Peanut Butter Cookies

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• cocoa power (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

Place racks in the top third. In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. in a separate larger bowl combine the peanut butter, maple syrup, olive oil, and vanilla. Stir until combined. Pour the flour mixture over the peanut butter mixture and stir until barely combined - still a bit dusty looking. Let sit for five minutes, give one more quick stir, just a stroke or two. Now drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Press down on each one gently with the back of a fork. It's a loose batter, so if you're set on doing criss-crosses, go ahead and chill the batter for an hour or so before this step. 

Bake for 10, maybe 11 minutes - but don't over bake or they will be dry. Let cool five minutes and transfer to a cooling rack. 

Makes 2 - 3 dozen cookies.

Carrot Tomato soup

1 onion, chopped
olive oil
equal amount of carrots and (yellow) tomatoes e.g. 450 g
salt 
pepper 
bay leaves


Soften onion in olive oil in a pot, add chopped carrots and tomatoes. Add some water or stock, salt, pepper and a couple of bay leaves. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Puree with immersion blender.  

Cauliflower soup with croutons

Croutons:

• 200g whole wheat bread cut into small pieces
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp salt

Soup:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• salt
• 2 potatoes, cut into tiny cubes
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 850ml vegetable broth
• 1 medium cauliflower, cut into small pieces
• 50 g aged cheddar, plus more for topping
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F with a rack in the middle of the oven. 
To make the croutons, put the torn bread in a large bowl. Whisk the olive oil, mustard and salt and pour the mixture over the bread. Toss well, then turn the bread onto a baking sheet. 
Bake for 10 to 15 min, until the croutons are golden and crunchy. Flip them once or twice along the way.

While the croutons are toasting, start the soup. Heat the olive oil in a large sauce-pan. Stir in the shallots , onion and a big pinch of salt. Sauté until the onions soften. Stir in the potato, cover and cook for about 4 min, just long enough for the pieces to soften up a bit. Uncover, stir in the garlic, then the broth. Bring to a boil, check that the potatoes are tender. Stir in the cauliflower. Cook, covered, for 3 to 5 minutes, just until the cauliflower is tender throughout.

Remove the pan from the heat and puree the soup with an immersion blender. Stir in half the cheddar and the mustard. 

Serve with more cheese and the croutons.

super natural every day

Cremiges Auberginenpüree mit Kartoffeln - Baingan bharta

• 1 grosse Aubergine
• 2 EL Sonnenblumenöl
• 1/3 TL Kreuzkümmel
• 1 mittelgrosse Zwiebel
• 1 TL Ingwer-Knoblauch-Paste
• 1 grüner Chilli
• 2 EL Tomatenmark oder eine Tomate
• 1 TL gemahlene Kurkuma
• 1 TL gemahlener Koriander
• 2 mittelgrosse Kartoffeln
• Salz

1.  Auberginen in dicke Scheiben schneiden und diese mit den in Stücken geschnittenen Kartoffeln kochen, bis die Auberginen weich sind und die Kartoffeln gar. 12-15 min
2. Auberginenfleisch mit einer Gabel zerdrücken oder im Mixer pürieren. Kartoffeln abtropfen und in Würfel schneiden.
3. Öl erhitzen und den Kreuzkümmel darin rösten, bis er dunkler wird. 
4. Zwiebel, Chilli, Ingwer und Knoblauch zu einer im Mixer zu einer Paste pürieren und zu dem Kreuzkümmel geben, 3 min braten bis die Paste anfängt trockener zu werden. Tomate dazugeben. Kurkuma und Koriander dazugeben. Tomate sollte weich werden.
5. Mit Salz würzen, das Auberginenfleisch untermischen. Vor dem Servieren die Kartoffeln unterheben. 

