egg-free Archives - Use Your Noodles

Clementine Aperol Spritz

February 16, 2022

I can’t get over this delicious clementine Aperol spritz. It’s mixed with two parts Aperol, clementine juice, Prosecco and soda water.

Are you up for an amazing Winter cocktail?

I’m catching the last days of some fresh clementines, that are super delicious in cocktails. I’m a huge fan of citruses like grapefruit or oranges in cocktails. And I just realized I haven’t posted a cocktail recipe with clementines yet. So let’s do that!

Ready?

All you need is some Aperol, which is a bright orange, bittersweet low-alcohol liqueur. I’m changing the original recipe a bit and trust me, it’s worth it, even though I love the original as well. The original is just Aperol liqueur, Processo wine and sparkling water. The citrus flavor adds so much to this drink.

Can you make this clementine aperol spritz less alcoholic?

Yes, absolutely. Simply change a part of Prosecco with clementine juice or apple juice and your cocktail will be less boozy.

I don’t suggest replacing Prosecco with sparkling water, because the taste will be too diluted.

Are you ready to have a drink?

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Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Servings 1 serving

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

2 parts Aperol (6 cl or 2 oz)
2 parts freshly squeezed clementine juice (6 cl or 2 oz)
1 part Prosecco (3 cl or 1 oz)
1 part soda water (3 cl or 1 oz)
ice
clementine slices for garnish

Instructions

Fill a large glass with ice.
Pour Aperol over the ice followed by freshly squeezed clementine juice.
Add soda water and garnish with a clementine slice.

The best no-bake lemon cheesecake

February 1, 2022

This no-bake lemon cheesecake has the softest fluffiest cream cheese filling and the most delicious lemon curd on top.

Less than two weeks from Valentine’s day!!! Whoa! I feel like I’m saying this in every single post, but man does the time fly these days! Am I right?

Are you already planning your Valentine’s day dinner? We don’t really celebrate Valentine’s day, but a dessert is always welcome. There’s nothing like a sweet but delicate dessert to share with someone you love. OR just eat on your own. That’s perfectly fine too 🙂

I can’t think of any better dessert but this fluffy cheesecake with lemon curd. I guarantee it’s gonna be a hit!

So how does the lemon pie look like?

The filling for this cheesecake was modified from Sally of Sally’s Baking Addiction blog. She’s a goddess when it comes to dessert and this filling is truly one of the best – if not the best – cheesecake filling I’ve ever tasted. IT’s the softest and creamies, I can’t stress this enough 🙂

I’ve topped the filling with some homemade lemon curd, which is just a fantastic way to brighten up the filling. Actually, I love it so much, I can easily eat it on it’s own 😉

You might think it’s hard to make lemon curd. I feel like people are scared of it. But it’s super simple. I promise! Just make sure you cook it long enough, to make sure the yolk is done. I prefer to err on the side of overcooking here.

As for the crust, I like to use butter cookies, but you can easily swap this for any kind of cookies you like or graham crackers. It’s really a very forgiving crust. You can even add some spices to it! The sky is the limit.

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The best no-bake lemon cheesecake

Course Dessert

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 8 servings

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Cookie Crust

150 g plain cookies
1/3 stick unsalted butter (40 g)

Cream Cheese Filling

12 oz cream cheese (350 g)
1/4 cup sugar (50 g)
2 TBSP creme fraiche (30 g)
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup whipping cream (115 ml)

Lemon Curd

2 TBSP sugar (25 g)
2 TBSP lemőn juice (25 ml)
1 egg yolk
zest of half of a lemon
1/4 stick unsalted butter (25 g)

Instructions

Cookie Crust

Add cookies to a food processor and pulse a few times until you get a chunky sand texture. Move to a small bowl.
Melt butter in a saucepan and add it to the bowl with cookies. Mix with a spoon.
Line a cake tin with baking paper and add the cookie mixture.
Use a spoon to distribute it around the bottom evenly and firmly press.
Place into the fridge while you are preparing the fillings.

Cream Cheese Filling

Using a stand mixer with a pedal attachment mix together the cream cheese and sugar until well combined.
Add creme fraiche and lemon juice and beat for a few minutes, until the cream becomes smooth.
Using a hand mixer whip the whipping cream separately until you get stiff peaks.
Add the whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture and fold it in gently with a rubber spatula.
Spread evenly over the firmed crust and place in the fridge while you make the lemon curd.

Lemon Curd

Place sugar, egg yolk, lemon juice and lemon zest in a heat-proof bowl and place over a pot with simmering water to create a double boiler.
Cook while whisking for about 10 minutes or until the mixture gets thick resembling a homemade mayonnaise consistency (not extremely thick).
Remove from the heat and add butter. Whisk until the butter completely melts and incorporates.
Cover with plastic wrap, making sure the wrap is touching the surface of the curd. Keep at room temperature to cool down.
Once cooled, pour over the cheesecake and decorate with toppings of your liking (I used candied lemons here).

Loving the no-bake pies? I have a few other options:

Healthier Almond Chocolate Truffles

January 19, 2022

Chocolate truffles are some of the best desserts out there and these ones are insanely good and a healthier replacement for many desserts.

