Detox balance soup

This soup is a little treasure, it's packed with nutrients from the veggies as well as the lentils and if that wasn't enough it's topped with kale and parsley. Why cheese? Detox is boring without balance !!

Kids approved it so I am over the moon 🌙

you will need or I should say I used:

1 big onion, diced

half a leek 

1 parsnip

2 potatoes

1 large carrot

about 350 gr butternut squash, peeled and diced

1 cup green lentils

1/2 cup red lentils

2 handful of kale

1 handful of chopped parsley 

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp salt

1.6 l water or 6 - 7 cup

parmesan shavings ( optional )

Method:

Place all vegetables into a large cooking pot, add 1Tbsp oil.

Sweat the veggies for five minutes, add the lentils and boiling water.

Cook the soup for 40 minutes or until the green lentils are soft, the veggies and the red lentils will be cooked quicker.

Add the salt.

Take four cups of the soup and blend it together with the olive oil until smooth.

Pour back into the pot and add the kale as well as the parsley.

Serve the soup with parmesan shavings and crusty bread 

Serve 8 people 

Enjoy :)

I am sharing this post with eat your greens

Yummy food over a busy weekend

It's been a busy bank holiday over here full of celebrating, cooking, eating, laughing, playing and more.
First, it was my 13th wedding anniversary which always involves a special meal and a nice bottle of something bubbly.
The very next day we celebrated my sister in law's birthday in a very nice Italian restaurant.
But that's not all, the day after, our youngest child turned four and that was a busy and exciting day for all of us.
Here is some of the food we enjoyed over the weekend!

Classic hummus in a company of a fresh french radishes 

300 gr cooked chickpeas

1 Tbsp tahini

juice of half lemon

3-4 Tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

Place all ingredients into a food processor and blended until smooth.

Store in a glass jar in fridge up to 3 days.  

Baked squash with roasted veggies 

serve 4

1 butternut squash 

vegetables of your choice: peppers, courgettes, onions, broccoli 

cooked kale or fresh rocket leaves 

pumpkin seeds

salt and pepper

olive oil

Cut the squash into half, don't need to peel it.

Using a knife make a cross cutting at the top, season with salt and pepper and brush it with some oil.

Bake the squash up side down on 180 C for 30 minutes, then add the vegetables and turn the squash over.

Roast everything for further 20 minutes or until the veggies are done.

In a meanwhile, cook the kale and dry-roast the seeds.

Cut the squashes on half lengthwise and serve with the veggies sprinkled with seeds.

 

Strawberry cake 

200 gr fine flour

90 ml oil, I use coconut oil, melted

300 gr fresh strawberries 

2 eggs

90 gr brown sugar or 4-5 Tbsp honey

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla exstract

milk if needed

Place 200 gr fresh strawberries into a blender and blend until smooth.

Chop up the rest of the strawberries.

Place the wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl, whisk all up, add the dry ingredients and a splash of milk if cake mixture is dry.

Add the chopped strawberries and pour the mixture into a bottom loose cake tin, size 20 cm across.

Bake the cake for 20-25 minutes on 180 C.

Serve with custard and some fresh strawberries.

Peanut butter cookies 

220 gr spelt flour

1 tsp baking powder

4 Tbsp peanut butter

2 Tbsp coconut oil

4 Tbsp honey or maple syrup 

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract 

pinch of salt

50 gr chopped nuts, I used pecan 

50 gr currants 

Melt the coconut oil, add the peanut butter and set a side.

In a mixing bowl, place the dry ingredients, add cooled oil and butter mixture as well as the egg.

Mix everything using a wooden spoon.

Add the nuts and currants.

Scoop out a medium size cookie dough, form a cookie with your hands and place it onto a baking tray.

Repeat until you use all the dough.

You can make a pattern on the top, using a fork.

Bake the cookies for 10 - 15 minutes on 170 C.

 

Breakfast blueberry cakes

350 gr self-raising wholemeal flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

150 gr fresh or frozen blueberries

2 eggs

200 gr plain yogurt

100 ml oil

zest and juice of half lemon

1 tsp vanilla extract

100 gr mashed banana

4 Tbsp honey

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a bowl.

In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, add the yogurt, oil, zest and juice of lemon, vanilla, honey and mashed banana.

