Tag Archives: healthy cooking

Carrot rolls with orange marmalade

When the sun is shining almost every day, you’ve got an inexpressible feeling when it starts raining. You can breeze in fresh and cool air. All day has been gloomy, cool and windy. I made a huge mountain of these rolls early today. Then I wrapped up myself in a cozy blanket, filled a cup with my favorite Earl Grey tea, took few carrot rolls and sat outside to enjoy the sound of rain!

These freshly baked rolls with orange taste and cinnamon-ginger aroma added a real autumn-note to my day.

Carrot rolls with orange marmalade

Servings: for crowd
Time: 1hr
Difficulty: moderate
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You can make the dough one day ahead.

*The weight before grating.

**You can substitute orange marmalade with apricot or peach jam.

Ingredients

300g plain flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 tsp ginger powder

a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

1/3 fine salt

150g washed, cleaned carrots*, finely grated

150g butter, cold

100g sour cream (20% fat)

2-3 Tbsp white sugar (you can add more to suit your taste)

Filling

orange marmalade (with orange peel)**

dry-roasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped

Preparation method

In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour and add spices. Cut butter into small cubes or grate it. Rub into the flour mixture until you get coarse crumbs. Mix in grated carrots.
In another bowl whisk sour cream with sugar, fold into batter. You should get a soft dough. You may add a bit more flour if needed.
Divide the dough into 2 parts and shape disks, cover each with a plastic wrap and put into the fridge for 30 minutes or overnight.
Take one part of the dough from the fridge and roll it into a 2mm-thick circle. Cut into triangles; the size is up to you. Spread 1-2 teaspoons of orange marmalade on each triangle, add a teaspoon of hazelnuts and roll into croissant shape. Repeat with the second part of the dough.
Arrange rolls on a lined baking tray. Sprinkle with more hazelnuts, if desired. Bake in preheated 190C oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden-brown.
Serve warm or cooled.

Enjoy!

Carrot rolls with marmalade and hazelnuts

Oatmeal Cookies with dates

There are thousands recipes of oatmeal cookies, I guess. Needless to say, I prefer homemade cookies to store-bought. Homemade is homemade, right? Plus I can vary the amount of sugar, thus you can feel that you’re eating oat cookies, not sugary cookies with oats! And of course, you can add your fav nuts or chocolate chips as much as you like. 😀 Personally, I don’t like chocolate chips in cookies. I add it sometimes too, but almost never do it; choco chips contain more sugar than pure chocolate; so if I deliberately reduce the sugar in a recipe why should I add more sugar but in another form.. I prefer roughly chopped dark chocolate, it’s healthier and adds much more flavour and taste! Add a small handful of dried berries or fruits for extra deliciousness! 🙂

So, it’s my fav oatmeal cookies recipe. What’s yours? 🙂

Oatmeal Cookies with dates

Servings: 20-22 cookies
Time: 20-30mins
Difficulty: easy
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Instead of dates you can add some black raisins or dried cherries.

Addition of chopped dark chocolate make cookies only better.

Ingredients

170g butter, soft at room temperature

35g brown sugar

35g golden caster sugar (or more brown sugar)

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

50g plain flour

50g fine oats

1/2 tsp fine salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2-1 tsp cinnamon

a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

200-220g oats

80-100g roasted walnuts, roughly chopped

6-8 large dates, stoned and chopped

Method

In a bowl, whisk flour with fine oats, salt, baking powder and spices.
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with sugars until creamy about 2 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla.
Add flour mixture into cookie batter and whisk/beat until combined.
Stir in oats, walnuts and dates.
Line 2 baking trays with parchment. Scoop in cookies, leaving the space between cookies about 4-5cm. With wet hand flatten the cookies slightly.
Bake in preheated 180C oven for 15 minutes or until light golden.

Enjoy with a glass of cold milk!

Cauliflower couscous with shrimps

When I saw a cauliflower couscous recipe for a first time in a food magazine I didn’t pay much attention to it and dismissed it, and made another pan of creamy cauli soup. 🙂 But when I stumbled upon similar recipes again and again, I decided to give it a chance.

I red few recipes to know how to make a cauliflower couscous: the main thing is to pulse cauliflower florets in a food processor to get tiny bits, which reminds couscous grains and then you can mix it up with any your favourite ingredients. Thus, I came up with my own recipe. Even thou, I topped cauli couscous with shrimps, you may omit it and keep totally vegetarian. Whatever you choose, this dish is full of flavour! It’s a good alternative for a regular couscous, and especially for people with gluten sensitivity. Such couscous pairs well with roasted chicken or barbecued meat as well.

And you know what, now it’s my fav way to prepare cauliflower! When I served it for a dinner my husband couldn’t guess what was that – whether pasta or couscous, but he liked it. Because it tasted divine: buttery and aromatic! 🙂

Cauliflower couscous with shrimps

Servings: 2
Time: 20mins
Difficulty: easy
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You can also try to add: chopped walnuts or pistachios, raisins, goji berries, chickpeas..

