January 31st, 2015
This winter I rediscovered parsnips and have been roasting them weekly, unable to get enough of their unique, sweet flavor. Pomelo (the citrus) is in season right now, and Paloma (the daughter) and I like to play a game of who can find the biggest one at the Asian market. Some of them come almost as big as her head!
The earthy and grounded flavors of parsnips combine well with the bright and juicy pomelo in this salad, but feel free to use grapefruit or orange to get a similar effect if you don’t have access to a pomelo. Walnuts and raisins toasted and plumped in spicy coconut oil add a nice finish, full of warming flavors, perfect for winter. This salad is very simple to prepare, and the parsnips make it filling enough for a light lunch or dinner. Enjoy!
Roasted Parsnip and Pomelo Salad
3 large parsnips – scrubbed clean, cored, cut lengthwise into long wedges
coconut oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon paprika, depending on how hot your paprika is
2 handfulls walnuts – roughly chopped
2 handful raisins
1 pomelo – segmented
4 cups baby spinach
1. Preheat oven to 400F (200C). Add 1tablespoon of melted coconut oil to parsnips, toss to coat thoroughly. Arrange them on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake for 20 minutes, or until soft, flip at half time.
2. In a large bowl or in individual serving plates, combine spinach, roasted parsnips and pomelo segments.
3. In a medium pan, warm 2 tablespoons coconut oil over medium low heat, add paprika, large pinch of salt and walnuts. Toast for 5-7 minutes, until golden. Add raisins at the last couple minutes to plump them up. Spoon nuts, raisins and spicy oil over the salad. Serve immediately.
Tags: citrus, parsnip, raisins, salad, walnut
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January 31st, 2014
I must admit that I’m not very skilled when it comes to proper cake making. I could tell you about several disasters, like that time when my cake unexplainably exploded all over the refrigerator, or that other time when the cake fell on the floor right as I opened the refrigerator door, or I could mention many of my multilayered cake creations that sadly leaned to one side like the Tower of Pisa, or about the beautiful pink icing (Paloma’s birthday request) that discolored and became brown right before serving. Each time these kinds of things happen, I swear to never make cake again but never stick to my resolutions. And every time a cake I make actually comes out well, I find it to be enough reason to celebrate and dig right in.
Carrot cake is the darling of the cake world, what’s not to love? It’s classic and simple. But how about parsnips, the carrot’s albino cousins that show up among other hearty winter root veggies this time of year? I grew up snacking on raw parsnips right from the garden, and they were a mandatory ingredient in my mom’s famous borsch. I also love a good parsnip mash as a side dish to anything. This time the parsnips went into a dessert – a fairly simple cake topped with home candied kumquats.
I find the candied kumquats essential to experience the full flavor of this cake. If you can’t find kumquats, substitute with Meyer lemons, sour oranges or any other candied citrus. This was my very first time working with kumquats, and I can attest to their perfect balance of sweet, sour and orangey notes that make for a beautiful cake topping or marmalade. And take a look at more kumquat recipes over at my latest food blog crush, Princess Tofu, here, here and here.
Many thanks to everyone for your thoughtful comments on the Wholistic Chakra system giveaway. It has now been closed and the winner (The Rose Journals) has been emailed. Elena of Wholistic drew the winner herself!
Candied Kumquats
¾ cup honey
½ cup water
1 vanilla bean – seeds scraped out
2 pints (about 4 cups) of kumquats – sliced
In a small to medium saucepan, combine honey with water, vanilla seeds and bean, bring to a gentle boil. Add in the kumquats and bring back to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Cool down and keep the kumquats in the syrup, refrigerated.
Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
2 packages of plain Tofutti cream cheese
fat from 1 can full-fat unsweetened Thai coconut milk
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
generous squeeze of lemon juice
Place the can of coconut milk in the refrigerator overnight. The fat and water should separate and fat should accumulate on top. Carefully scoop it out and combine with the rest of the ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl. Beat it with a hand mixer until well combined and fluffy. Keep refrigerated while baking the cake.
Gluten Free and Vegan Parsnip Cake
¾ cup unsweetened almond milk
¼ cup ground chia seeds or flax seeds
¾ cup (105 g) buckwheat flour
¾ cup (90 g) millet flour
¾ cup (90 g) tapioca flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¾ cup coconut sugar
1 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
zest of 1 orange
¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
about 3 cups grated parsnips
1 ½ cups walnuts or pecans – chopped
1. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Bring almond milk to a boil, mix with ground chia in a large mixing bowl. Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes.
