Fair Flavors

(over)stuffed eggplant

2011-09-26T11:19:00.000-07:00

There was a time when I didn't really like eggplant. Then I found out that you have to use salt first to get the slightly bitter taste out, and that changed my mind about this vegetable. This recipe takes a little time to make, because the eggplants have to soak in salt water first. Then you fry them, which also takes some time. The good news is, that you can easily prepare the eggplants ahead, and then finish the dish quick and easy when you want it for dinner on a busy workday.

First trim the stems of the eggplants. Then you peel a strip all around, like in this picture below:

After you've peeled them, you want to cut into the eggplant lengthwise, creating a "pocket", like in this picture:

Start about 1 inch (2,5 cm) from the end and cut until about 1 inch from the other. Don't cut all the way to the bottom (then it won't be a pocket anymore of course). It won't look like much of a pocket when the eggplant is raw, but once it's cooked, it opens up.

Now, it's time for the soaking. Put about 2 tablespoons of salt in a quart of water and place the eggplants in the water. Put a lid or a plate on top (maybe with something heavy on it), to hold the eggplants under water. Soak them for about an hour. Rinse them under running water and dry well.

Heat a good amount of your favorite fat in a pan that you can cover with a lid (like a Dutch oven). Fry the eggplants on high heat quickly on all sides. Lower heat to very low, and let them cook very (very!) gently, turning them every now and then and making sure they don't stick to the pan. While they cook slowly, they will release a lot of liquid, so you don't have to add water to the fat. The cooking of the eggplants takes about 45 minutes. By then, they're soft, nice and greasy. They have opened up sufficiently to fill them.

All the eggplant preparing described so far, you can easily do a day ahead. Put the fried eggplants in the fridge and stuff them the next day and bake them in the oven.

The stuffing recipe is for 2 hungry or 3/4 not so hungry people...I used this amount for 2 eggplants, and as you can see in my picture, it was too much to get into the eggplants, but it was a good amount for dinner. But...if you want a neatly stuffed eggplant as a side dish for instance, you need to cut the amounts for this recipe in half or...get two more eggplants :-)

Stuffing:

0.5 pound (250 gr) ground meat (I used beef, but lamb would be lovely too)
5 oz (150 gr) canned tomatoes,chopped (liquid as well)
1 (green) bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 tsp oregano
1.5 tsp salt
0.5 tsp pepper
0.5 tsp cinnamon
(optional: cheese)

Preheat the oven at 400F (200C). Heat some fat in a skillet and fry the meat until brown. Add the garlic, onion and pepper and fry for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add the tomatoes, oregano, salt and pepper. Cook for 2 more minutes. Add the cinnamon and stir that in. Turn of heat.

Take a spoon and stuff the soft and cooked eggplants with the meat mixture. Put a little fat in an oven proof dish and place the eggplants in it. If you have too much meat to stuff into the eggplants, just put the excess meat in the oven dish as well. If you want, you can grate some (aged) cheese on top.

Put the dish in the oven for 15 minutes. If the eggplants were just taken out of the fridge (or really cold), add about 10 minutes to the cooking time.

Paleo Pumpkin Fries

2011-09-25T08:03:00.000-07:00

Fries. Who doesn't love them? But if you're lowcarb, you probably won't eat them anymore. Or maybe you do, as your occasional cheat meal. Some people swap them for the healthier sweet potato fries, but those are still heavy on carbs. Pumpkins are much lower in carbs and, as I found out today, a lovely substitute.

Besides being very tasty, they're also very easy to make. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

Pumpkin
Olive oil
Salt
To taste: pepper, herbs, spices

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400F (200C). Cut the pumpkin (I used a little butternut squash) into (not too thick) pieces. Make sure they're pretty much equal in size, so they cook evenly. Place the pieces on a baking sheet coverd with foil. Drizzle a good amount of olive oil on top (I used about 3 tbsp for nearly a pound of pumpkin), and toss them, so every piece is covered in oil.

Now it's time to season them. I used some coarse sea salt and a sprinkle of dried mixed Italian herbs. But you can use anything you like. Cumin, coriander, garlic...to name a few.

Place the baking sheet in the hot oven and bake for about 15 minutes. Toss them again, and bake for about 15 more. Keep an eye on them, it depends on the thickness of the pieces how long it takes to bake them. I kept them fairly thin, so 30 minutes was more than enough. Just look at them and feel. If the edges are browning and feel crisp, they're almost done. If they're completely brown, you probably overcooked them.

They were lovely with a generous serving of garlic mayonnaise. Even the boyfriend, who wasn't very hopeful (he's not a big pumpkin fan), was pleasantly surprised and sad that I didn't make some more.

Creamy Fennel Soup

2011-09-24T07:10:00.000-07:00

The best thing about vegetable soups is, that they're such an easy way of getting loads of vegetables in, without having to feel like a ruminant. I love making these soups for an easy and quick lunch, or as a starter to a lovely steak and salad.
This soup is great compared with something fatty and smoky, like smoked salmon. I didn't have that on hand today, so I made it a few pieces of fried bacon. Not too much, it's not about the bacon, just a few pieces for seasoning.

Ingredients (serves 2):

1 medium sized fennel bulb (about 9 oz./250 gr)
1 small onion
17 fl oz. (0.5 L.) chicken stock (home made or cube)
2 oz (60 gr.) heavy cream, or coconut cream
Salt & pepper to taste
Some smoked salmon or bacon pieces (fried)

Cut the fennel in half and remove the core. Chop the fennel and onion. The size doesn't really matter, you're going to puree the soup anyway, so it doesn't have to be pretty.

Heat some of your favorite fat and fry the onion and fennel for one or two minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Once it boils, lower the heat and let the soup simmer until the fennel is soft. Puree the soup until smooth. Add the cream and heat through on very low heat. Don't let it boil anymore. Finally, add salt and pepper to taste. If you use stock cubes, it's probably salty enough. If you use an unsalted home made stock, you might want to add some salt.

