Cung-Fe Rolls - Cumin and Fennel Rolls

I'm on a roll! After more and more successful experiments with bean-based biscuits (more recipes and updates on the current recipes will be online soon), I thought it's time to expand to bean-based savoury baking. This was my first experiment with bean-based rolls, and I was quite happy with the results the first time round. The rolls stay a bit moist inside but I don't think that you can really expect anything else with these ingredients. Sorry for the afwul picture; I still haven't replaced my broken camera.

If you're not a big fan of cumin and/or fennel, just try leaving it out or replacing it with some other spice.

CUNG-FE ROLLS

3 dl cooked white beans (about 1.5 dl unsoaked beans)
1 dl soaked millet grains (about 0.5 dl  unsoaked millet grains)
1.5 dl blended steamed courgette
5 tablespoons ground flax seeds
0.5 tablespoon cumin seeds
0.5 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder

0. Soak the beans and the millet grains overnight.

1. Drain the millet grains well. Do not cook them.

2. Cook the beans until soft and drain them well.

3. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius, and line a baking tray with baking paper.
4. Wash a largish courgette, cut it in small pieces, steam until soft and blend until smooth.
5. Mix 1.5 dl of blended courgette, the ground flax seeds, the cumin seeds, the fennel seeds, the salt and the lemon juice, and let the mixture stand for a while.

6. Blend the beans, the millet grains and the wet mixture until smooth.
7. Add the baking powder and fold.
8. Use a tablespoon and a teaspoon to form eight round rolls: both spoons to get the batter onto the lined baking tray, and the teaspoon dipped in water to shape the rolls.

9. Bake for about 50 minutes, until the rolls start browning. Turn the baking tray around halfway through. If you don't bake the rolls long enough, they will stay sticky inside. This also means that the rolls will and should get nice and crusty on the outside. You can use two different ways to test if the rolls are ready (it's best to use both, just to be sure): 1) stick a toothpick in the middle of a roll; if it comes out clean, the roll is ready 2) knock the bottom of a roll with your finger; if the sound is hollow, the roll is ready. If you keep the rolls under a tea towel after they have cooled down, the crusty outside will get softer.

10. Place the rolls on a cooling rack, and let them cool down.

11. Enjoy.

Strawfenny - Strawberry Fennel Salad

I love combining fennel with fruit. This time, I combined it with strawberries and apple for this fruity, refreshing salad. Do buy the strawberries and apple organic if you can; both strawberries and apples always make it to dirty dozen list of foods with the highest amounts of pesticide residue (http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/dirty-dozen-foods#fbIndex1).


STRAWFENNY


1 small fennel bulb OR half of a large bulb 
15 strawberries 
1 small, sweet apple
large handful of unshelled hazelnuts 
extra virgin olive oil 
freshly squeezed lemon juice 
sea salt 
chilli powder 


1. Mix some freshly squeezed lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and a pinch of chilli powder, and let the salad sauce stand while you are preparing the salad. 
2. Wash and trim the fennel bulb, cut it in half and slice it as thinly as you can. 
3. Wash the apple and cut it into small pieces. 
4. Wash and trim the strawberries, and cut them in half. 
5. Shell the hazelnuts and cut them in half (unless they are very small). 
6. Mix the fennel, the strawberries, the apple and the hazelnuts well, and serve with the salad sauce. 


Annika

Strawberry Swing - Asparagus Strawberry Salad

I felt like cooking something a bit different today, and got the idea of making a salad using asparagus and strawberries.  It looks like lots of other people beat me to it, though; the internet seems to be full of asparagus strawberry salad recipes. Anyway, this is my version of the salad. The idea of the spicy strawberry sauce, which gives the salad a great punch, is mine. 



