Smashed potatoes with roasted garlic cashew butter.

Garlicky potato heaven! I made this recipe a few weeks ago together with a salad (lettuce, dried tomatoes, beet root) and it's great. I used rosemary instead of thyme and of course you could use both or even more herbs. The whole place smelled so good while roasting the garlic and if you're into garlic and if you're into potatoes - try this!

Tomato Slices!

These oven-baked tomatoes are so delicious! The flavour will be totally enhanced, they slightly caramelize, and there's a hint of garlic and olive oil. I made a sheet with three tomatoes. They taste great when still warm but they're also a nice snack when already cold. I kept some in the fridge and added them on my bread for breakfast.

3 tomatoes
3 cloves garlic 
olive oil
sea salt and black pepper

Cut the tomatoes in slices and spread on a sheet. Smash the garlic cloves (don't peel them) and place them between the tomato slices. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with some olive oil. Bake in the middle of the oven for a few minutes until they get slightly brown at the edges. My gas oven was at mark 6 and it took about 10-15 minutes.
The garlic cloves were pretty burnt but the slices had this great subtle hint of garlic.

Eggplant spread.

- 4 eggplants
- 1 big onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- olive oil
- salt, pepper


This is one of the best spreads at all. Don't let you fool by the boring colour - it's amazing. Go ahead, you eggplant lovers.

First the eggplants have to be baked. Put them in the oven as they are, just cut the skin once or twice with a knife or they could explode in your oven. This happened to me many years ago and you don't want to a have a oven full of eggplant slobber so please avoid this. In a gas oven at gas mark 6-7 they need around 30 minutes. Once they're very soft and done, let them cool completely.
Then cut them into halves and scrape out everything you get off the skin with a table spoon. 

Finely chop the onion and smash the garlic. Fry in 2-3 table spoons olive oil until translucent. Then add the baked eggplants and stir for another 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, you can also add a tiny bit of lemon juice. 
Blend everything with a handheld blender until smooth. 


This spread is already very good when it's still warm. The best thing is to put in the fridge and wait until it's completely cool. Enjoy on white bread, baguette or whatever. Out of the above-mentioned ingredients I got a tiny bit more than 1 and 1/2 cup of spread.

Fancy simple stuff.

- 2 king oyster mushrooms
- 200g tofu
- one small broccoli head
- one small onion
- one clove garlic
- 1 tblsp shiro miso
- soy sauce
- olive oil
- pepper
- salt


Cut the broccoli into florets and cook in water with some salt. While the broccoli is cooking cut the piece of tofu into small cubes, dice finely the onion, slice the mushrooms and smash the clove of garlic. Heat 2 tsp olive oil in a pan and first add the tofu. When the tofu begins to get slighlty golden-brown add onions, garlic and mushrooms. Stir from time to time until tofu is brown and crispy. Deglaze with some soy sauce and season with a tiny amount of pepper.
In a small bowl prepare the dressing for the broccoli: mix the tblsp miso with some hot water and 1 tsp olive oil. 
Cook the broccoli only for a few minutes until it gets soft but not wibbly-wobbly. Strain it. Then toss the broccoli into the miso dressing. I had some arugula left and tossed it in, too.
Serve tofu-mushroom mix with the broccoli and add some of the dressing.
Very hearty and umami but light and fresh though.

Scrambled Tofu w/ Arugula, Mushrooms And Cranberries.

And it's time again for a scrambled tofu variation!

Today I had a very savoury, crispy kind of scrambled tofu.
Here we go:

- 200g firm tofu
- 2-3 big button mushrooms
- 3 tbsp breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp dried cranberries
- lime juice (of half a lime)
- arugula
- oil
- rosemary salt
- one clove garlic


First heat 1-2 tbsp oil in a pan and add the smashed (and or minced) garlic clove. Crumble the tofu and add together with the sliced mushrooms and bread crumbs, let fry for a few minutes without stirring on medium heat. Add some salt, then stir and add cranberries. Fry til tofu is golden brown and add the fresh lime juice. Then serve on a big handful of arugula salad. I guess I say this very often, but this combination of flavours is just perfect. The breadcrumbs bring a very crunchy consistency, the arugula is slightly bitter and tangy and the cranberries and lime juice add a nice freshness.

