Zizi's Adventures - Real Food, Real Stories

Kale Tempeh Salad

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I cooked tempeh before but I still would like to try more tempeh recipes because I really love this ingredient. I didn’t know that tempeh comes originally from Indonesia (especially popular on the island of Java, where it is a staple source of protein). It is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form.

Like tofu, tempeh is made from soybeans, but it is a whole soybean product with different nutritional characteristics and textural qualities. Tempeh’s fermentation process and its retention of the whole bean give it a higher content of protein, dietary fiber, and vitamins. It has a firm texture and an earthy flavor which becomes more pronounced as it ages. Because of its nutritional value, tempeh is used worldwide in vegetarian and cuisine.

This salad is very easy to make and if you would like to make it more filling, cook brown rice, quinoa or millet and serve it with the salad.

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Kale Tempeh Salad

Ingredients (serves 2)

For the salad
– a bunch of kale, leaves removed and torn into small pieces
– 2-3 spring onion, chopped
– 1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
– 1/4 cup walnut, toasted in a dry pan and chopped
– 250 g tempeh, cut into small cubes
– 1 tablespoon soy sauce
– 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
– 1 teaspoon honey
– salt, pepper
– olive oil

For the dressing
– 2 tablespoons olive oil
– 2-3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
– 1 teaspoon honey
– 1 clove garlic, chopped
– 2 tablespoons tahini
– 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
– salt, pepper
– chili flakes
– water

Method

Heat a pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil and roast tempeh cubes for a few minutes. Add soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, honey and cook for 2-3 minutes and set aside.

In a bowl mix together olive oil, lemon juice, honey and garlic for the dressing. Season with salt, pepper, then add tahini, nutritional yeast, chili flakes and dilute with a bit of water.

Place kale leaves, parsley, sprin onion and walnut on a plate. Add roasted tempeh and sprinkle with the dressing.

Roasted Eggplant With Tahini Yoghurt Sauce

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I’m sharing a Middle-Eastern recipe with you today. It’s called baba ganoush and a dish of eggplant (aubergine) mashed and mixed with virgin olive oil and various seasonings. The Arabic term means “father of pestle”. Baba ganoush can be an appetizer or starter but also a side dish or salad. It is made of roasted, peeled, and mashed eggplant, blended with tahini, garlic, salt and lemon juice. Cumin and chili powder can be added.

The eggplant is first roasted, then the softened flesh is scooped out, squeezed or salted to remove excess water and then is pureed with tahini. There are many variants of the recipe, especially the seasoning. I learnt this version from a Japanese friend of mine, Maki.

I didn’t scoope out the softened flesh, I served it in the eggplant skin and I made a tahini lemon yoghurt sauce to go with it. I served it with Arabic bread and a big bowl of salad.

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At the end of August we spent a a long weekend with friends at a wonderful place, called Lake Balaton like last year. During the weekend I was responsible for the salads and side dishes to make. I had many helping hands (I needed) to cook everything while I was also nursing my son. 🙂

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Roasted Eggplant With Tahini Yoghurt Sauce

Ingredients (serves 6)

– 2 large eggplants, halved the long way
– 6 tablespoons + 4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
– 400 g soy yoghurt / yoghurt
– 4 tablespoons tahini
– 1/2 teaspoon cumin
– juice of 1 lemon
– 1 clove garlic, chooped
– 1 small bunch of parsley, chopped
– salt
– sesame seeds, for garnish

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Place eggplant halves on a glass baking pan lined with paper. With a sharp knife, cut crisscross vents about 1 cm (0,39 inch) apart across the flesh. Drizzle olive oil on top, sprinkle with a few pinches of salt, then bake in the oven for approximately 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a bowl mix together yoghurt, tahini, 4 teaspoons olive oil, chopped garlic and parsley (leave a bit for garnish), lemon juice, cumin. Season with salt.

Serve the eggplant halves with the sauce, sprinkle with sesame seeds and the remaining parsley. Also serve with pita as a spread or as a side dish with steamed brown rice and salad.

Raw Zucchini Spagetthi With Creamy Tahini Sauce

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Although I’m ovo-lacto vegetarian I cook and bake a lot of vegan meals too. I’m also interested to challenge myself with making raw meals. Raw foodism can include any diet of primarily unheated food, or food cooked to a temperature less than 40C (104F) to 46C (115F). It is believed that foods cooked above this temperature have lost much of their nutritional value and are less healthful or even harmful to the body. Also rawfoodblogs prove that the meals are made from simply ingredients are so colourful, tasteful and nutritious.