I have to tell you a story about these truffles and the way I created this recipe.

I was supposed to go on a visit one day in December and that day I woke up at 5 am in the morning (crazy, I know! It wasn’t intentional). Anyhoo, I woke up while it was still dark and I didn’t want to wake the whole family up, so I used my phone torch to light up the kitchen counters and create a dessert or bring to that visit.

At that time, I still had no sense of smell after Covid. Basic tastes were okay but definitely not the smell. So I basically eyeballed ingredients and besides the sweetness, I had no idea how it tastes.

Apparently, people really liked them (I did as well, just couldn’t really enjoy all the goodness that’s inside). So I made them sooo sooo many times since then and I figured, this recipe is a must-share.

So here I am sharing it with you in hopes that you also get to enjoy its deliciousness.

The almond chocolate truffles recipe is pretty straightforward. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (water below, chocolate above) and then mix in all the rest of the ingredients. Simple as that!

It might look like things are a bit too runny at the beginning, but once you start mixing, the chocolate will start to cool down and the mixture will get thick super quickly and you won’t even need to let it rest. You can start forming the truffles immediately.

Okay, let’s get to this amazing recipe as soon as possible!

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Healthier Almond Chocolate Truffles

Course Dessert

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

1 cup dark chocolate chips (120 g)
½ cup crunchy almond butter (can be substituted with smooth almond butter)
3 TBSP maple syrup
½ tsp ground cinnamon
zest of one clementine
pinch of salt
unsweetened cocoa powder for coating

Instructions

Fill a saucepan with a little water and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat. Place a heat-proof bowl on top of the saucepan, but make sure it's not touching the water. Place chocolate in the top bowl and mix frequently until the chocolate melts.
Once the chocolate is melted remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the salt. Mix well.
Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. The mixture will be very liquid in the begining, but once you start mixing it will become very thick and pliable.
Once it is mixed you can start forming truffles. I like smaller ones (1 tsp of mixture) but you can make larger ones too! If the mixture is not thick enough to make truffles, place it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Once the truffles are shaped, place unsweetened cocoa powder in a bowl and coat the truffles from all sides.

Vegan Speculaas Cake with Candied Oranges and Caramel Sauce

December 18, 2021

Make your home smell like Christmas with this flavorful vegan speculaas cake with candied oranges and caramel sauce.

I’m so excited to share this recipe today. I made it together with my dear friend Vita from Little Kitchen Vibes !!!

Vita and I have met at one of my workshops and we’ve been friends since then, sharing our love of food and photography. She’s been helping me with some of my projects and so I figured why not make a personal project together. And we came up with this delicious vegan speculaas cake that literally smells like Christmas.

If I had my smell completely back from Covid, it would be even more Christmasy, but even with that, it’s just incredible. So I invite you to try the recipe, even if you’re not vegan. The cake is absolutely soft and moist and most of all have that nice crumb a good cake should have.

If you’ve been here reading my posts before, you know how much I love simple recipes. Even though it seems like a lot of ingredients the process is in fact super simple and straightforward. Like with every other butter cake, you whip butter and sugar together, then mix apples, oat milk and coconut milk in a blender and mix it in the butter together with the rest of the ingredients.

Caramel is just as simple. Simply combine everything in a bowl and you’re good to go. This caramel, though!!! Best vegan caramel I’ve ever tried. It’s super sweet just like caramel should be (right?) and had a very deep rich flavor. So good!

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Vegan Speculaas Cake with Candied Oranges and Caramel Sauce

Course Dessert

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Vegan Speculaas Cake

100 g vegan butter
120 g brown sugar
450 g all-purpose flour
1 pack baking powder (4g)
3 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground corriander
½ tsp ground allspice
⅓ tsp ground cloves
⅓ tsp ground nutmeg
pinch of salt
250 g candied orange peel
250 g apples
200 ml oat milk
200 ml full-fat coconut milk (from a can, cream and water combined)

Vegan Caramel

2 TBSP whole almond butter
1 tsp gingerbread spice mix (or 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/6 tsp ginger, pinch coriander, pinch allspice, pinch cardamom, pinch cloves, pinch nutmeg)
4 TBSP agave syrup
½ TBSP coconut milk (or more if the caramel is too thick)

Topping

200 ml vegan whipping cream (coconut is the best)

Instructions

Vegan Speculaas Cake

Add vegan butter and sugar to a large bowl and whip it with an electric mixer until you get a fluffy and even cream.
To another large bowl, add all the dry ingredients – flour, salt, and spices. Mix well with a whisk.
Cut apples into pieces and blend them along with oat milk and coconut milk.
Now combine all the ingredients into an even batter. Fold in candied oranges.
Bake in a buttered long rectangular baking pan (usually used for bread loaves) and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 45 minutes.
Once your cake is baked well, let it cool down completely.

Vegan Caramel

While your cake is baking, make caramel sauce. Add all the ingredients for caramel sauce to a blender and blend well or add them to a bowl and mix with an electric mixer.

Finishing the cake

Whip your whipping cream in a tall bowl until it's firm and holds its shape.
Before you serve it, spread whipped cream on top and pour some caramel sauce over it. You can decorate it with fresh oranges, too.

