Back-of-the-cupboard, perfect-plane-snack bars

Ah, what to eat when travelling. You end up spending so much money on overpriced, average airport food, and while nowadays they do have plant-based options, I actually (how old-school of me) enjoy trying to creatively scrape together the random bits I have left on my shelf into something that will keep me happy while I travel. So, after showing you how to pack, I thought I would get you covered on the cupboard-emptying, travel-fuelling snack department with these cereal bars I made. Try them out; they make for a very satisfying snack. They are easy to make and turn out much cheaper than those tiny bars that sell for about 2 euros a piece ...though whether there will be any left by the time I actually board my plane remains to be seen, because this experiment actually turned out --if I may say so myself- pretty delicious. The ingredients list is very flexible and can be adapted to whatever you have lying about in your cupboard.

My perfect plane companions: a home-made snack and a good book... So far I'm really enjoying The Casual Vacancy!

Status Update: Things I've Fallen In Love With

Forgive the radio silence for the past month while I...

-celebrated my birthday (v. important!)
-finished and handed in my master's thesis
-applied, got and started a fashion-related(!) internship in London.
Did I mention London? I'm so excited!

I've had no time to sit and write until now BUT I'm as determined as ever to keep up with regular posting, so keep checking this space!

To catch you up, I thought I would round up a few of the things I've (re)discovered and become to some degree obsessed with over the past month.

Why I Focus on Vegan Food (& Why Labeling Things Is Not What Matters)

Maybe you've noticed that, in the past few months, I have been posting almost (if not entirely) vegan recipes. Or maybe you've noticed nothing at all, which is cool; I don't really intend you to see the food I talk about as vegan -just delicious food you can make too.

If you know me in real life, by this point we've probably already had the discussion on why I call myself a vegan these days (and what that means)...

chili stew with avocado dip (all vegan) courtesy of JO and my roomie

Un Café con Hielo (Por Favor)

We had a heatwave in Amsterdam last week -crazy, huh? 

I'm hoping this means only decent weather from now on... so I can wear all the summery things I love: Sandals, shoes that would *definitely* get ruined in the rain (OK, I actually sprayed them with waterproof spray because you never know), backless tops and airy cardigans and cropped jeans and... yeah. 

The only problem remaining now is educating Amsterdam cafés to the concept of iced coffee! I'm tired of getting a milkshake instead of what sounds pretty self-evident to me, so I've decided to share how I make my favourite summer (coffee) drink along with what I wore to go argue with the baristas at the local café -come along!

Quinoa Tabbouleh Super Salad

The other day I thought of making a tabbouleh-inspired salad, replacing the traditional bulgur with quinoa. Quinoa is an awesome superfood (as we are all aware by now :P), and I think it actually works even better than bulgur because it gives the tabbouleh extra texture and 'bite'.

This salad is very satisfying, yet at the same time zingy and fresh -perfect for spring (can you tell I'm excited?)! I supercharged my tabbouleh with roasted vegetables and chickpeas, but it's up to you to play with the recipe: leave out the oven veggies or add diced peppers, for example. The Mediterranean-inspired herbs and spices are what really makes the tabbouleh literally burst with flavour...

Angie's soup

My friend Angie is kind of a nutrition freak -I always have to ask her for clarifications at least once per sentence once she's started to explain something food-related, which is how our conversations usually go since she's determined to educate me to be healthy through my food choices. She recently had the chance to impart a few lessons since she came to visit... And I got to see how she puts them into practice with some delicious and super-healthy dishes, like this fragrant red lentil soup that I've been making on repeat ever since.

my roommate and I are book lovers so I always have naturally occurring props...

Zen bowls

So, a healthy, feel-good lunch (or dinner) that you don't need to fuss much about? Challenge accepted.

I love the idea of assembling yourself a bowl of goodness. It's all about some minor prep, so when you want to eat, all you have to do is open your fridge and put your bowl together however you like it. Which is why it's a zen bowl ;) More than a recipe, this is a guideline / inspiration so you can build yours... Obviously arranging prettily is an optional bonus! Read how I do it after the break ;)

avocado, sauteed garlicky spinach, roasted carrots, brown rice, and tahini dressing

Five minute lunch wonder

It's been some time since I did food here, but this is too good not to share. I made this out of the random things I had in my fridge and it was delicious. It also happens to be really good for you (vegan, GF, full of good nutrients etc.), so here you go.

remembering to photograph halfway through the meal... 

