Pumpkin-avocado salad

It's salad time! Since I'm having 1 vegan meal a day these days (to give my liver a rest..) and those meals need to be paleo as well, however without adding too many nuts, that can be a hassle sometimes. I usually end up having avocado + veggies or a vegetable curry (with coconut!). There's less room for variation, after all, I have to exclude animal protein, yet it also means a new and fun challenge to prepare a good meal despite the restrictions.

A salad is a good options when it comes to a meal like this, and it usually is the easiest one too. A salad however, should be a little filling, so I came up with the idea for this avocado and pumpkin salad.

Pumpkin-avocado salad (serves 2)

Ingredients:
- 1 medium pumpkin
- 2 avocado's
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- zest of 1 lemon
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- 2 tbsp fresh cilantro

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and line a baking tray with aluminium foil.
2. Rinse the pumpkin, pat it dry and put it on the baking tray. Bake for 1 hour until done. Allow to cool to room temperature.
3. Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds. Put one half in your fridge to use in another meal.
4. Dice the remaining pumpkin half and put it in a bowl, it's ok to leave the skin on, it's edible.
5. Cut the avocado's in half, discard the pits and dice the flesh. Add to the pumpkin in the bowl.
6. Top the vegetables with the cinnamon, lemon juice and -zest and olive oil and mix carefully.
7. Divide the salad over 2 plates and garnish with the pumpkin seeds and cilantro. Serve and enjoy!

Cinnamon Carrot Slaw

Hopefully no one is getting tired of my salad recipes yet, because I've got yet another one!
I can't help it, but I just love using coconut cream as a base for dressings..


I'm so glad it's almost weekend again.. My last weekend in the Netherlands before heading to the USA! Because of some festivities in my city, 80% of the hospital will be closed tomorrow afternoon, so I only need to work 4 hours tomorrow. That's not so bad.
I finally finished planning my holiday, and am now busy making a 'what to pack' list, which is almost finished as well. Although I think some stuff will pop up in my head over the next few days.
I practiced some double unders again yesterday, with a different rope this time. I did almost 30! The rope you use definitely makes a huge difference. I now have 2 days of rest, because this weekend is going to be very intense, workout-wise.
Saturday: CrossFit WOD at CrossFit Twente
Sunday: SealFit WOD at Breda Strength & Conditioning
Especially that second WOD is going to be really, really (really) hard.. We'll see what happens!


Cinnamon Carrot Slaw (serves 2)
- 3 medium winter carrots, shredded
- 3/4 cup coconut cream
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts


1. In a small bowl, combine coconut cream, lemon juice, cinnamon and cilantro and mix well.
2. In another bowl, combine shredded carrots, raisins and walnuts.
3. Stir in the dressing until well-combined. Serve and enjoy!

Braised purple cabbage

I'm back! Just took a short break from blogging after my Whole30. At first it was strange I didn't 'have' to take pictures of my food every time anymore, but I've already gotten used to it again. Plus, now I don't need to make my food look so 'decent' with each and every meal. Sometimes you just want to throw together a bunch of food, as long as it tastes good.


Foodwise, I haven't changed anything so far. Except for those raisins and walnuts I had yesterday morning, I have been eating pretty much in the same way as I did over the last month.
But, it's time for a new recipe now! Braised purple cabbage. It takes up some oven time, but preparation is quick and easy.

Braised purple cabbage (serves 4)
- 1 head purple cabbage
- 1 onion, coarsely chopped
- 2 medium winter carrots, chopped
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted over very low heat
- 1/3 cup apple juice (or water)
- 1 tbsp cinnamon


1. Heat oven to 165 degrees Celsius.
2. Rinse the cabbage and cut it into 8 wedges, don't remove the core, it will help keeping the wedges together.
3. Put the cabbage wedges into a large baking dish and divide the onion and carrots over them.
4. Add the coconut oil and apple juice to the baking dish and dust everything with cinnamon.
5. Cover the dish with aluminium foil, tightly wrapping it around the edges, and bake for 1 hour.
6. Remove the dish from the oven, carefully remove the foil and turn the wedges over. Add some more apple juice if the dish is starting to dry out.
7. Cover with foil again and bake for another hour.
8. Remove the foil, turn the heat up to 200 degrees Celsius and bake for another 20 minutes until the vegetables are starting to brown.
9. Divide the wedges over 4 plates and serve with protein of your choice. Enjoy!

