Healthy Spring Summer Rolls

Have you ever realised that you just go with the flow and you desperately need to stop and stare? This has been my condition for couple of weeks recently until I just couldn't neither sleep well, nor relax. And then I decided it was time to change. Maybe not fully change everything but at least my attitude. Because in the end work is just work and "life is what you miss when you are busy making your own plans", right?

Nowadays, we are victims of a speedy life when time is precious and everything is done on our ways. But the thing is, when we are trying to recall even what we ate yesterday we can hardly remember the menu... Hm... Of course! If a person eats, watches a movie, talks to a friend and checks an extremely interesting Instagram account she has bumped into by chance and all of it simultaneously, the brain does not really concentrate on a particular activity. Which means that our body is actually not really expecting the food we are consuming at such moments and we do not even notice how we eat our daily portion in a bite. 

And therefore another trend gets even more popular. SLOW FOOD. Slow living, slow time, slow food... Whatever you call it. We have to just go back to the basics. Eating and enjoying each bite. Because that is what brings us the most benefit. Add a good company to this, cook your food together and then enjoy it at the big table. That is what a slow life should be like... 

My input in the slow living today is a wonderful recipe of spring rolls. Made in the summer but that does not matter because they taste perfect during any season. Done very quickly. And suitable even for parties.

Ingredients:

yields 8 rolls

8 rice paper sheets (*easy to find in the Asian stores)

200 g fresh salmon

1/2 avocado

1/2 yellow bell pepper

1/2 cucumber

10 cherry tomatoes (*my choice San Marzano)

2 cups salad leaves

1 cup precooked black rice

1 cup precooked quinoa

Philadelphia cheese 

fresh herbs

soy sauce

1 tsp Wasabi

The trick with the rice paper is that you need to soak it in a cold water in order to make it flexible and sticky. So prepare a bowl with cold water and set it aside. Wash the veggies and cut them into pieces (medium size, not turning into mush). Wash salmon loin and cut it into long pieces about 1 cm wide and 0.5 cm thick. Put the first sheet of rice paper into the water and keep an eye on it. The water should just cover it. Wait until it gets flexible and take it out. Put it on a plate and start filling. So just put a salmon string into the middle, Then some rice beside it, add veggies alongside, Philadelphia and herbs. Then fold as shown below.

   

Do the same with the second sheet and continue until you wrap all of them. As you've already understood you can use any vegetables you like and be creative.The original recipe would contain sushi rice but using black rice or red rice, quinoa will be much healthier and more beneficial for you so the choice is up to you :)

Serve the rolls with say sauce mixed with wasabi. Just dip the roll into the sauce and enjoy the taste...

Fro home-made to gourmet. 

XoXo

Anastasiya

Wholegrain Spelt Pizza with Tuna, Egg, Olives and Artichokes

Spring, sun, first flowers, trees bursting into leaves and birds.. Everywhere, singing so loud that you tend to not notice the city noise. They took me. Within the last couple of weeks I took a lot of time travelling and walking. And yesterday I decided that after 13500 steps I have earned a home-made tasty pizza. 

Of course, it wouldn't be me if I had a ready frozen pizza or pizza dough and just put it in the oven to satisfy myself. Noooo :) I consciously choose what I eat following the easiest nutrition rules. One of my own:  substitute white flour with whole wheat flour. Easy? Who told it is difficult to #eatyourselfslim. Not tasty? Try first and you will forget what you've thought rapidly. Inspired by Jamie Oliver and as already promised in my Instagram I am pleased to share this recipe with you. There under tag #gourmetbalance you will find all my food related posts.

Ingredients:

yields one pizza

Pizza dough:

200 g wholewheat spelt flour

80ml buttermilk or kefir

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 whole egg 

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Filling:

60g canned tuna, drained and flaked

150 g grated pizza cheese *(I used Mozzarella)

2 tbsp sweet canned corn (optional*)

3-4 canned artichokes

2 San Marzano tomatoes

4-6 green olives

5 tbsp canned chopped tomatoes in juice or tomato paste

fresh basil

dried herbs

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. In a medium bowl whisk whole-wheat flour with salt and baking powder. In a separate bowl beat egg with buttermilk and oil. Using a kitchen processor blend it all together with flour to get the dough. It might seem to sticky to you. You may add some flour. But do not add too much. Press the dough on the parchment paper forming a round dough for pizza and lie it onto baking sheet . Spread the tomato paste or chopped tomatoes in juice over the dough and sprinkle with half of the cheese. Bake for about 10 minutes. 