STRAWBERRY SWING

Salad:

160 grams strawberries (~2/3 of a 250-gram package)
300 grams asparagus
12 large walnuts
leek
sea salt

Sauce:

90 grams strawberries (~1/3 of a 250-gram package)
half of a large, juicy lemon
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoons chilli powder
sea salt

Preparing the salad:

1. Wash the asparagus spears, cut off the woody bits, and cut the rest of the spears into 3-cm-long pieces. Divide the pieces into three groups: the ones that come from the bottom (the hardest), middle and top (the softest) of the spears.
2. Put a tiny bit of water and some sea salt on the bottom of a pot, and bring to the boil.
3. Add the asparagus pieces into the pot in three stages, starting from the harder bottom bits. Let them steam under a lid until tender. Mix the asparagus pieces a few times so that all of them will get salted.
4. Pour the water out of the pot, and let the asparagus cool down completely.
5. Shell the walnuts and break them into smaller pieces.
6. Heat a frying pan over medium heat, add the walnuts into the hot pan and stir frequently, until the walnuts start to brown and smell toasted (~5 min).
7. Let the walnuts cool down completely.
8. Wash and trim the strawberries, and cut them in half (or in more pieces in case they are quite big).
9. Wash the leek, cut very thin slices of the white part, and cut those in half. The leek I had was really thin, and I used about 4 cm of it for the recipe.
10. Mix all the ingredients in a salad bowl and put the bowl in the fridge.

Preparing the sauce:

1. Squeeze the juice of the lemon (about 3 tablespoons) into a small bowl.
2. Add the olive oil.
3. Add the chilli powder and a pinch of sea salt.
4. Add the strawberries and blend until smooth.
5. Let the sauce stand for about 10 minutes before serving it with the salad.

Annika

Work Your Mojo - Sweet Potatoes with Garlic Sauce

A year or so ago, I went to a Caribbean restaurant in Seville, Spain. I randomly selected a few tapas-sized dishes that had been marked both vegetarian and gluten-free on the menu. One of the dishes that I ended up being served was a gorgeous Yuca Con Mojo, boiled cassava with garlic sauce. This very quick and extremely simple dish was inspired by that Yuca Con Mojo.

WORK YOUR MOJO (for 1 person)

1 small sweet potato

extra virgin olive oil

2 medium-sized cloves of garlic

chili powder

sea salt

1. Wash the sweet potato well and cut it in thick (about 1 cm) slices.

2. Pour a little bit of water on the bottom of a pot, add a little bit of sea salt, cover the pot with a lid and bring to the boil. The idea is to steam the sweet potato slices rather than boil them, so it really has to be very little water.

3. Add the sweet potato slices into the boiling water an cover the pot with a lid.

4. Chop the garlic cloves finely. 

5. Peel the sweet potato slices when they are ready. Keep them under a lid so that they will stay hot.

6. Pour some olive oil into a small saucepan and mix in the finely chopped garlic and a touch of chili powder. Heat the oil until it starts bubbling. While waiting for the oil to start bubbling, move the sweet potato slices on a plate. When the oil starts bubbling, pour it over the sweet potato slices.

7. Enjoy.

Annika

P.S. The same sauce goes well, for instance, with steamed cauliflower, as well.

Garlic Punch – Broad Bean Salad with Fresh Garlic and Spring Onions

It’s fresh onion season! This quick and easy salad is a celebration of fresh garlic and spring onions, and also features my latest veggie discovery/favourite: broad beans. For garlic lovers only.

GARLIC PUNCH

4-5 large leaves of Romaine  lettuce (or similar)

0.5-0.75 kg of broad beans in their pods

2 small spring onions

fresh garlic

extra virgin olive oil

freshly squeezed lemon juice

freshly ground black pepper

(freshgly ground coriander)

sea salt

1. Chop the garlic finely. I used a small cloveless bulb of fresh garlic, which corresponds to about two cloves of fresh garlic.

2. Wash the spring onions and slice them finely. If the green part of the spring onions is still nice and crisp, you can use that, too.

3. Take the broad beans out of their pods, rinse them and steam them until they are ready (for 8-15 minutes, depending on their size).

4. While the broad beans are still cooking, wash the lettuce and tear it into small pieces.

5. Mix all the ingredients (it doesn’t matter if the broad beans are still hot), and add extra virgin olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. I’ve added some coriander seeds into my pepper mill, and the touch of coriander was quite nice, too.

