Lunch

Turkey meatballs in Mediterranean sauce with grilled polenta

September 30, 2015 by Sheila Smith

A healthy and delicious meal in less than an hour.

Ingredients:

2 + 1 + 1 tablespoon
olive oil
250 g of ground turkey
1 small onion
2 + 3 cloves garlic
handful of fresh chives or parsley
5 large tomatoes
100g mozzarella
handful fresh basil
oregano, salt, pepper
cups instant corn grits
3 cups water

Preparation:

Start with the polenta. Cook it according to the instructions on the bag (the ratio of water and polenta is 3: 1), then pour it in an oil-coated mold and align the surface. Cool down to room temperature and place in the refrigerator for two hours.
After two hours, cut into pieces if desired, and coat each piece with a little olive oil. Bake on a hot grill pan for about 3 minutes on each side, ie. until the appearance of “grill lines”.
Wash the tomatoes and blanch for 1 minute in boiling water. Peel the rind and cut the tomatoes into small cubes.
Put the ground turkey in a bowl, mix with finely chopped onion, two cloves of finely chopped garlic, chives or parsley and season with salt and pepper. Create a walnut-sized balls and place them on a plate. Let them stand for 20 minutes.
Then fry on all sides in two tablespoons of olive oil, about 5-7 minutes. When they are fine and crispy on all sides, remove them and put them on a plate.
In a pan, add another tablespoon of olive oil and then fry the three cloves of garlic cut into slices. Be careful not to burn the garlic, add the tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. Then add salt and pepper and add the oregano (dried or fresh).
Add the meat in the pan and cook all together for 10-15 minutes, until the tomatoes are completely soft. Finally, add the basil and mozzarella sliced . Serve the polenta and meatballs in sauce while they are still hot, with a green salad. Good apetite!

Ginger Carrot Soup Recipe

September 24, 2015 by Amy Brown

Perfect soup, or cream of carrots& ginger. Of course with one condition, that you love carrots and that you love ginger. This recipe is great for fall, because it boost our immune system, for the incoming weather.

What is needed:

1 tablespoon of olive oil, or 1 tablespoon of butter,
5-6 large carrots,
1 -2 young onions (or one onion)
1 piece fresh ginger (the size of the thumb on the hand)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar,
1 bunch parsley leaf,
salt, pepper and a little cayenne pepper (to taste).

Wash the carrot and the ginger , clean them up and slice them and then grind in a blender or grate it. It is essential that ginger slices are small, so we avoid strings in the soup.

The pan with oil or butter, briefly fry a chopped onion and add the carrots. Sprinkle some salt and pepper, pour the vinegar or lemon juice and pour water. You do not have to pour a lot of water, you need just enough just water to cover the vegetables. Cook over low heat, covered, until the carrots are just cooked. Depending on how old is the carrot (and how much is chopped), it may take 15 to 45 minutes. Of course the older carrots cooking takes longer, that’s why this soup is most beautiful in the spring period, when we have a young carrots. But anyway, the taste, more or less is the same.

Chop up the cooked carrot in a blender, mixer or machine for mashed potatoes. Put the blended carrot back into the water in which you used to cook him, if desired, add more spices, chopped parsley and if necessary add a little water to thicken the way you want it, let it boil and serve it immediately.

As a great addition to this soup of carrots I recommend a little diced toasted bread with cheese.

Farmhouse stew with vegetables

September 9, 2015 by Amy Brown

Do not know what to make for lunch? Try this easy but taste meal!

For serves for 6 you will need:

1 and half cups (250g) dried white beans
2 waxy potatos
2 carrots
9 oz (250g) green beans
3 tomatoes
3 small zucchini
2 onions
3 garlic cloves
3/4 cup (160 ml) olive oil
6 oz (150 g) thin noodles
1 bunch basil
salt an paper
1 cup (100 g.) grated Gruyere

Standing time: approx. 1 hour

Cooking time: approx. 90 min.

Preparation:

Put the dried white beans in a saucepan. Cover with water, bring to boil, turn off the heat, and soak for 1 hour. Then simmer over medium heat for about 1 and a half hours.

Then peel and slice the potatoes and carrots. Trim and wash the green beans. Peel, seed and roughly chop the tomatoes. Wash and dice the zucchini. Peel and finely chop the onions and garlic.

Heat 4 tablespoons of the oil in a saucepan, and saute the onions and garlic until transparent. Add the tomatoes, pour over the cooking water from the beans and another 3 pints 1.5 liters of water and bring to boil. Add the potatoes, carrots, and green beans. Season with salt and pepper and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Add the zucchini, white beans, and noodles and cook for further 15 minutes.

