Swiss Green Bean Salad

I KNOW that it's Halloween and I KNOW that essentially, it means stuffing your face with as much candy possible... BUT, in the hope that some of us, tonight, will be sensible and eat at least a LITTLE of something healthy, on the same tone as my last post, I'd like to share with you a recipe from The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest that I really enjoyed.
This salad is such a delight: the flavors of the herbs blend beautifully with the lemon juice and you can make each bite as crunchy or soft as you wish, depending on how you cook the beans (I like my beans crunchy).
The olives add a nice salty punch to so you don't need to worry about the salt in this recipe.
All in all, this is a very refreshing salad.

And if you want this to be vegan, no problemo! Just don't use cheese.

SWISS GREEN BEAN SALAD

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds fresh whole green beans (slender as possible), cleaned and trimmed
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 tablespoon minced fresh dill
1/2 teaspoon salt (or more, to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
1/3 pound swiss cheese, in thin strips (I used emmental)
1/2 cup chopped ripe olives (or whole tine ones, like Niçoise)
1 small green bell pepper, sliced thin
1 small red bell pepper, sliced thin
3 to 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (to taste)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 cup chopped, toasted almonds (optional)

Directions:

1. Steam the green beans until just tender. Remove from heat and immediately rinse under very cold running water. Drain completely.
2. Combine everything else-except the lemon juice, vinegar, and almonds--in a large bowl, and mix well.
3. Add the drained beans to the bowl. Use tongs to turn the beans until everything is well distributed.
4. Stir in the lemon juice and vinegar. Serve cold or at room temperature, topped with almonds, if desired.

Enjoy!

Last week's recipe: Swedish Cabbage Soup

Swedish Cabbage Soup

Before you load up on unhealthy halloween candy (oops, too late)...
make this super yummyhealthywarmingcomfortingveggieful Swedish cabbage soup!

It's got dill, onions, potatoes, cabbage, and a dollop of sour cream to top it off for that extra mmmmm.

This is Mollie Katzen's recipe, from The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest cookbook. It's my auntie Deanna (my favorite non-blood-related auntie!) who gave it to me as a present and I am ABSOLUTELY obsessed with this cookbook.  What I've made from it so far has turned out delicious and I plan on posting more of her recipes!

This recipe is not vegan but could easily be veganized.

SWEDISH CABBAGE SOUP

Ingredients:

2 medium-sized potatoes
7 cups vegetable broth or water
2 to 3 tablespoons butter
3 cups chopped onion
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
2 teaspoons salt (less if using vegetable broth and it is salted)
8 cups shredded green cabbage (1 medium head)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

 

OPTIONAL TOPPINGS:
Sour cream
Fresh dill

Directions:

1. Scrub the potatoes and cut them into small dice. Place them in a large saucepan with the broth or water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, partially covered for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Melt the butter in a soup pot or a Dutch oven. Add the onion, caraway seeds, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is quite soft (about 10 minutes).
3. Add the cabbage (as much as will fit) to the onion. Also add another 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir, cover, and cook over medium heat until there is room in the pot for the rest of the cabbage.
4. Add the remaining cabbage and the potatoes with all their cooking liquid. Cover and simmer for about 15 more minutes, or until all the cabbage is tender. Correct the salt, add black pepper to taste, and serve hot, topped with a little sour cream and/or yogurt and some fresh dill.

 Hope you like it and tell me what you think!

Oh how I love October!

Hey guuuuuuuuuuuuuys :)

If I have not made it clear enough in my previous posts, let me re-iterate that I LOVE FALL.

These fall days are full of ecstacy.
I wanted to share with you a few things I did this weekend (I meant to post this yesterday but there were complications, sorry about that).

