 1tsp vinegar

For the "Rántás":
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp sweet paprika
- 2 tbsp spelt flour 
- 2 dl of cold water

To prepare the soup:

1. A day before: wash the lentils and soak them overnight in filtered water. This step is not necessary, so if you haven't soaked the lentils, you can still make this soup :) Just make sure, that the lentils will be cooked and the veggies don't overcook meanwhile. The next day discard water and rinse the lentils.
2. Wash the carrots and celery stalks and cut them into small pieces.
3. Peel the potatoes and onion and cut them into smaller cubes.
4. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat in a big pot. Add onions and sauté until onions become glassy, about 5 minutes.
5. Add tomato paste, garlic, bay leaves and oregano. Sauté for a few more minutes
6. Add stalks of celery, carrots, potatoes and smoked paprika powder. Mix well.
7. Add as much water that it covers all vegetables and leaves a bit of space for the lentils :)
8. Bring to boil, reduce the heat and cook for 5 minutes. Add the vegetable stock, salt and pepper. 
9. Add lentils and cook for 12 more minutes. This may vary on the type of the lentils, or if you have pre-soaked your lentils. Please read the package for cooking instructions.
   

To prepare the  "Rántás". 

1. Start preparing the  "Rántás" 5-6 minutes before your soup is done.
2. Heat the olive oil (on sunflower seed oil) in a pan on medium heat. When oil is heated add the flour (your soup is still cooking on medium heat).
3. Stir constantly until small bubbles appear. Keep on stirring constantly until the flour gets a golden brown color. Make sure that the flour doesn't burn! The whole procedure should take about 3-4 minutes. If the paste is too dense and knots are created, then add a bit of oil. Keep on stirring. 
4. Add the paprika powder and immediately take the pot off the heat, otherwise the paprika gets bitter. Mix in the paprika and start adding the water gradually. Stir quickly so the paste gets very smooth with no knots in it. Don't get surprised, if the whole mixture becomes like one big flour knot when you add the water :) If you add the water gradually and stir it very quickly, the paste becomes smooth. Just stir like crazy :):)
5. Mix the "Rántás" into your soup and boil it for a 2-3 minutes stirring gradually. Turn off the heat.
6.  Add vinegar. Serve hot garnished with fresh parsley.

 Enjoy :)