vegetarian

Pumpkin tiramisu

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Leaves changing their colors. The wonderful smell of trees, mushrooms and fallen leaves. Sun. And sunglasses on. Almost as if it was still summer. L’été indien they call it in Canada. The last sunny days before the fall strikes with its grayish mists.

Tiramisu. One of my favorites. In line with the season. On a sunny terrace. Warm and spicy. And a glass of red vine to finish. The ultimate dessert for last warm days of fall.

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Where s’the catch? Pumpkin puree.

It will give the tiramisu lovely warm color and flavor. Plus, since my recipe is without egg it will bind the whole thing, add a hint of sweetness and help to reduce fat content.

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First thing that comes to my mind when I think of fall are warm wooden flavors. To spice it up a bit, use cookies like speculoos or this lovely Balance almond cookies by Klingele. They’re made without sugar and remind me a lot of speculoos, so they’re just perfect.

And the ultimate ingredient? Cognac. To give it a punch. And a lovely caramel flavor.

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Ingredients:

makes 3 – 4 single servings

  • 300 g mascarpone (you can also replace it with 1/3 of ricotta, best using Galbani)
  • 200 g pumpkin puree
  • 14 tsp strong espresso
  • 6 tsp spiced rum
  • 10 tsp cognac
  • sweeten according to taste (it depends on the sweetness of the pumpkin)
  • hokkaido pumpkin
  • 1 tsp coconut oil
  • pinch of salt
  • Balance almond cookies or speculoos
  • 2 Tbsp 100% cocoa powder

Preparation:

  1. Preheat owen at 180ºc. Cut pumpkin and remove seeds. Grease the pan with coconut oil. Sprinkle with salt. Slow roast until softened, between 40 – 60 mins (depends on the size).
  2. Cool the pumpkin, remove the skins and puree using a hand blender.
  3. Make some strong espresso. Set aside and let cool.
  4. Mix mascarpone (and ricotta, if using), pumpkin puree, espresso, rum and cognac as follows. Sweeten according to taste.
  5. The best is to make individual portions: layer of cookies, than layer of cream (making at least two layers of each).
  6. Let cool in the fridge for couple of hours.
  7. Sprinkle with bitter cocoa powder just before serving.

Grilled eggplant with sundried tomatoes and pecan goat cheese

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This is actually so easy to make that I shouldn’t even be posting it. But I can’t help myself. It looks nice and tastes soo good. Besides, with the abundance of homegrown goods and the lack of time to cook lately, this is a perfect fast food without renouncing great taste.

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Whether using nuts, walnuts or pecans, it’s really important to oven roast the nuts for couple of minutes. This will give them an amazing crunchy texture and will enhance the nutty flavor which works really nice with goat cheese.

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Ingredients:

  • 1 eggplant
  • 150 g of soft fresh goat cheese
  • 1 Tbsp of spreadable goat cheese or mascarpone
  • handful of pecans
  • sundried tomatoes
  • fresh thyme
  • extra virgin olive oil

Preparation:

  1. Get the cheese out of the fridge at least 30 mins prior to mixing. Oven roast pecan nuts for couple of minutes. Let cool, roughly chop and mix with both cheeses.
  2. Cut eggplant in 1 cm slices and grill in a pan. Use little oil and cook covered on both sides. There’s no need to fry them in oil.
  3. Assemble eggplant slices and goat cheese, top with sun dried tomatoes, thyme and good amount of high quality olive oil.

Yoghurt coconut lemon pie – raw

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Raw yoghurt coconut lemon pie or how to make a fake cheesecake vol. 2.

Making desserts without using any sugar in whatever form it comes can be a tricky thing. Even more with cheesecake. Whether you’re using curd, ricotta or cream cheese, you always need a lot of sugar to balance the acidity of the cheese. The recipe I came up with is actually a lemon ”cheesecake”, but doesn’t contain any sweetener. Where’s the trick?

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The secret ingredient is coconut flour. It is sweet enough to balance the acidity of yoghurt and lemons. Besides, it’s packed with dietary fibers and good fatty acids. Also, one of the main properties of coconut flour is that it will soak up all the excess water, so you don’t have to use any firming agent, like gelatin or vege gel. So yes, it’s gluten free and vege friendly.

When you mix all the ingredients you will get a sort of light and airy yoghurt coconut lemon mousse. If you’re in a hurry, you can always combine it with fresh berries or peaches and make some lovely verrines. If not, make a coconut date walnut crust to add a hint of sweetness to this light and fresh summer dessert.

