Fleximazing

Wanted to freestyle a bit, but things took a turn… into a food orgasm. My oh my…

Ingredients (2 bellies)

precooked beetroot (I used two larger beets and two smaller ones)

¼ of a large cauliflower

1 red onion

1/3 of a fennel

a couple of mushrooms

2 handfuls of lentils

50g feta

lemon juice

garlic

two ts of capres

salt, pepper

oregano

curry powder

olive oil

Recipe

First you start off cutting the red onion into thin slices. Soak them in a bowl of fresh water for about 15 minutes. You should give it a try: they change, the flavour gets sweet and soft, oh so good.

Once the onion is soaking in the bowl, boil some water for the lentils. I cook them with enough salt, but not for too long, I like them best when they’re “al dente”.

Then you chop the cauliflower and the fennel into chunks. Don’t cut the fennel too thick  (between 0,5 and 1 cm). Put some olive oil on top of it and spice the cauliflower chunks with a bit of curry powder. Put it all in the oven on 180°C for about 20 minutes.

Then, you can put some olive oil in a frying pan. Don’t turn on the heat too high! Before you start frying the onion, I want you to taste it. Do you taste the difference between the soaked onion and a raw one? The flavour is so different, I love it! Fry the onion with a clove of garlic and some oregano.

Then you add the beetroot (also cut into chunks) and the mushrooms (same same, cut into chunks) to the onions. Fry for a minute or ten. After a while, you’ll notice that the ingredients might dry out a bit; if that happens, just add some boiling water from the lentils. It’ll moisturise and it’ll add more flavour to it!

Taste! This is so important… Add lemon juice, pepper and salt and… capres! (according to your mood, obviously). Beetroot has an earthy flavour, it combines well with the sour flavour of the lemon juice and the saltiness of the capres.

At the end, add the lentils to the beetroot/mushroom combo and fry the whole for a couple of minutes more. Taste until you’re 100% satisfied.

Serve along with the fennel, cauliflower and the feta cheese. The earthy flavour of the beetroot, the sweetness/anise of the fennel and the salty flavour of the feta and capres ‘ll make your senses go wild! I wish I could see you when eating this oh-so-lovely meal!

A wonderful meal heroing veganism, and ahh those flavours! I try to eat a vegan meal at least once or twice a week. After being a vegetarian for over eleven years, this seems to be more of a challenge to me (and I get some fun out of it as well!). My reward: these delicious well-combined flavours. I licked my plate clean!

ingredients (2 tummies)

1/2 cauliflower

1/2 butternut

2 tomatoes

1/2 avocado

a handful of cashew nuts

pasta

curry powder

ras el hanout

pepper

salt

garlic (2 or three cloves)

fresh ginger (about 1 inch)

mint

lemon juice

recipe

Cut the cauliflower and the butternut in smaller chunks. Put them on an ovenscale, sprinkle some olive oil, salt, curry powder, freshly cut ginger and garlic on top of it. Put it in the oven on 160°C for about 20 minutes. 

In the meantime, start preparing the creamy sauce. Put half  an avocado, a handful of cashew nuts, some garlic, salt, mint, a bit of lemon juice, a tiny bit of olive oil and a few drops of water in a blender. Once you start blending for a couple of minutes, you get a deliciously creamy texture! If the sauce is still a bit dry, add some more water to it. Spice it the way you like it!

When the sauce is ready, start boiling some water for the pasta. Cut the tomatoes in larger chunks. Fry them with a bit of onion and oregano. I seasoned them with a bit of ras el hanout, I love it! 

Let me serve you... a delicious and light flavourbomb!

ingredients

1 small cauliflower

200g of mushrooms

two eggplants (not too small)

olive oil (about 2 tbs)

salt

nutmeg

pepper

two or three cloves of garlic

sesame seeds

chili flakes

ingredients for the glazing

roasted sesame oil (3 tbs)

ketsjap (1 1/2 tbs)

silver rice miso (2 ts)

maple syrup (1 tbs)

the juice of 1 lemon 

apple cider vinegar (ts)

recipe

Slice up the eggplants into larger chunks.

Preheat the oven at 200°C. Put the chunks of eggplant in an oven scale, sprinkle some olive oil on top of it and add some salt as well. Bake them for 15 to 20 minutes until they are soft but not completely done. 

In the meantime, mix the ingredients for the glazing. 

Put the glazing on top of the soft eggplant chunks (leave them in the oven scale) and mix everything well. Put them back in the oven and bake them for another 10 minutes. Turn them around and grill them for another 5 minutes until they are done, delicious and completely covered with the glazing.