Simple beet salad

This is one of those recipes that's just so easy to make.. You could hardly call it a recipe (since it only has 2 steps), but I liked it so much that I wanted to share it with you.
I guess most people who like beets sometimes have too much of them (leftovers..) and wonder how they can serve them in a different way than usual. I turned my leftovers into a simple, yet tasty salad.
You can make a meal out of it by adding in a few chopped boiled eggs, some shredded chicken, or some salmon or mackerel. All works really well! If you do still want it to be a salad, it might be wise to double the dressing ingredients so you'll keep the creamy texture.
And if you don't have any chives, spring onions, cilantro, parsley or even some mint will do the trick just fine. Well, I hope this inspires some people to get creative with those leftover beets!


Beet salad (serves 2)
- 2 cups finely chopped, cooked/roasted beets
- 1/3 cup coconut cream
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 tbsp chives, chopped
- black pepper


1. Combine coconut cream, lemon juice, chives and black pepper in a bowl and stir everything together.
2. Stir the coconut dressing into the chopped beets and serve. Enjoy!

Coconut Baba Ghanoush

Here it is, as promised, a new recipe.
I had never eaten eggplant puree before in my life. I never really was a fan of this vegetable, until I tasted grilled slices of it on a burger. That's when I realised it actually tastes really good!
What else could I do with eggplant? When mindlessly surfing to watch some foodporn, I ran into Baba Ghanoush. I always like food with foreign names, so I looked it up online; pureed eggplant with tahini, garlic, lemon and parsley. Sounds good.


I didn't have any tahini or parsley, so I figured I'd try it with coconut and cilantro instead. I also left out the garlic, as I didn't feel like adding it. Feel free to add a few cloves to the recipe below though.
I think the coconut adds a lot of sweetness to this dish, and it's packed with taste. I love it!
So, for everyone who's never had Baba Ghanoush before; just give it a try and I'm sure you'll like it.


Note: if you leave this in the fridge overnight, it's even better the next day!!


Coconut Baba Ghanoush (serves 2)
- 1 medium eggplant
- 2-3 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 tbsp creamed coconut / coconut butter (not coconut oil!)
- 3 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped


1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2. Wash the eggplant and cut it in half lengthwise. Put it in the oven with the cut side up on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, and bake for approx. 45 minutes until soft and slightly blackened. Let cool for a while.
3. When the eggplant is cool enough to handle, peel off the skin and chop up the flesh.
4. In your food processor, combine the eggplant flesh, lemon juice and creamed coconut and process until smooth.
5. Stir in the cilantro, serve and enjoy!

Creamy spinach

Yay, weekend!! It's been a long and busy week..
I've been doing quite some studying, some sports, but kept my meals really simple because I wanted to eat clean this week, making sure I didn't get any cravings. This afternoon (which usually happens on Fridays) I did get some cravings but didn't give in to them. I've also been a little tired these days, perhaps because I haven't been able to get enough sleep (due to waking up too early) and I might have a small virus bothering me. Therefore I've been taking some extra vitamin C and probiotics.
And to prevent further cravings tonight I scooped the cream off the top of a can of coconut milk and mixed it with some cocoa and desiccated coconut (I didn't use anything to sweeten it, I found the coconut added enough sweetness already). Very yummy, contains a lot of fat, and not that many carbs.
I usually eat more carbs over the weekend and less during the week, which always leaves me craving for carbs on Fridays. I really hate carb withdrawal symptoms.. Especially the restless feeling it gives me. But this time I've been consuming some more fat and protein than usual and it seems to be a little easier now. That's why I'm not going to give in this weekend, and I already know I'll feel much better on Monday.


