Zizi's Adventures - Real Food, Real Stories

Superfood Breakfast: Spicy Pumpkin Granola

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Last Friday evening I was listening to this song (a few times) to get in the Christmas mood. Of course the cinnamon, almond, walnut and chocolate aroma in the flat also helped me. So hello December! You’re more than welcome!

I brought you a breakfast recipe that is excellent choice for cold, misty winter mornings. It also can be a Christmas gift idea – I bet success will be guaranteed if you give this as a present. In the last couple of years I always gave homemade gifts for my family and friends. All the time they were amazed how much time, love and energy I put to make everything. I think homemade gifts in a jar are always perfect idea for gift giving. Add a ribbon, a nice tag, wrap it in a rustic paper and whoever gets it, he/she will be impressed.

Granola is a breakfast or snack food, consisting of rolled oats, nuts, honey / maple, rice or agave syrup, and sometimes puffed rice, that is usually baked until crisp.  Dried fruits, chocolate, coconut flakes are also can be added. See another sugar-free granola recipe on my blog.

Spicy Pumpkin Granola
(Recipe: Sara Forte – The Sprouted Kitchen)

Ingredients

– 2 cups rolled oats
– 1/3 cup pumpkin purée (home baked is the best)
– 1/2 cup walnut
– 1/4 cup maple syrup (rice and agave syrup can be used too)
– 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
– 2 and 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil
– 1 teaspoon cinnamon
– 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
– 1/8 teaspoon ground clove
– 1/2 teaspoon salt
– 1/4 cup dried cranberries

Method

Preheat the oven to 160C (320F). Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

In a bowl mix together rolled oats, walnuts, sesame seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and salt. In another bowl mix together pumpkin purée, coconut oil and maple syrup. Mix all the ingredients together and spread the mixture evenly on to the baking tray. Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden brown (half time turn everything around with a wooden spoon).

Add dried cranberries, let it cool before serving it with almond/oat/rice milk or store in an air-tight jar in the fridge for 7 days.

Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies And A Virtual Baby Shower For Emiko

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Surprise! Surprise! Emiko! This is for you! An international baby shower party – honoring you – with friends around the world!

Emiko is going to get a wonderful Christmas present this year… she is about to have a baby girl, her first child. I bet she and her husband, Marco are going to have an exciting Christmas! 🙂

From left to right: Giulia, me and Emiko last year in London at the Food Blogger Connect

I met Emiko last August in London at the Food Blogger Connect conference. Giulia, our mutual friend from Tuscany, introduced us and since then we’ve become friends… long distance friends because we live very far from each other (she in Melbourne, me in Budapest). Luckily we’re very good at organizing so this year we made it happen to meet again, this time in Tuscany, Italy with other wonderful friends: Giulia, Karin and Regula. I love how blogging + social media bring people together!Emiko is a down-to-earth, comely, charming person who writes one of my favourite food blogs. Her writing skills are over the top, I love reading her stories and recipes. I also admire her clean, simple style in photography. All in all, I’m happy to call Emiko my friend.

A month ago we decided to throw a surprise party for Emiko. There have been so many emails going on back and forth, finding out who and what bakes for this baby shower. I’m so happy to be part of this event.

In October Emiko discovered that she has gestational diabetes that’s why I was trying to bake something very low in organic raw cane sugar but nutritious, healthy and yummie. These cookies are vegan, contain rolled oats, whole spelt flour and buckwheat flour that has a slightly nutty flavor. From the home baked pumpkin purée, the walnut and the chocolate chips (70% cocoa content) these cookies are rich and wholesome.

Emiko, I wish you all the best on your new journey that called motherhood. I have no doubts that you will be  a miraculous mommy of your little daughter! “Motherhood is near to divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind.” (Howard W. Hunter)

Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

– 1 and 1/4 cups rolled oats
– 1 cup whole wheat spelt flour
– 1/4 cup buckwheat flour
– 1/2 cup cane sugar
– 1 teaspoon salt
– 1 teaspoon cinnamon
– 1 tablespoon baking powder
– 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
– 6 tablespoons water
– 1 cup pumpkin purée (home baked is the best)
– 3 tablespoons coconut oil
– 1 teaspoon apple vinegar
– 1 vanilla bean, split and seeded
– 1/2 cup walnut
– 3/4 cup chocolate chips (70% cocoa content)

Method

In a small bowl mix together ground flax seed with water and let it sit for at least 10 minutes. This will form a “flax seed egg” that works as a binder for vegan baking. Although flax seed contains all sorts of healthy components, it owes its healthy reputation primarily to three ingredients: omega-3 essential fatty acids, lignans and fiber.

In a separate mixing bowl, add all dry ingredients: rolled oats, spelt flour, buckwheat flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder and stir to combine. In another bowl mix together pumpkin purée with coconut oil, apple vinegar, cane sugar and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones. Next add flax seed egg, walnut and chocolate until the mixture forms a dough.

Preheat the oven to 180C (356F). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Using a cookie or ice-cream scoop, portion out small balls of dough, then flatten the balls slightly with your hands. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. These cookies are crunchy on the outside and chewy inside. Yummie!

Dip the cookies into vegan spicy hot cocoa…

For  more top-notch, yum cake recipes and baby shower wishes for Emiko, visit my magnificent friends’ blogs:
* Regula – Miss Foodwise: Cobnut brandy
* Valeria – Life Love Food: Gingerbread banana muffins
* Karin – Yum and More: Flourless chocolate cake with pears
* Jasmine – Labna: Frollini di riso
* Giulia – Jul’s Kitchen: Sponge cake with custard and chocolate
* Sarka – Cook Your Dream: Savory mini tartlets
* Rosella – Vaniglia Storie Di Cucina: Soft cheesecake

Roasted Millet Salad With Garlicy Butternut Squash and Tofu

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Now that we have a tofu tutorial, let’s see a delicious tofu recipe. It is a warm, nutritious grain salad with roasted pumpkin and tofu. It is filling, gives you energy and you can take it for lunch the next day at work.