If you feel like baking something else for Christmas, I have a few other delicious recipes, such as Almond Butter Cookies and Chocolate Hazelnut Bundt Cake.

Holiday Cabin (Savory Gingerbread House)

December 9, 2021

Prepare to dazzle your guests with this savory gingerbread house shaped as a holiday cabin. Add it to your charcuterie board and it will be a perfect match!

The holidays are almost here! Can you believe it?

Every year, I’m dreaming about making a gingerbread house, but then there’s always so much candy and I don’t want to end up with waste. Because there’s no way we can eat all of it. And that’s why I decided that this year I’m gonna make a savory gingerbread house. Something small, that we can eat immediately.

Making a savory house is a bit different because creating savory icing that doesn’t contain water is very hard. When the icing has water it’s going to make the cookie (or in this case cracker) become soft after a while. That’s why this is a house that needs to be eaten within an hour of making it.

Why two differet kinds of crackers in the savory gingerbread house?

I made the house with two different types of crackers, simply for variety when people eat it. If you don’t feel like making two different crackers, don’t worry. You can make just one. Each of the two cracker recipes in this article is enough to make a house. This means that if you make two, you have enough crackers to make two houses!

I imagined a cabin made of stone with a wooden roof and that’s why I baked crackers with lots of seeds to mimic that stone appearance. And I used the regular rye crackers to make the door and the roof.

To make the house stand I used processed cheese and I used cream cheese to frost the roof to make the salty sticks adhere to the roof. I also used cream cheese to decorate the house. The same way as I would if I used royal icing – with a piping bag.

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Holiday Cabin (Savory Gingerbread House)

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 20 hours

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Wholegrain Rye Crackers

2½ cups wholegrain rye flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup water
5 TBSP olive oil

Wholegrain seed crackers

80 g wholegrain rye flour
250 ml water
50 g flax seeds
40 g sunflower seeds
40 g sesame seeds
40 g black sesame seeds
1 tsp salt
1 TBSP olive oil

Icing and decorations

processed cheese for gluing the crackers together
cream cheese for frosting the roof and decorating the house
salty sticks
peanuts
olives
rosemary
transparent jelly

Instructions

Wholegrain Rye Crackers

Place all ingredients in a bowl and gently bring together. Do not knead too much or else the crackers won't be as crunchy.
Add more water if necessary. The dough should be pretty firm and not overly stiky.
Place the dough onto baking paper and roll out 3-4 mm thick.
Cut out the house using paper template (you can get the template below the recipe)
Make sure the cuts are pretty significant, but don't move any parts of the house. Everything should be close together to prevent the shapes to change.
Transfer the paper gently onto a baking tray and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (350°F) for 20 minutes.
When the crackers are baked remove them from the oven but leave them on the baking tray to cool down completely, before transfering them off the tray. They will harden as they cook.

Wholegrain seed crackers

Mix flax seeds with water and leave them to soak for 30 minutes.
Add the rest of the ingredients and bring them together in a dough. Don't overmix.
Place the dough onto baking paper and roll out 3-4 mm thick.
Cut out the house using a paper template (you can get the template below the recipe)
Make sure the cuts are pretty significant but don't move any parts of the house. Everything should be close together to prevent the shapes to change.
Transfer the paper gently onto a baking tray and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (350°F) for 20 minutes.
When the crackers are baked remove them from the oven but leave them on the baking tray to cool down completely, before transfering them off the tray. They will harden as they cook.

Decorating the house

Use cream cheese to frost the roof and add salty sticks on top, to create a wooden look.
Once the roof is done use processed cheese to glue all the pieces of the house together.
Place the chimney on top.
Use cream cheese to pipe snow on the house and to decorate as you like.
You can use peanut halves to create a stone path, make firm jelly using water and gelatine to create icecubes, halve olives and add rosemary inside to create flower pots or use rosemary as decorations. Imagination is the limit. Be creative!

Persimmon Panna Cotta

November 24, 2021

Feeling all cozy with a persimmon panna cotta – spiced panna cotta with a delicious a surprising persimmon jelly.

Time for a cozy and comforting dessert.

I find panna cotta to be such an easy dessert for whenever you have guests coming over and you don’t have much time to do some proper baking. Plus I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like panna cotta.

This one today is inspired by the cool autumn weather we are having these days. I added a bit of cinnamon and vanilla into panna cotta. And then topped the panna cotta with homemade persimmon jelly, which basically requires only two ingredients.

Did you know that persimmons contain very high amounts of pectin? This means that they can be used as a hardening agent for homemade jams and you can use this knowledge to create a persimmon jam. And you don’t need any gelatine or agar. The persimmon pulp will harden on its own. I have used this in one of my very old recipes for persimmon coffee pudding.

So I just added a bit of sugar to make the process of solidifying even more pronounced. And that’s it, a very simple homemade persimmon jelly.

One word of caution though. Make sure that the persimmons you are using are ripe otherwise the tannins in the fruit will make your mouth dry. And that’s not a pleasant thing to feel.

