Winter comfort - Caramel, sea salt, raw cacao, quinoa cookies

Rain, wind, storm, is the prefect backdrop to baking. We have a beautiful french bakery in Amsterdam that bakes among other things, salted chocolate cookies. Crisp, salty, chocolatey. So I tired to make something similar, without knowing their recipe. I was also lucky enough to have a pot of salted caramel in the fridge that I swiftly took advantage of having.

As per usual I had to add a bit of healthy to the mix, so I decided to use some quinoa flour. You do not have to use any, you can instead up the amount of oat or spelt flour. I just cannot seem to bake without adding or subtracting something to balance out the unhealthy. You could replace the oat with whole wheat spelt flour.

I used raw cacao as it contains lots of good for you B vitamins and minerals (bone contributing phosphorus, iron and muscle relaxing magnesium) and a packs a high dosage of antioxidants. It also is very high in caffeine. There is a big difference between cocoa and cacao, the later being unprocessed and therefore retains many of the benefits of chocolate.

Here are the ingredients:

100 grams butter at room temperature
1,5 dl palm, coconut or muscovado sugar (even unbleached white sugar will do)
2 tbsp raw cacao powder
2 tbsp caramel sauce (you could replace this with another 3/4 sugar)
1 dl quinoa flour
1 dl oat flour
1 3/4 dl unbleached spelt flour (not whole wheat).
1 tsp baking powder
3 large pinches of sea salt + another pinch for after baking
1 egg

1. Preheat your oven to 180C. 
2. Mix the butter, sugar and cacao into a paste. Add the egg, continue mixing. 
3. Add the caramel sauce. 
4. Slowly add the flour and baking flour. 
5. Now add the sea salt. 
6. Cover an oven rack with baking paper. 
7. Using two spoons, scoop up a spoonful of the dough and using the other spoon slide it off onto the oven rack. Continue till you have used up all the dough. Then using the backside of a spoon flatten each ball of dough. 
8. Place in the middle of the oven, bake for 8-10minutes. One out of the oven sprinkle each cookie with a pinch of sea salt. 

Wild salmon, black quinoa and a salad

I like this contrast of these colors. Same when using black pasta with smoked salmon, or black rice with mushrooms such as chantarelles. If your looking for a simple, quick and a healthy dinner this is a good choice.

Omega 3 from the wild salmon, is a no brainer. Quinoa, we have all heard about it, but what's the fuss all about? Well, it seems that quinoa contains all the so called essential amino acids (those that our bodies cannot produce themselves). Plants usually are considered incomplete protein as they do not contain all the essential amino acids. In addition quinoa also contains high levels of among others iron, magnesium and folate. Another interesting aspect of quinoa is that it contains some of the important essential lipids which are heart supportive and anti inflammatory. 

Ingredients for 2: 

200-300 grams wild salmon 

2 dl quinoa

2 handfuls of fresh rucula

a few cherry tomatoes 

* optional - avocado 

fresh lemon juice 

cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

salt + pepper 

1. Begin by rinsing the quinoa, add to a pan with 2,5 dl water, and bring to a boil. Once boiled lower the heat and low to simmer. Read to cooking time on the package, usually 15min is sufficient time. 
2. Steam the salmon file, place the fish in a steamer or a pan with a 2cm layer of water and place a sieve over the top and drop the fish into it. Depending on the thickness of the fish the steaming time will be between 10-15min. Check by poking a fork into the file and trying to see if its cooked through. Usually once its done, it will easily separate into chunks or thick flakes. 
3. Wash the rucola and place in a bowl with the washed and halves cherry tomatoes. Add the avocado. Drizzle some lemon juice over the top and some cold pressed extra virgin olive oil and mix. 
4. Once the quinoa and fish are done, place on a plate and add the salad. Enjoy!

Gluten Free Salty Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

Most of the time I have very specific cravings. Same goes for creating these cookies, I wanted chocolate and nut and saltiness in a cookie form. And viola, that's what I created. These can easily be made completely gluten free (although the cookies become more crumbly as mine were) or you can replace the quinoa and oat flour with spelt or regular unbleached wheat flour. I didn't have baking powered in-house so I made do without however I do believe a small pinch of baking powered would be helpful to add a little fluff.

Ingredients to make approx 20 cookies: 

2 dl hazelnut flour/ground hazelnut

1/2 dl palm or coconut sugar

1/2 dl brown cane sugar

1,5 tsp salt (I used himalayan salt as I do with everything as it's much healthier)

2 dl oat flour

1 egg

1 dl rice or quinoa flour (or spelt/wheat which takes away the gluten free aspect) 

1/2 dl coconut oil

40 grams butter

300 grams good quality chocolate

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients then add the softened butter and coconut oil and mix. 
3. Add the egg once the ingredients have combined mix into the dough. 
4. Finally add the chopped up chocolate and mix. 
5. Spoon out a regular spoon of the dough and place on baking paper on an oven tray. Make sure there is space between the each cookie so they can spread out as they bake. 
6. Bake in the middle of the oven between 9-12min.

Enjoy these with a cup of hot tea coffee or if your in a real chocolate mood a cup of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream. I hope you like these as much as I did. 