Devide soup between two bowls, sprinkle some salmon or bacon pieces on top, maybe a few fennel top and serve hot.

Spiced Scotch egg

2011-09-23T07:39:00.000-07:00

For some people, the lack of starchy foods on their plates seems a little boring. I can't say I mind having just a big piece of fish or meat, with a big salad, but sometimes it's nice to spice up the ordinary daily plate. This is such a recipe. Ordinary meat transferred into spicy meat with a surprise inside.

I believe that Scotch eggs are traditionally eaten, cut into parts, as a snack. They are also breaded and deep fried. So technically, this recipe is not for Scotch eggs. The spice mix I used is also probably not very Scottish either...

I decided that I don't really care and call them "Scotch" anyway. Ïf you fry them well enough, they will be crispy and you will never miss the breading. Also, I chose to shallow fry them. Why? I don't have a deep fryer. That one's still on the wish list. So, here's the recipe for not-so-Scotch-eggs:

Ingredients (makes 2 Scotch eggs):

2 hard boiled eggs9 oz. (250 gr) ground beef
1 egg white, beaten
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp ginger powder
1/2 tsp onion powder

Mix the meat with the egg white and spices. Knead thoroughly. Devide the meat into two portions and flatten on a work surface, like in the picture below.

Fold the meat around the egg and seal. Make sure it's properly sealed. Heat, on high, a good amount of fat (2 tbsp) in a deep pan, for instance a Dutch oven. When the fat is hot, take the meatballs between to spoons and gently lower them into the pan. Now comes the hard part. You've got to cook them all around. That's not easy, because of the round shape, but with the use of two spoons, it's a little easier. Just be patient and turn them every two minutes, moving them around a little, so they don't stick to the pan (and avoid breaking the meat).

Once you've seared them all around (which makes them slightly crispy on the outside), lower heat to very low, put the lid on, and let them cook for about 20 minutes, turning them every now and then.

I served them for dinner and after a few bites I suddenly heard the boyfriend shout out in surprise: "Oh wow! There's an egg inside!", like a little kid with a Kinder surprise. Only this time the surprise wasn't in the egg, the egg actually was the surprise. And not a choking hazard :-)

Dessert Coffee Deluxe

2011-09-22T06:28:00.000-07:00

Coffee. I love the stuff. I don't have to drink it all day and every day, but when I do drink it, it has to be good. Not the average cup of weak watery stuff, but good quality coffee. Strong and sweet. This is my favorite coffee after a meal. I'm not much of a dessert eater, I don't really care for it. But every now and then we do have something sweet and when we do it's usually this coffee. It's very easy to make and very delicious. So, if you're a coffee, chocolate and cream lover, keep on reading!

Since I already mentioned I like my coffee sweet, it's probably needless to say I still use a sweetener for my coffee. I gave up sugar, but use sucralose in my coffee. Not the best stuff, I know, but while I love stevia for all kinds of sweetening, I can't stand it in my coffee. Sucralose (Splenda) may not be king of sweeteners, but at least it doesn't give me a spike in blood sugar. And since I don't use it for any other sweetening than my coffee, I'm fine using it.

This recipe is made with two different sweeteners I happened to have: stevia and sucralose. But, of course, you can use any sweetener you want. Or none, that's up to you.

For 1 cup of heaven:

1/2 cup (100 ml) strong black coffee or espresso
1.5 oz (55 ml) heavy cream (or coconut cream)
1 scant tsp cocoa powder
Pinch of cinnamon
Optional: your favorite sweetener

First, whip the cream. I sweetened the cream with a pinch of stevia (put in a little at first, stir and test sweetness befor you start whipping. You can always add a little more). Whip it until it's very firm and peaks can be formed.

Make the coffee. Mix the cocoa powder with the coffee and stir until all is dissolved. This is also a good time to add a sweetener if you want. Gently put the cream on top of the coffee. I like to use two spoons for that job (if you dump it in too fast, the cream sinks straight to the bottom. Not bad for taste, but not very good on the looks). Give it a sprinkle of cinnamon, put in a spoon, or a cinnamon stick like I did, and enjoy.

Some of the cream melts into the coffee, making it a chocolate-creamy coffee goodness. Some of the cream you can spoon straight into your mouth...so good!

Sweet and spicy chicken

2011-09-21T07:08:00.000-07:00

What's not to like about good old chicken? I have to say, I don't really care for the breast meat, but drummettes and thighs...any time!

They're best if marinated for quite some time, but this recipe works even if you don't have that much time. It's all in the spice mix!

Spicemix for 1 pound (450 gr) of chicken (drummettes, thighs, wings etc,):

2 tbsp olive oil
4 ground allspice berries (or 1/4 tsp allspice powder)
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp sweet paprika powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cayenne (or more if you like it really hot)
1 tsp salt
Your favorite sweetener. I used 1 generous tsp of xylitol (equal to 1 tsp sugar)

Preheat oven to 430F (220C). Mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Rub the mix into the chicken. Now, if you have some time, leave it (preferably overnight) to marinate. If you're short on time, well, then don't :-)

Put in the hot oven for 15 minutes, then turn and put back for 15 more minutes. If you have a meat thermometer, the core temperature (near the bone), should be at least 170F (75C). If you don't have a meat thermometer, you have to guess. But really, you should go and get one, because it's a sure way of knowing if you're meat is thoroughly cooked, or, if you want it to be, rare or medium rare. Since I own this device, I never under or overcook my meat anymore (I consider it a big waste to overcook a perfect grass fed steak).

