In a pickle

Living in such a small space (250sq ft), there are many things that we just can't buy anymore. Pickled chili peppers being one of them. the pantry can't cope with the large jars they come in and the fridge definitely doesn't have room once those jars are opened. Milk, yoghurt, fruit and veg take priority. It's not like we can't live without pickled peppers, but every now and then, you miss small things like that when you want to spice up a sandwich. My son is particularly partial to pickled peppers (how's that for alliteration!) so I decided to find a recipe that didn't require canning equipment or pounds of peppers.

This recipe comes from a blog by Michael Ruhlman , a writer, cook and blogger. The recipe itself is by Michael Symons, a celebrity chef and author who I really don't have a lot in common with seeing as he is a dedicated carnivore! But I like that it's adaptable to any amount of vegetable you want to use and there is no boiling and canning, just put everything together and keep in the fridge. Now I can make small batches when the fancy strikes and our sandwiches will never be boring again.

 Recipe

Michael Symons Pickled Chili Peppers 

 Pickling Liquid

sherry vinegar

sugar

salt

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons coriander

1 teaspoon cumin

4 sprigs of marjoram

3 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons black peppercorns

1 to 2  pounds chilis (or enough to fill whatever vessel you're using)

Place chilis in a jar and cover them with water. Pour off the water into a measuring cup. Note the volume, pour off half the water and replace it with vinegar. Add 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons salt for every three cups of liquid.

Combine your liquid and remaining spices in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, then let cool slightly. Pour the pickling liquid over the peppers, screw the lid on and refrigerate. 

To use, slice into rings, chop or mince depending how you want to use them.

I decided to roast the peppers first, a combination of local grown, green and red hot chili peppers. It's not really necessary, however sometimes the skin can be a bit bitter. I had also bought a stem of Brussel sprouts and decided to pickle a few of the small ones too, having never had pickled sprouts before. You'll have to stand by for the results, I'm going to leave them for a few days, but check back next week and see if this recipe is a keeper. Then you can be in a pickle too!

Have a great weekend everybody!

Lasagna

 Image from Green Kitchen Stories

I know it seems a bit weird posting about Lasagna. We've all had it and a lot of us have made it. It's not really that complicated is it, layers of meat and pasta, or if you're like me, veg and pasta. But the truth is it is complicated. Everybody has their own version and I thought , after all these years that I had my favourite down pat. My mother taught me how and that's how I like it. She always used plenty of white sauce and a layer of spinach as well as the beef/pork combo of meat, slowly cooked in tomato sauce. Since becoming a vegetarian, I simply left out the meat and added roasted veggies instead. But the other day a favourite blogger of mine, had in their archives a post entitled 'Worlds Best Vegetable Lasagna', and I thought oh yeh, challenge accepted, let's see how good this really is! I was blown away! It would never have occurred to me to add olives and capers to the mix and the combination was amazing. The saltiness of the olives and the pungent sour kick from the capers were a little taste party from heaven in my mouth. The lemon-ricotta was light and added just the right amount of creaminess without overwhelming the dish. I'm sorry Mum, but I will never make Lasagna any other way than this again!


 Recipe

 Lasagna With Grilled Vegetables taken directly from Green Kitchen Stories
Serves 4-6
Tomato sauce (scroll down for recipe)
1 package of whole wheat (or gluten free) lasagna noodles
Lemon-ricotta (scroll down for recipe)
Grilled vegetables (scroll down for recipe)
1 package of mozzarella cheese (250 g)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Start with a thin layer of tomato sauce, cover with a layer of lasagna noodles, a layer of lemon-ricotta, a layer of grilled vegetables, a layer of kale and a layer of tomato sauce. Repeat 2-3 times, top the last layer with the rest of the vegetables, the tomato sauce, the lemon-ricotta and the grated mozarella cheese. Bake it in the oven for 40-50 minutes.
Tomato sauce (arrabiata)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 medium size onion (finely chopped)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 fresh chili (medium strong, finely chopped)
25-30 kalamata olives (pitted)
2 tbsp capers (drained)
4 large tomatoes (cut in quarters)
2 cans plum tomatoes
half a pot fresh basil
salt & pepper
Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add onion, garlic, and chili and saute  for 2-3 minutes. Add olives, capers and fresh tomatoes and cook it a couple of minutes more before adding the rest of the ingredients. Cook for 10 minutes, lower the heat and let it simmer for half an hour more under a lid.
Grilled Vegetables
2 tbsp olive oil
salt
2 zucchini (sliced)
1 eggplant (sliced)
300 g mushrooms,
300 g fresh kale or spinach
1 clove garlic
Dash the zucchini and eggplant with olive oil and salt and grill them in the oven at 400°F for about 10 minutes. Stir fry the mushrooms and the kale in a pan for 5 minutes with olive oil, salt and garlic. You could also grill the zucchini and eggplant in a broiler pan, the important thing is that the vegetables release some of their moist before putting them in the lasagna.
Lemon- ricotta
500 g ricotta cheese
1 organic medium size lemon (zest and juice)
1/2 pot of fresh basil (chopped)
a pinch of sea salt
a pinch of lemon pepper
Place ricotta cheese in a bowl, grate the lemon zest and squeeze the lemon, add zest and juice to the bowl. Add basil, salt and lemon pepper and mix it together.
See the instructions on how to put the lasagna together in the beginning of the recipe.
Enjoy World’s Greatest Vegetable Lasagna!