Sprouted beans, quinoa and beet salad

This is a luke warm, healthy feeling, autumn salad. Packed with good nutrients and fibers. The nice thing with this salad is you can vary it using carrots instead of red beet, coriander in place of parsley. You can add roasted nuts, like walnuts pr pine nuts or pecans. Feta can be added or avocado for a touch of creaminess. Protein such as smoked tofu, tempeh or tinned tuna or fried chicken file.

Also the dressing can be exchanged simply by replacing various vinegars with the tamari sauce.

Ingredients for 2 people:
1 red beet // 2 medium carrots
1/2 endive
handful fresh parsley
2-3 stalks fresh dill
1,5 dl quinoa
Sprouted beans

Dressing:
Juice form 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp tamari sauce
1 tsp dijon mustard
1,5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

* Sprouted beans can be brought at general health food stores. These can alternately be replaced with other sprouts or even non sprouted cooked beans.

1. Wash the red beet or carrots Cook the red beet or carrots till al dente. Keep the skin on. Drain and cool by running under cold water. You want it warm but not steaming hot. Once cooled slightly you can easily peel off the skin of the red beet. Chop into bite size.
2. Cook the quinoa as per the instructions on packaging.
3. Slice the endive into bite size pieces.
4. Chop the dill and parsley.
5. Now mix all the ingredients for the salad in a bowl.
6. For the dressing first whisk the mustard, lemon juice and tamari. Once combined add the olive oil.

Moroccan inspired vegetable stew

This was a big favorite this summer. I discovered preserved lemons and combined with the Morrocan spice, El Ras hanout it is winner.

The preserved lemon really vibrant and adds a freshness without being sharp.

Ingredients that will feed 5-6 people:
2 tbsp el ras hanout
1 preserved lemon
3 dl chickpeas
1 courgette
1 squash pumpkin
1 red onion
1 - 2 garlic clove
1/2 de-seeded red chili
salt & pepper
drizzle of cooking oil

1. Half the squash pumpkin and de-seed. 
2. De-seed the chili, use a spoon and avoid touching the seeds. 
3. Chop all the ingredients - save the chick peas & preserved lemon. 
4. Drizzle some cooking oil in a large cooking pan, add the el ras hanout and fry off on a low heat for a few seconds. This process awakens the flavors in the spice. 
5. Then add the onion and allow to sweat, glazing slightly, then add the rest of the veggies. Fry to coat all the veggie in the spices. 
6. Now add the chick peas & lemon (which should also be chopped.)
7. Season with salt & pepper. 
8. Continue to fry on a low heat, stirring every so often to avoid burning on the bottom. 
9. The vegetables will now slowly begin to disintegrate, creating a kind of curry.  

Allow to cook another 6-10min, you want to end up with a stew. 

Serve with couscous, bulgur, quinoa or just on it's own. 

Sticky, crispy chocolate chip cookies

Soft and gooey on the inside, slightly crunch on the outside, need I say more?

Let's just say I finally made the type of cookies I have dreamed of making, they hit the spot when you have a chocolate chip cookie craving.

Indian spiced vegetable curry

For this curry you need the vital ingredients of Garam masala & el ras hanout. I know, the last mentioned is not at all Indian but it adds a brilliant curry flavor that Garam masala does not do on it's own. So trust me, just use both. 

I like to serve this curry with brown basmati rice, cooked with some tumeric for its gorgeous yellow color also it has great nutritional values, read more here.  I also add pinch of ground cardamon both spices create that vibrant colorful Indian feeling. Sometimes I do half quinoa & half rice, just because sometimes brown rice can be very filling and quinoa feels lighter. 

Blueberry porridge..for all my fellow health freaks

We have all heard the miraculous health aspects of blueberries, they are what is called a super food. I guess that's why they are so expensive. I usually cheat and buy frozen berries, especially in winter as the fresh ones can't have been grown naturally so I think they don't contain nearly half of what they should when they are grown outdoors during a sunny & rainy Northern European summer. Studies have shown that freezing blueberries does not damage their super food powers, read more here.

Here are just a few of it's benefits...

- Full of antioxidants - which help protect our cellular structure & DNA system from free radicals - in layman's terms this means it helps keep everything from your skin to your organs and everything inbeteen healthy
- They can help improve memory
- Contain vitamin K - which
- Contain vitamin C - which we all know helps us fight colds which are abundant at this time of year
- Contains manganese - which among other things promotes strength in bones

Back to the recipe.

I have made a variation of this porridge before, which is also a post on this blog. However, the difference between this version and the last is that pearled barley has been added here. Which gives the porridge an even more soft and creamy texture. I also added quinoa, only because I had left overs from the night before and it's another healthy (high in protein) addition.

I also added hemp seeds (high in amino acids, protein, omega 3-6....etc) & golden flax seeds which are meant to contain higher levels of omega-3 than the regular brown version.

I used maple syrup to sweeten, which is also another very mineral rich sweetener. So you see this is like a super duper healthy start to your day. The best part is it should keep you going till lunch without any midday snack cravings.

Fluffy pancakes made from quinoa, oat, almond flour

This rates as angel food to me. With the added value of being healthy & gluten free! This is a recipe I have taken from one of my favorite food blogs, Sprouted Kitchen. I made my own adjustments but basicallty she is the one to credit if you make these.