dairy free Archives - Page 2 of 4

Roasted Orange Chicken

January 31, 2019

Tender roasted orange chicken marinated in orange juice and soy sauce served with roasted potatoes is a quick and easy dinner recipe everyone will love.

Hello guys! I have an exciting new recipe

A lot of people have told me lately that they look for quick lunch and dinner recipes that are healthy as well. I always loved anything roasted, more so lately with my son keeping me busy. Anything that can be prepared in advance and doesn’t take a lot of my time is super handy.

I made this roasted orange chicken last week and I love how it turned out. I need to make something quickly with a few ingredients I had in the fridge. You really don’t need a lot of fancy ingredients to make a fancy meal. Doesn’t this look fancy? Trust me, no fancy ingredients were added. Oranges are the not-so-secret ingredients that add such a nice color and make it looks like you worked your but for the meal 🙂

The marinade ends up making the most delicious sauce and adds so much flavor to he chicken. Wanna know the best part? I took me less than 10 minutes to prepare before tossing into the oven and relaxing!

The whole family was sick the past month and a half. It’s been only a few days since we’re actually all okay and we’re hoping it ended. There’s nothing less fun but being home with a sick kid or being sick yourself or even worst both of you sick. We weren’t able to go out for more than a few minutes a day and we were FREAKING OUT!

We were drinking lots of elderflower turmeric tea and eating a ton of soup! And finally got better… fingers crossed.

To be honest, a lot of the time I wasn’t even able to cook anything even slightly decent. Thank god for my mum, we were crashing her lunches a lot. Parents rock, right? I hope my son says that about me some day!

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Roasted Orange Chicken

Course Main Course

Keyword chicken, roasted chicken, roasted potatoes

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 2 people

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

500 g chicken thighs (approx. 2 chicken thighs)
400 g young potatoes
1 orange cut in slices
1 whole garlic bulb
1/2 TBSP soy sauce
2 TBSP freshely squeezed orange juice
1 tsp ground garlic
1/4 tsp crushed black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 TBSP olive oil
salt to taste
10 thyme springs

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 190 °C.
Combine together soy sauce, orange juice, ground garlic, crushed black pepper, cayenne pepper, and 1 TBSP olive oil. Pour over the chicken thighs and let sit until you prepare the potatoes.
Cut potatoes in 2 cm chunks and drizzle with 1 TBSP olive oil and add salt to taste. Mix well.
Place potatoes in a baking tray and add chicken thighs skin side up. Add orange slices and thyme springs.
Roast in the preheated oven for 50 minutes.

Whiskey-Spiked Mulled Ginger Beer

December 18, 2018

It’s drinks like these mulled ginger beer with a hint of whiskey that create the Christmas atmosphere.

Hi guys! It’s been too long since I’ve written here. I’m not gonna bore you with a ton of details. If you want to see what’s been keeping me away from my blog, you can check my personal IG. You’ll see my little elf growing up, keeping me busy and on the move. He’s such a nice little boy an I love how he enjoys helping us in the kitchen or anywhere else for that matter. He loved to pick veggies from the garden in the summer. His favorite veggie for picking: green beans. Current obsession: baking cookies, dancing and playing with puzzles. One particular puzzle ALL DAY LONG. We’ve had to fix it multiple times it’s in such bad condition.

This was just a really short version of our life right now. And I’m so excited about the upcoming holidays. We’ve got the tree up, lights are on, decorations are up, we just need a drink to keep us warm. We’re all about spicy. Even the kiddo doesn’t mind a little heat.

This whiskey spiked mulled beer is not for kids, but be sure to check the recipe notes for a non-alcoholic version that’s safe for kids 🙂 I want my kid to be able to eat and drink with all the rest of the family, so I try and make dishes and drinks that he can enjoy too. We’ve almost entirely banned eggs since he’s allergic and you’ll probably see a lot more egg-free recipes in the future.

Okay, let’s head to the recipe. I’ve tried mulled beer when we stopped in Lithuania on our Eurotrip honeymoon. It blew my mind. Who’d have known cooked beer would be so good. After that, I tried bad ones too and I can tell you choice of beer matters a lot. I’m making mulled ginger beer, but you can use others as well. Just make sure the beer is not too hoppy and bitter because this will reflect in the mulled beer.

If you need more drinks to keep you warm during the cold winter you may want to try my Mulled Mandarin Juice or homemade Hot Chocolate.

5 from 1 vote

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Whiskey-Spiked Mulled Ginger Beer

It’s drinks like these mulled ginger beer with a hint of whiskey that create the Christmas atmosphere.

Course Cocktail, Drinks

Keyword beer cocktail, easy recipe

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Servings 6 people

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

1 L ginger beer
juice of 2 oranges
peel of one orange
4 cinnamon sticks
6 slices ginger
4 rosemary springs
honey to taste
whiskey to taste

Instructions

Add ginger beer, orange juice cinnamon sticks, ginger slices and rosemary springs to a pot and bring to a simmer. Let simmer for 5-10 minutes then remove from heat and add honey.
Pour in mugs or heat-proof glasses and add whiskey to taste.

Notes

Non-alcoholic version: omit whiskey and use non-alcoholic ginger beer

Mango Margarita Smoothie

February 22, 2018

Who doesn’t love a simple refreshing margarita smoothie with mangos? I sure do!

Hey, it’s been a LOOOOOONG time. Way to long.

