Healthy Chocolate Mousse with Chia Seeds [vegan]

I have heard many times about a chocolate mousse made with avocado and was really intrigued by the idea. Even though I often find avocados very uncooperative - they can be too hard for days and then suddenly one day they are already overripe: brown and not looking appetizing at all - I still like them a lot. But to use them in a chocolate mousse?! The only way that I could convince myself this whole idea would work, was to make such a mousse myself.

When I made it for the first time, to be honest, I wasn’t quite sure about the result. But other family members who tried it, liked it a lot. So I gave the mousse a second chance. I adjusted the amounts of ingredients, I also decided to make it even healthier by adding chia seeds. This time I absolutely loved it: nice, chocolatey and creamy. Even though the portion seems to be small, it is quite filling. And another advantage of this mousse is that you can have it either as a healthy dessert or healthy breakfast. And who could say no to a guilt-free but super-healthy chocolate mousse for breakfast?

INGREDIENTS (for 1 portion):

1 tbsp chia seeds,

75ml coconut milk,

0.5 avocado,

1 banana,

3 Medjool dates (or 6 normal dates, soaked beforehand in hot water for 10 minutes),

2 tsp cocoa powder,

Raspberries (fresh or frozen) or other berries to serve.

METHOD:

1. In the evening put the chia seeds and the coconut milk to a cup, stir and put to a fridge for the night.
2. In the morning place the avocado, banana, dates and cocoa powder in a food processor or blender and process till smooth.
3. In a small glass/bowl put half of the chocolate mousse on the bottom, cover it with majority of the chia and coconut mixture, then place the other half of the mousse and the rest of chia seeds.
4. Decorate with raspberries.

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Spicy Pumpkin with Spinach and Cashews [vegetarian]

We all enjoyed the combination of flavors in Oriental Spiced Pumpkin Pie so much that I decided to use it in a similar but easier (and faster) to prepare dish. My idea was to create a type of vegetarian stew that could be served as a main with rice, couscous or quinoa, or as a side dish for duck/chicken.

I used coconut milk not only to create the sauce but also to enhance the taste of the dish. And – in case it is supposed to be served as a main vegetarian dish – I added cashew nuts for the extra proteins. The final meal is really delicious: creamy, spiced but not too spicy, wonderful for cold autumn and winter days.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 portions as a main, or 6 as side dish):

1 tsp ground coriander,

1 tsp ground cumin,

1 tsp cinnamon,

1 tsp sweet paprika,

0.5 tsp hot paprika,

0.5 tsp salt

3 tbsp olive oil,

500g squash, deseeded, peeled and cut in to 3 cm pieces,

100g shallots, peeled and cut into quarters,

2 tsp grated ginger,

40g cashew nuts,

40g raisins,

1 tbsp honey,

250ml coconut milk,

50g spinach.

METHOD:

1. Preheat an oven to 180 degrees fan.
2. In a small bowl mix together the coriander, cumin, cinnamon, both paprika, salt an 2 tbsp of olive oil.
3. Put the squash into a baking tin and pour the mixed spices, coat the squash well in the mixture (can be done with your hands) and put to the hot oven for 30 minutes.
4. Warm up 1 tbsp olive in a big frying pan, add the shallots and fry them on a medium heat for approx. 10 min.
5. Add the ginger, fry for another minute and then add the cashews, raisins and honey, stir and add the baked squash.
6. Stir in the coconut milk and spinach; cook till the spinach starts to wilt.
7. Serve with rice, couscous or quinoa as a separate, vegetarian/vegan dish or as a side dish with chicken or duck.

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Christmas Cupcakes with Nougat Icing

A few weeks ago I read an article about nougat – a sweet made of sugar, honey and egg whites mixed with dried fruit and/or nuts, very popular in Italy and France.  It is really lovely and making it doesn’t seem to be difficult so I definitely try making it one day.