6. Enjoy.

Annika

Bed of Lettuce – Egg and Mushroom Salad

In just a few of weeks, the temperatures here in the North of Italy have risen from winter coat to T-shirt temperatures. The chance of seasons can be seen at the farmers’ market, as well; the range of vegetables is widening every week! The past couple of weeks, for instance, more and more different types of lettuce have become available again. Today, I got some Romaine lettuce, and made this quick salad with eggs and mushrooms.

BED OF LETTUCE

2 eggs

3-5 mushrooms

2-3 tablespoons of fresh parsley

3 cloves of garlic

0.5-1 tablespoon of tumeric

freshly ground pepper

sea salt

sunflower seed or peanut oil

4 large leaves of Romaine lettuce

1. Beat the eggs together with the spices.
2. Peel the garlic, and chop it finely.
3. Wash the parsley and chop it finely.
4. Wash and slice the mushrooms.
5. Heat the oil in a frying pan.
6. Add the egg mixture, and let it solidify for a few seconds.
7. Add the mushrooms, parsley and garlic, and use a spatula to break the egg mixture and mix it with the rest of the ingredients. Stir for a couple of minutes, then turn the heat off and leave the mixture under a lid.
8. Wash the lettuce leaves, and tear them into small pieces.
9. Make a bed of lettuce on a plate, and add the egg/vegetable mixture on top.
10. Enjoy.

Annika

Foeniculum Orangulum - Italian Fennel Salad

I found some organic Sicilian oranges and walnuts at the market today, so decided to make this classic Italian salad (Yeah, I know... Yet another salad with oranges... I just can't get enough of them at the moment!).





FOENICULUM ORANGULUM

1 large fennel
1.5 oranges
10 whole walnuts (or 20 halves)
extra virgin olive oil
freshly squeezed lemon juice
sea salt
freshly ground pepper

1. Wash the fennel and slice it (from bottom up, until you reach the green part) as thinly as you possibly can.

2. Peel the oranges and cut them in small pieces.

3. Crack the walnut shells open, take out the walnuts and cut them in small pieces.

4. Put the fennel, the oranges and the walnuts in a salad bowl, add some olive oil, lemon juice (optional), sea salt and pepper, and mix. (If you care about how your salad looks, check out the serving suggestions on this site: http://www.lacucinadimarble.it/rec.php?id=442)

5. Enjoy.

Annika

P.S. In Italy, they often serve very thinly sliced fennels with extra virgin olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, salt and pepper only. Also very nice.

Cichorium Orangium - Fruity Chicory Salad

This gorgeous salad is an amended version of a salad recipe that my aunt recommended me to try. I've basically just added the pears and the walnuts to the original recipe.






CICHORIUM ORANGIUM

4 chicories
2 navel oranges
2 pears
1 leek
80-100 grams of walnuts
extra virgin olive oil
freshly squeezed lemon juice
sea salt
freshly ground pepper

1. Wash the chicories, cut of their ends, and slice the rest of them sideways.

2. Peel the oranges and the pears, and cut them into small pieces.

3. Wash the leek, and cut it into thin slices.

4. Cut the walnuts into small pieces.

5. Mix all the ingredients together, adding olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt and pepper to taste.

6. Enjoy.

Annika

Prunus Orangus - Prune-Orange Salad

I didn't have enough time to go to the farmers' market this weekend and instead ended up going to a regular market where you can also buy the more exotic winter produce from the south of Italy. One of the things I got were these huge, juicy organic navel oranges, which I've already used in a couple of very simple, light salads. Here's one of them.

PRUNUS ORANGUS

about 100 grams of field salad
0.5-1 navel orange
2 plums
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground pepper

1. Wash the field salad.

2. Peel the orange and tear it into small pieces.

3. Wash the plums and cut them into small pieces.

4. Mix the field salad, the orange and the plums with some extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

5. Enjoy.

Annika

Cabble - Red Cabbage & Apple Salad

Red cabbage and apples are at their seasonal best right now, and I just cannot get enough of this good, old-fashioned red cabbage and apple salad - so crisp and juicy!

CABBLE

red cabbage

a crisp apple

a handful of white raisins

sea salt

half a lemon

extra virgin olive oil

1. Cut the red cabbage and the apple into small strips. The ratio of cabbage to apple that I usually use is about three to one.

