Chunky Tomato & Herb Soup

Tomatoes are one of the most versatile vegetables, don´t you think?

They come in so many shapes and sizes that the possibilities are just endless. They´re amazing fresh in a salad or as a snack but just as incredible cooked in various ways, often being an essential ingredient in hearty stews, soups or curries...something so comforting about them.

I used big round tomatoes for this chunky soup, you can use tinned tomatoes but I´d rather you didn´t....I´m not a fan of tinned tomatoes, or tinned anything for that matter... And just so you know, when a recipe calls for tinned tomatoes you can ALWAYS throw fresh tomatoes in your blender instead and your dish will taste a thousand times better, just saying:)

Now, what you´ll need to make 2 piping hot bowls of soup is:

• 6 large tomatoes
• tbsp each thyme, rosemary and oregano (dried or fresh)
• salt & pepper
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup oatcream (or any other cream)
• large handful fresh basil leaves, chopped
• olive oil
• 1/8 tsp smoked paprika (optional)

What to do:

• Heat oven to 190°C
• Wash and dry the tomatoes, cut them in half  and lay them, cut side up, on a baking tray
• Sprinkle with a little olive oil, thyme, rosemary and oregano as well as a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper
• Bake for about 30 min then remove from oven
• Heat a little coconut oil in a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and fry until slightly caramelized, make sure the heat isn´t too high and that you keep them moving so they don´t burn
• Now add you baked tomatoes and garlic and either use a hand blender to liquidise and then add the water or trow the whole lot into a countertop blender and blend.
• I used a hand blender because I like to keep it quite chunky
• Return to the saucepan and allow to simmer for about 20 min
• Add your smoked paprika if using...highly recommended, smoked paprika is kind of like msg, only not bad for you, just an amazing flavor enhancer!
• Then add cream and basil leaves, remove from heat and prepare to eat:)
• If you´re lucky enough to tolerate dairy fresh mozzarella cheese would be amazing in this one....mmmm I can only dream :)

Bon appetit
Ösp

Pink Power Beetroot & Walnut "houmus"

I don´t now why they call it the humble beetroot. Bursting with flavor, goodness and amazing COLOR its certainly the queen of roots!

Beets and walnuts like to sit in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g! Such is their affection for one another. I love them too I must say and this pseudo houmus dip made my day a little bit more rosy than it already was.

This one´s easy guys and really packs truckloads of nutrition. We´re talking iron, calcium, B-vits and antioxidants to name but a few!

So what you´ll need is:

• 2 average size beets steamed very tender (or 4 small ones or you can buy them precooked and vacuum packed)
•  3/4 cups walnuts roughly ground
• 1 tbsp each sesame seeds and sunflower seeds, ground
• 2 tbsp olive oil (or flax, hemp or any other good quality oil)
• generous pinch each cumin & coriander powder
• pinch of seasalt
• 1 tbsp light tahini
• 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

And this is what you do

• Put everything in a bowl and blend until smooth with a hand blender
• Or use your countertop blender

Done! easy right:)

Now join me on the pink cloud, sit back and devour on a lovely cracker or some cut up veg, impress friends, bring to work or school or keep in your fridge as a healthy, handy, yummy snack.

Peace
Ösp

Amazeballs

I love balls! There, I said it! Balls of all shapes and sizes, sweet, savory...you name it, if it´s shaped like a ball, I generally like the taste of it...I´m talking about food here of course ;)
Just think about it....falafel: good, meatballs: good, apples: good, fishballs: good, grapes: good, oranges: good....and these three amazing, sweet, juicy (yet super nutritious) balls I´m about to share with you: good :) It´s like a law of nature or something ;)

I fed the first two of these to my college friends the other day....they all wanted the recipe :) So here you go guys, this is for you IINH-ers:)

The choccie ones

• 1 cup dates 
• 1 tbsp ground linseed
• 1 tbsp ground pumpkinseed
• 2 tbsp melted coconut oil
• 2 tbsp ground almonds
• 3 tbsp cacao powder
• generous pinch of salt
• 2 drops of peppermint oil
• 2 tbsp desiccated coconut  (optional)

-Put the dates into you blender or food processor and pulse until broken up and starting to form a          sticky  whole
- Bang in everything else apart from desiccated coconut
- Pulse a few times, scrape down the sides and pulse a few more times
- Now everything should be incorporated and we should have a sticky blob on our hands
- Remove from blender and shape into balls of any size
- If desired; roll in desiccated coconut....or cacao powder or whatever you feel like...or nothing :)
- Keep in the fridge or freezer and try not to eat them all in one go ;)

The Tahini ones

• 1 cup ground almonds
• 2 tbsp ground linseed
• 2 tbsp ground pumpkinseed
• 1/2 cup light tahini
• 1/4 cup agave (or honey or maple syrup)
• 2 tbsb cherry active (can use any juice concentrate for different flavors or use lime/lemon juice for tartness)
• 1/4 tsp vanilla powder (or essense)
• 2 tbsp mesquite (optional)

- Mix everything well together in a bowl
- Shape into balls with you hands
- Store in fridge/freezer
- Eat!