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Ingredients (makes approx. 2 mini cakes):

Crust:

  • 25 g finely ground oatmeal
  • 25 g coconut flour
  • 25 g dates
  • 25 g walnuts
  • 2 Tbsp coconut oil
  • 3-4 Tbsp water

Cream:

  • 400 g plain yoghurt
  • 80 g coconut flour (I use Vegalife coconut flour)
  • peel of 3 untreated lemons
  • 4 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 3 Tbsp coconut oil

Preparation:

  1. Finely grind oatmeal and walnuts (I use coffee grinder).
  2. Coarsely chop dates, than using a mortar transform them into a paste.
  3. Mix ground oatmeal, walnuts, coconut flour and add date paste. Mix with fingertips.
  4. Add coconut oil and water. Use 3-4 Tbsp of water, but add some more if the dough doesn’t hold together.
  5. Mix everything, form a ball and set aside for at least 2 hours. Than roll and form pie crusts using a cake ring.
  6. Mix all the ingredients for lemon cream.
  7. Using cake rings, assemble crust and cream and set into fridge overnight.

 

Baked peaches with coconut date crust

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Yes, It’s peach week. Can’t help it. You have to eat them when’s the season. So, I was thinking of making an easy dessert. In autumn we usually make baked apples or apple crumble. I wanted something similar, with a summer twist. With peaches.

Since I’m trying to make desserts without any sugar, peaches are pretty great. They’re so sweet you don’t have to add any sugar at all. It’s a bit more complicated when it comes down to making crusts. But a couple of dates will help. When finely chopped, they get sticky enough to bind all the ingredients. And they add a wonderful caramel flavor when baked.

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Rolled oats and coconut work great together. The oats add a lovely rustic flavor and texture, and coconut reminds you of summer.

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Ingredients (serves 3):

  • 420 g peaches
  • 40 g rolled oats
  • 40 g coconut flakes
  • 30 g cooled butter or coconut oil
  • 25 g pitted dates

Preparation:

  1. Cut peaches in even pieces. You can leave the skins on.
  2. Grind half of the rolled oats (optional).
  3. Chop dates really fine.
  4. In a separate bowl mix both rolled oats, coconut and dates. Add butter or coconut oil and crumble with hands.
  5. Put peaches in a baking dish and add a bit of butter. Sprinkle with coconut mixture on top.
  6. Bake 20-30 mins at 180ºc.
  7. It might looks messy on the plate, but it will wipe you off your feet! Enjoy!

 

 

Peach and tomato salad with basil vinaigrette

/ lolitabopaa / 2 Comments

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When I stepped out on my balcony, I saw this little tomato hearts and I said to myself: Caprese! An italian classic, combining all the essential colors and flavors: red, green, white. Tomatoes, basil, mozzarella.

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But since I went completely crazy this week by buying something like 10 kilos of homegrown peaches that I’m putting everywhere now, I thought why not combining them with sweet tomatoes. This is how I came up with this Caprese upgrade.

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And instead of putting basil leaves only on top, I made a faux vinaigrette: basil leaves, good extra virgin olive oil, some garlic, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. This is also a good way to use basil in case you don’t know what to do with it. Olive oil acts as a natural preservative, so this can be make ahead and stored in a fridge for couple of days. Just don’t forget to take it out on time since a high quality virgin olive oil will harden in fridge.

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Ingredients:

  • tomatoes
  • peaches
  • mozzarella
  • basil leaves

For basil vinaigrette:

  • bunch of basil leaves
  • juice of half lemon
  • pinch of salt
  • garlic clove
  • good amount of virgin olive oil (sth. like 1 dl)

Preparation:

  1. Mix basil, salt and garlic in a mortar. While mixing add first lemon juice, and than gradually olive oil.
  2. Cut peaches and tomatoes. Tear mozzarella in big chunks. Assemble.
  3. Sprinkle with vinaigrette and garnish with some basil leaves.

 

Grilled aubergine spinach salad

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There’s nothing better than picking up fresh veggies that have grown in your own garden. My mum’s garden is just marvelous. And guess what, this is the first year we’ve succeeded in growing aubergines. And spinach too, comes from the garden.

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With products like this you should keep it simple. Toss some olive oil over aubergines and grill. If you’re using a pan, there’s a trick. Aubergines are actually like a sponge and require quite a lot of oil. So, instead of soaking them in fat, frying and loosing all the flavors, you can use just about a tablespoon of olive oil and cover the pan while cooking on medium heat. This will allow to cook on the inside. Also very important, seasoning with some salt while cooking will allow to release excess water. After a couple of minutes remove the cover and give them the finishing grill. Set aside, cover and let cool. This will give the aubergines a silky texture without loosing the flavors.