Wash the basil and shake dry, pull off the leaves and put in a blender with the cheese, garlic and 3 tablespoons of stock. Gradually add the remaining olive oil or enough to blend into a thick sauce. Season with salt and pepper and serve in warmed soup bowls. Pour the basil sauce into a sauceboat and serve with soup.

Delicious Squid and shrimp Pasta

September 2, 2015 by Amy Brown

Hope you are one of the seafood lovers! Yes it is hard and a bit smelly to make nice dish of sea food, so lets share a simpler and easier recipe, that I hope will motivate you to cook sea food often. The home cooked sea food pasta is more rich and believe me it is really healthier and more delicious if cooked properly.

Ingredients:
(4 servings)

500 g tagliatelle pasta
400 g frozen squid
500 g frozen shrimps
1 red onion
5-6 cloves garlic
500 g tomatoes
1 tbsp concentrated tomato
400 ml tomato puree
olive oil
Himalayan salt
a little sugar (if necessary)
some dried rosemary
For the serving:
1 tablespoon capers
1 bunch parsley leaf
1 red onion
some olive oil
little Himalayan salt

Preparation:
I thawed the squid and the shrimp, washed them well, cleaned them up (i cut the squid into rings.
At a hot pan with a little olive oil I added finely chopped onion (salted). when softened I added concentrated tomato and little bit later I added and tomato (chopped, peeled and cleaned of seeds). After 10 minutes stewing I added the tomato puree, a little sugar, salt and continued simmering until the sauce is thick enough.
In the second pan on a little olive oil fry 2 cloves finely chopped garlic and add the squid rings. Fry them a few minutes and then add the prepared tomato sauce and continue to simmer it for another 10 minutes.
In the meantime, I cook the pasta as directed on the packaging and in small pan with olive oil add 2 cloves garlic, and fry it on high heat with the squid tentacles, well salted and adding a little rosemary.
When the pasta is over add the sauce with the squids and then the prepared shrimp, half parsley leaf, one clove garlic (finely chopped) mix it nicely and serve!
While serving, add and capers, splash it with little olive oil and serve it with chopped fresh onion (salted and topped with olive oil).

Veggie lunch! Millet with swiss chard and stuffed eggplant

August 14, 2015 by Amy Brown

Here is nice idea for lunch. Lets make healthy delicious veggie lunch. On summer days food like this feels good and it is recovering both soul and body. Here is recipe for Millet with swiss chard and stuffed eggplant

Ingredients needed:

(For 2 persons)

1 large eggplant
4 small, colorful, round courgettes

For the filling:

100 ml millet
1 bunch Swiss chard (or 2 if less)
1 onion
2 carrots
some olive oil
1 clove garlic
Himalayan salt, pepper

For the green salad:

few leaves of lettuce
1 small onion
1 large tomato
olive oil
Himalayan salt

Preparation:
Cut the eggplant in half and remove the interior, I scooped out the zucchini.Put the both t in a baking dish, salted, splashed with a little olive oil and put it into the oven to bake at 200 degrees for 30 minutes.

During that time prepare the filling. Put it in 200 ml of water and cook 15 minutes (over medium heat) ie. until softened and absorbed all the liquid.
Pour a little olive oil and wait for it to get hot. Put chopped onion and fry it a bit with a water, continue with the simmering. When it is well softened add finely chopped carrot (no peeling) and continued with the simmering. Parallel with this cook the Swiss chard (previously cleaned and roughly chopped) for about 5 minutes, i.e. until it withered. Then I spill it with cold water.

Mix the millet, steamed vegetables, chard and add one grated garlic clove, salt and pepper and all the thorough mixing.
Fill the eggplant and zucchini with this mixture,and pour over with a little olive oil. Then bake it for another 20 minutes.

Eggplant and zucchini should be served with lettuce alone made in the following manner: In a salad bowl put the torn leaves of lettuce, add some finely chopped onion, which is previously salted and splashed with a little olive oil and held and then add on that slice of tomato. All should be well salted and overflowing with a little olive oil, sprinkled with a little parsley and served.

How to cook amaranth? Dairy amaranth with apple, cinnamon, vanilla and nuts!

August 14, 2015 by Amy Brown

It is well know that amaranth is beneficial seed. We should ingest it on weekly basis because it’s higher in minerals, as calcium, phosphorous, iron and carotenoids, than most vegetables. It also great protein source: cup for cup, 28.1 grams of protein compared to the 26.3 grams in oats and 13.1 grams in rice. Amaranth is know as food of the gods and kings. Despite the fact that it is used as a cereal, amaranth is one of the pseudo-cereals. 100 grams of seeds contains 371 calories and it is rich with way more minerals than wheat. Amaranth seed is containing from 14 to 16 percent of high quality protein and 7% to 9% of which, about half of the fatty acids are high quality omega-6 lipids.
Important is the content of essential amino acids such as lysine and methionine, which are extremely rare amino acids in the plant world. Amaranth contains no gluten.
From amaranth seeds you can make popcorn the same way as corn. How to cook amaranth? There is many ways you can cook this very beneficial grain.Here is recipe that works great for me, Dairy amaranth with apple, cinnamon, vanilla and nuts.

