Category: Recipe

Sweetpotato Bellpepper Stew

I am such a fan of big bowles of stew right now, I can’t even tell you. You prepare them on one day and eat for half a week, combined with other dishes (hold on for my Kimchi). Worst thing that can happen: you run out of cooked rice.

  1. skin and dice 500gr of sweetpotato, 1 onion and 2 cloves of garlic
  2. dice 2 red bell pepper and 1 red chilli
  3. skin and grate one thumb worth of ginger
  4. sauté onion, garlic, ginger and chili in a big pot until glazed
  5. add balsamico and sauté until the vinegar has vaporized
  6. add red curry paste and sauté 1 more minute
  7. add coconut milk (200ml), vegetable broth (250ml) and bring to a low boil
  8. add sweetpotato and simmer for 10 minutes
  9. add bell pepper, pineapple (fresh or canned pieces) and frozen peas, simmer for 10 more minutes
  10. season with maple sirup, lime juice and soy sauce
  11. serve with rice

This hot and sweet meal is delightful. You really need to try it to believe how well coconut, pineapple and chilly go together.

Cabbage Peanut Stew

If you have made the famous CaWaSa recently, you will probably have 1/2 white cabbage sitting in the fridge. Do not despair! Here comes a recipe to aid you with that.

  1. prepare 1/2 white cabbage by cutting off thin slices
  2. dice 2 carrots
  3. dice 1 red bell pepper, 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic and 1 red chilli
  4. sauté bell pepper, onion, garlic and chili in a big pot until glazed
  5. add mustard (1 tablespoon), cumin (1 tablespoon) and sauté for 1 more minute
  6. add sieved tomatoes (400gr), vegetable broth (250ml), cabbage and carrots
  7. simmer for 20 minutes
  8. add peanut butter (4 tablespoons) and paprika powder (1/2 teaspoon)
  9. add kidney beans (1 can) and sweet corn (1 can)
  10. season with mango juice
  11. stir well and serve with black rice

This is an extremely nutritous and satiating stew without compromising in exotic deliciousness. I prefer this meal extra hot to get my insides warmed up. Fun fact: peanuts are legumes, not nuts, and laden with protein and many vitamines and minerals.

Cabbage Walnut Salad

It’s that time of the year when everyone gets the flu. Luckily there are tons of cabbages right now at the market. We Germans make our famous Sauerkraut from those. They are high in vitamin C which boosts your immune system, so you want to eat lots of them!

  1. prepare 1/2 white cabbage by cutting off thin slices and placing them in a big bowl
  2. add 1 onion, cut into thin slices
  3. add 1 apple, cut into thin slices
  4. add salt (1 teaspoon)
  5. add apple vinegar (1 tablespoon)
  6. knead thoroughly until everything is soaked well
  7. leave alone for at least 30 minutes
  8. add minced parsley (1 tablespoon)
  9. add hacked walnuts (1 handful)
  10. add maple sirup (1 tablespoon)
  11. add walnut oil (1 teaspoons)
  12. add ground cumin (1 pinch)
  13. stir well and serve

The combination of flavors is special, but in a good way. Partnered with something hot like SIAB or a stew, it makes the perfect seasonal meal.

Sunset In A Bowl

Pumpkins everywhere! This is a spicy and colorful soup begging to be brought into existence.

  1. prepare 1 Hokkaido to get 2x2cm pieces – you do not have to peel it, just scrape off the hard bumps
  2. prepare 1 pound of carrots to match pumpkin pieces in size
  3. chop 1 red onion, garlic (2 cloves), ginger (1 tablespoon) and chili to taste
  4. braise onion, garlic, ginger and chili in a big pot with little (1 teaspoon) oil
  5. deglaze with Balsamico vinegar
  6. add pumpkin and carrots
  7. add vegetable broth (1 litre)
  8. boil for 25 minutes
  9. blend with immersion blender until smooth
  10. season with soy sauce, coconut milk (400ml) and lemon juice

While this soup will make your whole family flock to your place, it is also a great base to refine your seasoning skills. You can experiment with different spices like pepper, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric or peanut paste to make it taste even more sophisticated.