This article made me think I could use an adjusted version of the nougat to create a snow-like icing. And because of the season, I opted for using it on top of cupcakes based on an idea of a British Christmas cake – full of nuts and dried fruit. The first time I made them, the icing worked perfectly – fluffy and delicious but I felt the cupcakes were a bit too dry and there should be more fruit there. So when I made them for the second time I changed the recipe slightly. Additionally, I also soaked the raisins in rum. This time everything worked perfectly and the cupcakes with the nougat icing disappeared very quickly!

INGREDIENTS (for 12 cupcakes):

60g raisins,

3 tbsp rum,

120g butter (at room temperature),

110g light muscovado sugar,

2 eggs (at room temperature),

140g plain flour,

2 tsp baking powder,

0.5tsp cinnamon,

0.5 tsp nutmeg,

140g mixed dried fruit (cranberries, figs) and pistachios, cut into smaller pieces.

Icing:

50g + 1 tbsp sugar,

75g liquid honey,

1tbs water,

1 egg white,

extra pistachios and cranberries for decoration.

METHOD:

1. Put the raisins to a cup and pour the rum over them; leave to soak for at least 1 h.
2. Preheat an oven to 190 Celsius degrees (or 170 for fan ovens) and prepare a 12-hole muffin baking tray by either greasing it lightly or putting in paper cases (if you are using silicon forms you don’t have to do it).
3. In a food processor or with electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until fluffy and pale; add eggs one by one beating the mixture after adding each egg; beat for a while longer.
4. In a bowl mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg; and sieve to the batter.
5. Stir with a spatula, add the raisins with rum, dried fruits and nuts, stir and divide the mixture into cases (approx. 1 tablespoon for each one).
6. Bake in the hot oven for 15 minutes (check if baked by inserting a wooden stick).
7. Make the icing: put the honey, water and 50g of sugar to a small pan stir and heat on medium until the sugar is dissolved, then increase the heat to medium high and cook for 5 minutes.
8. Beat the egg white till stiff and add the 1 tbsp of sugar, beat for a minute longer.
9. Gently pour the hot honey-sugar mixture to the egg white while beating, whisk for 2-3 minutes longer.
10. Generously spread the icing on top of cooled down cupcakes and decorate with cranberries and pistachio nuts.

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Sweetcorn and Spaghetti Squash Soup [vegetarian]

After I used the spaghetti squash for the first time and saw that its strands looked like noodles, I thought it would be a great idea to use it in a soup.

When I thought which ingredients would go well with squash; sweetcorn, sage and mushrooms immediately came to my mind. This time I decided to skip the mushrooms but added a green pepper instead for a bit of crunchiness and sharpness that contrasts well with the sweetcorn.

I cooked the soup with dried sage and served it with a sage butter. I know the butter adds the fat and calories but it enhances the taste of the soup, too. If you prefer to omit the butter, you can serve it with some grated Parmesan cheese, it will taste just as good – I tried it out with some of the soup leftovers ;).

INGREDIENTS (for 4-6 portions):

0.5 spaghetti squash, deseeded (approx. 700g),

2 tbsp olive oil,

1 tbsp butter,

1 onion, chopped,

2 garlic cloves, crushed,

2 medium potatoes (approx. 200g), cut into small cubes,

2 celery sticks, sliced,

1 green pepper, deseeded and cut into cubes,

700ml vegetable stock,

0.5 tsp dried sage,

300ml milk,

1 can sweetcorn,

salt and pepper.

To serve:

2 tbsp butter,

a handful of sage leaves,

or grated Parmesan cheese.

METHOD: 

1. Heat the oven to 180 Celsius degrees (fan oven) and when hot place the half of the squash skin side up on a baking tray covered with aluminum foil and bake for 30-40 min until the skin is soft and can easily be pierced.
2. When the pumpkin is baked through, scrap its flesh with a fork to get noodle-like strands. The squash can be baked even a day earlier.
3. In a big pot warm up the olive oil and butter, add the cut onion, garlic, potatoes, celery and pepper, season, stir and when sizzling, lower the heat, cover the vegetables with a disc of parchment paper and the pan with a lid.
4. After 10 minutes increase the heat and pour in the stock and dried sage, when boiling, decrease the temperature and simmer for 5-10 minutes until the potatoes are almost soft.
5. Add the milk, sweetcorn (with the liquid) and the squash strands, bring to boil, adjust the seasoning.
6. In a small frying pan melt the butter, add the sage leaves and fry them on a medium heat till dry.
7. Serve the soup with the sage butter and sage or grated Parmesan.