2. Combine all the flours, baking powder and soda, salt and spices in a mixing bowl, set aside.
3. Add sugar to the milk-chia mixture and mix using a hand-mixer. Continue by adding in olive oil and vanilla extract, then orange zest and juice. Mix to combine thoroughly with a hand mixer.
4. Add dry ingredients into the wet, mixing them in with the mixer.
5. Fold in the parsnips and walnuts.
6. Prepare a 6-inch cake pan or a spring form. If using a cake pan, cover it with parchment paper. I using a spring form, generously grease it with olive or coconut oil.
7. Spoon ⅓ of the batter at a time into the pan/form and bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Repeat with the other two thirds. You can also bake two 8-inch cakes if you don’t have a 6-inch pan, or even bake all the batter at once like a thick cake (you may need to increase the baking time in this case) and then cut the cake into layers horizontally. Make sure that the cakes are completely cool before cutting or frosting them.
8. Place one layer of the cake onto a cake stand or plate. Generously cover with a layer of cream cheese frosting and a thin layer of candied kumquats. Carefully place a second layer of the cake on top following by another frosting and kumquat layers. Finish with the third cake layer and frost the entire cake.
9. Garnish with candied kumquats and let the cake rest in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight. Slice and serve with more candied kumquats.
Note: Candied citrus is essential to the flavour of this cake. If you can’t get kumquats, candy Meyer lemons, sour oranges or other citrus.
Tags: cake, citrus, dessert, gluten free, parsnip, recipe, vegan
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January 20th, 2014
It may sound strange to some, but from time to time I truly crave tofu. I used to cook with it a whole lot years ago, during my discovery of vegetarian cooking. Although I’m well past that stage, I still like go back to a good, fresh slice of tofu once in a while. It’s a bit like a rare treat, since I don’t eat it often but when I do, I enjoy it immensely. My favourite way of preparing tofu has always been marinating and then lightly grilling it, which is what I do in this recipe.
We’ve also been taking full advantage of the citrus season and can’t get enough of grapefruits, Florida oranges and, of course, the most beautiful of the bunch – blood oranges. This marinated tofu with citrus salsa could definitely brighten up the most gloomy of January days.
In other news, recipes from the Golubka kitchen were featured in several printed publications this winter, including the Swedish Sofis Mode, Elle India and Taste of Australia. If you are in Russia, pick up a copy of Seasons of Life, it has a big interview with me in the January-February issue.
And don’t miss your chance to win the Wholistic Chakra System by leaving a comment in our previous post no later than January 27th, 6 pm EST.
Citrus Salsa
(serves 3-4)
1 grapefruit – segmented
1 orange – segmented
1 blood orange – segmented
1 ripe but firm avocado – peeled, pitted and chopped
⅛ small red onion – finely chopped
½ large or 1 small jalapeno chile – seeded and minced
large handful fresh cilantro leaves – chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper – to taste
½ lime
1. Segment your citrus over a bowl, collecting the juices. Set the bowl with the juices aside.
2. Chop the citrus segments into about 1/4 inch pieces. In a separate bowl, combine them with avocado, onion, jalapeno, cilantro, salt and pepper. Squeeze the lime juice over it and mix gently.
Ginger Marinated Tofu
1 package non-GMO firm or extra-firm tofu
citrus juices collected from segmenting the citrus (from the salsa recipe above)
juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon tamari
1 tablespoon mirin wine (available at Asian markets)
small squeeze of honey – optional
1-inch piece ginger – finely grated
1. Drain the tofu and wrap it in several layers of paper towels. Place on a plate, cover with another plate and place something heavy on top (a jar filled with water works great). Leave it to drain for about 20 minutes.
2. Add lime juice, tamari, mirin, honey and ginger to the bowl with citrus juice from the salsa and whisk to combine.
3. Unwrap tofu and slice it into your preferred shape. Place in a dish that is big enough to hold all of the tofu and the marinade. Pour the marinade over, turning tofu pieces to make sure that all are evenly covered with the marinade. Leave to absorb the flavors for 30 minutes or longer, even overnight.
4. Grill for several minutes on each side until golden brown (time will differ depending on the type of grill you’re using). You can also bake the tofu at 425 F for about 20 minutes. Brush with marinade during grilling if you wish. Serve with citrus salsa and wilted spinach or other greens and enjoy.
Tags: avocado, citrus, mains, recipe, salsa, tofu, vegan
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