The purple ones

• 1 cup ground almonds
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup agave (or maple syrup/honey)
• 1 tbsp each; ground linseed, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds
• 4 tbsp pure blueberry juice
• juice from 1 lime

- Mix everything well together in a bowl
- Shape into balls
- And again....store in fridge or freezer
- ENJOY

There you go! How much easier could it get? And how handy are those babies to have up your sleeve now that the holidays are coming with all the feasting that follows? Eat a few (or many) of these balls instead of super-sugary cookies and cakes to escape the sugar blues during x-mas:) And the best thing, you wont even feel like your missing out on all the good stuff....cause this is it :D

OK, enough said, just roll up your sleeves and start rolling! It´ll take you less than half an hour, promise;)

Happy holidays everyone, hope you all have a lovely time with family and friends.
I´m off to Iceland! jealous? thought so ;)

xoxo
Ösp

Pancake-Sunday

I´m mad about pancakes! There´s just something about making a steaming stack on a Sunday winter morning.

These are inspired by my lovely college and friend Laura, gluten free, dairy free and sugar free but oh so wonderful and fluffy!

This recipe will make about 10 pancakes

What you´ll need is:

• 4 eggs
• about 400 g butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 2 tbsp cashew nut butter (any nut butter will do)
• 2 tbsp tahini (light or dark)
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 4 tbsp buckwheat flour
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla powder/essence (optional)

What to do

• Throw all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth pancake batter consistency
• Heat a pan to medium heat 
• Pour a nice dollop of batter onto the pan and fry until the batter starts to dry on top side
• Flip over and fry on other side
• Keep a close eye on your babies - you don´t wanna burn them :) 

 Enjoy with toppings of your choice, my favorites are maple syrup, nut butters, bananas, mango, pomegranate, hummus.......anything goes really :)

 
Lots of food love
Ösp

Cracker me up!

I´ve made these again and again and I never get sick of them! They go with every topping and can even be used as a delicious pizza base.

Completely gluten-free, low GI, sugar-free....basically free from all nasties. Now you might think that they must be nasty tasting since they´re so healthy. Well, think again! They´re crunchy, light and bursting with flavour and last but not least, super easy to make.

Now, I use a fan oven for this and try not to bake them at a higher temperature than 100°c. If I have time I dehydrate them over night on the lowest setting. The less heat, the more nutrients are retained but it takes longer. If you´re lucky enough to have a dehydrator, use it!

Let´s do this :)

Crispy Flax Crackers
 - should fill 2 oven trays

- 1 cup flaxseed soaked in 1 cup water overnight (2 hours will do if you´re in a hurry)
- 1 cup ground pumpkinseeds
- 1/2 cup ground sesame seeds
- 2 cloves of garlic, grated finely
- 1 large carrot, grated 
- 1 tsp seasalt, himalayan pink salt or Herbamare
- 1 tbsp dried thyme
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- Black pepper, ground
- juice of 1/2 lemon (or lime)


- Mix everything together in a large bowl (yes, all the gooey flax as well:))
- The consistency should be similar to a thick porridge - if you find it too thick, just add a bit    more water - and if too watery, add more ground seeds
- Line 2 oven trays with greaseproof parchment paper
- Preheat your oven to 100°C (or less if you have time)
- Spread your mixture thinly on the trays
- I wont give you an exact time because every oven will differ, but check after 30 minutes, what you are looking for is a dry surface
- When the surface feels dry, remove from oven, peel it off the sheet, flip it over and return to oven until dry on that side as well
- Don´t panic though it will break apart when you do the flipping because you will eventually break them up anyway :)

Voila, now you can enjoy these babies with your hummus, pesto, cheese....whatever floats your boat!
Bring them to work to impress or just have them all to yourself.

I have no idea how long they keep because they all end up in my belly long before they could possibly start going off. I assume they keep fine for at least 2 weeks though, especially if you keep them in a nice airtight container in a cool place.