I’ve missed posting here so much. I’ve kicked myself in the rear end this week and made a plan for a few future recipes. Hopefully, I can see them through! Baby Jernej is not so little anymore. He’s standing on his own now, crawling all around the place, exploring the world and filling our hearts with all kinds of joy. If you wanna see what’s going on in our personal life head on to my personal Instagram account.

And now to the recipe. Today is National Margarita Day and I made a non-alcoholic mango margarita smoothie.

I’d say cheers, but it’s long gone.

There’s something about mangos in smoothies. Puréed mangos give such a nice smooth texture to drinks. They are one of my favorite fruits to put in smoothies, besides avocados. All due to the texture. Okay, and flavor too 😀 What are yours?

Since becoming a mom, maintaining a healthy diet has been so hard. The biggest problem for me is forgetting to eat, which I find super weird and annoying. And that’s why recipes like this are super important… Simple, easy and done in no time. I’m planning on sharing a few other recipes suitable for mom’s with little time to prep and also for little kids to enjoy. Btw, baby J tried the mango margarita smoothie and he approves 😀

Who doesn't love a simple refreshing margarita smoothie with mangos. I sure do!

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Mango Margarita Smoothie

Total Time 5 minutes

Servings 2 servings

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

1/2 mango (chilled)
3 oranges (chilled)
2 limes (chilled)
salt for garnish

Instructions

Peel mango and juice oranges and limes and blend all until smooth.
Run a lime wedge around the outside of a glass and dip the rim in some salt for garnish and taste. Pour in the smoothie.

Refreshing Vanilla Strawberry Iced Tea

March 30, 2017

A refreshing spring vanilla strawberry iced tea – perfect combination of rooiboss tea, vanilla and strawberries. Keeps you cool and hydrated during sunny spring days!

I’ve made this delicious drink last week while baking the strawberry cake for my birthday. My birthday is on March 22nd and it just happens that that’s also World Water Day. I love that! I love water! Water is also my absolute favorite drink in the entire world, besides tea. I don’t actually know anyone who would drink as much tea as I do.

I’m gonna be honest with you – tea can get boring at times. Adding fruits and some ice will do the trick though. Makes it refreshing and adds a bunch of vitamins to your drink. Since I was already making the strawberry cake last week I figured why not make a strawberry iced tea. I had a ton of strawberries anyway.

Lately, I’ve been obsessing over rooibos tea, which I find so nice and sweet with a slight vanilla flavor. Besides my daily three cups of raspberry leaf tea this is the one tea I drink the most. Since it’s getting quite warm over here, I’m drinking it cold. And GUESS WHAT it’s a perfect match for strawberries. It really is! And since I’m loving the mild vanilla flavor in the rooibos, I added more vanilla, ‘cuz WHY NOT?

Yay, my favorite refreshing iced tea was born 😀

Let me know if you try it and think the same!

Regarding the prego belly. It’s still here and the baby is still very and I mean VERY lively. Doesn’t seem to want to come out any time soon, but we never know. I’m hoping for April 1st!

Seems like the last month my sweet cravings have gone over the roof. I’m eating more junk than ever and feeling so so regretful about that. I should probably stop feeling like that, because it doesn’t really do much good. I still eat junk if I feel like it. Okay, I’ve kindda managed to keep myself away from nutella. Kindda… I make pancakes for breakfast just to have an excuse to eat Nutella. Otherwise I have like five slices of bread with butter and honey for breakfast. Okay, honey is now bad, but the amount of honey is. Trust me five slices full of dripping honey is too much. But I guess the cravings will go aways eventually 🙂

Did I mention there’s honey in the strawberry iced tea? Of course there is, duh 😛

I’ve also managed to do some gardening. I’ve tranfered my little tomato seedlings to bigger pots, so they’ll have enough room to grow. The truth is, we have to buy tomatoes by the middle of July, sometimes even more. It’s seems so unfair. I’m looking at the growing plants for months before the tomatoes go red. It always seems like the wait is way too long, although totally worth it. Okay, I’m babbling. I’ll stop now.

That’s all for now! By the time I post another recipe I might be writing with one hand full of baby cuteness. If you don’t hear from me for a while, you know what happened 😉

A refreshing spring vanilla strawberry iced tea - perfect combination of rooiboss tea, vanilla and strawberries. Keeps you cool and hydrated during sunny spring days!

5 from 1 vote

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Refreshing Vanilla Strawberry Iced Tea

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

250 g strawberries
600 ml water
4 tsp red rooibos tea
2 TBSP honey
1/4 tsp vanilla seeds (from one vanilla pod)

Instructions

In a big saucepan boil water and add red rooibos tea and steep covered for 10 minutes. After the tea has finnished steeping strain it into a big jug.
Uncover and leave to cool.
Meanwhile, remove strawberry stems and discard. Place the strawberries in a blender and make a smooth purée. If you prefer your purée to be without the tiny pits, strain it through a fine strainer.
When the tea has cooled down to almost room temperature add honey and mix well. Add strawberry purée and vanilla, mix well and pour into glasses filled with ice.

Antioxidant Packed Blueberry Matcha Smoothie

March 9, 2017

This blueberry matcha smoothie is full of antioxidants and a perfect energy boost for the morning. It’s a delicious healthy vegan, dairy free and gluten free green smoothie with blueberry mash. So good!

I’m getting so excited about spring and can’t wait for everything to go green. We’re already able to waste our time outside in nothing else but a sweater. Remember my love of balcony life. Well, here it is! I can almost smell spring 😀 Winter this year sucked, almost no snow… I mean it was cold, which is okay by me, but no snow. Come on, that’s just unfair!