I'm always so inspired by David, Luise and Elsa's blog and their amazing photography. I do have an excuse on that front though, tiny home, terrible lighting (this is the biggest problem) and not enough fabulous dishware to really style things well....oh yes and talent, but that I'm working on! 
Don't be frightened by the long recipe, it's not that difficult and well worth the effort. 

Why I Sprout

  my current batch  in for their bath!

a detox mix of of mung beans, red clover, lentils and white radish

I first heard about sprouting over on Sarah B's blog My New Roots, and I've been hooked ever since. It's so easy to do and you have a constant supply of a nutrient rich super food even in the dead of winter. It's a great activity to do with your children too, might even get them eating more veg! Basically, as Sarah will tell you when you pop on over to her blog in a minute, sprouted seeds and beans have 15% to 30% more protein and up to 10 times the B-vitamins as well as extra vitamin C, E and K. They really make a great addition to any sandwich or salad and then of course there's the satisfaction that you grew them. I also sprout peas and transfer them to a small bowl of soil once they start growing. Peas shoots are great as a green in your next salad, all that energy rich chlorophyll just waiting to turn you into a super human, well a super healthy one anyway.

Pea shoots in full Yoga poses!

How to sprout

The best thing about sprouting is that you don't need any fancy equipment either. You can of course buy a proper sprouting jar if you want (I did!) but really all you need is a large glass jar, the sort of thing those homemade soups come in at the grocery store. Some mesh or an old pair of tights to fit over the opening and a rubber band or piece of string to tie it on. You can buy seeds for sprouting from your local health food store, but any dried seed or bean will do. Caution, do not use seeds meant for the garden. More often than not they will have some kind of pesticide on them. Look for organic seeds and beans.I often get mind from the bulk food store.

my sprouting jar, but any glass jar will do

 Here's what you do. Put your desired amount of chosen seed or bean in your jar. I tend to go for about 1 -2 tbsp. Fill the jar half way with water. Cover the top with your mesh and allow to soak overnight or up to 8 hours. I prefer to use filtered water for this first soak, those beans and seeds are going to soak up a lot of this water and I prefer not to have fluoride and chlorine as part of my bounty. It's entirely up to you though, tap water is okay too, in fact I use regular tap water for the rest of the rinses.
The next morning, or after the 8 hours are up, drain your jar of the water and rinse the seeds or beans really well, several times. You're going to do this twice a day for the next few days, the rinses that is, after the first soak you don't want your produce sitting in water. Try and prop your jar up so it's angled with the mesh facing down to let any excess water run out. By the second day, or even sometimes by the next morning, you'll see the seeds or beans sprouting and after a few days you'll have a jar full of sprouts. They grow really quickly.

my detox mix at day three

 The reason sprouted produce is so much better is that seeds and beans have a protective enzyme that prevents the release of nutrients, what the seed or bean needs to grow. It's only in the ideal conditions, i.e water and light that the enzyme is released and the nutritional value of the seed or bean is exposed. When we eat our seeds and beans without sprouting we don't get the benefit of all that goodness locked away inside, even when digested, the seed or bean does not give up it's treasure. This only occurs through the growing process. The same applies to nuts. Remember I recommended soaking your museli the night before eating it? Well it's for the same reason.