Meanwhile prepare the rest of the filling: cut tomatoes and artichokes. On the prebaked pizza dough spread the rest of the filling and cover it with cheese rest and beat the egg on top in the center. Sprinkle with dried herbs and bake for another 20 minutes until the cheese melted and the egg is baked through. Decorate with fresh basil leaves and serve immediately.

Voila! Easy, quick and so good. From home-made to gourmet. Forgive me, Italy :)

Enjoy each moment.

How To Grow Cress Indoors?

  Spring is coming... Rare but brightly shines the sun and it brings so much of positive emotions! In order to be fully prepared for spring I decided to detox my body during the #Iquitsugar challenge. As you have already read in my posts some time ago, I have already done this challenge and showed you a lot of recipes that can be cooked during this time. 14 days I teach my body to live without added sugar. As a result I can easily live without eating all the chocolate around me. I get rather picky than "just-give-me-smth-sweet" type :) And my taste gets more sensitive to every sweetness in the food. Plus skin gets smooth and clean. All in all a good start or RESET!

Additionally I decided to add some more vitamins into my nutrition plan. And therefore I grew cress at home and right now will show you how to grow cress indoors. You might have already seen my previous post about cress. Today I want to show you the whole breath-taking process...

Well, first of all you need the seeds. Those you can buy in any home improvement or garden store as well as online.

Next time you buy some vegetables save the plastic food container from a grocery store. Line it with paper tissue or a kitchen towel. Wet the paper and sprinkle the seeds over the surface. Do not make the seeds swim under water. They just need to be wet. Otherwise they will dry out.

Cover your tray with cling film. Put it in a dark place for the first 2-3 days. All you need to do is just sprinkle them with water once a day regularly. Below  you can see how they look day by day.

On Day 3 I took the cling film off and left the tray on the window. It is unbelievable to see how it turns green during the day. And then again daily just sprinkle it with water evenly. 

On the Day 7 I have already enjoyed my home-grown cress during breakfast. And it tastes so fresh and good!!!

Believe me: Cress is worth growing because it’s filled with vitamin C (even more than orange), has anti-cancer effect, is good for your eyes and teeth. You can use it just purely or sprinkle over your food. 

Enjoy every day and see beauty in small things!

 Have a wonderful start of spring!

Blueberry Ricotta Cheesecake

Last summer days... Who could have thought that it will pass by that quickly?! While looking back on all that we managed to do this summer and trying to catch the last moment I realized that one recipe is still waiting to be posted. Because it is a pure summer delight and also my childhood memories. Since I come from a little green town on the river Uzh in the western part of Ukraine, I am used from my very childhood to be close to the nature. My father likes going to the forest and gathering fresh mushrooms after the rain. My mom is always creative thinking of what to cook with fresh regional treats. My grandparents having a nice garden always provided us with berries, fruit and vegetables. I remember my sister saying that I am very lucky to have all that when she moved abroad. But back those time I did not fully realize her point. Only when I moved to Germany I understood how important is to know where does the product come from because it is much healthier to eat regional and local. Yes, there is such a great variety of everything you want here. But there are some products you will hardly find here. Blueberries! No, of course, you may buy blueberries here. But these are totally different spices. They are actually huckleberry, much bigger than what I am talking about. And your tongue is not getting violet after eating those. How?!?! How happy I was when I saw these wonderful wild blueberries in one of the big supermarkets here!!!!! After two and a half years of searching I already gave up. 

And here I am with a wonderful magic recipe specially for you - Blueberry Ricotta Cheesecake. Of course, you may follow this fluffy cheesecake recipe or my very first low-fat recipe and sprinkle blueberries on top of those but today I propose you a combination of ricotta and cream cheese. 