Hope you enjoy
Ösp

Who needs sun when you have strawberries?

For me, hitting the jackpot is going to Dun Laoghaire Sunday market and getting a proper Little-red-riding-hood basket full of strawberries for 10 euros! It made my day and my dessert!

Prepare to moan and lick the bowl ´cause you are going to want more :) And it´s not even naughty! win win win!

Strawberries and chocolate are a classic combo but here they´re brought together with a bit of an unusual, healthy twist. I give you the princess of chocolate mousse!

Throw the following into a mixing bowl or into your blender:

• Flesh of 1/2 soft avocado
• 6 strawberries
• 1 tsp vanilla powder (or 1/2 tsp vanilla essence)
• 2 tbsp cocoa/cacao powder
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp liquid coconut oil
• 1 tbsp honey (agave for vegans)
• tiny pinch of sea salt

Now, blend or wizz everything together until silky smooth mousse texture, scoop into a bowl, top with chopped strawberries and devour....then lick the bowl :)

Guess a little strawberry tribute is in order

 Strawberries are packed full of our best friends, antioxidants. Therefore they help to counteract all the damage caused by free radicals that constantly try to break down our bodies. At any given moment, there is a battle going on inside us between free radicals and antioxidants. We can think of the free radicals as terrorists that try to create an imbalance in our systems and the antioxidants as the peacemakers that stabilise and repair the damage the free radicals cause. For this reason, adequate intake of antioxidant rich foods, like strawberries, is essential to maintain good health and help the body maintain this sought after inner balance that is the key to keep degeneration at bay. One of the antioxidants strawberries are very rich in is vitamin C. Did you know that we are one of very few species that can´t make our own vitamin C? So us poor humans must rely on getting it from our food. Unfortunately vitamin C is very perishable and sensitive to both light and heat. Therefore getting the freshest food possible is of paramount importance if we want to be sure of getting our precious C. An orange that´s travelled across the globe and been on the shelf for a month wont give us much but my strawberries picked on the same day will!

Enjoy the strawberry season while it lasts! Wont be much longer so hurry up folks :)

Ösp

Excuse me, there´s a summer in my salad!

It´s Saturday and I´m off from work which means that I got to go to the Food Co-op today! YAY! That’s all it takes to make me happy, really!

So, as usually I went a bit crazy and shopped like I had a hungry family of 5 to feed…..which I don’t! Anyway, this salad was born in my head as I was roaming the stalls and I must say that apart from being full of nutritional superheroes it´s super fresh and tasty, a little bit of summer in a bowl ☺

This should serve two as a side dish

You will need:

• 2 large leaves of Kale, taken of the stem and chopped
• ½ fennel bulb, finely sliced
• ½ red onion, finely sliced
• 2 radishes, thinly sliced
• about 3 tbsp dill, chopped
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• juice from 1 lime
• generous pinch sea salt or himalayan pink salt
• freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
• 1 tsp honey (agave or maple syrup for vegans)
• 1 nectarine, diced

Then you simply….

• Mix olive oil, lime juice, salt, pepper and honey in a mixing bowl
• Throw everything apart from the nectarine in
• Massage everything well together with your hands, yes really get your fingers in there as this will soften the kale and marry all those lovely flavors together
• When done with the rubbing, throw in the nectarine and give it a little toss
• Let sit for at least an hour for maximum taste satisfaction
• Before serving add a little more black pepper on top

This one stores and travels well because the kale is so firm. No danger of it becoming soggy like your usual salad leaves. So make a big batch to have for lunch the next day, take on a picknik or just to have a huge bowl of salad ☺

I had it with salmon, a perfect match!

Now, I just have to tell you a little bit about kale!

Many of you are probably not too excited about kale but really, when prepared in the right way it´s sooo tasty, crunchy, fresh, wonderful! It is also one of those amazing nutritional powerhouses that are often forgotten about. Kale is crazy high in vitamin K and beta carotene, chlorophyll, lutein, vitamin C, calcium, iron and a host of other vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. All this makes it good for your blood, your eyes, a cancer fighter and detoxifier to name but a few! In short, it´s just really good for you ☺

Here you can read more about the wonderful benefits of kale and some interesting studies that have been done on it.

Oh and one more thing! Kale is really easy to grow so if you have an allotment, backyard or even just a big flower-pot and soil, get some seeds and grow some of this magical stuff! It´s very hardy and can even withstand frost which makes it one of very few crops you can be harvesting almost year-round. Amazing, I know ☺

Lots of kale-love
Ösp