Zizi's Adventures - Real Food, Real Stories

Lemony Red Lentil Soup

by

I love lemony savoury meals and desserts too. Hot, thick, creamy soups make my body and soul warm at winter time. Lemon + thick, creamy soup = happiness. This red lentil soup also yummie and nutritious. Spices, red lentil and lemon makes it hot. In turn sauted swiss chard and Greek yoghurt calm the flavours in your mouth. In one word… heavenly!
Recipe adatpted from Heidi Swanson. If you don’t know her blog, hurry up and check it out. Her amazing site stuffed full of stunning photos, divine vegetarian recipes and well written stories.

Lemony Red Lentil Soup

Ingredients (serves 2)

– 1 cup red lentil
– 1 onion, peeled and chopped
– 2 cloves garlic, chopped
– 1/2 tablespoon turmeric
– 1 teaspoon ground cumin
– 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
– 1/2 bunch coriander, chopped
– 1 large lemon’s juice
– 1/2 cup cooked brown rice
– 2 large handful of swiss chard or spinach, chopped
– Greek yoghurt (omit to make it vegan)
– coconut or olive oil
– salt, pepper

Method

Put the red lentils in a pot with the turmeric, 1 teaspoon salt and 3-4 cups water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and cook until the lentils are soft (about 15-20 minutes). 
Meanwhile heat 2 tablespoons coconut oil in a pan and saute the chopped onion along with the cumin and mustard for a couple of minutes. When the onion is tender, add chopped coriander and after 1-2 minutes turn of the heat. Add this onion mixture to the soup and puree with a hand blender. Season with salt and pepper. If you find the soup too thick, add more water to it. Add lemon juice and stir it. Set aside and keep it warm.
In the same pan heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil and saute the chopped garlic for 2-3 minutes. Add swiss chard, a pinch of salt and pepper and cook until swiss chard collapses. 
Serve by placing a scoop of brown rice in each bowl, then soup, swiss chard and 1 or 2 tablespoons of Greek yoghurt.

Here is a werk photo of the shooting…

Paprika Spiced Cauliflower Soup

by

During the colder months in Eastern Europe, its common to find soups made from vegetables such as cauliflower, as it tolerates frost well and can be stored for a long time. This version of cauliflower soup includes paprika which gives it a nice flavor. Although, every family has their own version, my grandmother cooked cauliflower soup with paprika, my mother without it.
Follow me at the wonderful The Hungarian Girl website to read the recipe!

Basil, Walnut and Pecorino Spelt Crackers

by

I think I can say that home made cookies and home made crackers are the best. What do you think? Most of the time I bake sweet cookies but once in a while I crave after something salty, something savoury… like these crackers. 
I was curious where the crackers come from so I searched the internet and I found this: “Crackers are said to have been invented in 1792 when John Pearson of Newburyport, Massachusetts, USA made a pilot-like bread product from just flour and water that he called Pearson’s Pilot Bread. An immediate success with sailors because of its shelf life, it also became known as hardtack or sea biscuit. This was the first cracker bakery in the United States, and produced crackers for more than a century.

The real revolutionary moment in the life of the cracker came in 1801 when another Massachusetts baker, Josiah Bent, burned a batch of biscuits in his brick oven. The crackling noise that emanated from the singed biscuits inspired the name – crackers – and a bit of ingenuity, as Bent set out to convince the world of the product’s snack food potential. By 1810, his Boston-area business was booming, and, in later years, Bent sold his enterprise to the National Biscuit Company, which now does business under the Nabisco name.”

Now that I’m writing this post, watching this mouthwatering photos I know I have to bake them again this afternoon… yes, it’s this addictive. The good news: baking these crackers is easy as it gets.

Basil, Walnut and Pecorino Spelt Crackers

Ingredients

– 150 g white spelt flour
– 100 g cold butter, diced
– 100 g pecorino cheese, grated
– 10-15 lemon basil leaves, chopped
– 3 tablespoons walnut, roughly chopped
– 1 teaspoon salt

Method

In a bowl crumble the cold butter with the flour. Add salt, cheese, basil and walnut. Mix everythig together until incorporated. Divide the dough into half and transfer each of them to clingfilm and shape into logs (10-12 cm long, 3-4 cm diameter). Wrap well and place in the fridge until hard, at least 1 hour.
Meanwhile preheat the oven to 170C (325F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Unwrap the logs and cut crosswise into 5 mm thick slices. Arrange the crackers on the prepared pan. Bake the crackers until golden brown on the edges and lighter in the centre (for about 15 minutes). Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. The crackers will keep in an airtight container in cool dry place for up to 10 days.