Ingredients

Cauli’couscous

cauliflower 400g

baby onion 5-7, sliced

1 garlic clove, chopped, optinal

olive oil 1 tbsp+ butter 1 tbsp, for frying

lemon juice 1 tbsp

sea salt, black&white pepper to taste

chopped mint 1 tbsp

chopped parsley 1 tbsp

olives 6-7, stoned

extra virgin olive oil, for dressing

roasted slivered or flaked almonds 2 tbsp

Shrimps

medium shrimps 10 (or more if shrimps are small), cleaned

lemon juice 2 tbsp

1/3-1/2 tsp chilli flakes, optional

1 tsp sweet paprika

freshly ground sea salt and white pepper to taste

olive oil 2 tbsp, for frying

Method

Mix up all ingredients for shrimps marinade. Put shrimps in a bowl, pour over marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and keep in a fridge at least for 1 hour.
Wash and roughly cut cauliflower. Using a food processor, blitz cauliflower until breadcrumbs/couscous size.
In a frying pan, heat oil and butter. Add whole baby onions and fry over medium heat until golden. Add cauliflower and garlic if using, fry for 10-15 minutes or until cauliflower is ready. Add lemon juice and season to taste. Stir in chopped herbs and olives.
In a separate pan heat oil and fry shrimps for 2-3 minutes on each side over medium-high heat.
Arrange cauliflower couscous on a large serving plate. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with almonds. Top with shrimps.

Enjoy!

Buckwheat porridge with caramelized orange and figs

Another Sunday, and here is another idea for Sunday Breakfast! This time it is a well-balanced, healthy and very tasty buckwheat porridge, that makes a fantastic breakfast treat. I guess many of you need something special to pull yourself out of the bed in the cold autumn mornings, and this warm and cozy porridge does help you!

I used for it buckwheat flakes mixed with some oats. Do you know, that buckwheat grain provides a very high level of protein, second highest only to oats! It makes this porridge high in energy, so it might help you to do more housework during the day or just stay in a good mood! 😉 For those of you who not especially concerned with buckwheat nutritional benefits, it is also tastes delicious and has a delightful nutty flavour. Plus, I topped the porridge with caramelized orange slices and figs, now you can imagine how divine and irresistible it was! Some chopped almonds or hazelnuts add an extra nice and crunchy note to your morning breakfast bowl!

Buckwheat porridge with caramelized orange and figs

Servings: 2
Time: 15mins
Difficulty: very easy
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You may drizzle the porridge with honey.

Ingredients

Porridge

100g buckwheat flakes

50-60g oatmeal

100ml water

300ml milk (I used full fat)

a pinch of salt

1 tbsp white or brown sugar (to taste)

vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping

3-4 tbsp white sugar

2 large figs or 3 medium, cut into fourths

1 large orange, peeled and cut into 1cm slices

2-3 tbsp lemon juice

8-10 whole toasted almonds, roughly chopped

Method

Put the water and milk in a saucepan over a medium heat, when it just begins to boil, add buckwheat flakes, oatmeal and all other ingredients for the porridge. Stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low, simmer for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the porridge is too thick add more milk or water. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and leave for 4-5 minutes.
Meanwhile, put a pan with sugar on a medium-high heat. Don’t stir it, allow to become lightly golden. Add figs and orange slices, caramelize for 2-3 minutes on each side. Turn the heat off. Take out figs and orange slices. Add lemon juice to the pan and stir with all sugar and juices in the pan.
Spoon the porridge into bowls and top with figs and orange slices. Pour over the sweet juice from the pan. Sprinkle with almonds.

Enjoy warm and cozy breakfast!

Boyar Millet Kasha (Porridge)

Millet is a tiny and round-shaped grain, that usually has a yellowish color. It is edible (and it’s not only for feeding birds) and delicious grain with mild nutty taste. Millet is a quite popular grain in Russia, though not that much as buckwheat, but still it’s widely used and served as a savory side dish or breakfast cereal; and it is also good for adding to stews and soups.

Millet is more than just an interesting alternative to common grains, it is a good source of anti-oxidants and vitamins, especially folic acid, niacin, calcium and iron. Millet is high in fiber and contains no gluten. Moreover, it helps to regulate blood sugar level, which is helpful for diabetics and those trying to lose weight.

Have you ever tried or cooked millet? What’s you favourite way to consume it?

I called today Sunday Breakfast ‘Boyar Millet Kasha (Porridge)’. Boyars were members of the highest rank of the feudal aristocracies in 9-16th centuary in old Russia. They were immensely powerful people and occupied the highest positions in the government: boyars were the major legislators of old Russia, as members of The Boyar Duma (the advisory council to Tzar). Needless to say, it was extremely wealthy class with various privileges. I guess, their everyday food was diverse too, including spices and nuts (which were expensive and not affordable to the lower class), and they could enjoy this beautiful and delicious millet porridge. 🙂

Russian Boyar Millet Kasha (Porridge)

Servings: 3
Time: 30mins
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

Millet

200g millet

400ml milk

300ml water

a pinch of salt

1 tbsp sugar

Topping

50-60g black or brown raisins

1 large apple

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla, optional

50ml warm water

30g butter

2 tbsp sour cream, optional

2 tbsp chopped walnuts

2 tbsp honey

Wash millet thoroughly under running water.
Warm the milk and water in a medium saucepan, add millet, salt and sugar. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until millet is ready, stirring occasionally. The millet should be creamy, so add more hot water if it’s too dry.
Meanwhile, soak raisins in hot water for 5-10 minutes, drain.
Cut the apple into small cubes. In a small pan, add apple cubes, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, water and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes or until apple soft.
Stir in butter and sour cream, if using. Stir raisins and apple into the millet (or top). Top with nuts, raisins and drizzle the millet porridge with honey. Serve warm.

Enjoy!