Beetroot Hummus.

Last week I asked my mother if she had any more ideas what to do with beetroots. She came up with this hummus variation which turned out so lovely - in appearance and taste. The beetroot not only provides a nice pink but also a subtle sweetness. I slightly changed the original recipe and now I have a big bowl of pastel pink hummus in my fridge to make lots of sandwiches this week:


400g canned chickpeas
2 beetroots
3 tblsp tahin
1 clove garlic
salt, pepper, cumin
fresh lemon juice


Peel the beetroot, dice and cook until tender. Strain, but keep the cooking fluid. Blend chickpeas with beetroot, tahin, garlic and cooking water with a handheld blender until creamy - than season with lemon juice,salt, pepper and a dash of cumin.

Pasta with red cabbage and orange.

- 250g tagliatelle
- 250ml soy cream
- 1 large red onion
- red cabbage
- 1 orange
- garlic
- oil (olive oil, for example. Pumpkin seed oil works here very good, too)
- salt, pepper

Cook pasta according to instructions. Meanwhile finely dice the onion and smash the garlic (I used two cloves). Fry in 1 teaspoon oil and add 100ml water. Shred the cabbage and add to the onion/garlic mixture.
Bring to the boil and cook for about 3-4 minutes, then turn off the heat. Add salt, pepper and soy cream.  The cabbage is supposed to be just slightly cooked. Not raw anymore, but not completely soft and done.
I had the half of small cabbage head.

Peel and slice the orange.
Mix the tagliatelle with the cabbage-cream sauce on a plate and add some slices of orange. 
I love orange and salt by the way. Just try one piece on its own with a little salt sprinkled on it.

I don't speak the language.

This year is totally weird so far. As there is more and more nonsense around me I just wanted to join in and so you get a weird package of things. Most of these things are actually totally last year. 



For christmas I received an adorable package from Hannah with luxurious marshmallows, tea and other pretty things. It's all about the pretty things and thoughts.
Thank you so much again, my dear. The coasters are not only good for good tea but also for long drinks, by the way. Drink your drinks with style.

These pretty things are my favourite christmas cookies since I can remember.
It's a rich chocolate dough with rum, a thin layer of orange jam (apricot is good as well), covered with chocolate and sugar sprinkles. Deliciousness. Did I ever posted the recipe for these? I don't know. Maybe I will catch up with it some day, if you want to.

 
Nearly every two weeks I have a new favourite meal. The last two weeks it was this soup and I made it three times: mango-hokkaido-soup. Basically: fry finely cut onions and garlic in a little oil, add hokkaido, fry for a few minutes. Add water, sea salt, pepper, fenugreek and cook til the hokkaido is tender. Add fresh or frozen mango, puree. Serve with some pumpkin seed oil. The pictures below are from new year's eve potluck. I had the rest of the soup in the morning at 6. Hmmmm!

Sunshine. A lot of dust.

This was my hair colour a few days ago for a few days only. Could you please stop asking me, if I dyed my hair again? The answer is and always be "yes" and you're all clever enough.

And if I happen to bleach my hair and let it blond, you don't have to worry, that I never will have any bright colours again. Just wait a few weeks. I'd appreciate it.

This picture is from today so: welcome 2014! Please, don't be so confusing. I want this to be a good year. 

Today's twilight. I definitely need more light, uh! More light and less weirdness, okay? Thanks.

Beetroot-horseradish soup.

Basically this is a beetroot-horseradish soup. Actually it was a big clean-out-the-fridge-action which included said beetroots, a big piece of horseradish, a carrot, garlic, a yellow bell pepper, a piece of cucumber, a few potatoes. Only horseradish and garlic were fresh, everything else was days old and had to be used one way or another. 
The result was excellent both in colour and taste. 
The topping is a finely shredded radicchio in a soya yogurt-mustard dressing. 