The last step, is to put the chicken under a broiler for about 5 minutes, to crisp up. You have to keep an eye on it, you want it crisp, not cremated. Now get your favorite sauce and enjoy your chicken.

How to cook the perfect steak

2011-09-20T08:52:00.000-07:00

Every meat eater loves a good steak. But I bet most people find it hard to cook steaks to perfection. I know I did. If you're not a skilled chef, how do you know whether your steak is rare, medium rare or medium without cutting into the meat? There are probably not a lot of people who want their steaks well done. Overcooked steaks, to me, are a waste. If I want meat to be well done, I'll buy a cheap stewing cut. But how do you make sure you don't overcook your expensive grass fed steak?

One method of determining this, is using your hand, like described over here. That's great, but the problem with it, is that by the time I figured out if the firmness of the steak is indeed the same as the firmness of the muscle at the base of my thumb, the steak is usually overcooked. Maybe I'm an idiot, but this method never worked for me.

In my opinion there is only one way to really make sure you get your steak exactly the way you want it. Buy a meat thermometer! Really. Do it. They're awesome. I own a thermometer from Ikea. It's very cheap and extremely useful. It even beeps when it's at the set temperature, so you don't have to watch it. It doesn't matter if you fry the steak, cook it in an oven or on a barbecue, this always works!

Here's my method for a basic pan fried steak :

Pat the steak dry. Use whatever spices you want on the raw steak (usually, I use nothing but a sprinkle of salt and pepper). Put some fat in a skillet. Use fat that has a high smoking point, like ghee, lard or beef tallow (otherwise your kitchen will be filled with smoke).Wait until the fat is very hot. On high heat, sear the steak for about a minute on one side, so it browns and crisps a little. Turn and sear the other side for a minute. If it's a thick cut steak, you might want to sear the sides also. Turn the heat to medium-low. Put the thermometer in, and when it's about halfway the temperature you want it to be, turn one more time. Put the thermometer in again. If you're about 5 C. (41 F) away from your preferred temp, put a good knob of butter in the skillet. Wiggle your steak through the melted butter, tilt the pan, pick up some of the melted butter with a spoon and baste your steak with it a few times. Now, all you do is wait for the temperature to be exactly right. Then you turn the heat off, and serve your perfect steak.

Core temperatures:

Steak very rare                                     45C    (113F)       (also called "bloody")

Steak medium rare                                45-50C    (113-122F)

Steak medium                                       55C          (131F)

Steak medium/well done                        55-60C    (131-140F)

Steak well done                               60C         (140F)   and higher for very well done
                                                                                        (also called "bloody shame")

It doesn't matter how thick cut the steak is, or what size, a certain core temperature always corresponds with the rareness (or doneness) of the meat. Since I use this method, I haven't screwed up my steaks anymore.

*Note: It's also a perfect tool to make sure some meats are thoroughly cooked, without having to cut it open to check. For instance, you don't really want to eat chicken at less than 75C (167F), because of bacteria.

Roasted tomato soup with beef shank

2011-09-19T06:10:00.000-07:00

I used to do a vegan version of a roasted tomato soup. But since I'm eating meat again, I updated my old recipe. And for the better, I have to say! This soup is amazing. The base is a bone stock, made from beef shank. Then flavored with roasted tomatoes and herbs and finished with super tender shank meat and a good dollop of heavy cream. Roasting the tomatoes gives them loads of extra flavor.

If you make this soup using the home made shank stock, it takes quite some time to make, but it's really cheap (because shank, at least in my country, costs next to nothing compared to other stewing cuts), easy and very, very (did I say very yet?) tasty! Of course, you can take a short cut with a beef stock cube, and some sausage. But try roasting tomatoes for soup, that's really worth the effort!

Here are the ingredients (serves 2):

About 2 pounds (900 gr.) of ripe tomatoes
1 1/2 pounds (700 gr) beef shanks
1.5 qt water (about 1.5 L)
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp mixed Italian herbs
A few tbsp olive oil
Some of your favorite (non caloric) sweetener that equals 1 tbsp sugar
Salt & pepper to taste
About 1 oz (30 ml) heavy cream (or non dairy cream if you don't eat dairy)

First, you make the stock(or broth, or whatever you call it in English. I can't figure out the difference :-)). Put the shank in a pan and cover with the water. I use nothing for flavoring, because I don't really care, since the tomato mixture will bring all the flavor later. Bring it to a boil, cover and let it simmer on very low heat for 4-5 hours. I like 5 hours, because I want the meat to be as tender as possible. The liquid is probably reduced by this time, to roughly 1 quart (or 1 L.), which is good, because that's the amount you need for the soup. Take the meat out of the liquid, let it cool for half an hour and take the meat off the bones. I usually dump the marrow back in the broth and keep the meat aside.

Preheat your oven to 475 F (250 C). Cut the tomatoes in half and put on a greased baking tray (or oven proof dish, just make sure that they're separated). Drizzle with a good amount of olive oil and toss until all the tomatoes are coverd in a little oil. Sprinkle the herbs, some salt and pepper on top. Crush the garlic cloves and scatter some pieces of garlic between the tomatoes. Do the same with the chopped onion.

Place in the hot oven for 35-45 minutes. Keep an eye on it. You don't want it burned of course, but it's good when some tomatoes have slighlty black edges. It's probably not necessary to say that you should be careful with taking them out of the oven, but I say it anyway, because they're really crazy hot.

Put the tomato/onion mix in the broth and simmer for 15 minutes, to get the flavors incorporated. Now, you can add the sweetener. Use a (stick) blender to puree the soup and put it back on the stove. Put in the meat and cream and cook slowly until the meat is heated through. This is a good time to taste the soup and determine if you want some extra salt and pepper.You can finish the soup with some fresh basil leaves and/or some grated Parmesan.

