Easy winter soup

I made this soup on one of those days where I needed a quick and warming dinner, which was still healthy and satisfying. I found some veggies in the fridge and some chickpeas from preparing hummus the day before: and here is the result :)
I sprinkle black sesame seeds on almost all soups, as they are filled with iron, Calcium, Vitamin B6 and Magnesium. These seeds are a well consumed to prevent hair fall and even prevent aging :-) Worth to give them a go :) 

What will you need:
- 1/2 head of a bigger cauliflower
- 1 kohlrabi
- 2 sweet potatoes
- 4-5 stalks of celery
- 1 cup of cooked chickpea
- 1 heaping tbsp of home made vegetable stock
- salt and pepper
- pinch of chili
- black sesame seeds

Method:

1. Wash and cut all the veggies and put them in a pot. Add the vegetable stock, chili, salt and pepper.
2. Pour water into the pot, so it covers all ingredients, and bring it to boil.  Once the water is boiling reduce the heat to medium and cook the veggies until they become soft (please check with a fork :)
3. Once the veggies are soft, add the cooked chickpeas and bring everything to boil once again.
4. Serve hot and sprinkle with black sesame seeds. 

Enjoy :) 

Cauliflower-chickpea-potato curry ala Lili

I have already made many different versions of this curry. The one on the top picture is from the summer and the one below is from yesterday. This time I used much more chickpeas, no tomatoes and it turned out very tasty :) The soup tastes as well somehow better during the winter times. It is very warming and somehow satisfying to munch on it, while looking outside the window on the snow. You can imagine it right? Nice and cozy place, spicy soup is warming you up from the inside :) I love these times during winter.
I call this recipe "ala Lili", because I can't really call it an Indian curry :) I leave that up to my Indian friends :)
The ingredients seems like a lot at a first glance, but actually this soup is very easy to make and takes the same time until your chickpeas are cooked in a pressure cook.
You could add some fresh cilantro on the top just before serving. I didn't have them at home.

So let's start, shall we? 

here is what you will need:

 
- 1 small head of cauliflower
- 1 kg potatoes
- 1 cup of dried chickpeas
- 100 ml tomato sauce 
- 2 tomatoes (optional)
- 1 purple onion
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 heaping tbsp coconut oil (un-melted)
- 1 tablespoon mom's vegetable broth
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 heaping tbsp curry powder
- a pinch of chili
- 1/4 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp black sesame seeds
- water previously boiled 

Method:

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight (10-12 hours) in at least 3-4x more water (they will soak up the water very fast).
   The next morning discard the water from the chickpeas and rinse them with fresh water
2. Put the chickpeas in a pressure cooker and cook for about 15-20 minutes (3x less time as stated on the package).
3. Meanwhile, wash and cut the cauliflower and potatoes (and tomatoes, if used) into smaller cubes and set them aside.
4. In a  big pot heat up the coconut oil and add the onion. Add the garlic by pressing it through a garlic press. Saute for about 5 minutes, until onions get a bit translucent.
5. Add the curry powder and mix it with the onion and garlic. Cook for half a minute, then add the cauliflower and potatoes (and tomatoes, if used). Mix everything well together. This should take another half a minute or so.
6. Add the tomato sauce to the pan with a little bit of boiling water. Mix in the salt, pepper, vegetable broth, chili, turmeric and coriander. Bring the water to boil for a moment, then turn the heat to medium.
7. By this time the chickpeas should be cooked. Remove them from the pressure cooker and rinse them with water. Add the chickpeas to the pot with all other ingredients. Pour in as much hot water, so that the veggies are sticking out a little bit. 
8. Cook for about 20 minutes on medium heat, covered.
9. Serve hot alone, or with flatbread :) Sprinkle on top some black sesame seeds.

Enjoy :)

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

Black bean dip

Hi there:) I made a quick black bean dip this morning for a spread on our lunch wraps. It turned out pretty good, so I thought of sharing it with you.

What will you need: 
- approximately 1 cup of black beans
- zest of 1/2 lemon
- juice of 1/2 lemon, freshly squeezed
- 1/4 tsp salt
- pinch of black pepper
- 1 tbsp flax seed oil
- 4-5 dried tomatoes in olive oil
- approximately one heaping tbsp olives, coated with Provence herbs 

Method:

1. Soak the black beans in approximately 3 cups of water overnight (at least 12 hours).
2. In the morning rinse the beans with fresh water and cook them in a pressure cooker for around 15-18 minutes. If you don't have a pressure cooker, then cook the beans as it is shown on the package.
3. When beans are cooked, rinse them once again under fresh water and add them to a food processor with a S-blade. 
4. Add all other ingredients and process until smooth, but still a bit chunky. 
5. Use for dips with veggies, on a wrap or spread on a bread :)
6. Enjoy :) 
   