First I fried some smashed cloves of garlic together with diced horseradish in some oil, added cold water and the diced beetroots and potatoes. When everything was boiling I added all the other stuff and some salt, pepper, veggie broth. Mixed thoroughly with a hand held blender and served then with the radicchio topping.

Baked beetroots and tofu.

3-4 beetroots
200g tofu
garlic
rosemary
mint
sage
matcha
smoked salt
oil 


Peel the beetroots and cut into sticks. Don't be frightened about the beetroot and its colour. Yes, your fingers will get a little pink but hey, I've got news for you: it will wash off.
So just peel them like potatoes, cut into slices and then into sticks.
Put the sticks together with two to three smashed garlic cloves and twigs of rosemary, mint and sage in an oiled casserole. Cover up with a lid or tin foil and bake for 20 minutes in the oven until the beetroot is tender.
Meanwhile cut tofu into cubes and fry in a little olive oil on high heat until it gets golden to dark brown and very crispy. Sprinkle with smoked salt and a pinch of matcha. Stir well and fry for another minute.
The matcha will not only add a touch of mint green colour but a subtle hint of bitterness which fits pretty good the sweetness of the baked beetroots.

Keep it simple.

As it's way too hot to cook I stick to sandwiches and salads most of the time. 
For example a sandwich with avocado spread and vegan cheddar cheese, thin slices of tomato and lettuce.

If I do cook, it's something quick and simple but yet delicious like this:

- 1 yellow zucchini
- a few cherry tomatoes
- lots of garlic, smashed
- scallions
- olive oil
- fresh rosemary and sage
- salt and pepper

Cut the zucchini into cubes. Heat the oil and fry zucchini for about 5 minutes. Add garlic, tomatoes (cut into halves or quarters),herbs and the scallions (cut into small rings). Fry for another 5 minutes, stir from time to time. Season with salt and pepper.

Summer food.

From time to time I cook at punk shows for a bunch of people and I never know what to cook until last minute. I barely can follow a recipe, recipes make me totally confused and so I just think about something that sounds good, make a rough plan and go shopping. If I find everything I planned - yay. If I don't find everything - I make something different. It doesn't matter because I use everything I find in the particular kitchen where I cook and often change the plans during cooking anyway or add something I never thought of beforehand. I improvise and it's always way too much but more or less it's tasty.
Yesterday I got asked: "So you make awesome stuff off the top of your head?" Erm, yes. Kind of.
But then I always forget how I made it, which is irrelevant most of the time, but yesterday I made the best lentil salad ever. I hope, that I can remember everything.

- red lentils
- ground hazelnuts
- garlic
- lemon (juice and zest)
- mint
- salt, pepper, paprika, ginger, soy sauce
- olive oil
- dash of sugar

Heat a little olive oil in a pot, add lentils. Stir and fry for about 5 minutes. Add water until lentils are covered and stir from time to time. Red lentils cook very quickly, from 10-15 minutes. Add salt, pepper, ginger (I didn't have fresh one, I used powder as I found this in the kitchen and thought: oh, ginger!), juice from one lemon, soy sauce, sugar.

In a small pan heat some olive oil and add ground hazelnuts and smashed and chopped garlic, stir well until it smells very, very good and the hazelnuts are getting a bit darker. Turn off the heat and put the pan aside.
Chop a lot of fresh mint. When the lentils are done fold in the mint and the hazelnut-garlic mixture together with the zests of one lemon.

Serve on chicory leaves and enjoy. I might have good ideas for cooking, unfortunately I don't have good ideas for names. So this is just a very good summer lentil salad. Or THE summer lentil salad.

Yesterday I served this salad along with arugula salad with caramelised cherry tomatoes; the dressing was something like balsamic vinegar, oil, tahini, salt, water, mustard. The main dish was tagliatelle with a zucchini-snow peas-sage-cream sauce and roasted walnuts, which were also very good and I was very happy with the result altogether.