I've also decided to start my Whole 30 soon. I've seen many people do it online and I think it'll be a really good thing for me to do before going to the USA in August. I wonder how I'll feel afterwards!
I'm probably going to start next week, right after my birthday. I can't think of a better way to start my life as a 24-year-old.


Yesterday I made this spinach dish, which tasted really good. I even took the leftovers with me to work, together with some diced pumpkin and beef, and a slice of fritatta. Still tasted good when cooled.
Just in case you can't get your hands on any creamed coconut; you could also use coconut milk for this dish, however, it will take a long time of simmering before your spinach mixture has thickened. The best substitute for creamed coconut is to buy a can of good quality coconut milk, put it in the fridge overnight and scoop the thick cream off the top of the milk. Use the cream in this dish, it'll make a huge difference.

Mom's Sunbutter Satay Sauce

Had a really busy day yesterday (internship) so I didn't have any time to post a new recipe, let alone cook anything. I got up at 5 a.m., had some leftovers from the oven dish my mom made on Sunday (she gave me the leftovers, yum!!) and lunch consisted of a few chicken burgers with carrots. Back at the train station, before going home, I was pretty hungry so I bought some guacamole (most paleo friendly food they had that would actually fill me up) and back home I had some cucumber and a scrambled egg.


Today was less busy, just another day at work, and a tough 300 workout afterwards. Not the original 300 Spartan Workout of course, but my trainer made me an adapted one and I loved it! It was pretty hard today, not too hard though, but according to my trainer it should be less easy for me so I'm going to add some more weight next time.
Here it is:
- 25 push ups
- 25 ring pull ups
- 25 squat med ball push pass
- 50 overhead kettlebell swings
- 50 rack pulls
- 25 squat med ball push pass
- 50 kettlebell deadlifts
- 25 push ups
- 25 ring pull ups

And I also promised to share my mom's recipe for sunbutter satay sauce with you. It's all paleo, and delicious!! I only thought about taking a picture of it when we were done eating and we finished just about all of the satay sauce, but I guess that only makes it clear how good this sauce is, right?
Anyway, just try it, and enjoy!

High Tea and Raw Vegan Lemon Cheesecake

This post should actually be my mom's post, because she's the one who prepared all this delicious food.
She did so much baking and put a huge amount of time into preparing every single item of food we had today. And it all tasted great! Plus, we had a really good time having this high tea while talking about travelling and sharing our next holiday plans.

Garam masala zucchini fries and spicy tomato sauce

Still not feeling too good today, but my meals taste pretty good, so I guess that's an improvement. I actually feel like I could eat just about anything today! (won't do that though, since I want to get better sooner rather than later)
I had to go attend a class today, all the physical exercise needed for that was to walk 10 minutes to the train station and it was too much.. I eventually arrived at the train station, all dizzy, sweating and tired, so I ended up turning around and going back home again. This sucks.. Anyway, I'll stop whining about it, because that certainly won't help. Positive thinking is key!

Click for more to see the recipes!

Chocolate parsnip pudding

Still had some parsnips in my fridge and decided they had to be used.. So, I made a chocolate pudding! Not exactly a combination you'd expect, but it works so well, especially with the coconut and the bananas.
Of course I also got myself (and a large part of the kitchen..) covered in cocoa powder.. They really shouldn't make those boxes so deep, it's too hard to get the last bits out without making a mess! Or maybe I'm just a little clumsy.. I guess we'll never know ;)

Paleo food(ie) in Amsterdam

Eating Paleo in Amsterdam isn't that hard to do at all. There are lots of health food stores and fresh meat, fruit and veggies is widely available.
Today my mom and me went there to do some serious shopping (and we succeeded!) and besides that we bought quite a lot of food, Paleo food.

