smoothie and raw food combination tips!

Smoothies make a great breakfast (and if you like, you can continue drinking them all day). They replenish your cells with water, minerals and natural sugars! Here a few tips, to make your smoothie experience very enjoyable!!

1. Melon should always be the first meal of the day (never in between other meals) and in a smoothie also best just by itself. The reason why it doesn't mix well, is, that is has a very high water content, and digests very fast. So if you ate something more dense before, it may cause bloating or even stomach cramps.

2. Smoothies (for the exact same reason) make a great first meal (and also second and third...) but don't go well after a denser meal. As a general rule of thumb, try to eat foods that are digest faster (high water content = fresh fruit and vegetables, smoothies) first and earlier in the day, and foods that digest slower (less water content = cooked or baked foods) later, or in the evening.

3. Good raw food combinations (apply also for smoothies!):

• Greens go with everything
• Melon goes by itself
• Very sweet fruits (bananas, dates, figs, persimmon,..) go well together and with greens
• Semi sour fruits (all fruits with stones and berries, some apples) go well together and with greens and some sour fruits
• Sour fruits (citrus fruits and tomatoes, pineapple, some apples) go well together and with greens, and with fats (avocados, nuts, flaxseed, coconut) and with some semi sour fruits
• Fats don't mix well within their own group, but go with sour fruits and greens 

These combination guidelines shouldn't limit you in any way! In fact many many raw food and smoothie recipes break these rules (for example combining fat with sweet fruits, or fat with other fat) and create absolutely delicious treats. Just if you aim to include a lot of raw fruits and veggies in your diet, paying attention to the combinations is gonna safe you a lot of bloating and stomach pains, I promise!

Some of my recent favourite smoothie are:

Bananas + swiss chard leaves + basil + ice

Bananas + dates + vanilla + lupine flour + ice

Strawberries + peaches + ice

I hope this was a helpful introduction to smoothie and raw food combinations!

Much love, Vik (guest blogger today!)

ruby woo curry

The preparation is very simple and yet you will feel rewarded when serving this bright red dish. We named it after my favourite lipstick shade by MAC, Ruby Woo.

1/2 cauliflower, cut in small pieces
1 red bell pepper, chopped
4 small potatoes, chopped
1 beetroot, chopped
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2tbs olive oil
1 ts coriander powder
1 ts cumin
2 tbs coconut cream
2 cups water
salt to taste

First heat the oil. When hot add the coriander and the cumin. When they start darkening add onions and garlic. Always stirring add the vegetables in the following order: potatoes, beetroot, cauliflower. Then add the water. Let it simmer (about 10 minutes), then add the coconut cream and the red bell pepper. Let it simmer so that the flavours combine (about 15 minutes). Then check if all the vegetables are fully cooked and it's ready to serve. Add salt to taste.

For decoration and fresh flavour mint leaves, basil or lemon balm work perfectly. Add those just before serving and be careful that the dish is not to hot, because the herbs will blacken.

Enjoy!

a plateful of colours

 pears and beetroots, blueberries, tomatoes, lettuce and avocado

herbs and fruit popsicles

Herbs and fruit popsicles

1 ripe pear
1 ripe banana
1 freshly squeezed orange
1 freshly squeezed lemon
100ml coconut water (or just water)
a few sprigs of lemon balm
3-4 mint leaves
a pinch of dried lemon myrtle

Blend. Fill into the moulds. Freeze. Enjoy!

raw pad thai

photo from Vik's phone

Raw Pad Thai

2 baby cucumbers
1 zucchino
1 big red bell pepper
1 onion (chopped for garnish)
a handful of fresh sprouts (for garnish)
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro (chopped, plus a few sprigs for garnish)
1 lime

Using a mandoline or a knife slice the cucumbers, the zucchino and the bell pepper in very thin, noodle sized stripes. Mix to combine.

Dressing

3 tablespoons raw almond cream
1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
1 tablespoon tamari
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon cilantro
1/4 small jalapeno , chopped

In a blender combine all the ingredients for a dressing, blending until smooth. Pour over the vegetable mixture and toss to coat.  Top with the garnish and squeeze fresh lime juice over the pad thai. Enjoy!

