Artichoke Pie

Hi everyone today I wanted to share with you a vegetarian meal I tried last week,I found it in an old book of recipes and it was really good. I have to warn you though, if you don't like artichoke nor cauliflower this is not your dish. But if you like them then definitely try it!

Ingredients

• 12 Artichokes
• 1 Cauliflower
• ½ Cup of dry shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1 of Olive Oil
• 1 Cup of white sauce (béchamel)
• Salt to taste

Process

• Lets start by removing the leaves of the artichoke, this can be a little tedious so if you want
  to use canned artichoke hearts that's fine.
• Remove the green bottom part of each artichoke.
• In a pot add enough water to cover them, put the heat o high and cook them until they are slightly soft.
• While the artichokes cook, let's prepare the cauliflower, cut it in half, and then remove the core, then break it into pieces of big size.
• Put them in a pot, add water and cook them until they are soft, the softer the better.
• Strain the water from the artichokes and let them cool, so you can cut them without scorching your hands.
• Do the same with the cauliflower. With a spoon, remove the centre of the artichoke, in theory we should eat this part, the texture is hairy and not that appealing.
• Then cut the artichokes into slices.
• In a skillet add some olive oil, and stir fry a minced garlic, then add the artichokes and stir fry them until they are slightly brown.
• Now lets prepare the cauliflower cream. Using a blender or something similar, process the
  cauliflower until a cream is formed, if you want you can add some salt.
• By this time the artichokes should be slightly brown, put them in a pie dish. Flat them and now add the cauliflower cream. Spread the cream evenly and then add the white sauce on top, spread it evenly and finally add some shredded parmesan cheese on top of the pie.
• Place it in a preheated oven at 180 ºC until the surface is golden brown.
• Let it cool a bit and it is ready to be served, if you want to cut slices that keep their shape you will need to let this it for a while, maybe a day in the refrigerator and then reheating it.

Cream Soups: 3 Different veggies!

Hello people, so here in Barcelona we are not used to this cold temperatures hahaha, atm it's really cold outside (9 ºC) so it's time for soup recipes!! I love eating veggies but let's be honest, eating salads with this weather is not appealing, so instead I'm eating more veggie soups. One of these soups has been in my mind for a really long time, it has been bugging me and bugging me and finally I created it and it turned out to be just as I imagined it in my head, so I'm really happy for that I hope you like it as well.

Ingredients

Leek Cream Soup

• 4 Leeks
• 2 Small-Medium size potatoes
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Cream
• Grated Parmesan cheese

Pumpkin Cream Soup

• 1 Onion
• 1 kg  Pumpkin
• Salt
• Pepper
• Cream
• Nutmeg

Beet Cream Soup

• 2 Beets (preferably precooked ones)
• 1/2 Onion
• 1 Large Carrot
• 400 mL Coconut Milk
• Salt

Process

Leek Cream Soup

• Start by removing the ends of the leek. Cut the leek into slices and set them aside.
• In a pot add a drizzle of olive oil, once it is hot add the leek and cook it until it is soft at low heat with the lid on.
• While the leek cooks peal the potatoes and cut them into medium size pieces.
• Now add some pepper to taste to the leeks and add the potato pieces.
• You can either use a chicken stock cube and then add some water or use regular chicken stock
• In both cases make sure you add enough liquid to cover the potatoes.
• Once the potatoes are soft turn the heat off and using a hand blender, process everything until it becomes a purée.
• You can also add some cream, grated parmesan cheese and other things to give it more flavour.
• Adjust the consistency if it is too thick by adding some water.

Pumpkin Cream Soup

• In a pan add a drizzle of olive oil and once it is hot add one chopped onion.
• While the onion cooks, cut the pumpkin in half and then remove the seeds you can discard them or toast them and eat them later, that's up to you.
• Then peal the pumpkin I recently discovered that is much easier to do this with a peel cutter, it does the job really well actually.
• Cut the pumpkin into medium size pieces and set them aside.
• By this time the onions should be translucent and soft so now add the pumpkin and cover them with water, stir a little bit and cook it on high heat until the pumpkin is completely soft.
• Now using a hand blender or a regular blender, purée everything together. You will get a creamy but light consistency.
• If you want you can add some cream, pepper, salt and nutmeg to taste. You should try the nutmeg, it goes really well with pumpkin.

Beet Cream Soup

• In a pot add a drizzle of vegetable oil, once it is hot add the chopped onion, to add more flavour we are going to barely caramelize it, so let it get brown and add water if necessary, we don't want it to be burn.
• Then add the carrots and add water just to cover them up. Cook until the carrots are soft and then add the precooked beets.  If you want to use fresh beets add them with the carrots and cook them together. Now add the coconut milk and turn the heat to high and wait until it boils.
• Turn the heat off and use a hand blender to blend up everything together.
• Finally add some salt to taste and it is ready to be served.

Brussel Sprout: 3 Delicious Ways

Hello there everyone! I know that there are not so much Brussel sprout fans out there... but I'm one of those weirdos hahaha. I know that they are little bit bitter but I like that and there are a couple of other ingredients that make a great couple with Brussel sprouts. The following recipes are really great, believe me, my husband is a proof of this hahaha he doesn't like Brussel sprouts and he eats them when I make this recipes, so give it a try!!