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Ingredients:

  • baby spinach leaves
  • aubergine
  • goat cheese
  • roasted nuts
  • thyme
  • olive oil for cooking
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt, pepper
  • pita bread (optional)

Preparation:

  1. Preheat oven at 200ºc. Roast nuts until they get lightly brown. When cooled crush in a mortar or roughly chop.
  2. Toss some olive oil over aubergines and grill. If using a pan, heat one tablespoon of olive oil and follow instructions above.
  3. When aubergines chilled, assemble salad: fresh spinach leaves and grilled aubergines, topped with goat cheese, sprinkled with roasted nuts and fresh thyme and a good amount of high quality olive oil.
  4. Serve with grilled pita bread.

Roasted strawberry camembert crostini

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Crostini are small slices of grilled bread with different toppings and served as appetizers. An italian classic is grilled slice of ciabatta rubbed with fresh garlic, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper that can also serve as a good base to upgrade to more colorful creations.

My crostini is somewhere in between rustic, french and mediterranean. You can serve it as an appetizer, but can also work as a snack or a light main thanks to its simplicity but yet complexity of flavors.

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A good rustic bread with walnuts, topped with some french cheese and balsamic glazed strawberries rounded with a hint of mediterranean freshness of thyme is a pure poetry.

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It is so good that I have no words left. Just treat yourself with a glass of cabernet besides.

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Ingredients:

  • rye or buckwheat bread with walnuts
  • camembert
  • strawberries
  • balsamic vinegar (aged)
  • thyme
  • fleur de sel

Preparation:

  1. Open a good bottle of cabernet!
  2. Cut thin slices of bread and top with slices of camembert.
  3. Cut strawberries in 0,5 cm slices and add on top of cheese.
  4. Sprinkle with approx. 1 Tbsp of balsamic vinegar, thyme and flour de sel.
  5. Oven roast at 200°c until golden brown.

Raw strawberry jam + all the treats that come with it!

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Besides their amazing taste, strawberries are a good source of antioxidants and vitamin C. They also have a high fiber and water content, so they will contribute to a better digestion. They’re delicious in any form, but to preserve all their benefits you should enjoy them raw.

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Since I had diabetes, classic jam is a big no no for me because it contains too much sugar. Great way to preserve all the nutrients and avoid adding sugar is raw chia strawberry jam. Mashed strawberries mixed with chia seeds make a fairly homogeneous mixture and thanks to chia gel you will get approximately the same texture as with classic jam.

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Raw strawberry jam

  • 300 g strawberries
  • 4 big Tbsp chia seed
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • agave syrup (optional)

Preparation:

  1. Roughly mash strawberries with a fork. You should leave some big pieces.
  2. Add lemon juice, chia and agave syrup if needed.
  3. Store in a fridge overnight.

Strawberries work wonderfully with coconut or milk products. Top some greek yoghurt or ice cream with it…

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… or make a really delicious vegan alternative to butter and jam in the morning: avocado strawberry sandwich…

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Avocado and strawberry jam sandwich

  • bread with walnuts
  • avocado
  • strawberry jam
  • coconut chips

Strawberry & Tomato gazpacho

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Gazpacho is a soup made of raw vegetables and served cold. Its origins are apparently disputable, since many mediterranean countries have similar dishes, but let’s just stay by the fact it comes from Spanish cuisine. Traditionally it is made of tomatoes, bread, cucumber, bell pepper, onion, garlic, olive oil, wine vinegar, water and salt.

I’m giving it a modern twist: tomato, strawberry, basil and balsamic vinegar. That’s about it.

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Gazpacho always has some texture, so don’t blend everything in a soup. Chop very finely all ingredients. Strawberries and tomatoes have high percentage of water, so when chopped they will release a lot of juice. Also, strawberries should be marinated with balsamic vinegar and basil for couple of hours before adding chopped tomatoes. This will allow develop a sort of velvet flavor. Tomatoes will add freshness.

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Peeling fresh tomatoes can be really annoying. Here a little trick: cut a cross on the bottom side, than submerge the tomato in boiling water for 10 or 15 seconds. Cool immediately in cold water, than just pull off the skin.

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Ingredients:

  • 250 g strawberries
  • 250 g tomatoes
  • 3-4 Tbsp of aged balsamic vinegar
  • fleur de sel
  • bunch of basil leaves

Preparation:

  1. Chop strawberries, add balsamic vinegar, fleur de sel and finely chopped basil leaves.
  2. Chill and let marinate for at least 5 hours.
  3. Cut crosses on the bottom part of tomatoes. Submerge in boiling water for 10 to 15 seconds. Chill in cold water then pull off the skins. Remove the seeds from tomatoes.
  4. Finely chop tomatoes and add them to the strawberry mixture.
  5. If needed, finish with some additional salt, balsamic and basil leaves.

* If strawberries are not as sweet as they are supposed to be, add a sweetener to enhance the flavors. Tomatoes always need a hint of some sort of sugar.