2. Cut the raisins into smaller pieces - at least if you're using the kind of large, white raisins that I used this weekend.

3. Put the red cabbage, the apple and the raisins into a bowl, add a pinch of sea salt, the juice of half a lemon and some extra virgin olive oil.

4. Enjoy your seasonal salad.

Annika

Milletary Pancake II – Savoury Millet Pancake with Rosemary & Olives

I liked last Sunday’s millet pancake so much that I decided to make it with another typical combination of Italian tastes – rosemary and olives – today. Please also notice the increased size of the pancake...

MILLETARY PANCAKE II

6 dl of water
3 dl of millet
3 eggs
3 dl of coarsely chopped olives with a strong taste (e.g. kalamata olives)
2 cloves of garlic

1 dl of finely chopped white onion
about 3 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh rosemary
gluten-free bouillon powder
extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground pepper
(sea salt)

1. Rinse the millet well.

2. Chop the garlic, the onions and and the rosemary finely.

3. Over low heat, warm a bit of olive oil in a pot, and cook the garlic and onions in it for a few minutes without browning them.

4. Add the rosemary, and cook for another minute.

5. Add the water, the bouillon powder and – should you so wish – a pinch of salt, and bring to a simmer.

6. Stir in the millet, cover the pot, and adjust the heat to low. Let the millet cook undisturbed for about 25 minutes, until it’s tender and has absorbed all the water.

7. While the millet is cooking, stone the olives and chop them coarsely.

8. Remove the millet from the heat and let it stand for about 10 minutes.

9. Beat the eggs, add half of the cooked millet, and use a stick blender to blend the ingredients into a thick puree.

10. Mix the millet-egg puree, the olives and freshly ground pepper carefully.

11. On a baking tray covered with baking paper, use a spatula and/or your hands to form a flat cake out of the mixture.

12. Bake in a pre-heated (220 degrees Celsius) oven for 10-15 minutes.

13. Enjoy hot or cold! Please notice that it's less likely to crumble when it's cooled down a bit.

Annika

Milletary Pancake I – Savoury Millet Pancake with Sun-Dried Tomatoes & Rosemary

The idea for a millet pancake originates from the time I used to go to the health food store close to my old flat; they often had home-made stuff on offer, and I once tried – and fell in love with – their millet cakes. So, this weekend, I started hunting for millet cake recipies. The recipe below is the healthiest possible combination of the recipies I found (especially in that I decided to bake the pancake in the oven, instead of frying it). I called mine a pancake because it’s one large cake instead of several little ones.

MILLETARY PANCAKE I

4 dl of water
2 dl of millet
2 eggs
50 grams of sun-dried tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
about 2 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh rosemary
gluten-free bouillon powder
extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground pepper
(sea salt)

1. Place the sundried tomatoes in warm water for half an hour to reconstitute them.

2. Rinse the millet well.

3. Chop the garlic and the rosemary finely.

4. Over low heat, warm a bit of olive oil in a pot, and cook the garlic in it for a few minutes without browning it.

5. Add the rosemary, and cook for another minute.

6. Add the water, the bouillon powder and the salt, and bring to a simmer. Please notice that you don’t necessarily have to add any extra salt, as sun-dried tomatoes are very salty. I did but I won’t next time.

7. Stir in the millet, cover the pot, and adjust the heat to low. Let the millet cook undisturbed for about 25 minutes, until it’s tender and has absorbed all the water.

8. While the millet is cooking, drain the sun-dried tomatoes and chop them coarsely. (Don’t throw away the water you used to reconstitute the tomatoes; you can use it to add taste to a soup or something.)

9. Remove the millet from the heat and let it stand for about 10 minutes.

10. Beat the eggs, add half of the cooked millet, and use a stick blender to blend it all into a thick puree.

11. Mix the millet-egg puree, the sun-dried tomatoes and freshly ground pepper carefully.

12. On a baking tray covered with baking paper, make a round, flat cake (with a diameter of about 28 cm) out of the mixture using a spatula and/or your hands.

