Rhubarb crumble

I got to know this recipe during my stay in France. We loved it down there, but I've adjusted it a little bit to make it even more awesome and tasty! Crumble is amazing, because it's like a pie but without too much crust!


Serves 6
What do I need?
250 g rhubarb, sliced
150 g raspberries
3 tbsp sugar

120 g butter, softened
60 g shredded coconut
60 g sugar
100 g flour

Creme fraiche or vanilla ice cream


How do I do?
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius/400 fahreheit.
Mix the rhubarb and raspberries and transfer to an ovenproof dish, sprinkle with sugar. Mix the butter, coconut, sugar and flour in a bowl - it's supposed to end out like a big bowl of crumbs, so do not add water, oil or any other liquid! Spread the crumbs evenly on the fruit and throw it in the oven until it's getting golden - about 20-30 minutes. Serve hot with cold creme fraiche or vanilla ice cream.

Bulgour salad

Whenever I don't have a lot of time and don't really feel like creating a gourmet-dinner, this is one of my favorite dishes to make. It's so easy and it's a great way to get rid of all those veggies that are starting to get a little too old... I usually just use whatever veggies I have, but I really don't think there are any limits.

My March With Compassion has turned out really well. I admit that I did miss cheese and honey, but it bearable as long as it was only for a month. But I gotta admit: I'm gonna make a deep pan pizza with lots and lots of cheese, now that march is (almost) over. I can't wait, it's probably gonna be one of my favorite meals EVER!

Serves 2
What do I need?
4 handfuls of bulgur, rinsed and boiled
2 scallions, sliced
1 bell pepper, diced
1/4 cucumber, diced
1 15 oz can of beans
A bit of baby spinach
1 handful of peas
4 tbsp red pesto


How do I do?
Mix all the ingredients well and serve as a nice summer dish with a glass of cold white wine. Easy peasy!

Rhubarb-raspberry jam

The season for rhubarb is getting close and that means that I'm gonna make a looooot of this jam. It's a perfect mix of sweet and sour and it just tastes of summer. It's great for everything: on a slice of fresh bread, with ice cream or with yoghurt. I think I'll make some for my aunt for her birthday, she loves rhubarb, so I'm sure it'll be a hit!

2 cups
What do I need?
250 g rhubarb, sliced (2 inch slices)
150 g raspberries
1/2 lemon, the zest and juice
40 g sugar
1 tbsp water


How do I do?
Put all the ingredients in a large saucepan (a larger one helps the water evaporate quickly), heat it to the boil and let it simmer for 5 minutes - that should be enough to make the texture thick. If there's any foam on the top of the jam, you should remove it instead of just stirring it back into the jam - it might contain bacteria and mold. Scald a jar with boiling water on the inside and in the lid, to sterilize the glass. You want your jam to be delicious for as long as possible, right? Pour the jam into the scalded jar and close it immediately. Store it in the fridge, but let it cool a little before putting it in there. Once you've opened a jar, you should eat the jam during the next week or two.

Danish omelette with potatoes

I'm not sure if omelette is the right word for this one... It's called an "egg-cake" in danish (dunno how else to translate it?) and when people ask how it's different from an omelette, the typical answer would be something like "Well, this is just a more sophisticated version of an omelette". My dad usually add a tablespoon of (corn)flour, but I completely forgot and it turned out pretty good anyway.
I prefer it with potatoes and lots of chives, but some people (like my dad) add a few slices of tomato. And you typically eat it with a slice of danish rye bread (full of whole grain and dietary fibers) with a thin layer of mustard. Non-danes are very skeptical when I tell them about this, but it's really the best way to eat a danish omelette. Yum yum yum!

I burned my hand pretty bad in the making of this omelette... In my defense, I'm no used to pans with a hot handle! Here's what happened: When I took the pan out of the oven, I wanted to let it cool for a few minutes. When I decided that it had cooled enough, I wanted to move it a little to make it look prettier in the picture. Somehow I forgot that it was still hot, so I just grabbed the handle and then I feel the burn. I jumped a few times and then remembered that it might be a good idea to apply cold water. So there I was sitting: one hand in a bowl of water and eating my dinner with the other. Thank god the omelette turned out to be great, otherwise I'd feel like I'd burned my hand for nothing!