Yeah, yeah, I’ll stop complaining 😉

This spring will bring a new little cuddling creature to our life, so there’s really nothing to complain about. Only one more month to go, but I’m hoping sooner 🙂 Can’t wait to meet you little baby! These past 8 months went by really fast, I got very attached to my big belly and the very intesnse baby kicks. I’m begining to think this baby will be a kickboxer or something. I remember reading about having to count kicks if the baby is not moving enough and then I think is there also something like kicking too much?! Probably not 🙂

Back to the recipe!

With the spring knocking on the door, the season of some new green leaf veggies is starting and I’m able to add them to my green smoothies. I got hold of some really nice fresh spinach last week and I couldn’t resist to make a delicious smoothie for breakfast. There are still some frozen wild blueberries in the freezer, which I love for breakfast. In the winter I heat them up and pour over the pancakes with some yogurt. Yum!

Ok, ok, back to the smoothie. So I named this drink matcha smoothie, because I added a little for some nice morning tea feeling. Mmm, cozy 🙂 I don’t know why exactly, but for me drinking matcha – in any form – is like a warm hug. Even if I drink it cold.

I couldn’t resist but adding some lime juice to this almost-spring-celebrating smoothie. Delicious! 🙂 It’s sweetened with honey, which you probably already know is my favorite sweetener 🙂

Now I’m anxiously waiting for strawberries, especially wild strawberries to make strawberry layer cakes and elderflower to make some cookies. With a little bit of luck, the baby and I will be well enough by the time those two are in season and we’ll be strolling through forests searching for these beauties 🙂

And now here’s the recipe, finally. This matcha smoothie is packed with antioxidants and contains a bunch of cashews and an avocado so it will leave you fed for a while. Cheers!

Antioxidant Packed Blueberry Matcha Smoothie. This blueberry matcha smoothie is full of antioxidants and a perfect energy boost for the morning. It's a delicious healthy vegan, dairy free and gluten free green smoothie with blueberry mash. So good! | www.useyournoodles.eu

5 from 1 vote

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Antioxidant Packed Blueberry Matcha Smoothie

Total Time 5 minutes

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

1 cup cashews soaked overnight
2 cups water
1/2 avocado
50 g spinach (or a big handful)
4 tsp matcha powder
juice of 1 1/2 limes
2 TBSP sunflower seeds
3 TBSP honey (or other sweetener for vegan version)
1 cup blueberries

Instructions

Mix everything except blueberries in a blender until smooth. If the smoothie is to thick add more water.
Place blueberries in two glasses and mash them gently with a spoon or a mortar.
Pour the green smoothie over mashed blueberries and enjoy!

Sparkling Pomelo Ginger Shandy (Virgin And Not So Virgin)

February 16, 2017

This sparkling pomelo ginger shandy is a nice refreshing drink with a little kick of spice, perfect for lazy sunny late winter days.

What do you do when you can’t have booze? Make something out of beer.

Yeah, yeah, I know many of you will say beer without alcohol is not beer at all and you might be right. Some of them taste…hmmm. How should I put it? Miserable.

But when you’re pregnant and can’t have alcohol, trust me, it’s much easier to like non-alcoholic beer. Some brands make very good ones, but I’ve also had one that tasted like a chewing gum. Uhm, not so good!

Well, it was about time to make another drink recipe, since it’s been a while now. I’m all about citruses during this winter. I don’t think I’ve eaten so many oranges and mandarins at any point in my life and a big squeeze of lemon in a glass of water is a total must. I haven’t had any pomelo, so I thought I’d put it in a sparkling beer drink with some spicy ginger and have a pomelo ginger shandy.

Pomelo is such an awesome fruit, it’s sweet like a grapefruit, but doesn’ have the bitterness, which is great for a beer drink, since beer is already bitter.

On top of all the pomelo juice, the ginger gives the drink a little heat and warms you up 🙂 That’s why I love ginger!

And pretty much everything about this drink 😀

This pomelo ginger shandy is such a nice refreshing drink for the lazy days leading to spring, sitting in the sun on a balcony wrapped in a warm blanket. Listening to bird singing starting again, such a lovely time. I’m getting sentimental.

Our balcony life (yeah, this should totally be a title of a movie) is gone during the winter, but when the sun starts to become warmer and the days get longer, we start hanging out on the balcony again. During the spring and summer it’s where we eat, play board games, read and do pretty much everything. Like, who needs the indoors, anyway?!

So, I’m very happy with the longer not so freezing cold days 🙂

And I’m happy to have this non-alcoholic drink, which can also be alcoholic, whatever you prefer. It’s a great way to pimp up your favorite beer and add some fruitiness 🙂

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Sparkling Pomelo Ginger Shandy

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Servings 2 people

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Simple ginger syrup

4 TBSP cane sugar
3 TBSP grated fresh ginger
1 TBSP pomelo zest
2 TBSP lemon juice

Pomelo Ginger Shandy

500 ml pomelo juice (juicing described in the instructions)
500 ml lager beer (alcoholic or non-alcoholic)

Instructions

Simple ginger syrup:

Add all ingredients to a mortar and make a smooth paste.

Juicing pomelo:

Pomelo is a big fruit and it's hard to juice it on a regular juicer. I peel the pomelo and remove the thin white skins, then blend it in a blender for a minute or two and use a nut milk bag or a tea towel to squeeze out the juice.

Pomelo ginger shandy:

Mix together pomelo juice and simple ginger syrup, pour into glasses and add beer.

