May 25th, 2012
This post is also available in: French
Masha with Raspberry and Lemongrass Tiramisu
Well, hello there. Another round of warm gratitude to the wonderful guest bloggers, who have been holding down the fort.
This post is dedicated to my dear friend Masha, who you might have seen on Golubka before, as she is a big and important part of our life. She is a serious yoga girl and loves the warmth of the beach and the great outdoors more than anything. Taking all that into consideration, Natalie came up with the idea of organizing Masha’s birthday party around all of her favourite things.
The celebration took place at our beloved beach, with an hour of yoga and plenty of nourishing food to follow. The day before, we had a bit of a weather scare and had to reschedule to early morning in order to avoid a spring storm. Doing yoga while hearing the waves and breathing the salt air was a truly transcendent experience. Our instructor, Laura, captured everybody’s heart with her wonderful program. For anyone in the Tampa Bay area, she teaches yoga at the Dali Museum on a regular basis.
When thinking of yoga in food terms, Ayurveda immediately comes to mind. Ayurveda is an ancient Indian medicine, which is quite complex and includes physical and spiritual components. I decided to make a meal that reflects some principles of Ayurvedic cuisine and present it according to doshas or body types.
Beets in citrus, right
Each guest was provided with a questionnaire that helped them determine their dosha. Every dish had a sign indicating what dosha the main ingredient is especially recommended for. We were all a bit too curious to only stick to our doshas, but it was fun to learn new things.
Baked eggplant with herbs and spices and turmeric and sesame crepes
Natalie wrote the names of dishes and doshas on river stones, and her banana leaves worked so well as simple plates.
Pistachio crusted falafel
Gluten free naan bread
Today we’re sharing the recipe for this colourful mango salsa (thanks to Zhenya for the recipe) that can be served with so many things. I loved it with my garbanzo crepes the most. The rest of the recipes are part of a different project, bear with us and we’ll share them soon.
Big thanks to Anastasia for help with the photos.
Mango Salsa
2-3 ripe mangoes – peeled and cubed
5-6 medium tomatoes – cubed
1/2 medium yellow onion – minced
1 bunch cilantro – chopped
1/2 jalapeno or more to taste – seeded and minced
juice of 1 lime
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper – to taste
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Gently stir to incorporate all the juices and serve right away.
Ayurvedic Menu:
Pistachio Crusted Falafel
Garbanzo beans: Vata, Kapha – moderation, Pitta – excellent
Mango Salsa
Mango: Vata – excellent; Kapha, Pitta – moderation
Cilantro: Vata – neutral, Pitta – good, Kapha – excellent
Baked Eggplant with herbs and spices
Eggplant: Vata – moderation, Pitta – good, Kapha – avoid
Beets in Citrus
Beets: Vata – excellent; Pitta and Kapha – reduce
Minty Yogurt Sauce
Mint: Vata – reduce; Pitta and Kapha – excellent
Saag Paneer
Spinach: Vata – reduce, Pitta – moderation, Kapha – excellent
Gluten-free Naan bread
Buckwheat:Vata – good; Pitta and Kapha – moderation
Turmeric and Sesame Crepes
Vata and Kapha – good, Pitta – neutral
Lemongrass and Raspberry Tiramisu
Lemongrass: Vata – avoid; Pitta and Kapha – excellent
Cardamom: Vata – good; Pitta and Kapha – excellent
Tags: mango, raw, recipe, salad, vegan
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April 15th, 2012
This post is also available in: French
Today’s guest post features new and exciting talent. Noelle and David run The Rose Journals, and from the moment we first visited their page, we fell for their style, food, and amazing photography. Head over to their blog and be prepared to be in love. Please give Noelle and David a warm welcome and enjoy this beautiful spring tea party.
The Rose Journals blossomed from a great affinity of simplicity and creating. Noelle (foodie, yogi, and writer of the blog) and I (foodie, filmmaker, and photographer of the blog) met when she hired me as a barista at a coffee shop in Appleton, WI that she was managing at the time. We immediately bonded over our love for basic, natural, food. Interwoven between our long days and hard work, we would share our philosophies, recipes, jokes, and lunches. We came to be great friends. When I finally put two and two together, and proposed the idea of putting our passion of eating, writing, and photographing together to form a blog, both our eyes lit with enthusiasm.