P.S. Anyone who can tell me the difference between stock and broth, is welcome to do so in the commentary section :-)

Paleo Coconut Cake

2011-09-18T07:01:00.000-07:00

This cake is great for breakfast, snack or dessert. It's good at any time of the day, easy to make, it freezes very well and thaws quickly. So, what's not to love about that? If you double, or triple the batch (which I do quite often), you can portion it, stuff it in the freezer and always have some ready when you want it.

Almost every day, the boyfriend has a big square of this coconut cake in his lunchbox, as a snack. Personally, I'm not very hungry between meals, so I usually eat it for breakfast when I want a break from the eggs. A square of cake, a little whipped cream and a few berries....so good! You can whip this cake up in under 15 minutes and enjoy it for a long time!

Ingredients:

2 cups of coconut flour
3 oz (90 gr) butter or coconut oil, melted
3 eggs
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
Sweetener of choice (equal to about 4 tbsp sugar)

Preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Put the flour in a bowl and mix thoroughly with the baking powder, eggs and butter (or oil). Add a sweetener. The sweetener is always a little hard for me to put into amounts. You have to use very little stevia for instance, compared to honey or xylitol. Xylitol and stevia are my favorite sweeteners. I favor the taste of xylitol, but it's much more expensive (at least, the one made from birch is. I don't use the cheaper one made from corn). Stevia and xylitol paired together is a good alternative for me. I like this cake to be quite sweet, it's a cake after all, so I put in the equivalent of 4 tbsp sugar, which was about half a teaspoon of stevia and about two tablespoons of xylitol. But you might want to taste for yourself when you use your favorite sweetener (if you don't want to use a sweetener at all, you could use a mashed banana for some extra sweetnes).

Your cakemix should be a thick batter-like consistancy. Not as stiff as dough and not as runny as pancakebatter. Put it in a greased baking pan and bake for 35 minutes. Let it cool for about 15 minutes, then take out of the pan and let it cool completely on a cooling rack. Cut into squares or slices and eat it or freeze it.

Stuffed Sardines

2011-09-17T08:05:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, while on holiday in Italy, I ate fresh sardines for the first time. Before that I only had these little fish out of a can. Such a waste, because they're very tasty and versatile when fresh. And very hard to get. Sardines are not very popular in Holland. We eat the look-alikes (herring, raw and fermented) a lot, but not sardines, so the fishmongers hardly ever sell them. Last week I told my boyfriend how I would love to have some sardines again and the next day, while shopping at our local market, I saw them. A big pile of fresh sardines! How's that for coincidence (or was it fate...hmm...)?

The sardines weren't cleaned yet and the sales people were very busy, so they couldn't do it for me. So I just bought 2 pounds and went home, figuring I could do the cleaning myself. Now, I have never in my life gutted a fish before. I've seen it done, I have filleted fish, but never cleaned one.

Since I'm on this primal diet, I thought it would be very primal to slaughter an animal. The chances of me killing and slaughtering a cow or a pig are pretty minimal, but a fish, that's doable, right? I didn't even do the killing part myself, so I told myself to stop being so girly and squeamish, and just to go ahead and do the job. And I did. (Warning: graphic picture ahead)

First, I stared at the pile of dead fish for a few minutes, mustering up some courage. Then I watched this video (I really love Google and Youtube, it's so incredibly helpful!). Then I stared at the pile of dead fish again. Finally, I grabbed the sharpest little knife I had and gutted my dinner.

The first fish was a little awkward, the second a little less awkward and by the third sardine, I felt like a proper fish gutting professional. I did it exactly like in the video: first cut all the heads off, then cut and gut them all and finally butterfly them. The only step I added was that, while taking the backbones out, I held them under running water, to make sure the blood was gone. It was a breeze. Really. Nothing to be squeamish about. I have to admit I even felt a little pride. For a proper primal experience I have to catch and kill them first, but this came pretty close.

Now, the proof:

Still fancy a fish for dinner? :-) Then keep on reading.

Half of the prepared fish I put in a bag to freeze for later use. The other half I used for dinner. With all the effort I had put into cleaning and preparing them, I didn't just want to fry them up. I wanted to do them justice and make something really nice. And it sure was nice.

Ingredients (serves 2)

8 sardines, cleaned & butterflied
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 oz (30 gr.) fried crispy bacon, cut in very small pieces
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried mixed Italian herbs
Salt & pepper to taste
Handful of pine nuts
Olive oil
1 lime or lemon

Preheat oven to 440F (225C).

Heat some fat in a skillet and fry the onion and garlic until soft. Add the tomato, herbs, salt and pepper (to taste). Stir for a minute until is mixed well. Lower heat and let it simmer for one to two minutes. Add the bacon and turn off the heat.

Put a sardine, skin side down on a work surface and put a table spoon of the onion-tomato mix on it (maybe a little less, it depends on how big the sardine is). Roll it up from head (well, where the head used to be before you brutally chopped it off) to tail. Repeat this with the other fish. Stack them in an (greased) oven proof dish. Give it a good drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon or lime, and scatter some pine nuts on top. Place in the hot oven for about 15 minutes. This also toasts the pine nuts, so you don't have to bother toasting them first.

Greek yogurt with figs & raspberry-mint sauce

2011-09-17T04:54:00.000-07:00

I don't eat fruits every day, because of their high sugar content. But when I do, I like to make something nice and pretty with it, instead of just eating an apple. This easy recipe combines a few of my favorites. I just love fresh figs. And according to this post on Mark's daily apple, they're not even very sugary. Raspberries are probably my favorite in the "berry categorie" and as luck would have it, I found some nice fresh and juicy figs and raspberries on yesterday's market.