When the eggplant chunks are in the oven, cut the roses of the cauliflower in such a way that you get a kind of texture that looks like couscous. Cut the mushrooms into larger pieces. Bake the couscous along with the mushrooms with some salt, pepper, nutmeg and garlic. 

I craved for a light but tasteful meal after a long day. Not too much of an attack on your stomach and intestines. And ahh, those flavours... Enjoy!

ingredients for 2

150g  kale

1 broccoli

1/2 eggplant

150g quinoa

50g chickpeas

3 tbs of harissa

1,5 tbs of olive oil

lemon juice (1/2 lemon)

sesame seeds (about 2 tbs)

recipe

Preheat the oven at 180°. Cut the eggplants in slices of about 0,5 cm, sprinkle them with olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill them for about 15 - 20 minutes.

In the meantime, boil some water for the broccoli and some water for the quinoa. Boil the quinoa with enough salt for about 15 minutes. Once the quinoa is in the boiling water, you cover the casserole, turn off the heat but let the casserole on the cooking fire. The grains soak up the water easily. This is a conscious way of cooking, it’s better for the environment since you use less electricity or gas. 

Cook the broccoli the way you want it to; I love it when it’s still a bit crispy. When the broccoli is ready, you don’t throw away the water. I use the same casserole with the same water to steam the kale (conscious cooking!). Just put the kale in a metal sieve, but it in the casserole (don’t let it touch the water) and cover it. The kale is ready in about 5 minutes!

That’s just enough time to prepare the harissa dressing. Use 3 tablespoons of harissa, 1,5 tablespoons of olive oil, the juice of half a lemon, some salt and the sesame seeds. Mix everything et voila! It’s delicious and it adds well to the soft broccoli flavour and the bitter touch of the kale. 

Miso is a delicious ingredient straight from the Japanese kitchen. Fermented soy beans as the main ingredient, it is some kind of bouillon paste that contains the umami flavour. Miso is healthy and delicious ánd has a positive effect on our intestinal health and digestion. Let’s get started!

Ingredients (for a lot of tummies)

4 spoons of light miso

soy sauce

sesame oil

4cm² of ginger

4 cloves of garlic

a teaspoon of harissa

150g of tofu

sobanoodles (as much as you like)

eggs (as many as you like)

2 onions

2 turnips

150g of string beans

1/2 zucchini

200g shiitake mushrooms

200g enoki mushrooms

a handful of kale

a handful of cabbage 

soya bean sprouts

sesame seeds

spring onions

fermented veggies with black mushrooms (to be found in the Asian supermarket)

Recipe

Cut the onions,the garlic and the veggies that need a bit more boiling time (turnips, zucchini, string beans). Put some olive oil in a saucer and fry these veggies for a couple of minutes. After, you add water. I used two litres and a half. Then add some serious spoons of miso. You may be generous, you should add at least 150g  for this amount of water. Let the whole boil on a low heat. Immediately grate the fresh ginger and add it to the soup. 

After about ten minutes, you can add the other veggies to the whole: the delicious mushrooms, kale and cabbage! When that is done, you can start boiling some water for the eggs. Boil them for about 5 minutes until they are somewhere between soft and hard boiled. We all love Pacha Mama, use the same water to boil your soba noodles. You don’t have to actually boil them, soaking them in the hot water is enough. They’ll be done in 3 minutes’ time. 

Let the tasting begin! Did you use enough miso? Should you add some soy sauce or sesame oil? It’s all up to you! Spice things up with some Asian hot spices, if you’d like to. Tasting makes cooking beautiful, it allows you to feel the ingredients and to be aware of the meal that you’re preparing. Dive into it, taste and flavour if you would like to.

When your soup and the noodles are ready, you can start serving! This miso bowl can be GORGEOUS if you finish it well. First add the noodles, then the soup. Finish it with some soya bean sprouts, the fermented veggies, some tofu slices, half an egg, sesame seeds and spring onions. Et voila! Restaurant worthy ;)

Enjoy!

Tip: you can marinade the tofu with some soy sauce and sesame oil to add more flavour to it.

With these two simple but wonderful ingredients anyone can lift me up to higher ground… For real. I’d faint, honestly. I kid you not. 

I’m fond of late summer and early autumn, just because of this seasonal produce. Figs can be found anywhere around this time of the year. I bought these sweet deep red ones on the corner of our street. Combine these wonders of nature with fresh goats’ cheese et voila! I’d die for it. The soury and salty goats' cheese combines most beautifully with the sweetness of the figs. Prepare it as a simple carpaccio with some pepper or put it on a toast with or without some avocado. 

