My Favourite Recipes of 2013

As 2013 is coming to an end I selected 20 recipes which were my favourite this year. These are not the most popular - they're already on the left sidebar. Therefore, I decided to show you my favourites. It was really hard to choose from 73 recipes! And still there are many recipes which I wish were included in the list. At first I wanted to pick top 10 but that seemed to be too difficult so I ended up with top 20. Hope you will find something for yourself in this list too! Happy 2014!!!

Spinach, Ricotta and Pesto stuffed Jumbo Shells

 New York Style Cheesecake

Crustless Pumpkin Pie 

Cinnamon Coffee Cake Muffins

Mozzarella Sticks with French Onion Dip

Brie Quesadillas

Dulce de Leche Roll

Crispy Vegetable Fritters with Spicy Balsamic Sauce

Grilled Cheese Pesto Sandwich

Mushroom Patties in Pita 

Apple Pie (Low-Fat)

Chocolate Granola Bars (no-bake) 

Bread Pizza 

Cinnamon Rolls

Chocolate Currant Oatmeal Bake 

Lemon Cupcakes

Spinach & Ricotta Lasagna

Vegetarian Empanadas

Baked Cabbage

Strawberry Banana Sponge Cake

Dulce de Leche Roll

Dulce de Leche Roll

50g milk
50g oil
4 eggs, separated
70g sugar, 20g and 50g separated
80g all purpose flour
pinch salt
1 can dulce de leche
coconut flakes and icing sugar, to decorate

1) Preheat oven to 160C (325F). Cover the baking tray with parchment paper.

2) In a medium bowl, mix egg yolks, 20g of sugar, milk, oil and flour. Whisk until combined.

3) In another bowl, beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Add the remaining sugar and beat until well incorporated and stiff.

4) With a metal spoon, gently fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared baking tray. Spread in an even layer.

5) Bake for 15-18 minutes.

6) Remove from the oven and turn onto another sheet of parchment paper. Peel off the hot paper and roll using the new paper. Allow to cool.

7) When cool, unroll and spread the dulce de leche covering the entire cake. 

8) Roll back and sprinkle with powdered sugar and coconut. Slice and serve.

Recipe adapted from here.

Chickpea Stew

Chickpea Stew

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion
5 cloves garlic
1 medium carrot
1 small potato (80g), cut into small cubes
1 can chickpeas (240g drained)
5 tbsp tomato sauce
1/8 tsp curcuma
1 tsp smoked paprika
generous pinch of salt
1 tsp curry powder
water, as needed

1) In a saucepan, heat the oil and add onions. Cook 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until browned and fragrant. Add garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.

2) Add carrot, potatoes and 1/2 cup water. Cook 5 minutes. Add chickpeas, tomato sauce and spices. Cook, covered over medium heat, until the liquid is absorbed. Then add additional water and cook until it is absorbed again. Repeat the process as needed. Add water in small quantities - you don't want to have too much liquid in your stew. Cook until the potatoes and carrots are soft and all the liquid has been absorbed.

Serve over rice or eat plain. I prefer this without anything else, it's just too good!

Serves 2 (I ate it all by myself)

Recipe by collecting memories

Crispy Vegetable Fritters with Spicy Balsamic Sauce

Sometimes amazing things happen out of nothing! I created this recipe completely from scratch. I actually ran out of eggs and everything I had was onions, carrots, potatoes and lots of seasonings. Is it possible to make anything out of these few ingredients?? No cheese, no butter, no eggs..Yes! What I made is super simple and quick. But the crazy mixture of seasonings, small size of the fritters and the fantastic balsamic sauce made this simple dish outstanding. I basically shredded all the veggies I had and mixed in a variety of spices. Together they created an amazing combination and what I liked most was cinnamon! There was just a hint of it, you may not even notice it, but it did add some nice flavour. These were super crispy and yummy. I dipped them into my favourite balsamic sauce and enjoyed them all day long. Will be definitely making these again and again!

Crispy Vegetable Fritters with Spicy Balsamic Sauce

Olive oil, for frying
2 onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, shredded
2 small potatoes, shredded
pinch salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp chili powder
1/3 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
60g flour

1) In a bowl, combine together all the ingredients.

2) In a skillet over medium-high heat, heat some olive oil to coat the bottom (don't be afraid to add a LOT, you want tour fritters to be crispy!)

2) With your hands, form little balls (4-5cm) and flatten them a little, place onto the hot oil and fry a few minutes until golden brown on both sides.

Spicy Balsamic Sauce:

1 cup water
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp ground white pepper

1) In a saucepan, combine all the ingredients and cook on low heat until the quantity is reduced by half. Strain through a sieve to discard the garlic. Let cool completely.

Enjoy!!

Recipe by collecting memories

Chocolate Banana Avocado Pudding

I was so curious to try making raw pudding made with avocado! The internet is full of amazing pictures of this healthy alternative to the ordinary chocolate pudding. What can I say - this was really delicious. The texture was creamy and you almost can't taste the avocado. I just added a pinch of salt to enrich the flavour a little. I added 100g of honey but if you prefer it less sweet of if your banana is really ripe, first try adding less. There's nothing that could make you feel bad after eating this. Come on, what could be better than a healthy chocolate pudding?! I feel like I'm falling in love with raw food. 

Chocolate Banana Avocado Pudding

1 ripe avocado
1 ripe banana
10g dark unsweetened cocoa powder
70-100g honey
pinch salt

1) Place all the ingredients into your food processor and process until smooth. Voila!

Recipe by collecting memories

Pumpkin Fritters

Pumpkin Fritters 

400g pumpkin, grated

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp dried basil

½ tsp salt

1/8 tsp chili powder

1 egg, lightly beaten
100g flour

olive oil, to fry

sour cream, to serve

1)  In a large mixing bowl, mix together pumpkin, garlic, oregano, basil, salt and chili powder. Mix in the egg. Stir in the flour and mix just until combined.

2) In a skillet, heat olive oil. Cook fritters on both sides until nicely golden brown. Serve with some sour cream.

Makes 2 servings

Recipe by collecting memories