Black Sesame Covered Chewy Turmeric Bagels

January 26, 2017

The softest low-fat black sesame covered chewy turmeric bagels that are ridiculously tasty and a great basis for a breakfast sandwich.

Hey, guys!

Guess what, it’s the first time we’re making bread together. A shocker!! Ok, we’ve made some flatbread, but not bread like this.

Bread making is definitely one of my biggest cooking/baking passion. Digging in the dough and getting your hands all sticky and messy is the best part of making bread at home. And if you think it’s hard, it’s actually not. Sometimes it requires a little time, but it’s mostly just waiting and admiring your beautiful work. How’s that for a change of perspective.

If you’re kneading the dough by hand it’s also a great exercise. Win-win 😀

I’ve just recently discovered the art of cooking the bread before it goes to the oven and that’s so lame, right? How could I be ignorant for so long! Cooking the dough before putting it in the oven makes for a nicely browned crust and a chewy middle. Like all bread, I like bagels best when they’re hot. I was always told that eating warm bread would hurt my stomach, but I’ve been doing that for all my life and my stomach is just fine. For now 😀 What can I do, it simply tastes better and its so soft. Who’s with me?

The awesomest chewy turmeric bagels

Okay, enough of my babbling…

We’re making bagels today. Not the typical New York style bagels, but similar – chewy turmeric bagels with some amazing black sesame seeds on top. I’ve added a bunch of turmeric in the dough, which gives it such a beautiful vivid golden color and a nice aroma along with a hint of bitterness. And the black sesame is just awesome. It has a stronger taste than the lightly colored sesame and it contains a whole bunch of necessary minerals.

I was eager to try it for a while, but it’s not that easy get in Slovenia. And if you do get it it’s very expensive. Finnaly I got my hand on a big bag of it and tried it in this recipe. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Besides the obvious, that they look great, they are now even tastier and healthier 🙂

One thing that makes bagels different from normal bread is that we’re using less yeast, which gives it some extra flavor and dense texure inside. We don’t want the bagels to be bready, but rather chewy and moist. Cooking them in water infused with baking soda will make the crust seal and prevent it from rising more in the oven, which will also help create the dense middle and will give the crust a nice darker color. Actually in this case, because we’ve added turmeric to the dough it will become sort of orange or red in some places, so don’t get scared, nothing’s wrong 😛 It’s just more fun!

I like to serve bagels with cream cheese or some creamy beet dip with smoked salmon and some leafy greens like spinach or arugula.

Yum, yum…let’s go bake!

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BLACK SESAME COVERED CHEWY TURMERIC BAGELS

Course Appetizer, Breakfast, Side Dish

Keyword bagels, bread

Total Time 4 hours

Servings 14 bagels

Ingredients

CHEWY TURMERIC BAGELS

6 cups all-purpose flour (900g)
1 TBSP active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1 TBSP turmeric
1 TBSP salt

COOKING

1/2 TBSP baking soda per 2 litres of water

TOPPINGS

black sesame seeds
cornmeal Optional. I like to use it, because it prevents the dough to stick on the paper and it gives the bagel a nice crunch

Instructions

In a bowl of your stand mixer combine 3 cups of flour, all the water and yeast using a whisk. Cover with a cloth and let rise for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes you will see bubbles on the surface of the dough mixture. Add the remaining flour, turmeric and salt and using a kneading attachment start kneading the dough. Knead for about 10 minutes, then cover the dough with plastic foil and leave to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour and 30 minutes or until it has doubled in size.
Punch the dough and give it a couple of kneads. Divide the dough into 90-110 g chunks. Flatten each piece with hands fold in the sides and roll so you get a cylinder (like a spring roll). Using the palms of your hands roll out the cylinder to about 20 cm long, then overlap one end over the other, pinch hard and use your palm to roll these two ends together.
Let rise covered with a cloth for an hour.
Bring water with baking soda to a boil in a wide skillet. Let it gently simmer while you cook the bagels 60-90 seconds each side. Drain and dip one side of the bagel while still a little wet in black sesame seeds and the other in cornmeal.
Place on a tray lined with baking paper and bake for 20-25 minutes at 220°C until you get a nice golden and red color.

Notes

NOTES
Don’t overcrowd the bagels in water, because they will rise a bit and they may change the shape if they touch other bagels.

The softest low-fat black sesame covered chewy turmeric bagels that are ridiculously tasty and a great basis for a breakfast sandwich. Click to find the whole recipe or pin and save for later!

Popped Beans and Steamed Broccoli Salad

January 19, 2017

Whoever says comfort food can’t be healthy, has obviously never tried popped beans and steamed broccoli salad with toasted spicy nuts and lemony mustard dressing. Hungry anyone?

Whoever says comfort food can't be healthy, had obviously never tried popped beans and steamed broccoli salad with toasted spicy nuts and lemony mustard dressing. Hungry anyone?

Hey, hey! We’re having broccoli today.

Hmmm, the rhyme was unitntentional, I guess I’m feeling poetic 😛

I have a habit of steaming broccoli instead of roasting them. I dunno, I think it’s because of the vivid green color it keeps. Plus, it’s quicker 🙂 I was thinking what would go well in a steamed broccoli salad and then I remembered a Jamie Oliver show from a while ago. Can’t even remember the recipe, but I know he roasted the beans on a pan until they started popping. I tried those before and they were great. So, it sounded like an awesome idea to add them to the broccoli. Turnes out it was the right decision and with some added chopped parsey, pomegranate seeds and spicy nuts this makes a perfect winter salad.

