Cauliflower Curry Soup

Not to toot my own horn, but damn this was good. Hot and spicy!

I don't know why, but I never taste my food while cooking. I just wonder which herbs and spices might fit, throw in an estimated amount, add tons of pepper just about every 5 minutes (seriously) and taste it for the first time about 5 seconds before serving it.

Cauliflower Curry Soup

(all of this is pretty much estimated; like I said I kept dashing in curry powder, more and more pepper and some of this and that, so adapt it to your liking if you're the kind of person who tastes stuff during cooking)

1 medium onion, chopped

2 medium-big cloves of garlic, minced

1 inch fresh ginger, minced

2 cups water (or more if you prefer a water based soup)

1 vegetable broth cube

4 cups cauliflower

1.5 cups broccoli

2 celery stalks, chopped

5 Tbsp. hot curry powder (estimated, I think I had more, but adapt to your liking)

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. paprika powder

1 tsp. ground caraway seeds

salt, pepper

1 Tbsp. fresh parsley

1/4 cup soy cream or soy milk (estimated & optional)

1. bring the water & broth to a boil, add onions, set heat to medium, cook for ca. 3 minutes

2. add garlic, cook for ca. 1 minutes

3. add cauliflower, celery, broccoli and spices & herbs, cook for ca. 7-8 minutes until veggies are tender

4. puree everything to consistence of your liking (I like it a little chunky), add salt and pepper to taste, adapt spicing if neccessary

5. add parsley, stir and add soy cream or soy milk

Cocoa Chocolate Chip Banana Waffles & Italian Inspired Veggie Tomato Stew on Brown Rice

Oh man, for dessert last night I made - you guessed it - WAFFLES again! Sadly no picture since I was charging my batteries.

I can't help it but get excited everytime I say the word waffles, ha ha! I look up into the air and look like Spongebob...



I made Cocoa Chocolate Chip Banana Waffles.
Had them with maple syrup (heavenly) and fresh raspberries, banana slices and blueberries (whatever comes after heavenly, this was it)

Ingredients (for 2 waffles)

3/4 cup flour (I use spelt)
2 heaped Tbsp. natural cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup soy milk (I used Soy Macchiato which gave it a lovely coffeeish flavor)
1 Tbsp. mashed banana (I used about 1/4 of a big one)
2 tsp. maple syrup (more or less depending on the sweetness of your milk)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (optional)
2 Tbsp. chopped chocolate or chocolate chips

This was chocolate heaven on a plate. Seriously, waffles combine everything awesome: crispyness/chewyness of cookies and doughyness like pancakes or cupcakes.

I know I will make these again! Probably tonight, because how else could I use up the leftover half banana? Ha ha! I'm also thinking of cutting up cherries and throwing them into the batter... mhhh!


For dinner I cooked up some brown rice and threw together a bunch of vegetables to accompany it.

I used
- 2 cans of tomatoes in juice
- 2 chopped onions
- 5 crushed cloves of garlic
- 1 huge zucchini, chopped
- some leftover frozen italian vegetable mix which fit very well (it was zucchini, onions, string beans, bell pepper, mushrooms (eh!) and black olives seasoned with oregano)
- 1/2 cup frozen spinach
and seasoned everything with thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper.

It was very garlicky, but not in an overpowering way. Very delicious, the rest agreed with me!



My dad asked my mom for Parmesan cheese, but there was none. I couldn't really feel for him because I had tons of nutritional yeast to sprinkle over my food ;)
Seriously, sprinkling nooch on stuff makes it so much better, at least if one's looking for a cheesy kind of flavoring.



My boyfriend even asked for another serving at 1 AM. Ha ha! Luckily I still have a small serving leftover for myself tonight.

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread / Mini Muffins

Yumm yum yum!



Everyone who raved about Vcon's Banana Bread wasn't lying! It's great (although a tad bit too sweet). I shared some with Spongebob who was clearly satisfied with the result =p
Yeah, I love Spongebob! I wouldn't go as far as Marc Jacobs and wear him on my arm, but I do love my little Spongebob and Patrick dearly ♥ I'm ready for motion! Watching Spongebob always makes me happy, he he!

I didn't add enough chocolate chips though... but then again this came out more bread-like than I had expected (probably because I only knew Banana Cake before) so to have only a little chocolate chippy here and there probably won't kill me. It tastes great with some strawberry jam and fresh banana slices on top!

I took a slice to work with me yesterday and enjoyed it with red grapes.



Last night I was getting the munchies and (here comes the missing chocolate in again) totally plucked the mini muffins to pieces in quest of finding more chocolate, ha ha!
But the leftover pieces will go great with some yogurt and fruit - sounds like I'll have a trifle soon!