Breakfast ist he most important - and my favourite - meal of the day. These oats will keep you full for a couple of hours!

Ingredients

oats

almond milk

fruits: banana, mango

granola (homemade by my roomie Leo)

seeds: pumpkin seeds

a pinch of pink salt

Recipe

Prepare the oats in a saucer with some almond milk on a low heat. It should become a moist stew, delicious! Then add all the ingredients above. 

My roomie prepares her own granola; she takes some nuts and seeds and mixes it with honey. Then she puts it in the oven and grills them for a while. It doesn’t take too long to prepare it and you’ve got your own granola without added rafined sugars that you can enjoy for a while. 

I love the warm oats, combined with the sweetness of the fruits and the crunch  the granola adds. But... I also love to add a pinch of my Peruvian salt from the Andes, just to get the salty surprise every once in a while!

Freestyle with different kinds of fruits. Raspberries and blueberries are also delicious! Considering nuts and seeds... Almond nuts and walnuts are definitely winners!

Enjoy :)

A delicious meat-free meal heroing eggplant and grilled tomatoes - just the ticket when time is short. Got home late from class, but I was still craving for a decent meal tonight. No inspiration, only leftovers in the fridge... Let’s play by ear and let the magic happen! 

Ingredients (for about two hungry tummies)

whole grain pasta

1/2 eggplant

2 tomatoes

1/2 red onion

2 cloves of garlic

a handful of spinach

a handful of mushrooms

ricotta cheese

pepper, salt, oregano

fresh herbs: sage, basil, rosemary

Recipe

Preheat the oven at 180°. Cut the tomatoes into parts, cut the onion and the cloves of garlic. Mix it in an ovendish and marinade with olive oil, pepper, salt and a bit of oregano. Put the dish in the oven and grill it for about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, let some water boil. Slice-up the mushrooms and the eggplant. Cook these veggies on a low heat. I also added a bit of pumpkin seeds, I love the crunchy bite it adds to your meal.

Add the pasta to the salted water. Always use a saucepan with a lot of water to boil your pasta; it should be swimming in it! (trust me, an Italian taught me...)

As your pasta starts boiling, your veggies should be taken care of. Spice the mushrooms and eggplant with the fresh herbs sage, basil and rosemary. Not too much, just sprinkle the yumminess on top of it. Then, add the spinach and afterwards the ricotta cheese. It doesn’t really matter how much you want to use of it, whichever suits you well. If the whole is too dry, add some whey from the boiling pasta to moist things up. Spice with salt and pepper.

After one week of eating not too many healthy things, it is time for change! My roomie Feli inspired me; she honestly is the best at improvising in the kitchen. She knows which ingredients and flavours combine well and she manages to do some magic on your plate! This is the beautiful result of my own attempt. 

Ingredients (2 tummies)

2 eggplants

a handful of green peas

1/2 zucchini

400g of ricotta

50g of parmezan cheese

spices: sage, mint, tarragon, salt, pepper

a handful of walnuts

2 sheets of lasagne

a bit of honey

Recipe

First of all, cut the eggplants into slices of about 0,5cm thick. Grill them in the oven (180°) for about 15 minutes.  

Meanwhile, you start preparing the ricotta spread. Add the ricotta, the wallnuts, green peas and all of the spices together. 

After that is done, cut the zucchini into round slices of about 0,5cm thick. Sprinkle the slices with honey and grill them in the oven (180°, about 15 minutes). The honey will caramelize, it’s delicious! 

All your ingredients are ready, you can start preparing the lasagne. First you start with a layer of eggplant, then you add a layer of the ricotta spread. After that, you add a layer of lasagne sheets. I add these (even thow they are carbs) to get some structure and density into the lasagne. After that, you add another layer of ricotta spread and eggplant. At the end, you add the zucchini slices and you cover the whole with parmezan cheese. 

‘Hummus’ simply means ‘chickpea’ in Arabic. What we think of hummus,  actually means ‘hummus bi tahini’ in the Middle East. That name suggests the two main ingredients you need to prepare a delicious hummus: chickpea and tahini.

The origins from this dish are difficult to be revealed, according to historians. What we do know, is that it originates from the Eastern Mediterranean area of the Middle East. 

I already am addicted, and perhaps you will be too!