Ingredients needed:
1 cup (200 ml) of milk (cow, almond, soybean, …)
1 cup (200 ml) of water
1 cup (200 ml), amaranth
2 apples
2 handfuls of walnuts
vanilla pod
cinnamon
natural sweetener or sugar
Put nice cooking pot onto the hotplate and infuse the milk and the water, and then take out the seeds from the vanilla pod and throw them into the pot.
When the pot starts to boil, add the amaranth and then cook on low heat for 30-35 minutes. Amaranth should be exactly half the liquid (ratio 1: 2).
After 15 minutes of cooking, add grated apple and one teaspoon of cinnamon, and 2 table spoons of honey(or other sweetener)

After a further 15-20 minutes turn down the heat and remove the pot. Your amaranth meal is complete. Serve it in two cup, and then add chopped apple with walnuts.

Across the served dish very carefully sprinkle a little cinnamon.

Bon appetite

Juicy Zucchini Fritters With Cheese

August 10, 2015 by Amy Brown

For this yummy meal , for 4 persons, you will need the next ingredients:

750 g zucchini
1 leek
1 onion
2 boiled potatoes
2 eggs
3 cups (150 g) fresh breadcrumbs
200 g grated hard cheese
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tbsp finely chopped mint
salt and freshly ground black pepper
freshly grated nutmeg
vegetable oil for deep-frying

Preparation:

1. Coarsely grate the zucchini and place in a sieve. Sprinkle lightly with salt and leave to stand for 30 minutes. Then squeeze out well in a clean, dry kitchen towel.

2. Cut the white part of the leek into thin rings. Peel and finely grate the onion and potatoes. Combine thoroughly with the zucchini, eggs, half the breadcrumbs, cheese, flour, and mint. Season with pepper and nutmeg and leave to stand for 15 minutes.

3. Heat the oil to 350 F/175 C in deep-fat fryer or deep pan. Shape the vegetable mixture into small patties and coat in the remaining breadcrumbs. Deep-fry in the hot oil in batches until golden on both sides. Drain briefly on paper towels.

4. Arrange the zucchini on a serving dish and serve hot.

Delicious Mushroom – Buckwheat Broth Based Soup Recipe!

July 15, 2015 by Kelly Bennet

I love this Delicious Mushroom – Buckwheat Soup Recipe! It is simple for making and it is delicious and most important it is really healthy. For all those that care what are you ingesting, and for all those who are starting to care, I suggest eat soups at least 3 times per week. One of your weekly soups can be this delicious buckwheat mushroom broth based soup.

Ingredients:

(serves 4)

1 onion
2 medium carrots
1 large parsley root
half a small celery root
150 ml of the buckwheat grain
100 g shiitake mushrooms
100 g button mushrooms
1 leek
1 tbsp concentrated tomato paste
100 ml of tomato juice
1 clove garlic
about 1 liter of water
olive oil
sea salt
fresh parsley leaf

Preparation:
At a medium hit putt a bit little olive oil, chop the onion (salted) and then add it into the oil to soften a bit. When the onion is soften, add the cubes of previously chopped root vegetables (carrot, parsley, celery). Stirring occasionally, simmer it about 10 minutes and then add the chopped mushrooms. After 5 minutes add tomato paste, leek (sliced in thick slices) and grain buckwheat, all flooded with about a liter of water and cook over medium heat until it is softened (about 15 minutes).

When buckwheat (and vegetables) softened add tomato juice, finely chopped garlic and sea salt, if necessary, all together cooked another 10 minutes.
Pour the palates for serving with the broth and on the top sprinkle it with chopped parsley leaf, and you can pour it with a little olive oil.

Note: You can put less or more liquids, depending on whether you wan thicker or less frequent broth and if you like spicy initially saved when stewed onions and put finely chopped hot pepper.

Spiced Eggplant Slices From the Barbecue

July 13, 2015 by Amy Brown

Ingredients :

3 small eggplants
2 garlic cloves
generous 1/2 cup (100ml) olive oil
1tbsp red peppercorns
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dries thyme
1/2 tsp ground sweet red paprika
1 tsp salt

Preparation :

1. Light the barbecue. Wash the eggplant, pat dry, and cut across into slices of 1cm. Peel and crush the garlic in a mortar with 1 teaspoon salt. Stir in the oil.