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Persimmon Panna Cotta

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Resting time 3 hours

Servings 6 servings

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Panna Cotta

2½ cups heavy cream (600 ml)
2 TBSP caster suagr (30 g)
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp vanilla seeds or vanilla extract
3 gelatine leaves (5 g)

Persimmon Jelly

2 hachiya persimmons
2 TBSP caster sugar (30 g)

Instructions

Panna Cotta

Place gelatine leaves into a bowl with cold water to soften.
Place heavy cream, caster sugar, ground cinnamon and vanilla beans (or vanilla extract) into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. The mixture should not boil.
Remove from heat immediately and stir in the softened gelatine leaves and whisk to combine.
Pour the mixture into serving cups and keep refrigerated until it sets. This should take an hour or two.

Persimmon Jelly

Scoop out the flesh of the persimmon and discard the skin. Remove seeds, if any.
Place it in a food processor and add caster sugar.
Mix until smooth.
Pour over the chilled panna cotta.
Place into the fridge for an hour, which will let the pectin do its magic and create a jelly.

White chocolate & matcha chia pudding with figs

September 1, 2021

This deliciously rich white chocolate and matcha chia pudding with a homemade fig jam is such a wonderful dessert for late Summer.

Even though it has been around for a while, I’ve just recently discovered chia pudding. For whatever reason, I steered away from it for so long, even though I live chia seeds.

So during the lockdowns, we were making puddings in all shapes and sizes so I said why not try one with chia seeds. And it was amazing. The first one I made was with dark chocolate and peanut butter, which is also a recipe I need to share one day.

However this Summer I felt like making something just slightly brighter so I made a white chocolate and matcha chia pudding and some freshly made fig jam for that extra punch in flavor.

What I loved about pairing figs with chia pudding is the fact that they both have a crunch to them.

For me anything with small seeds paired with something very smooth is annoying (maybe that’s just me). But here both the pudding and the jam have actual seed in so it’s just a perfect combo texture-wise as well.

So we’re just enjoying the last days of Summer. It’s getting pretty cold here these days in the morning so I’m bringing my warm clothes out and dreaming about pumpkins and apple pies. Is this too soon?

Anyway, I hope you’ll enjoy this recipe. Let me know in the comments if you try it.

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White chocolate & matcha chia pudding with figs

Course Dessert

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Resting Time 5 hours

Total Time 5 hours 20 minutes

Servings 2 servings

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

½ cup chia seeds
2 cups plant-based milk (animal milk works okay too if you're not vegan)
100 g vegan white chocolate (regular white chocolate works too, if you're not vegan)
1 TBSP matcha powder
chopped nuts

Fig jam

200 g fresh ripe figs
3 TBSP white sugar
1 tsp vanilla seeds or vanilla extract
2 TBSP water
1 tsp lemon juice

Instructions

Chia Pudding

Place a small pot over medium heat.
Chop white chocolate in small chunks and place them in a heat-proof bowl.
Place the bowl over the pot and stir the chocolate constantly and remove from heat as soon as it completely melts.
In a medium-size bowl mix milk, matcha powder and chia seeds using a whisk.
Pour in white chocolate slowly whisking quickly to incorporate it into the pudding mixture.
Place in the fridge for at least 5 hours, but preferably overnight, to set.

Fig jam

Remove hard parts of the fig stem and cut figs into small pieces.
Place them in a small pot and add all other jam ingredients.
Cook for five to ten minutes or until figs become really soft.
Move to a food processor and mix until you get a smooth jam.
Jam will become thicker when it sets.

Assembly

Once the jam and the pudding have set place the pudding into two glasses halfway up. Then add the jam and finish with the rest of the pudding. If you wish, you can add some fresh figs into the glass and on top and top everything with chopped nuts.

If you’re into pudding recipes you might also like:

Refreshing Summer Watermelon Salad

August 9, 2021

When it comes to refreshing salads nothing beats a refreshing watermelon salad inspired by Greek salad.

If there’s a Summer fruit I can’t stop eating, it’s the watermelon. I just love the crunch and the sweetness. I’m always happy when I find a watermelon that’s just perfectly ripe. And so I got a local one from my veggie deliverer and it slipped my mind that I never tried watermelon in a salad. I’ve seen people use it in a salad, so I tried and used it in a salad that we normally make at home all the time, but replace tomatoes with watermelon.

Haaa, a new world opened. So delicious!

So I’m sharing the watermelon salad recipe I made with you to try and enjoy. It’s extremely simple and so incredibly delicious. And if you’re into salads that include summer fruit, check my cucumber and peach salad.

For this salad, you’ll need a perfectly ripe watermelon. I prefer to go a bit underripe than overripe because overly ripe watermelon is too sweet for my taste and it also doesn’t hold its shape as nicely. You’ll also need some cucumbers, black olives and Feta cheese. and to top it all off you’ll need some fresh basil leaves and a few simple ingredients to make the vinaigrette – olive oil, lime juice, lime zest, salt and crushed white or red pepper.

