Raw Date Sweets

Ingredients
- for 1 bar or 5 rolls

Base:
4 dried dates
1 tbsp crated coco
6 almonds
½ tbsp raw cacao powder

1 tsp cacao nibs

tiny pinch of salt

Directions

Blend all ingredients into a doughy consistency - hold back one date if they're very moist. A little raw coco oil can be added for moist and richness as well, but is not necessary. Chopped nuts and seeds can be be added for extra crunch.

Flavoring and variations

Chili: add a pinch of red chili powder and roll in grated coco.

Ginger: add a pinch of freshly grated ginger or a pinch of dried ginger powder.

Lime: add lime zest and a little lime juice and an extra tsp grated coco.

Chai: add tiny pinches of ground cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, cardamom, liqorice, fennel seeds and fresh or dried ginger.

Liqorice: add liqorice powder.
Chocolate: add chopped raw chocolate, roll in cacao nibs or powder.
Nuts: replace almonds with walnut, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, macadamia or other nuts, add chopped ones also and roll in chopped nuts.

Fruit and berry: add dried fruit or berries like banana, apple, pineapple, abricot, mango, cherries, blueberries etc.

Kombucha - my first brew :D

Kombucha is fermented tea said to have a million and two health benifits. It's got a tangy flavour and is slightly sparkling. I love it because it tastes great and makes me feel good.

In NYC i kinda got addicted to kombucha. I used to buy these in health food stores:

 

Now i'm brewing my own and just bottled the first batch.

Green Tea Kombucha with Strawberry

As I am incapable of following instructions or recipes, I ended up following different tips from a million places.

This is what I did:

1) Got my hands on a kombucha SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast) and starter. You can buy it online or get it free from somebody who's brewing.

2) Brewed 2 liters black and 2 liters green tea - as i wanted to try both out.

3) Added 150 grams of sugar to each tea batch.

3) Let the tea cool.

4) Poured the tea into two big glass jars, making sure to leave room for some starter.

5) Added the kombucha scoby and the starter - covered with clean cloth, sealing with a rubber band.

6) Went away for a week and came back to the most delicous sparkling kombucha. The parents had made two beautiful kombucha babies.

7) Added strawberrys to some, ginger and rhubarb to some and left some without flavouring.

Any handling of the scoby and the clean utensils must be done only with clean hands. Hygiene is important to avoid other bacteria to invade the kombucha.

There's a lot of videos on youtube and webpages with detailed instructions and tips and tricks.

Pizza Bianca Enoki

This is the uncooked pizza - when cooked it got eaten too quickly to photo :D

So, vegan pizza, that's a challenge. The key is to make sure the pizza is moist and crunchy at the same time. If you're ever in NYC, don't miss Viva Herbal Pizzeria

Dough
3 dl water
15 g yeast
1 tbsp olive oil
10 g salt
4-500 g flour


Topping
2-3 tbsp pesto
1 large paper thinly sliced potato
rosemary
chives
enoki mushrooms
soy yoghurt
nutritional yeast (optional)

Directions
Mix the ingredients for the dough - knead well and leave to rest for an hour or so.
When ready, prepare the topping. Make sure the potato slices are paper thin.
Roll out the dough thinly and add a thin layer of pesto. If the pesto is thick - add oil to make it more liquid - you want to be able to spread it really thinly.
Place the potato slices making sure they don't overlap too much.
Add another thin layer of pesto and then dress with herbs and mushrooms.
Add nutritional yeast to the yoghurt and sprinkle on top.

Bake at 230 degrees celsius for 20-30ish minutes.

Baked Fennel

Ingredients
Olive oil
1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs
5-6 garlic cloves
Vegetable stock
Vegan cream

Directions
Clean and cut the fennel into wedges.
Peel garlic cloves.
Place all in an oiled pan.
Cover (almost) with stock.
Bake for 40ish minutes.
When baked sprinkle with salt and add vegan cream.

Thai Style Yellow and White Carrot Salad

Ingredients

Salad:
Carrots - of any colour
Garlic
Ginger
Unripe black pepper
Roasted sesame seeds
Red chili
Coriander leaves
Spring onions
Roasted cashew nuts or peanuts

Dressing:
Rice vinegar
Mirin
Lime juice
Sesame oil
Salt

Directions

Thinly slice the carrots and finely chop the chili, garlic, ginger, onions and fresh coriander leaves.
Mix the dressing with pepper, chili, coriander leaves, onions, garlic and ginger.
Add carrots and give it all a good toss.
Sprinkle with cashews and sesame seeds.

Kimbap with Kimchi

Rice:

2 1/2 dl korean rice or sushi rice
4 dl water

1 tsp sesame oil
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Mix oil, vinegar, sugar and salt well while boiling the rice. Stir in gently after the rice have settled and cooled a little. 

Making perfect rice is an ART - find your own way...

Stuffing:

Cucumber
Avocado
Pickled ginger
Sesame seeds

Horse radish
Tofu
Spring onions
Blanched savoy cabbage

Umeboshi Purée
Carrot
Blanched spinach
Pickled radish

or whatever combination you prefer.

Roll like maki sushi. 

Check out how Maangchi rolls.

or the turbo roll.

Serve with kimchi.

Kimchi

This kimchi is 1 month old.

Ingredients

Salt
1 napa cabbage
1/4 dl sweet rice flour
1 1/2 dl water
1/4 dl sugar
1 dl save-the-fish sauce 
1/ - 1 dl red pepper flakes 고추가루  
4 chopped cloves of garlic
2 tbsp chopped ginger
2 tbsp chopped onion
4 chopped scallions

Directions 

Cut cabbage twice lenghtswise. Wash thoroughly. Rub carefully with salt, making sure that salt goes everywhere. 

Leave to rest for two hours. Then massage and turn and leave to rest for another three hours.

Mix sweet rice flour, water and sugar until it becomes translucent. Cool a little and mix in the rest of the ingredients.

Wash the cabbages thoroughly - and then once again. Wring in order to get as much excess water out.

Wear gloves and carefully spread the mixture everywhere on the cabbage. Finally massage gently.

Fill into a sterilized glass jar with a sealing lid. Leave for two days in room temperature in order to ferment. Store in the fridge.

The flavor develops a lot over time.

Check out Maangchi making non-vegan kimchi for procedure details.

Mango Pickle

Hot, spicy, tangy indian mango pickle.

Ingredients
3 raw (as in not ripe - must be hard as rock) mangoes
1 green chili
2 1/2 - 4 tbsp red chili powder
2 tbsp mustard seeds
1-3 tsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2-3 tbsp salt
1 tbsp sesame oil (optional)
1 tbsp curry leaves
1/2 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp mustard powder
1 tbsp fenugreek seed powder
4-10 cloves of garlic
1 tsp asafoetida/hing (optional)
3+ dl vegetable oil (not olive oil)

Directions
Cut mangoes in small chunks. Remove the actual soft seed inside, but leave the shell of the seed on the mango pieces. Peel and half the garlic cloves. Chop the chili into small pieces.

Heat 2 dl oil and add cumin, then mustard seeds. When the mustard starts popping add curry leaves, chili, red chili powder, turmeric, asafoetida and finally mustard powder, fenugreek seed powder, fennel seeds and garlic. Stir and remove from heat after a minute or so. Add salt.

Mix all ingredients and fill into clean scalded glass jars. Squeeze the pickle down hard to avoid air pockets. Finally cover with 1/2 an inch of vegetable oil to seal off air. Store in the fridge. It's a good idea to give the pickles a stir after 3-4 days, add more oil to cover if needed.

The pickles mature in 1-2 weeks and last for months and months in the fridge.