The best thing about this salad is, it can be both a warm or a cold salad. For a warm salad, you dress it while everything is hot, for a cold salad, you rinse the broccoli with cold water after steaming and then decide if you want the beans and nuts to be warm or not. It’s up to you!

I’m seriously obsessed with mustard dressing. Although I’m normally not a fan of mustard as a condiment, it’s so amazing if you use it as seasoning.

This dressing is probably the one I use most on daily basis, because it’s super simple and mustard gives it an extra depth and richness. It works really well with bitter winter salads like radicchio.

So, some updates on what’s been going on in my life lately. We’re starting to prep more seriously for the baby. Yep, barely starting. I mean we have bought some things, made some and we’re getting lots of second hand stuff from friends, but we still have sooo many chores until I can really say, now we’re ready. We still have 10 weeks, but you never now, when the baby might surprise us. Oh, I have to tell you about the cutest little pants I’ve sewn. They are the cutest, but I’m affraid the fabric is not strechy enough and they’ll probably be to small to fit even a newborn. Luckily, I’m stacked with fabric and I’m making new ones 🙂

Ok, enough baby talk!

Besides all the baby preparations, we’re also starting to prep for the new dance show that we moved from Spring to Autumn, because of… well, baby. Yesterday, I started making my part of the coreography. You can imagine a big belly and a fast dance + some floorwork. It was fun, but also very chalenging!

Great, your all updated now, so let’s start cookin’!

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POPPED BEANS AND STEAMED BROCCOLI SALAD

Course Salad

Keyword bean salad, broccoli salad, healthy, quick

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Servings 4

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

STEAMED BROCCOLI SALAD

1 big broccoli
1 cup cooked red beans if you’re using canned, rinse well before cooking
3 TBSP mixed seeds sunflower seeds, sesame, black sesame…
1 tsp crushed chilli flakes
1 tsp ground garlic
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
a bunch of parsley chopped

LEMONY MUSTARD DRESSING

5 TBSP olive oil
3 TBSP lemon juice
1 TBSP mustard
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper

Instructions

Steamed Broccoli Salad

Cut the florets away from stems and cut them into bite size chunks. Cut the thinner stems into 1 cm chunks. Peel the thick main stem and cut it into 1 cm cubes.
Boil a little water (about a finger’s width) in a steaming pan and add the steming basket. Place the stem parts of broccoli into the steaming basket and the florets on top. If there are any leaves from broccoli place them right at the top. Cover with a lid, reduce heat to low and cook for about 5 minutes or until you can easily pierce the broccoli with a fork, but it’s still vibrant green. Be careful, because broccoli can go from vibrant to brownish color quickly.
If you prefer your broccoli to be cold, rinse immediately under cold water to stop it from further cooking. If you’re serving it warm, just remove from steamer and let it drain.
In a bowl mix together garlic and chilly flakes.
Heat a big skillet over medium-high heat and add beand and half of the garlic and chlli mixture. Cook them for about 4-5 minutes, tossing every now and then. Once you see most of the beans open, add the nuts and toss every now and then for a minute. Remove from heat and add the remaining garlic and chilli mixture.

Lemony Mustard Dressing

Beat all ingredients together with a fork.

Steamed Broccoli Salad

In a salad bowl, mix together broccoli, parsley, 2/3 of beans and seed mixture, 2/3 of pomegranate seeds and dressing. Top wih the remaining 1/3 of beeans and seeds and the rest of pomegranate seeds.

Sober Festive Sangria

November 24, 2016

I love non-alcoholic festive sangria, especially when it tastes like winter with all its beautiful mixed fruits and Christmas spices. It’s the easiest thing in the world to do and you can prepare it ahead of time.

I love a non-alcoholic festive sangria, especially when it tastes like winter with all its beautiful mixed fruits and christmas spices. It’s the easiest thing in the world to do and you can prepare it ahead of time.

Anyone up for a festive drink?

I know, I know, it’s not Christmas yet, but we’re slowly getting in the mood. I’m already making plans for Christmas baking and seeing some lovely Christmas market. Oh, I love those! I’m not a fan of crowded places, but Christmas markets are an exception. They don’t really make sense if you’re there all alone. The great thing about them is the smell. The smell of spices and sugar accompanied by Christmas lights and friends.

I don’t know if you guys remember, but I’ve been angry about Christmas stuff being in the stores and on the streets way too early in one of the last years post. I’m over it this year… can’t really wait for December to come with all its perks.

So super excited about the almost festive time I made this very simple festive sangria with pear juice. If you prefer apple juice, that’s fine, use it. Or make it half-half. It’s not really a stick-to-it-100% type of recipe, you can totally make it your own. I’m using pear juice because I love it and I don’t drink it that often. It’s kindda hard to get in the stores, so juicing fresh pears is often the only way to go. I cheated this time 😉

Alcohol lovers, there’s none in the recipe, but if you’re up for a boozy version, you can try adding wine or some fruit liqueur.

Now, obviously there are winter spices in here! OBVIOUSLY. You can’t go without 🙂

I added some cinnamon sticks, star anises and cloves for that Christmasy feel and some ginger and peppercorns for a nice spicy kick. I just realised there probably aren’t many thing I don’t put peppercorn in, some baked goods and some cocktails, otherwise it’s there. All the time. It’s getting worse with the pregnancy, I simply can’t eat anything witout it. And apparently, I can’t drink it either. Remember the Mulled Mandarin Juice. You can find those there, too 🙂

You might think I’m crazy, but they actually make a big difference, so please please don’t leave them out. Or at least don’t tell me 😛

The fun thing about this recipe is, you make it a day ahead and when you’re ready to party, take it out of the fridge, add some sparkling water and you’re on 😀

I love simple and quick recipes!