Fold in the dry ingredients followed by the blueberries.

Spoon the mixture into a muffin tin ( buttered ) for 12 muffins and bake for 25 - 30 minutes on 200 C.

Get them out as soon as they are baked and cool them down a little bit before eating. 

Butternut squash spaghetti with kale

Spiralizing vegetables into a noodles is a very trendy thing to do especially if you want to cut down on bad carbs or so they they say. This is a very tasty dish full of flavour - we loved it, especially in a company of toasted bread with avocado! 

Who says kale is boring! 

Ingredients:

300 gr butternut squash made into noodles, grated works as well

1 chili pepper, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced 

chopped mushrooms, optional 

100 - 200 gr kale

olive oil

salt and pepper 

Prepare the squash, peel it and spiralize it if you have a spiralizer or simply grate the squash.

In a small cooking pot cook the kale for 5 minutes, make sure they don't change their colour.

In a separate pot heat the oil, add chili and garlic, stir well and add the mushrooms.

Sprinkle some salt and put a lid down.

After five minutes add the squash and 100 ml of water, put the lid back and cook it on medium heat until the squash is tender.

Add the kale, sprinkle some more salt and pepper.

Mix it all up - make sure there is no liquid left.

note: if you live in UK - m&s sells already spiralized squash for microwave use only and non freezable. Well, since I don't own a microwave, I cook them on a hob as described above and I did freeze them when I bought them . 

Risottos

I adore risotto, It's quick to make it, it's wholesome and great family meal. I don't make it in a classic way and I don't always add cheese but that doesn't change the taste. If I haven't got a home made stock, I just use water. Wine is no no in cooking but it's definitely big yes for drinking specially with these risottos.... 

White rice with courgettes:

Heat 3 tbsp of olive oil in a large pan, add 1 chopped onion, 2 cloves of garlic and stir well for few minutes before adding 1 cup of risotto type of rice.

Add 1 cup of warm water and keep stirring, add another cup of water, stir again and add the final cup of water and 1 chopped courgette.

I then put the lid on and after a while the rice and courgette are nice and soft.

Season with salt,pepper and fresh parsley and add 50 gr greeted Parmesan cheese, if you wish. Stir well and serve immediately. 

Brown rice with butternut squash:

Heat 3 tbsp of olive oil in a large pan, add 1 chopped onion and 2 cloves of garlic and after a while add 400 gr chopped butternut squash. Stir well and add 1 cup brown rice, long grain will do and then add 3 cup of warm water.Put the lid on and cook it for 35 - 40 minutes on a very low temperature.

Add more water if the rice is not cooked.

Season the rice with salt,pepper and fresh and chopped parsley.

Add some greeted cheese if you wish. 

White rice with roasted tomatoes:

Place 300 gr of cherry tomatoes in a roasting tin, sprinkle some crushed garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil and handful of fresh basil.
Roast the tomatoes on 190 C for 20 minutes.
In a meantime make the rice: fry 1 chopped onion with few tbsp olive oil, add some crushed garlic and after few minutes add 1 cup or rice.
Cook the rice adding 1 liter of stock or water, 1 cup at the time until the rice is just cooked.
Season with salt and pepper, add some cheese and stir in the roasted tomatoes.

Pearled spelt risotto with fresh peas:

Heat 2-3 tbsp of olive oil in a cooking pot, add chopped shallot or spring onion and after few minutes add the spelt grains, about 65 gr per person.

Pour in 3 cups of water and cook it on a medium heat stirring every now and then.

After 15 minutes add the peas and cook it for further 5 minutes. 

Season it lightly with salt if you are going to add cheese.

Запечена тестенина со спанаќови гнезда / Pasta bake with spinach nests

I have been inspired today to cook this dish because it's weekend and everyone is home chilling out and I can ask my husband to peel the squash ( he is not happy about it ) which is something I hate doing it myself. The spinach nest addition came in a last minute as I realized that there isn't any broccoli in the fridge. Very nice, tasty and refreshing wholesome meal accomplished by green leaf salad and some garlic bread.... perfect family dinner...

Потребни состојки:

1 кромид

700 гр тиква

пола коцка за супа

маслиново масло

500 гр домати свежи или од конзерва

2 чешниња лук

сол

бибер

400 гр интегрална тестенина

200 гр спанаќ

50 гр кашкавал 

Во длабок сад загрејте 2-3 лажици маслиново масло. Додајте го сецканиот кромидот и по неколку минути излупена и исечена на поголеми коцки, тиква.

