Samosas

 

A samosa or samoosa is a fried or baked pastry with a savory filling, such as spiced vegetables, meat and chicken.

Preparation time:  approximately 30 minutes
Baking time: approximately 30  minutes
Makes about 7 samosas.

Ingredients for the dough: 

• 1 cup rice flour
• 1 cup garbanzo flour
• 120g melted butter
• 3/4 cup lukewarm water 
• 2 teaspoons of sea salt 

Instructions for the dough:

1. Mix the flour and salt, add the butter, water and knead the dough. It should not be either too hard or too soft and yes it will be sticky a little bit :) 
2. Cover the dough and put in the fridge to firm up.

Ingredients for the filling:

• 1 large leek
• sea salt and pepper or any other desired spice to taste
• 4 garlic cloves, pressed
• a pinch of sesame seeds (optional)
• 2-3 teaspoons of olive oil 

Instructions for the filling:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.  
2. Wash the leeks and cut into small thin slices (small rings). 
3. Pour a couple of spoons of oil into a frying pan, then add the leeks and garlic. Cover and fry on medium heat for about 5 minutes. 

Instructions for making the samosas:

1. Prepare a flat baking sheet and grease it with oil.
2. Remove the dough from the fridge.
3. Take a small handful of dough and quickly form it into a ball.  The dough will be stickier to work with than conventional flour dough.
4. Flatten the ball of dough to a small circle 1/4-inch thick, more or less.
5. Place one full tablespoon of filling in the center of the dough.
6. Gently take one side of the though and flip it over to create the samosa form.
7. Gently seal the edges by pressing them together with the fork. 
8. Using the basting brush, moisten the samosas with melted butter or oil. 
9. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature. 

Homemade Butter

Nothing can replace the taste of real, fresh butter.

You will need a Vitamix blender or equally powerful blender.

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups / 480 ml heavy whipping cream
• 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, optional 
• Add dry herbs, garlic, or honey for your favorite flavor

Instructions:

1. Place cream into the blender and secure lid. 
2. Select the lowest speed, turn machine on and quickly increase speed to the highest. 
3. Blend until mixture is thick. When you hear a change in the sound of the machine, turn it off. 
4. Scrape down the sides of the container with a spatula to bring ingredients into the center of the container. 
5. Reset machine to medium speed. Turn on and blend for about 5 seconds. Stop and scrape sides again. 
6. Repeat this process several times until you see the mixture start to flow more easily and liquid appears. 
7. Blend for a few seconds more until solid butter starts to set up in center of the container on top of the blades.
8. Place the butter in a fine strainer to drain.
9. Transfer the butter to a bowl and add salt to tase. Work butter with a spatula to remove as much liquid as possible.
10. Store in the fridge in an airtight container. 

BBOW Smoothie

Blueberry Banana Orange Wheatgrass Smoothie

You will need a powerful blender; I use and recommend using a Vitamix.

Preparation: 5 minutes
Processing: 1 minute
Yield: 3 cups

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup (180 ml) water
• 1 medium orange, peeled and halved
• 1 banana, peeled, fresh or frozen (chop if frozen)
• 1/2 cup (80 g) frozen unsweetened blueberries
• 1 tablespoon of fresh or frozen wheatgrass juice 

If using fresh fruit, add 1 cup of ice and a tablespoon of honey to enrich the taste.

Instructions: 

1. Place all ingredients into the blender in the order listed and secure the lid.
2. Turn on at the lowest speed and quickly increase to the maximum.
3. Blend for 1 minute or until desired consistency is reached. 

Serve immediately and enjoy :)

Broccoli Soup

  

You will need a Vitamix blender or other food processor.

Ingredients:

• 1 to 1-1/2 cups of fresh home-made broth -- either chicken/lamb/beef (when I make it, I freeze it in a small containers for later use)
• 1/2 shallot, peeled
• 1/3 cup (40g) shredded cheddar or any other hard cheese
• 2 crowns of broccoli with the stems, steamed
• salt and freshly ground black pepper or any other spices that you like
• 1-2 table spoons of olive oil

Directions when using a Vitamix blender:

1. Steam the broccoli for about 7 minutes. 
2. Dice and fry the shallot with some olive oil.
3. Place all ingredients into the Vitamix container.  Secure the lid.
4. Turn the machine on and quickly increase speed to variable 10, then to high.
5. Blend for 5 minutes or until heavy steam escapes from the vented lid.