Ingredients:

for the crust
1 1/2 cup wholewheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup softened butter

for the filling:
250g ricotta
500g cottage cheese
3 large eggs
2 bananas
2 tbsp sugar
lemon zest from 1 lemon
vanilla seeds (from 1/2 vanilla pod)
1 tbsp cornstarch or pudding powder *(optional)

for topping:
150g fresh wild blueberries

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a 18-20 cm round ovenproof form with baking paper. 

In a food processor mix all the ingredients for the crust until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.  Press mixture over base and side of prepared baking form. Bake it for 15 minutes until golden brown. You can also use wholegrain biscuits for the crust just blending them with butter.

In a bowl mash bananas with sugar and using an electric mixer beat them with ricotta, adding cottage cheese. Add some flavors by putting lemon zest and vanilla seeds into the cheesy mixture. At this point add cornstarch or pudding powder to make the mixture set. This step is optional as you see from the ingredient list. It is recommended if the cheese you are using is very creamy. Otherwise you can skip it without concerns. One by one add the eggs and mix well. Do not overbeat. Pour the filling over the baked crust in the form. Spread the blueberries evenly over the top of the cake.

Baking time - 20 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 160° C and bake 20-30 minutes more. It depends on the height of the cake. The higher - the longer baking time. The cheesecake is done when the borders are a bit puffed and the center almost set but still moves a bit when the form is shaken.

After that let it cool down until room temperature. I know this might be a challenge in some sense. Proper cooling is very important to create a proper texture and avoid cracks. Make sure to cool cheesecake completely on a wire rack on the counter before refrigerating for at least 4 hours before serving.

Here you go - colorful cheesecake SUMMER EDITION :)

 

 

Pear Galette with Whole Wheat Crust

WOW! Two months ago was my last post here. Seems like eternity... But I am back! With more energy after a good vacation, positive thoughts, new culinary experiences and a lot of tasty recipes.  With a slogan "Eat local and seasonal" I want you to try this wonderful recipe - Galette. What kind of summer without a crispy home made fruit galette?! Especially when there are so many choices of fruit, berries and other seasonal tastiness. This time I had couple of sweet pears and thus my choice was clear. An advantage of the recipe is a great combination of healthy ingredients with sweet juicy taste. If you are trying to reduce your sugar intake, this is exactly what you need. By the way, you can also try sugar-reduced version of Apple Flower Tart or sugarfree Pear Almond Tart. The first step to improve your nutrition plan is to substitute white flour with whole wheat flour. And therefore these recipes serve perfectly to #eatyourselfslim

Ingredients
180g whole wheat flour of your choice
80 g unsalted cold butter
½ tsp salt
6 tbsp ice cold water
5 medium pears
1 tbsp Demerara Black Sugar
½ Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 egg
1 tbsp hazelnuts

Mix flour and salt in a medium bowl and whisk together. Cut the butter into cubes, then add to the flour mixture. Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry blender or just put these ingredients into a kitchen machine. Add 4 tablespoons of ice cold water and stir in. Add the additional tablespoons of water if necessary for the dough to hold together. Shape into an circle and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for minimum 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Peel and slice the pears 0.5 -1 cm thick. Place them in a bowl adding lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and mix well. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Roll into a large circle, rolling from the middle out, rotating the dough every few rolls. Lay the dough onto a cooking sheet lined with parchment paper. You can also roll the dough out directly on the parchment paper, then move the parchment paper and dough to the cooking sheet.

Place the pears on the dough starting from the center and leaving 5 cm border around the edge. Gently fold the edges towards the center. Meanwhile beat the egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush the dough with beaten egg-water mix.  The pears should not be brushed. Just sprinkle them with some Demerara sugar and hazelnuts. Bake for 30 minutes until the crust is golden brown. Important is to make sure that the bottom is baked. So if needed, extend the baking time depending on galette size and oven properties.

Let it cool on the baking sheet and enjoy the summer treat with a perfect cup of coffee!

Bon Appétit!

Breakfast Idea: Pumpkin Pancakes

About a month ago I posted on my Instagram these wonderful pumpkin pancakes and promised to come back with the recipe. And here I am, took me a bit longer but better later than never, right? So finally sharing this tasty recipe with you. By the way, I found it in one of my favourite blogs of a Ukrainian girl living in the USA -  Mom Story. As usually I can not just simply follow the rules. So instead of orange sauce proposed in the original recipe I have made a chocolate one. Just did not have oranges in house...:) White sugar I substituted by black Demerara, white flour - by wholewheat buckwheat. No matter what version you choose, you will be very happy with the result.