The Gift of Granola

I recently experimented a little bit with making my own granola. It all started because commercial granola, while admittedly (potentially) very tasty, is either loaded with sugar or ridiculously overpriced (I mean, you're mainly paying for oats, which are really cheap, with a few nuts and raisins added...) -or both. After trying the Pure Natural granola and finishing it within a couple of days (it's addictively good and it's one of the healthier ones if you want to buy ready-made granola) I decided to try making my own. It's actually super easy to make granola. The best part is that you can add exactly what you want (and however much you want to), creating your own combinations and leaving out the extra sugar or the stuff you don't like.

                                 

How to survive the week with minimal cooking

Anyone who knows me knows that my love of cooking is only second to  my love of food itself; however, for many of us the times are just too busy for cooking... or we simply want to focus our energy on something else than preparing three meals and five two snacks a day.

Spinach-brown bean coconut-y curry topped wtih avocado and a soft-boiled egg: 5 minutes fridge-to-plate

I've recently decided that while I want to keep eating healthy, home-cooked, wholesome and delicious food, I don't want to spend much time worrying about it. So how do I do it?

Supa quick suppa (ha.)

Curried carrot soup with fried beans and coriander 

Summer is officially over, and I have started cooking soups again! In my continuing struggle to make them more filling (so I don't have to make something else to go with them, because who wants to be making elaborate dinners on busy September weekdays?), I improvised this one: A quick one-bowl meal that is vegan, healthy and delicious. It also has pretty colours with definite Instagram potential...

Introducing obscure vegetable: sunchokes, three ways

Sunchokes or Jerusalem artichokes are weird-looking bulbs that look nothing like artichokes, but, surprisingly, when cooked their flavour resembles artichokes a little bit. I was super-happy to discover this, because I love artichokes, but they are so expensive, and then they actually have so little meat in them!

After a rigorous scrubbing --these babies are root vegetables, after all!-, dirt gives way to a milky, pink-tinged skin. They look pretty cool, like alien tumors or magnified microbes or something. For reasons uncomprehensible to me, sunchokes are a bit of a 'forgotten vegetable'. I think it's such a pity, because they are really amazing little things --let's be real, the artichoke thing had me sold since the beginning... So what can you do with them?

Pasta puttanesca or: pantry gastronomy

OK, maybe not quite gastronomy, but pretty amazing flavour without having to go to the market for fresh ingredients -just what you already have at home. This is actually where the name of this pasta sauce originated; pasta puttanesca means whores' pasta. The story goes that the ladies of the night couldn't go to the market to get fresh ingredients, and so used mainly preserved ingredients in their cooking. This is genuinely an instance of arte povera, in my humble opinion. Here goes my base recipe that you can adjust and experiment with to create great flavour in the easiest way.

How to put your own twist on recipes -baking edition

Remember when you'd just started baking (or maybe you're just in that stage now)? You'd look up a recipe and follow it religiously -I started like that, stressing out if my cake wasn't ready after the x minutes of prescribed time in the oven or if I was a few grams of butter short. Then I started living on my own and cooking for myself daily and all the rules went out of the window. Sometimes you want to make something but you also can't be bothered to bike to the store in the rain/buy an ingredient you will never use again... And sometimes -or is it just me?- you get confident and think you could make the recipe even better!

This little guide is the fruit of a lot of risk-taking and (some) error, and it's my Easter gift to you! Happy baking :)

Pear and almond tart: filling and dough (I changed both!)

Leftover idea: Avocado 2 ways

For those times where you've got avocado that's not the prettiest or that you just don't know what to do with...

savoury: avocado dip. My dad's recipe: this is a creamy but zingy dip. Blend your avocado with greek yogurt, a generous dose of olive oil, some mustard, lemon juice and salt and pepper -all to taste, just try it and adjust :)

we made this with a friend to accompany out grilled beet and feta burgers -delicious :)

sweet: chocolate mousse. Yes, you can make delicious, healthy mousse from avocado and no, it won't taste 'green'. Blend with cocoa powder (I'd start with about 2 tsp per avocado half and add more if desired), sweetener of your choice and maybe a spalsh of (plant-based) milk to make it creamier. You can flavour it with coffee, vanilla extract, orange zest, cinnamon, cardamom -mmm...

before and after...

Breakfast musings

It's Sunday, let's talk about breakfast! Breakfast is one of my favourite moments of the day, as long as I don't have to rush. I get to eat in my PJ's, have a great coffee and browse the internet. I've turned it into a little ritual and I love it!

Soup that will actually keep you full

I love, love, love soup. It's warm, it's healthy, it's tasty, it's comfort in a bowl. Like a hug from the inside (weird, huh?). One thing I really don't love, though, is finishing my meal and feeling hungry immediately after... Here is one that will keep you full and happy until the next meal -tried and tested by yours truly.

