Ingredients:
500g leeks
1/2 tsp salt
1 pot water to boil
Poireaux Vinaigrette:
1 tbsp red wine vinegar or balsamic
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small red onion peeled and finely diced
1 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp chopped parsley
2 tbsp chopped chives
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
Instructions:
1. Cut off and discard the root ends of the leeks. Wash and place in a pot. Cover with water and sprinkle some salt. Cook on medium heat for 20 minutes until the leeks are fork-tender.
2. To prepare the vinaigrette. Combine the vinegar and salt in a bowl, and whisk with a fork for about 20 seconds until the salt has dissolved. Then add the onion, mustard, parsley, and pepper. Then, slowly drizzle in the oil in a steady stream while constantly whisking. Continue whisking until the dressing thickens to your desired texture.
3. Remove the leek bundles from the water with a slotted spoon and let them cool and drain on a kitchen towel.
4. Using your hands, roll or fold the leeks. Dip in the sauce. Place the leeks on a serving platter, sprinkle some chives. Top generously with the vinaigrette. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
140 g. whole oats
500 g. ripe tomatoes
1 ripe red plum
1.5 cups water + more as needed
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 bay leaf
Plant based parmesan to serve (optional)
A good quality balsamic to serve (optional)
Fresh basil to serve
Instructions:
1. Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in oats, reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Then strain and set aside.
2. Chop tomatoes and plum. Place in a wide pan, cook until soften and tomatoes leave their juice.
3. Add the strained oats into the tomato pan. Place the bay leaf in the pan. Close the lid of the pan. Continue to cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes or whole oats absorb the juice.
4. Once absorbed, remove the bay leaf. Taste your risotto, if it is not soften enough, add a little bit more water and cook for 2-3 minutes.
5. Season with black pepper and salt. Serve with parmesan, basil and balsamic if desired.
The thought of cooking large meals for masses can be overwhelming, if quantity cooking was as simple as multiplication life would be easier all around, but there are plenty of things you can do to make it smoothly with confidence.
Whether you’re hosting a holiday party or happen to have a large crowd throughout the year, here we shared some personal tips that will help save you time.
1. Make miniature version of your main dish
Use bowls or tins to easily create individual portions that are as fun to look at as they are to eat. A lasagna or mac and cheese cooked in small pottery bowls will both help you in terms of portioning and prevent food waste.
2. Go for a open buffet instead of individual plates
Make a sample dish along with the open buffet. Guests can easily look at the sample dish and imitate it.
3. Make no heat-sensitive dishes
Choose foods that can be reheated and/or held at temperature while still retaining taste, texture and visual appeal. Make sure you don’t serve heat sensitive dishes in order to prevent being too mushy. Especially some sauces can freeze when cold, be careful with these. if necessary, guide your guests to pour the sauce onto their plate rather than mixing it with the sauce.
4. Embrace minimalism
Avoid too many crowded items and combinations, focus on dishes with a maximum of 3 main ingredients and one type of spice so as not to mask the taste.
5. Make sauces beforehand
Imagine you are making a lasagna. When you have time within 24 hours, it can save you time to start by preparing sauces and fillings and keeping them in the fridge. When it’s time to eat, you can easily sauce between the layers of lasagna and put it in the oven. You can also prepare the lasagna uncooked and store it in the fridge.
6. Chop salad ingredients beforehand
Start by washing and cutting the salad ingredients, store them in the fridge without mixing them together, blend them with the dressing when it’s time to eat, or serve the ingredients in separate bowls and let the guests mix them.
7.Make large dishes that can easily be doubled
Stir-fry, soups, stews, salads and pasta dishes are fairly straightforward and simple to double or triple, depending on your number of guests.
In this recipe, we used cracked sprouted buckwheat ( it is something like sprouted rolled oats/ oatmeal) – this is the final product of activated sprouted buckwheat being dehydrated in the dehydrator at 42 degrees and passed through a fine bulgur-like grinder into larger pieces of flour. It is now possible to find packaged sprouted rolled buckwheat in the market today, making life easier if you don’t want to do this long process yourself at home.
Ingredients:
4 miniature romaine salad or endive
150 g sprouted rolled buckwheat
1 large red onion
1 jalapeno
1 garlic clove
1 large green pepper
1 large red bell pepper
1 cup fresh tomato puree, strain the juice of 2-3 tomatoes and use the pulps, mix with 2-3 sun dried tomatoes ( If you don’t mind it is raw or not, use 1.5 tbsp tomato paste)
2 tbsp sumac
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
Lime wedges to serve
3 tbsp pomegranate syrup
1/4 bunch parsley finely chopped
Instructions:
1. Chop all the peppers, garlic and onion finely, massage with olive oil. Place in the dehydrator and bake at 42 C until soften enough. ( If you don’t have a dehydrator, complete this process in the pan on low heat with minimum olive oil and 3-4 tbsp water.)
