I
really have a thing for bowls. To be honest, I almost eat all my meals out of a
deep bowl. They feel special to me, and I always have the urge to buy any
pretty bowl I lay my eyes on. Since I do not live in a house with 200 billion
rooms where I have enough room for my bowl and tableware addiction, most pretty
bowls I pass have to stay where they are. At the shop.
So sad. I just hope that some day, some day I will have the house and the money
to buy them all! And by all, I mean ALL! Understand me?
Oh, did I just tell you that I am kind of a tableware shopping addict? Please,
forget that.
Let’s get back to todays dish. Ehem.
As much as I love bowls, the food I eat out of them is even dearer to my heart.
Especially Asian meals are a bowl-lovers dream. Stir-fries, curries, miso soup.
Ok, sushi may be an exception. No, wait. Maybe not if you shovel a ton of
wasabi onto your platter and drench your rolls in soy sauce. Then you should probably
consider to just use a sushi-bowl instead. Is therea thing like that in the market actually? Please tell
me if there is, so I can go get one!
The recipe:
The salad I made, combines a few of my favorite Asian ingredients: Cilantro,
rice noodles, tamari, thai chili and ginger. Peanut butter is not really Asian
(or is it?) but it goes so well with the rest of the ingredients! And
everything just tastes better with peanut butter anyways.
The salad is quite lovely and a great alternative to your regular noodle bowls,
especially during summer.
Get your chop sticks ready my friends and dig in!
Asian Noodle Salad Bowl
Ingredient
(Serves 2-3)
Dressing (double if you want more!):
3 Tbsp Agave nectar or apple syrupe
3 Tbsp smooth peanut butter
8 Tbsp tamari (mine had 25% less salt)
4 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
2-3 (depending on how hot you like it) dried bird’s eye chilis, crushed
3-4 Tbsp water
Add all ingrendients except the water to a glass jar and shake, shake, shake!
Then add the water and shake again. Done.
Salad ingredients:
1 red pepper, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, juilienned
250g green beans
6 spring onions, thinly sliced
125g dry rice noodles
1 Tbsp sesame oil
Bunch of cilantro
2 sprigs of mint, leaves chopped
6 sprigs of parsly, leaves chopped
1 lime, cut into wedges
1 thai chili, sliced
Blanche beans in salt water for about 5 minutes or until bright green and still
a little crunchy. Rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process and set
aside.
Chop your veggies and add to the beans. Stir to mix.
Cook the rice noodles according to the packaging direction. Then rinse under
cold water and mix with Tbsp sesame oil.
Now arrange your meal: Add half or 1/3 of the noodles to a deep bowl and add
about 1 Tbsp of the dressing. 
Then add your desired amount of veggies and drizzle with more dressing. Serve
with a lot of fresh herbs, lime juice,
chili slices and additional tamari.
Dig in!
When I was a kid, I hated all
kinds of soda. But everything orangy, especially. I can actually remember the
only two times I had Fanta: The first time at a summer party in Kindergarten
and the second time as a sixteen-year-old-anti-alcoholic, at a birthday party
where the only non-alcoholic drink they had was Fanta.
What can I say. Fanta was not my thing.
As were all kinds of sweet things, kids are normally crazy about. A free
lollipop from the nice bakery lady? Ehm. No thank you. I’d rather take the
piece of Fleischwurst at the butcher’s. Maybe I was a little strange when I was
younger. Who knows. But, there was one lemonade that conquered my heart the
time I had my first sip: “Almdudler”. Oh yeah.
You could probably compare it to root bear. It is slightly sweet with a strong
herb flavor that kind of reminds me of liquid Ricola candy. And it is so
sparkly!
“Almdudler” was the kind of soda I wanted! No artificial orange or lemon
flavours! If it has to be artificial, let’s at least have fake herbs. Ok, I am
sorry. But there is a method behind my confusion. Trust me.
See, if there hadn’t been this Almdudler thing, I would never have thought of
making a herb flavoured lemonade on my own. I mean, don’t you do that all the
time?
This lemonade really made my weekend. It is so simple to make, yet so
delicious.
Can we say that it is also healthy? Yes, we can, because the only added sugar we have are
2 Tablespoons of natural sweetener. Could be worse, I think.
Additionally, the
herb flavor is “real”, means you throw in a good amount of freshly picked
herbs, and let the juice absorb the falvours. Easy-peasy.
