Almost green gazpacho – bijna groene gazpacho (GF-SF)

In the line of easy, fast, green and versatile recipes I made this beautiful gazpacho this weekend.

The sun was out for a change, and on my tiny balcony on the south side the wind had no influence so I came to the idea of a cold soup.

With all there was in my fridge and the herbs and very ripe avocado that I was forgotten, I made this  gazpacho or cold soup or maybe you could call it even a veggie smoothie. Anyway you name it, it’s delicious, lusciously smooth because of the almonds  and all the raw goodness of all these veggies and herbs! it's easy to make vegan, just leave out the yoghurt!

It’s a long list of ingredients, but all you have to do is wash the veggies and chop them roughly and throw them in a blender. Add anything you like more or less to your own tastes. This soup is all about tasting. You don’t have a green bell pepper, just use a red or yellow one, like I did. You don’t have a cucumber, maybe you have a zucchini. The same with the herbs, use what you have, sniff and taste and make your own heavenly blend.

Depending on the thickness, the amounts of liquids, this recipe makes about 1 liter of soup.

Almost green gazpacho

1 big celery stick

½ cucumber

2 handfuls of turnip tops (you could use spinach )

1 red bell pepper

1 avocado (or when not in the house just leave it out)

2 spring onions

1 clove of garlic

1 big handful of basil

1 big handful of parsley

1 big handful of coriander/cilantro

A few leaves of mint

75 g almond meal or ground whole brown almonds

2 tbsp fragrant vinegar like dandelion or cider

60 ml good olive oil

125 ml of full fat organic yoghurt (vegans can leave it out)

250 ml or a little more cold water

1 tsp sea salt

Ground pepper

Lemon juice to your taste

Clean and chop the veggies and fresh herbs roughly.

Add everything to a powerful blender and blend into a smooth soup.

Taste and add seasoning to your liking.

Eat it directly or cool the soup for several hours in the fridge.

                                           not very appealing as a picture, but very delicious

Bijna groene gazpacho

1 flinke bleekselderijstengel

½ komkommer

2 handenvol raapstelen (of jonge spinazie)

1 rode paprika (of groen of geel)

1 avocado (als je die hebt, anders niet)

2 lente uitjes

1 teen knoflook

1 grote handvol basilicum

1 grote handvol peterselie

1 grote handvol koriander

Paar blaadjes munt

75 g amandelmeel, of  gemalen niet-geblancheerde amandelen

2 el geurige azijn, zoals paardenbloem of cider

60 ml lekkere olijfolie

125 ml volle biologische yoghurt (of laat weg als je vegan bent)

250 ml of iets meer water

1 tl zout

Gemalen zwarte peper

Citroensap naar smaak

Maak de groentes schoon en hak ze grof, zo ook de kruiden.

Doe alles in een grote blender en mix tot een mooie romige soep.

Proef en voeg naar smaak toe wat de soep nog nodig heeft.

Eet direct of laat een aantal uren in de koelkast koelen.

Another green recipe! Cucumber and celery relish – komkommer- en groenselderij relish (GF-DF-SF-V)

So funny, this month I am only sharing green recipes, must be something in the air ;-)

This recipe came with my organic vegetable box from the Landzicht farm. It’s an easy and quick made relish, simple ingredients with maximum taste. I eat the relish on a sandwich, together with some fatty fish like mackerel or on anything which needs a tangy zing!

I keep my blog posts short, because I cannot work for more than 20 minutes at my laptop now, my aching bones won’t allow it yet. So I take good care of myself and listen to my body.

You have a favorite relish or pickle? Let me know!

Cucumber  and celery relish (1 big pot)

1 cucumber, washed and cut in brunoise

6 stalks of celery, washed, cleaned and cut in brunoise

2 tsp sea salt

½ cup white wine vinegar or rice vinegar

4 tbsp honey or agave syrup

1 tbsp fresh ginger, cut very fine

1 tbsp black mustard seed

1 tsp black peppercorns, crushed roughly

Bring vinegar, honey or agave, ginger and mustardseed to the boil. Immediately add cucumber, celery, salt and crushed peppercorns and stir together very well. Let it cook slowly for 5 minutes, than turn of the gas. Fill your (well cleaned) pot(s) with the mixture, close with a lid and let them cool upside down.

Store in the fridge, it will hold for at least 2 weeks for sure!

