Tag Archives: vegetarian

Simple Seasonal treat: green asparagus pie

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I love eating vegetables at their absolute best. Asparagus are one of the most seasonal vegetables for me. During the asparagus season I am always looking for simple dishes that do this tasty ingredient justice.

Aspergetaart3

The cheese and eggs in this recipe enhance the asparagus flavor. Serve it with a salad , a glass of white wine and you have a complete and healthy spring meal.

Feel free to use ready-made short crust pastry or quiche dough, for an even easier meal.

Because I am a busy mom, I like making pies ahead. That way, I can play with my toddler when I get home from a busy day while the pie warms in the oven. To warm up your pie place it in a preheated oven of 160 degrees C for twenty minutes.

Aspergetaart

Asparagus pie

This recipe is for a 25 cm quiche mold.

  • Short crust pastry:
    • 100 g flower
    • 60 g butter
    • 1 tsp salt
    • 50 ml water
  • 150 gr green asparagus
  • Filling:
    • 3 free range eggs
    • 75 ml cream
  • 1 cup of grated strong cheese like old Gouda or Parmigiana
  • Pepper and ground nutmeg to taste
  1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees C.
  2. Make your short crust pastry:
    1. Rub the butter into the salt and flower until the texture resembles bread crumbs.
    2. Combine the crumbles into a dough by stirring the water in gradually. Combine the dough, don’t knead it. If you fuss around less with your dough, your dough will be more crumbly. For an even more crumbly result, wrap your dough in cling film and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
  3. Make your pie base:
    1. Roll out your pastry to a 5 mm thickness.
    2. Line the a greased quiche mold with your delicious pastry.
    3. Line your mold with some baking parchment and fill your pie with dried beans or actual baking beans.
    4. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
  4. While your base is in the oven, prepare your asparagus:
    1. Remove the hard section of each asparagus. This is usually about 2 cm, depending on how fresh your asparagus is.
    2. Place your asparagus in a pan of cold water. Bring the water to the boil.
    3. When the water boils, immediately take your pan of the heat and cool your asparagus in cold water.
    4. Let your asparagus dry.
  5. Prepare your filling by mixing the cream and eggs.
  6. Take your base out of the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes. (Leave your oven on!)
  7. Build your pie:
    1. Cover the base of your pie with cheese.
    2. Pour in half your filling.
    3. Sprinkle with pepper and nutmeg.
    4. Arrange your asparagus. You might need to trim your asparagus a bit for this step. Try to make one nice even and neat layer of asparagus.
    5. Add the rest of the filling.
    6. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese.
  8. Bake your pie in the oven for 20 minutes at 200 degrees C.

Enjoy!

Asparagus pie

Sweet mini veggie burgers

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I love making my own vegetarian balls and falafel look-a-likes. I was looking for a new way to cook with sweet potatoes. I sometimes find them overly sweet. This is why I thought of a sweet potato and chick pea mini burger. I packed the mini burgers full of flavors and textures complementing each other. Instead of mixing salt into the burgers, you coat them with it. The sesame seeds add even more flavors.

These little veggie burgers make it easy to eat a vegetarian meal, because they are so satisfying and filling.

SweetVeggieMiniBurger

Sweet veggie burger

  • 1 tin of chickpeas (265 grams)
  • 1 large sweet potato
  • 1 cup of grated grated carrot
  • 1 finely sliced union
  • 1 garlic clove finely sliced
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp carraway
  • 1 tsp sweet paprika
  • 1 tsp crushed black pepper
  • For the coating:
    • 2 tbsp sesame seeds
    • 2 tbsp black sesame seeds
    • 1 tbsp sea salt
  • Sauce:
    • 1 tsp mustard
    • 1 tbsp mayonaise
    • 3 tbsp greek yoghurt
    • 1 tsp mint
    • 1 tsp dill
    • 1 garlic clove, finely sliced
  1. Preparations
    1. Preheat your oven to 220 degrees C.
    2. Prick some holes in your sweet potato and place it in your microwave for 3 to six minutes until it feels soft to the touch.
    3. Fry your union and carrot in some oil until they are soft.
    4. In a blender, chop your chickpeas. Don’t blitz them to a pulp, keep some chunky bits in for a bite.
  2. Shaping your mini veggie burgers
    1. Mix all the ingredients the veggie burgers. Mold them into mini burgers or balls, whatever shape makes you happy.
    2. Mix the coating ingredients in a plate. Place the mini burgers in the coating on each side.
    3. Place the mini burgers on baking parchment on an oven tray. Be careful your mini burgers are delicate and slightly crumbly!
  3. Bake the veggie mini burgers in your oven for 20 minutes or until golden. You can bake your mini burgers for 15 minutes, then refrigerate or freeze them. They can be reheated at 200 degrees for 20 minutes.
  4. Mix the ingredients for your sauce and prepare your side dishes while your mini burgers bake.