Very simple, y’all know I like simple foods 🙂

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Refreshing Summer Watermelon Salad

Course Salad

Prep Time 15 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Servings 4 servings

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

600 g watermelon, deseeded and cubed (1.3 lb)
200 g cucumber, sliced (7 oz)
200 g Feta cheese (7 oz)
200 g black olives (7 oz)
10-15 basil leaves

Lime Vinaigrette

1/3 cup olive oil
juice of 1 lime
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp white or red pepper, crushed
zest of 1 lime

Instructions

Lime Vinaigrette

Whisk olive oil, lime juice, salt, pepper and lime zest in a small bowl to get an emulsified vinaigrette.

Salad

Combine watermelon, cucumber, Feta cheese and olives, and mix.
Pour over the vinaigrette and toss to coat the salad.
Chill for at least 30 minutes
Once chilled place fresh basil leaves on top and serve.

Strawberry Gin and Tonic

April 29, 2021

Learn this easy recipe for a fruity strawberry gin and tonic with homemade strawberry simple syrup. Only a few simple ingredients but so much flavor!

When it comes to cocktails nothing beats a good gin and tonic if you ask me. If you’ve scrolled through this page a bit, you’ve noticed I have a thing for this lovely refreshing cocktail. For further ideas, you can check my Pink Grapefruit Gin and Tonic or Elderflower And Passion Fruit Gin And Tonic. This time I have a delicious Spring gin and tonic with a homemade strawberry simple syrup.

Before trying to make my first homemade syrup, I was a bit scared to try, but these are extremely simple to make. Hence the name ‘simple’. Literally, just bring everything to a boil, let simmer for fifteen to twenty minutes, and chill. That’s it! You can really go crazy with flavors here and invent your new flavor combos.

Once you have the syrup, you can use it for this cocktail, some other cocktail, dilute it with water and drink like that, use in desserts or pour over your favorite ice cream. So many choices!

If you’re going to make this gin and tonic, you can mix the syrup with gin and a regular tonic or you can make it a bit extra and choose pink tonic water. It will really enhance the flavor of your gin and tonic and add a little more color as well.

Before we go on with the recipe, I want to give you an update on one of the projects me and my hubby are working on lately. It’s fermenting our own ginger beer. We’ve had lots of success and now we’re experimenting with different flavors. We’re gonna do a bit more experimanting and testing and then I will also share some recipes and tips about fermenting your own drinks. How would you like that?

Anyhoo, let’s make the cocktail!

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Strawberry Gin and Tonic

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Cooling time 2 hours

Total Time 2 hours 25 minutes

Servings 1 serving

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Cocktail

30 ml gin chilled
90 ml tonic water (regular or pink) chilled
30 ml strawberry simple syrup chilled

Strawberry Simple Syrup

250 g strawberries (½ lb)
1 cup water
1 cup sugar

Instructions

Strawberry Simple Syrup

Place all syrup ingredients into a saucepan. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and let cook for 15-20 minutes until strawberries are very soft and the lliquid has become deep red.
Strain the syrup through a mesh sieve making sure not to press down the strawberries.
Leave the syrup to cool to room temperature then move to the fridge and wait at least an hour to chill. You can use the leftover strawberries as ice cream garnish.

Cocktail

Place 30 ml of the strawberry simple syrup into the bottom of a cocktail glass. Add a handful of ice. Then pour over the gin and finish with regular or pink tonic water.
Serve immediately.

Vegan Rainbow Tofu Spring Rolls

April 16, 2021

Enjoy these refreshing and delicious tofu spring rolls filled with crisp vegetables, creamy avocado, and flavorful marinated tofu.

When it comes to fresh veggies there’s nothing better than spring rolls. And what is more, I’m not focusing on anything too traditional here. And that’s the fun part because you can use whatever veggies you have on hand and whatever is in season.

For this recipe, I’ve joined forces with my dear friend Kristina from Story on a plate. I have provided the recipe and food and together we’ve created this beautiful scene and photos! So credit for those to her as well and if you’re not following her on IG yet, go ahead and do that right now.

Whenever I make spring rolls I make sure to use veggies of different colors because that’s how we get different vitamins, right? And it’s just so pretty to see a beautiful rainbow of colors.

We come to the best part of these tofu spring rolls and that’s the marinated tofu. This marinated tofu is gold and this is coming from not such a huge tofu fan. Once I tried tofu marinated like that, I was hooked. And from now on I’ll be experimenting with flavoring tofu heaps more. What about you? What’s your favorite tofu recipe? I really wanna know!

If you’re a fan of tofu, I have a recipe for a Vegan Asparagus Quiche with tofu as well or Vegan roasted pumpkin curry with tofu.

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Vegan Rainbow Tofu Spring Rolls

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

Tofu Marinade

3 TBSP thai sweet soy sauce
1 TBSP fresh or dried lemongrass chopped very finelly
1/2 TBSP chili flakes

Rainbow Tofu Spring Rolls

350 g medium or firm tofu drained and thoroughly dried/pressed
8-10 sheets of 22cm/8.5" round rice paper
8-10 small letuce leaves
5-7 radishes
1 large carrot
1 small piece red cabbage
1 ripe avocado
juice of 1 lime for preventing avocado to brown

Dipping Sauce

2 TBSP low sodium soy sauce
1 TBSP thai sweet soy sauce
1 TBSP hoisin sauce
juice of 1 lime
1 tsp sesame oil
½ tsp sesame seeds

Instructions

Rainbow Tofu Spring Rolls

In a rather large bowl mix all tofu marinade ingredients.
After your tofu has beed drained and dried cut tofu into rectangles about 1 cm (0.5 inch wide).
Place the tofu into the marinade and carefully toss to coat all sides.
Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add a TBSP of cooking oil to the pan and cook tofu for 4-5 minutes or until all sides are golden.