Now, I know that the hardcore Paleo People don't eat dairy. I tolerate it just fine, but if you don't want to eat the yogurt, just skip it. Just the figs and sauce are perfect. Maybe you could eat some Paleo ice cream with it, or coconut, or....before I get carried away with all the possibilities, here's the method:

Ingredients (for 2 servings):

10 oz. (300 gr). Full fat Greek yogurt
4 fresh figs
1 big handful of ripe raspberries
half a handful of mint leaves
8 tbsp water

Put the mint in the water, in a glass or measuring cup. Crush or muddle the mint leaves. Be patient with this. The better you crush them, the more of the flavor is released. Transfer the mixture into a sauce pan and heat on very low. Let it simmer for a few minutes, so the water takes on as much of the mint flavor as possible, but don't let it cook for a long time, because then all the liquid will evaporate (a little is ok).

Strain the liquid and let it cool. Add the minty water to the rasperries and puree until it becomes a smooth sauce (you can add a little sweetener to it if you want, I didn't bother). Cut the figs into quarters and with a teaspoon, scoop the flesh out of the skin. Pour some yogurt into bowls, devide the figs between them and pour the raspberry-mint sauce on top.

Carrots with orange and cumin

2011-09-16T06:15:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I subscribed to an initiative of a few organic farmers in my area. All kinds of farmers, produce, cattle and dairy, joined forces and created a website where customers (in a certain area) can order their foods. They deliver it at your house every friday for a measly three euros (about four dollars). So, every week I look what they have to offer and order what I want: all organic/grass fed and local. Brilliant!

This week they had these rainbow carrots on sale and I thought they were too pretty not to buy. So I ordered them and then had to figure out what to do with them. Because they are so pretty, I thought it would be a waste to chop them up and dump them in a dish where you could hardly recognise them.

So I came up with a recipe that was very easy, only a few ingredients, and would bring out the beauty and flavor of these babies. Orange and cumin go very well with carrots, and roasting them brings out the best of their flavor. You can serve it hot or cold. It's lovely either way. And of course you don't need rainbow carrots for this recipe, it works just as well with regular orange ones.

Serves 2:

1 pound (450 gr.) carrots
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp of finely grated ginger
1 tsp cumin seeds
Your favorite sweetener (equal to1 tsp sugar. Raw honey is very nice in this recipe)
Juice of half an orange

Preheat oven to 440F (225C). Cut both ends of the carrots, wash and peel or scrape them. Put the carrots in an oven proof baking dish. Melt 1 tbsp of butter in a small sauce pan. Add the melted butter to the carrots and toss, covering all the carrots with some butter. Cover the dish with alu foil and place in the hot oven for 30 minutes. When they're almost done, melt another tbsp of butter in the sauce pan.When the butter is really hot, add the cumin seeds. Let them sizzle for half a minute and add the grated ginger. Stir for half a minute more and turn the heat off. Add the orange juice and sweetener and stir, until all is mixed well.

Take the carrots out of the oven, remove the foil and add the butter/orange mix. Toss again and put back, uncovered, for 15 minutes. This caramelizes the carrots beautifully and makes them a little sticky and shiny. Take the dish out of the oven and serve hot with some nice meat or fish (we had it with gorgeous slow cooked pork belly) or let it cool and eat it as a salad (with maybe some greens added). If there is some dressing left in the dish, just pour it over the carrots. It's a waste not to use it :-)

Note: I love ginger with orange and carrots, so I added it to the recipe. Some people can't stand the taste of ginger and I know from experience that this recipe is also lovely without it. It's the combination of the orange and cumin that really does the trick. The ginger gives it an extra kick.

Paleo Pancakes

2011-09-15T06:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I did a post on making your own (cheap) coconut flour. That's nice and all, but once you've done that, you want to use it, right? The quick and easy way to use this flour, is to make pancakes. Crispy on the outside, nice and fluffy on the inside. This paleo version has been done before, so this is hardly an original, but it's my favorite recipe for a basic pancake.

Ingredients (for 3 regular sized pancakes):

3/4 cup (85 gr) of coconut flour
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp creamy liquid (for instance heavy cream or coconut milk)
pinch of salt

Mix all the ingredients together thorougly. Heat your favorite fat in a skillet on medium heat, put a good spoon of the mixture in and carfully flatten the mix a little with the back of a spoon (the mix is less runny than traditional pancake batter, so you have to spread the mix a little) until your pancake reaches the size you prefer. Do this until you're out of mixture. How many pancakes you get out of it, of course, depends on the size you make them.

Turn heat to very low and let them cook for a few minutes. Put a lid on the skillet. This "dries" them a little on top, so it makes them easier to turn. Once they have puffed and you start to see tiny holes on top (and there are no more very liquid area's on top), you can turn them over and cook for a minute or two more.

Eat them with a good knob of butter or coconut oil. Have them with somer berries and a dollop of Greek yogurt or cream. Whatever you prefer! You could even make a sandwich with them.

*Note: Don't put the heat too high, otherwise you will burn them at the bottom before they have a chance to dry on top.

Coconut flour

2011-09-14T11:58:00.000-07:00

Using coconut flour for baked goods is great, but I don't use it a lot because I think it's quite expensive. Dessicated coconut is a lot cheaper, but the problem with it, is that it can be too course for some recipes.

A reasonable solution to that problem is to just take some dessicated coconut and put it in a food processor. Or you can use a stick blender to grind it into a finer consistancy. If you have an old coffee grinder you don't use for coffee anymore, that will probably work fine as well. It won't be as fine as the flour, but it's good enough to use for most cakes or pancakes.

Pork chops with brie & mustard

2011-09-14T05:14:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, I thought pork chops were a boring cut of meat. That was a time when the only pork chops I knew, were the tiny, ready marinated chunks of meat our supermarkets sell. They were too salty and whatever I tried, however I baked or fried them, the always seem to be tough, salty and just plain nasty.