2. Crush the peppercorns in a mortar and mix with the oregano, thyme, and ground paprika.

3. Brush the eggplant slices on both sides with the garlic oil, Place on the barbecue and grill until golden. Turn the eggplant sprinkle with the mixed herbs and finish cooking.

Tip!

Modern eggplant varieties contain hardly any bitter substances. However, to be on the safe side they can be sliced sprinkled with salt and left fot 30 minutes.

Baked Stuffed Tomatoes – With Goat’s Cheese and Croutons

July 12, 2015 by Amy Brown

This is a light healthy meal, perfect for summer lunch or dinner. You will need only 45 minutes to make this meal for 4 persons.

Ingredients:

4 large tomatoes
2 slices day-old bread
1 garlic clove
4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for brushing
150 gr fresh goat’s cheese (chevere)
small bunch basil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

1. Wash the tomatoes and cut the lids. Remove the seeds with a spoon, then salt lightly and place cut side down in a colander to drain.

2. Cut the bread into small dice, and crush the garlic in a bowl. Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the bread dice and garlic, and saute until it is golden. Remove and drain on paper towels.

3. Preheat the oven to 200 Celsius. Cut the goat’s cheese into small pieces. Wash the basil; shake dry and cut the leaves into thin strips. carefully combine the cheese, basil and croutons. Season to taste with salt and pepper and spoon into the tomatoes. Brush an ovenproof dish with oil and place tomatoes inside. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes and serve hot.

Braised Spinach With Eggs

July 12, 2015 by Amy Brown

This recipe is for a easy but very healthy meal. The preparation of this meal for 4 persons will take you about 40 minutes.

Ingredients:

1 kg leaf spinach
1 onion
1 garlic clove
1 fresh red chile
2 tomatoes
2 tbsp clarified seasoned butter
4 eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

First pick over the spinach, trim and wash thoroughly. Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Seed the chile and chop finely. Peel the tomatoes, seed and dice.

Then melt the butter in a saucepan. Saute the onion, garlic and chile. Add the tomatoes and spinach, and pour over a generous 1/3 cup (100 ml) water. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring continuously, until the liquid has evaporated.

Whisk the eggs with salt and pepper and stir into spinach. Remove from the heat when the egg has set and adjust the seasoning, to taste.

Amazingly Delicious Tomato Seafood Soup!

July 11, 2015 by Kelly Bennet

Not long time ago, I couldn’t stand fish, sea soups, ( Never thought it would taste good),but 6 month ago my friend called me to dinner and guess what she prepared! Sea Soup 🙂 . It would be insulting if I did not even try it (without any argument at all), so I was like lets try this why not . At first I was expecting that I would hate the taste, but just 3 seconds after I tasted it, I realized this is amazingly delicious.

Here is one recipe for sea soup.

For 4 servings you will need:

340 g mixed sea food
200 g onions
50 g carrots(about 1 piece)
50 g parsley(about 1 piece)
1 hot pepper
1 clove of garlic
a bit ,salt, pepper and bay leaf
1 dl oil
1 dl tomato juice
1.5dl white wine

Let the sea food thaw. Heat the oil, and put the freshly chopped onion, bay leaf and few peppercorns, don’t put the hotplate on мax, you do not want to burn them off. You also will need to mix them in order to prevent the burning. When the onions are softened down, add a little grated carrot, parsley and whole peppers(I prefer hot peppers), put the hotplate on middle temperature, and put a bit water(just poor about 1 sip from a glass of water). Continue to sauté for about 5 minutes and add a finely chopped garlic. When the mass becomes mushy let it cool down for about 10 minutes.

Now put the sea food into water and bring it to boil, let it boil for 5 minutes, spill the water down and put new water and again let it boil for 5 minutes and spill it down (about 20 minutes depending on the vegetable mass) you need to grind it so you can do it with a fork or something, or you can put it into blender. When the vegetable mass is nicely blended add :

6 dl tomato juice
1.5 dl white whine
1.5 dl water
If your tomato juice is thicker like really thicker add 1 dl more water
1 tea spoon pepper
1 table spoon red pepper

This mixture goes back on the hotplate and we wait it to start boil. Let it boil for 7-10 minutes, but go and mix it from time to time.

In he meanwhile put the sea food into water and bring it to boil, let it boil for 5 minutes, spill the water down and put new water and again let it boil for 5 minutes and spill it down and wash it down with cold water.

Now add the washed sea food. Let it boil for 20 minutes, and do not forget to mix it from time to time. Let it cool down for 15 minutes and it is ready for serving.

Serve it with nicely baked bread, homemade or from the bakery, lemons and white whine !

If you like it you can share it 🙂