Buckwheat in tomato sauce with pak choi - a delicious idea for buckwheat

 Are there any buckwheat lovers here? I often use buckwheat flour to make pancakes or waffles, but I forget about groats. Maybe I would use it more if have more ideas and recipes with them. I am a big fan of buckwheat with braised steak. However, I usually need quick recipes. My family liked it, although the children refused to eat pak choi (maybe next time - I do not lose hope). Buckwheat is a very good source of magnesium, iron, copper, zinc, manganese and B vitamins. Additionally, it has a high fiber content, which will surely appeal to our intestinal bacteria. I encourage you to try this super quick recipe, which is also gluten-free and low fodmap.

Ingredients:

• a glass of buckwheat
• 500ml of tomato passata
• 500g of ground beef (5% fat)
• 2 stalks of celery
• 3 carrots
• 2 parsley
• spoon of rapeseed oil
• 2 pak choi
• 2 tablespoons of sesame oil
• cheese (cheddar) 100g
• a bit of spring onion
• salt, pepper, oregano, bay leaf

Method:

Grate the celery, carrots and parsley using cheese grater. Heat the oil in a large pot and fry the vegetables for few minutes. Add the meat and then the tomato passata and mix well. Add spices along with the bay leaf and cook for about 10 minutes. Add add buckwheat and a glass of water. Cook until the buckwheat absorb all the liquids - about 10 minutes.

I other saucepan heat sesame oil and fry pak choi - literally 10 seconds on each side (please do not heat this oil too much - has a very low smoke point)

Put the cabbage, buckwheat in tomato sauce on a plate, sprinkle with cheese and chopped chives. Enjoy!

Roasted garlic radish - healthy snack

Only for radish fans :-) Have you ever eaten a cooked radish? This roasted in olive oil radish is a nice salty snack or side dish to go with meat. Still crunchy and deliciously garlic.

Ingredients:

500g of radishes

2 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons of olive oil

salt, pepper

Method:

Peel the radishes and cut them in half. Transfer to a bowl and mix with olive oil, salt and pepper. Transfer to a baking tray lined with baking paper or foil. Bake for about 45 minutes (mixing every 15 minutes). Alternatively, you can use an air fryer

Roasted mackerel pate - an idea for sandwich filling

 

Mackerel is a fairly well-known fish, although mostly available smoked. Probably because it spoils very quickly and smoking extends its shelf life. Recently, in my area, I can get it fresh, which I often use to the greater or lesser joy of my family. Are there other fans of this super tasty and healthy fish

Ingredients:

• 2 mackerels
• 1/3 cucumber (you can also use pickled or canned cucumber)
• 1/3 finely chopped onion
• parsley
• 2 heaped teaspoons of mayonnaise (preferably home-made)
• a teaspoon of mustard
• salt pepper
• lemon or lime

Method:

Lightly salt and pepper the mackerel and put lemon or lime wedges inside. Bake in the oven (about 15-20 minutes). Cool and then peel the skin off and take all the bones out. You have to be very careful because mackerel has a lot of small bones in it. Then mix with finely chopped onion, parsley and cucumber. Add the remaining ingredients - mayonnaise, mustard and pepper. Serve on your favourite bread.

Vegan cabbage rolls with mushrooms and lentils in a delicious tomato sauce

 

This meal is full of vegetables and spices, therefore very tasty. With lots of garlic, onions and thyme - of course if you like it? This meal also contains a lot of fiber, so the creamy tomato sauce match it perfectly. The tomato sauce in this recipe is unique, delicious, aromatic and vegan. The recipe serves about 10 cabbage rolls, although it depends on the size of the cabbage. You may need more or less stuffing

Ingredients:

• savoy cabbage
• 1 kg of mushrooms
• 3 red onions
• 4 cloves of garlic
• thyme, salt, pepper
• 150g of green lentils
• 100ml of tomato puree
• 2 soft bread rolls 
• spoon of olive oil

Method:

Chop the onion. In a large pot, heat the olive oil and add the onion. Fry it and when it is slightly soft, add the garlic. While the onions are fried, cut the mushrooms. Put half of the fried onion and garlic into a bowl or other pot - for later, for the sauce. Put the mushrooms in a pan with onion and fry until the water from the mushrooms evaporates. Season with salt, pepper and thyme. Stir in the lentils.

