butternut squash

Superfood Breakfast: Pumpkin Almond Milk Smoothie With Cinnamon

February 7, 2012 by Zizi

Superfood is the one which has high concentrations of essential nutrients with proven health benefits. This smoothie is healthy, creamy, tasty and nutritious. It is made from homemade pumpkin purée with love.

Pumpkin has many health benefits, as it is a good source of vitamins (A, beta-carotene, B2, B5, C) and minerals (calcium, magnesium, potassium). Almond milk contains no cholesterol or lactose. The nut’s soft texture, mild flavour, and light colouring (when skinned) make for an efficient analog to dairy, and a soy-free choice for lactose intolerant people and vegans. Almonds are a rich source of vitamin E. About 20% of raw almond is high quality protein, a third of which are essential amino acids. They are also rich in dietary fiber, B vitamins, essential minerals and monounsaturated fat, one of the two fats which potentially may lower LDL cholesterol. Typical of nuts and seeds, almonds also contain phytosterols, associated with cholesterol-lowering properties. Potential health benefits, which have not been scientifically validated, include improved complexion and possibly a lower risk of cancer.

I usually start my day with a glass of lukewarm water with freshly squeezed lemon juice (1/2 lemon per person). It flushes the kidneys and the liver and alkalizes the blood. Then I have a mug of herbal tea (milfoil, chamomile, field horsetail, etc.). Half an hour later I have my green or fruit or vegetable smoothie. At work I drink lots of water and I usually have an apple. That’s all I have until lunch and I feel fresh and full of energy.

What do you have for breakfast?

Note: Thank you for everyone who voted for me The Kitchn Homie Awards contest (Best Healthy Cooking Blog). My blog got 45 of your votes (!!!) that was enough for the 14th place. I’m extremly happy! Thank you for everyone!

Pumpkin Almond Milk Smoothie with Cinnamon

Ingredients (serves 2)

– 500 ml almond milk (unsweetened)

– 12 teaspoon pumpkin purée (unsweetened)

– 2 teaspoon cinnamon

Method

Place all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. If you find it too thick, add more almond milk. Pour into prepared glasses.

Vegetarian Christmas – Mashed Pumpkin Potatoes with Rosemary

January 5, 2012 by Zizi

Hey, it’s still Christmas time on my blog! I want to share a few more recipes that I cooked and baked at Christmas time. The main meal was the nut roast and there were several side dishes like this mashed pumpkin potatoes. The addition of pumpkin to ordinary mashed potatoes gives the dish a nice earthiness that goes well with roasted meat and vegetarian nut roast too. Rosemary tops up its simplicity!

Mashed Pumpkin Potatoes with Rosemary

Ingredients (serves 4)

– 450 g pumpkin, peeled, cut into small cubes
– 450 g potatoes, peeled, cut into small cubes
– 100 ml cream or sour cream
– 20 g unsalted butter
– 1 sprig rosemary, leaves chopped
– sea salt
– pepper

Method

In a large sauce pan cover potatoes and pumpkin with water. Bring to boil and simmer until potatoes are tender, 20-25 minutes. Drain potatoes and pumpkin. Mash with a potato masher, mixer or immersion blender. Add cream/sour cream and butter to thin a bit and make mash creamier. Season with salt, pepper and rosemary. Serve it warm with the cranberry pistachio nut roast.

More vegetarian Christmas recipes:
Cranberry and Pistachio Nut Roast
Pumpkin Pie

Vegetarian Christmas – Pumpkin Pie

December 19, 2011 by Zizi

I was going to write a series about vegetarian Christmas but because I was very busy I didn’t have time to translate all my Hungarian blog posts into English. I’ve got tasty ideas for a vegetarian Christmas with festive vegetarian/vegan recipes like a delicious nut roast, different side dishes and yum desserts. So next year if you look for ideas for a sensational spread on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and throughout the festive season, remember to come back and visit my blog for these recipes.

The filling recipe is from Shauna. This is a pumpkin pie made and baked from scratch with love. From a real pumpkin. In Hungary you can’t buy canned pumpkin puree, we don’t have it. If you want to make something from pumpkin puree you have to make it. If you haven’t tried it, it’s the time you should. This pie is very filling and nutritious.

Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients

For the crust
– 200 g white spelt flour
– 50 g oat flour
– 170 g unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small (2-3 cm / 1-inch) cubes
– 4 tablespoons cold water
– 2 teaspoons cane powder sugar
– 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the filling
– 2 cups roasted, pureed pumpkin
– 1 cup ricotta
– 1/2 cup cream
– 2 organic or free range eggs
– 1/3 cup cane sugar
– 2 tablespoons maply syrup
– 1 vanilla bean, split and seeded
– 1 teaspoon cinnamon
– 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
– 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground ginger

Method

To make the crust, in a bowl mix together the flours, powder sugar and salt. Add the cubed butter and mix until the butter pieces are broken up and about the size of small peas. Add cold water and mix until the dough comes together. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in a clingfilm and let it rest in the fridge for at least 30-40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). After resting the dough, roll out the pastry on a floured surface to cover your pie dish (diameter: 29-30 cm) and prick holes with a fork all over the pastry (this helps the steam escape and prevents the crust from bubbling up). Line the pie crust with parchment paper, then fill with dried peas, lentils, beans or other pulses, or with ceramic or metal “baking beans” (also called pastry weights or pie weights) so that it will keep its shape when baking. Bake at 180C (350F) for about 15 minutes until it gets golden brown. Set aside.

Roast pumpkin halves at 180-200C for 45-60 minutes. Let cool and scoop out 2 cups flesh.