A few months ago my butcher had some huge organic chops on sale and they looked quite different from what I was used to, so I gave it a try and it completely changed my mind about pork chops! This recipe is a surprise version of the plain chop. It's easy to make and uses only a few ingredients.

They are stuffed with mustard, herbs and brie. You can't really see that they're stuffed, but once you cut them open, there's that lovely melted brie, which tastes so good with the mustard.

Ingredients (serves 2):

2 large thick cut pork chops (try to get some with still a good deal of fat)
2 tsp mustard
2 tsp herbes de provence
About 1 oz. brie, in thin slices
Salt & pepper

With a very sharp knife, cut halfway throug the meat, all the way to the bone. Carefully start cutting sideways. Be really careful not to pierce through the sides. You want to create a pocket for the filling. This is the hard part, but with a little patience it can be done. I did fine on my first try, so I believe you will too.

Next, rub a teaspoon of mustard in each pocket. Sprinkle the herbs on top of it, about a teaspoon in each pocket. Then stuff the brie inside, about half an oz. per chop. Don't let it hang outside, or you'll get a terrible mess of melted cheese while baking. And finally, to keep the filling neatly packed inside, close them up with two skewers or toothpicks. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper on top, and they're ready for cooking.

Heat some fat in a frying pan and sear the meat on high heat for a minute on both sides. Turn the heat back to low and let slowly cook for about 20 minutes. Turn every now and then. Take the skewers or toothpicks out, put them on a plate, a big salad on the side and presto: a lovely dinner!

Super fast smoked fish salad

2011-09-13T06:36:00.001-07:00

This recipe is great for lunch on the go. Because it has no leaves in it, it won't go limp if you don't eat it right away. And best of all: it's really easy to make!

You can use any kind of smoked fish you want. I chose smoked trout for this recipe, but I'm sure some smoked mackerel will be just as good. Or even smoked chicken. It's just that the smokiness is so good with the freshness of the rest of the ingrediënts.

Ingredients (serves 1):

2 oz (60 gr) cucumber, cubed
1/2 avocado, cubed
2 oz (60 gr) pickle (gherkin), cut in bite sized pieces
3 oz (90 gr) smoked trout (or other smoked fish)
1 tbsp mayonnaise
About 1 tbsp lime juice
Sea salt & pepper

Cut the vegetables in bite sized pieces. Be careful not to use a very ripe avocado, because it will go all mushy on you. Perfect for guacamole, not so for salads.

Tear the fish meat apart into chunks and mix with all the other ingrediënts. Dilute the mayonnaise a little with a tbsp of lime juice (othterwise it's a little too stiff. And also for flavor of course). Just stir a tiny bit of juice in a tbsp of mayonnaise. Stir well, until smooth.

Finally, mix the mayonnaise with the veg/fish mix and give it a sprinkle of coarse sea salt and some freshly ground pepper.

Soto ajam

2011-09-11T23:45:00.000-07:00

"Soto ajam" means chicken soup in Indonesian. This is going to be a lengthy recipe, but if you're short on time, there is room for a few short cuts. Like using stock cubes, and chicken breast meat. But, as with almost everything else, it's way better if you make it from scratch. This is my favorite way of making chicken soup. Typical Asian ingredients, like lime leaves, lemongrass and ginger, make this soup incredibly flavorful. The stock is rich and fatty and...oh, please, try this recipe. It is SO worth it!

I am a lucky girl. Only ten walking minutes from my house, is a slaughterhouse that slaughters old organic laying hens. They sell these in their shop for only € 2,50 (which is about $3,45). I don't think that's a lot of money for a whole 2.5 pound organic chicken. The downside is, that these old laying hens are not suitable for regular cooking. They're tough and stringy if you try to cook them in the oven for an hour. But, they're incredibly suitable for stewing.

What I usually do on a lazy sunday, is take two chickens, cut them in half, put them in two pans and cover them with water. I bring it to a boil, cover the pans and let it simmer for 5 hours. I take the chickens out of the stock, let it cool a little and pick the meat off the bones. I use this meat for soups, but also like to fry it in some fat and put it in salads or make lettuce wraps with it. The stock, I freeze in quart sized (1 L.) portions, so I quickly have some home made stock available whenever I want to make a quick soup. This way I hardly ever have to use the stock cubes. The stock is, when cold, pretty gelatinous, which is a sign that you can make a good bone stock from one soup chicken.

So, if you can lay your hands on a cheap laying hen (and they're usually sold as "soup chicken"): don't think it's only for soup, you can use the meat for much more. Just don't try to bake them in the oven. It will fail (I learned this the tough and stringy way).

Now, back to the recipe. The original Indonesian recipe for Soto ajam includes potatoes and glass noodles. I had to paleofy the original, since I still can't tolerate very starchy foods, so I substituted these for rutabaga and carrot cubes. If you do eat potatoes, you can, of course, put them in if you want.

If you want to leave a comment on how this recipe is not authentic...I already know. And I really don't care. Even without the authentic ingredients, this soup is still a winner!

Ingredients (serves 2):

For the stock:

1 soup chicken, cut in half
2 quarts (about 2 L.) water

The veg:

3 oz. (100 gr) finely sliced cabbage
4 oz. (120 gr.) mung bean sprouts
2 hard boiled eggs
2 oz. (60 gr) carrots, cut into bite sized pieces
2 oz. (60 gr) rutabaga, cubed

And the flavormakers:

1 inch (2.5 cm) ginger root
1 inch (2.5 cm) galanga root
1 stalk of lemongrass
3 kefir lime leaves
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp turmeric
Salt to taste

First, prepare the stock. It's the easy part, it just takes a lot of time. Put the chicken in a large pan, pour the water on top and bring it to a boil. Once it's boiling, don't bother about foam, it will disappear. Just cover the pan with a lid an put on the lowest possible heat for 4 to 5 hours. It needs to simmer really slowly, don't let it come to a roaring boil anymore. When it's done, take the chicken out, let it cool a little and take the meat off the bones. Set aside. Boil two eggs and set aside.