Quick cauliflower and delicious spice mixes

Yesterday I finally got the time to cycle all the way to another supermarket (in a nearby city) to get myself some new spices. I'd seen them somewhere else, but didn't think about buying them while I was there..

Parsnip banana puree

Yum, I've found another great way to use parsnip!
At the market, I couldn't resist buying another 1kg bag of parsnips. I also got some bananas, but when I got home, over half of them had soft spots from the transport.. Last time I made parsnip puree with apple, so I figured I might as well make it with banana. This way it tastes even better!
I'm not sure yet how I'm going to use the puree. Eating it just like that is the easiest and most tempting option right now, but I'm going to see what I can make with it. Maybe I'll turn some of it into pancakes tomorrow morning, to have for breakfast.
If you'd add some chopped walnuts and blueberries, it would make a great dessert too.
In the mean time, here's the recipe to make the basic puree, so everyone can figure out their own way to use it.

Parsnip banana puree
- 5 parsnips
- 2 ripe bananas

1. Wash the parsnips, chop off the top and bottom and cut them into equal pieces.
2. Steam the parsnips for 8-10 minutes, until fork tender.
3. Process the parsnips with the bananas in a food processor until you've got a smooth and creamy puree.

Serve on the side, on top of an oven dish or any way you like.
Adding some cinnamon or vanilla will probably make this taste even better!

Chocolate coffee cups

Every now and then most people will feel like having a comforting dessert on a lazy, rainy Sunday. Well, today is a lazy, rainy Sunday for me. It isn't raining yet, but it looks as if it can start any moment now.
I had already been planning to adapt a recipe for 'chocolate coffee cups' from one of my cookbooks, as the recipe used milk, cream and sugar.
My version isn't completely guilt free (each serving contains a pretty large amount of chocolate) but it does cut out the dairy and added sugar, so it won't spike your blood sugar as much. The recipe also said this makes 4 servings, but I could barely fill 2 small coffee cups out of it; and since I'm not exactly the type of person who likes small portions, I only made 2 servings. (I didn't need more anyway)
They taste absolutely amazing!
If you want to make these more kid-friendly, I suggest adding 2 tablespoons of agave syrup to reduce the bitterness.

Chocolate coffee cups (serves 2)
- 3/4 cup coconut milk
- 1 tsp arrowroot
- 1/4 cup strong black coffee, freshly brewed
- 100g dark chocolate (containing at least 70% cocoa solids)

1. Take 1 tbsp of the coconut milk and dissolve the arrowroot in it, in a small bowl.
2. Bring the rest of the coconut milk to a boil in a small saucepan.
3. When boiling, add arrowroot paste and stir vigorously for about a minute so there won't be any lumps.
4. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the coffee and chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has completely melted and a thick, smooth mass has formed.
5. Divide the mixture over 2 small cups and put in the fridge for at least an hour, until set.
Serve with a small spoon and take your time to enjoy every single bite. Yum!

Curried savoy cabbage and celeriac mash

It's been a while since my last recipe, but I haven't been around during the weekend.
This morning my fridge was more or less emtpy, except for 1/2 celeriac from last week. (I put it in a plastic seal-bag and it kept really well)
So I went to the market and brought home a giant bag filled with veggies, yum! I couldn't resist weighing the bag when I got home: 11.4kg of veggies! That's quite a lot for just 1 person.. I guess I'll be freezing a lot of my cooking this week.
Of course I used my celeriac first today, and combined it with some savoy cabbage to make a mash out of it. It tasted great, especially with some raisins and walnuts.
I served it with an oven-baked Tilapia fillet, sprinkled with some lemon juice and saltless fish spices. Of course you can serve it with some chicken, turkey, beef or other lean meat as well.