Direction when using a food processor:

1. Steam the broccoli for about 7 minutes. 
2. Dice and fry the shallot with some olive oil.
3. Mix the broccoli thoroughly in the food processor. 
4. Bring the broth to a boil in a pot on the stove.  Lower the heat to medium and add the broccoli, fried shallot, cheese and spices.
5. Cook till the cheese melts. 

Serve warm with fresh home-made croutons, soup toppings or a small broccoli floret on the top. 

Flourless Cashew Cake Base

This cake base is absolutely delicious, very easy and quick to make. 

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 20-25 minutes

This recipe makes a 1-inch thick cake base in a 9-inch springform pan. You will need a mixer,  baking paper and a cooling rack.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons of hot water
• 100-150g of sugar
• 150g finely ground cashews (I used a coffee grinder to make almost a flour)
• 50g of corn starch 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. 
2. Cut the baking paper into the shape of the springform and place it on the bottom --  or grease the baking form with butter, margarine or oil.
3. Using the mixer, whisk the eggs with the hot water and slowly add the sugar.
4. Add the ground cashews and corn starch and mix all ingredients thoroughly. 
5. Spread the dough evenly in the springform.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Open the springform, then very gently flip the cake base onto the cooling rack. Gently remove the baking paper from the cake and leave it to cool.

Tip:    You can substitute the cashews with almonds or hazelnuts.

Herb Souffle

             

Serves 3-4 people

Preparation time: 10-15 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 bunches of parsley
• 3 spring onions
• 4 garlic cloves
• 6 eggs
• 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds (black and regular, mixed)
• 14 tablespoons of olive oil
• any desired spices that you would enjoy on your souffle
• pinch of Himalayan salt 

For the garnish:

• 3-4 tomatoes, sliced
• a few stems of fresh basil
• a small bunch of fresh chives

             

Directions:

Follow the instructions below using two medium-size non-stick frying pans to make two souffles.

1. Chop the spring onions. break the eggs, shred the parsley in the food processor and add to it the sesame seeds.  Crush the garlic.
   
2. Add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil to a non-stick frying pan over a medium-high flame.  When hot enough, reduce the flame to medium and add the spring onions.  When soft, add the garlic and fry some more till the garlic turns slightly brown.  Be careful to not over-brown.
   
3. Thoroughly mix the parsley, eggs, spring onions with garlic and spices in a bowl. 
   
4. Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil to the frying pan.  Heat over a medium-high flame and when hot  add half the mix with a ladle and turn the heat down to medium.  Cover with lid and cook for 5 minutes. 
   
5. Using a wide spatula, lift the souffle and add 3 more tablespoons of olive oil to the frying pan. Flip the souffle over, cover with lid and cook for another 5-10 minutes.
6. Garnish with sliced tomatoes, fresh basil and chopped chives.  Serve warm.

Tip:  Also delicious with either boiled, mashed, smashed or baked potatoes or with gluten-free pita bread.

Garbanzo Bean Crepes

Ingredients:

• 200g garbanzo bean flour 
• 50g potato starch 
• 1 egg
• about 500 ml of almond or flax seed milk
• a pinch of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar or honey

Directions:

1. Mix the garbanzo bean flour with potato starch, baking powder, sugar or honey, one egg and stir.
2. Let rest for 15 minutes, the mix will swell.
3. As needed add more milk and again whisk it together. The mix needs to be much more liquid than when making American-style pancakes.
4. Pour with a ladle onto a hot non-stick frying pan in a small amount of olive oil and medium heat on both sides until golden brown.
5. While still warm, top with fruit preserves or jam to taste, roll up, and enjoy :) 

Optionally, sprinkle with powdered sugar.