Beet Green Quiche and the Organic Farmers Market in Budapest

by

I’m honest with you guys… If I have to get up to go to work during the weekdays, I’m not very inspired so it’s really difficult for me to do it. But if I have to get up at 6:30 am to go to the organic farmers market on Saturday mornings, I don’t have any problem with that. 🙂

This market means a lot to me. I get so much inspiration just walking around, relaxing and enjoying the colours, the smells. Beauty is everywhere, isn’t it? I  always recharge my batteries at the market. I also love  talking to the farmers changing ideas about recipes. So if you ever come to Budapest, do not miss to visit this market. It’s only open on Saturday mornings from 6:30 am until 1:00 pm (address: 12nd district, 1124 Budapest, Csörsz utca 18.).

These market photos were taken with my iPhone but I’m planning to take photos with my camera too and post them later on the blog.

And the recipe… I started using beet greens recently. I usually made salad from it. The leaves taste a bit bitter for me so to discard the bitterness I always mixed with tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers or sprouts and poured it with olive oil lemon juice dressing. So next time if you buy a bunch of beets, sauté, boil or steam the leafy green tops for a low-calorie nutritious side dish. Beet greens are rich in potassium, calcium, vitamin A and other minerals and vitamins. They also contain high amounts of lutein and beta-carotene; both are antioxidants that help keep eyes and skin healthy.

I found a wonderful, yummie recipe on my friend, Sari’s blog… beet green quiche. I baked it and we loved it. It’s very easy, very quick and delicious for lunch or dinner with a bowl of salad.

See, Sari, someone used one of your recipes from your blog to make a wonderful dish! Thank you, my friend! 🙂

Beet Green Quiche

Ingredients

– 2 bunches of beet greens, stems removed, coarsely chopped
– 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
– 4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
– 3 organic eggs
– 200 ml oat cream
– 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
– 100 g greated cheese
– salt, pepper
– 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
– coconut or olive oil

Method

Heat coconut oil in a pan and sauté the onion for 3-4 minutes until transparent and soft, then add garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Stir in beet greens and cook for 5-7 minutes until the greens get soft. Remove from heat and set aside to let cool.

Preheat the oven to 175C (350F).

In a bowl whisk together the eggs, oat cream, salt, pepper, nutmeg, chili flakes and cheese. Add the beet green mixture and stir to blend. Transfer it to a lightly buttered prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes on 175-180C (350F) until the top is golden brown and the eggs are set. Serve it with fresh salad.

Moroccan Quinoa Salad

by

I came home from London from Food Blogger Connect and I brought the sunshine with me. The weather actually turned out to be very hot in the last two weeks of August and it is still warm. I hope there will be indian summer in September and October especially because my lovely friends – Krista, Sarka and Giulia – will come and visit me (in different weeks). I’m already planning their foodie and sightseeing programs and I’m so looking forward to welcoming them in my country! 🙂

The recipe I made is vegan and very nutritious. I told you before I love quinoa but did you know that quinoa was of great nutritional importance in pre-Columbian Andean civilizations, secondary only to the potato, and was followed in importance by maize? In contemporary times, this crop has become highly appreciated for its nutritional value, as its protein content is very high (12%–18%). Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), and like oats, quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it a complete protein source, unusual among plant foods. It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest.

At the moment only the white quinoa can be bought in Hungary. I hope one day I can buy the red and black ones too because I really would like to make different kind of  meals from them. The recipe comes from one of my favourite healthy vegetarian blogs, Green Kitchen Stories.

Moroccan Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
– 2 smaller zucchini, cut in 3 mm thick slices
– 1 eggplant, cut in 3 mm thick slices
– 2 cloves garlic, chopped
– 1 cup quinoa
– 1/2 lemon’s freshly squeezed juice
– 2 teaspoon cinnamon
– 1 small (6 pieces) bunch of coriander, leaves chopped
– 1 small (6 pieces) bunch of mint, leaves chopped
– 2 tablepsoon raisins
– 1 cup almond, divided in half (lengthwise)
– 2 avocados, pitted, peeled and cut into 2 cm squares
– 4 pieces of spring onions, chopped
– salt, pepper
– olive oil

Method
Start by roasting the eggplant and zucchini slices. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and roast the slices at 170C (350F) for 3-4 minutes on each side. Put them in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, add garlic and salt and set aside.
Roast the almonds in a dry pan on medium heat for 8 minutes. Turn off the heat, salt the almonds and set aside.
Cook the 1 cup quinoa in 2 cups salted water. Also add the cinnamon to the water. When it’s done, drain if it’s necessary, and set aside to cool off. Add lemon juice, raisins, chopped coriander, mint and toss it around until everything is mixed. Serve the dish in bowls: quinoa with marinated vegetables, spring onions, avocado and roasted almonds. Drizzle with olive oil and more lemon juice.