First off, on Saturday there was a zombie parade in my neighborhood. It was impressive. The costumes were quite realistic, and, I'm not exaggerating, scary.
It was the perfect excuse for me to take a break between the long hours of homework and studying that were eating up my afternoon.
The French aren't much of Halloween celebrators, so this really was a fun surprise.
Unfortunately, I grabbed my camera too late, and only managed to get one good picture. Here it is:

Second of all, I've been reading this graphic novel called Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. It's one of those books which you cannot put down, and leaves you feeling smarter than before.
Have you read it? I definitely recommend it if not.

And last but not least, (definitely not least) I wanted to tell you that I'M GOING TO THE STATES ON FRIDAY!!!!!
YEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAH!
I'm so exited! (Can you tell?)

I'm going to Bethesda, Maryland, to see my mom's side of the family which I haven't seen in over a year (can't wait!), and I'm also going to spend lots of time in Washington DC doing all the fun stuff: museums, restaurant and bakery testing, shopping...
OH and I get to go trick-or-treating! This is honestly the biggest thrill for me I think. I've always felt that I missed out BIG-TIME on this because I don't live in the States.

I may not have the chance to post anything before I leave, because I have many things to organize before my departure if I don't want to return from the States and be completely behind on schoolwork.

Don't worry, I did plan several posts that I'm excited to share with you which are scheduled for when I'm gone.

I hope you have a wonderful week everybody :)

And then you wonder why there's war

I saw this on Pinterest, and thought it was awesome.

 

This could be my next answer to anybody who asks me why I'm vegetarian.

What do you think?

Spiced Roasted Pumpkin

Every Thursday, we receive an abundant basket of locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables.
Lately, the contents of the basket have been such a joy because we're getting so many autumnal veggies which means LOTS of autumnal cooking!

Last Sunday, with the first gorgeous pumpkin we received, I baked the most wonderful Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins.

Well, in our latest basket we got another pumpkin, and I needed to bring a vegetarian dish to a friend's house yesterday... so I brought this REALLY tasty, spicy roasted pumpkin!

It is roasted with Cumin and Cayenne Pepper... and it did come out quite spicy (which I love- but if you aren't very used to spicy food I recommend you tone down the Cayenne Pepper).


Here's the recipe (which I doubled), inspired from a recipe I saw a while ago on Food.com:

Spiced Roasted Pumpkin

Ingredients:

-800g pumpkin, cut into wedges
-1/2 to 1 tsp cayenne pepper (according to your taste buds)
-1 tsp cumin
-ground black pepper
-sea salt
-3 tbsp olive oil (approximately)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 220°C.
Place the pumpkin wedges in a roasting pan or on a roasting sheet and sprinkle with cayenne pepper, cumin, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Drizzle with olive oil and toss until the wedges are well coated.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the pumpkin is tender and caramelized (you can insert a fork into one of the wedges to make sure it is tender).


Enjoy!


What are some of your favorite autumn recipes?

I've become a superwoman.

These days I am busier than I've EVER been. My homework load is ginormous. I literally come home and spend, in the best case scenario, a minimum of two hours on homework.

But I don't want homework to be the only thing happening in my life!
Outside of school I do Irish Dancing, Modern Jazz, Guitar, AND Model United Nations. Plus, somewhere between all these activities and homework, I try to fit in some blogging.

"Is she CRAZY?!" are you wondering?
Well maybe I am, just a little. I have way too much going on. But I can't bear to give any of these activities up.
As you can imagine, this creates a lot of stress, which I am learning to master and control.
I am running from one activity to the next, with much less free time on my hands.
By much less, I mean none.
Not a hundred-per-cent healthy, I know, but it's made me feel like a superwoman.

Do you get what I mean?

Always on the go. It's addictive. Sometimes I feel like just sitting down, and seriously do nothing. Nothing requiring concentration or physical movement.
But then I remember I have some serious ass to kick.

So I get back up, my eyes on the stars, but my feet on the ground.
(With milky cups of tea to help along the way)

xx







P.S: Quote is by Teddy Roosevelt.

P.S 2: I love this song so much.