Ingredients

Sweet, salty and nutty Option

• 500 gr Brussel sprouts
• 125 gr Ham
• 1 Apple
• 20 gr of walnuts
• A little grated cheese of your choice
• Drizzle of olive oil

Earthy Option

• 500 gr Brussel sprouts
• 5 Small potatoes
• Butter
• Rosemary

Orange flavour Option

• 500 gr Brussel sprouts
• 1 Cup orange juice
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 Tsp Ginger powder
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 Tsp minced garlic

Process

• For all the three recipes remove the root of the brussel sprouts, discard the outer leaves and then cut the sprouts in half, do the same with the rest of the brussel sprouts and set aside.

Sweet, salty and nutty Option

• First we are going to chop an apple in small pieces
• Then cut a piece of turkey ham into cubes.
• Now in an oven safe dish put the apple and the ham together with the brussel sprouts.
• To add some crunchiness add some nuts, for this dish I prefer walnuts
• Now add some grated cheese of your choice (I suggest you to put a strong flavour cheese this way you put less and get more flavour).
• Add a little bit of olive oil and mix everything together.
• Finally cook it in a preheated oven for about 40 minutes at 200 ºC (400 ºF).

Earthy Option

• Cut the potatoes into medium size pieces.
• Put them in a pot at high heat. Be careful to not overcook the potatoes, we want them to be firm and not fall apart, moreover they don't need to be fully cooked because we are going to put them in the oven.
• When the potatoes are semi-cooked put them in a oven safe dish  together with the Brussel sprouts and put a little bit of butter, rosemary and salt for more flavour, mix everything together.
• Finally cook it in a preheated oven for about 40 minutes at 200 ºC (400 ºF).

Orange flavour Option

• In a sauce pan add some vegetable oil, and stir fry the brussel sprouts until they are soft, if the they start to stick to the sauce pan add some water to help them fully cook and put a lid so they cook faster.
  In a bowl add the orange juice, the ground ginger, the sugar and the soy sauce and mix everything together.
• Once the brussel sprouts are cooked transfer them to another place and use the same sauce pan, add some vegetable oil and then stir fry a minced garlic, once it becomes fragrant add the orange mix, and then add the brussel sprouts to the sauce pan.
• Meanwhile mix some water with corn starch.
• When the sauce starts to bubble add the corn starch mixture and stir until the sauce thickens. Now it is ready to be served.

Eggplant parmigiana

Hello everyone! Let's start this year with a delicious and simple recipe, it's like a lasagne but using eggplant. This recipe has almost no carbohydrates in it, so if you are interested in this type of recipes you can use it, although if you want to lose weight I would recommend you not to do that, but anyway that's none of my business hahaha. I hope you had a wonderful time during the holidays and now let's go to the recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 Eggplants
• 1 Onion
• 800 gr of tomato crushed or sauce
• Basil
• 250 gr Mozzarella cheese
• Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Bay leaves
• Olive Oil

Procedure

• Peel and cut the onion in tiny pieces.
• In a saucepan add a drizzle of olive oil, once it is hot add the chopped onion and stir fry it until it's translucent.
• Add some pepper to taste, the bay leaves and finally the crushed tomato. Stir until everything is well combined and wait until the tomato is cooked, add some salt to taste and a little bit of sugar to balance the sourness of the tomatoes.
• While the sauce cooks, cut the eggplant into slices of as much as 0.5 cm.
• Put a thin layer of the sauce in an oven safe dish and then place the pieces of eggplant until the whole surface is covered, then place a layer of the sauce on top of the eggplant, then add the mozzarella, distribute it evenly and then do the same with the basil leaves, finally add some Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and repeat the process.
• Once the dish is filled to the top, bake the eggplant parmesan in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for about an hour, in the last ten minutes turn your oven grill on so the top part can get golden brown.
• Simple delicious and full of Italian flavors!

Shrimp and veggies stir fry

Hi everyone! If you know me you would know that I'm a big fan of Asian food, I love everything about it and I enjoy making Asian recipes by myself, doing so I learn a lot about these so different cultures and the different and "weird" ingredients they have. One of the thing I really like about Asian food is that it is healthier than the food we find in occident, it has a lot of veggies and lots of different and complex flavours. When I first started to dive into the amazing world of Asian food I went to this little Thai restaurant here in Barcelona and I'm gonna be honest maybe it is not the most authentic Thai restaurant but I love their food, specially a shrimp and vegetables stir fry. The original recipe has added sugar, but I don't put any because the pineapple is actually sweet enough to sweeten this delicious recipe. Of course you can skip the shrimps if you are vegetarian or vegan, so this recipe is for everyone out there who loves veggies and flavourful meal. Enjoy!

Here you have the video for this recipe:

Here you have a pdf link to download it and print it: Shrimp and veggies stir fry

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 2 Tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 3 Tbsp tomato sauce/paste
• White pepper to taste
• 1 Cucumber
• 14 Cherry tomatoes
• 200 gr shrimps
• 150 gr Peppers
• 170 gr Pineapple
• 1 Onion

Procedure

• Cut the pepper and onion in pieces of approximately 2x2 cm.
• Peal the cucumber and cut it in slices of 0,5 cm thickness.
• Cut the cherry tomatoes in half.
• Cut the pineapple in small pieces.
• In a saucepan stir fry the garlic, then add the shrimps and stir fry together with the garlic.
• Add the onion and the peppers and stir fry for one minute.
• Then add the cucumber together with the cherry tomatoes and stir fry for half a minute.
• Finally add the pineapple and mix everything together.
• Add a little water if you see that the saucepan is dry.
• Add the oyster sauce, the soy sauce, the sauce or paste of tomatoes and the white pepper to taste.