Komkommer-groenselderij relish (1 grote pot)

1 komkommer, in fijne brunoise

6 stengels groenselderij of bleekselder

2 tl zeezout

125ml witte wijnazijn of rijstazijn

4 el honing of agave siroop

1 el verse gember, zeer fijngesneden

1 el zwart mosterdzaad

1 tl zwarte peperkorrels, geplet

Breng azijn, honing, gember of agave en mosterdzaad aan de kook. Voeg meteen de fijngesneden komkommer en selder toe, het zout en de geplette peperkorrels. Roer goed door elkaar en laat 5 minuutjes zachtjes koken. Haal van het vuur en vul een of meerdere (goed schoongemaakte) potten met het mengsel. Zet op zijn kop en laat afkoelen. Bewaar in de koelkast, blijft zeker 2 weken goed!!

Green beans, potato and cucumber salad – spercieboon, aardappel en komkommer salade (GF-DF-SF-V)

This evening I’m going to eat with my friend M. and her son.

In her garden, in the sun, with some veggie and some fishy things on the BBQ, a glass of rosé and this great salad, which I prepared already, so all flavors can blend together and the salad is chilled. We have sunshine at last and are going to celebrate it.

The great thing about this salad is the perfect and simple combination of ingredients.

The salad is inspired by a recipe from The New Vegetarian Epicure, by Anna Thomas. It’s already an “old” book, from 1996, no pictures in the book, only recipes for every season. She is California based and it’s always a pleasure to read her stories about food, it’s sunny, it’s earthy, it’s all about good ingredients. I love this book!

Speaking of love; her latest book is called Love Soup and as a soup lover I will order it soon and let you know all about it.

Green beans, potato and cucumber salad (enough for 6 pers)

750 grams new potatoes, washed

350 grams French beans

350 grams cucumber

½ cup coarsely chopped fresh dill

¼ cup finely chopped red onion

2 big tbsp good olive oil

2 big tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

½ tsp sea salt

½ tbsp agave syrup

1 full tsp Dijon mustard

freshly ground black pepper

First boil the potatoes in plenty of water, depending of their size, about 15-20 minutes. They must be just done. Prick in them with a fork to be sure. Drain and let them cool for a little while, so you can just handle them to remove the skin and slice into big cubes.

In the time the potatoes are boiling, clean the beans, cut them in 2 cm pieces and cook or steam them for about 10-12 minutes till al dente. Drain and put them in a big bowl.

In the time the beans are cooking you cut the onion, dill and cucumber. Set aside.

And you make the dressing by stirring together (or put everything together in a glass jar and shake it) the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, agave syrup and black pepper. Set aside too.

When the potatoes are cut, put the chunks on top of the beans in the big bowl and pour over the dressing. Then add the dill, onion and cucumber cubes and mix everything together gently with your hands. Refrigerate for some hours to blend all the flavours and chill the salad well.

Enjoy on a warm evening  or as a lunch dish!

Sperzieboon, aardappel en komkommer salade (genoeg voor 6 pers)

750 gr nieuwe aardappels, gewassen

350 gr sperziebonen

350 gr komkommer

½ cup versgehakte dille

¼ cup fijngehakte rode ui

2 volle el goede olijfolie

2 volle el versgeperste citroensap

½ tl zeezout

½ el agavesiroop

1 volle tl Dyon mosterd

versgemalen zwarte peper

Kook de gewassen aardappels net gaar. Afhankelijk van de grootte 15-20 minuten. Prik af en toe voorzichtig met een vork. Giet af en laat even afkoelen voordat je de schil er voorzichtig afhaalt. Snijd ze in flinke stukken.

Terwijl de aardappels koken haal je de boontjes af, snijd ze in 2 cm stukjes en kook of stoom ze al dente, 10-12 minuten. Giet af en laat even uitlekken. Doe ze in een ruime kom.

Als de boontjes koken snijd je de ui, de komkommer en dille.

En maak de dressing door olijfolie, citroensap, zout, peper, agavesiroop en zwarte peper goed te vermengen of je doet alles in een jampot met deksel en schud de pot flink.. Zet apart.

Als de aardappels klaar zijn doe je de nog warme blokjes op de bonen. Giet eerst de dressing erover en dan de ui, dille en komkommer. Meng alles voorzichtig met je handen.

Laat de salade zeker een paar uur afkoelen in de koelkast tot gebruik.

Geniet op een warme avond of als een heerlijk lunchgerecht.

acar ketimun - atjar ketimoen - cucumber pickle(GF-DF-V)

I am in an experimenting mood, in my mind that is;  although I cook every day, I am mainly thinking about, rethinking, rereading, planning, organizing, writing, rewriting my recipes. Putting things together in a blogpost is the last thing I think about. 

It is not the time that is lacking, or the drive. It's the time of year, I am in winter modus, the time for evaluating: What is ok, what is not, what do I want to share and what not, what is healthy and why do i care, etc.

Maybe it's a case of writers'block, maybe it's just the springtime I am waiting for, the renewal of the senses, of nature awakening, of fresh smells and new greens, the sprouting of the young leaves the awakening of creativity again. Sigh! Maybe!