Curried savoy cabbage and celeriac mash (serves 2)
- 1/2 savoy cabbage, shredded
- 1/2 celeriac, peeled and cubed
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 2 tsp curry powder
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1 handful of raisins
- 1 handful of walnuts, chopped
- 1 tsp coconut oil

1. Steam celeriac cubes for 7-8 minutes until fork tender and puree.
2. Add curry powder and lemon juice, stir well.
3. Heat coconut oil in a wok or frying pan and stir-fry the onion until soft, add cabbage and stir-fry over high heat for approx. 5 minutes until wilted.
4. Reduce heat to low and add raisins and celeriac puree. Stir until well-combined.
5. Serve with chopped walnuts on top.

Turnip puree

Seems like I'm eating a lot of mashed veggies this week. I love them all.
Just like this turnip puree.
I pretty much made it the same way as I made my parsnip mash, but this has a whole different texture and it's more refreshing. It's even better when you eat it cold!
Oh and something that doesn't have anything to do with food, but that I just wanted to share; I've got real heating in my home! Finally! They've installed it this morning and ever since, my home is nice and warm. Just in time for the holidays.

Turnip puree (serves 2-3)
- 2 turnips
- 2 apples
- 1 tablespoon coconut flour
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Peel turnips with a vegetable peeler, cut them into small chunks and steam for 6-8 minutes, until soft.
2. Cut apples into pieces, discard the core, and put them in a bowl. Add turnip pieces and puree with a hand blender. (you could also put everything in a food processor)
3. Add coconut flour and cinnamon and stir well.
Serve warm or cold, whatever you prefer.

For serving, I sprinkled some more cinnamon on top because I thought it looked kind of festive. I served it with a simple chicken and kale stir-fry. But it might as well be part of any meal of the day. It could even make a sweet snack.

Curried kale chips

Just because I had a huge kale and to see what all the fuss was about, I made kale chips today. When I was looking for a recipe, I noticed there were so many people blogging about these, I just had to try them.
I actually made them twice.. The first batch failed horribly. I followed a recipe exactly, but somehow my oven was a little hotter at the same temperature, and I burnt them. They were totally black, and my whole home smelled really bad because of it. Of course that made me want to make these chips successfully even more.

Luckily my second batch worked out just fine; I put the oven temperature a little lower and sat in front of the oven almost the whole time. Ready to jump into action, in case something went wrong.

The recipe also told me to 'massage in the oil'. Well, I'd never given a veggie a massage before, but perhaps that's why these taste so good?

Here's my version:
Curried kale chips (serves 1)
- 4 kale branches
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp curry powder

1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
2. Rinse the kale branches and dry them with some kitchen paper.
3. Tear the green leaves off, along the thick stems (don't use the stems), and tear them into bite-sized pieces.
4. Combine oil, lemon juice and curry powder in a bowl, and pour it over the kale pieces.
5. Gently mix everything with your hands, then divide the kale over the baking tray. Make sure they don't overlap, so they'll cook evenly.
6. Bake for about 10 minutes, until dark green and crispy. Let them cool for a few minutes and enjoy!

Banana coconut breakfast

Yum, this is another one of my favourite breakfast dishes. Easy to make, and very satisfying.

The base is a creamy, thick banana coconut mixture, to which I add fruits and nuts. You could also eat it as a snack or dessert after a smaller meal.

It's also something I have at night, when I feel a little hungry or simply want to snack. (You know.. Friday nights..)

Banana coconut breakfast (serves 1)

- 1 large banana

- 2 tsp coconut flour

- 1/4 cup coconut milk

- 1 small apple, grated

- 2 tbsp ground flax seed

- hand full of mixed nuts

- some fresh or frozen berries

1. Puree the banana with a fork and add coconut flour and milk. Stir until well-combined and a creamy and thick mixture has formed.