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Marzipan Cookies [gluten free]

I didn’t even plan to bake these biscuits. I wanted to make Italian almond cookies but didn’t read the recipe carefully enough when I came across it some time ago, and didn’t notice the batter had to rest for 12 hours. I simply didn’t have the time as I already had a craving for almond tasting biscuits. So I had no choice, but to find a satisfactory replacement.

In one of my Polish cookbooks* I found a marzipan cookies recipe that met my needs, meaning they could be ready to eat in 30 minutes. I did change it slightly: I used half of the sugar and omitted the chocolate glazing as I felt they would be sweet enough anyway. I was extremely happy with the result: the biscuits were crunchy on the outside but soft and chewy on the inside. And even though I am still planning to make the real Italian almond cookies, I know, I will make this fast and delicious marzipan variation often, too.

INGREDIENTS (for 25 pieces):

250g marzipan, cut into pieces,

75g sugar,

1 egg white,

0.5 tsp grated lemon rind,

0.5 tsp almond flavoring,

Icing sugar for sprinkling.

METHOD:

1. Put all the ingredients (except from the icing sugar) to a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until everything is well combined.
2. Preheat an oven to 180 Celsius degrees (160 for fan ovens) and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
3. Take a walnut size portion of the batter and with wet hands roll into a ball, place on the tray and flatten slightly; repeat with the rest of the batter.
4. Bake the biscuits in the hot oven for 20 minutes; when cooled down, sprinkle with icing sugar.

* "Ciasteczka - wyszukane smakołyki z całego świata"

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Carrot and Banana Cake

If you are one of these people who can never decide whether a carrot or a banana cake is your favorite, hopefully you will be happy with this solution as it is a very successful (and delicious) combination of both of them.

The cake is wonderfully moist and addition of walnut pieces gives it extra texture. There are no spices added to the batter but this cake has a vanilla aroma due to the yummy icing. I must be honest with you, this is neither the lightest, nor the healthiest cake. But I do think that there is no harm in enjoying a slice of this wonderful cake occasionally, especially on a cold, autumn or winter afternoon with a cup of good tea or  coffee.

INGREDIENTS (for 8-12 portions):

Cake:

3 eggs,

175g brown sugar,

175g plain flour,

2 tsp baking powder,

1 tsp salt,

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda,

175ml sunflower oil,

175g walnuts, broken into pieces,

2 medium size ripe bananas, mashed,

175g grated carrot,

Icing:

75 g soft butter,

75g cream cheese,

150g icing sugar,

1 tsp vanilla extract,

Extra walnuts for decoration.

METHOD:

1. Preheat an oven to 170 Celsius degrees (150 fan ovens).
2. Grease a 20cm diameter cake tin with a removable base and cover its bottom with baking paper.
3. In a food processor or with electric mixer beat the eggs and sugar until thick and pale.
4. Add sifted flour, baking powder, salt and bicarbonate of soda; mix until everything is combined.
5. Add the oil, walnuts, bananas and carrots, mix.
6. Pour the batter into the cake tin, put to the hot oven and bake for approx. 75 minutes (until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean).
7. To make the icing, beat the butter and cream cheese together, add the sugar and vanilla and beat for little longer.
8. Spread the icing on the cold cake and decorate with walnuts.

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Plant Based Diet - is it safe to be Vegetarian?

