Creamy sauerkraut with apple and bratwurst

In the previous post I made an awesome sauce for Brussels sprouts and while the boyfriend and I were raving over those sprouts at dinner, the thought occured that this sauce might work just as well for sauerkraut. Since I love a good sauce and a good experiment, I went ahead and came up with this dish. Was I right? Did the sauce work for sauerkraut? It sure did! This is sauerkraut like you never had it before. Honestly, I have always liked sauerkrat, but never really loved it. But with this sauce, and the apple...in combination with a good bratwurst, oh my! I will definitely make this again.

Whole30, day 16: Curiousity & cravings

For the first time in two weeks, I was really craving something sweet today. First I was thinking about chocolate, later it became a serious craving for a giant glass of cola. I resisted. A challenge is a challenge and I can keep anything up for thirty days, right?

Also, I'm very curious to see if I have lost any weight. I've been stalling for nearly two months before starting this challenge and I really want to know if I have broken that stall. Some people report a loss up to 12 pounds, and although that would be awesome, I would really be happy with "just" 4-6 pounds. Oh well...I resisted getting on the scale too. I will for it patiently.

Whole30, day 11: Sauerkraut & pineapple

Not even half way through the Whole30 experience and I'm already starting to think that I maybe should turn this into a Whole60! That's how good I feel. At least I know for sure, that after these 30 days, I won't eat dairy as often as I did before (like munching on whole chunks of cheese). I'm fine eating the way I eat right now and I'm sure I can keep eating like this for a long time. Maybe I'll use cheese, butter or cream more as an occasional treat instead of a daily habit. The same goes for stevia. Nearly two weeks in, I'm fine now with drinking my tea without a sweetener. I do love my Paleo coconut cake though, but I don't need to eat it every day, or even every week. Just as an occasional indulgence. And taken every now and then, stevia probably won't hurt me. It really amazes me how you can change your outlook on foods. Once I thought I couldn't live without bread. Now I'm living without it just fine. Three weeks ago I thought it would be really hard to give up my beloved cheese, but now I find that it's not that hard at all. Yesterday, I did however wanted a little sweetnes, so I decided to go for some fruit.

Whole30, day 7: Haddock & roasted vegetables

Yay! I finished my first week. That alone makes me feel good. The only thing that bugs me, is that I'm not allowed to weigh myself. I am really curious. But...I won't do it. I took this challenge, and I will complete this, including every single rule.

Is it my imagination or am I sleeping better? I went to bed last night at 12 and woke up, fully rested at 7:30. Normally, I wouldn't be rested with less than 8 hours of sleep, especially not in march. I'm better with less sleep in the summer. The early morning sun usually gives me more energy. But in this time of year, I always feel I have to hibernate, sleep for hours and hours...so I was a little confused when I woke this early. Oh well, more time to do stuff!

Whole30, day 6: Bone marrow, beef & vegetable soup

I woke up today at 06:30, refreshed, awake and feeling just fine. I slept like a baby for 8 hours straight. Last night I was really tired, so I had planned on sleeping in today, but I guess my body had other plans. Could this be the diet, or is it just coincidence?

For breakfast I had a big mug of peppermint tea, tomato and avocado salad and two scrambled eggs. After that I took a quick shower and went to the market. I bought a bunch of fresh vegetables, smoked mackerel and a few pounds of haddock that was on sale. After that I went to a plain old supermarket to buy meat (that's hardly ever sold on Dutch markets). I whipped up a salad for lunch with daikon, a bit of fennel, kohlrabi, a bit of paleo mayonnaise and smoked mackerel.

(over)stuffed eggplant

There was a time when I didn't really like eggplant. Then I found out that you have to use salt first to get the slightly bitter taste out, and that changed my mind about this vegetable. This recipe takes a little time to make, because the eggplants have to soak in salt water first. Then you fry them, which also takes some time. The good news is, that you can easily prepare the eggplants ahead, and then finish the dish quick and easy when you want it for dinner on a busy workday.

Paleo Pumpkin Fries

Fries. Who doesn't love them? But if you're lowcarb, you probably won't eat them anymore. Or maybe you do, as your occasional cheat meal. Some people swap them for the healthier sweet potato fries, but those are still heavy on carbs. Pumpkins are much lower in carbs and, as I found out today, a lovely substitute.

Creamy Fennel Soup

The best thing about vegetable soups is, that they're such an easy way of getting loads of vegetables in, without having to feel like a ruminant. I love making these soups for an easy and quick lunch, or as a starter to a lovely steak and salad.

Roasted tomato soup with beef shank

I used to do a vegan version of a roasted tomato soup. But since I'm eating meat again, I updated my old recipe. And for the better, I have to say! This soup is amazing. The base is a bone stock, made from beef shank. Then flavored with roasted tomatoes and herbs and finished with super tender shank meat and a good dollop of heavy cream. Roasting the tomatoes gives them loads of extra flavor.

If you make this soup using the home made shank stock, it takes quite some time to make, but it's really cheap (because shank, at least in my country, costs next to nothing compared to other stewing cuts), easy and very, very (did I say very yet?) tasty! Of course, you can take a short cut with a beef stock cube, and some sausage. But try roasting tomatoes for soup, that's really worth the effort!

Carrots with orange and cumin

A few months ago I subscribed to an initiative of a few organic farmers in my area. All kinds of farmers, produce, cattle and dairy, joined forces and created a website where customers (in a certain area) can order their foods. They deliver it at your house every friday for a measly three euros (about four dollars). So, every week I look what they have to offer and order what I want: all organic/grass fed and local. Brilliant!

This week they had these rainbow carrots on sale and I thought they were too pretty not to buy. So I ordered them and then had to figure out what to do with them. Because they are so pretty, I thought it would be a waste to chop them up and dump them in a dish where you could hardly recognise them.