Serves 2

What do I need?

200 g potatoes (I prefer them with skin on)

A splash of Oil

4 eggs

1/4 c milk

Lots of fresh chives

Optional:

Tomatoes

Danish rye bread (or some other kind of full grain bread)

Mustarde

How do I do?
Rinse the potatoes, cut them into smaller pieces and boil them in salted water. Allow them to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius/400 fahrenheit.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the potatoes until they're getting golden. In the meantime, whisk eggs and milk together and then add it to the potatoes - if you feel like it's a tomato-kind-of-day, add them now. Fry until the top is getting firm - it should take about 10 minutes. Throw the pan in the oven for another 10 minutes. Sprinkle with lots of chives and serve with rye bread with mustard.

TIP: Your pan isn't ovenproof? No worries, just fry the omelette for a few more minutes on the stove.

The easy salad dressing

When I was working as an au-pair in France, my host family taught me how to make this dressing - and it was a must that I made it whenever I'd made some sort of salad for dinner. I prefer when you get that sour taste from the vinegar, but that's really up to you. If you store it in the fridge in a container with a lid, I might think you can store it for a week or so.


What do I need?
Good quality mustard
Balsamic vinegar
Good quality olive oil
Salt


How do I do?
Mix all the ingredients and add one thing or another to the taste.

Burger with a potato-chellery steak

This burger is the result of a crazy day in the kitchen with one of my best friends - who also happens to be a vegetarian. But it turned out SO well, and we really enjoyed our burger, which was something we hadn't had for a long time!

Serves 2
What do I need?
100 g celeriac
200 g potatoes
2 avocados
Juice of 1 lemon
4 pieces of lettuce
2 burger buns


How do I do?
Peel the celeriac and the potatoes and grate them. Place it in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze all the liquids out. Spice it up with some salt and pepper. Heat up some oil in a pan and make two patties out of the celeriac-potato-mix. Place them on the hot pan and fry for 6-8 minutes on each side or until they're golden. Be careful when you flip them!
Mash the avocados and add lemon juice, salt and pepper to the taste. Spread a layer of the avocado on each bun, add a piece of lettuce, then the patty, another piece of lettuce and the top of the bun.

Vegan chocolate mousse

I've heard a lot about using avocados in chocolate mousse, but I always thought it sounded too weird for me. But it's actually a great dessert, since you can serve it to vegans, lactose-intolerants, gluten allergies and pale-people. It's super easy to make and it's perfect for those nights, where you just need SOMETHING and you've already got those bananas and avocados, that are beginning to get a little too ripe...


Serves 2
What do I need?
1 banana, ripe
1 avocado, ripe
10 dates
3-4 tbsp cocoa powder
Juice from 1/2 lime - and some of the zest, if you really like that taste
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 vanilla


How do I do?
Peel the banana and avocado and remove the stone from the dates. Throw all the ingredients in a blender and pulse until you have smooth mousse. Pour it in the bowls or glasses you want to serve it in and put it in the fridge for an hour or so. To make it look even prettier, serve it with some blueberries and pistachio nuts.

Spicy lentil soup

Once again, I'm gonna have to make an apology. School is taking up all of my energy ATM and all I can do when I get home, is just collapse in my chair and try to empty my mind. As if that wasn't enough, I'm starting to get sick. I've been coughing a lot during the weekend, but luckily it's getting better. My birthday is in a week, so I just GOTTA get over it by then!

Anyway, I made this soup saturday night and it was just what I needed. I know that when you've already got a cold, there's nothing you can do to get better sooner, but I always tell myself that spicy food is exactly what I need and soup is just so easy to get down - at least for me, since I usually lose my appetite when I'm sick. I may or may not have made a banana-chocolate ice cream for dessert. But that's okay when you're sick.