Dazu:  Paratha, Naan, Chapati oder Reis

Indiens vegetarische Küche

Soba noodles with aubergine and mango

• 220 ml sunflower oil
• 2 aubergines, cut into 2cm dice
• 250g  soba noodles
• 1 large ripe mango, cut into 1cm dice
• 40g basil leaves or much less thai basil
• 1/2 onion, very thinly sliced 

dressing:

• 120 ml rice vinegar or white balsamico
• 2 tbsp  sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 green chilli, chopped  (e.g. Jalapeño) 
• 4 tbsp roasted sesame seed or 1 tsp roasted sesame oil
• grated zest and juice of 1 lime or lemon

First make the dressing. In a small saucepan gently warm the vinegar, sugar and salt, just until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and add the garlic, chilli and sesame (oil). Allow to ciil, then add the lime and zest.

Heat up the sunflower oil in a large pan and shallow-fry the aubergine in three or four batches. Once golden brown remove to a colander, sprinkle liberally with salt and leave there to drain. (30 min or maybe longer)

Cook the noodles in salted water. Drain and rinse well. Shake off as much of the excess water as possible.

In a bowl toss the noodles with the dressing, mango, aubergine the herbs and onion.

ottolenghi plenty

Zucchini Bread

• 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup poppy seeds (optional) 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 3 cups grated zucchini (about 3 medium), skins on, squeeze some of the moisture out and then fluff it up again before using 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose flour)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon curry powder (optional) 

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Makes 2 loaves.

Butter the two loaf pans, dust them with a bit of flour and set aside. Alternately, you can line the pans with a sheet of parchment. If you leave a couple inches hanging over the pan, it makes for easy removal after baking. Just grab the parchment "handles" and lift the zucchini bread right out.

In a small bowl combine the walnuts, poppy seeds and lemon zest. Set aside.

In a mixer, beat the butter until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat again until mixture comes together and is no longer crumbly. Add the eggs one at a time mixing well and scraping down the sides of the bowl between each addition. Stir in the vanilla and then the zucchini (low speed if you are using a mixer).

In a separate bowl, combine the whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and curry powder. Add these dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in two batches, stirring between each addition.

By hand, fold in the walnut, poppy seed and lemon zest mixture. Avoid over mixing the batter, it should be thick and moist, not unlike a butter cream frosting.

Divide the batter equally between the two loaf pans. Make sure it is level in the pans, by running a spatula over the top of each loaf.

Bake for about 40-45 minutes on a middle oven rack. I like to under bake my zucchini bread ever so slightly to ensure it stays moist. Keep in mind it will continue to cook even after it is removed from the oven as it is cooling. Remove from the oven and cool the zucchini bread in pan for about ten minutes. Turn out onto wire racks to finish cooling - if you leave them in their pans, they will get sweaty and moist (not in a good way) as they cool.

101cookbooks.com

Plum and Peach Crisp

Fruit:

• 1 pound ripe peaches
• 1 pound ripe plums
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoons arrowroot (or cornstarch)
• a scant 1/2 teaspoon orange blossom water (optional)

Crisp:

• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour (all-purpose flour)
• 1/2 cup natural cane sugar (or brown sugar)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• big pinch of salt 
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/3 cup yogurt

Preheat the oven to 400F degrees.

Cut the peaches and plums into bite-sized, 1-inch pieces. I cut relatively chubby slices and then cut them again in quarters or thirds. Place the chopped fruit in a medium-sized bowl.
In a separate small bowl whisk together the 1/4 cup sugar and the arrowroot. Sprinkle over the fruit, toss gently (but well), add the orange blossom water (optional), toss again, and transfer the fruit to an 8-inch square baking dish (or your favorite equivalent-sized, deep-sided, solid-bottomed tart pan).
To make the topping combine the oats, flour, sugar, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Stir in the butter, and then the yogurt and mix until everything comes together in a dough-like texture. Sprinkle the crumble evenly over the plum and peach mixture.
Place the baking dish in the oven, middle rack, and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the topping is golden. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

101cookbooks.com