I love non-alcoholic festive sangria, especially when it tastes like winter with all its beautiful mixed fruits and christmas spices. It’s the easiest thing in the world to do and you can prepare it ahead of time.

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SOBER FESTIVE SANGRIA

Course Cocktail

Keyword cocktail, mocktail

Prep Time 15 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

3 cups pear juice
2 cups sparkling water
2 pears
2 apples
2 oranges
1 pomegranate
3 cinnamon sticks
3 star anises
6 slices of ginger
1 tsp peppercorns
5 cloves

Instructions

Slice pears, apples, and oranges into 3mm slices or chunks as big as you like.
Remove seeds from the pomegranate.
Place all fruit, cinnamon sticks, star anises, ginger, peppercorns, and cloves in a big bowl or a jar and pour over pear juice.
Keep in the fridge for at least 5 hours or overnight.
Before serving to add cold sparkling water.

Mulled Mandarin Juice

October 27, 2016

Easy to make from scratch warm autumn mulled mandarin juice!

I really hope y’all love mandarins as much as I do. They’ve been my main food these days. A nasty cold decided to haunt me, but I was prepared…

With tons of mandarins. I mean I probably ate a few kilos of them. And I’m not exaggerating at all! I’m feeling much better now and ready to bring you another awesome recipe.

Inspired by mulled wine and apple cider, I decided to give warm drinks a little twist. I’ve added mandarins to those two drinks before, but never tried cooking mandarin juice on its own. And man, I’m sorry I didn’t!!

Don’t get me wrong, I love mulled apple cider, but it needs lots of lemon to reduce the sweetness. Well, not mandarins. Especially the sour ones. Which are my favorites, btw 🙂 There’s just a little honey or any other sweetness necessary in this recipe, or if you prefer sour drinks like me, you can omit that.

Now that we got this straight, let’s talk spices.

Cinnamon, cloves, ginger, peppercorn and star anis. That’s what I used. It’s basically what I usually used in mulled drinks, sometimes I play with flavors and add someting new, but being ill and all, I wished for something very homey and familiar. Something to make me feel like a little baby 😀

And it made me so happy I just had to share this recipe with you. I have a feeling mulled mandarin juice is gonna be my everyday drink now. Since being pregnant means, I have to be careful with what kinds of teas I drink, I was also out of warm drink options. This will be perfect to spice things up.

A little secret. I have a feeling rum would go awesomely with mulled mandarin juice, so if you can drink alcohol, try adding it after cooking. And let me know how it was 😛

I want to hear everything about your other favorite winter drinks in the comments below.

And if you want to boost your immunity, so you don’t get a cold like I did, try some Immune-Boosting Elderflower Turmeric Tea.

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MULLED MANDARIN JUICE

Course Cocktail

Keyword non-alcoholic drink, warm drink

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

600 ml 3 cups freshly squeezed mandarin juice (from about 1 kg of mandarins)
600 ml 3 cups water
2 cinnamon sticks
10 cloves
4 slices of ginger
10 peppercorns
2 star anises
1-2 TBSP honey or another sweetener optional

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a pot and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to low heat. Cook for 20 minutes.
Remove from heat and serve hot.

Pumpkin Soup with Balsamic Glazed Onions + A Big Announcement

October 5, 2016

Warm, sweet and spicy pumpkin soup will be your new favorite autumn comfort food!

Omg, it’s been so long since my last post.

So sorry for that, but I’ve had a perfectly good reason. Actually the best reason in the world. We’re having our first little baby in April! 🙂 ♥ How awesome is that! I still can’t believe it’s happening, but we’re happy and excited and can’t wait to meet our tiny bundle.

I haven’t had any major pregnancy discomforts, but one that affected my blogging: I wasn’t able to cook for a month or smell any strong smelling food. Or look at food photos. I’m still struggling with fresh veggies (which I would normally love so much!), but most of the troubles went away now that I’m in my second trimester.

I’ve been craving sweet food a lot. Not sweets, but sweet savoury food like root veggies and pumpkins. So they’re on the menu a lot these days. One of my all time autumn favorites is definitely pumpkin soup.

What makes pumpkin soup so amazing is its natural sweetness in combination with chillies. Remember how chillies go perfectly with chocolate… well, it’s the same with pumpkin. So don’t skip on it. Seriously! Add less if you’re not into spicy stuff, adding at least a little will make all the difference.

I don’t like adding much to my simple pumpkin soup recipe. No stock or herbs. Water, garlic, chilli flakes, salt and pepper are enough. I’m using pumpkin purée as my base. If you’d like to make your own check the notes in the Mini Pumpkin Pizzas recipe. A good variety of pumpkin or squash is crucial, so pick one that you absolutely love.

For me that’s hokkaido or any other with simmilar sweetness.

A very sweet pumpkin soup like this need a counterbalance, so I added balsamic glased onions with sage on top. I could eat these onions on their own, they are sooooooo good.

I’m letting you in on a little secret. I’m dreaming about autumn all year round. I love all seasons, especially when they’re just starting. All the fresh new produce and the feel of change.