We are here to share our ideas, discover new recipes, and to develop a community…but mostly to eat.
Cheers! We clank our tea mugs together and bask in the warm April sun; we talk of red cardinals, spiders, the origins of clichés, taxes, and love; we share, we laugh, we eat, we drink. We nurture our bodies and spirits as we rejoice over spring. At the center of this gathering is a plate full of cookies. I sink in my seat, sip my tea, and smile at the three hours spent preparing for this party. Food—it is often the centerpiece of celebrations, connecting us to those we love, to the earth, and to the nurturer within. This week we share an assortment of cookie recipes—a few crafted by our fellow foodies, and one inspired by the island of Maui.
Haiku Cookies (Makes one dozen)
I spent a month in Maui getting certified in yoga. My friend, Steve, happened to be working on an organic farm in the village of Haiku, which was less than ten minutes from the studio—I touched my first cashew tree on that farm. We would walk around eating herbs that made our tongues tingle. One morning we watched the sun rise from the top of Mt. Haleakala and proceeded to bike back to town, passing a lavender farm along the way—the soothingly sweet aroma managed to make its way through my Martian size bike helmet. We split coconuts open with machetes and drank the water, we swam at the tops of waterfalls and gathered lilikoi for smoothies, we lounged in the grass under the stars and listened to natives tell stories of the island. For a month I was surrounded by an abundance of natural beauty and people that revered the land. This recipe is a culmination of those experiences. It is simple, raw, organic, and has a lemony zest that is perfect for a spring tea party!
1 cup Cashews – unsoaked
1 cup Coconut
Juice of one lemon
1 tablespoon Agave
½ teaspoon Sea Salt
½ cup Pistachios
1 teaspoon Lavender
Pulse the cashews, coconut, pistachios, and sea salt in a food processors until coarse. Add the lemon juice, agave, and lavender. Pulse until all ingredients resemble a sticky mixture.
Form into one inch balls and flatten with your hands. Dehydrate for 8 hours.
Almond Butter and Jam Sandwich Cookies
(From the blog My New Roots)
4 tablespoons Coconut Oil
4 tablespoons Almond Butter
½ cup Coconut Sugar
2 tablespoons Chia Seeds
4 tablespoons water + 2 tablespoons Maple Syrup
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 ½ cup Oat Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
¼ teaspoon Sea Salt
Jam of your choice (we used Raspberry)
In a small bowl add chia seeds to water and maple syrup. Set aside for fifteen minutes. Blend oats, baking soda, and salt together.
Whisk coconut oil and almond butter until creamy. Add sugar, vanilla, and chia gel. Whisk to combine. Add dry flour mixture in thirds. The dough will become rather stiff. You may need to mix with your hands. This is a delicious technique that I strongly recommend. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Form dough into one inch balls. Press dough into rounds. Bake 8-10 minutes, or until the bottoms begin to brown. Fill with jam when cooled completely!
Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies (From Living Raw Food by Sarma)
4 cups Oat Flour
1 cup Maple Syrup Powder
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
1/2 cup Coconut Oil
1/2 cup Date Paste
2 tablespoons Vanilla Extract
3 tablespoons Filtered Water
1 1/2 cup Raisins (plumped in warm water for 30 minutes and drained)
In a large bowl, sift together the oat flour, maple powder, and salt. Add the coconut oil and mix thoroughly.
In a seperate bowl, whisk together the date paste, vanilla, and water, until thoroghly combined. Add this liquid and the raisins to the oat mixture and combine well.
Form balls of dough into shape (about 1 1/4 inches across) and place on mesh-lined dehydrator trays. Dehydrate for 8 hours, or until dry but still soft on the inside.