Ingredients

a can of chickpeas (soaked in fluid)

salt, pepper, cumin

1 clove of garlic

2 ts of tahini (= sesame paste)

juice of half a lemon

5 ts of olive oil

1 ts of still water

a handful of black olives

a handful of flat parsley

Recipe

This recipe is quite simple. Add all the ingredients in a blender and blend it until you get a nice and creamy substance. Taste before you serve! Perhaps you could need some more salt or pepper. If the whole isn’t creamy enough, add some olive oil and/or water.

You can add some black olives or flat parsley, according to your mood. Eat it as a dip with bread or veggies, or you can serve it as tapas. 

Ingredients (3 - 4 tummies)

 2 cups of couscous (I used a fairtrade brand)

1 eggplant

1 zucchini

1 red onion

1 red pepperbell

a couple of mushrooms

feta cheese (200g)

1 pomegranate

1 cucumber

a couple of cherry tomatoes

fresh herbs: thyme, rosemary, tarragon, mint

spices: salt, pepper, paprika powder

olive oil

Recipe 

If you would like to prepare this vegetarian couscous, I can assure you: nothing can go wrong! It’s an easy breezy recipe, ideal for early springtime. Want to go on a picknick? Told you: ideal!

First of all, you start cooking the couscous. I used a fairtrade brand, of which you need two cups of the grains for three cups of (salty) water. While the grains are cooking, you can slice up the zucchini, the eggplant and the pepperbell. Spice the whole with pepper, salt and olive oil. Eventually grill it in the oven (on about 200°) for about 15-20 minutes. 

While all of that is going on, you can start slicing up the mushrooms and the onion. These, you fry in a pan with lots of olive oil, pepper and salt. 

When all your veggies are prepared and the couscous has absorbed the water, you can start frying the couscous with a bit of olive oil. Gently add the veggies and in the end you can add the fresh herbs (I only used the rosemary, thyme and tarragon), keep on frying for about 5 to 10 minutes. Eventually, add the sliced cucumber, feta and pomegrenate. I love the mixture of flavours, the soft and slightly salty veggies match the sour feta and the sweet pomegrenate extremely well!

Homemade pesto, easy and perfectly Italian. Madre mia, la vita e bella!

Ingredients for two tummies:

Pesto

1 basil plant

40 gr of parmesan cheese

1 clove of garlic

50 g of pine nuts

20g of rocket

5 tablespoons of olive oil

lemon

salt, pepper

Pasta

Use as much pasta as you like. I often use spelt wheat pasta because my intestines digest it easier than whole grain pasta. 

1 fig

a handful of olives

10 cherry tomatoes

half a zucchini

half an eggplant

rocket (a handful)

Recipe

Pesto is incredibly easy to prepare. The only kitchen tool you need here is a blender.

Put all the ingredients in it, blend it et voila! Make sure you season the pesto afterwards with some fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper.

When the pesto is finished, you can start preparing the veggies. Slice the zucchini and the eggplant in parts of about 0,5cm thick. Grill them for about 15 minutes with some olive oil, salt and pepper.  Cut the cherry tomatoes and the olives in parts.

Boil the pasta.

Mix everything together and add a sliced fig. The sweet and full flavour from the fig matches the bitter tone from the pesto. Delicious!

A lovely and delicious salad to start the end of summer.

Which ingredients do you need for this beauty? 

Some fresh lettuce (the one from your garden is definitely the best one)

a zucchini

an avocado 

a red pepper 

a couple of figs

some soft goat’s cheese

some olives

olive oil

salt and pepper

 Grill the zucchini and the pepper on 190° for about 15 minutes. Slice it in parts of 0,5cm. Spice with pepper and salt.

Also grill the figs. Cut them in halves and put some goat’s cheese on top of it. Add some honey if you like and spice with some pepper. Grill it until the goat’s cheese is melted.

Another regular Monday evening well spent with this Buddha Bowl for a good friend. Some soul food to spoil our entire bodies.

This bowl consists of zughetti (spaghetti from zucchini), homemade hummus spiced with parsley, cauliflower couscous with mushrooms, guacamole, grilled eggplant and cherry tomatoes, spiced with some rosemary.

Ingredients + “how to” for two bellies:

Step 1: Grilled eggplant and cherry tomatoes

Slice one eggplant in parts of about 0,5 cm. Put them on some tinfoil together with the cherry tomatoes, divided into halves. Spice the eggplant with salt and pepper, spice the cherry tomatoes with pepper and rosemary. Put this in the oven for about 15 minutes on 190°.

Step 2: Zughetti

Slice the zucchini with a special tool or just a regular potato-peeler. Put it in an oven scale, add some olive oil and spice with pepper and salt. Put some tin foil around the scale and put it in the oven on 190° for 15 to 20 minutes.