Salad, Pasta, another Cake & Curry Cauliflower Carrot Soup

I wonder, why do I always feel like salads are a pain in the ass to make? Am I seriously that slow? And am I the only one? Mhh...
Anyway, the delicious salad I had last night sure did remind me that all the washing and chopping and mixing and roasting is simply worth it!



Roasted zucchini, eggplant & orange bell pepper on a bed of iceberg & lamb's lettuce, some cucumber slices, tomatoes, red onion & avocado chunks (I actually prefer avocados in form of guacamole... oh well, next time), drizzled with a balsamic yogurt dressing. Oh and some Nachos with mexican salsa.



Now onto my dad's cake. He and my mom enjoyed it a lot! Of course so did I ;)
A layer of raspberry perserves, banana slices and chocolate mousse.



I didn't have any fresh berries to add so I simply used pieces of cake crust, spread them with more chocolate mousse and arranged them on top. Some chopped chocolate on the sides & on top and it could've passed as the mouthwatering Starbucks Chocolate Fudge Cake I used to have quite often ♥

A few days ago I wanted something quick, so here goes Kamut pasta in olive tapenade mixed with broccoli & scallions sautéed in garlic. And a few drops of soy yogurt. Yumm!



Last week I made a Curry Cauliflower Carrot Soup with potatoes & red lentils! This was hearty & filling, yet light.
I ate it 3 days in a row yet never managed to take a picture. Even my boyfriend loved this!
I'll have to increase my soup cooking skills and make more of them.

I used about 6 medium potatoes & 2 carrots cut into small chunks and about 1/4 cup red lentils that I cooked in broth.
Midway cooking I added about 8-10 cauliflower florets, cut into smaller pieces, nutritional yeast, curry, ginger, garam masala, nutmeg, chili, paprika, salt and pepper.
I added 1/4 - 1/3 cup soy milk and puréed 2 cups of the solids in my blender and poured it back into the pot.
With a slice of whole wheat toast spread with a layer of olive tapenade, this was a perfect dinner!

Carob Blueberry Pancakes = sweet & comforting dinner

Yesterday I had planned to roast some asparagus and have it with tzaziki and baked beans.
But the cupboards where the beans usually are were completely empty (seriously, not even a single jar was left) when I went into the store so I went to the other bio market and accidentally got white beans in tomato sauce - only to discover at home that they contain honey. Wtf? Honey in beans?

Anyway, I had the idea of making spring onion pancakes (I still must do this some time!), but I was actually craving something chocolate-y and sweet.
So I whipped up my own carob blueberry pancakes (I don't have ED&BV so I improvised and surprisingly made just enough batter for 3 perfect sized pancakes) and topped them with banana slices and nectarine chunks (it was so perfectly ripe & sweet, yumm!).



The other half banana was mashed (there were a few frozen blueberries left in the bowl hence the color) with a little agave syrup and vanilla extract.

Sandwiches, Bagels and a Spicy Tomato-Veggie Soup

A few days ago I had the fabulous combination of PB, Jelly and banana on a rye toastie, which I would've never thought of hadn't it been for some of you bloggers! So thanks!



I also bought a mini Ciabatta with Bear's Garlic... not the best buy. It smelled like feet - and sadly didn't taste much different =(



And yesterday I made a yummy Tomato-Veggie Soup. I put in more chili powder than I had intended to, but as the boyfriend put it it was "a pleasant spicyness"!
My best PB friend brought bagels: sunflower seed, everything and spinach! And it really did taste like spinach =D



I sautéed a big onion and 3 cloves of garlic in veggie broth, added a green and a red bell pepper, cauliflower and broccoli, about 2 cups each, 1 zucchini and a pack tomato puree, two jars of crushed tomatoes and about 3 Tbsp. tomato paste, lots of oregano, some rosemary, paprika and chili powder, salt and pepper. No oil needed =)

Another quick Tortilla dinner & chinese inspired Veggie Rice Stir-Fry

More groceries! I'm really in the mood for grocery shopping at the moment it seems..

The crunchy amaranth cereal is fantastic in yogurts and the dried mango strips... well, I ate them all yesterday and felt sick because it were too many but they were seriously too good to stop =p



Also, I finally bought Hoisin sauce as you can see in the first picture! After I got back from Amsterdam I ate at this chinese place in Kreuzberg twice. They have all kinds of dishes, sushi, vegetarian dishes and even burgers that can be ordered vegan with tofu instead of fish.

I chose their veggie rice which was so good that I got the same thing twice. The sauce was delicious!! And they topped the whole thing off with pine nuts... yumm!!!