2. Place sprouted cracked buckwheat in a bowl, add 1/4 cup water and let it sit for 2 minutes.
3. Then add the dehydrator baked onions, peppers, garlic mixture into the buckwheat bowl. Stir well.
4. Add the tomato puree or paste along with the sumac, parsley and salt. Mix well. The dressing for kisir is much thicker in the original version. It still includes lemon and olive oil, but also has tomato paste and, usually, pomegranate molasses. Feel free to add cold pressed pomegranate syrup if you have where you live in. You could, in theory, skip the pomegranate syrup which is basically a sweetener made from pomegranate juice.
5. When everything combined well, fill your romaines with a teaspoon. Enjoy immediately or keep in the fridge, it will last up to 3 days. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
400g oyster mushrooms
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp chili pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 200 C.
2. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. ( Do not wash the mushrooms) Using your hands, pull the mushrooms into thins strips.
3. Drizzle olive oil, add the rest of the ingredients.
4. Massage well with your hands. Toss around to evenly coat the mushrooms.
5. Transfer mushrooms in a baking tray lined parchment paper.
6. Bake at 200 C for 20-25 minutes or until mushrooms are a bit crispy and brown on the edges.
7. Serve with rice, potatoes or whatever you like.
Ingredients:
450g sweet potato cooked
80g almond flour
50g oat flour
2 tbsp almond butter
7 tbsp raw cacao
5-6 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions:
1. Place cooked sweet potato in a bowl, mash using a fork.
2. Then add the rest of the ingredients over the mashed potato.
3. Mix well until well combined.
4. Preheat oven to 185 C.
5. Place the mixture in a square pan / pyrex with parchment paper.
6. Bake at 185 C for 25 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven, let it cool for 15-20 minutes.
8. Serve with almond butter, blueberries and banana or whatever you like.
Ingredients:
500 g potatoes
1 tsp baking soda ( it is cruical ingredient to make potatoes crispy)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried rosemary
Instructions:
1. Wash your potatoes and cut into small pieces. Preheat oven to 200 C.
2. Place the potatoes in a pot, cover with water. Add 1 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp salt. Bring to boil for about 10 minutes.
3. Then strain the water. Add 1 tsp salt, onion, garlic and dried rosemary. Give it a good toss.
4. Transfer the potatoes onto a baking tray lined parchment paper.
5. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until crispy enough and golden. Enjoy avocado sauce or your favorite dips.
Beyond beautiful! Do you know all parts of the fuchsia are completely edible, from the berries to the flowers? Fuchsia is a symbol of elegance, good taste, confiding love and amiability. They also encourage people to strengthen their psychic ability and intuition and to attain a higher level of knowledge or awareness in their spiritual realm.
You’ve heard it about nasturtiums, marigold, forget me not flowers and much more. But fuchsias? Fuchsias are perfectly safe to eat. Plus, they’re really so tasty! They also add a high amount of vitamin C and many to your dish.
How does it taste?
They have a neutral scent and a flavour that is mildly sweet with subtle hints of lemon. To enhance the petal flavour, remove the stamen pistils before using.
How to use?
You can use the petals as a garnish to decorate desserts, cakes and sorbets. They can also be added on cold soups, quiche and ceviche. Add the whole flower to lemonades and cocktails or freeze the edible flowers into ice cubes. The vibrant colours and delicate shape of fuchsias make them the addition to any sweet dessert.
Honeysuckle (Lonicera) is fragrant white and yellow flowers seen throughout the summer months.
They have drinkable nectar from honeysuckle flowers. Petals are also edible, perfect in summer salads or desserts. But the berries of it are poisonous. Only nectar and flowers are safe.
How to drink Honeysuckle nectar?
To drink the nectar, hold the flower with one hand, and pinch just above the calyx with the other. Pinch hard enough to break through the petal, but not all the way through the insides.
Then gently pull on the end of the honeysuckle. A white string should show up, connected to the calyx. This white string is the style, part of the female half of the flower. Continue to slowly pull the style down the center of the honeysuckle flower then bring it to your lips, and enjoy!
How to root Honeysuckle in water?
You can use water to propagate honeysuckle cuttings, because they root easily. The water provides the needed moisture, but make sure you change the water every 3-4 days. Stagnant water inhibits rooting because it becomes deficient of the necessary oxygen.