Unplanned Potato Broccoli Dinner

Recently I made a post about just throwing together dinner. Here’s another dish I made one night when I got home late and was tired.

I started with boiling some potatoes and after 10 minutes I added a steamer of broccoli on top of the potatoes and cooked it an additional 5 minutes. At the same time I pan-fried one clove of minced garlic and a chopped sweet pepper in a bit of olive oil over low heat. After I drained the potatoes and broccoli I added them to the pan along with salt and some smoky Hungarian paprika and turned up the heat to get rid of excess water and to brown the potatoes a little.

It was not bad for a quick and unplanned meal. If I’d wanted some protein I could have tossed a few nuts in, but I’d snacked earlier on baba ghanoush so I thought it was fine as it was. The entire meal took less than 30 minutes to prepare.

Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls

After I made my kale bread bites, I had some extra spelt-rye dough. I decided to make blueberry cinnamon rolls using small chunks of sugar and fresh blueberries.

The dough didn’t rise as much as it normally would because I used heavy flours and didn’t give it enough additional rising time.

I added a lemon-vanilla glaze. When they were warm they didn’t need it, but when they were cool it perked them up.

Kale Bread Bites

I made carrot-ginger soup again, this time using lemon juice. I wanted both bread and a green leafy vegetable to accompany it, so I decided to make a basic bread (flour, water, yeast, salt, sugar, oil) and mix in some thawed kale after the first rising. I used a mix of whole-grain rye and whole-grain spelt flours.

I then shaped the dough into balls and topped them with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds.

The next day I dipped my leftover bread bites in baba ghanoush.

Vegan Korma

I was in the mood for vegetable korma, but not for ghee or cream. Instead I used cashew cream, which explains the somewhat lumpy appearance of the sauce – my grinder needs sharpening. I used green beans, carrots, sweet pepper, potato and broccoli as vegetables. I also added raisins, sultanas, cashews and almonds.

Raspberry Chocolate Smoothie

Recently I was sitting at my computer before breakfast and contemplating what I should eat. This recipe inspired me to make a smoothie. I didn’t measure, but I estimate my smoothie as containing 1 cup of hazelnut milk, 1 cup of water, 1/2 cup frozen raspberries, a handful of cocoa nibs, 1 banana, 7 Medjool dates and one carrot. Cocoa nibs give a less pronounced chocolate flavour than cacao powder but add a satisfying texture. The carrot was an attempt to balance the fruit sugar a bit and can’t be tasted. Of course it is still a sweet and sugary breakfast, nice for a weekend but not for every day.

Lentils with Kale and Curd

I threw this dish together by cooking some onion, ginger, garlic, chilli and spices before adding tomato and whole urid dal (black gram) with water and putting it in the pressure cooker. I finished it with yoghurt, lemon juice, garam masala and frozen kale. It’s a quick, tasty and healthy one-pot meal.

Blueberry Buns

I had some extra milk dough, so I wrapped it around fresh blueberries and baked them.

Mushrooms in Gravy with Potatoes and Kale

This meal borrows concepts from Dutch stamppot. Instead of lightly mashing the potatoes and kale I simply used leftover grated potato and sweet potato, and shredded kale. In place of the usual sausage or meatball I served mushrooms sautéd in butter with garlic, and I made a milk gravy after deglazing the pan with a little cognac.

Friesian Sugarbread

This year I baked Friese suikerbrood (Fryske Sûkerbôle) to give to friends for the holidays.

Steamed Plum-Filled Dumplings with Vanilla Sauce

I had a craving for Pflaumen Dampfnudeln mit Vanillesoße and normally I’d satisfy that craving by going out, but then I realized that they probably wouldn’t be that difficult to make. I just bought a plum compote and made a basic milk dough, and the vanilla sauce is simply a thin custard. I then steamed the dumplings and served them with the vanilla sauce and sugar mixed with poppy seeds.