Step 3: Cauliflower couscous

Cut the outer parts of half a cauliflower. You should get a texture similar to rice or couscous. Bake this in some olive oil until it’s almost done. Then add a handful of mushrooms. Fry them until they are done. Spice with some nutmeg, salt and pepper. TIP: To avoid waste, you can use the inner part of the cauliflower to make some soup.

Step 4: Hummus with parsley

Put one can of chickpeas, 1 clove of garlic, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of water, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of tahine, some pepper, salt, turmeric and a handful of parsley into a blender. Blend until you get a creamy hummus. Perhaps you should add some more water or olive oil, depends on how creamy you like it. Before you serve hummus, taste it!!

Step 5: Guacamole

Mix one avocado with some lemon juice, 1 clove of garlic, some sliced cherry tomatoes, 1 spring onion, some harrissa, pepper and salt.

Summer equals salads, doesn’t it? With this one I spoiled some good friends, and they approved of it ;-)

Ingredients for 3 tummies

1 apple

150 gram of olives

fresh salad (as much as you like)

1 or 2 zucchinis

1 or 2 eggplants

a bunch of grapes

goat’s cheese

2 avocados

6 slices of whole grain bread

about 150 gram of nuts (hazelnuts + walnuts)

1 tablespoon of honey

spices: salt, chili, rosemary

Recipe

The good thing about a salad is that you can just add the ingredients on a plate et voila, a wonderful dish is born! Eitherway, I would like to explain a few things here. 

I grill the nuts in the oven, for about 4 minutes on 200 degrees. Please keep an eye on the oven while you do so, because they burn in no time. Take a piece of tinfoil and mix the nuts with some honey, rosemary and chili before you put them in the oven. 

To prepare the toasts, you just add some goat’s cheese on the toast, along with some honey and rosemary. Grill them in the oven for a couple of minutes on 200 degrees. Once again, keep an eye on the oven!

Slice the eggplant and zucchini in pieces of 0,5 cm. Sprinkle them with salt, chili and olive oil before you grill them. (15min on 200 degrees)

I love to start the day with a healthy breakfast that fills me up for at least two hours. As a vegetarian (or a flexitarian) it’s important to take up enough essential vitamins and minerals. In this breakfast many seeds are added, which deliver exactly what you need if you don’t eat fish or meat on a regular basis. 

I buy my organic seeds, nuts, tea... at CHYL, a biological shop, café and restaurant in beautiful Ixelles. When in Brussels, this place is a must for everyone who loves organic dishes that are inspired by seasonal produces. Definitely bring them a visit: http://www.chyl.be/

Ingredients for this breakfast bowl:

organic müesli

three tablespoons of soyyoghurt 

1 banana

1 kiwi

one tablespoon of flaxseeds

one tablespoon of an Omega-3 mix (seeds)

one tablespoon of hempseeds

one tablespoon of goji berries 

All the ingredients are super beneficial for your body and mind. Let’s go!

Hemp has got such vast health benefits, that you can’t exclude it from your diet. It contains microscopic amounts of THC, so you surely won’t get high from it ;) What is it beneficial for? It sustains your body’s energy because of the proteins and fibers that slow down your digestion. Because of this, it also makes you feel full longer. Hemp is a rare source of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, which are hardly found in plants. Those reduce risk of cardiovascular disease,  they lower blood pressure, regulate metabolism, help the brain functions and help stimulate hair growth and regulate your skin. (http://www.care2.com/greenliving/5-surprising-health-benefits-of-hemp-2.html)

Flaxseed is  a great source of soluble fibre, flax lowers cholesterol and makes you feel full longer. These seeds are also packed with omega-3 fatty acids, which are beneficial for brain health. As well, they are associated with boosting eye health, as they can lower the risk of age-related macular degeneration. Studies show flax may help prevent certain cancers. (http://www.besthealthmag.ca/best-eats/healthy-eating/6-super-seeds-to-eat-every-day/7/)

Breakfast for champs!

This delicious and easily made breakfast is a win-win for hungover mornings. Don’t be hesitant to freestyle, any ingredient can be added.

For this one, I used the following ingredients:

2 eggs

a handful of spinach

1 tiny little onion

5 cherry tomatoes

a tiny little bit of feta cheese

herbs: salt, chili, terragon

Fry the eggs and the tomatoes until they are almost ready. Then add some spinach, bake until it becomes soft. Add the eggs and fry them for a couple of minutes. Add the feta cheese, the herbs et voila!

Enjoy!