Ingredients:

yields 15 pancakes

cup=240 ml

1 egg

3 tbsp sugar

2 cups milk

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1,5 cup flour (I used wholewheat buckwheat flour)

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp cocoa powder

1 ripe banana

blueberries

Whisk egg with sugar. Add milk and mix well. Rub pumpkin puree through a sieve and add it into the milk mixture. Fold until smooth, add cinnamon.

Mix flour with baking powder and sift into the batter. It whould be quite thick when everything combined. Pour 2-3 tbsp of vegetable oil. 

Heat non stick pan (I used a small sauce pan for even round shape). Do not add any additional oil. Onto a dry pan pour scoop of batter in the middle. Wait for about 2 minutes and when you notice bubbles on top of the pancake it is just time to flip over. On the other side 30 seconds is enough. Do mot oil the pan. In the same way cook the rest of the pancakes one by one.

For the sauce blend banana with cocoa powder and sprinkle of sugar. Serve with blueberries and a good portion of Latte Macchiato :)

Enjoy you weekend and remember that Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! Becausehow you start it does matter!!!

Baked Cinnamon Apples with Ricotta filling and Dried Plums

Finally the last weekend it warm in Hamburg!!!! On Saturday we even opened a Grill season in the park nearby and it was amazing. We grilled our favourite squids as in the recipe here. And also made mackerel as in the easy recipe here. This method is suitable for any type of fish you like. An tastes sooooo good. This week though the weather changed day by day to a rainy changeable one. These are the days when you wake up from the sun rays creeping into your window, happily take your sun glasses and on your way to bus stop realise that it starts raining and gets really dark. Then approximately 5 times a day you observe the same phenomenon. "Hello April!" - in other words. 

The changes in the weather also inspired me to make a change in my nutrition. This week I live without meat. And I have to say that I feel myself perfectly good. I am not saying that I am getting vegan. No! But a little break from time to time is needed. Besides, fish did a good job this week for me. 

As you remember from my autumn posts about "I quit sugar" our bodies are able to live without processed food, empty calories from sugar and other harmful ingredients. So as summer is coming let us try again. Sugar free life brings much more benefits!!! Usually with hiden sugar from processed food we consume around 25 and more tea spoons of sugar daily. Did you know that American Heart Assosiation recommends women to consume maximum 6 tsp of sugar (24g), men - 9 tsp (36g) and children - 3 tsp (12g)? So grab your friend, partner, colleague and take the challenge. Are you with me?

Let us start from limiting sugar in the first week. Try to avoid adding sugar to coffee, tea and food. OR at least reduce the amout of it in comparison to your regular intake. For more recipes and inspiration see also Home made peanut butter and other healthy sugar free recipes and Wholewheat Banana-Date Bread with Walnuts. And here is one more recipe to make your detox time a big pleasure.

Ingredients:
5 medium apples
5 dried plums
1 tbsp honey or agave syrup
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup ricotta cheese (250g)
1/3 tsp vanilla seeds
allspice for decorating

Preheat the oven to 180C. Accurately cut off the apple tops. Using a potato peeler cut out the core scooping out all the seeds. Sprinkle the apples with cinnamon. Into each of them push one dried plum. Place the apples in a baking pan or form. Place the apple tops on the apples. Bake for 20-30 minutes. Baking time depends on the size of apples. Check them from time to time not to overbake. From outside they should become shiny and a bit soft. Do not overbake.

Meanwhile place the ricotta cheese and 1 tablespoon of honey or agave syrup and vanilla into a small bowl. Mix well.

Once the apples are done, remove them from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes. 

Then open the lids and fill the center of each apple with ricotta cheese filling. Sprinkle the apples with allspice and couple drops of agave syrup.

Place the apple tops back on the apples and serve. 

And what is your favorite sugar free recipe? 

How much sugar do you consume daily? 

How long can you keep your nutrition plan sugar free?

Let me know in the comments below.