Pappa al pomodoro is delicious italian tomato soup that you fling stale bread into. It turns into this soft, beautiful pappa, soaking up the intense flavour of the tomato, the soft garlic, the aroma of the herbs and the velvety feel of the olive oil -and there's quite a bit of it in this dish, but hey it's good for you! Bonus points from me because it's a recipe you can make with things you probably already have lying around: tinned tomatoes and old bread.

the finished product -recipe (loosely followed) here (PS: I'm reading Mythologies for my bachelor's thesis -stay tuned for updates!)

Bonus leftover idea: Turn that lonely carrot/onion, that half can of beans and/or those random bits of pasta into a filling, italian-inspired soup with some tomato, italian herbs (basil, oregano, thyme...), maybe a splash of red wine and some simmering ;)

   

Quinoa back to basics: sweet & savoury

I was visiting my dad last weekend and mentioned my quinoa risotto to him. He was like: yeah, nice, but what is quinoa? I mean, what can you do with it? (aside from risotto, he he) So I've decided to take a step back and talk about the basics of quinoa for a second. Dad, I hope you're paying attention ;)

Red quinoa and some cool Freud-themed stickers I rediscovered at my dad's house :)

Quinoa is technically a seed, but it's commonly used as a grain. It comes in different colours: there is white, red and black quinoa. It's a so-called 'slow carbohydrate', and also a good source of protein and fibre, making it super good for you on all counts! The basic way to cook it is boiling 1 part quinoa in 2 parts water in a covered pot for around 10-14 minutes. I like to make a bigger batch and then keep it in the fridge to use in many different ways:

First of all, who says you can't use it in sweet dishes? Here are some ideas:
-make 'porridge' by warming some quinoa with milk or milk substitute (I'm not vegan, but I love almond milk), fruit, some cinnamon and whatever nuts/seeds/dried fruit  you like. You can also add chia seeds, hemp, or whatever other superfoods/toppings you want (OR CHOCOLATE!)
-you can also add your cooked quinoa to yogurt and make a parfait with honey and fruit
-or add it to pancake batter to make it healthier and add texture.

Red quinoa porridge with almond milk, banana, pear, peanut butter and cinnamon :)

I already gave you a savoury option here, but there are many, many more ways to use cooked quinoa:
-use it in a salad instead of couscous
-add it to soups to make them more filling
-have it with stir-fried vegetables, pasta sauce or pesto
-or just enjoy it warm with a trickle of olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt.

Happy hipster eating!

Quinoa risotto

Quinoa risotto is super easy! The principle is the same as normal risotto, except you add egg yolk to help make it creamier, since quinoa doesn't release starch like rice does. I used champignons but you could use any kind of mushrooms you like :)

per person:

lug of olive oil, knob of butter
1 small onion, finely chopped,
1 clove garlic,
about 8 champignons,
1/2 tsp thyme,
1/2 cup quinoa,
1/2 stock cube
1 egg yolk
1 chunk parmesan, to grate
optional: 1/2 glass white wine, handful parsley, chopped


Soften the onion in a pot with the butter and oil on medium heat, then add the sliced mushrooms and garlic and sauté till the mushrooms have begun to cook. Add the thyme and the quinoa and sauté for another minute, then add the wine if you have it and let it evaporate, otherwise proceed to the next step, add boiling water -for every 1/2 cup of quinoa, add one cup- and the stock cube. Cover the pot and let simmer until the quinoa is ready and the water is almost(!) completely evaporated -just like with rice risotto, you don't want it to be completely dry because then it won't be creamy. You may have to add some extra water along the way, just check a couple of times. When the quinoa is cooked (this usually takes about 10 minutes), take it off the fire, add the egg yolk and parsley, mix, grate some parmesan in and over it, serve.



Note: if you're sceptical about raw egg yolk in the risotto, you could substitute some cream.

Leftover idea

Living on your own has its beauties (nobody there to judge you on how long it's been since you did the dishes...) but cooking just fo yourself can be a little less graceful. And I can never calculate the amounts properly, so I always end up with leftovers. Instead of overeating because I don't want to leave/throw away a ridiculously small amount of food, I'll be posting ideas on what to do with it.

Pasta: you left a tiny bit of cooked pasta and now it's hanging out in your fridge looking cold and bland. Turn it into soup! First cover it in boiling water from the kettle to warm it up, then drain. If you're making a soup just chuck it in, if you're extra lazy just use chicken/vegetable stock, spices/herbs of your liking (I used chives) and swirl a beaten egg in the soup while it's boiling-hot. Voilà!