Veggie mini burgers taste great squashed inside pita bread with some Dutch Ceasar Salad on the side.

BBQ favorites : Carrot soda bread

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I love making soda bread. It makes the perfect dipping material with a freshly made tzaziki or with plain olive oil and vinegar. I inspired this bread on a recipe by Lorraine Pascale. I was out of olives at the time. Which meant adding sweet carrots to the mix, and a matching herb; caraway.

Remember this is a soda bread: Which means no kneading, just mixing and combining! This creates that light and cake-like texture.

carrot soda bread

Carrot soda bread

  • 450 grams self raising flower
  • 1/2 tsp of salt
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 cup of finely grated carrot
  • 2 tsp caraway seeds
  • 225 ml water

Preheat your oven at 200 degrees C.

Combine all the dry ingredients and the carrots. Combine the olive oil and water.

Mix all ingredients with fork. When it all seems combined, tip the bowl on your counter and combine into a ball. Place the ball on a baking tray which you dusted with flower against sticking.

Flower the handle of a wooden spoon. Push the handle into your loaf to create, halves, quarters and then 1/8 wedges.

Bake your loaf in the oven for 35 minutes. Leave to cool for 15 mins before eating, bon apetit!

BBQtable

Perfect Pizza Paluzza

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Thanks to a sweet friend of mine, I am the proud owner of the Italian cooking bible “the silver spoon”. The book itself ways several kilo’s, but is worth all the shelf space it occupies in my book cupboard.

My Italian cooking bible

What you notice when you leaf through this book is how delightfully simple the Italian cuisine really is. Few ingredients are used to make the star of the show shine. I would recommend this book to any starting home cook.

One of my favorite recipes from “The silver spoon” is pizza. I use the recipe for making pizza dough but for the toppings I let my guests decide. I knead the pizza dough the evening before. I let the dough proof in the fridge. This means that making the pizza’s takes little time on the day itself.

My toddler loves pizza. From the moment we bought his kitchen stool he has been joining me to “help” with my cooking. And pizza is the perfect opportunity for this because:

  • Your toddler can help you knead the dough. Simply give your toddler a small portion of the dough and continue kneading together. My son loves pushing his fingers or fists into the dough! Simply combine the dough every now and then, and give your toddler a new ball to knead.
  • Your toddler can help dusting your work top and roll out the dough. At this point in time my toddler runs to the kitchen  cabinet container a big and a small rolling pin. My toddler is so experienced now (3 years old), that he rolls out a pizza all by himself, but you might wanna help a bit the first few times.
  • Your toddler can prick holes in the pizza with a fork.
  • Your toddler can sprinkle cheese, oregano and veg on his own pizza.

pizza

My son is always extremely proud of his creation and walks to the oven to check on his pizza regularly. Both dad and son are big pizza lovers.

Pizza dough (for 2 adults and 1 toddler)

  • 500 gram plain flower and extra for dusting
  • 7 gram instant yeast
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 240 ml lukewarm water
  • Olive oil

Mix your flower, water, salt and yeast together. Cover the mixture with a kitchen towel and let this mixture stand for 10 minutes (you can skip this step, but I promiss you it makes the kneading easier.

