Slightly Strange Supper

I needed to do something with the fennel I had bought the other day, so I decided on a fennel and sweet grapefruit salad. I just cut the fennel and the grapefruit into pieces, and didn't even bother to make up a dressing for it, it's great just plain. Yes, and I was also lazy. I had some hummus with that, unfortunately I miscalculated the time for when my sourdough bread would be ready, so dinner was breadless. I'm actually still waiting for the dough to rise sufficiently so I can bake it! This could be a long night.
But I had some lovely oatmeal-ginger cookies for dessert. They're not that blurry in real life.

And today I made - Hummus!

Here's what you need:

100 g dried chickpeas

1- 1 1/2 tablespoon(s) tahini

1 clove of garlic

juice of 1/2 -1 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Here's how you do it:

Soak the chickpeas for at least 12 hours, then cook for about 90 minutes. Drain and save the cooking liquid. Put all ingredients into a blender along with enough of the cooking liquid to make it smooth.

Miso soup

Miso soup has been such fun to make, I just use whatever I have in the kitchen for it. As long as there's also miso paste in the fridge.

Today's lunch had me start with a clove of garlic and some olive oil in a pan. While the garlic was roasting,  I gave the quinoa a good rinse to wash off the saponins, which give it a bitter taste. I added the quinoa and water, set to boil, adding dried coriander and tarragon, seasalt and a good dash of curry powder. I turned the heat to slow once the soup started bubbling slightly. The cooking time from here on is 15 - 20 minutes. I broke a piece of soysteak into chunks and added it to the broth. I tore several leaves of a head of savoy cabbage, cut them into pieces and added them as well. I rinsed the wakame and let it soak for 10 minutes, then put it into the soup. Finally, I dissolved a teaspoon of miso paste (mugi miso this time, soy fermented with barley) with some warm water,  added it to the soup and let it simmer for a few minutes. The miso is not supposed to boil. I topped the whole thing off with some shoyu. This makes for a hearty, perfect autumn soup which is also health-inducing and high in protein.

Ingredients used:
olive oil
clove of garlic
quinoa
water
soysteak or some other type of textured soy protein
savoy cabbage
wakame
coriander (cilantro)
curry powder
tarragon
seasalt
shoyu
miso paste

Cherry-Pecan Rolls

On Saturday I got a craving for sweet rolls, and since the ones you get at the bakery usually have some kind of dairy or egg in them, it was a good opportunity to turn on the oven.

Ingredients (makes 4 - 5 small rolls):
250 g flour (I used half white wheat (550) and half wholemeal spelt)
1/2 a pack (4 g) dried yeast
warm water
30 g organic margarine (I used Alsan)
1 tablespoon raw sugar
dash of seasalt
dried tart cherries
pecan nuts

I mixed all the ingredients except for the fruit and nuts, starting out with a wooden spoon, then using my hands to knead the dough, for about 5 - 10 minutes. Let it sit for at least 20 minutes, by this time the doughball had expanded to almost twice its size. I kneaded in the cherries and pecans and let the dough rest in the bowl for another good while. I gave the dough another good kneading and divided it into rolls, two of which I placed on a baking sheet, the rest I put in a freezer bag and stored in the fridge. I made a cut into the ones on the baking sheet, and let them sit for another 20 minutes, then turned on the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. I put the timer on 20 minutes, but they looked good and browned after about 15, so I pulled them out.

The rest of the rolls I made for breakfast this morning. They're very good fresh out of the oven, with almond- and rosehip butter.

Seriously healthy smoothie

This morning I made another amazing smoothie, and again, it's all gone before I managed to take a photo. Here's what's in it, along with some of the nutrients it provides: (TS = Table spoon, ts = teaspoon.)

about 125 ml soymilk
elderberry juice
small banana
handful of (frozen) raspberries
TS soyprotein powder
TS milletflakes
TS psyllium husk
ts flax/linseed
dash spirulina
dash chorella

Soy: contains all amino acids, vitamin E, B-vitamins. Lots of minerals and trace elements, including iron, zinc, copper, potassium, manganese, calcium and magnesium.
Elderberry juice:  very high amount of vitamin C, rich in iron, extremely rich in antioxidants.
Raspberries: rich in phytonutrients esp. antioxidants, manganese, vitamin C, B-vitamins, omega 3 fatty acids, copper.
Bananas: high amount of potassium, good on malic acid, A and B vitamins.
Psyllium husk: dietary fiber, almost no calories. Binds the gunk in your gut. Lowers cholesterol. Important to drink plenty of water.
Millet: high in manganese, magnesium, tryptophan.
Flaxseed: very high in omega 3 fatty acids, a good source of healthy fiber and magnesium.
Spirulina: this Astronaut food contains over 100 nutrients, including enzymatic pigments, esp. chlorophyll, as well as carotenoids, vitamins, and minerals.
Chlorella: has the highest amount of chlorophyll - which helps to cleanse the digestive system, including the bowels, the liver and the blood.