Додајте 500 мл вода и пола коцка за супа.

Варете 15 минути или додека тиквата не омекне.

Во посебен сад ставете ги сецканите домати да се варат, додајте го лукот,лажица-две маслиново масло како и сол и бибер.

И на овој сос му треба 15 - 20 минути да се свари.

Оладете ги малку сосовите и изблендирајте ги во електричен блендер.

Сварете ја тестенината al dente  .

Спанаќот попарете го со вруќа вода и изцедете го веднаш.

Во огноотпорен сад ставете ја варената тестенина, додајте го сосот, ставете го спанаќот во облик на гнезда, посолете го и побиберите го секое гнездо и наредете тенко-сечен кашкавал.Напрскајте ги гнездата со маслиново масло.

Печете 20 минути на 180 степени.

Ingredients:

1  onion

700 gr pumpkin or butternut squash 

half a stock cube

olive oil

500 gr tomatoes, chopped  (fresh or caned )

2 cloves of garlic

salt and pepper

400 gr wholemeal pasta 

200 gr spinach

50 gr cheese

In a deep pot pour in 2-3 tbsp olive oil and add the chopped onion.

After few minutes add the squash (peeled and cubed) and 500 ml water with the stock cube.

Cook it for 15 minutes or until the squash is soft.

For the other sauce, place the tomatoes in a pot, add the chopped garlic,splash of olive oil as well as salt and pepper.

It will take 15-20 minutes to get ready.

Cool down both sauces before you blend them in a electric blender.

Cook the pasta al dente.

Put the spinach in a separate pot,pour over some boiling water and drain it straight away.

In a ovenproof dish pour in the sauce, add the cooked pasta, mix it all up and place the spinach on the top in a shape of nests.

Season each nest with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle some chopped cheese at the top and spray the spinach nests with olive oil.

Bake for 20 min on 180 C

Шпагети со леќа / Spaghetti with lentils

There is only one type of spaghetti "bolognese" in our house and everyone loves it....

Ке ви треба:

1 поголем кромид

1 црвена пиперка

250-300 гр зеленчук по желба ( батат, тиква , морков) рендан 

3/4 чаша црвена леќа

500 гр сецкани домати или пасата 

1 лажица доматно пире

лук, 

сол и бибер

оригано

босилок

100 гр смрзнат грашок или свежа брокула

500 гр интегрални шпагети

пармезан по желба

На 2-3 лажици маслиново масло, пржете го кромидот.

Додајте ја ситно сецканата пиперка, пржете ја да омекне па додајте крупно рендана тиква (во мојот случај)

Додајте ја и леќата,промешајте и ставете топла вода (околу 2 чаши)

Варете на тивко со капак околу 20 минути или додека леќата и зеленчукот не омекнат.

Сега ставете сол, бибер,оригано, доматно пире како и сецканите домати.

Додајте и малку вода kako и ситно сецканиот лук.Сосот се вари 20 минути,при крај се додава свеж босилок и смрзнатиот грашок ако користите.

Во меѓувреме сварете ги шпагетите,додајте ја брокулата 3-4 минути при крај .

Сервирајте ги шпагетите со сосот, наросени со пармезан или напрскани со маслиново масло.

you will need:

1 big onion

1 red pepper

250 - 300 gr vegetables ( sweet potato, butternut squash or carrots )

3/4 cup red lentils

500 gr passata or can of chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato puree 

garlic

salt and pepper

oregano 

basil

100 gr frozen peas or fresh broccoli 

500 gr wholewheat spaghetti 

parmezan 

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion and the red pepper.Add the grated butternut squash, the lentils and 2 cups of water.
Simmer for about 20 minutes or until the lentils are tender.
Add the passata or can of tomatoes,tomato puree, salt, pepper, oregano and minced garlic.
Cook the sause for about 20 minutes.
Before the end of the cooking, add the frozen peas if you are using. 
In a meantime, cook the spaghetti , 3-4 minutes before the end, add the broccoli florets if you prefer them.
Serve the spaghetti with the sause, sprinkle some parmesan or any other grated cheese.