Do head over to Sarah's blog, she explains it much more eloquently and she has posted a great video at the end from a contagiously exuberant Australian couple who are so excited about sprouting. It's worth popping over for that alone.

Happy sprouting everybody.

The Skinny on Mayo

remember it's a mini mixer, not a giant pot of mayo!

When we sold up and moved from around 2000sq ft to 250sq ft I had to sell or give away many of my belongings. The ones that hurt the most (kind of) were my myriad kitchen gadgets. The Kitchen Aid stand mixer, the Panini Press, four slice toaster (we eat toast in shifts now, oh the inhumanity!), large heavy Le Creuset pot (okay, it was an Ikea one), coffee maker and bean grinder, and many more things. However I knew I wouldn't be able to survive without my immersion blender and a food processor. The food processor I had was much too big so I purchased a small 4 cup Cuisinart mixer. It chops and it grinds and it fit's in the drawer.
I use it a lot and today it made mayonnaise for me. Perfect creamy delicious mayo. I tend to avoid mayo because it is high in Omega-6 fatty acids which, if consumed to much, can have adverse health effects. However, my diet is a whole foods rich, natural diet, I rarely eat processed food and keep my fat intact low. Everything in moderation and I like mayo on my sandwich every now and then.

Mayonnaise is really easy to make and if you have a handy little mixer like mine, you will have yourself a bowl of whipped goodness in about 5 minutes. Seriously, 5 minutes start to finish! Somebody open the tuna fish!

Recipe
 
Homemade Mayo - makes about 4 cups.
 
1 egg and 1 egg yolk
1 tsp Dijon mustard (or more to taste)
pinch salt
1 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup sunflower oil (or any light vegetable oil of your choice. You can use Olive, but it will leave your mayo with a much stronger flavour.)

Put the egg, egg yolk, Dijon mustard, salt and lemon juice in the bowl of your mixer. Pulse 3-4 times just to blend.
This part is really important. You are going to add the oil drop by drop while pulsing the mixer, for at least the first 1/4 cup. By adding the oil slowly you avoid the chance of the eggs separating.  With the mixer running you can start pouring the rest of the oil in a slow steady stream. Once all of the oil  has been added give it another 20 secs or so to blend and voila, creamy mayonnaise. Transfer to your container or jar and store in the fridge.

The small Cuisinart that I have has a great feature on the lid that allows me to add liquid and it does the job of creating that slow steady stream. Perfect for mayo.

Banana and Blueberry Pancakes

Being true to my word, I am continuing to experiment with a more varied breakfast menu, one rich in protein and other energy boosting nutrients. Sunday morning saw me using my extra hour not for sleep but for pancakes. I had seen this recipe for flour free Banana and Blueberry Pancakes a while ago and had bought bananas last week planning on finally making them. Unfortunately I neglected to buy coconut but by yesterday morning the bananas were reaching that point of no return where soft and brown turns from sweet to dry which is very close to bad. I did however have a plentiful supply of ground almonds, so followed the recipe substituting them in instead.

I'm torn about giving a negative review about a recipe especially when I've messed with it and to be honest the pancakes weren't actually bad, just not really to my liking. I like eggs, but for some reason I have a problem eating them at breakfast. These pancakes were very 'eggy', the taste was fine, strong banana and sweet blueberries, but the texture for me was all wrong. If you like eggs for breakfast give them a try.

Recipe

Banana and Blueberry Pancakes from Green Kitchen Stories
Serves 4

3 bananas
6 eggs
100 g coconut flakes (this is where I substituted an equal amount of ground almond)
3/4 cup blueberries (frozen)
1 tsp cinnamon
coconut oil

Mash the bananas with a fork. Whip the eggs and mix it together with the bananas. Add coconut, blueberries and cinnamon and stir it together.
 
Fry the pancakes on both sides in coconut oil on medium heat. Serve with coconut flakes, cinnamon and blueberries on the top.

The other thing I'll mention is that even on my lowest heat, they browned very quickly, in fact faster than they cooked through and their texture made it hard to turn them. I've probably put you off making these now, but they really are a good recipe if you like eggs for breakfast and the time to spend making them. Definitely a Sunday morning thing.