Super fast smoked fish salad

This recipe is great for lunch on the go. Because it has no leaves in it, it won't go limp if you don't eat it right away. And best of all: it's really easy to make!

You can use any kind of smoked fish you want. I chose smoked trout for this recipe, but I'm sure some smoked mackerel will be just as good. Or even smoked chicken. It's just that the smokiness is so good with the freshness of the rest of the ingrediënts.

How to keep lettuce fresh and crisp

picture courtesy of thekitchn.com

Usually, I grocery shop once a week. I think it's cheaper this way. I plan the menu ahead and don't buy more foods than I need. Okay, hardly any more... Most foods are kept fresh easily in the pantry, fridge or freezer, but I always had a problem with lettuce. I eat lots of salads and usually buy two or three heads of different kinds of lettuce at once. But even when I kept them in the crisper drawer in the fridge, they would still go limp after two or three days. A friend of mine, who's a restaurant chef, knew a solution.

Cottage Pie

When thinking about comfort foods, one of the first things that come to my mind, is cottage or shepherd's pie. I used to love a soft creamy layer of mashed potatoes and the savory filling of meat and vegetables. I personally can't do potato anymore, because I found out that it produces a serious spike in my blood sugar, so I replaced it with cauliflower. But not just cauliflower...creamy cauliflower! This veg really replaces potatoes very well, as is well known in the paleo/primal world.

Roasted beet salad with goat cheese

Earlier I did a post on roasted beets. That was my first attempt on roasting beets and I think that roasting is now my favorite way of preparing beets. But, as with almost everything else, you need to try some different flavors, otherwise things get boring. It turns out that goat cheese is a great companion for beets. Along with a tiny hint of sweet and sour. 

Summer Mash

I started a square foot garden in the spring and have been harvesting a lot of awesome greens for the past weeks. I can recommend growing a few veggies to anyone. It's very rewarding and healthy, since you can grow organic. And if you use the square foot garden method, it's also very easy and cheap. This easy recipe is the result of picking a combination of greens, which turned out to work really well!

Roasted beetroot with garlic and rosemary

Yesterday I bought nearly two pounds of beetroot. I like beetroot, but I got a little bored by the way I usually eat them boiled in their skins, then peeled and grated with a little sugar and some vinegar. That is a nice way to eat them, but I wanted something different. So I decided to roast them. It's easy and very tasty. Roasting these vegetables really brings out the sweetness and flavor in them.

Vegetables in coconut-rum sauce

After a long, dark and cold winter, I welcome spring this year more than ever. We're not quite there yet in this part of the world, but when I woke up this morning to a bright and sunny day, I suddenly felt all happy and summery. And I wanted dinner that matched that feeling.

This recipe fits that summery feeling very well. It's spicy and sweet, with the freshness of lime juice, the creaminess of the coconut and the kick of a drop of rum. Don't let the long list of ingredients fool you. It's easy to make, and it's a really sunny dish!

Vegetables in coconut-rum sauce (serves 2)

14 oz (400 gr) sweet potato, in cubes
10 oz (300 gr) carrots, sliced
3 oz (100 gr) green beans, chopped in 1/4 inch pieces
3 oz (100 gr) peas
1 oz (30 gr) raisins
1 large banana
1 onion
1 small chili pepper, deseeded
2 inch (5 cm) piece of ginger root
3 cloves garlic
1 1/5 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cloves powder
1 tsp turmeric
6.5 oz (200 ml) coconut milk
3/4 cup (180 ml) water
2 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp rum (dark or light)

In a foodprocessor puree the ginger, garlic, chili pepper and onion. Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet or wok, and fry the onion puree for a minute on high heat. Add the vegetables and the water and mix well. Turn the heat to low-medium and add the salt and the spices. Finaly, add the coconut milk, lime juice, raisins and rum and mix well. Turn heat to low and let it simmer for about twenty minutes, or until the sweet potato and carrots are soft (but not mushy) and the sauce has thickened a little.

When the vegetables are almost cooked (after about fifteen minutes), heat a little oil in a skillet. Peel the banana, cut into slices and fry on high heat for a minute. Flip the slices and fry on medium heat for another minute or three, until the slices are caramelized and a little crispy on the outside.

Serve the vegetables topped with the fried banana slices. We ate this over some brown rice and with a simple green salad on the side.

"Pebre", Chilean salsa with cilantro

One of my best friends is Chilean. I met her when I was fifteen and for over a year I spend a lot of time at her place. Of course because she was my friend, but the fact that her mum made great food was a huge bonus. The amount of beef empanadas we ate must have been huge. And with that stack of empanadas, were the bowls of pebre. How I loved that salsa! At my friends house, it was usually made with a mild variety of chili pepper, so it was never a problem to bury your food underneath a pile of the pebre. One time they had a barbecue and I was piling the pebre on top of a piece of baguette, as usual, when it turned out that not my friends mum, but a friend of hers had made the pebre. She hadn't used mild peppers, but brutally hot scotsch bonnets. My gluttony was severely punished, and it took me an hour to recover from the burning sensation in my mouth.

Asian inspired green bean salad with coconut

Because of all the hard work I had to put in to obtain fresh coconut meat, I didn't want to put it in a blender to make coconut milk. Maybe some other time, but not today. I wanted to fully enjoy the coconut flavor and I wanted it to be still recognizable in the dish as coconut, not as a flaky or milky substance, like I was used to.

Amazing carrot and cabbage salad with apple

This is a ridiculously tasty salad! Nice and crunchy, with the freshness of the apple and sweetness of the raisins. Try this and you will not be disappointed (unless you really don't like cabbage, or carrots....or apple).