Purple lentil quinoa

Hello everyone. This time I have an interesting recipe for you, which actually came out of my partner's head :)  The recipe is very easy and can be varied. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did:)
Yields to 3-4 servings.

What will you need: 
- 300 g quinoa
- 750 ml water for quinoa
- 2 tbsp mom's vegetable broth
- 1/2 head of a red cabbage
- 5 tbsp sunflower seeds
- 2 ripe avocados
- 1 cup of brown lentils, soaked overnight
- 2 tbsp white almond cream
- 50 ml water
- salt and pepper

Method:

1. Cook the quinoa according to the instructions on the package. I like to add 2 tbsp of my mom's vegetable broth, which makes the quinoa tasting even better :)
2. At the same time rinse the lentils and cook them in a separate pot according to the instructions on the package.
3. Next, add the cabbage into a pan which is filled with water up to about half a centimeter. Cook the cabbage on medium heat with a closed lid, until the water is gone. 
4. Meanwhile, in a separate mixing bowl mix almond cream with water, salt and pepper. Pour it over the cabbage mix. Turn off the heat.  
5. Add the cut avocados to the cabbage. 
6. In a separate pan toast the sunflower seeds on a little oil until they become golden brown. Add a little salt on top. Pour it over the cabbage mix.
7. Serve the cabbage mix on the top of the quinoa, or mix everything together. 

Enjoy :)

Valentines day raw cake

Do you celebrate Valentines day?  We don't really make it a special day, as we think that we should express our love not only on one particular day, but whenever we feel like giving a nice love gesture or a little gift to each other :) And that is certainly more often, than only one day in a year :):):)
Nevertheless, it was a good excuse to make another raw cake, this time with less nuts and more avocados :)

What will you need:
For the crust:
- 1.5 cups of dates
- 2 cups of walnuts
- 1 tsp vanilla
- pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp cocoa

For the filling:
- 0.5 cups of dates 
- 1 cup of cashews 
- 3 avocados
- 1/2 cup of melted coconut oil  (or 12 tbsp)
- 200 grams frozen berries
- 1 tbsp psyllium husk 
- 1/2 cup or rice milk (or more, if needed)
- 2 tbsp agave nectar
- 2 tbsp raw cocoa powder
- pinch of vanilla 
- pinch of salt


Method:

1. Melt the coconut oil by simply putting the whole jar in a pot filled with hot water. Wait until the coconut oil melts. 
2. Crust: Place the dates and the coconut oil in a food processor and process until a smooth paste is formed. Add in the walnuts, salt and vanilla and pulse a few times, so the walnuts stay chunky. Press the dough firmly into the bottom of either a cake or pie form. Put the crust to the freezer to set for approximately 30 minutes.  
3. Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Place all ingredients into a high speed blender but LEAVE the cocoa out. Blend on high until a very smooth and creamy batter is formed. If you need, add more rice milk (or liquid sweetener for a sweet tongue :) to the paste. If you don't have a blender you can as well use a food processor. 
4. Take about 3 tbsp of the batter in a separate bowl for decoration.
5. Add the cocoa powder to the blender, and process until everything is mixed well together.
6. Pour the filling over the crust, distribute evenly using a spatula or by shaking the form side to side.
7. Take the paste for decorating, which you have previously separated (in step 4). Put it into an icing kit, and decorate your cake following your own fantasy :)
8. Place the cake to the fridge and refrigerate at least for 3-4 hours. The best is to refrigerate overnight, covered.
9. Serve the cake immediately after taking out from the fridge.  

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 :)

Green spinach smoothie

Easy, as usual :) Just drop a few ingredients in a blender, and you have got a delicious smoothie. I make from usually 2 liters of smoothie and drink it during 2 days or so :) 

What will you need:
- 4 handfuls of spinach
- 1 orange
- 1 apple
- 1 banana
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- filtered water (appr. 1liter)

1. Add the spinach and water to a high speed blender and blend until smooth.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and keep blending until you get a really smooth texture.
3. Pour the smoothie into a cool glass and enjoy :)