a very christmassy dessert ~ roasted apple pudding

So finally the very best of our Christmas Eve Dinner:
I made the roasted apple pudding during the last years as well and we all love it! I hope you'll enjoy it too! :)

Ingredients
apples (1-2 per person)
soy or oat cream (250ml for 4 big apples)
raisins + a couple of table spoons of white rum (both optional)
thinly sliced almonds (or other nuts you prefer)
spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, sweet cumin, allspice to taste

Preparation

1. soak the raisins in rum, best is over night, but a couple of hours will do
2. peel and slice the apples into 1/2 cm thick slices
3. mix the cream with the spices and the remnant rum you soaked the raisins in
4. layer the apples into a baking dish and scatter some raisins and sliced almonds in between every layer of apples
5. pour the cream-mixture over the apples and top it off with more sliced almonds and raisins
6. bake for about 30-45 minutes on 180°C / 350°F on the middle rack

it is pretty easy and you can even prepare it the day before and keep it un-baked in the fridge!
You can serve it as it it or add some vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate sprinkles, .. But whatever you do, serve the pudding very hot, straight from the oven!

Bon Appetit!

Julia
xoxo

Stuffed and roasted Vegetables

I somehow really forgot about sharing the rest of our Christmas-Menu, so here it is, course #3! I hope, you'll enjoy it, as much as we did.

I don't exactly remember all the details, so it'll be a recipe without measurements, sorry for that, but I'm sure, you'll get the idea!

stuffed vegetables:
ingredients:

• bell peppers
• big tomatoes
• couscous
• onion(s)
• sweet corn
• mushrooms (optional)
• vegan cheese (also optional and we didn't use any!)
• salt, pepper & garlic to taste, olive oil

1. cut the bell peppers in half (length-wise) and cut out the stalk
2. cut approx. 1-1.5 cm off the top of the tomatoes and remove the cores (keep them!!)
3. cook the couscous according to package instructions and season the water with salt, pepper, garlic and olive oil (over-season a little bit)
4. fry the chopped onions and mushrooms until golden and mix them with the chopped tomato cores
5. combine the mixture with the prepared couscous
6. stuff the bellpeppers and tomatoes with the mixture
7. bake at 180-200°C / 350-400°F for approx. 20-45 minutes

roasted / baked vegetables:
ingredients :

• potatoes
• cauliflower
• carrots
• zucchini
• cherry tomatoes (in different colours)
• garlic, salt, pepper, nutmeg, rosemary, chili powder / flakes (optional) & olive oil to taste

1. peel the potatoes and carrots and cut into big-ish chunks, wash the zucchini (and cut into chunks) and cherry tomatoes (don't cut them!) and pre-steam the cauliflower if you use frozen one. (If you use the fresh one, simply wash and cut it as well)
2. marinate half of the potatoes with rosemary, salt and olive oil and bake at 180-200°C / 350-390°F for 30-45 minutes (the bigger the veg, the longer it takes)
3. marinate the rest of the vegetables with garlic, salt, pepper, nutmeg (and chili) and olive oil and bake at 180-200°C / 350-400°F for 30-45 minutes as well.
4. stir the vegetables approx. half way through it's baking time

You can obviously choose whichever vegetables you like or are in season, but this is pretty much what we had (except for the garlic, which my mum doesn't like)!

Bon Appetit!

Julia
xoxo

Course #2 of our Christmas Eve Dinner

I made a tomato soup. I had to improvise quite a lot and don't really remember what I put into it, so I share my normal recipe today :) You could serve it with rice or some fresh bread like ciabatta or baguette!

For 4 portions you need:

• a big can of peeled tomatoes (800ml to 1 litre)
• 2-4 carrots
• 1 zucchini
• 1 small onion or 1 shallot/scallion
• 1-2 garlic cloves
• olive oil
• salt, pepper, hot paprika/chili to taste
• basil pesto to taste
• pesto arrabiata to taste
• fresh basil for decoration
• optional: water and/or tomato purée depending on your  desired consistency

how to make it:

1. dice the onion, zucchini and carrots and steam them in a bit of olive oil until golden in a medium sized pot
2. pour the peeled tomatoes into the pot and cook on medium heat
3. once the carrots are soft enough purrée everything to get a thick smooth consistency
4. season the soup with spices, pestos and add the finely chopped garlic
5. pour in another tablespoon of olive oil and let the soup simmer for 5-10 minutes
6. If you don't like the consistency add a bit of water or tomato purée.
7. add chopped fresh basil before serving and decorate the bowl with a few whole basil leaves (If you don't have any fresh basil you can use dried basil instead but add it with the other spices!)