   

Home-made almond milk

As much as I believe that plant-based milks are wayyyyyyyyy better for your health than cow's milk, I can understand, that they are not affordable for all. The plant-based alternatives of milks can be 3x more expensive, than the regular cow's milks.. 
However, making almond milk at home could be a great solution for you:) It is really very very easy to make.  All you will need is a quite good blender and a fine strainer, or cheesecloth. You can use any nut you like, hazelnuts work very well too :)

What will you need:
- 1.5 cups of almonds
- 3 cups of water (plus water for soaking)
- 3-4 dates
- 1/4 tsp of vanilla
- 1/4 tsp of cinnamon
- a pinch of nutmeg
- a pinch of salt
- some maple syrup, if you like the milk more sweet 

Method: 

Enjoy :)

Autumn pumpkin soup

Pumpkins, pumpkins and more pumpkins this season :) I can't remember the exact type of the pumpkin I used, but it was the one which is good for soups and you can buy normally in a supermarket or even better, from a farmer :D It was already cleaned from the seeds, so I just had to peel, wash and cut it into cubes.
This soup was a result of our gardening party, which turned out to be a great idea. Our friends came to help us with the garden and we made dinner for them :) Everyone was happy in the end, and it was such a nice and natural way to bound with our friends. We are looking forward to the opportunities when we can give this favor back to them :))

This soup is very easy, basically toss everything in the pot and cook/mix together..  

Serves: many hungry tummies (around 10 portions)

What will you need :

- 500 grams of pumpkin
- 500 grams of carrots
- 3 potatoes
- 3-4 dried tomatoes
- 5 cm fresh ginger  
- water
- salt, pepper
- 1 tbs walnut oil (or pumpkin seed oil)
- 1 1/2 tbsp Tamari sauce
- 1 tbsp vegetable broth
- 2 tbsp vegetable curry
- 1 tbsp turmeric
- 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp cinnamon


Method:

1. Peel the pumpkin and cut the flesh into cubes. If you have a pumpkin with seeds inside, please remove the seeds first with a spoon. Put the flesh into a big pot.
2. Wash and peel the carrots and potatoes; cut them into bigger slices. Peel the ginger, cut it into smaller pieces and add all (carrots, potatoes and ginger) into the pot with the pumpkin waiting :)
3. Add as much water that it just covers the veggies in the pot. Turn the heat to high and wait until the soup starts boiling. Meanwhile, add the spices: vegetable broth, turmeric, cumin seeds, cinnamon, curry and salt.
4. Once the soup is boiling, reduce the heat to medium and cook for around 15 - 20 minutes, until the pumpkin becomes soft.
5. When the pumpkin is soft, turn off the heat. Add the Tamari sauce, walnut oil, dried tomatoes and pepper. Take the immersion mixer and mix the soup until smooth.
6. Top with pumpkin seeds and pumpkin seed oil, if you have at home. Serve hot...

Enjoy :))

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Zucchini zoodles with pumpkin sauce

It's autumn and it means I am making all kind of dishes using pumpkin :) I absolutely LOVE pumpkins, there are so many dishes which you can make out of them. Sauces, soups, veggie dishes, even desserts! This time I made these Zoodles (zucchini noodles) with some pumpkin sauce. The recipe is very easy, the only thing which takes a bit of time is to roast the pumpkin.

Here is what you will need:
- 1 medium pumpkin
- 1 tbsp curry
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 250 ml oat cream
- 3-4 dried tomatoes
- salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp of walnut oil
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp tamari
- hot water 
- 2 medium zucchinis
- 2 tablespoons of sunflower seeds, a little bit of oil

 Method:

1. First, cut the pumpkin into half, then remove the seeds with a spoon and place the pumpkin to a baking dish filled with water, covering about 2-3 cm of the bottom of the pumpkin. Preheat the oven to 180° Celsius and bake the pumpkin uncovered 45-60 minutes, or until tender.
2. When the pumpkin is ready and has cooled down, scoop out the pumpkin flesh into a mixing bowl. Discard the skin.
3. Add the spices (curry, turmeric, salt and pepper), tamari, walnut oil, apple cider vinegar, dried tomatoes and oat cream to the mixing bowl. Start mixing everything together using an immersion mixer, while adding as much water as you need to get a similar consistency as in the picture (not too liquidy but not too solid, something in between).
4. Spiral the zucchinis with a spiralizer. If you don't have one, you can use a simple potato peeler to get thin slices :) If you like, just use normal pasta :)
5. Heat a tiny bit of oil (I use coconut oil) in a pan to medium heat, add the sunflower seeds and roast until the seeds become golden. 
6. Assemble the dish by placing the Zoodles in the middle of the plate, adding the pumpkin sauce . Top with the roasted sunflower seeds.

   Enjoy :-)