Watermelon Gazpacho
I love experimenting with soup and was excited to try the Watermelon Gazpacho from Green Kitchen Stories. It was a relatively warm summer day in Antwerp and a cold soup sounded refreshing. Although the soup tasted delicious, it was a bit much as a main course. I think it would be better as a starter – strained and served in drinking glasses for a party, perhaps with a shot of vodka.
Caramelized Garlic Tart
My colleague let me have a look into her new cookbook Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi filled with vegetarian dishes. The first recipe to catch my eye was the Caramelized Garlic Tart. I love garlic and this quiche-like pie sounded sooo delicious. I wasn’t disappointed. The carmelized garlic with fresh herbs and goat cheese melts in your mouth. Mmm…
Eggplant lasagne topped with pistachios and basil
This dish came about by accident. Originally I wanted to make Green Kitchen Stories’ Involtini di Melanzane, or rolled stuffed eggplant, because I had tomato sauce left over from a couple of nights before. But it turns out I am awful at slicing eggplant. You have to slice the eggplant very thinly, but mine were uneven and all but a few weren’t the entire length of the eggplant. Because the eggplant needs to be grilled in the oven before rolling, I had an idea for making lasagne after seeing the slices laid out in a casserole dish. So instead of pasta, I used the eggplant slices! Mmm…it turned out very well!
Ingredients for the sauce
I’m a big fan of Courgetti and Zoodles, aka thinly sliced zucchini that looks like spaghetti noodles. I’ve tried courgetti with various sauces ranging from avocado to tomato, but this is the first time with mango! Mmm… The Mint & Mango Marinated Zucchini Spaghetti from Green Kitchen Stories is so delicious! I prepared the zoodles as a side dish with salmon with paired together perfectly.
A few of the ingredients for the Maple Tossed Rhubarb & Puy Salad
I recently discovered Green Kitchen Stories and one of the recipes that caught my eye is the Maple Tossed Rhubarb & Puy Salad. I love summer lentil salads, and the mixture of fruits and vegetables with goat cheese (my substitute for feta) and basil sounded so delicious! Koen’s family from Canada was visiting and I decided to make this salad. This was exciting for me, because I’ve actually never made anything with rhubarb before. I wasn’t even sure how it tasted – sour it turns out! Before making the salad I wanted to look up a few things about rhubarb:
The salad is really easy to make – just cooking the lentils and chopping the produce. What a great combination of flavors! There were no leftovers, so that’s always a great sign!
Lunch at Beter en Leuk
For Els’s birthday this year, we celebrated in Amsterdam. We started out at our favorite café in Amsterdam – Beter en Leuk – for a delicious and healthy lunch. Beter en Leuk just so happens to be owned by Koen’s cousin Hanneke, and you can find organic vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, etc dishes and drinks for breakfast, brunch and lunch, as well as great cookbooks, clothing, jewelry, and other treasures! If you are in Amsterdam, Beter en Leuk is a definite must-visit!
After our feast, we took Els on her first metro ride to the center of the city to Dam Square. We visited the History & Royalty: Journey In Time exhibit at De Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) where I learned a lot about the history of De Nieuwe Kerk and its relationship with the Dutch Royal Family. After the exhibit we walked a bit more through Amsterdam before heading home. What a fun day!
Coconut Quinoa Spinach Salad
I love a good salad and Sprouted Kitchen’s Coconut Quinoa + Spinach Salad is delicious! So many flavors – raw spinach, quinoa cooked in coconut milk, shallots cooked in coconut oil, pistachios, pomegranate, and a lemon-thyme dressing. Fresh and perfect for the hot weather we’re having right now in Belgium! Although there aren’t too many ingredients it still takes time to make. First, I had to open all of the pistachio shells. Second, I never realized how hard it is to get all of the arils (the red drops holding the seeds) loose from the fruit. Normally I press the pomegranate for its juice and I wasn’t even sure you could eat the whole aril but luckily I have access to the internet and found out via Live Strong that not only are they edible but nutritious.
White asparagus ready to be peeled
In Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and France, late April to late June is white asparagus season. During this period I always try to eat as much white asparagus as possible – we’ve already had them 4 times! Compared to green asparagus, the white ones are more tender and less bitter. Normally Koen and I always eat them the Dutch way, with Hollandais sauce, ham, smoked salmon and a boiled egg. This season we’ve been experimenting. A few tips from Jeroen Meus to keep in mind when preparing asparagus:
Beyoncé concert!
This Christmas my husband surprised me with a ticket to see Beyoncé in Antwerp! If you don’t know, Queen Bey is my absolute favorite and this was my first time seeing her live! Koen doesn’t have the same enthusiasm, so I had a girls’ night with Barbara dancing and singing!
The almond milk process
I love checking My New Roots for new ideas to try in the kitchen. This time I was inspired to make my own almond milk after watching her video and seeing how simple the process is! It is really unbelievable how easy it is to make your own nut milk – I think next time I am going to try oats or another sort of nut, maybe I’ll even go a little crazy and try combinations, who knows. I was surprised by how strongly the almond milk smelled and tasted like amaretto. Delicious! The only difference I could really taste between the homemade milk and store-bought milk is that mine isn’t sweetened. I don’t think I’ll add any sugar in the future, because I always use almond milk in my breakfast smoothies that already have fruit, so natural sweeteners.
An American in Antwerp 