But autumn is my favourite. There’s nothing like the magical feel of cold and warmth at the same time. And all the sweet produce it comes with. Yup, best season ever! I’m one of those strange people who love cold and rain 🙂

Now I’m off to warm myself with a bowl of this delicious pumpkin soup!

Warm, sweet and spicy pumpkin soup will be your new favorite autumn comfort food!

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Pumpkin Soup with Balsamic Glazed Onions

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

Pumpkin soup:

4 cups pumpkin purée
3 cups water (depending on desired consistency)
1 TBSP olive oil
3 cloves garlic chopped
1/2 tsp chilli flakes (add less if you prefer a less spicy version)
salt by taste
pepper by taste

Balsamic glased onions:

1 medium sized red onion
1 TBSP olive oil
6 sage leaves
1/2 cup water
2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
salt by taste
pepper by taste

Other topping options:

crème fraîche
pumpkin seeds
pumpkin seed oil
chives

Instructions

Balsamic glased onions:

Cut the onion in half and remove the skins. Slice it into 3-5 mm thin slices.
Place a skillet over medium heat and add olive oil. Add the onions and sage and stir to cover them with oil.
Cook uncovered for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally, until the onions get translucent and a bit softer.
Add water, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and cover the skillet. Continue cooking over low-medium heat for 20 minutes or until the onions get soft.
Uncover and cook over medium-high heat for additional 5-10 minutes to lose the excess moiture and caramelise the onions. Stir occasionally to check they are not burning.

Pumpkin soup:

Place a pan over medium heat and add olive oil. Add garlic and cook until it gets golden.
Add pumpkin puree, water, chilli flakes, salt and pepper and continue cooking until the soup boils.

Decorating:

Pour hot soup into bowls and decorate with balsamic glased onions. You can add crème fraîche, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin seed oil and chives if you like.

Warm, sweet and spicy pumpkin soup with balsamic glased onions will be your new favorite autumn comfort food! Click to find the whole recipe or pin and save for later!

No-Churn Melon Sorbet with Basil

August 11, 2016

No icecream machine, no problem! This super easy two ingredient melon sorbet needs no icecream machine, but is creamy and delicious anyway.

Super creamy and rich melon sorbet spiced with just a hint of basil.

I can’t believe something so good can come out of freezing a simple fruit like melon. Yup, that’s right, I just described the entire recipe.

But, really it is that simple.

I was never a big fruit person. I mean, I loved the taste, but somehow I wasn’t very fond of biting into them.

Still am a little picky when it comes to that. Much less, but still…

Blending fruit into awesome new foods was a great alternative. One of the first memories of blended fruit dessert is a strawberry and cream blended drink. Which was super delicious and creamy. You should totally try that sometimes, if you haven’t already 🙂

Freezing a blended fruit is the next stage of deliciousness 🙂

And most of all, you don’t really need all that much. Mostly just fruit, some water, if the fruit doesn’t have high water content, maybe some sweetener and that’s it.

Why I love this melon sorbet?

Because it’s made only with melon and basil. Melon is made mostly of water and you don’t need to add extra. If the melon is ripe enough it is so sweet, that it doesn’t require any extra sweetening.

And since I’m greatly obsessed with herbs, I just had to add some. Basil is the right way to go. Works so well and adds more summery flavors! 🙂

Oh, how cool does it look when you serve it in a melon shell. Awesome for a garden party 🙂 You can freeze it in a shell directly if you are serving it immediately or transfer in to the shell right before showing it to your guests.

I’m getting hungry! Are you?

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NO-CHURN MELON SORBET WITH BASIL

Course Dessert

Keyword ice cream

Prep Time 10 minutes

Freezing time 6 hours

Total Time 6 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 ripe melon of any kind, spooned out into chunks, frozen for 1-2 hours
20-30 fresh basil leaves

Instructions

Place the frozen melon chunks and fresh basil into a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Keep beating until you get a smooth and creamy consistency.
Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until firm, for about 3-4 hours.

Notes

If you have an ice cream maker, prepare the mixture without pre-freezing the melon. Cool it in the fridge for an hour and make it as per instructions.

Lemony Tomato Gazpacho

July 13, 2016

This easy lemony tomato gazpacho recipe will save the hot days, when you don’t feel like cooking.

Use Your Noodles - Lemony Tomato Gazpacho

I love watching my tomatoes grow. It’s an obsession.

Some people go for a morning walk in the forest, I take a stroll in the garden to check what’s grown overnight.

So now I’m anxiously waiting for my tomatoes to ripen and then I can eat them like apples. That’s my favorite way!

I even have a photo from when I was little, sitting in the garden and eating a whole tomato. Good times 🙂

This easy lemony tomato gazpacho recipe will save the hot days, when you don't feel like cooking.

A while ago I attended an awesome workshop organized by the culinary & lifestyle magazine Radegunda and guess what… all the dishes we were making were based on tomatoes.

Which means I was in heaven 🙂

We were making all kinds of stuff… and eating them, which was the best part, for sure!

Inspired by the workshop and the anticipation of homegrown tomatoes I created this simple 5-minute tomato gazpacho.

Head on to the fridge or the garden, whatever’s closer, and get some fresh vegetables. Chop them up, blend for a minute or two and you’ll get the most refreshing lunch you’ll have this summer.

Best part of this recipe is the lemon zest. It makes all the difference. Don’t skip on it, but be sure to buy organic lemons.

Hungry yet?