Serves 4
What do I need?
2 onions, chopped
2 minced garlics
1 tsp curry
1 tsp chili - powder, crushed or fresh
200 g potatoes, peeled and diced
150 g carrots, peeled and diced
250 g green lentils, rinsed
7 cups of vegetable broth
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
A drizzle of thyme, fresh or dried


How do I do?
Heat up a splash of oil in pan and fry the onions and garlic. Add curry and chili and allow it to absorb the rest of the oil. A spice like curry doesn't really taste of anything unless it get a little burned. Add the potatoes, carrots, lentils, broth and balsamic vinegar. Bring it to the boil and let it simmer with a lid until the vegetables and lentils are tender - it'll take about half an hour. Serve with a drizzle of thyme.

Soy almonds

One of my best friends made these almonds for me and said, that it's the easiest little snack EVER. She usually exaggerate, but she didn't this time! It's SO easy to make the almonds and they are really, really tasty!

Medium serving
What do I need?
1 cup almonds
2 tbsp soy sauce


How do I do?
Mix the almonds with the soy sauce in a hot saucepan and keep stirring to avoid that it'll burn. Let them dry on a piece of piece of baking sheet. Enjoy!

Green risotto

Risotto is one of those great dishes, where you don't really pay attention to the absence of meat, because the risotto itself makes you so full. This version is really light and is perfect for spring and summer. You can make it vegan by not adding the cheese - I've tried and it turns out great, but I've got to admit that the cheese adds a creamy texture to the risotto.

Serves 4
What do I need?
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
400 g risotto rice
8 cups vegetable broth
250 g peas
1 large handful of rocket
2 scallions, chopped
50 g pumpkin seeds, roasted for a few minutes
100 g shredded mozarella


How do I do?
Fry the onion and garlic in a little bit of hot oil in a large saucepan. Add the rice and allow them to get really greasy by the oil. Now, add the broth little by little. You should probably add about 1 cup at the time and allow the rice to absorb it before adding the next cup. Continue this way until you're out of broth. Remove the risotto from the heat and add peas, rocket (save a little for garnish), scallions, pumpkin seeds and cheese.. Mix it all very well and add salt and pepper to the taste. Serve with the last bit of rocket on top.

March with compassion

It's sounds a lot cooler in danish, but this is probably the most correct translation of Marts Med Medfølelse, which is a month-long event organized by a danish, vegan organization. The concept is very simple: go vegan for a month! I wanted to try last year, but I'd only been a vegetarian for a month, so that would've been too much at once. But this year, I'm so game! I'm ready to challenge myself and try a lot of new recipes. My only concern is my birthday... I'm still not sure what to cook for my birthday dinner, to impress my (very anti-vegetarian) family. The cake is under control, but the rest... If you got any good suggestions, pleeeeaaaase let me know!

Oatmeal with apple and cinnamon

My breakfast usually consists of some kind of oatmeal porridge. It tastes just fine, it's cheap, easy to make and it keeps me full for a long time - and in these cold months, it's actually really nice to get a warm breakfast. But sometimes it's just boring to eat the same thing day after day after day. You feel me? So I've been trying to spice it up a bit and this is one of the variants that really worked! I used an apple from my moms garden and those are really the best apples known to mankind! Or at least the best apples known to me...

1 person

What do I need?

1 cup of water

1/2 cup of quick oats

1 apple

1 tsp ground cinnamon

How do I do?

Bring the water to a boil and add the oats, grated apple and cinnamon. Stir, remove from heat and let it be for a few minutes - take a bath, do your hair or pack your back while waiting for it to be done. Eat your oatmeal and have a nice day!

Avocado with spicy quinoa stuffing

These avocados with quiñoa stuffing are just a gift to your body. The black beans are full of protein, the quiñoa is full of essential amino acids and the avocado is one big portion of the good kind of fat.
I think they're meant to be a starter, but I wasn't that hungry the night I made them, so I just ate them as a main course. They still got me pretty full...

Serves 4
What do I need?
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 1/4 cup cooked black beans
1 bell pepper
1 onion (I prefer it to be red)
1 small can of corns (drained)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
2 tbsk taco spice mix

4 avocados
A bit of creme fraiche (I used vegan yoghurt to make it vegan)


How do I do?
Chop the onion, bell pepper and cilantro roughly and mix it well with qionoa, black beans, and spice mix. Put in it the fridge for an hour or so, to allow the spice mix to really add taste to the mixture.

