FOR HIM. FOR HER. SANDWICHES

The idea of combining 2 actual meals into one blog post certainly came from recently celebrated Valentine's day.

I know that mostly people tend to cook cute cupcakes or chocolate pizzas - but if I wanted to celebrate the day with my beloved I would love to have something I can't live without (besides my beloved, of course :)). First thing to come to my mind - sandwiches. Perfect meal to adjust and make a "his" and "her" version.



"For Him" Sandwich

Unbelievably filling while absolutely meatless this sandwich is like a vegetarian version of Sloppy Joes. Inspired by A Couple Cooks' wonderful recipe.

Ingredients (serves 4):

3 cups cooked beans (I used soya and kidney beans)
1 cup canned tomatoes, roughly chopped, reserve the juice
1 yellow onion
1 celery stalk
3 tablespoons tomato juice (reserved from canned tomatoes)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Chop your onion and celery, heat olive oil over medium heat and add the vegetables to the pan. Cook them just until tender for 5 min, add beans, sauces and spices, mix well and simmer for 15 min. Serve on pieces of whole wheat bread.

"For Her" Sandwich

Thinking of "her" version I remembered my constant search for a light sandwich. Without meat or cheese but still filling and certainly healthy. I love egg and tuna sandwiches but mayo is what one should hardly ever eat. Home-made mayo can be fine but store-bought... no, that's really not healthy. I had been looking for a proper mayo substitute for a while and I found a number of options, surprisingly they all appeared to be the simpliest things you can ever cook - here I will make "mayo" of just plain greek yogurt, salt and white wine vinegar.

Ingredients (serves 4):

4 hardboiled eggs
1 ripe avocado
1 small red onion
3-4 tablespoons plain greek yogurt
a splash of white wine vinegar
a pinch of sea salt

Directions:

Finely chop the eggs, avocado and onion. In a cup mix well greek yogurt, white wine vinegar and a pinch of sea salt. Taste it and if necessary adjust the quantities of ingredients. For me 3 tablespoons yogurt, 1 tablespoon vinegar and a pinch of salt work perfectly. Dress the salad with this "mayo" and serve with toasted or simply fresh whole wheat bread.

Bon Appétit!

DETOX MUNG BEAN SALAD

After 2 months of forced hiatus I am so happy to be back to the blog with a whole lot of great healthy recipes.

I am going to start with another detox salad. Surprisingly the sun has been shining here for already a week though it's still 3 days till oficially spring comes, so now it's a common natural wish to go detox.

Ingredients (serves 2):

For the salad:

3/4 cup dried mung beans
water and baking soda for soaking
2 cups thinly sliced cabbage
1/2 kohlrabi
1 celery stalk
1 red onion
a few roasted pumpkin cubes

For the dressing:

ginger root
grapefruit
chilli pepper flakes
sea salt
extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Wash your mung beans and place them into a bowl, cover with water and add a teaspoon baking soda. Soak overnight. After that wash the beans, cover with water, bring to the boil and cook 15-20 min over medium heat until ready. You can cook dried beans from the beginning but soaking reduces cooking time and we know that the less you process your food the more "life" remains in it which is particularly essential in detox menu.

For the salad combine thinly sliced cabbage, kohlrabi, celery and red onion, mix them and place onto your plates. Put the mung beans over the vegetables and add just a few roasted pumpkin cubes (if you have no leftover roasted pumpkin, you can cook it while slicing your veggies and boiling the beans - 20 min in the oven over 200 C will do the trick).

To make the dressing grind a 1/2 cm thick piece of ginger root, squeeze some grapefruit juice, add extra virgin olive oil (3 times as much as the juice), then add some sea salt, mix well and taste. Adjust the quantities of juice, oil and salt if you need. If the dressing is good for your taste then add a pinch of chilli flakes and dress your salad.

What you get here is proteins from your mung beans, diet fiber and vitamins from the vegetables while grapefruit, ginger and chilli will speed up your metabolism and help you to burn calories!

Bon Appétit!