Knead your dough for a minimum of 10 minutes. Time your kneading, it will seam like forever the first time, but after 10 minutes you will have that smooth, elastic stuff people like to rave about.

tip: knead your dough on a table top, not your kitchen counter. This lower surface makes it possible for you to use your body weight when pushing into the dough to stretch it.

Make sure your dough is covered in oil to protect it from sticking and place it in a large container. The dough (at least) will double in size. Make sure you prevent your dough from drying out by applying an air tight lid or use kling film. Now you have two choices: let your dough proof in the fridge for up to 24 hours, or proof it at room temperature for 1 hour.

pizza2

When you want to make your pizza, take the dough out of the fridge, knock it back and let it get to room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Now you can devide your dough into 2 large balls and one smaller ball. Protect your dough by covering it with a (damp) kitchen towel until you roll out your pizza.

Roll out your dough to form your pizza. Prick holes with a fork where the topping goes.

Place your toppings on your pizza and bake for 10 to 20 minutes at 220 degrees.

I will blog about my husband’s favorite pizza some other day.

Dutch Ceasar Salad

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My mother used to make lovely salads with endives. I grew to love this bitter leaf. I have found it is the perfect ceasar salad leaf. You can substitute with your own favorite crunchy leaves.

Old gouda cheese is a good strong old and hardy cheese to replace Parmesan in this recipe.

Ceaser

Dutch Ceasar Salad

  • Dressing (for multiple salads):
    • 1 tbsp mayonaise
    • 1 tsp mustard
    • 50 ml butter milk
    • 1 pinch of dried chili
    • 1 tbsp lemon juice
    • 1 tbsp olive oil
    • 1 tsp thyme
    • 1 tsp oregano
    • 1 tsp salt
    • 1 tsp pepper
    • 1 cruched garlic clove
  • half a bunch of endives
  • 150 grams of grated old Gouda
  • 1 crouton recipe

Mix all the ingredients for the dressing in a jar. Shake the jar to combine the ingredients. You can make this dressing up to 4 days in advance and keep the dressing in the fridge in a jar or container. Preferably you let the dressing stand for at least 30 mins to let the flavors come together.

Clean your endives. Slives the leaves into chunky pieces.

Mix your ingredients at the last moment for a crunchy salad. Use the amount of dressing you prefer, I like a thin coating on my leaves.

Quick and easy garlic croutons

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Anyone can make croutons. It is a quick and easy way to liven up a salad or soup and a good way to get rid of old bread. You can use any bread you like to eat. We like whole wheat, but white bread or sour dough is yummy too.

You can also freeze bread slices and take these out whenever you need to make croutons.

Croutons

Garlic croutons (for 4 servings of salad) 

  • 2 slices of bread
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • salt & pepper

Brush your bread with olive oil on both sides. Toast the slices in your regular toaster until golden and crispy.

Slice your garlic in half length ways. Rub the toast with the garlic slices on each side. Generously season the toast on each side.

Let your garlic toast cool slightly. Slice your toast into cubes in your favorite crouton size.

Pancakes

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I trust and hope your mother taught you how to bake pancakes. But I have found that making pancake batter is often a mystery to people, and that unfortunately people rely on instant mixes. Master making your own batter so you can make them the way you like your pancakes best:

  • For richer pancakes add extra egg.
  • For thinner pancakes add extra milk. For thicker pancakes leave out some milk.
  • For savory pancakes leave out the honey.
  • Try which pancake you like best: milk or buttermilk.
  • Add vanilla for more flavor.
  • Use spelt flower instead of regular flower for a healthier option.

Pancake batter (feeds 4)

  • 200 gram of self raising flower
  • 1 tsp of salt
  • 4 free range eggs
  • 400 ml of buttermilk or plain milk
  • 1 tbsp melted butter
  • Butter for frying
  • Optional : 1 tbsp honey for sweet pancakes or vanilla sugar for flavor

Mix the self raising flower and the salt in a mixing bowl. Create a well in the center.

Pour a cup of the milk and the free range eggs in the well. Whisk the eggs and the milk, slowly incorporating the surrounding flower slowly. Gradually add your milk and keep incorporating the flower as you go.

Add the honey and melted butter to your pancake batter.

Your batter is ready for making pancakes!