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LEMONY TOMATO GAZPACHO

Course Appetizer, Soup

Keyword fresh soup, gazpacho, tomato gazpacho

Total Time 5 minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

8 tomatoes
1 cucumber peel if you are looking for nice red color
1 red or yellow pepper seeds and stem removed
1 medium-sized onion peeled
3 cloves garlic peeled
1 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
black pepper
salt

Instructions

Chop the vegetables into chunks.
In a blender, mix together all ingredients, until you get a smooth soup.
Pour into cups or bowl and serve cold.

Notes

Keep the vegetables in the fridge for a couple of hours before making the soup.

Also try this refreshing summer treats:

Minty Watermelon Slushie Drink

Roasted Peach and Strawberry Fizz

Peach and Celery Ice Lolly

Red Currant, Orange & Mint Mojitos

June 16, 2016

Perfectly refreshnig comfort summer drinks red currant, orange and mint mojitos!

Use Your Noodles - Red Currant, Orange & Mint Mojitos

Let’s have a drink!

I’m having one for sure. Hopefully, tomorrow my splint is coming off and that’s a big reason for celebration. It’s about time, I’m not really fond of walking on three legs 😛

So join me for a glass of delicious summer cocktail. One sip and you won’t be able to stop.

Perfectly refreshnig comfort summer drinks - red currant, orange and mint mojitos!

We love hanging out on our balcony listening to the birds in the cherry tree, playing board games, eating scrumptious chocolate brownies and drinking refreshing fruity drinks. One of our favorite summer drinks is mojito. In any form. We usually drink a traditional lime and mint mojitos, but sometimes we make some changes. Like adding other seasonal fruit.

There’s a big bush of red currants behind the house, full of perfectly sweet and sour tiny fruits 🙂 So I replaced lime with red currant and got a super delicious and refreshing mojito. I added some freshly squeezed orange for some sweetness and the citrusy taste. The combo of red currant and orange is not something I’ve tried before, but I must admit they make a wonderful pair.

Mental note to self – make cookies!

What I like about this cocktail recipe is the colour. If you’ve seen my other recipes, you’ve probably guessed that I like my food colourful 🙂 and seasonal 🙂

To make these lip-smacking red currant, orange and mint mojitos all you need is some fresh fruit, a bottle of rum, sparkling water and mint. And of course lots of ice!

The recipe calls for fresh red currants, that you blend into a puree, which means you keep all of the goodies from the fruit. If you don’t mind about the little seeds, you don’t need to strain the puree.

Now, let’s get the party started!

I’d love to hear what your favorite summer drink is. Write it in the comments below 🙂

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RED CURRANT, ORANGE & MINT MOJITO

Course Cocktail, Drinks, mocktail

Prep Time 10 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

MOJITOS

2 cups red currants stems removed
2 cups orange juice freshly squeezed
1/2 – 3/4 cups white rum
3 cups sparkling water
2 tsp unrefined cane sugar Optional
handful of mint
abundance of crushed ice

GARNISH

1/4 cup red currants
4 mint springs

Instructions

In a blender, blend red currants to get a pureé.
Use a muddler to crush mint to release the mint oils. Add 2 TBSP orange juice and unrefined cane sugar and muddle a little more.
Divide red currant pureé into 4 glasses, add ice, mint mixture, remaining orange juice, white rum, and sparkling water.
Decorate and serve immediately.

Notes

Mocktail version: Replace rum with orange juice.

Also try these tasty summer drinks:

Grapefruit-Lime Cocktail With Rosemary And Ginger

Roasted Peach And Strawberry Fizz

Roasted Peach and Strawberry Fizz

May 20, 2016

Delightful spring mocktail – roasted peach and strawberry fizz!

Yey, so excited about this recipe!!!

This drink to me is like pie. You know the feeling, when you take out a pie and all the syrupy juices are sizzling around the fruit? And the smell… so good 🙂 This is like a pie in a glass 🙂

And I love it!

Delightful spring mocktail - roasted peach and strawberry fizz!

This roasted peach and strawberry fizz is soooo simple. Sometimes, I can’t belive, how many great thing you can do, with so little. This is definitely one of them! 🙂

All you’ll need to do is cut peaches and strawberries in half, roast them and blend them. Then add a little apple juice, preferably homemade or organic, and some sprakling water. And there it is.

A perfect spring drink!

While we’re on the spring subject. Spring has been awfull this year in Slovenia. Ugh, my tomato, pepper and chilli plants are barely holding on in thir tiny cups, just waiting to be planted outside.

But its so COLD. I mean, I make drinks like this, just to feel like it’s spring. It’s a crime!

But good news… Today it is sunny and we’re having a big picnic party for my brother’s and friend’s 30th birthday.

Lots of people, lots of good food, beer, friends. That’s what I call spring. Hopefuly, the weather will hold and let us have the party we deserve 🙂

Now, go on… try the the recipe 🙂

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ROASTED PEACH AND STRAWBERRY FIZZ

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Cooling time 10 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

3 peaches
600 g strawberries
1 1/2 cup apple juice
1 1/2 sparkling water
abundance of crushed ice

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 175 °C.
Cut peaches in half and remove the pit. Cut strawberries in half. Place the fruit on a baking tray lined with baking paper and roast for 25 minutes.
Take the tray out and leave to cool for 10 minutes or more.
Remove the skins from peaches and blend the flesh together with apple juice in a blender to get a smooth pureé.
Blend the strawberries separately.
Divide the strawberry pureé into 6 glasses and add ice. Pour the peach and apple juice mixture over ice and add sparkling water.
Serve immediately.

Also try this refreshing drink:

Grapefruit-Lime Cocktail with Ginger and Rosemary

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