The original recipe with zucchini and carrots you find in The Sweet Life.

a week of vegan specials

fresh coconut-agave-strawberry smoothie

If you, like me, have dipped your foot in vegan waters already, you will know that this week you won't have to expect any hay, straw and treetasting foods. Especially in summer I crave nothing more than light crunchy vegetables and fruit in all variations, and my daughter Vik, a true vegan and expert cook, has inspired many groundbreaking recipes. Moreover, she knows how to combine food the most effective way, what works best in the morning and evening and especially after a workout.

This week you are in for a treat, and hopefully discover that cooking completely plant based is never getting boring. You can look forward to multiple sauces and dressings, that go with pretty much anything, ice creams, warm and cold soups, even some raw vegan dishes, and some delicious foods that we yet have to name. And for your sweet tooth: I don't exaggerate, when I say that our chocolated, sea salt sprinkled dates are better than any truffle.

a photosafari along our running track n°2

Pink Mojito Granita

Mojitos are always irresistible; this one is non- alcoholic and frozen, which makes it the best cool down drink after a run through the countryside.
The original recipe will give you a granita that looks like a real mojito. If you want it pink like in the picture above, just before serving throw it into your blender with a couple of spoons of a berry sorbet.

Mojito Granita
(original recipe by David Lebovitz)

2 1/2 cups (625ml) water
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
2 limes
1 cup (40g) lightly packed fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup (125ml) freshly squeezed lime juice (from about 6 limes)
3 tablespoons (45ml) white rum (leave out the rum for the non-alcoholic version)


Mix water, sugar and the grated zest of 2 limes in a saucepan. Cook the mixture until the sugar is dissolved. Reserve 5 of the mint leaves, add the remaining mint to the saucepan and remove from the heat. Let cool to room temperature.
Once cool strain the mixture in the container you plan to freeze the granita, pressing firmly on the leaves to extract the flavourful liquid. Discard the mint leaves. Stir in the lime juice and, optionally, the rum, then finely chop the reserved mint leaves and add them as well.
How to freeze a granita you find in my recipe for granita de caffé.

#5 Grandma's Classics: Black Current & Black Cherry Jam

When Grandma cooks jam, she will make her choice of fruit dependent on what special fruits are in season, the lushest offers at the farmer's market, and on cases of uncontrollable fruit abundance in the neighbours' gardens. She quickly cooks 2 or 3 jars between her usual cooking, gardening and housework.  The black fruit jam however is one of her true classics.

The fruit/ sugar ratio is always the same: fruit to sugar, 2:1.  The rest is stirring. First hot, while simmering, then cold to enjoy the reliable process of thickening.

Today she combined

250g black currants

250g black and sweet cherries, pitted

250g sugar.

Click here for a more detailed description of the cooking process.

Sauce Bois Boudran, the one and only

I really don't know why it took me so long to share this amazing recipe with you. It's a sauce of Michel Roux, who in the seventies had opened several famous restaurants in London like Le Gavroche and the Waterside Inn. He created this sauce specifically for Mme Cécile de Rothschild.

Sauce Bois Boudran 1) goes with nearly everything (fish, meat, potatoes, vegetables, bread...) and 2) tolerates a few adaptions to your resources and preferences without losing its unique flavour.

Here's the original recipe:

150ml peanut oil
50ml white wine vinegar
85g tomato ketchup
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce (vegan version without this ingredient)
a dash of Tabasco sauce
100g shallots, finely chopped
2 teaspoons chervil, finely chopped
2 teaspoons chives, finely chopped
20g tarragon
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Mix everything in a bowl. It lasts up to 3 days in the fridge.

Instead of chervil and tarragon we prefer to use whatever herbs are in season in our garden. We also add green or red bell pepper for more substance.

banana-chocolate smoothie

bone china New Hall, Shelton, 1810 

I doubted which name I should give to this one: super proteine smoothie (sweet lupine flour), gourmet smoothie (overall flavour) or just mousse au chocolat (sublime texture and chocolateness ). The recipe:

blend together
3 bananas
10 dates
1 cup water
2 cups ice cubes
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
2 tablespoons sweet lupine flour

If you don't have a vitamix blender I suggest you use a hand beater to mix in the lupine flour. Otherwise it may clump. Enjoy!