Dipping Sauce

Bring all the ingredients together mix well to combine.

Rainbow Tofu Spring Rolls

Cut carrots into shin sticks (julienne) and red cabage into thin slices. Also thinly slice the radishes.
Thinly slice avocado and as soon as you cut it squeeze some lime juice over the avocado to prevent it from oxidizing.
Prepare your lettuce leaf and place some carrots, red cabbage and tofu inside and roll it into a tight roll.
Prepare a large bowl with cold water for 2-3 seconds then drain for a second and place it on the counter smooth side down.
Add the lettuce roll to the center of the soaked rice paper. Then add radishes in a row above the lettuce roll. This will be your outer side of the roll. Place some avocado on top of the radishes.
Begin rolling your spring rolls. First, bring in the left and right sides. Then bring in the bottom side of the rice paper and begin rolling while maintaining some pressure. Be sure not to be too firm, otherwise, the rice papers might break.
Serve immediately.

Elderflower And Passion Fruit Gin And Tonic

February 4, 2021

Fresh passion fruit and delicious floral elderflower syrup give this refreshing elderflower and passion fruit gin and tonic recipe a sweet valentine’s day twist.

Did you notice that Valentine’s day is next week!!!??

Luckily I have a lovely cocktail ready for a romantic dinner. Even though most of the world is still in one or another form of lockdown, we still deserve some splurging, right?

A nice dinner with the best dessert ever. And of course this elderflower and passion fruit gin and tonic!

I love gin and tonic because it’s so easy to make. Basically, all you need to do is add some ice in your cocktail glass, add all the ingredients and enjoy 🙂

This time, I’ve given it a bit sweeter twist with fresh passion fruit, which I absolutely love, and homemade elderflower syrup. However, if you don’t have a homemade one, a storebought is just as fine.

This combination of flavors and sweetness with the biterness of gin and tonic is in my opinion the biggest selling point of this cocktail.

If this floral flavor is not your jam, I have a more citrusy grapefruit gin and tonic recipe as well.

A good gin and tonic is made with quality gin and quality tonic as well. Keep in mind that your gin and tonic will only be as good as the ingredients put in. This doesn’t mean you need to go with the most expensive stuff. However, the cheapest plastic bottle drinks are probably lower quality than you want in a gin and tonic. So, I encourage you to explore, which flavors you like.

Most of simple gin and tonics include some amount of citrus flavor. For my Valentine’s day elderflower and passion fruit gin and tonic, I passed on adding citruses. I used my elderflower syrup that already included some lemons. Most elderflower syrups do.

Plus, I really wanted to create a more feminine floral/tropical cocktail. But, if you feel like adding a hint of citrus go ahead and squeeze in a bit of lemon juice!

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Elderflower And Passion Fruit Gin And Tonic

Course Cocktail, Drinks

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Servings 1 cocktail

Ingredients

ice
2 ounces quality gin (1/4 cup / 60ml)
4 ounces quality tonic water (1/2 cup / 120ml)
1 fresh passion fruit
1-2 tsp elderflower syrup

Instructions

Fill the cocktail glass with ice.
Add the flesh of fresh passion fruit and elderflower syrup to the glass.
Pour over gin and finish with pouring over the tonic.
Gently stir to combine.

Notes

Homemade elderflower syrup recipe

Bacon & Radicchio Risotto

January 22, 2021

A creamy and smokey radicchio risotto with bacon is a cozy winter dish that everyone will love! A traidtional Italian recipe with a twist!

Hi guys!

Today I’m sharing one of my favorite risotto recipes. I’ve cooked and improved it over the years. Although it has some pretty basic ingredients it has so much flavor and attitude.

It’s the season of radicchio and we eat it almost every day. Mostly in salads, but now and then we love to cook this creamy delicious risotto.

And in case you’re wondering if risotto is hard to make, because it needs to be of a specific consistency, it’s not hard, you just need to keep an eye on your risotto.

A perfect risotto should have be a bit on the ofter side of al dente and have a little bit of a creamy, not too runny, sauce.

Does radicchio risotto taste bitter?

It does, a little. Certainly far less than the raw radicchio. With cooking it looses a lot of its bitterness and the flavor is enhanced.

All other flavors that are in this risotto help elevate the flavor of radicchio and they also tame the bitterness. So you shouldn’t worry about the risotto being bitter, you probably won’t even notice it.

I have been making this risotto using bacon for ages. The traditional Italian version doesn’t include any meats and if you’re not a fan of bacon, you can substitute it with pancetta. You would still get the meaty flavor without the smokiness. Or you can omit the meat and get a rather traditional risotto, which is also very delicious.