I have never been much of carnivore: I could do without meat for days on end. But I do enjoy good meat or poultry dishes like Peking duck or roast lamb when I have it every now and then. That is probably why I never considered becoming a vegetarian myself and didn't even know there were actually a few variations of plant based diets:

			TYPE OF	FOOD
TYPE OF DIET	Plant-based	Dairy	Eggs	Fish	Polutry	Red meat
Vegans
Lacto vegetarians
Lacto-ovo vegetarians
Quasivegetarians (pescatarians)
"Far" vegetarians					occasionally
Semi vegetarians (flexitarians)					occasionally	occasionally

When my daughter announced she wanted to become a vegetarian, firstly I wanted to change her mind as I didn’t think it was safe for a teenager not to eat meat at all. But when I did not succeed in convincing her, I simply had to learn more about it as it is better the devil you know.

Proteins were my major concern at the beginning as they contain nine essential amino acids necessary for our body tissue to function properly and all animal products (meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and diary) are their obvious source. However I have learnt there are luckily some plant foods that also include all the essential amino acids: soy products (tofu, edamame, tempeh, soy milk), quinoa and spirulina. Additionally, if you combine plant food that doesn’t contain the complete proteins with other (complimentary) foods, you can supply your body with the essential amino acids. Such combinations include amongst others: beans & rice, hummus & pita bread, tofu & rice, beans & corn, beans & tortilla, lentils & bulgur, peas & bread etc.

Even though getting enough proteins doesn’t seem to be a problem when you don’t eat meat, there are some nutrients that should be especially considered by vegetarians as not eating animal products may make it more difficult to obtain the required amounts. Here are the nutrients and also tips how to make sure a vegetarian gets enough of them:

Iron – although it exists in plant food, it is not as easily absorbed as iron found in animal food. So vegetarians should consume about 80% more iron than non-vegetarians. Soybeans, beans, legumes and fortified grains are good sources of iron. It is worth noting that Vitamin C intensifies absorption of iron.

Zinc – similarly to iron its plant “version” is less bio-available than the animal one. It is found in whole grains, legumes, soy products and nuts.

Calcium – vegetarians consuming dairy products are likely to get enough calcium but vegans may experience some deficiencies. Calcium fortified products as well as soy milk, tofu, leafy greens and broccoli may be a solution.

Vitamin D is mainly found in animal products, that is why vegans should consume Vitamin D fortified foods and expose themselves to sun (obviously without taking a risk of skin cancer!), otherwise tablet supplements might be required.

Vitamin B2 is found mainly in milk (so lactovegetarians should not have a problem with providing their bodies with sufficient amounts). If vegans’ diet is varied and they eat enough green vegetables, whole grains and fortified foods, they probably will get enough.

Vitamin B12 is found only in animal products so solution for vegans is either fortified food, or tablet supplements.

Omega-3 fatty acids are mainly found in fish products. Vegetarians not consuming fish may get some of omega 3 fatty acids from walnuts, soy, algae and flax-seed and fortified food.

Iodine typically is present in dairy products and seafood so vegans and some vegetarians may not get enough of it. That is why they should opt for iodized salt as a solution.

As it can be seen, people who completely eliminate animal products from their diet (vegans) may suffer some deficiencies of vitamin B-12 and D as well as of calcium, iron, zinc and omega-3 fatty acids. Therefore taking tablet supplements may be necessary. For other types of plant-based diets, if meals are well balanced and some fortified food is consumed, this problem may not appear at all.

So far I have only mentioned possible areas of concern of plant based diets but are there any health benefits? If a vegetarian diet is mainly based on nutrient dense food (whole products), it will result in lots of health benefits like lowering BMI, blood pressure and bad cholesterol as well as lowering risk of many chronic diseases e.g. type 2 diabetes, stroke, hypertension and some types of cancer.

So the answer to the question from the title is yes, it is safe to be vegetarian. In truth it may even be advisable to be vegetarian. But if you are still not ready to completely eliminate meat from your diet to take advantage from all the health benefits, please note that even reducing intake of red meat to less than 42g per day could reduce the risk of cardiovascular and cancer diseases and mortality by 8-9%. I think this small change could make a huge difference and certainly is worth making. 

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