Cut the avocados in halves, remove the stone and fill 'em with the quinoa stuffing. Add a little creme fraiche to the top and enjoy this healthy little dish. So full of flavor and vitamins - your body is going to love this!

Banana bread - and a special anniversary!

Today is a really special day. I never thought it would come and yet I've been looking SO MUCH forward to it! Today is my FIRST ANNIVERSARY as a vegetarian! I can't believe it's been a year and I am so, so proud of myself. Pretty much 95% of the people I know neither understand nor acknowledge my decision and that makes it pretty tough some times. It hasn't been more than 2 days since I had my last "breakdown" because someone was mocking me right in front of me. It's really hard when people attack you on your beliefs. Thank god I have the most amazing friend, who's alway there when I need her - even though we've got two very different reasons to be vegetarian.

A year and a half ago, I actually laughed at two of my friends because they became vegetarians. I said that I would never be able to live without meat. And here I am today: haven't eaten meat for a year and don't have any plans on eating some for the next many, many years. It's funny how you all of a sudden can change your beliefs and lifestyle.

This banana bread was a bit of a spontaneous project I started last summer. I had some old bananas that I didn't really felt like eating (I prefer them a bit green). I had wanted to make a banana bread for a long time and I guess this was the perfect time to give it a try. It turned out so gooooood and it was perfect for a hot summer day, since there isn't an awful lot of sugar in it.

1 large banana bread
What do I need?
300 g flour
2 tsp baking powder
50 g sugar
A pinch of salt
2 eggs
50 g margarine
3 really tender bananas, mashed
A large handful of walnuts, chopped
If you'd like: a handfuls of chopped, dark chocolate


How do I do?
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius/350 degrees fahrenheit.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Melt the margarine and beat the eggs until they're light and airy. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry and add the walnuts (and chocolate, if you want chocolate in it). Pour the dough into a buttered tin and throw it in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Breakfast cookies

Cookies for breakfast? Well, why not? These vegan cookies are made with oats and bananas, so technically it's just baked oatmeal.... I guess. Well, there's no added sugar in it, so it's not all bad! They keep you full and are easy to grab on your way out of the door - or maybe as an afternoon- or post-workout snach. You can easily make a large portion, throw 'em in the freezer and heat 'em in the oven on days, where you slept just a bit too long. Or eat them cold, they're still really tasty when they've been in the fridge for a few days. You can make different kinds by adding almonds, grated coconut, chocolate chunks, raisins or whatever you like. And if you'd like them to be a bit more sweet, just add 2 tbsp of syrup. Enjoy!


~9 cookies
What do I need?
3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups quick oats
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt


How do I do?
Preheat the oven to 175 celcius/350 fahrenheit.
Mix all the ingredients very well in a bowl. Make cookies of about 1/4 cup batter and place them on a baking sheet. Throw them in the oven and bake them for about 15 minutes.

Homemade tortillas

Whenever I have some vegetable leftovers, I love to fry them with some spices and eat them in a tortilla. Tortillas aren't exactly expensive (I usually buy them with a discount), but sometimes it's like I'm eating a piece of cardboard. They don't really taste of that much and they're not really as filling as you could've hoped they were. So I tried making them myself and they got waaaaay better than the store-bought. It takes some practice to get them really good, but once you've learned the technique, it's a piece of cake.

I usually roll out the dough and cut it in circles that fit into my pan - that way I avoid ending up with something, that has a star-like shape. I think they would be great for tapas too, with some nice homemade pesto or hummus!

I prefer to use plain flour, but you can easily use whole wheat or what else you like. When I made these, I only had whole wheat flour and it turned out great!

~8 tortillas

What do I need?

3 cups flour 

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp salt

1 cup hot water

How do I do?

Mix all the ingredients until it forms a ball - you might need to use your hands to remove the clumps. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Cut it into 8 smaller pieces and form balls out of it. Roll out the balls to a size, that fits into your pan. I like it when the dough is to thin, that you can almost look through it.

