I love to start my mornings with porridge and berries, but sometimes I just really crave a cold and creamy smoothie. During my first year of university I did not have a blender and this resulted in me satisfying my smoothie/milkshake cravings from take away places, and they obviously aren't as good as homemade ones. BUT NOW I finally have a blender and I can finally go crazy with smoothies and milkshakes. This is a perfect breakfast if you don't have much time in the morning and really need something packed with energy and flavour.
Green Avocado Smoothie
I love avocado and especially in smoothies as they create this really smooth and creamy texture. Don't go crazy though, or else the avocado will overpower everything else in this smoothie. I find that adding frozen mango (or pineapple?) adds a nice sweet and acidic contrast to the creamy avocado.
You'll need:
3 dl milk of your choice
Handful chopped frozen mango
1/2 avocado
Handful spinach
Handful frozen chopped banana (optional)
Banana & Chocolate smoothie
If you're a chocoholic like most people I know this is a
perfect way to enjoy a chocolate banana smoothie and a perfect way to
start any morning (Especially Mondays).
You'll need:
3 dl milk (dairy, oat, coconut or almond)
1 frozen banana
2-3 tsp organic raw cacao powder
1 tsp maca powder
Handful of raspberries (Optional)
I first had Masala Chai (or Chai Latte) in December of 2000-andsomething and it was truly love at first sip. Back then I used to brew a black tea mix with spices, syrup and milk. The syrup however, was not homemade and I'm guessing it was just full of flavourings and preservatives. Eugh.
Sure, you can get those Chai teabags from Pukka or Twining's but by making your own syrup with real spices you get a result which is much, much (much!) more tastier. Over Christmas I got back into my Chai addiction (Like I do every winter) and this time I decided to make my own syrup! After looking up recipes online I adapted one I found from Not Quite Nigella to my personal preferences.
Homemade Chai Syrup
1,2 l water
10 Black teabags
1 dl honey
10 Cardamom pods
3 Star anise
1/2 ground nutmeg
1 Vanilla bean
2 Cinnamon sticks
1 Thick slice of ginger peeled and roughly chopped
1. Put all the ingredients in a pan and let simmer for 15min before removing the teabags. Continue to simmer for another 15 min with all the ingredients except the teabags.
2. Strain the syrup through a sieve and keep the syrup in the fridge. The milk/syrup ratio all depends on how strong you want your chai, but usually I go for 40/60 (40% Chai and 60% milk).
Okay, YES I admit this is a weird meal, but it was still delicious. In essence this is a mix of two previous dinners combined: tabbouleh inspired salad with quinoa instead of bulgur, naan bread AND swede mash with goats' cheese.
Trust me this wasn't a fantastic chef moment, but rather a "I need to eat this before it goes bad"-moment. I had a swede in the fridge and it wasn't looking too perky so I decided to make swede mash with roasted chicken. But what I also had in the fridge was goats' cheese that I really needed to eat before it went bad. So I did the only natural thing: I cut the cheese into small pieces and added it to the warm mash and it slowly melted and dissolved into the mash. Turns out it was actually very nice (If you like the taste of goats' cheese that is). The day before I had made tabbouleh with quinoa, and yes I know tabbouleh is supposed to be freshly made but trust me; it was still delicious the day after.
Hence these two events lead to this fantastic Sunday lunch: warm gooey goats' cheese swede mash with quinoa tabbouleh and naan. Yummy!
Tabbouleh inspired salad with quinoa and Za'atar
1 Large bunch fresh flatleaf Parsley (leaves only, washed and finely chopped)
1 small bunch fresh Mint (leaves only and finely chopped)
4-5 small cherry Tomatoes finely chopped
1 small red onion finely chopped
Approx 30g of quinoa
Juice of half a Lemon
1-2 Tsp Za'atar
Good dash of extra virgin olive oil
1. Cook the quinoa as instructed on the package (or just read this fantastic article from The Kitchn) and leave to cool. Chop the parsley, mint, tomatoes and red onion and mix it all together in a bowl with the quinoa.
2. Mix the lemon, Za'atar and olive oil in a bowl and drizzle on the salad, be sure to mix everything to ensure the salad is coated in the dressing.
Swede mash with goats' cheese
1 Swede
Good pinch of salt
Couple of slices of goats' cheese
Butter (optional)
1. Chop the swede into cubes and cook the until tender in salted water (takes around 40-45 minutes).
2. Drain the water and let the swede steam for 5 minutes. Mash the swede with a masher and mix in the chopped goats cheese and (optional) butter for extra creaminess. Season with salt and pepper to taste
Norway has an extensive coastline which covers approximately 25 000km.
And it's stunning during winter.
I've made cheese on toast every single day since I came back to Norway. Most days I go for the standard one with Christmas ham and cheese, but when I feel a bit adventurous I add homemade pistou and a poached egg. Delicious!