In case you love risottos as much as I do, I have some other amazing recipes:

Pumpkin Risotto with Goat Cheese

Wild Garlic Risotto

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Bacon & Radicchio Risotto

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 4 servings as a side dish

Ingredients

1 cup rice (200 g)
1 small onion finely chopped
1 celery stick finely chopped
50 g bacon cubed into 0,5cm (1/4 inch) cubes
150 g radicchio cut into small pieces (2.5 cm / 1 inch)
2 TBSP pine nuts
1/2 cup red wine
4 cups vegetable broth simmering
ground pepper
1 TBSP butter or olive oil for finishing

Instructions

Place bacon cubes into a frying pan and cook over medium-low heat until golden and crisp.
Continuing cooking over medium-high heat, add finely chopped onions and celery. Cook until translucent.
Add radicchio, pine nuts, and rice cook for a minute until the radicchio wilts a bit.
Add wine and wait until it evaporates. Season with some black pepper and continue cooking by adding one ladle of simmering broth at a time, waiting to completely absorb into rice before adding another ladle. When rice is on the soft side of al dente, the risotto is done.
Remove from the stove and add a tablespoon of butter or olive oil.
Serve immediately.

Simple Rustic Plum Pie

September 14, 2020

This delicious plum pie is made with fresh plums, a flaky pie pastry, and optional some spices for the cozy cooler days.

Okay, so I’m this crazy pie lady and I know it. I just love them so much, and late Summer/Autumn is for sure my favorite pie season. All because I get to make a ton of plum pies. Probably much more than I should, if there even is such a thing.

Plum pie is my absolute favorite. It has that perfect amount of sweetness, acidity, and creaminess. So it’s surprising to me that I’ve never posted a baked plum pie here, yet. I have a no-bake recipe and an apple pie with plum jam (YUM!) but no cozy baked pie. Until now!

So here it is!

I’ve tried a new kind of pastry that includes some baking powder and I love it. It’s a bit different from the pastry I normally use. The baking powder makes it a bit softer and just a bit cake-like. It’s amazing straight from the oven (because warm pie is YUMMY) but it gets even better the second day. So if can manage to keep your hands off for a few hours, then you’re in for a treat. I know it’s hard, but trust me, you’ll thank me later.

The filling is really simple, no fancy stuff, just simple plums, and a tiny bit of sugar. But if you have very tasty and sweet plums, you don’t even need that! Just plum with nothing on is amazing. I love simple pies!

So if you are ready to ride into Autumn with this delicious plum pie, here’s the recipe.

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Rustic Plum Pie

Course Dessert

Keyword pie crust, pie pastry, plum pie

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Resting time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes

Servings 1 10 inch (25 cm) pie

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour (240g)
½ cup fine sugar (110g) You can use any kind (white, cane, coconut…) but make sure it's fine, not too coarse
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of salt
1 stick of butter (115g) cubed and chilled
1 tsp vanila extract or vanilla seeds
4-6 TBSP cold milk or water (alternatively you can add two egg yolks and reduce the liquid)
500-600 g plums
some sugar for dusting

Instructions

Add flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt to a food processor and mix shortly to combine all ingredients.
Add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand.
Add the liquid (water, milk, and/or egg yolks) one tablespoon at a time and vanilla extract (or seeds). Pulse until the pastry comes together.
Wrap the pastry in a plastic foil and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
In the meantime, cut plums in half (or into quarters for larger plums).
After 30 minutes divide the dough into 1/3 and 2/3. Use the bigger piece to roll out the bottom of the pie. I only cover the bottom, but you can cover the sides as well, only the crust will be a bit thinner.
Place plums on top so they cover the entire surface.
Use the remaining 1/3 of the pastry to decorate the top.
Sprinkle with a tablespoon or two of sugar.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (355°F) for 55-60 minutes.

Homemade Wild Garlic Pasta Dough

March 26, 2020

This homemade wild garlic pasta dough recipe is easy to follow and tastes incredible. With a gentle herbal flavor and the most amazing color, it’s going to freshen up these early Spring days!

It’s that time of the year again. Yeah, it’s wild garlic time!

Despite what’s happening in the world right now, I can still go to the nearby forest and pick some wild garlic and for that, I’m so so grateful. If you’ve seen my wild garlic sandwiches or wild garlic risotto recipes, you know I’m obsessed with wild garlic. I can’t get enough.

So this year I’ve tried making wild garlic pasta. Although I love pasta that actually has herb particles inside, I wanted to make pasta that has a very uniform color, while still having that delicious wild garlic flavor.

And it turned out amazing. Mildly herbal and so incredibly tender.

Since the wild garlic flavor is very mild and delicate I suggest a very mild sauce. We made rosemary butter and added some parmesan cheese and some chopped fresh wild garlic and that’s it. It makes a perfect light Spring lunch.

What if I can’t find wild garlic?

I hope you have access to forest and wild garlic these days. If not, this recipe would also work with spinach or some other baby greens.