That's why I am putting a lot of things in pots, not only literally; like pickles or seeds to sprout, what happens inside? I am experimenting with a bread from My New Roots; I am making pickles to boost my digestion, I made a turmeric paste to make golden milk with home made almond milk, as well  to stimulate and ease my belly.

Last week I made this easy cucumber pickle, it's a classic from the Indonesian kitchen.

Atjar/acar ketimoen is cucumber pickle, easy to make, easy to keep and really refreshing and tinglingly acid when you eat it. As a side  with a rice dish, in a sushi roll or on a sandwich. 

Atjar ketimoen

1 cucumber

2dl vinegar

pinch of salt

1 tsp gula djawa or palm sugar

3 cm piece of fresh ginger, finely cut

6 peppercorns

2 coves of garlic, fine

Wash and halve the cucumber lengthwise.

You can deseed the cucumber so you get this nice half moon shapes, but I don’t bother I like the seeds too. Cut the halves in small slices. Put them in a bowl and set aside.

Cook the vinegar with the rest of the ingredients for some minutes, than strain through a sieve and let it cool. Add to the cucumber and leave it in the fridge for at least an hour before serving. You can also put everything in a sterilized pot with lid. Keep in the fridge for at least 2 weeks!

Atjar ketimoen

1 komkommer

2 dl azijn

 1tl gula djawa of rietsuiker

3 cm stuk verse gember, fijngesneden

6 peperkorrels

2 knoflooktenen

Was en halveer de komkommer in de lengte.

Je kunt de zaadjes eruit scheppen zodat je de komkommer in mooie halve maantjes kunt snijden. Hoeft niet, ik hou wel van de zaadjes. Snijd de komkommerhelften in dunne plakjes en doe ze in een schone of kom of pot en zet apart.

Kook dan de azijn met de rest van de ingrediënten enkele minuten, zeef het vocht en laat afkoelen. Giet dan bij de komkommer en laat zeker 1 uur in de koelkast trekken voor je de atjar serveert. Je kunt hem ook in een gesteriliseerde pot met deksel gieten en bewaren in de koelkast. Blijft zeker 2 weken goed!

Komkommer banaan raita – cucumber banana raita (GF-SF)

This Indian salad is a delicious side dish with a hot vegetable curry or a simple dal with rice.
I eat it with my favorite khichadi. The nice thing about khichadi is that you can fill it with all kinds of veggies that you have left in your fridge, a carrot, a piece of cabbage, a potato, some green beans or peas, a stick of celery. When you make it with brown basmati rice, it’s a very healing dish for your belly. I eat it quiet often.

When you don’t eat dairy products you can leave out the yoghurt. The only thing that changes is the name: it will be kachumbar ;-)

Cucumber banana raita (2 pers)

1 ripe banana, in small dice
1 quart of cucumber, in small dice
1-2 tsp lemon juice
2-4 tbsp organic full fat yoghurt
2 tbsp raw peanuts, baked in some coconut oil, then roughly chopped
2 tbsp grated coconut
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 fresh green peppers, to your own taste, finely chopped
handful of fresh coriander, chopped
1 tbsp freshly ground golden flax seeds

Mix everything together, taste and add whatever is necessary. Let the tastes infuse for at least half an hour. So easy, so good!

Komkommer-banaan raita (2 pers)

1 rijpe banaan, in blokjes
1 kwart komkommer, in blokjes
1-2 tl citroensap
2-4 el biologische volle yoghurt
2 el rauwe pinda’s, even gebakken in wat kokosolie en dan grof gehakt
2 el gemalen kokos
zout en peper naar smaak
1-2 verse groene pepers, fijngehakt, als je van pittig houdt
handje verse koriander gehakt
1 el versgemalen blond lijnzaad

Mix alle ingrediënten door elkaar, proef en voeg toe wat je nodig denkt. Laat de smaken minimaal 30 minuten intrekken. Zo makkelijk en zo lekker!

mungbean noodles with bok choy and tofu - mungbean noedels met paksoi en tofu (GF-DF-SF)

Light and colourful, just like today!
This quick and easy dish is full of flavour and very versatile, you can put in any vegetable you have in store. I use the bok choy as my main ingredient. Also you can use any noodle you like, this dish is very good with buckwheat noodles, but I forgot to buy them. And I always have some of these in my cupboard.

Still it’s not the right temperature for me, the wind is a bit chilly, but my head thinks it’s spring. I cleaned my balcony and started to seed some basil and rucola.
My dearest is building an outdoor kitchenette, yes!!