13. Bake in a pre-heated (220 degrees Celsius) oven for 10-15 minutes.

14. Enjoy hot - or cold if you manage to stop eating it while it's still hot. I didn't.

Annika

My Dahl-ing Soup - Spicy Lentil Soup

I've been planning on learning to cook dahl for a while now. In India, where they have loads of vegetarians, they eat dahl (or, rather, lentils) for protein. Combined with rice, you actually get a complete protein - every vegetarian's dream come true!

Breaking news: On 2 February 2011, this dahl won Soup Contest 2011, a soup making competition against five of my Italian workmates.


MY DAHL-ING SOUP

1.5 dl of red lentils
3.5-4 dl of water
gluten-free bouillon powder
sunflower seed oil
a large onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
a large tomato
3 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh ginger
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of curcuma
1 teaspoon of coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder
1/4 teaspoon of cardamom / 4 cardamom seeds
sea salt

1. Mix the bouillon powder with the water and bring to the boil.

2. Wash the lentils well, add them into the boiling water, and let them cook for about 15 minutes.

3. In the meantime, chop the onion, the garlic and the ginger as finely as you can, and cut the tomato in medium-sized pieces.

4. Heat the oil at the bottom of a pot and saute the onion, the garlic, the ginger and the spices.

5. Add the lentils (together with the stock), the tomato and the sea salt into the pot, and let the dahl simmer for about 20 minutes.

6. Enjoy.

Annika

Catalonia Dreaming - Chicory with Sunflower Seeds

Catalogna (‘Catalonia’; the type of chicory in the picture on the left, the English name of which I haven’t found anywhere yet) is one of the leaf vegetables I’ve got acquainted with here in Turin. What I usually do is that I steam it and then just eat it as a side dish with salt, pepper, olive oil, and maybe a bit of lemon. However, this time I decided to try something different with some leftover catalogna (already steamed but without any condiments) I had in my fridge. I actually liked the new side dish much more than the old one.

If you’ve never had catalogna before, you should probably be warned that it has rather a bitter taste and might, therefore, not please everyone’s taste buds.

Catalonia Dreaming

Catalogna
Sunflower seeds
Garlic
Gluten-free tamari sauce
Sesame seed oil

-1. Wash the catalogna leaves and cut them in 2-cm-long pieces.

0. Steam the catalogna until ready (but with a bite).

1. Peel and chop as much garlic as socially acceptable.

2. Heat a teflon pan (without oil), then heat the steamed catalogna, the garlic and a handful of sunflower seeds in it for a few minutes, continuously stirring the ingredients.

3. Turn off the heat, add a bit of tamari sauce and sesame seed oil, mix the ingredients well and serve.

Annika

Green Quisquis Salad – Quinoa Salad with Fresh Herbs

When I lived in Holland and was still blissfully unaware of my gluten problem, I sometimes used to get some lovely couscous salad from a Turkish corner shop down the road. This quinoa salad is inspired by that couscous salad.





GREEN QUISQUIS SALAD (Pronounced 'Green Kiss Kiss Salad')

3 espresso cups of white quinoa
6 espresso cups of water
2 Italian-style small cucumbers or 1 large cucumber
1 green pepper
2 medium-sized red onions
2 cloves of garlic
bunch of fresh coriander
bunch of fresh parsley (about twice as much as coriander)
gluten-free bouillon powder
lemon
olive oil
freshly ground pepper
sea salt

1. Wash the quinoa well. Add bouillon powder and sea salt to the water, and boil the quinoa in it until ready.

2. Wash the cucumber, the pepper, the coriander and the parsley and chop them finely.

3. Chop the onions and the garlic finely.

4. When the quinoa has cooled down a bit, mix it with all the chopped vegetables and herbs.

5. Add pepper, salt, olive oil and lemon juice, and serve either chilled or when the quinoa is still a bit warm. You can serve this salad either as a main course or a side dish.

Kiss kiss,
Annika

Costa Poco - Steamed Swiss Chard

Italy is a leaf eater's paradise! One of my latest acquintances is 'bietola da costa', or Swiss chard.

This is bietola for beginners - a quick and easy side dish. I will keep you posted on anything more advanced that I might come across.

COSTA POCO

Swiss chard
extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper

1. Wash and slice the chard.
2. Steam the chard until tender.
3. Add oil, salt and pepper.
4. Enjoy!

Annika