So I recreated the dish with much more veggies of course. I failed to get soy sprouts, but this was a fantastic light and very satisfying dinner nonthless.



I used a handful of baby asparagus and broccoli, 1/4 yellow and red bell pepper, 1/4 cup scallions, 1/2 carrot and pine nuts. I used to be not too fond of pine nuts and their flavor for a very long time and when I tried them this time the taste kind of reminded me of the fake ham flavor potato chips used to have... odd =p



Then on another day I had wanted to make a nice and finally more complete than usual mexican dinner à la me(meaning it's usually just inspired and I always end up making up my own variation to my liking anyway)tonight... with rice, guacamole and whatnot. But plans for tonight changed & I was left with very little time so I just cooked up a quick garlic-onion-black-and-white-bean-peperoni-tomato something and used roasted baby asparagus in it and as "the sprinkle" of my salad. Along with the new balsamico-basil dressing I bought (all the way to the left).

I used to roast it with some olive oil, but now I just wash it and put it right into the oven for about 20 minutes and it turns out perfectly.

Bean Quesadillas and the fruitiest Berry Birthday Crisp

For my mom's birthday I made VwaV's Quinoa Mango Black Bean Salad as requested!
Don't the colors of the flowers & salad match perfectly? Ha ha!



I wrapped it up in a Tortilla later: a tasty idea! I really enjoyed it this way.

I usually hate peeling and cutting mango, but the skin was easily removable this time and left the mango flesh looking funny.



Doesn't it totally look like mango sorbet inside of a mango? =p



The Berry Crisp goodness! Frozen blueberries & raspberries and fresh blackberries & blueberries.





Before it went into the oven.



We had so much fun eating this dessert and couldn't stop laughing over each others blue teeth and lips =p

And about dinner two days ago. I must apologize. When I made quesadillas with my leftover salsa I made my boyfriend's first. Took a picture, then made mine. Forgot to take a picture of it, erm... anyway, mine looked basically the same minus the mushrooms and the cheese on top.

As he ate he went "I'm eating so healthy because of you!" "Well, sorry.." "No no, you can be proud!" Ha ha =p
I'll never understand why so many people fear healthy and nutritionous food (such as whole wheat for example)!?



Sorry, you can't even see the filling =( I spread it with salsa that I had mixed with kidney beans before, put bell pepper slices and corn on top and that was it. Very tasty!



This will be my last post for a week as I am going to visit my sister! I'm so excited, my best friend is coming along and I'm sure this will be such a fun week!! With LOTS of pictures!
So have a great week everyone and take care! =)

Mexican Pizza makes my night!

The pizza pan came to the rescue last night. And the result did not diappoint!



I felt the need for a change, not the regular broccoli bell pepper pizza again so I looked through the cupboards and the fridge and decided to make... Salsa (or whatever you want to call it)



Ingredients
1 can chopped tomatoes (omit the juice)
4 cherry tomatoes, chopped (ha ha not neccessary, I just found them in my fridge)
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1/4 cup premade tomato sauce (or tomato puree seasond with a little oregano)
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
chili powder (about 1/2 tsp.)
salt & pepper, to taste

I topped our pizza with salsa, black beans, corn, yellow and green bell pepper, scallions, a little onion and put vegan mozzarella on my half, the other half was my boyfriend's with regular cheese and additional mushrooms and peperoni.



Mhh, close-up! The crust was so perfectly crispy, just the way I like it!



This pizza was so delicious! I loved the beans and corn, so good!
I have a little salsa left over, as well as black beans so I'm thinking tonight will be the night I'll finally make burritos. I bought an avocado for guacamole and now all else I need is tortillas.

On another note it's my mom's birthday tomorrow. She requested Vcon's Quinoa Black Bean Mango Salad which she couldn't stop raving about ever since we first had it, ha ha =)
And for dessert I think I'll go with another one of her favorites: the delicious berry crisp by the Happy Herbivore!

PBJ Banana Goodness and an "Asian" Veggie & Rice Stir-Fry

A few days ago I had the grilled Peanut Butter Jelly Banana Sandwich people seem to eat all the time. It was so good! I just couldn't decide how to cut the banana =p



Last night I made a simple, light and satisfying dinner after being inspired by the take-out chinese food I had this weekend that was way too oily in my opinion.
Seriously, why do people think it's neccessary to drown tiny vegetable pieces in cups of oil? Not only am I pretty sure that most people would appreciate low-fat versions (I don't demand them to be no or low fat, but get the amount right damnit), the restaurant itself would probably save quite some money in the long run if they used 4 Tbsp. less oil for each dish.