Rose Jam

inspiration and recipe by  CHLOE' SS 2013 and Marmellata di rose

The fact that the pictures of the Chloe dress and the marmellata di rose were so beautiful, the recipe so simple and my own roses in full bloom made me wish to loose not a second to try it (picturing the beautiful images my camera would take in front of my inner eye). First thing in the morning I went out to pick a bowl full of the petals of my mozart rose.

Then I mixed 200g rose petals with the juice of half a lemon and 200g sugar for a minute with my hands.
In the meantime I heated the water with the other 300g sugar and poured in the mixture of roses. After I brought it  to a boil, I reduced the heat and let the mixture simmer for another 40 minutes.

Then I took the jam from the heat and stirred it gently with a wooden spoon for 10 minutes as I had learned from my grandma. So you can always be sure that the jam thickens without using gelatine or additional pectine.

I recommend to try it with ciabatta and fresh goat cheese, as suggested in the original recipe. 

weekend links

snails I collected while weeding...

A collection of crazy hats from Royal Ascot.

The craziest fine art of photography. This is amazing!

How does a baby giraffe sleep?

Playing with watermelons. Granita, soup and salad. Mowielicious, your images are beautifl!

Cool idea. I certainly will try Lottie + Doof's One-Pan Pasta

And for all those who still are practising with the hula hoop : Grace Jones hooping through 9:16 "Slave to the Rhythm"

Interview with the artist Irene Wieland

This summer Irene Wieland changed her usual studio with the charming, light flooded Rotes Haus where the Brücke artists used to paint.

What impresses you most around you?

I get most inspired by the little things in life. Through my art I shape these influences into open-ended stories, transforming the original thought into a new feeling. 

Does your work reflect you as a person? In which ways?

Definitely. I work very intuitively; the shapes and beings I draw flow effortlessly from my quill. They are phantastical beings, somewhere between human and animal, deeply rooted in nature and always with a life of their own.

What was the most beautiful place you ever visited and why did it mean so much to you?

To me the most beautiful is being near water. Or anything flowing, liquid, constantly transforming, mirroring. In fact I feel wonderful, joyious and very relaxed here at the Rotes Haus by the Dippelsdorfer Lake. Also the flowing hills in Tuscany near Siena gave me this blissful sensation. 

What is something you are really looking forward to?

Encounters with people, who laugh, who are happy. Meeting Friends. And the ever changing seasons! I always look forward to flowing change and transformation. 

What where you like when you were 12?

I was very shy. I only felt truly comfortable around very few friends; big crowds frightened me. *Laughs* all this has changed when I grew up.

Tell us something you've learned so far being on Earth that you think is worth sharing?

The most important is to listen and to have the patience to let experiences happen naturally.

What are some of your dreams?

To spend more time outside and observe life as it happens. Being here by the Lake I found it fascinating to see humans interact with nature. My observations immediately translate into new shapes and emotions that I use as fuel for my work. 

Tell us something you treasure (person, place, thing, animal, idea)?

All living that is close to me.

Who are some artists whose work you admire?

David Hockney, for sure. I have been touched and inspired by his work since the beginning of my career. His giant trees are genious, so is his colouring, his observation of grass.... 

What is something you really want to do some time?

I would like to return to the same place again and again and see it transform and change with time, and with the seasons. 

a peek into the Moritzburg State Stud

Luckily I took a quick glance through the backdoor of the State Stud's riding hall, when I passed by. There were young mares taking a performance test. Such an incredible vigour and beauty!

GreekYoghurt with Chia Seeds, Honey and Roasted Nuts

Inspired by smittenkitchen's yoghurt panna cotta with honey and walnuts I created a simple version of this delicious summer dessert using chia seeds. The chia seeds are a great substitute for gelatine, furthermore they add texture and a cute polka dot effect.

Here is my simplified recipe:

500g Greek yoghurt

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 tablespoons chia seeds

Mix and chill in the fridge for about 1 hour.

In the meantime roast the nuts you like: walnuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, almonds.

Cover the  thickened yoghurt with a layer of honey (I prefer chestnut or lavender honey)...

 .... and top with the roasted nuts. Enjoy!