In general: just add roasted nuts and as much fresh herbs as you can and everything will be perfect.

summer lentils

arugula with caramelised cherry tomatoes

tagliatelle w/ zucchini, snow peas, oat cream, roasted walnuts

Talk is just convention.

Scrambled tofu made from silken tofu. Was very good but I still like it more with firm tofu. 
Together with a cucumber sandwich. 

Hoummous made with lots of wood garlic.

Hoummous with mint and garlic greens on bagel. Orange juice. Cappuccino.

Quite new hair. Carnation pink (mixed with lavender) and tourquois.

The garden sorrel is growing, 3 weeks or so ago it looked like this. 
The tree in the background is full of chirping sparrows. Have I mentioned, that I love sparrows? I love sparrows.

The cat is perfectly alright at the moment. It's sometimes heartbreaking to look at him, though.

A few minutes before our recent radio show in April (DIY OR DIE). Bored and tired and excited, waiting to get into the studio. I like that moment.

Lime maple dressing.

For a nice and cosy silvester potluck (for which everyone cooked waaay too much) I made a pasta salad with the best dressing I've ever made before. 
I'm seeing lots of different salads with this dressing, not only pasta. I see potatoes, I see chickpeas, I see green salad and fresh tomatoes, lamb's lettuce and so on and on....

for the dressing:

oil

2 big pink (or red) onions

2 cloves of garlic

maple syrup

juice of 1 lime

salt, pepper

rest of this salad was:

500 g pasta (linguine)

200g cherry tomatoes

1 small can artichokes

 Finely dice the onions, smash the garlic gloves and dice, too.

Fry on medium heat in a little oil until onions and garlic are getting translucent, stir from time to time.

Deglace with maple syrup. I don't have a clue how much I used, but it was approximetaly 100ml.

Add salt and pepper and let simmer for 2 minutes to caramelize the onions. Then add the lime juice and simmer for another 1 or two minutes.

When I tried it, it was very sourish so I added another table spoon maple syrup. Just do this to your taste.

Then put the dressing aside and cook the pasta al dente.

In the meanwhile, cut cherry tomatoes in half and sautée in a little oil til they begin to melt. For about 4 minutes or so. Drain the artichokes and cut in half.

Mix everything with the linguine and add dressing. I let sit the salad over night but in retrospective I'd say it was even better when it was fresh.

Baked eggplant with red potatoes.

1 eggplant
red potatoes (you can use regular potatoes, too. but these are so pretty.)
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
thyme
rosemary
1 tomato 
1 carrot
béchamel sauce (made from vegan butter, flour, soymilk, salt, pepper, nutmeg, squeeze of lemon juice and/or 1 teaspoon mustard)
salt, pepper, bay leave
oil

Cut eggplant in half and scoop out most of each half to make eggplant shells.
Cut onion and garlic finely into small cubes. Fry in 2-3 tablespoons oil together with fresh thyme and rosemary until the onions start to get translucent.  

Cut the scooped out parts of the eggplant and add to onions and garlic, stir well. Add a finely diced tomato. Fry for 3 or 4 minutes, the eggplant hasn't to be done, as it will bake for over 20 minutes.
Cut a carrot into thin stripes. 
Fill a casserole with 1-2 cm cold water. Place eggplant halfs into casserole and fill with the fried eggplant-onion-mix. Put carrot sticks and one or two bay leaves around the eggplants, season with salt and pepper.

Cover the eggplants with a thick batch of béchamel sauce. A part of it will drop into the water during baking time and melt together with the water to a delicious sauce. The rest will remain on top of the eggplants and will build a yummy, thick, golden, slightly crusty béchamel layer.

Cover the casserole with tin foil and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. First 10 minutes on high heat, then reduce to medium heat. Also, after the first 10 minutes you can prepare your potatoes and cook them for about 20 minutes with a little salt.

After the casserole has been in the oven for 20 minutes, remove tin foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes until the béchamel looks golden, slightly brown and crusty.

Serve with a few potatoes (drizzle a little bit of the sauce over them).

 

The eggplant is so tender, it's unbelievable.