2. Add the grated apple, flax seed and nuts and stir well.

3. Top with berries and serve.

Travel plans

No recipes today.. Hopefully tomorrow! At least I do plan on trying a new recipe by then. I do however have something else to share;
I found another food spot in New York!
Peacefood Cafe
Everything on their menu is vegan, and they also offer gluten free options. It's not all paleo, but reading the menu makes me go hungry in an instant. They also have a small 'raw' section on their menu, including a key lime pie, raspberry pie and chocolate mousse. Sounds delicious! Hopefully we'll have some time to visit that place in April.
I wonder what their chickpea fries will be like..
I haven't had decent fries in a really long time, and I must admit that I sometimes crave them. I tried making pumpkin fries and carrot fries, but nothing tastes like the potato verson. I bought a parsnip yesterday so maybe I can try to make fries out of it, in case I don't come up with a better idea to prepare it.

Last Sunday my mom and me made this recipe from This Primal Life; Kohlrabi Casserole with Sausage and Fresh Thyme. It turned out really well! I didn't know you could prepare kohlrabi like this.
Next time we're going to add some garlic and other spices too, because it was slightly too blunt for our taste. (of course we left the salt out, which might have made a difference)

These days all I can think about is travelling.. I wish it was April already and time to go to New York!
Over the weekend I also changed my 'big holiday' plans for 2011. The only disadvantage about it is that I postponed it a few months. My destination will be Australia, and since the seasons are reversed over there it's best to go when it's Winter over here, so I can enjoy Aussie's warm and sunny weather while everyone else is freezing.
Of course I didn't work it all out yet, but I'm going to travel from Sydney to Adelaide (or the other way around) in my own small camper, along the Great Ocean Road. And on the way there and on the way back home I'm going to make a stop over in Asia for a few days. I'm not sure which cities yet, one of them will probably be Singapore, and the other one will either be Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong or Bangkok.
It's going to be my first time camping.. I wonder if I should try it out first somewhere in the Netherlands, in my own tent on a desolate place. Walking to the toilet in the dark, toilet paper underneath my arm.. Being cold in bed or sweating like crazy so I float out of my tent. Doesn't sound appealing at all to be honest. I'm sure a camper will be different, at least I'd have a decent bed and it won't be in Holland. (which probably is the point that makes most sense)
I'll probably go around November or December next year and will take about a month for the whole trip. I can't wait!!
It seems like a really long time away, and who knows what my life will be like by then, but it's what keeps me going, trying to save as much money as possible.
Eating paleo over there won't be much of a challenge I guess, besides having to resist the temptation from all the delicious looking cakes and pies.. I should definitely try and find some Organic supermarkets over there. If anyone has suggestions, I'd love to hear them!



Lemon avocado mousse

Last Friday the avocados were on sale again in my local supermarket, so it was time to make one of my favourite avocado dishes: lemon avocado mousse.

This mousse is quite versatile, you can have it for breakfast, dessert or even as a snack when you're hungry.

I mostly have it for breakfast though!

Lemon avocado mousse: (serves 2)

- 2 lemons

- 2 big avocados

- 1 large banana

- 25g creamed coconut (from a 200g block, also called 'Santen')

1. Zest one of the lemons and put this away in the fridge.

2. Peel the lemons and remove the thin, white layers the cover the flesh (these are bitter) and seeds. You only want to use the actual lemon flesh. Put the flesh in a blender.

3. Slice the avocados in half, remove pits and scoop the flesh out. Add to blender.

4. Peel and slice the banana and add to blender too, along with the creamed coconut.

5. Pulse a few times until everything's combined, then put the blender on high speed for about 1 minute so you end up with a thick, creamy mousse.

6. Divide over 2 bowls and put in the fridge for a couple of hours. Serve with lemon zest.

As you see, it's an easy recipe, but the hard part is removing those thin white layers to get out the lemon flesh. It takes time, and I usually end up getting lemon juice squirted into my eyes a couple of times, but it's all worth it. (perhaps I should try wearing my old swimming goggles next time..)