Heat up a pan, but don't make it too hot - my experience tells me, that the tortillas get really stiff if the pan is too hot. Once it's well heated, the rolled out tortilla on it - don't use any oil! The tortilla will probably start to get bubbles (or what to call them), but those will disappear once they cool down. They burn easy, so keep an eye on them! They don't need more than 30 seconds on each side. Enjoy with your favorite tortilla stuffing!

Easy, vegan ice cream with banana and peanut butter

Two things, that vegetarians/vegans should always have in their kitchen: peanut butter and bananas. Before I went vegetarian, I didn't really eat peanut butter, unless I had some apple slices to dip in it. But that was a really delicious snack! And the reason why there should always be bananas in your kitchen is... Well, they're just great as a snack and it's the perfect post-workout-meat. Plus they're great in smoothies. Whether it's to give it a banana flavor or just to give the smoothie some texture.

If you peel the bananas and slice them, you can easily throw them in the freezer. I use this trick when there's a discount on large amounts of bananas. Although, these frozen bananas make the smoothie more frozen and this has given me a brain freeze several times...

Anyhoo! If you need a little snack, if you're craving ice cream, this is the perfect recipe. The fact that it's vegan just makes it even more delicious and you don't have to feel bad for eating it. Eat it with your favorite kind of ice cream topping - I like chocolate sauce and shredded coconut. Yummy!

Serves 1
What do I need?
1 tender banana
2 tbsp peanut butter


How do I do?
Peel the banana, slice it and throw it in the freezer for 10 minutes. It doesn't have to be completely frozen, but if it is, your blender needs to be the powerful kind.
Blend the banana slices and peanutbutter and add a bit more peanutbutter if you'd like.

Peanutbutter Fudge

This year (or last year, I guess) I wanted to make some personal christmas presents. When I was younger and didn't have any money, I made all my present myself and I actually miss that. Those were so simple times and since I'd made it all with so much love, no one cared that it didn't cost a fortune. Those were the days, man, those were the days....

I decided, that since I love being in the kitchen and since I am much more creative in the kitchen, than when it comes to different kinds of DIY-projects. One of the things I made were these delicious, crunchy peanut butter fudge bits. I gave some to a good friend of mine and her sister ended up eating pretty much all of them and she later tried to make them herself. I also gave some to my uncle and aunt and they too were really exited about them. So they are definitely worth a try!

~64 pieces
What do I need?
125 g margarine
200 ml milk (I used soy milk, to make it vegan)
500 g brown sugar
1 tsp of vanilla extract
A jar of crunchy peanut butter (~250 g)
300 g icing sugar


How do I do?
Line a square tin tray with baking paper.
Melt the butter in a pan along with the milk. When melted, add the sugar and vanilla extract and stir well, until dissolved. Turn up the heat and let it bubble for about 2 minuted. Stir in the peanut butter and keep mixing until it's equally combined and smooth. Pour the hot mixture into a gown (one that can handle the hot mass!) and mix well with the icing sugar, until the icing sugar is well incorporated and the fudge is beginning to cool - it'll take about 2-4 minutes, so be patient!
Pour the fudge into the lined tray and allow it to cool completely - the fridge is better than the kitchen counter. When it has cooled down, cut it into small pieces - the colder it is, the easier it is to cut.
Wrap it into a packaging (I used cellophane bags), tie it with a cute ribbon and label it for a friend or family member.
Keep it for a week or so in a sealed container.

Stuffed potatoes - and an apology!

So... I've been really absent lately and I am so, SO sorry. As I've mentioned before, I've been really busy with my internship. I've been really stressed out about it and I've been feeling bad both physically and mentally. I've felt really depressed and I've had a hard time coping with my blog - because blogging DOES take a lot of time.

Anyhoo, I'm back on track (sort of) and let's celebrate it with a recipe for Meatless Monday. I made these stuffed potatoes for NYE and the other girls went cray-cray. The potatoes were too delicious and actually a bit too big for us, but they tasted so good, that we ate it all anyway.

It takes a long time to cook the potatoes, so I'm not making them very often (all though I would!). But the great thing about them is, that you can make them just the way you like it. You like green pesto more than the red kind? No problem. You don't like pesto at all? No problem. You can't do without a drizzle of bacon? Guess what - no problem! There's pretty much no limitations!