To make the filling, in a bowl beat the eggs until fluffy, then add cane sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, ricotta and cream. Continue blending until the mixture is smooth. Spoon the filling into the crust. Bake at 180C (350F) for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 170C (338F) and bake for another 30-40 minutes (until you can insert a toothpick into the center of the filling and have it come out clean). If the crust starts growing too brown, put some foil around the edges of the pie and continue baking. Set aside and allow the pie to cool before serving.

Hokkaido Squash "Mac&Cheese" with Swiss Chard

November 3, 2011 by Zizi

I was going to post this recipe before I went to Tuscany to visit my amazing Tuscan food blogger friend, Giulia with two other food lovers: Regula and Karin. I got very busy before the journey so I didn’t have time to write the post. The funny thing is that this morning, Giulia posted a very similar recipe, an autumn pumpkin mac&cheese dish on her blog.

I made a vegan version of this meal. I didn’t have experience with nutritional yeast before but I loved the taste of this “cheese” sauce. It’s healthy, savory, creamy and makes you want more.

Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast. It is produced by culturing the yeast with a mixture of sugarcane and beet molasses for a period of 7 days and then harvesting, washing, drying and packaging it. This yeast is a source of protein and vitamins, especially the B-complex vitamins, and is a complete protein. It is also naturally low in fat and sodium and is free of sugar, dairy, and gluten and popular with vegans and vegetarians and may be used as an ingredient in recipes or as a condiment.

I used Hokkaido squash to make it but you can use any kind of squash or pumpkin. Recipe adapted with some changes from Oh She Glows.

The real colour of the dish! 🙂

Hokkaido Squash “Mac&Cheese” with Swiss Chard

Ingredients (serves 2)

– 1 cup Hokkaido squash puree (peeled, baked and pureed with a blender)
– 1 cup unflavoured almond milk (or oat/rice/soy milk)
– 6 tablespoons nutritional yeast (flake)
– 1 tablespoon tapioca starch (or corn starch)
– 3 cloves garlic, chopped
– 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
– 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
– 250 g penne
– 3 big leaves Swiss chard, chopped
– salt, pepper
– olive oil
– coconut oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Cut the Hokkaido squash in half. Scoop the seeds out of the squash with a spoon. Drizzle the squash with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for 40-60 minutes or until tender. Then allow to cool.

Meanwhile prepare the cheese sauce. In a bowl whisk together almond milk and tapioca starch until clumps are gone. In a pot heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil, add almond milk + starch and whisk. Stir in the remaining ingredients: nutritional yeast, chopped garlic, mustard and season with salt and pepper. Whisk over low heat until thickened. Blend the sauce with 1 cup of roasted squash. Set aside.

Cook your pasta al dente in salted water according to package’s directions. Drain and set aside.

In a big bowl mix together cooked pasta with the squash-cheese sauce and chopped Swiss chard. Add the mixture into a pan and bake it in the oven for 10 minutes at 180C (350F). Serve with salad.

Butternut Squash-Beans-Coconut Milk Rice

December 22, 2010 by Zizi

Újabb sütőtökös recept. Tagadhatatlan mostmár, hogy szerelembe estem ezzel a csodaszép narancssárga zöldséggel. Nem is tudom hanyadik sütőtökös recept ez már a blogon. Amikor először megkóstoltam ezt az ételt, a karibi szigetvilág jutott eszembe. Ki is találtam, hogy ez a két ünnep közötti lazító karibi fogás. A kókusz és a lime együtt zseniális ízt ad, rájöttem, hogy imádom. Tervbe is vettem egy ilyen kombinációjú keksz megsütését. Recept Helen-től.

Ja, még gyorsan hírt adok egy számomra nagy eseményről mielőtt belevágok a receptbe. Nem húzom egyesek (Bori, Évi, Puffin) idegeit, akik már a Facebook-on tobzódtak, hogy osszam meg velük a hírt! 🙂 Szóval a mai napon jelent meg az első angol nyelvű cikkem, írásom a Travel Belles nevű weblapon. A Travel Belles, ahogy a neve is utal rá, egy utazásokról szóló portál. Érdekessége, hogy csak nők publikálnak, viszont a cikkek mindenkinek szólnak (természetesen női szemszögből megközelítve a témákat). Az első cikkem a bécsi karácsonyi vásárokról szól. Úgy néz ki, hogy a jövőben többször fogtok majd találkozni az írásaimmal itt. Szóval most Happy Zizi vagyok. Akkor jöjjön végre a recept.

Hozzávalók:
– 1/4 sütőtök, meghámozva, felkockázva
– 1 konzerv bab (kb. 200-250 g), lecsöpögtetve, átmosva
– 1 fej vöröshagyma, meghámozva, felaprítva
– 1 bögre basmati rizs
– 1,5 bögre kókusztej + 1,5 bögre víz
– 4 ág kakukkfű
– só, bors
– 1 lime reszelt héja és leve
– kókuszzsír

Egy serpenyőben olvasszuk fel a kókuszzsírt, dinszteljük meg rajta a vöröshagymát néhány perc alatt. Vegyük takarékra a gázt, adjuk hozzá a sütőtököt és pirítsuk, pároljuk 10-15 percig. Közben tegyük fel a kókusztejet a vízzel forrni, ekkor öntsük bele a rizst és takarékon fedő alatt főzzük, amíg megpuhul. Ha a sütőtök megpuhult (vigyázzunk, ne főzzük teljesen pépesre!), sózzuk, borsozzuk, adjuk hozzá a kakukkfüvet, a lime héját és levét. Néhány percig főzzük össze, majd keverjük össze a megfőtt rizzsel. Különleges ízvilág, könnyű, de egyben tartalmas étel.