A Terrible Vegetarian

 Chickpea and Tomato Hummus

That's me by the way, I'm a terrible vegetarian. Pre-Tin Can living I made more of an effort although I can't say I was spot on with my balance of protein and such. Now however, with such a tiny space and only one pot at a time really fitting on the stove, it's gotten pretty bad. Tim and Elliot are meat eaters so on the nights meat is on the menu I usually just eat the veg rather than make another meal for me. I'm always cold and wonder why! So this week I have made a promise to myself to make sure I'm doing it right and the simplest way to start is with breakfast. My go to breakfast as you know is my homemade museli, but lately I have started mixing things up with fruit and yoghurt, adding flax and nuts and today eggs. The funny thing is I'm half German and in Germany breakfast is big. Cheese, meats, fruit, yoghurt, rye and wheat breads, pickles and spreads and pate. You name it, it's probably on the table. In the spirit of all that's German, tomorrow I will add this beautiful spread to the table along with some multi-grain bread I baked this week. This recipe was given to me by my old boss and friend Kathy and I thank her every time I make it, it's that good.


Recipe

Chickpea and Tomato Hummus
makes 1 1/2 cups

12 sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1 can chickpeas (or 1 cup cooked)
15 basil leaves
2-3 cloves garlic
3 tbsp vegetable oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp cumin powder
salt to taste
1/4 tsp chili powder

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth, adding water as needed until a creamy consistency is reached. 
Store in the fridge in a sealed container until ready to use.

Writing out the recipe she gave me I realize I don't often make it that way anymore! I don't always have basil so will quite often substitute spinach or kale. I never add the oil, however I do use sun dried tomatoes kept in oil so I suppose they cancel each other out. If you don't have lemon juice it tastes just as good without too, although do try and add it.
I have used this as a spread on toast or for a vegetarian sandwich or wrap. Veggies or pita for dipping is obvious but it's also great as an alternative pizza topping instead of tomato sauce (thin it out a bit first, it can be a bit dry and thick once baked). I am also going to use it as an omelet filling for that double boost of protein! I'll keep you all up to date with other breakfast ideas and maybe make it a bit of a weekly feature    (now I have to start eating better!)

Have a great weekend everybody. See you on Monday

Borscht Salad

The market has an abundance of beautiful bunches of beets at the moment and they are one of my favourites. My son on the other hand hates beets so he will be having leftovers tonight! I often roast beets to toss into any quick salad I happen to be making but today I thought I would use Borscht as my inspiration. Really I should just make Borscht as I've never had it before, but I'm really not in the mood for all that cooking and with the never ending rain and no gym membership, I don't need a soup thickened with mashed potato right now either, if you know what I mean! Thank goodness for sweatpants:)
I'm basing my salad on a typical Ukrainian version of Borscht although substituting sprouted black beans as my starch in favour of potato. Other than that most of the rest of the ingredients are the same, beets, cabbage, carrots, onion, tomato and a dill vinaigrette. All topped off with a soft boiled egg.

Recipe
 
Borcht Salad
serves 4

2 medium beets
1 large carrot
1/4 medium red cabbage
2 spring onions
1 large tomato
4 eggs, at room temperature

Dill Vinaigrette adapted from Food Network recipe by Bobby Flay

    2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
    1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
    1 tablespoon minced shallot
    2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
    1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
    1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
 
Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Trim beets then wrap in foil and roast in the oven for approximately 1 hour or until tender. Remove from oven and allow to cool before peeling.
 
Combine all the vinaigrette ingredients in a food processor and process until blended. Set aside.
 
Shred the cabbage thinly. Julienne the beets, carrots and spring onions. Chop the tomato into bite sized pieces. Pour half the dressing over the vegetables and leave, covered, to sit for up to an hour. This will help to soften the veg and mellow the taste of the cabbage.
 
Put a pan of water on to boil. When boiling, gently lower the eggs on a spoon into the pan and simmer for 7 minutes. Remove the eggs when done and place in iced water to stop the cooking process. Peel the eggs.
 
Serve the salad on mashed sprouted black beans, cooked quinoa or couscous with a sliced in half boiled egg on top and the remainder of the dressing drizzled on and around the salad.

I found I had a fair amount of dressing left, which I think would make a great dressing for pasta. By the way, if this is your first time trying beets you should know that for some people they have an effect on your pee! It can be from light pink to bright red in colour, especially when you eat the leaves too. Don't be alarmed!

 Smačnoho! (as they say in Ukraine)