Have you ever heard of salicornia? Salicornia is a nutritious sea vegetable, also called sea beans or sea asparagus. It is a plant that grows in salty soil in shallow water along the shore. Its taste is crisp and crunchy with an intensely salty flavor. It’s high in protein and also a good source of vitamin A, calcium, and iron. You can eat it raw in a salad, steamed, or stir fried, like in my recipe. Make sure to not add extra salt when cooking with salicornia as it’s salty enough. Here I used coconut aminos instead of soy sauce to avoid making it too salty.
When thinking about Easter, I still have many childhood memories about Easter Sunday, the main celebration day. I liked how the family got together, and especially the moment when we kids were finally allowed to search for the chocolate eggs and presents the Easter bunny had hidden for us. I was reminded of this recently when I saw my kids nervously count down the days until Easter Sunday – I know exactly how it feels. With the following recipe, I tried to bring this same feeling of love and togetherness onto the plate. I prepared a trial dish recently for a Sunday family lunch, and I was really happy that everyone liked it a lot. While sitting together and talking about this new recipe, I got some great feedback from everyone, including my kids, with ideas for things to improve. For example, for the trial dish, I had added a little too much honey for the crust and it was a bit too sweet, which I then adjusted. The herbal and nutty flavor of the crust in combination with the lamb goes really well with my side dish Thyme & Garlic Baked Spiraled Potatoes.
Potatoes or sweet potatoes are always a delicious gluten-free side dish. You can serve them in many ways, for example, baked, pureed, fried, or boiled. In this recipe, I spiraled the potatoes and baked them with the skin in the oven. This makes the outside edges very crispy and taste almost like potato chips, while the inside has a delicious soft and almost creamy texture. I created this recipe as a side dish for my Easter recipe Herb Crusted Lamb with Carrots and Broccolini.
Especially during occasions like the Easter celebration, which is around the corner, I love preparing a huge savory breakfast or brunch for my family. Scrambled eggs are always part of it and you can add to it whatever your heart feels like, for example they go really well with seafood. In the following recipe, I combined the salty flavor of the crayfish with the creamy eggs and the fresh spring onions and tomatoes. Here I used already cooked crayfish, but you can use any kind of seafood you like or find.
I’m addicted to spicy food. In fact, when starting with a savory breakfast in the morning, some spicy chili peppers have to be on my plate already. The following recipe is my version of an Asian chili garlic paste that is free of refined sugar or artificial additives. I use this paste in my Asian-influenced dishes. Since I try to leave out sugar and artificial additives, I now work on preparing my own pastes and sauces. Because of the added coconut oil and vinegar, you can easily store the paste in your fridge for up to two weeks or freeze it in small ice cube portions.