Millets are major food sources in arid and semiarid regions of the world, and feature in the traditional cuisine of many others. People with coeliac disease can replace certain gluten-containing cereals in their diets with millet. Millets are predominantly starchy. The protein content is comparable to that of wheat and maize. Millets are rich in B vitamins (especially niacin, B6 and folic acid), calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, and zinc.

The idea to roast the millet before cooking comes from one of my new cookbooks, Sprouted Kitchen. It gives an earthy flavour to the dish. I added roasted garlic, butternut squash and tofu to the salad and tossed it with a creamy tahini-lemon-chili sauce. Oh My, yummie!

Roasted Millet Salad With Garlicy Butternut Squash and Tofu

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

– 150 g millet
– 300 g firm tofu
– 350 g butternut squash (or any kind of squash), peeled and cubed
– 3 cloves garlic, chopped
– 4 tablespoons tahini
– 2 teaspoons soy sauce
– 1 teaspoon chili flakes
– 2 teaspoons nutritional yeast (optional)
– juice of 1 lemon
– salt, pepper
– coconut or olive oil

Method

Roast the millet in a dry pan for 5 minutes then set aside. Press the unnecessary liquid out of the tofu, then dice into small cubes (about 1 cm * 1 cm, 0.39 inch * 0.39 inch). Peel the butternut squash then dice into the same size like tofu. Preheat the oven to 180C (356F).

Arrange the tofu and butternut squash cubes on a baking sheet, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons coconut oil, season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 10 minutes then sprinkle with the chopped garlic and roast for another 10 minutes or until golden brown. Set aside. Cook the roasted millet in salted water according to package directions. Set aside.

In a small bowl whisk together tahini, soy sauce, lemon juice, chili flakes and nutritional yeast.

In a big bowl toss the millet and roasted squash, tofu togetherand add the tahini sauce.

Enjoy!

Superfood Breakfast: Vegan Spicy Pumpkin Oatmeal

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Do you remember superfood breakfasts? I started these posts in February when I. (my boyfriend) and I did a sugar free diet month (thanks for the inspiration for Sarah Wilson). Now that the weather is cold and murky again I feel that only fruit is not enough for breakfast anymore. I need nutritious, hearty breakfasts that give energy for my body. So superfood breakfasts are back!

Porridge is a dish made by boiling oats (whole-grain, rolled, crushed, or steel cut) or other cereal meals in water, milk (also non-dairy milk), or both. Daily consumption of a bowl of oatmeal can lower blood cholesterol, because of its soluble fibre content. Oat also has a warming effect so it’s ideal to eat it during cold months.

I always make oatmeal with non-dairy milk. I mostly use oat- or ricemilk – they have a slightly sweet taste even if they’re unsweetened! You can also substitute soymilk, or almond milk for milk. You won’t even be able to tell the difference in most recipes, including breads, muffins, cakes, cookies, puddings and other creamy desserts.

I added pumpkin purée to this meal that’s why its colour looks bright yellow. With a bit of maple syrup and spices it is one of the best comfort food breakfast during winter time. It is a small bowl of harmony in terms of its colour and taste.

Suggestion: I always make my homemade pumpkin purée because in Hungary canned ones are not sold. Autumn and winter time I usually bake a small batch of pumpkin every Friday evening for the weekend and next week. It is a good trick when time is short and days are long. Pumpkin purée can be kept in the fridge for 4 or 5 days.

Vegan Spicy Pumpkin Oatmeal

Ingredients (serves 2)

– 60 g rolled oats
– 110 g pumpkin purée
– 350 ml oatmilk
– 2-3 tablespoons maple syrup (you can substitute with agave, rice syrup or honey)
– 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
– a pinch of grated nutmeg
– a pinch of grated clove
– small handful of walnut

Method

Roast the walnuts in a dry pan for 6-8 minutes then set aside.

In a small pan over medium heat start cooking rolled oats with the oatmilk. When milk is almost absorbed and oats are fluffy, add pumpkin purée, maple syrup and the spices. If you find it too thick, add more milk, a little at a time. Stir gently and serve it in small bowls. Sprinkle the top with the roasted walnuts.

Vegan Pumpkin Chickpeas Curry

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The other day I felt I would love to eat something Indian flavored meal that has a nice aroma, also it is delicous and easy to make. I only cooked curry once before so I needed a recipe to follow because I wasn’t confident with the usage of Indian spices.I found a great recipe on BBC Good Food that stands alone as a vegan main course or as a complex side dish for an Indian feast. You can substitute the pumpkin with eggplant or zucchini anything you would like. I served the curry with simple boiled rice but I would love to make Prerna’s naan breads next time.

Vegan Pumpkin Chickpeas Curry

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

– 1 kg pumpkin, peeled, cut into small cubes
– 400 g (1 can) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
– 400 ml coconut milk
– 250 ml vegetable stock
– 3 tablespoons yellow curry paste
– 2 onions, finely chopped
– 1 tablespoon black mustard seed
– 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
– 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
– juice of 1 lime
– mint
– naan bread or boiled rice to serve

Method

Heat the oil in a pan, then gently fry the curry paste with the onions, cardamom and mustard seed for 2-3 minutes until fragrant. Add the cubed pumpkin and coat in the paste. Pour in the vegetable stock and coconut milk. Bring everything to a boil, add the chickpeas, then cook for on lower heat about 10 minutes until the squash is tender. Stir in the juice of the lime. Turn off the heat, sprinkle the curry with mint leaves.

Serve with naan breads of boiled rice.