Fresh Basil Pesto

No idea what to cook? Trying to do something new but in the end failure? Here is what guaranteed pimps your everyday nutrition plan - fresh home-made basil pesto. Just think about the richness, spiciness and freshness you get when you make it at home. And all in all - 5 minutes. So you just HAVE to try :)

 Ingredients:
 2 cups basil leaves
80g Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano)
2 tbsp pine nuts
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves
salt, pepper
*water if needed for consistency

Step 1
Prepare all the ingredients. Wash basil, you will need only the leaves. On a hot pan golden the pine nuts for more flavour.

Step 2
In your food processor mix all the ingredients and blend them until smooth but not creamy consistency. I find it really cool when pesto has these small chunks which intensify the flavour. If you see that the mixture is not coming together, add a bit of water. Or if you don't mind additional fat then add more of extra virgin olive oil.

Step 3
There is actually no step 3 :) Now you can enjoy the fresh pesto of your own preparation. It is well combined with tomatoes, or just pasta or the classic Caprese salad. Just go ahead and be creative.

 Look at this amazing pic with all the ingredients you need. Pin it to your Pinterest board and enjoy anytime :)

From home-made to gourmet there is only one step. So stay with me not to miss it :)

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.

Vegan Pumpkin Soup from Chef de Cuisine: Special Edition

 Autumn, chestnuts, pumpkin... What else do you think about when the first leaves start falling down? Cosy evenings under the blanket? With hot cup of tea or spicy hot chocolate? My autumn always starts with a bright orange pumpkin. Then come the chestnuts ;) 

You might have understood, that I love pumpkin. Although I have to admit it was not always like that. When I was younger, I could easily live without eat. Now I know why. Except of baked pumpkin squares with cinnamon and oatmeal porridge with pumpkin pieces I had no idea that there are so many tasty dishes with this wonderful bright and seasonal fruit. Spicy pumpkin pie like this sugarfree version, or a pumpkin layer cheesecake variation or creamy pumpkin soup. Mmmmm... Where have I been before?!

After I started trying to cook on my own and exploring different interesting recipes, I found out a lot of fascinating ones. And just when I started visiting cooking classes I got access to special ones. And today in Special Edition I want to share with you this recipe of a wonderful pumpkin soup directly from the Wild and Noble vegetables cooking course led by Chef de Cuisine - charming  Julia Eckerstorfer.

 Ingredients:

1 kg chopped Hokkaido pumpkin with skin (seeds taken out)

1000 ml water
1 carrot
2 white onions (1 peeled and chopped, another whole)

broccoli (apple size piece)

1 bay leave

2 peppercorns

1/2 apple or 6-7 dried apple slices

salt, pepper

pumpkin seed oil

roasted pumpkin seeds

sprinkle of oregano

Why Hokkaido? This is a wonderful pumpkin, that you can cook with its skin. So it saves your time, energy, tastes wonderful and adds so much color to the final dish. Like Sun in a bowl! Of course, you can choose some other type (e.g.Butternut). Just wash and peel it before cooking.

The very first step for a soup is to make a good stock for the soup. I prefer vegetable stock for this one. Although if you have some rests of chicken broth it will go well in this recipe. But if not here is the recipe and a little tip I have got from Julia.

1. Fill a pot with water. Put it on the stove over medium-high heat.

2. Add peeled carrot, 1 onion, broccoli, peppercorns and bay leave. You can add celleri sticks if you have some. But they are optional.

Cooking Tip!
In order to add special sweet note to balance stock's taste, add a handful of apple slices. I personally had no idea that apples belong to the veggie stock. But when I tried this recipe I was amazed how good it goes along with pumpkin. I always have dried apple slices from my parents garden at home and they are just perfect for the stock.

3. Cover your pot with a lid so that water can come to the boil quicker. When it starts boiling, reduce the heat and take the lid off. Add salt up to your taste. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Then put aside.

4. Now it's time for pumpkin. In a bigger pot heat vegetable oil and add chopped onion. Stir for about 30 seconds until it starts loosing color. Add chopped pumpkin and stir well at lower heat for another 2-3 minutes. Then start adding your stock until pumpkin is 80 percent in the stock. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

5. As soon as pumpkin has softened take the pot from the heat and blend the pumpkin in a mixer util smooth. For an extra smooth texture, the processed soup should be passed through a fine sieve, using the back of a ladle to push it through.And this is a very important moment to get the texture. Do not be lazy because it is so worth it.

