Pollo al horno

Chicken in the oven.
Many slices of zucchini.
Some mushrooms.
A bit of carrot.
An onion or two.
Plenty of feta cheese.

(Quasi) Homemade Chai Latte

This year... oh no, wait, last year I fell in love with chai latte. However, as the ones at cafes are usually too sweet (and very expensive in the long run), I have been experimenting in the kitchen. I tried mixing my own spices, that just turned out weird (after a re-search on Google, I have some ideas on how to make it better). So, today I settled for using two different types of chai tea bags and a lot of milk. The drink was warm and comfy, and sweet enough, even without the added sugar.

Breaking Habits pt. 2: Letting Go of Meat

One of my plans for January is to have a meatless month. This is something I have talked about for such a long time that it was finally time to do something about it. It is not as much of a problem for me (I don't like meat that much) as it is for the people around me (who like meat very much). The "challenge" is also made easier by the fact that it is only meat that is banned. I still very much welcome fish and dairy on my kitchen table. 

Here are some of the delicious cooking that has found its way to that very same kitchen table this month. My boyfriend usually acts the cook. 

Pumpapytt

Butternut squash, one garlic clove and some spinach in mixed and fried in butter

Adding some red lentils boiled with 1/4 an onion

Adding some feta cheese

The final touch: pomegranate seeds

Final verdict: satisfying and delicious.

Source of inspiration: http://www.dn.se/mat-dryck/recept/pytt-med-pumpa-och-linser/

Aglio e olio e... e...

You may have heard - or read - about it before (for instance here) -  how Spaghetti aglio e olio is the perfect quickie for food lovers. Or at least for lovers of all things spicy. For me, the addition of feta cheese is a must. This is a recipe that rarely fails (as long as one likes spices, for some strange reason, I never need to share this dish with anyone). It's never completely the same, though. The hotness of the chilies, the amount of garlic or feta cheese. It's always a new experience. Some fresh parsley would have made this particular meal irresistible. 

To be honest, I really just wanted to share these food pictures with you. Looking at them makes me hungry - I do think I will go and get some homemade lasagna now!

Oh La La Couscous

Last week I was craving something light, yet satisfying for my lunch box. Something with a lot of taste and different textures. I try to avoid meat and other foods that leave me feeling stuffed, so I chose shrimps as a source of protein. The soy beans were crunchy. Tomatoes, red onion and rocket add a bit of colour (and vitamins) to an otherwise colourless dish. Feta cheese and garlic provide some "oh la la"-flavour. 

• Couscous
• Cherry tomatoes
• Red onion
• Soy beans
• Shrimps
• Rocket
• Feta cheese
• Garlic

As always, lunch-box-food should be easy - and the more, the better . Heat the garlic, onion and cherry tomatoes in some olive oil. Prepare the coucous and mix it with the tomatoes, onion and garlic. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Serve cold. 

Autumn Is Soup Time

Autumn is soup time, don't you agree?

In an attempt to be more food conscious, I have tried to focus on foods that can be considered a) vegetarian, b) ayurvedic, and c) light. While being tasty and somewhat filling as well.

So, the answer is SOUP. Ever since I came across this recipe from BBC, I have wanted to try their red lentil, chickpea and chilli soup. And yesterday I made a lot of it, so now I have much lunch covered for the whole week.

I did do some changes to the recipe, though. Instead of red onion, I put leek in it. And a lot of garlic was added, as well as basil instead of coriander. Because of the spices, the result was more Mediterranean than exotic.

Here's the result:

Mango & Peach Smoothie

This mango & peach smoothie is refreshing and the lovely color is energizing. [Oh. Let's learn languages the smoothie-way..] The following ingredients are needed for 2-3 servings:
1 mango
1 apricot
Some orange juice
Skimmed milk.

Just throw everything in a mixer and enjoy.

Prísady: mango, broskyňa, pomarančový džús a mlieko bez tuku

Składniki: mango, brzoskwinia, sok pomarańczowy i mleko beztłuszczowe.