In a large pot, heat the water and salt to blanch the cabbage. Cut the depth of the cabbage and put it in boiling water. After 5 minutes, start picking the leaves - I used tongs for this. A small head will remain in the end, don't throw it away or pour out the water.

Wrap the stuffing in the cabbage leaves. In a large pot, arrange the remaining leaves (even those from the small head). Then arrange the cabbage rolls. Pour water after cooking the cabbage so that it covers the cabbage. Simmer for 45 minutes. Cool down.

Gently transfer the cabbage rolls to any dish. Add the previously fried onion, tomato puree, bread roll, pepper and thyme to the water after cooking. Blend it to make thick sauce. Serve with bread or potatoes

Chocolate orange chia pudding. Delicious breakfast or dessert.

 

It feels great when you go downstairs for breakfast and delicious treat waiting for you. You can prepare the chia pudding the day before and put it in the fridge - the seeds will absorb milk the pudding will be thicker. It is a good option if we have little time in the morning

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup of chia seeds
• 3/4 cup of milk (cow's or plant based)
• heaped teaspoon of cocoa powder
• spoon of honey
• orange
• dark chocolate (85% cocoa)

Method:

Put chia seeds into a bowl and mix it with milk. Add liquid honey and cocoa powder. Mix thoroughly. Stand for a few minutes and stir again. Wait until seeds absorb milk and pudding become thicker. Pour into the glass in which you will serve. Set aside in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Serve with orange slices and chopped dark chocolate.

Consuming over 30 different plant-based products a week has a beneficial effect on our microbiota.

 

Now we know that our microbiom determines our health. In 2012, a project co-created by the American Gut Project, Earth Microbiome Project and the Human Food Project was created to investigate the types of microbes inhabiting the human body. By 2017, 15096 samples from 11,336 people were collected. The main group of respondents were Americans (n ​​= 7.860) followed by the British (n = 2.518) and Australians (n ​​= 321). The focus was on healthy people, aged 20 to 69, with a BMI of 18.5-30 kg / m2, who were free from diseases such as IBD, diabetes, and who had not taken antibiotics in the last year.

Collected data has showed that it was not the type of diet itself (vegan or unrestricted diet) but the variety of plant-derived products consumed that influenced the diversified intestinal microflora. People who consumed more than 30 different plant-based foods during the week had a more varied flora than those who consumed only 10 or less. This is one of the reasons that a diet containing different types of dietary fiber and resistant starch is likely to support a more diverse microbial community. Diversity acts as a protective trait that helps the intestines to prepare for stressful situations such as antibiotic therapy, stress, dietary stressors and infections

What can we count as plant products? Vegetables, fruits and also seeds, grains and nuts. What is our diet like today? Do we care about diversity in our busy lives? Do people who live alone have a harder to achive this? Dear friends, I encourage you to reflect on this research.

An idea for a dish that contains 8 vegetable products - pasta with vegetables and nuts: pumpkin, kale, tomatoes, onions, garlic, parsley, peanuts, pasta, olive oil

Ref:McDonald D, Hyde E, Debelius JW, Morton JT, Gonzalez A, Ackermann G, et al. American Gut: an Open Platform for Citizen Science Microbiome Research. mSystems. 2018; 3 (3): e00031-18.

Red cabbage - how to use if for children to like it

5 servings of vegetables / fruit a day, this famous slogan seems prosaic. However, children are often used to certain foods and sometimes will try new ones with hesitation and very often doesn't like it. Red cabbage, how to serve it? I have tried with coleslaw - not touched, the cabbage rolls too - a lot of effort and all ended in a fiasco. I tried to make cabbage fritters inspired by recipes for babies and serving dishes using the BLW method. It was a success!

Ingredients:

• a small head of red cabbage or half a medium-sized cabbage
• onion
• 6 tablespoons of flour of your choice
• 3 tablespoons of breadcrumbs
• salt, pepper, fenugreek, ground cumin
• egg

Method:

Grate the cabbage and onions on a cheese grater. Transfer to a pot and pour water over it. Cook until tender. Drain and cool it down (you can cook cabbage the day before). Then mix with the egg, spices, flour and breadcrumbs. Fry in a frying pan greased with fat (e.g. rapeseed oil). I served the fritters with fried egg.