With the addition of soy protein, I notice that more time passes before I get hungry again. I use soy protein isolate, which contains 88 grams of protein in 100 grams.
I'm very excited of having a blender again. What a great way to start the day off with an amazingly healthy and easy meal.

Possibly the best Breakfast Smoothie ever

Here's what I put into the blender:
coconut milk, elderberry juice, half a banana, frozen raspberries, tablespoon of psyllium hulls, teaspoon of flaxseed, tablespoon of milletflakes, dash of spirulina and chlorella.
Healthy and delicious, with a great purplish color.

Vegane Kartoffelpuffer

Nachdem ich letzte Woche eine Kuechenmaschine bekommen habe, und damit schon ordentlich entsaftet und Smoothies gezaubert habe, kam mir ein ploetzlicher Heisshunger auf Kartoffelpuffer grade recht, um auch die Haeckselfunktion auszutesten. Und natuerlich um zu sehen, ob das ueberhaupt geht, Kartoffelpuffer ohne Ei. Ich entschloss mich, Sojamehl als Ei-Ersatz zu benutzen; der teure, offizielle, im Reformhaus erworbene Ei-Ersatz hatte sich bei Pfannkuchenversuchen mit einem unangenehmen Eigengeschmack bemerkbar gemacht.

Pro Portion:
3-4 mittelgrosse Kartoffeln
1 kleine Zwiebel
1 EL Sojamehl + 2 EL Wasser als Ei-Ersatz
Salz
Pfeffer
Oel

Die Kartoffeln und die Zwiebel wurden von der Kuechenmaschine in Windeseile zerkleinert; natuerlich kann man dazu auch eine Handreibe benutzen. In eine Schuessel geben, Sojamehl, Wasser und Gewuerze hinzu und alles gut verruehren.
In einer Pfanne etwas Rapsoel erhitzen, mit einem Loeffel Teighaeufchen in die Pfanne geben und diese glattstreichen. Von beiden Seiten bei mittlerer Hitze schoen braun werden lassen. Das Rezept ergibt sechs Stueck.

Mit dem Ergebnis war ich mehr als zufrieden, geschmacklich und von der Konsistenz her sind die Puffer nicht von den herkoemmlichen zu unterscheiden. Und hier das Beweisfoto:

Cuxhaven

On Thursday I took the train to Cuxhaven, a town by the Northern Sea, at the estuary of the river Elbe. You get there in just under two hours by train from Altona station. I took the S31 subway to Harburg, and from there the Metronom goes directly to Cuxhaven, stopping at places with colorful names such as Himmelpforten, Hechthausen, and Otterndorf.
At Cuxhaven station I took the bus 1001 to Duhner Strand, which lets you off at the beach. It was low tide, and I wished I'd been wearing rubber boots, since you can walk very far out. In fact, at the right time you can walk all the way to the island Neuwerk.
It was lovely to breathe the sea air, and to watch large containerships make their way to and from the river. Unfortunately the Strandkoerbe were all locked, and I didn't feel like shelling out 10 Euro (fee for the day) to sit in one for an hour.







The town itself wasn't too exciting, at least not the parts that I saw, but I did find a cute pair of purple houseshoes in the shopping district.

And they have some art in the park, by the castle that is now a restaurant. I also like that they put labels on the trees, since the only trees I can make out are oaks and chestnut. Now I know what a beech tree looks like.

Vegan white chocolate macadamia cherry cookies

Decadent and delicious.

1 cup flour/150g (I used half light wheat (550), half whole spelt)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar/ 50g
1/4 cup safflour oil/45-50ml
10 g rice sirup
1 tsp vanilla extract
20g white chocolate slightly chopped, 20 g macadamia nuts, 20 g dried tart cherries, a bit of soy-rice or any other plant milk

Bake for 10 - 12 minutes in a preheated 350F/180C oven.

Wismar

The next town on my list of places to explore was Wismar, an old Hansestadt on the coast of the Baltic sea, and now on the Unesco World Heritage register. It's a bit over two hours by train from Hamburg. It was my first visit to the ex-GDR.

The street in front of the Schabbelmuseum lined with film trucks and equipment.

The TV-series Soko Wismar is being filmed here.

Delicious baked Hokkaido-pumpkin and salad at Avocados.

The old "Loewenapotheke," now a vegetarian cafe that seems to be the only place in town that serves soymilk. Which is why I went there twice, for an afternoon vanilla-soylatte and my morning americano. With vanillasoy. It's a great place to hang out and sit in the sun.

Luebsche Strasse.

The Wasserturm around the corner from where I stayed.

At the market square, with 10.000 square meters one of the largest in Germany.

At the Baltic Sea.

I had a nice long chat with this local lady.