Go ahead and make you
some crazy delicious “Almdudler” and pretend you are a cool kid. Wait, actually
you totally are. I’m not sure about the side effects, though. If you
should start yodeling, call your doctor, please. I've warned you.
Herb Lemonade (aka “Almdudler”)
500 ml (2 cups) unsweetened apple juice
2 Tbsp liquid honey, Agave syrupe or maple syrupe
6 Tbsp lemon juice (juice of one lemon)
3 large sprigs of rosemary
4 sprigs of thyme
4 sprigs of basil
4 sprigs of mint
500 ml sparkling water
Pick your herbs.
In a pot bring apple juice and honey to a boil. Remove from heat, add herbs and
lemon juice, cover pot with a lid and let juice sit for 30 minutes.
Then drain the juice with a colander to remove the herbs. Fill lemonade into a
bottle and let cool completely before placing in the fridge.
The lemonade should be served cold with half sparkling water/ half lemonade,
ice cubes and lemon slices.
Perfect for a summer barbecue or picnic at the park.
Enjoy!
How come I made a pea
soup, you’d ask. I don't even like peas that much. Well, I don’t know. Maybe I have read some kind of recipe
somewhere that inspired me in a way? A salad recipe with peas and mint? Somewhere within the realms of the infinite WWW. Episodic memory and holy frontal lobe please help me!
But, whoever brought the ideaof a minted pea soup to my mind, it
must have been a messanger of good taste.
Coconut, mint and the sweetness of
the peas makes a tasty dish, I can tell ya!
And oh, this soup comes
together in like, ten seconds?! Ok, maybe not 10 seconds, but 10 minutes. Not too bad, heh?
That’s the convenience when using frozen peas.
Perfect for a quick summer lunch
on the porch.
If you do not feel like hot soup is what you want on a hot summer day, don't hesitate to eat it chilled. It is tasty. Kind of like a pea cazpacho. But creamy and coconutty. Don't say no before you've tried it!
Minted Coconut and Pea Soup
Ingredients:
(Serves 4)
1 shallot, minced
1 tsp coconut oil
4 cup frozen sweet peas
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) vegetable broth
1 can (400ml) coconut milk
1 small handful mint leaves
Pepper and salt to taste
In a small pot heat coconut oil. Add shallot and cook until translucent. Add
frozen peas, vegetable broth, coconut milk and mint leaves. Bring to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes. Using a hand mixer or blender purée until smooth.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Ps.: I served the soup with my Pineapple Spelt Salad.
Today it is time for some pineapple love, don’t you think? I mean, it is
getting summer after all, and for a European like me there is nothing that ssys SUMMER more than the word and taste of PINEAPPLES!
Juicy, sweet, delicious
pineapples get into my belly. Now!
I have been buying super sweet pineapples from
Costa Rica (they are the best!) lately and it really helped me to get away from
mealy apples and dry oranges and still get a propper Vitamin C fix in the mornings.
Breakfast is getting exctiting again, guys.
As
does lunch because pineapple is a multitalent and great in all kinds of savory
dishes, too.
Take Toast Hawaii, for example. Oh yeah. Thanks's Mum for bringing that into my life ;).
Although grilled pineapple is still my
favorite way to eat this gorgeous fruit, this salad is now a close second.
You can either adapt the recipe as it is or add more mint and basil to taste.
Just wait until the salad has chilled for at least an hour because the mint
flavor will intensify as it sits.
I served the salad alongside a fresh Coconut Pea Soup (recipe in my next post!) and it made a great
summery meal.
Pineapple Spelt Salad
Ingredients:
(Serves 4 as a side)
1 cup spelt groats
240g (1 1/3 cups) cooked chickpeas
1 ½ cups pineapple, chopped
5 handfuls spinach, chopped
1 Tbsp safflower oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
8 mint leaves, minced
a small handful of basil leaves, minced
Salt and pepper, chilli sauce to taste
Cook spelt groats after packaging directions and drain in a colander. Put into
a salad bowl immediately and mix with chopped spinach. Add the remaining
ingredients and stir well.
As always this salad tastes best after a few hours of chilling time.