This recipe is pretty easy and very quick to make! It's warming, nourishing, delicious and a perfect fall/ winter recipe :) you can easily add other vegetables like zucchini (puréed or diced), peppers (diced), aubergine (diced) and much more to make the soup more interesting. :)

Let me know which other vegetables or herbs you added! :)

Hope you enjoyed this yummy soup!

Julia
xoxo

Merry Christmas!!!

My dear readers, I wish you a very merry Christmas with your loved ones!

We had our first completely vegan Christmas Eve Dinner!! I obviously had vegan food during the last 3 years as well, but this year I cooked for my whole family and everyone loved it! (At least they said so!)
I made a four-course-dinner and tonight I want to share my first recipe:
The first course was a warm salad:

You need (for 4 portions):
500g frozen green beans
500g small tomatoes (choose different colours to reach for that certain je ne sais quoi)
salt, pepper, olive oil and fresh garlic (optional, I didn't use any) to taste

1. steam the beans according to instructions on package
2. cut tomatoes in quarters
3. marinade tomatoes with salt, pepper, oil (and garlic)
4. mix marinaded tomatoes with beans
5. serve warm!

You can add a little bit of fresh lemon juice and/or fresh basil, but I wanted to keep it rather simple!

Let me know how you like the salad and if you added anything else :)

Merry Christmas,
Julia
xoxo

my secret top 6 spices / ingredients

Today I want to tell you about my top 6 secret spices / ingredients which add the certain je ne sais quoi to your dishes and desserts!

1. tahini / sesame paste. I absolutely don't like the taste of it on its own, but adding a good teaspoon of it to your salad as a dressing or mixing it into your homemade humus gives it a full taste.
2. cinnamon. You can add it to pretty much everything that contains apples and also add a pinch of it to your pancakes and everybody will love them!
3. grated orange peels. You can use fresh organic oranges for that or buy it in the grocery store (find it in the baking aisle). You can add it to every chocolate-y and/or nutty cake, cupcake, muffin and what not. Use it thrifty and it'll add a little freshness to your oh-so-yummy-desserts :)
4. nutmeg. Get the whole nutmegs and a grater. Yes, they are a little more expensive than the dried and grated stuff, but they taste WAY better! You can add it to pretty much anything with potatos, mushrooms, spinach, broccoli, cream-sauces (for pasta). Again, use it thrifty!
5. fresh basil leaves. I love them in salads, tomato soups and sauces (anything tomato, to be honest), on bread with almost any vegan spread or cheese. You can even put a few into a green smoothie, if you like them. If you cannot grow basil in your garden/ on your balcony, buy the pot plant and not the 'fresh' leaves you can get in most grocery stores. The plants are not only cheaper but taste better as well. (btw basil goes great with.. oh the story of how to make awesome bruschetta is a different one.. ;) )
6. garlic. (this one is for you mum - and Rita, who was the cooking lady at my nursery school and put garlic into everything except for rice pudding :D ) Pretty much every savoury dish tastes better with garlic! Use fresh one in small amounts. Goes with anything with tomatos, potatos, pasta, chick-peas, rice and a whole lot more!

 These are my 6 little secret ingredients you will always - under all circumstances - find in my kitchen and very often in my recipes. I hope, you'll find a few ways to use these and enjoy them as much as I do!

Julia
xoxo

a vegan trade fair - die VeganFach in Hamburg

a few first impressions

On November 2nd, 2013 the third vegan trade fair VeganFach took place at the intl. Airport in Hamburg/Germany.

Many restaurants, a few vegan food shops and companies, a raw vegan hotel, book stores and many more offered their goods.

The trade fair was quite busy and when I arrived there around lunch-time, many people waited in line to get in. But the trade fair seemed to be pretty well organised, so no-one had to wait too long. 

Additional to the offered goods and the delicious food (I had a Döner for lunch and a lahmacun (Turkish pizza) for dinner - I had both for the first time ever and they were really great! *yum*!), seminars and show cookings were held. 

