Indian food is a long-time favorite in our house. The whole family is in love with the smell these wonderful spices spread through the house while cooking. It’s really healthy food for your body and soul. Also the variety of vegan recipes is huge, and many others can easily be adapted to be vegan. For the following recipe, I used organic red lentils and fresh curcuma root, but you can also use curcuma powder if you can’t find the fresh one. Lentils are known for their great nutritional value and high content of protein, which is not only valuable for vegetarians and vegans, but important for any healthy diet. Those tiny round legumes in combination with curcuma and ginger will nourish your body at its best.
A good friend and foodie gave me a wonderful birthday present: the new Anova wifi sous vide cooker. Now back home from holidays in beautiful South Africa, I immediately started cooking with my new baby. Like all fish, it is very easy to overcook salmon. That’s why sous vide is such an excellent method for preparing fish. We never ever had better salmon. This flavor-packed fish with its hearty yet delicate taste is so buttery soft and moist inside, yet crisp on the outside. A real taste explosion in your mouth. Salmon works well with many different dishes. Here I served it with two different kinds of Hokkaido on the side: a creamy and slightly spicy Hokkaido puree and a nutty flavorful Hokkaido quinoa.
When it comes to soup, I’m facing an interesting challenge. In our family of five, everyone has different preferences. My older daughter likes only clear Asian broth with some veggies and protein, the middle one needs everything pureed, and the little boy absolutely loves soup, any kind, every day! I hope it will stay that way. Of course, this means every time I prepare soup, someone will skip it. Well, I guess that’s a challenge many of you are familiar with. 😉
Are you wondering why I named this soup “crunchy”? The soup itself is creamy and (optionally) slightly spicy due to the ginger and the red curry paste. I used a 30% fat reduced coconut cream and my Homemade Vegetable Broth to keep it light. The crunchy part is the dehydrated leek I add just before serving. This crunchy leek gives the soup an awesome kick.
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.
There are many ways to prepare cauliflower, but have you ever tried preparing a whole roasted cauliflower? This is a vegan side dish which is not only an amazing eye catcher, it’s also prepared with a lot of healthy ingredients. When it’s ready to serve, just slice it at the table like a cake.