6. Serve warm with a tablespoon of pumpkin seed oil, some pumpkin seeds (freshly roasted) and sprinkle of dried oregano.

Bon Appétit!!!

Enjoy the autumn and don't miss Pumpkin Season ;)

Asparagus Soup with North Sea Crabs

Asparagus season is officially open! From April and till end of June is exactly the right time to buy seasonal asparagus here in the north of Germany. And although in Hamburg you will mostly find white or violet asparagus from the region (not the typical green sprouts) it is definitely worth to stop by at the local farmers' market and buy this fresh seasonal product. If you do not know what can you prepare and how is asparagus eaten the very basic recipe of asparagus you can discover here. And this Baked asparagus with ham and cheese with its tenderness of melted cheese and asparagus juiciness will definitely be a pleasant surprise for you.

But today I want to share the recipe that became one of the most favourite soups in my family: asparagus soup with north sea crabs. It is easy to cook, healthy, very tasty and full of flavors. The recipe is adopted from "1000 Recipes for two" by NGV. Hope you will enjoy it as much as we do during the season.

One secret for good soup is a good base, meaning broth. Depending on your preferences it may be made with meat and vegetables or just veggies. In my case, I always leave the broth from the meat I was boiling. A good choice would also be to use the rests of asparagus once peeled to cook a broth. Just add some salt and boil them for 10 minutes. That's it!

Ingredients:

yields 2 portions

500 ml chicken broth

200 g asparagus (your choice)

100 g north sea crabs or shrimps (cooked, ready to use)

2 shallots

1/2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp corn flour

1 small egg

sprinkle of salt,Herbes de Provence and pepper

Bring the broth to boil. Meanwhile wash asparagus and cut it into 3-4 cm long pieces. Put then into the boiling water and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Take asparagus out and set aside. Peel shallot and cut it small. In a pan heat the oil and fry shortly shallot and asparagus for about 2 minutes. Add some salt, pepper and broth. Pour it all into the main broth. Separately mix corn flour with some water into a paste, add it to the soup and stir well. Taste and if needed add more salt, pepper or other spices you like. Beat the egg and pour it gradually into the soup while stirring it with a fork quickly so that the egg threads are created.

Serve it with north sea crabs and a sprinkle of herbs de Provence.

Bon Appétit!

Christmas recipe: Baked Duck Breast with Fresh Salad

Again a little break in writing... I had a good reason for it: holidays time :) I have to admit that visiting my parents and friends in Ukraine was a full "Turn Off" for me. The feeling of time got lost somewhere between cozy evenings with my family and fun while going out with my friends. We were quite surprised to come back to Hamburg with +15C outside. Back in Ukraine it was freezing already, temperatures between -2C ... +2C. Now back to normal life I can again come back to my lovely blog and full of ideas am ready to color your everyday lives. 

As Christmas mood is all over I find it quite up to date to share a tasty Christmas recipe with you. Because we all want to make it special. Yet, having a bullet proof recipe. Which I guarantee :)

Duck breast is in today's menu for you, my dear. Get ready to rock this Christmas.

Ingredients:

(serves 2) 

2 duck breast halves with skin

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp Balsamic vinegar

salt, pepper

1 cup fresh arugula

1 fresh mushroom

6 cherry tomatoes

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp white wine vinegar with honey (I used Mazzetti Bio Condimento - Honey)

Using a sharp knife, score the duck skin with diagonal parallel slashes. The pattern should remind diamond. Just be careful not to pierce through to the flesh. Salt the breast halves from both sides. As pepper burns while frying I add it before serving.

Preheat the oven to 160 C. Heat a non-stick pan. I took one that I can use in the oven afterwards for better convenience. No oil needed as duck fat will melt from heat. Put duck, turning with fat side down and fry until the skin turns crispy, about 5 minutes.

Then turn the duck breasts over and fry for about another 5 minutes. Place the pan into the oven and set the timer to 15 minutes. Mix honey and balsamic vinegar and spread this mixture over the duck skin every 5-7 minutes. Keep an eye on the duck breasts so that they don't burn. It all depends on the size. Normally I use middle-sized duck breasts and they are ready within 15 minutes in the oven.

When you take them out from the oven they should already look very crispy and golden-brown. Pepper them before serving.