Ингредиенты: манго, персик, апельсиновый сок и обезжиренное молоко

Salmon & Pesto Toast

Yesterday, when trying to decide what to do with the fresh salmon in the fridge, my boyfriend had a great idea. Salmon & pesto toast. Quick, simple and relatively low-risk (we were hungry).

Step 1. Prepare the salmon & pesto. The salmon was fried in some olive oil. After that we mixed it with some arugula pesto.

Step 2. Prepare the toast. Here we mixed some garlic and olive oil, before covering the toasts with the mix and putting them in the oven.

Step 3: once the bread is crispy enough, we just added the salmon & pesto mix. I had some extra feta cheese and garlic on mine. 

Raspberry Mango Twist

It's Smoothie-time again! This very delicious smoothie is made of frozen raspberries, frozen mango pieces and a banana. I also added skimmed milk to get the consistency right. So, what does it taste like? Well, let me tell you this - it's better than ice-cream on a hot summer day!

Smoothies Deluxe

Ahojte, milí priatelia!

In an attempt to be a bit more healthy, I have been (tried to) keeping track of my food intake. The tool I'm using (kiloklubi.fi - in Finnish) was telling me that I'm not getting enough fruits and veggies.

What better way to eat fruit and veggies, I thought, than in smoothies?

So. Smoothies it is. 

Tropical Smoothie

Ingredients (1 big glass)

• ½ orange
• 1 kiwi
• 1/4 pineapple
• 1 dl sour milk (strawberry-lemon flavored in this case)

Green + Red Smoothie

Ingredients (1 big glass)

• 1 green apple
• 1 avocado
• 5 strawberries
• some orange juice

A Little Bit Better. A Little Bit Further.

Considering the copious amounts of coffee that I'm drinking, nobody would actually think that I'm into healthy things. But, facades may be illusions. Illusions may be facades, and I'm reading about Ayurveda, raw food, mediation, positive thinking, yoga, whatnot.

Every time I'm back in the Nordic region, a wave of inspiration washes over me. Maybe it's because everyone is so focused on these things - health, the environment, doing a lot of cool things, looking good. At the same time I'm feeling a bit helpless, a bit like I'm not enough. I'm missing that air of self-confidence, coolness and that feeling of everything being so great. Generally I have been feeling a bit blah lately. My hormones are telling me that I look like a chubby snowball, the thesis is so LONG and it feels like it's never going to end (like EVER), the job hunt... well, we'll see. The most depressing thing is that most employers don't ever call back even though I am qualified - it's so frustrating to actually have work experience, a degree and multiple languages. I'm actually even a nice person (even if I say so myself). What else do they want? A rocket scientist?

Anyhow. Today's dinner was a very simple, yet delicious chicken salad. Ingredients: grilled chicken, lettuce, cucumber and a yellow pepper. The dressing was also quick and delicious (why make it complicated?) - olive oil, fresh lemon juice, a garlic clove, basil + some mixed herbs.

One That Never Fails: Feta Salad

Home-made dressing that's lovely with the feta salad: white wine vinegar (1 tablespoon), olive oil (3 tablespoons), lemon zest, coriander, French herbs and 1 garlic clove. Mixing and matching works! 

Easter Goodies: Па́сха (Paskha) - the lighter version

Па́сха (Paskha) is a traditional Russian Easter dish that is also very popular in Finland. Apart from tvorog, this infamously "dessert" also contains butter, sugar and cream. And dried fruit. It also takes some time to cook as it needs to stand in the refrigerator overnight.

I decided to make a slightly lighter version of this delicious dish. Mainly, I skipped the butter and the sugar, only sticking to vanilla-flavoured quark and cream. Vanilla in itself is so sweet that no sugar is needed. Lemon is essential and so is the dried fruit (in small quantities in this case).

Step 1: wisp the cream + add the quark
Step 2: add the zest + juice from one big lemon
Step 3: add some dried fruit
Step 4: add some decorations
Step 5: put in the fridge for a few hours
Step 6: ENJOY!

My Mother's Salmon Soup

The key, she says, lies in the freshness of the ingredients. Start with vegetable stock. Then add salmon, potatoes, beans, carrots, onion, a wee bit of cream mixed with milk. Add some white pepper and dill. Done.