For further info check the website! 

a few first impressions

show cooking

By the way: the veganfach is a yearly trade fair, on the first Saturday in November to celebrate the world vegan day (1st of November) and is held in a different city every year. The last two VeganFach trade fairs were held in Berlin and Essen.

I hope to see you there next year on world vegan day 2014!

Julia 
xoxo 

Döner

 

raspberrie cream cake

vegan travelogue: Hannover ~ the Loving Hut

Last weekend we travelled to Hannover, where we visited the Loving Hut Restaurant.
It's a small vegan restaurant close to the inner city. They offer mostly chinese dishes but have a few other fast-food-like dishes on the menu as well. We wanted to try as many of them as possible so we shared the dishes we ordered.
For starters we had the spring rolls and they were pretty good.
The next course was fried noodles with vegetables. These were really good. We both enjoyed them quite a lot!
Next was the burger with french fries, ketchup and mayonaise. The burger was ok, not our personal favourite. The french fries were pretty good, the ketchup as well, but we didn't like the mayonaise at all.
For dessert we had a piece of chocolatecake and a piece of carrot-walnut-cake. These were amazing! The highlight of our dinner! Both came with a delicious cream frosting.
I had a mango-lassi with dinner, which was pretty good as well!
The staff was nice.
So all in all we'd recommend the Loving Hut, but it's not my favourite restaurant. I'm sure, we'll go there again though!

Sorry, this post is so short and without photos.. Maybe I'll update it someday :)
Btw, Loving Hut is a restaurant-chain, which you'll find in Hamburg and other cities as well!

When travelling anywhere, always check Happy Cow for vegetarian and vegan restaurants and shops in the area!

Have a great Sunday,
Julia
xoxo

Lentil-Soup

Today's recipe is my favourite lentil-soup. I got the recipe from my mum, but she puts meat in her soup, so I changed a few things about it to have a delicious vegan alternative.

super-yummy best lentil-soup ever ~ thanks to mum!

You need (again, for 4 hungry people):
2-3 chopped shallots / 1 red or white onion
3-4 thinly sliced carrots
4-5 diced potatoes
1-2 litres of hot water
1/2 cup red lentils
1/2 cup brown lentils
1 cup chopped leek
1/2 cup green peas
olive oil
salt, black pepper and nutmeg to taste
lemon juice

1 big pot

Cooking Instructions:
Warm the olive oil in the pot on medium heat and add the shallots/onion. Stir-fry them until golden.
Add the sliced carrots and diced potatoes and roast them gently.
Pour in the hot water and stir everything gently. Add the lentils (red and brown) and stir again.
Add the chopped leek and the green peas (if you chose frozen vegetables, let them thaw for a bit before adding them to the soup).
Bring the soup to a boil and let it simmer for 30-45 minutes on low heat. Add more water if you need to and stir regularly (every 5-10 minutes is enough).
Season with salt, black pepper and nutmeg (freshly grated if possible) and let it simmer for another 5-10 minutes.
Before serving the soup add a little lemon juice on the plate! Do NOT add it to the pot, as it will make leftovers to go off sooner!

You could serve some kind of bread with it, but I personally love it, just the way it is!

I hope you enjoy the soup as much as I do, because it's healthy, super delicious, nourishing and the perfect dinner on a cold fall or winter night!

~ Julia
xoxo

my favourite recipe ever: Ratatouille

Today I want to share my favourite recipe ever! It's awesome during the summer and even better during all the colder months! It's delicious, filling, healthy, full of nutrients and everbody loves it! I make it a lot, when friends and family visit and I don't know anyone who doesn't like it.. so give it a go ;)

Ratatouille served with couscous :) *yumm*!

You need (for 4 hungry people) 
olive oil
1 red onion
a little fresh garlic

5 medium potatoes
2-4 carrots

1 big zucchini

1 big red bell pepper

1 big yellow bell pepper

1 big orange bell pepper

8-10 tomatos (preferably a little overripe)

1/2 cup of strong vegetable broth

1 tablespoon tomato purée

2 cups hot water

1 tablespoon of mixed italian herbs

salt and black pepper to taste

a knife

a chopping board

a big pan or pot with lid

 

how to prepare it: 
cut onion, garlic and vegetables
fry onion and garlic until 'golden' in olive oil
add carrots and potatos
add zucchini
add bell peppers
fry (sauté) until everything is a little 'golden'
add tomatos and let everything simmer for about 10-15 minutes
prepare vegetable broth in a cup, mix with herbs, spices and the tomato purée (add it to the vegetables)
add the 2 cups of hot water
stir well
put the lid on the pan and let it simmer on low heat for 30-45 minutes

serve with ciabatta bread, baguette, couscous, (wholegrain)-rice or pasta  and garnish with fresh basil (optional)

I really hope you will enjoy this wonderful meal as much as I do!

