Saffron quinoa with brassicas, avocado and pomegranate

Here comes one of my favourite salads for the winter season. Flavours and veggies that reminds me of candlelit dinners, cosy mornings and Christmas gatherings - all tossed together in to this recipe!

If you ask me every festive buffet requires a semi raw salad - a salad where at least most of the components are raw - great thing as that will add lots of texture and freshness which goes very well with basically anything. Cook the quinoa prior to serving and massage/shave/slice/deseed the rest of the components (preferably put the brassica i ice cold water to get them really crispy!)- then just toss it all together just before serving!

Saffron quinoa with brassica, avocado and pomegranate

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

3 dl / 1.2 cups white quinoa

0.25 grams saffron, ground

100 gram kale (you might want to use black kale instead of kale if you’re pairing this one with my pumpkin tray recipe from the previous post)

50 gram red cabbage

1 fennel

1 avocado, sliced

1 pomegranate, deseeded

1 dl / 0.4 cups mixed seeds and nuts, toasted

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

flakey salt

How to

Cook the quinoa according to instructions on the packaging, together with the saffron.

Cut away the thick bottom steam of the kale, tear the leafs in to smaller pieces. Since they’ll the added raw to the salad you want the pieces to be quite small. Massage with olive oil and a pinch of salt until silky.

Shred the red cabbage thinly using a mandoline, a vegetable peeler or a sharp knife. Trim the fennel bulbs, then shred thinly on the width using a mandoline/vegetable peeler/sharp knife. Put cabbage and fennel in ice cold water for 20 minutes - this will make them extra crispy!

Toss together the cooked saffron quinoa, kale, cabbage, avocado, pomegranate and seeds/nuts!

* This is a recipe from “Två Dagar” distributed by Göteborgs-Posten. Photo by Stefan Edetoft

Roasted carrots and parsnips with ginger tahini dressing and pomegranate

Roasted baby carrots + baby parsnips. Drizzled with a ginger tahini dressing. And sprinkled with toasted almonds, lots of fresh herbs and fruity pomegranate seeds. Easy peasy planty side for ANY occasion!!

AND, if you want to make it a main dish you could serve with some cooked grains of your choice (quinoa, wild rice, sorghum, millet etc) and some kind of protein packed spread, for example my sweet potato and roasted garlic hummus (might be my favourite one in the world) or my Pea and cilantro hummus.

Roasted carrots and parsnips with ginger tahini dressing and pomegranate

4-6 servings, as a green side

Ingredients

500 g new season/baby carrots/carrots bought in a bunch (you could use any type of carrot really, but I find that the baby ones are even better for this recipe as I prefer to roast them whole - and with the peel on)

10 baby parsnips (see note on carrots above, same thing here)

2 dl / 0.8 US cups fresh parsley

2 dl / 0.8 US cups pomegranate seeds

1 dl / 0.4 US cups almonds

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

unrefined sea salt

Ginger tahini dressing

1/2 dl / 0.2 US cups light tahini (I prefer to use tahini made of non roasted sesame seeds as the flavour is not as sharp as if you would use a dark tahini)

3/4 dl / 0.3 US cups water

zest from 1 organic lemon + 2 tbsp freshly pressed lemon juice

1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated

unrefined sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

How to

Pre heat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius / 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the carrot tops if there are any (these ones are GREAT to use in a home made pesto, smoothie or herb hummus!). Scrub the carrots and parsnips (if the peel on the parsnips is too thick you might want to peel them - otherwise it’s great to leave on).

Put the root veggies on a baking tray and drizzle with oil. Sprinkle with salt. Roast in the middle of the oven for about 35 minutes, until they are slightly golden and the peel is slightly crispy.

Put the almonds on a baking tray. Roast in the middle of the oven for about 10 minutes, until a nutty aroma fills the kitchen. Stir around halfway through. Let cool.

Mix all the ingredients for the ginger tahini dressing using a blender/immersion blender. Salt and pepper to taste.

Put the roasted veggies on a serving plate, drizzle over ALL (important part, the dressing is great) the dressing. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, almonds and pomegranate seeds. And some flakey salt!

Best,

Thess

Recipe was first published in The Gothenburg-Post/Två dagar. Photo by Fanny Hansson.

Soft raspberry ice cream with whipped coconut cream and hazelnuts

A quick dessert, or why not a weekend breakfast och brunch. That's one of many clever things about nourishing food, you can have them at anytime from breakfast to dessert! Avocado is the secret ingredient which makes this quick ice cream irresistibly soft and creamy. Try substitute raspberries for blueberries, blackberries or a mix of you favourite berries!

And oh, if you can't find hazelnuts without skin in your grocery you can scroll down to find my tips on how to remove skin from hazelnuts (as it has the tendency to give a bitter taste we want to remove it). Plus tips on how to best deseed a pomegranate - knowledge you cannot live without!

Now, who wants soft ice cream in 15 minutes?!

Soft raspberry ice cream with whipped coconut cream and hazelnuts

Serves 4

15 minutes

Ingredients

3 ripe avokados

500 g frozen raspberries

1 tsp pure vanilla powder

4 fresh dates, pitted (use more for a sweeter taste)

Topping

1 1/2 dl / 0.6 US cups coconut cream

1 dl / 0.4 US cups pomegranate seeds

1/2 dl / 0.4 US cups toasted hazelnuts, skin removed 

2 tbsp cacao nibs

Fresh lemon balm

How to

Whip the coconut cream until fluffy. If you find it hard to get it fluffy you can let it sit in the fridge for about 30 minute, as that will make it more firm and easier to whip.

Thaw the raspberries for 5 minutes. Mix with the rest of the ingredients for the ice cream using a immersion blender, food processor och preferably high speed blender until SUPER smooth. Add more dates for a sweeter touch.

Divide in to 4 small (or 2 big if you're on that mood) bowls and top with coconut cream, hazelnuts, pomegranate seeds, cacao nibs and last but not least fresh lemon balm. Eat straight away!!

Toast and peel hazelnuts

Pre heat the oven to 175 degrees celsius. Put the hazelnuts on a baking tray and toast for about 10 minutes, until the skin starts to crackle. Let cool. Put in a clean kitchen towel and rub to remove the skin.

Deseed a pomegranate

Cut of the top crown and the bottom of the fruit. Now carefully cut the fruit from the top to the bottom, along the inner gentle ridges/fruit membrane which you are suposed to see once the top and bottom are removed. Normally you'll get about 6 cuts. Open the pomegranate, so that you get separate sections. Now you can easily deseed the pomegranate, using your fingers, preferably over a bowl. Remove any membranes that might come with the seeds.

This is a recipe that I created for Swedish vegan food magasin VEGO some time ago! Photo and recipe by me.