For the salad wash arugula, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms. Mix olive oil and white wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Cut mushrooms into thin slices, tomatoes into halves or quarters. Mix well and season with oil-vinegar dressing.

Remember: duck should be served immediately. It has the best taste then. 

Enjoy your meal and have a wonderful Christmas time.

The best recipe with chicken liver: Salad with chicken liver with honey-rosemary dressing

Today I wanted to talk about nostalgia. You know that feeling, when you want to travel back in time into the moment, when all over the flat a magic aroma of fresh baked cake was being spread. Just because it was Sunday and your mom had enough time to make something special for the family. Or just because you said you would love a piece of cake. Not a tradition in your family? Well in Ukraine we have a lot of interesting traditions and customs. Families have their own recipes that travel from grandma through mom to daughter for centuries. I find it actually very special to have a family recipe that could bring you back to those careless times...Ok,ok, I got it. Enough for today. Let us talk about the actual recipe I want to share.

 Remember one of my first posts? Light and hearty salad with chicken liver got quite popular during the whole life of my blog, I have to say. And I can fully understand it. Rich taste, healthy ingredients, balanced nutritional value and much more. So I modified the recipe and enriched it with additional rosemary note for exquisite taste. Lunch or dinner, it is JUST A PERFECT CHOICE.

Ingredients:
for 2 portions

200g of chicken liver
8 cherry tomatoes
mixed green salad 
2 mushrooms
1/2 avocado
sprinkle of pepper, salt
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp coconut oil (any oil for frying)
2 tsp of water
1/2 tsp of honey (for #iquitsugar followers rice syrup is an alternative)
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
2 tbsp soy sauce

Wash the liver in cold water and dry it with a paper-towel. Heat the pan with a sprinkle of coconut oil or any oil you prefer to fry on. Fry the liver for a few minutes from every side. Add some water and stir covered for 5-7 minutes. After the liver is ready (if you stick a fork in it no red liquid appears on top) add 2 table spoons of soy sauce and fry a bit more so that the liver becomes darker because of the sauce. Meanwile prepare all the veggies. By preparing I mean - wash them and chop. Prepare basic salad on the plate: mixed green salad, halved cherry tomatoes, avocado cubes and mushroom slices. On the veggie-pillow put hot juicy liver. Spice the salad with some pepper and salt. Mix honey, oil, rosemary and water and pour the salad with honey-rosemary sauce.

As you see: easy and quickly healthy food is on your table. All you need is a teaspoon of patience and sprinkle of time ;)

Bon Appétit!

Filled zucchini boats

Today at a lack of time I want to share with you a simple recipe that can suit very good for lunch- or dinner-time when you don't want to do something sophisticated. It is low in calories, high in protein and therefore makes you fit and full.

So we're going to cook zucchini-boats filled with minced meat and baked under Parmesan crust. I was lucky to find this recipe in one of the food magazines when visiting my lovely sister in Prague. I've changed it a bit:) An by the way, the amount of ingredients here is taken for two.

Ingredients:

2 middle-sized zucchinis
250g minced meat of your choice
125g white yogurt
25g grated Parmesan
1 dried tomato
1 garlic clove
8 black olives (pitted)
salt, pepper

The preparations are quite easy. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Wash the zucchinis and cut them into halves lengthwise. With the help of a spoon take out the inner seeds and make some place for your filling. (not fEEling ;)
So now you have 4 boats, unfortunately empty :( Put them aside and give a rest. They need some staff :) Grab the meat.

Tip!
Once more: you can choose any time of minced meat. Keep in mind, that if you want the dish to be healthy, the meat should be low fat and fresh. Whether chicken or turkey, or even beef... Up to you.

Add sprinkle of salt and pepper, chopped dried tomato and pressed garlic clove. Mix well. If you have some dried herbs they will be a good addition here. The next step - filling the boats. Take your cute boats and fill them with the meat. To add crusty topping and some snowy effect mix yogurt and grated cheese and top the boats with it. But wait! Your boats need lifebuoy. Chop black olives and add a couple into every boat. Now perfect - ready to sail ;)

Bake them in the oven for about 30-40 minutes until golden-brown crust. And here you are: light and nourishing lunch-dinner-variation. A combination of veggie and meat, all-in-one and one for all. Because good food is always a good idea ;)

Have a nice start of the week! Bon appetit!