lovely lettuce from my organic produce box

I know. I have been absent from this blog for…, well, ever. But I’m back and I intend to update regularly from now on (sounds like a broken record – I’m aware of it!). I have been busy in the kitchen though, and now I’ll start sharing some of my ventures.

As a soft start to the bloggorama I’m going to share my tip for keeping lettuce fresh for really long. Surprisingly long. Everybody who has tried the method (which I have off course been promoting shamelessly) are amazed! This method was given to me  by my lovely friend from Paris, who has the great fortune of having a nanny that also happens to wash and prepare all her vegetables for her, and it was this very nanny who brought this piece of wisdom into their household. I have a feeling that after this grand intro I can only crash and burn…. It is after all very, very simple. But groundbreaking (to me, that is)! And what’s best of all you don’t need any gadgets. You just need a kitchen towel (that has been washed in mild, environmentally friendly detergent). And the lettuce. And water for rinsing. And an optional colander!

• Pluck the leaves from the lettuce and rinse them (and rinse them good – organic lettuce is usually quite dirty – not to mention home to a lot of insects and snails)and shake them dry
• Place them in a layer on the kitchen towel (for larger heads of lettuce you might need two kitchen towels).
• Roll the kitchen towel with the lettuce leaves tightly into a sausage
• Stuff it in the fridge
  

  Lettuce spread on kitchen towel

  

  in the process of rolling

  

  eureka!

That’s it. And whenever you need a couple of lettuce leaves – just take your kitchen towel sausage out of the fridge. I’m telling you it stays crispy and fresh! I’ve kept lettuce in the fridge like this for up to a week with no problems. And I always used to be frustrated that my big heads of lettuce that I get every Friday in my organic produce box would already be soft and wilted on Saturday. So hurrah for my lovely friend in Paris and her lovely nanny! 

this blog now has it’s life on www.mykitchenplayground.com – a prettier and more exciting version!! check it out!

my new website

so i sauteed some garlic and onion in coconut oil, added the cubed squash and some ginger. i then just barely covered with some vegetable stock, and let it simmer for about 15 minutes, – until the squash was tender. i had made up my mind from the beginning that i wanted the soup to have a bit of asian flavour to it, so i poured in some organic coconut milk and blended it to a smoooooth lovely soup! i salted and peppered to taste, put in a little bit of cayenne and some chopped cilantro and VOILA! a beatiful, velvety, creamy soup with a hint of spice – perfect for autumn dinner.

i served it with bitesize pieces of tofu that i had marinated in tamari and garlic and fried in a bit of coconut oil before chucking it into the soup.

i definately recommend this recipe, i have previously made other variations of it with sweet potato and pumpkin, and that works just as well.

here’s what you’ll need if you decide to give it a go:

• 1 medium butternut squash
• 1 red onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• thumbsized piece of ginger
• about 500 ml vegetable stock
• 200 ml coconut milk
• salt & pepper
• cayenne
• cilantro
• small block of tofu
• a dash of tamari
• garlic for the marinade
• olive oil or coconut oil

enjoy!!!

and my debut is a short account of today’s sunday dinner. no roast in sight… no potatoes… no gravy… boring some might say. it was, however, very far from boring.i decided on making falafel, but to experiment with a healthy baked version, instead of frying it. falafel is sooo tasty, so in my opinion it doesn’t really need all that grease.

so basically i just made a base of what i believe regular falafel is made of: chick peas, cilantro, parsley, cumin, coriander, olive oil and of course GARLIC (i eat garlic every single day and would not know how to live without it). i also added some baking powder (hoping it would keep it from getting to compact… not sure how much it did, though… next time i’ll be trying without it), lemon juice and a dash of cayenne to add a little bit of spice.

this is pretty much the quantities:

• 1 can of chick peas

• 2 garlic cloves

• juice of half a lemon

• 1 big handfull fresh cilantro

• 1 equally big handfull fresh flatleaf parsley

• 1 tsp coriander

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp cayenne

• natural sea salt to taste

• freshly ground black pepper to taste

• olive oil

and basically what you do is combine everything in a food processor or a blender, – it literally takes 30 secs.

when i was seasoning to taste i knew it was going to be fantastic, cause it tasted incredible already. so i formed them into patties (kind of flat) and placed them on an oiled baking sheet. i then drizzled oil over them and popped them in the oven for 30 minutes, turning them over halfways.

in the mean time i prepared the veggies: tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, arugola, alfa alfa sprouts and instead of the usual pita bread i decided to serve the falafels in crispy red cabbage leaves. so i carefully pealed a few leaves of my huge organic red cabbage. it’s such an incredibly pretty vegetable! and so good for you!

i also fixed a quick dressing:

• 1/2 cup organic natural soygurt

• 1 garlic clove (again: LOVE it!)

• 1/2 tsp paprica

• natural sea salt

• freshly ground black pepper

• a squirt of lemon juice

• a tiny sprinkle of raw cane sugar (binds the flavours together beautifully)

i served it in the red cabbage leaf with a drizzle of tahin and roasted pine nuts on top… YUMMY! it was

messy but absolutely delicious, and i will be eating this very soon again!