Oh well, in that case I'll rely on myself and recreate the dish the way I want it to be. And that would be it:



Ingredients
2 bell peppers, chopped (I used 1/2 yellow, 1 red & 1/2 green)
3 cups chinese cabbage, chopped
1/3 bamboo shoots
2 carrots, shredded
3 scallions, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced
soy sauce
salt, a dash pepper

First sautee the bell pepper & celery for 10 minutes, then add the bamboo shoots, carrot and chinese cabbage and under stirring cook for 5 more minutes.

Completely fat free and again, boyfriend and father approved!

I had rice left over and craved something dessert-like, but didn't have anything on hand really so I came up with this. Rice, 3 Tbsp. apple sauce, a squirt agave and a few dashes of cinnamon. And not to forget cashews.

Pizza Pizza!

I went to IKEA on Saturday and got a pizza pan!!! =D
So on Sunday I made my first pizza crust using this recipe (which I can highly recommend!!). I made my dough with whole wheat and spelt flour, used cornmeal and no oil. My boyfriend who fears whole wheat insisted on regular flour and oil and was more than happy with the result!

My pizza (with garlic broccoli, fresh basil, red onions, cauliflower, red bell pepper, scallions and peperoni).



My boyfriends pizza. I have to admit - his crust tasted better!



Other than that I tried alpros new Soya Macchiato milk. It tastes great in coffee, but just as good on its own!

Ratatouille with roasted rosemary potatoes

After finding fresh rosemary at the supermarket yesterday I immediately thought of roasted potatoes. So I bought two zucchini, an eggplant and tomatoes and had the following for dinner last night. Again, a well received classic. But there's not much you can do wrong with this anyway.

Equilinia-Veggie Stuffed Bell Peppers

A winner!!!



My mom said "Oh, yummyyyy!" between each and every bite and my fathers only complaint was that it wasn't salty enough. They both really appreciate the fact that I cook for them. In particular that I cook very healthy!
My mom said after dinner "That's what I love about meals like these... you don't feel so full and bloated afterwards!"
My father already thought of additions "Falafel would taste great with this!"



My boyfriend came over with a steak (the sight of that bloody red piece of flesh seriously made me sick) and fries his mom got him that he wanted to make for dinner.
He asked if he could have a stuffed pepper first and inhaled it within a matter of minutes!



Another dinner he really enjoyed, because after he ate his steak and fries - he kept complaining that the steak didn't taste good because it wasn't medium anymore - he asked if he could have another plate of my delicious vegan veggie food! Well that's not how he put it, ha ha! But he wanted more of it.

So he got it, topped with fresh basil! Mhhhhhh!!!!



The stuffing itself would have made a delicious dinner. I bought this Uncle Bens mix a while ago (a mixture of brown & wild rice, spelt, oats, barley, rye & wheat) and mixed it with the following:

Ingredients
1 can mushrooms, finely chopped added to 2 medium sauteed onions, seasoned with salt & pepper
1 cup asparagus, chopped
1 green and 1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1/3 cup paprika-hot pepper spread (based on sunflower seeds)
1/3 cup tomato puree
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped

I prepared the mushrooms seperately, sauteed the bell pepper with the asparagus and just cut the fresh tomatoes in small pieces and folded them into the rice mixture along with the basil.

I preheated the oven to 428°F

Then I cut the bell peppers in half. I didn't fill whole ones because that would've made only three. That way we had six =)

I filled the halfs with stuffing, lined them up in the baking dish I had filled with about 1/3 cup tomato puree (I'd usually use half a can of tomatoes but I only had a pack of tomato puree on hand), put more filling into the middle of the dish (I still have leftovers - my mom had the fantastic idea last night to make cabbage rolls with the stuffing, I LOVE IT!) and poured the rest of the tomato puree (I used one pack, 1/3 cup for the stuffing) over it.

Covered it up and baked it for about 25 minutes.

Mhhh, can't wait to have that in cabbage rolls =)

Garlic-Thyme String & Black Beans with roasted Garlic Zucchini, Asparagus & Tomatoes

String Beans with lots of garlic and thyme... that has always been my favorite side dish.
This time I added some black beans which I found in the freezer. Fit very well =)

What a delightful garlic scented dinner! This is a rather fast meal if you have canned beans on hand. Both dishes only need about 15 minutes to cook so they are done at the same time and can be enjoyed right away!

My parents savoured this and my dad asked for more, but I had to disappoint him because I didn't cook that much. Ah well, next time! But I really appreciate it that they enjoy my food and are always willing to try and to comment on everything I make.