Tags: cookies, dessert, guest post, raw, recipe, snack, vegan
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April 8th, 2012
This post is also available in: French
Happy Easter! Today’s guest post is by the beautiful Elenore from Earthsprout. She compares her approach to cooking as painting on the plate using nature’s colours, and we could not agree more. Elenore’s commitment to the most natural ingredients is incredibly inspiring, and her positive energy – absolutely contagious. If you haven’t yet visited her wonderful blog, you are in for a real treat. Elenore Bendel Zahn, your official tree hugger and sassy health gal. As both a Raw Food/ Natural Nutrition coach and an Organic Gardener, Elenore spreads knowledge that can heal both You and Mother Earth. Her home is in the very south of Sweden where she works with her company Earthsprout and its various Greenylicious projects. At the moment she is soon to be releasing her carefully handpicked Raw Food product “Nordic Superfood Mix”, working one-to-one with clients, creating their custom made Adventure changes and whipping up health boosting flavor explosions for www.Earthsprout.org
I have to admit… While I can sit and admire green buds and colorful leaves for hours, when it comes to food, I tend to get easily bored (whaat!?). This is why when I realized what amazing flavor treasures and inspiring people where hidden in the world of food blogs I got really excited (almost as excited as I am when riding on a raw chocolate high) and decided to join. This is how Earthsprout was born. Now I use the site to play with the wonders of nature and let it flow of all passion and playfulness that, according to me, life and crazy health is all about.
Golubka is one of those brilliant sites that I can simply sit in front of, read, enjoy (and drool a bit) so imagine my excitement when Anya asked me to contribute to this space of “Food that takes love”. Um, yes please! So here we go, gorgeous!
For this very special occasion I decided to put the current Swedish spring on a plate (it was snowing yesterday but still) and play with the contrast of fresh -makes my cell dance- greens and hearty BBQ seasoned Grissini. This dish will tell you exactly what is going on outside of my window using both flavor, texture and overall appearance to paint the picture. And let me tell you, I was not the slightest bit bored while eating…
Fun & Fabulous Facts
For those of you who does not know me, I have a hard time making food that does not contain any superpowers at all. I mean, what fun would it be creating meals out of uber-processed ingredients or meat from sad animals? My goal is forever and always to lure out the glitter in everyone’s eyes, give some balance to Mother Earth and let our food become a smash-hit for everyone on this planet! You on board? This is why Raw, Pure, Whole and Vegan foods suit me so well. They give me a full palette of gorgeous colors to paint your plate with while boosting beauty, longevity and love at its very core.
You have all heard about the wonders of greens and all greatness that comes with munching on them regularly. This is why I will not go over it all again. See this as a little reminder that you are so worth living in your fullest potential, and the greens? The best shortcut ever!
I for one know that I can fly far far off on Raw desserts but when I down a huge green juice, that´s when I feel the most satisfied. Fact is our bodies all long for the alkalinity that glorious greens give us since most of us tend to hang around on the sour side of the pH-scale. Many (if not all) of our so called chronic dis-eases have their breeding ground in a sour, oxygen lacking, inflammatory environment. Guess what the solution is? This greenylicious herb soup! Alright, not solely that, but all the wondrous gifts of nature that up our oxygen-game making it hard for imbalances to occur and making it easy for you living in all the greatness that you are.
Raw Greenylicious Herb Soup (Makes 1 litre)
This soup will (apart from blow your mind) serve 10 peeps as an appetizer or 4 hungry ones as a dinner. You could actually eat it as a green smoothie on the go but it shows its best sides when dancing together with the heavy seasoned bread sticks. Duh ;)
1.5 medium sized Avocado
2 stalks of Celery, finely chopped
1 large handful of roughly chopped Cilantro
1 small handful of roughly chopped Mint
1.5 cup Coconut water
1 cup cold water
1 small tsp of Himalayan salt/Celtic sea salt
1 tsp freshly ground Black pepper
Some fresh garden cress for decoration and final flavor touch
Cut and scoop out the avocados in a large bowl or a high speed blender. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix with a hand blender or in the high speed blender. Keep refrigerated.
BBQ Grissini (Makes 16, 7 inches long bread sticks)
1 cup Sunflower seeds
1 cup Golden flax seeds
2 tablespoons Black sesame seeds (ground for decoration)
Soak the Sunflower seeds and flax overnight in separate bowls, using approximately 2 cups of water for the flax (the amount of water covering the sunflower seeds does not matter). Rinse the sunflower seeds thoroughly, put in a large bowl together with the flax “dough” and blend with a hand blender or in a high speed blender. Make the BBQ spice and blend again until fully incorporated. Make 7 inches long grissini & sprinkle the black ground sesame seeds onto them. Put them on a non stick paper/Teflex sheet and dehydrate in a dehydrator for about 18 hours (flip them over after 10 hours). Done!