~ Julia
xoxo

my 25th Birthday menu

So .. last week I celebrated my 25th birthday :) And since my sister was about to go abroad for one semester we had a big party together with lots of great friends! My sister is vegetarian and a lot of our friends are too, so we had a mostly vegan, completely vegetarian menu. Today I want to share our recipes. At least the vegan ones, because I don't have the other 2 recipes .. so here we go:

Hummus:

• 2 cans drained chickpeas (puréed)
• minced garlic (1 clove)
• 1 tablespoon tahini (sesame "butter")
• water
• lemon juice to taste
• salt
• black pepper
• a little splash of olive oil

purée everything together, add as much water as you need to get a consistency you like!
Keeps fresh in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Guacamole

• 2 fresh avocados
• minced garlic (1 clove)
• salt
• black pepper
• lemon juice to taste

mash everything together or purée as well!
Keeps fresh in the fridge for about 1 day. Make sure you'll store it in an air-tight container to prevent the guacamole from browning (if it gets a little brown, stir well!)

We offered turkish bread with both creams!

Couscous-salad

• iceberg-lettuce
• romaine lettuce
• tomatoes
• cucumber
• sweet corn
• couscous (prepare as instructions say)
• olive oil, salt, black pepper,..

cut the vegetables, mix in the readily prepared and cooled couscous. Season with olive oil, salt, black pepper and whatever you desire. Chives and spring onions would taste great in it as well!

Green salad
we used the same vegetables as in the couscous-salad to simplify things.
For the dressing we used:

• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• salt
• black pepper
• chives
• a tiny splash of lemon juice

Onto the good stuff ;) :

we made chocolate muffins, lemon muffins and a cherry-mousse-au-chocolat- gateau
the dough was a normal cake mixture made of: (this is enough for the gateau-base and about 40 muffins)

• 1kg flour
• ~ 500grams sugar
• 2 packs of baking powder
• 4 packs of vanilla sugar
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• approx. 1 - 1.2liters water/soymilk (whichever you prefer. I usually use half'n'half)

once that was mixed together we took about 1/3 of it and added lemon flavour and a bit of lemon juice to it.

The lemon muffins were topped with lemon icing (icing sugar and lemon juice) and a vegan gummi bear in the middle. (obviously top the muffins with the icing when they've cooled a bit!)

The other 2/3 were mixed with approx. 125grams of baking cacao-powder (the unsweetend kind)
use half of this for the gateau. Mix the other half with chocolate chips and chopped walnuts for the chocolate muffins.

muffins and gateau-base take about 20-30minutes in the oven. Bake on the middle rack on 180°C

 once the gateau-base is cooled, top with cherrys (jared) or fresh strawberries, blueberries or any other fruit that appeals to you! on top of that you'll put the mousse-au-chocolat

for the mousse-au-chocolat you need:

• 800grams of silken tofu (puréed)
• 200grams of dark chocolate (melted)
• approx. 125grams icing sugar

purée the silken tofu while melting the chocolate on low heat on the stove. Once the chocolate is completely melted pour it into the silken tofu. Keep purée-ing the mixture. pour in the icing sugar. once you have a fluffed up creamy consitency put the mousse-au-chocolat into the fridge. Keep it the as long as you can! I recommend preparing it 1 day ahead. When you've put the mousse-au-chocolate onto the gateau-base keep it in the fridge until you'll serve it!

We also offered a vegetarian pasta-salad and a vegetarian-only gateau with a cream-cheese / yoghurt filling with mandarin oranges as well.

Unfortunately I forgot to take photos! :(

From now on I will write my blog due to time-issues in english only. I hope you will still keep reading!

Let me know if you have any questions about the recipes and if you've used one of them, let me know how it turned out! ;)

Love,
Julia
xxx