Serves 4
What do I need?
4 large baking potatoes
200 g red pesto
3 scallions, chopped
A handful of chopped chives
2 handfuls of grated mozzarella
1 clove of garlic, minced


How do I do?
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius/400 degrees fahrenheit.
Cover the potatoes with tin foil, stab each potato a few time with a fork and throw them in the oven for several hours. It might take up to 4 hours to cook them tender, but it depends on your oven. Try to stick a small knife into the potatoes - if there's hardly any resistance, the potatoes are perfectly tender.
Now, cut a large hole on top of each potato and remove the skin from the hole. Scrape out as much of the inside as possible, without making holes in the remaining skin. Mix the insides in a bowl with the remaining ingredients and fill the potatoes with some of the mixed stuffing. The stuffing gets a bit fluffy, so there won't be room enough for it all. Instead, you can make little pancakes out of it.
Throw the stuffed potatoes back in the oven (don't cover them with tin foil) for about 20-30 minutes. Serve with a delicious salad and some fresh bread.

Shephards Pie

About 3-4 weeks before I went veggie, I had my first shephards pie ever. And oh. My. God. It was seriously some of the best I had ever tasted! I made a deal with my self, that I had to start making shepherds pie a lot more often. But then I went veggie and I slowly forgot about it, until I started thinking "What if I just made it with vegetables instead?". And so I did. I wanted to make it with tomatoes and carrots, but tripped over a picture on Pinterest, that inspired me to make it with mushrooms, spinach and lentils. And boy, it turned out great!

4 persons
What do I need?
6 medium potatoes
1 tbsp margarine

1 cup of dried, green lentils
A splash of oil
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
150 g mushrooms
2 tbsp red wine (you can leave it out, if you don't want to open a bottle for it)
1 tbsp dried thyme
A pinch of cayenne pepper (or chili, if you like it hot!)
150 g frech spinach
1 tbsp cornstarch

A handful of breadcrumps


How do I do?
Peel the potatoes and cut them into smaller pieces. Boil them in salted water until tender (about 20 minutes) and drain them. Mash the potatoes and stir the margarine in it. Now, we need these smashed potatoes to get nice and creamy. The ideal solution would be to use a bit of soy milk. However, I didn't have any (mostly because it's quite expensive where I live) so I used a bit of water instead, which actually worked really great! Set these yummy, smashed potatoes aside.

Now, rinse the lentils and boil them - this shouldn't take long. Chop the onions and garlic and fry them shortly in the heated oil. Add the chopped mushrooms and let it fry for a few moments. Add the cooked lentils and a bit of the water along with the spices, redwine and spinach. You can add the spinach in leaves, but I chose to chop them roughly. Just let it get wilted down. Let it simmer for a few minutes and mix the the cornstarch with a bit of water. Add it to the lentil mixture and stir well.

Preheat the oven at 200 Celcius/400 Fahrenheit
Lightly oil a casserole dish and spread the breadcrumps in it - just enough to cover the bottom. Spread the lentil mixture in it and cover with the smashed potatoes. If you're feeling artistic, you can make a pattern in it. Bake in the oven for about half an hour or until the top is golden.

Granola

Granola is some kind of muesli, that's toasted in honey. It has actually become quite popular during the last year or so. You can make your own personal version with whatever kind of seeds, nuts and dried fruit. And maybe, you can even make different version for each day - oh la la! That way, you won't have the same for breakfast every day and you'll keep thinking that it's an exiting and delish breakfast - I know one of my problems is, that I'll just get too tired of it in the long run, if I get the same for breakfast every single morning...
These amounts gave me enough granola for about a week. You could probably make for two weeks, as long as you store it in an airtight container.

What do I need?
4 tbsp honey

1/2 cup almonds

1/2 cup pumpkinseeds

1/2 cup flaxseeds

1/4 cup shredded coconut

1 cup quick oats

1/2 cup dried cranberries


How do I do?
Melt the honey in a frying pan and add all the other ingredients. Let it all get well coated in the honey and pour it out on a piece of baking paper - be careful, the honey gets really hot! Let it cool down until the honey has hardened again. Keep it in an air-tight container and keep it away from direct sunlight.