BBQ-spice
3 small cloves of garlic
0.5 tsp smoked paprika powder
0.5 tsp black pepper
1 pinch of chilli
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp ground coriander seeds
2 tsp dried oregano
1.5 small tsp salt
Press the garlic cloves and add all spices to the sunflower/flax “dough”.
So, known and unknown friends I hope you will all enjoy this foodie illustration of the Swedish spring and hop on over to Twitter, Facebook or Earthsprout if you have any questions, fun ideas or stuff like that. Looking forward to hear from you, honeys!
–And a final thanks for the beautiful Golubka family for continuously presenting inspiration that makes all our hearts sing!– Much bliss and love /Elenore
Tags: guest post, raw, recipe, savoury, soup, vegan
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March 25th, 2012
This post is also available in: French
I recently re-discovered rutabaga and have been adding it to all sorts of recipes. I go through these phases with ingredients – one will become my favourite, and I will try to squeeze it into every dish I make. This lasts until I feel like I’ve come to know and understand the ingredient’s complexities and general temper. Then I can move on to the next thing.
Rutabaga is a root vegetable that has a mild flavour and hints at the freshness of a cabbage or turnip. Then it’s got a very delicate sweetness, which makes it versatile and great for both raw and cooked dishes. It is surprisingly delicious when simply peeled and sliced for a snack, maybe dipped in some almond butter. Steaming and roasting also yields very tasty results, of course.
As far as I know, rutabaga is a fairly uncommon ingredient. Let us correct that.
It has been a very long week for Paloma and I. Our papa has been away, taking a much needed break to do what he loves most – skiing in the mountains of Utah. We missed him dearly, and spent a lot of time together, going for walks, learning Russian, painting, and cooking this colourful pizza.
For the pizza crust, you can use almost any mild vegetable – rutabaga, jicama, zucchini, squash, or any mixture of those. We loved the crust topped with a spicy hummus spread, green olives, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and crispy sage. There are many possibilities with the toppings and herbs on this neutral crust – a perfect opportunity to get creative and enjoy some rutabaga.
Rutabaga and Crispy Sage Pizza
Pizza Crust
2 1/2 cups rutabaga, jicama, zucchini, etc., or combination – cubed
2 1/2 cups walnuts – soaked for 1 hour
1/2 cup ground flax seeds
1/4 cups hemp seeds
1/2 tablespoon sea salt
2 tablespoons purified water, more if needed
In a food processor, grind the vegetables into small pieces, making sure not to puree. Transfer into a large bowl. Place the walnuts into the food processor and pulse until choped into tiny pieces. Add the walnuts to the bowl with vegetables. Add the rest of the ingredients into the bowl. Mix to make a sticky dough, adjusting the amount of water if necessary.
Spread the dough on Teflex-lined dehydrator trays, forming a round pizza shape, or any other shape desired. I made one large and one small round pizza, utilizing two trays. Dehydrate at 115F for 6-8 hours. Flip, peel away the Teflex liner, and dehydrate on screens for another 3 hours or so. Once both sides are dry enough to handle, cut your pizzas into slices and dehydrate for another hour, or until the crust is steady and firm.
Spicy Hummus Spread
2 cups cashews – soaked for 2 hours
2 tablespoons raw sesame tahini
1-2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash of cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander (optional)
1/2 cup purified water or more if needed
In a food processor, combine all the ingredients, with the exception of water. Add water gradually, until the hummus reaches a smooth and fluffy consistency.
Green Olive Tapenade
1 1/2 cups green olives such as Castelvetrano or Green Cerignola – pitted
1 handful fresh dill or parsley
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
Chop the olives and herbs into small pieces and mix in the rest of the ingredients. You can also combine everything but the herbs in a food processor, adding in the herbs at the very end.
Marinated Mushrooms
2 cups shiitake or other mushrooms
a few sage leaves (optional)
1/2 cup each orange, lime, and lemon juice – freshly squeezed
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
Mix all marinade ingredients and pour over the mushrooms. Stir to cover and marinate for 1-2 hours at room temperature. Drain.
Optionally, dehydrate the marinated sage leaves to a crispy consistency and use as a topping for pizza.
Assembly
Spread a thin layer of spicy hummus on the crust. Top with cherry tomatoes, marinated mushrooms, olive tapenade and/or olives. Sprinkle with crushed crispy sage.
Tags: mushrooms, olives, raw, recipe, rutabaga, sage, savoury, tomato, vegan
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