Now prepare the flavoring paste. Peel the ginger*, garlic cloves, onion and galanga* (*see note). Put it all with 2 tbsp of water in a (stick)blender or food processor and blend until it's a paste. Put a little oil in a soup pan, add the paste and turmeric and fry for 2-3 minutes on medium heat. Pour in a quart (1 L.) of the chicken stock you just made and stir. Cut the base (where the root begins) from the lemongrass. Cut the lemongrass lengthwise in half. Put the blade of a large kitchen knife flat on it, and give it a good smash (this releases more flavor from the lemongrass. But if you're hesitant to do this, then don't). Put the lemongrass and the lime leaves into the stock and let it simmer on low heat for at least 45 minutes to really get all the flavors going. This is a good time to salt the stock. You have to taste for yourself, just add little by little until you're satisfied.

When that stock is done, take out the lime leaves and lemongrass and discard. You can throw in all the vegetables, except the bean sprouts. They only need a minute to cook, so they still hold their bite. Cook untill the vegetables are tender. Add the bean sprouts and cook for another minute.

Now it's time to assemble the soup. Divide the chicken meat between two plates. Pour the hot soup on top. Cut the eggs in parts and put on top. If you are brave enough to try this recipe, please let me know how it was. Do you love it as much as I do?

*NOTE: Lime leaves, galanga root, ginger root and lemongrass can usually be bought in Asian stores or supermarkets. I always buy in bulk, because it freezes very well. I cut the roots into inch sized pieces and put them in a freezer bag. The lime leaves usually come in a bag which you can put directly into a freezer. Lemongrass also can put directly into a freezer.

These roots and leaves can be used for a great variety of Thai, Malaysian or Indonisian soups, curries and stews, so it's good to have some in your freezer.

How to keep lettuce fresh and crisp

2011-09-11T06:33:00.000-07:00

picture courtesy of thekitchn.com

Usually, I grocery shop once a week. I think it's cheaper this way. I plan the menu ahead and don't buy more foods than I need. Okay, hardly any more... Most foods are kept fresh easily in the pantry, fridge or freezer, but I always had a problem with lettuce. I eat lots of salads and usually buy two or three heads of different kinds of lettuce at once. But even when I kept them in the crisper drawer in the fridge, they would still go limp after two or three days. A friend of mine, who's a restaurant chef, knew a solution.

First, take off the already bruised or bad leaves and discard them (I assume you bought good lettuce, so there won't be many bad leaves). Cut off the end that holds the head together. Fill up your sink with fresh water and put the leaves under water. Give them a good wash/rub, to get rid of dirt and critters, drain the water and refresh. Now let the leaves sit there for half an hour to an hour. This allow the leaves to soak up as much water as they can, which keeps them crisp longer.

Use a salad spinner (if you don't have one, you can use towels, but you should really get a salad spinner! They're cheap and incredibly useful) to dry the leaves.

The next step is to roll the leaves in paper towels. I like to do that in portions, so I can take the right amount for one salad out the fridge, without having to re-wrap the rest. Just take a bunch of leaves, lie them on the end of a towel and roll it up.

Put the bundles of lettuce into a plastic bag and put in the fridge (use the crisper drawer if your fridge has one). This way you can keep your lettuce fresh and crisp for at least a week. Maybe more, but I haven't tested that yet.

Tallow

2011-09-10T02:25:00.000-07:00

Tallow is one of the best fats to cook with. In the olden days, it was easily available, but thanks to the low fat maffia, I can't find it in supermarkets anymore. Big bummer, but I know my way around a kitchen, so I decided to make the stuff myself.
My butcher is totally awesome. Besides being a qualified butcher, with an amazing range in all sorts of meat, he's also a farmer. When I asked him what he gave his cows to eat, he said "Eh..well, grass!". He said it in way as if it was the most normal thing to do, and that I was nuts for thinking that cows could actually eat something else. Gotta love the guy!

He provided me with an enormous piece of suet. For free, because he usually throws it away, because no one wants it anymore! I rendered it using this site as a guidance. I chopped the suet into cubes, put it in a food processor to crumble. I didn't bother with freezing the crumbs and had no problems.I had to do it in three batches, because I had so much suet. I just dumped the suet crumbs in a big pot (I chose the "dry stove top method"), put it on very low heat, stirred once in while and when all was liquid, strained it through a very fine sieve (cheese cloth would be perfect too).

It was a little messy (my hands and work surface felt like they where covered in candle wax), but two hours of chopping and melting, left me with three big jars of tallow. I can probably cook for 2-3 months with that. So to me, that's worth the effort!

Cottage Pie

2011-09-08T02:02:00.000-07:00

When thinking about comfort foods, one of the first things that come to my mind, is cottage or shepherd's pie. I used to love a soft creamy layer of mashed potatoes and the savory filling of meat and vegetables. I personally can't do potato anymore, because I found out that it produces a serious spike in my blood sugar, so I replaced it with cauliflower. But not just cauliflower...creamy cauliflower! This veg really replaces potatoes very well, as is well known in the paleo/primal world.
I think, traditionally, shepherd's pie is made with lamb. A ground beef version is called a cottage pie. So that's what this is. I also used mushrooms in the filling, because for me, mushrooms go hand in hand with this season (and I really like them :-)).

