Green rice – groene rijst ( GF- SF)

At last the rain has come and the temperature is rising slowly!

Immediately nature is reacting: a week ago the common coots were almost nowhere nesting, but since yesterday it’s busy building nests in the water; there are three big woodpeckers chasing each other in the tops of the trees and at last the grass is starting to grow, my baby rabbits can start growing now. And the color of spring green is at last appearing, bit by bit.

To stay in this green theme I made a lovely bowl of green fake risotto, the recipe I once came up upon on the internet once but could not find again, so I made this interpretation.

Green rice/ fake risotto (2 pers)

1 big handful of rocket

3 tbsp salted butter, room temperature

1 spring onion

black pepper

a little lemon juice

2 cups of cooked brown basmati rice

1 tbsp of olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1-2 garlic cloves, chopped

small head broccoli, chopped and steamed

1 cup of frozen peas, cooked separately

10 cherry tomatoes, halved

Topping:

1 tbsp roasted pistachios

1 tbsp roasted pumpkin seeds or pine nuts

garden cress

smoked paprika powder

First make a nice smooth butter by blitzing rocket, butter, spring onion, pepper and lemon juice together in a small kitchen blender. Set aside.

Cook and steam the peas and broccoli, set aside.

Roast the nuts slowly for about 7 minutes in a dry pan, than set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a casserole and fry onion and garlic slowly with a pinch of salt. When they turn golden add the halved cherry tomatoes and bake together for some minutes. Than stir in broccoli and peas and heat together. Stir in the rice and begin adding the herbed butter, stir well and taste and add enough butter to your taste. When your satisfied with the taste, serve in a nice bowl and sprinkle with the nuts, seeds cress and smoked paprika.

Maybe serve together with a stuffed pepper.

I made this one from Hugh Fearnley- Whittingstal.

groene rijst/nep risotto (2 pers)

1 grote handvol rucola

3 el gezouten roomboter, op kamertemperatuur

1 lente uitje

Zwarte peper

Citroensap

2 koppen gekookte bruine basmatirijst

1 el olijfolie

1 uitje, gehakt

1-2 tenen knoflook, gehakt

kleine stronk broccoli, gehakt en gestoomd

1 kop diepvrieserwtjes, gekookt

10 cherry tomaatjes, gehalveerd

Topping:

1 el geroosterde pistachenoten

1 el geroosterde pompoenpitten of pijnboompitten

tuinkers

gerookte paprikapoeder

Maak eerst een smeuïge kruidenboter door boter, rucola, peper en wat citroensap in een keukenmachine te mengen. Zet apart.

Rooster dan de noten en pitten zachtjes in een droge koekenpan, ongeveer 7 minuten.

Kook en stoom de erwtjes en broccoli.

Verwarm de olijfolie in een diepe pan en bak daarin zacht ui en knoflook met een snufje zout  tot ze goudbruin zijn. Voeg de tomaatjes toe en bak even mee. Voeg dan de erwtjes en broccoli toe, roer goed door elkaar. Voeg dan de rijst toe en dan lepel voor lepel de kruidenboter, laat goed warm worden, proef steeds of er nog wat bijmoet.

Als je tevreden bent met de smaak serveer de rijst dan in een mooie kom en bestrooi met de noten, zaden, tuinkers en gerookte paprikapoeder.

Of serveer er een gevulde paprika bij, erg lekker!! Ik maakte deze van Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Date-almond balls – dadel-amandel balletjes (GF-SF-DF-V)

It’s always good to have some snacks with you, when you’re a celiac on the road.

Here in Holland there is not so much to buy when you’re doing a day hike in nature or even in town visiting a museum.  

Sometimes you can buy a bar or something like that, but they are packed with sweeteners, natural or not and pretty expensive too.

These naturally gluten free and healthy date-almond balls I made a while ago are just the right snack for this in-between-moments when your belly starts rumbling and you are not ready for lunch or dinner yet.

Furthermore they are delicious  and look very fancy on a tea party as well!!

recipe adapted from Anja's Food for Thought

Date almond balls (20 pcs)

50 g almonds

40 g pistachios

40 g hazelnuts

2 tbsp dried cranberries

50 g pitted dates

15 g shredded coconut

1 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tbsp maple syrup or honey

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

Soak the nuts for an hour in a bowl of water, then drain them. It is said to be more healthy, but the main thing is that they become juicy.

First grind the nuts roughly and then put the rest of the ingredients in the blender and blend till it forms a stiff dough. You will have to scrape the sides with a spatula all the time in between pulsing.

Put the dough on a plate and roll into nice balls.

For this bonbon/truffle look just roll them in some shredded coconut, cocoa powder, very finely chopped nuts or chocolate. MMM, enjoy!

Dadel-amandel balletjes (20 stuks)

50 g amandelen

40 g gepelde pistachios

40 g hele hazelnoten

2 el cranberries

50 g ontpitte dadels

15 g geraspte kokos

1 el cacaopoeder

1 el maple syrup

1 el kokosolie

1 tl vanille extract

Laat de noten 1 uur weken in een kom water en giet af.

Maal eerst de noten grof en voeg dan de rest van de ingrediënten in de keukenmachine en pulseer tot een dik samenhangend deeg, daarvoor zal je steeds met een spatel de zijkanten moeten schrapen.

Schep het dadeldeeg op een bord en rol er met je handen mooie balletjes van.

Voor dat bonbon/truffel effect kun je ze ook nog door geraspte kokos, cacao poeder, hagelslag of fijngehakte nootjes rollen. MMM, geniet!