The most important thing is to keep the flour to water ratio and you’ll be fine 😀

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Wild Garlic Pasta Dough

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian, Mediterranean

Keyword homemade pasta, pasta, wild garlic, wild garlic pasta

Prep Time 30 minutes

Resting time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 4 people

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

250 g all-purpose flour
150 g wild garlic
pinch of salt

Instructions

Cook wild garlic in boiling water for around 30 seconds until it gets soft. Drain the wild garlic, but keep some of the liquid.
Use a food processor to mix wild garlic finely. If necessary add some leftover water from cooking one tablespoon at a time.
Use a strainer to squeeze out the liquid from the wild garlic paste. You should be left with 120g of strained liquid. If you don't have enough you can add some leftover water from cooking wild garlic.
Mix flour, salt and strained green liquid and mix with a fork. When it starts coming together start kneading. At first, the dough will feel very dry, but after about 10 minutes of kneading it will become softer.
When the dough is soft wrap it in plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 30 minutes.
After resting it is ready to shape. You can use it for any kind of pasta.

If you're making noodles…

Cut the dough in half or quarters.
Use your hands or a rolling pin to just slightly flatten the dough, then use a pasta machine on the widest setting (usually marked as '1') to roll it out.
Fold the dough into thirds lengthwise and run it through the machine two more times, doing the folding each time. Then continue rolling the pasta gradually through narrower settings, until you've come to the desired thickness. I like my pasta to be rolled to thickness number '5'.
Use the same machine to cut the pasta into noodles. Alternatively, you can lightly flour the pasta, roll it and cut into strips with a knife.
Once you have your pasta cut, lightly flour it and make noodle nests. Leave them to dry for 30 minutes or longer if you want to dry them completely.

Juicy & Smoky Plant-Based Cheeseburger

March 5, 2020

This Juicy & Smoky Plant-Based Cheeseburger recipe is all about smoky flavors and freshness. These vegan burgers include the most delicious vegan mushroom bacon and quick homemade pickled radishes.

Here we go with another burger recipe!

I love my beef burgers but today I have a special plant-based recipe for you.

When Nataša from The Amaze burgers wrote to me and asked if I wanna try their pea-protein burger patties I felt really excited to try them out. And I was excited to make an entirely plant-based burger.

My first thought was it needs to have a smoky taste and something that resembles bacon. So after a bit of testing, I decided on making my own mushroom bacon. And it tastes delicious. Why haven’t I tried this before? I’m pretty sure this is going to be my favorite topping form now on.

And to add some tang, I made quick-pickled radishes. Super easy and so so delicious. It adds some nice freshness and crunch to the burger.

As far as the patty goes I used the Amaze patty but you can use any patty you like such as bean or chickpea patty.

So what’s in this delicious plant-based cheeseburger?

Nothing but the best 😀 And it’s all about color, smoky flavor and freshness. Just like I love my burgers. So here’s what’s in these burgers:

a delicious soft burger bun,
some baby spinach or arugula,
plant-based burger patty,
vegan cheese,
vegan mushroom bacon,
homemade pickled radishes,
and smoky BBQ sauce.

Okay, I know you’re probably hungry by now, so let’s just head to the recipe.

Print

Juicy & Smoky Plant-Based Cheeseburger

Course Main Course

Keyword mushroom bacon, plant-based burger, vegan burger

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Cooling time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings 4 burgers

Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Mushroom Bacon

250 g mushrooms (button mushrooms, shitake…)
2 ½ TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP soy sauce
½ TBSP maple syrup
½ TBSP smoky BBQ sauce
½ TBSP smoked paprika (or additional BBQ sauce)

Quick home-pickled radishes

100 g radishes
½ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup water
3 TBSP unrefined cane sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Other ingredients

4 burger buns
4 plant-based burger patties
8 vegan cheese slices
½ cup smoky BBQ sauce
a bunch of fresh baby spinach

Instructions

Mushroom Bacon

Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a baking sheet with baking paper.
To prepare the marinade, place all mushroom bacon ingredients except mushrooms in a small bowl and mix until well combined.
Clean mushrooms with a brush and remove stems. Cut mushroom tops into thin slices, about 3-4 mm.
Place mushroom slices in the marinade and gently toss to cover all mushrooms from both sides.
Transfer mushroom slices to the lined baking sheet making sure there's not too much excess marinade on the mushrooms.
Roast in the preheated oven for ten minutes then flip the mushrooms and bake for another 10-15 minutes. The mushrooms should be a bit crunchy on the edges and they will firm more after they cool. If you see mushrooms burning, lower the heat and bake for a longer time.

Quick home-pickled radishes

Wash radishes and remove the greens.
Place all ingredients in a small saucepan, stir well and bring to a boil. Cook for 2-3 more minutes over medium heat, then let cool to room temperature.

Making the burgers

Cook your vegan burger patty as per instructions, adding two slices of vegan cheese two minutes before finishing, covering the skillet to help melt the cheese if necessary.
To assemble the burgers, cut burger buns in half. Spread a tablespoon of BBQ sauce on each half of the buns.
Place some spinach leaves on the bottom bun. Place burger patty with melted cheese on top. Add mushroom bacon, pickled radishes, and some more spinach. Top with the other half of the bun and serve immediately.

Tag Archive for: egg-free

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