So this serves 2-3 I'd say. Or one very hungry person.

Garlic-Thyme String & Black Beans

Ingredients

2-3 Tbsp. water (or more as needed)
1 medium/big onion (I prefer a big one)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can string beans, drained
1 1/2 cup black beans, cooked
thyme (at least 1 Tbsp., but do as you please)
salt & pepper, to taste

1. in a saucepan sautee the onion in water for a few minutes, then add the garlic
2. add the string beans, sprinkle with thyme, some salt & pepper, stir, cover and cook on low-medium for 13 minutes
3. after 13 minutes add the cooked black beans, stir and season with more salt & pepper if needed
4. cover again and cook for 2 more minutes


Roasted Garlic Zucchini, Asparagus & Tomatoes

Ingredients

1 zucchini
1 cup asparagus
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 clove of garlic, minced

1. preheat the oven to 350°F
2. cut the veggies, line them up on a rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle with garlic, salt and pepper
3. roast for 15-20 minutes



My parents had a sunflower seed pita pocket to go with it.

And I finally made a recipe index, check it out if you like!

Kale and Potato Hash & ChickBeetPotato Sandwich

In the mess that is called my recipe book I found one for a Kale and Potato Hash I had copied from some website quite some time ago and altered the recipe a little. When I wanted to take a picture of the bowl I realized my batteries were empty, but no panic! Luckily my old digicam was loaded.



No kidding, my boyfriend loved this! He ate at least half of the bowl! I was like "Why didn't you say anything? I would've made more!" He said "Well, I couldn't foresee that it would be so tasty!" Ha ha.

Ingredients (serves 1)

2 medium potatoes
1 cup kale, chopped
1 tsp. olive oil + 2-3 Tbsp. water (you can always omit the oil and use only water instead, but I figured a little hint of olive flavor wouldn't hurt here)
1 medium onion
2-3 Tbsp. soy milk (optional)
1 - 1 1/2 Tbsp. balsamico bianco
nutmeg, to taste (I used about 2 Tbsp. I think)
salt & pepper, to taste

1. cook the potatoes
2. in a saucepan sautee the onions in oil & water
3. add the salt, pepper and vinegar
4. add the kale to this mixture
5. add the cooked potatoes, mash them with a fork and add soy milk
6. season with nutmeg and pepper

I had beet salad on the side which I put on top of the potatoes after the first bite, because it went so well together.

And you may have been wondering... a ChickBeetPotato Sandwich? Yeah, I wouldn't exactly call it a sandwich, but I didn't know how to call this odd creation that satisfied the hell out of me!

Here you go: I had a leftover potato and leftover beet salad, we had fresh whole-wheat carrot bread so I sliced the potato, topped it with a layer of beet salad, baked two Falafel balls, mashed them a little and topped them with some more beet salad.



My two bread slices were loaded so I decided to use silverware - something that always seemed odd to me. I remeber sitting at my aunts table as a kid, wondering why on earth she was eating a small slice of bread that was only topped with a slice of cheese with a fork & a knife when one could just as well hold it in the hand.

Now I like to eat bread with silverware too, because you don't eat as fast and get to enjoy your food longer. The whole process of eating is intensified! I started eating pizza with a fork & a knife (something that always seemed so out of question) for those reasons, too.
Well, that was back in the cheese eating days I guess because cheese tastes crappy once it cools and hardens - I always got so greedy, seconds later my slice was gone and I didn't even get to really taste and enjoy it. I remember shoving my pizza down so fast just so that I'd get to enjoy the cheese while it tasted best: hot and runny. And it was on top and in the crust... jeez =p Well, that's not a problem anymore now!

Last night I made a pizza with - eek - mushrooms (often just the smell or the thought of chewing one makes me sick... apparently I can only eat them in Pierogies, don't ask me why)! I decided to give them another try - just to give them all to my boyfriend in the end. Ah well, it was good nonetheless. I had mine with lots of sliced zucchini and green asparagus (oh how I love it!) and convinced my boyfriend to let me top his with veggies, too. He loved the combination of the three!
Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture because I hadn't eaten anything the whole day and was starving so it was gone within a matter of minutes (of which I spent at least three picking the mushrooms off my pizza) .

Red Beet Salad & Sweet Potato Fries

Okay, I'm not a fan of sweet potatoes. I had three fries... but they're not for me. The sweet taste was irritating and not very much to my liking. Anyway, at least I can cross the sweet potato off my list of things to try.



The red beet salad was fantastic though, but I love red beet anyway. I used jarred ones(vinegar is in there already) and shredded them and along with an onion. Simple as that! And most importantly - it tastes sooo good!!!