Awesome Autumn Stew

The time of heartwarming stews is upon us. Autumn is here! We really enjoy earthy and rooty meals this time of year. Here is on of our favorites to be had when wind and rain smack the windows.

  1. prepare potatoes (I water them to wash out some starch)
  2. prepare carrots
  3. prepare some green vegetables like broccoli and/or green peas
  4. mince chilli and garlic
  5. braise chilli and garlic in a little (1 teaspoon) oil
  6. deglaze with Passata Rustica
  7. add vegetable broth (1/2 to 1 litre)
  8. add rinsed potatoes and vegetables
  9. boil for 20-30 minutes or until potatoes are done
  10. season with soy sauce, peanut paste and cinnamon
  11. add oat creme if not moist enough
  12. serve with sweet pepper powder and/or tumeric on top

The peanut/cinnamon combo is a little exotic but goes really well with the earthen roots like potato and carrot. Sweetpotato would propably fit in there well too.

One Rice Fits All

If you’re cooking for several people, like I do on a daily basis, you will want to know dishes that are at least “accepted” by everyone, suitable to prepare in large quantities and storable for several days in the fridge. I think of these as staples and here is my favorite.

  1. cook wholemeal rice (see package for instructions)
  2. heat big pot with a minimum of rape oil
  3. chop up every vegatable you want to get rid of (bell pepper, zucchini, carrots, etc.)
  4. throw vegetables in pot and stir-fry
  5. add some chilli and garlic
  6. deglaze with vinegar
  7. add can of chopped tomatoes in own juice
  8. bring to a boil
  9. add can of cooked kidney beans and/or frozen peas
  10. season with oatcream, kurkuma and paprika-powder
  11. add rice from 1.
  12. add herbs to taste (basil, parsley, etc.) and/or nutritional yeast

You should end up with a big pot of tomato-based vegatable rice, not too dull and not too spicy. This works just as well with pasta and potatoes even. Now is when the magic starts.

My wife is more on the sweet side when it comes to taste. She will drench my ORFA in tomato ketchup.

heinz ketchup
HEINZ Tomato Ketchup

I like my food hot so I will sprinkle sriracha on top of my ORFA.

sriracha
sriracha HOT chilli sauce

My five year old son adapts my brilliant and healthy ORFA to his liking by demanding a ham & cheese sandwich 🙁

sandwich
ham & cheese sandwich

Too bad there is neither ham nor cheese in our fridge. He then grumpily eats the rice only, avoiding the vegetable-bits.

Mustacado

My favorite spread/dip/dressing and all-purpose weapon when something creamy is urgently needed.

  1. cut 1 ripe avocado in half, extract stone and carve flesh out with spoon
  2. add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
  3. add garlic to taste (1 clove)
  4. add mustard to taste (1 tablespoon)
  5. mash with fork until desired consistency is met

This spicy cream sides really well with tomatoes. If you want it extra-creamy you can add flaxseed or olive oil. I usually don’t.

Japanese Spinach Salad

My mother-in-law is Japanese. This made my taste buds adopt a weird mix of German Hausmannskost and asian quisine. My undisputed favorite is this sesame-flavoured salad, often served as side-dish with sushi.

  1. blanch 500 grams of spinach (frozen works well too) and rinse with cold water
  2. roast sesame (2 tablespoons) without oil
  3. put tahini (2 tablespoons) in bowl
  4. add soysauce (4 tablespoons)
  5. add sugar (4 tablespoons)
  6. add vinegar (2 teaspoons) – Mirin if at hand
  7. blend dressing and add squashed spinach from 1. and roasted sesame from 2.
  8. add crumbled Nori (1 sheet)

While not essential, the seaweed with its crunch and mild fishy flavor is what elevates this dish from solid to pure delight. Damn, I’m hungry now!