I love pasta and I eat a lot. In the summer heat I  don’t like cooking when the kitchen is already steamy and hot. I decided to try something new and make a different kind of ‘pasta’. This raw version of spagetthi is very versatile, it can be eaten as a salad or a main course.

Raw Zucchini Spagetthi with Creamy Tahini Sauce

Ingredients (serves 2)

– 4 baby zucchini (either yellow or green, about 10-15 cm / 3,93-5,90 inch long)
– 2 tablespoons tahini
– 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
– 1 tablespoon soy sauce
– 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast (flake)
– 2 tablespoons water
– a pinch of chili flakes

Method

With a julienne peeler slice the zucchinis (until the middle of the zucchinis, seed parts). Place the sliced zucchinis in a bowl and set aside.

In a small bowl mix together tahini with lemon juice, soy sauce and nutritional yeast. Dilute the sauce with 2 tablespoons water, then add chili flakes and mix until smooth. Pour the sauce over the zucchini spagetthi and work it in with your hands.

Millet, Oat And Apple Muffins And Meeting Béatrice Peltre

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These gorgeous, yum and moist muffins were baked for a picnic to Szentendre. This riverside town close to Budapest is known for its museums, galleries and artists. Due to its picturesque appearance and easy rail and river access, it has become a popular destination for tourists staying in the capital of Hungary.

This was the first time I used millet flour in baking. It has a subtle flavor, lots of vitamins and minerals, and adds a lovely creamy color to baked goods. I had a good experience with using it so I’ll give it a try next time too. Have you tried millet flour before?

Image is copyright of Béatrice Peltre and is used with author’s permission

This muffin recipe comes from my latest favorite cookbook of Béatrice Peltre “La Tartine Gourmande – Recipes for an Inspired Life. I’ve been a big fan of Béa’s award-winning blog for a while. The first time I found it I couldn’t stop reading her stories and admiring her photos. In a couple of days I went through all her posts! I think it was love at first sight.She is an icon in the food blogging sphere. I think everyone knows her name and wonderful blog. If somehow you don’t, hurry up and check it out, after reading this post. She is a friendly and chatty person, a great cook, a talented baker and knows her way around her camera. Béa’s styling is stunning and the mouthwatering photos she takes, make you jump and run into the kitchen.

I feel lucky because I had the chance to meet and see her at work last August at the Food Blogger Connect in London. I learnt so much from Béa and other speakers of the event. The biggest highlight of attending the conference was to meet my fellow food blogger friends in person. I came away with so much inspriation, idea, a whole group of new friends and ready for action attitude.

Béa at work

Béa’s book transports you to a word of bright colours, flavors and delectable, easy to make recipes. Although she is not vegetarian I hardly found meat or fish recipes in the book so I was happy that I could cook & bake all the recipes only with small changes. Like I did with these muffins. No quinoa flour is available in Hungary so I used millet flour instead. I changed the butter into coconut oil and Muscovado sugar into coconut flower sugar.

Millet, Oat and Apple Muffins

Ingredients (makes 10-12)

– 60 g millet flour
– 30 g oat flour
– 50 g rolled oats, plus more for topping
– 50 g coconut flower sugar (you can substitute with cane or Muscovado sugar)
– 1 teaspoon alkaline free baking powder
– 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
– 175 g apple (2 apples), peeled, cored and grated
– 2 organic eggs
– 50 g coconut oil (you can substitute with butter)
– 2 tablespoons tahini (sesame cream)
– 1 vanilla bean, split and seeded (you can substitute with 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract)
– pinch of sea salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F) and line 10-12 hole muffin tray with paper cases.

In a bowl mix together the dry ingredients: flours, rolled oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl beat the eggs with the cane sugar until creamy and light, then add tahini, coconut oil, vanilla and mix. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and with a wooden spoon mix until smooth (don’t overwork the batter!). Stir in the grated apple.

Spoon the mixture into the cases, filling them about two thirds full, dividing the batter evenly and topping each muffin with rolled oats. Bake the muffins for about 25 minutes on 180C (350F). Remove from the oven when a cocktail stick just comes out of the muffins cleanly. Leave them to cool on a wire rack.