My balcony is very small, like my kitchen, but very soon I'll have the opportunity to also cook something outside on my new gas burner, which he brought from Bangkok. I have plans to start smoking, ha, ha, no not myself, but fish and vegetables. I have this wonderful book full of ideas of home made goodies. Cooking books are always an inspiration. You cannot have enough of them!

Mung bean noodles with bok choy and tofu(2 pers)
printable version
2 stalks of bok choy, washed and chopped roughly
1 piece of winter carrot, halved and in thin slices
1 quarter of cucumber, in sticks

1 red onion, (not to) finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 3 cm piece of fresh ginger, finely chopped

1 packet of tofu

2 handfuls of raw cashew nuts
2 handfuls of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

150-200 g mung bean vermicelli

Sauce:
1 tbs gluten free tamari
1 tbs sweet chili sauce
1 tbs fish sauce
½ tbs palm sugar or gula djawa
1 tbs gluten free oyster sauce
3-4 tbs water

Wrap the tofu in a clean tea towel and put a weight on it. After ½ an hour unwrap and cut the tofu in cubes.
Meanwhile you cut all the vegetables and put them aside. And the coriander.
You make the sauce by mixing all the ingredients together and put it also aside
Heat a wok and fry the cashew nuts in some coconut oil or any other neutral vegetable oil, till they are golden. Keep on stirring, so they don’t burn on one side. Not too hot!! Put them too aside and the heat low.


Now cook the noodles as is written on the packet in plenty of water. Rinse in cold water. You can also keep the water boiling and cook the noodles at the last minutes, so you don’t have to heat them up.

Preparing the dish:

Heat up the wok, there is still oil in it or add some more.
First we bake the tofu cubes on all sides till they’re golden and a bit crispy. Scoop them out and leave them on a plate with some paper towel, to drain the excess fat.

Now we start with the onion, then the garlic and ginger. Wokking is stirring!!
Then you add one by one the vegetables, the harder vegetables first. So start with the carrot, stir-fry 3 minutes then add the cucumber and the bok choy, stir-fry another 2 minutes.
Add the tofu cubes and the sauce and reduce the heat. Stir for another minute so everything is well coated. In case it sticks too much to the wok, add some more water, it must stay moist.
Before serving you add the cashews and the coriander.
You can stir in the noodles or serve the vegetables on top of it.
I hope you’ll enjoy it, we do!!

Mung bean noodles met paksoi en tofu (2 pers)
printversie
2 stronken paksoi, gewassen en grof gehakt
1 stuk winterwortel, gehalveerd en in dunne schijfjes
1 kwart komkommer, in reepjes

1 rode ui, gesnipperd
1 teen knoflook, geperst
1 3cm stuk verse gember, fijngesneden

1 blok tofu naturel

2 handjes rauwe cashewnoten
2 handjes verse koriander, grofgehakt

150 -200 g mungbean vermicelli

Saus:
1 el glutenvrije tamari
1 el zoete chilisaus
1 el vissaus
½ el palmsuiker of gula djawa
1 el oestersaus
3-4 el water

Wikkel de tofu in een schone theedoek en zet ere en gewicht op. Na een half uur pak je de tofu uit en snijdt hem in blokjes. Zet apart.

Ondertussen snijd je de groentes en zet deze apart. Ook de koriander.
Je maakt de saus door alle ingrediënten samen te voegen, zet ook apart.

Verhit de wok en bak de cashewnoten in wat kokosolie of een andere neutrale olie. Blijf roeren zodat ze rondom goudbruin worden. Niet te heet! Schep ze eruit en laat uitlekken op een bordje met wat keukenpapier. Het gas weer laag.

Je kunt nu de noodles koken zoals op het pak staat en ze naspoelen onder koud water of je zet een pan water op en laat het water zachtjes koken en kookt de noodles op het laatste moment, zodat je ze niet hoeft op te warmen.

Nu is alles klaar om het gerecht te maken:

Zet de wok weer wat hoger, voeg eventueel wat extra olie toe en bak eerst de tofublokjes rondom bruin. Haal ze er uit en laat ze uitlekken op een bord met keukenpapier.

Dan bak je de ui en even later de knoflook en gember. Wokken is roeren, dus blijf erbij!!
Dan eerst de harde groente, de wortel. Roerbak deze 3 minuten en voeg dan de komkommer en de paksoi toe, roerbak nog eens 2 minuten. Voeg de tofublokjes toe en de saus en zet het vuur laag. Roer alles goed door elkaar zodat de saus een soort laagje vormt. Als het te droog wordt, voeg dan steeds een beetje water toe. Voeg voor het serveren de cashewnoten en de koriander toe.
Je kunt de noodles er door roeren (ook als je koude noodles opwarmt) of je serveert de groente op de warme noodles.
Ik hoop dat je het lekker vindt, wij wel!!