Stir-frying has always been my favorite method of preparing food. You can experiment while you're cooking which is not possible when you fry or bake something. It's ridiculously easy and quick too, right?
And, yeah, vegetables again! I'm a real veggie person so I always have a variety of vegetables in my fridge. It's something that I could not live without. I simply need vegetables. Every day.
So this is another idea of a quick dinner which is ammmazingly delicious and filling. At the end of cooking, I added some teriyaki sauce and I loved it. It's good without it as well cause dried basil, oregano and thyme gives a nice flavor so you can try them without the sauce first. This makes enough for 2 people. Enjoy!
Stir-Fried Vegetables
2 tbsp oil (use olive or I sometimes like using sunflower oil)
1 medium onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
400g cauliflower, chopped into florets
400g zucchini, diced
2 small carrots (110g), thinly diced
1-2 tbsp thinly sliced chili pepper (optional)
1/2 tsp each: dried oregano, basil and thyme
Pinch black pepper
Pinch salt
1-2 tbsp teriyaki sauce (optional) (I love using this one)
1) Heat oil in a heavy saucepan. Add onion and saute until softened, browned and fragrant. Add garlic and saute for another minute or two.
2) Add the rest of the ingredients (except for teriyaki sauce), cover the pan and let simmer over medium heat until carrots are cooked throughly, stirring occasionally. The cooking time is up to you. (The whole process including sauteeing onions took about 30 minutes for me). You can cook them less but I like my veggies very soft. When they're cooked throughly, add 1-2 tablespoons of teriyaki sauce. Serve immediately.
Recipe by collecting memories
I've been craving something raw/no-bake/healthy so much recently. Sometimes I really get tired of buttery sugar-packed sweets, they definitely don't make you feel good. Okay, they do, but there's just a short moment of happiness, after which you often feel quite guilty. No no, I'm not going to become vegan or stop making fatty desserts - I love them! But! Can you believe there are just a few ingredients and none of them is bad for you? No sugar, no butter, no flour or anything like that. Just nuts and fruits. How can you not fall in love?
Peanut Butter Banana Pie (No-Bake)
Crust:
100g roasted peanuts, ground
1 tbsp (7g) unsweetened cocoa powder
100g raisins
pinch salt
Filling:
3 bananas (360g), very ripe
250g (1 cup) peanuts, roasted*
1/3 tsp salt
*Just roast peanuts in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until their sides brown a little bit.
1) Make the crust: Place all ingredients into the food processor and pulse until it comes into a ball. Using your fingers, press the mixture into a 18cm baking pan. Place into the fridge while you make the filling.
2) For the filling, grind peanuts in a food processor until they look like peanut butter (It will take a few minutes, just keep grinding and you'll see how they turn into peanut butter. Easy!). Add bananas and salt and pulse until the mixture becomes smooth.
3) Pour the filling onto the crust and place into the freezer overnight. Remove from the freezer and let thaw for 10-15 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!!
Recipe by collecting memories
Fall is almost here and it's time to start cooking with my favourite veggie - pumpkin! Why favourite? Because pumpkin is great with everything. Really, I couldn't think of anything that would taste wrong with pumpkin. You can make anything from pie to ice cream or from bread to stew.
And yes, summer wasn't very productive for me. I've only posted.. hmm how many times.. once? Yes, once. Shame on me. But now I definitely have much more ideas and recipes to try and write about. And here's one of them! This galette wasn't planned, I just had some leftover feta cheese in my fridge which was about to expire so I had to make something with it. I didn't expect anything special, but this galette came out surprisingly good! No, it was freakin' amazing! The dough is simple, a little bit flaky with crunchy edges but still soft and a little bit chewy. And that amazing pumpkin and caramelized onion filling topped with salty crumbled feta and drizzled with slightly sweet reduced balsamic... Yum! This is definitely a keeper!
Caramelized Onion Pumpkin Galette with Feta Cheese & Balsamic Sauce
Pastry:
185g flour
15ml /1 tbsp oil
pinch salt
1 small egg
60ml/1/4 cup water
Filling:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions (265g), sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
250g grated pumpkin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
50g feta cheese
Reduced Balsamic Sauce:
1/2c balsamic vinegar
1-2 tsp sugar
1) Mix flour, salt and olive oil with a fork. Add egg and mix to combine. Add water and mix until the mixture forms into a ball. Dust your hands with flour and knead for a few minutes, just until it holds together. The dough shouldn't be sticky. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and place in the fridge while you make the filling. (Usually I'm too lazy to oil the bowl so I just throw it in the fridge and leave it).
2) Preheat oven to 200C (400F).
3) In a small saucepan, place balsamic vinegar and sugar and bring to boil. Once it starts boiling, reduce the heat to low and let simmer until the vinegar is reduced in half.
4) Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan. Add onions and cook, covered, for about 5 minutes over medium-high heat. When they start browning, stir once, cover and leave to cook a little bit more. You can reduce the heat and/or add more oil if they brown too quickly. Once the onions are nicely brown, soft and fragrant, add garlic, pumpkin, salt, parsley, oregano and thyme. Stir, cover and cook over medium heat until the pumpkin softens, from 5 to 10 minutes. Taste and add more salt if needed. Turn off the heat and leave uncovered.
5) Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it out into a 2-3mm thick circle. Transfer it to the baking tray (dusted with flour!). Spread the filling onto the dough, leaving about 5cm space on the edges. Sprinkle with feta cheese and fold the edges over the filling. (You could brush the edges of the pastry with egg wash but, again, I was too lazy to do that and I don't think it's necessary).
6) Bake for 15-20 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes and drizzle with balsamic sauce. Serve immediately.
Enjoy!
Recipe by collecting memories