I wanted the filling to be a little "saucy", but without using flour to bind the liquid. I came up with a combination of flax seed and egg, and it worked ok. Maybe not as brilliant as an actual flour based sauce, but it held the filling together quite well, without being too quiche-like.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients (serves 2):

1 head of cauliflower
1 pound (450 gr. ground beef)
7 oz (200 gr) mushrooms, sliced
1 green pepper, cut into small pieces
1 medium onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
handfull of (frozen) peas
handfull of (frozen) green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 teaspoon of herbes de provence (mixed italian herbes will work as well)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh pepper
3,5 fl oz (100 ml.) of (beef)stock
1 generous tbsp flax seeds
2 tbsp water
1 egg
butter and heavy cream
nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C). Cut the cauliflower into florets of roughly the same size. The size doesn't really matter, but if they all have the same size, it ensures evenly cooking. Cook or steam the cauliflower untill just tender. You really don't want to overcook it, because it gets watery and you don't want it watery, but creamy. If you can stick a fork in it easily, without the florets crumbling right away, it's perfect. Puree the cauliflower with a (stick)blender and add a sprinkle of salt and equal amounts of butter and cream untill you reach the smoothness you prefer (be careful, just add little by little). Set aside.

In a frying pan, put some of your favorite cooking oil (I used ghee), and fry the ground beef with the garlic and onion. When the beef is nearly cooked, add all the other vegetables, herbes, salt and pepper. Let it cook untill the vegetables soften. In the meantime, prepare the flax seed mixture. Add about 2 tbsp of water to 1 generous tbsp of flax seeds. In a blender (I used a stick blender for this), mix on high speed for about a minute, untill it becomes gelatous. Add 1 egg, and mix together. Add the stock to the beef and vegetable mix and then add the flax/egg mixture. Stir thouroughly for about a minute on medium heat. The flax mix should bind the liquids. Not as much as flour does, but it's not as watery anymore. Also, the seeds give a slight nutty flavor, which works well with this dish.

Put the meat mixture into an oven dish and cover with the mashed creamy cauliflower. I grated some nutmeg on top, but if you don't like nutmeg, of course you can skip it. Some grated (parmesan) cheese on top might be nice as well, but I didn't have any around the house :-)

Place the dish in the oven for about 15 minutes and you have one of the ultimate autumn comfort foods!

Autumn

2011-09-06T13:13:00.000-07:00

The leaves in my garden are turning bright red and are telling me that autumn has really arrived. Not that I needed red leaves to tell me this, because the horrible rainstorms were a great clue. I love summer, but we didn't have quite the summer I hoped we would have. I don't really know about the rest of the world, but in Holland, I think we just had the crappiest summer of my adult life. I honestly can't recall that we ever had that much rain before.

But now autumn is here, and as much as I love summer, I think autumn definitely has it's charm. The wind howling around the house, rain against the windows, and me snuggled up in a big chair with some hot tea or a bowl of hot food. Speaking of food...it's the ultimate season for comfort food: stews, meat pies, soups...to name a few. I will be posting some of that lovely comfort food this season. As much as I will miss summer, I will be looking forward to make, eat and share my collection of autumn recipes!

"Spaghetti" and herbed meatballs

2011-09-04T23:55:00.000-07:00

The boyfriend and I used to love spaghetti and meatballs. A nice full flavored tomato sauce, gorgeous herbed meatballs, a litlle crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, on top of a pile of al dente spaghetti. Lovely! But, of course these days there's no more spaghetti for us. I can't really say that I miss it, but just some sauce coverd meatballs seems a little, oh I don't know, unsatisfying I guess. Of course the best part of the spaghetti and meatballs, really where the meatballs. And the sauce. So we needed a pile of something different underneath it.
We tried zucchini, in long thin slices. It was okay, but it goes soft really fast. If you heat it, even for a few seconds, it softens right away and becomes a little mushy. I read a lot of recipes using spaghetti squash, but here in the Netherlands, that squash is not available. At least, not to my knowledge. I'll try to grow them myself next year, but untill then, I have to find something else to satisfy my fake spaghetti craving.

The boyfriend came up with the idea of using cabbage. At first I thought "nah", but then I thought: "Why not? It can be cut in strips, it holds it's bite and shape quite well when cooked, and it doesn't have an overwhelming flavor of it's own. In fact, it's quite bland: perfect for fake spaghetti!" So, I decided to give it a try. And I must say, it worked out quite well. It's not spaghetti, but hey, that's because it really is not spaghetti. But it is tasty and works well with the meatballs and sauce. Here's the recipe I used:

Ingredients meatballs:

1 pound (450 gr) of ground beef
2 generous tsp salt
About 1/2 tsp of black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 large onion, finely chopped
1 tsp dried mixed Italian herbs
1 1/2 tsp of rosemary

Mix all the ingredients together and roll in to balls. Put a little oil in a frying pan and fry the meatballs, for about a minute or two/three on high heat. Lower heat and let them cook untill they're done. That takes about twenty minutes.

Ingredients tomato sauce:

1 can of tomatoes
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 large onion, finely chopped
2 tsp salt
1 tsp dried mixed Italian herbs
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Some of your favorite sweetener (I used a pinch of stevia, but if you use xylitol, splenda or regular sugar, it's about a teaspoon)
A sprinkle of fresh black pepper

Put all the ingredients in a sauce pan and put on very low heat. Let it simmer for about an hour, stirring every now and then. The long and slow simmer really combines all the flavors well and it reduces the sauce which brings out even more flavor. When it's done simmering, pour in a blender or use a stick blender to puree the sauce.

Cabbage spaghetti:

Cut about 1 pound (450 gr) of white cabbage into thin strips. You can cook for a minute or three until just tender, but I chose to sautee in a knob of butter and a sprinkle of salt. It has obviously more flavor then just boiling in water. It takes around three minutes of sauteeing on medium heat, for the cabbage to get soft, but still a little crunchy. If you don't like the "bite", just cook them a little longer.

It all may seem like a lot of work, but it's really worth the effort. The sauce is incredible, the meatballs have loads of flavor and the combination with the cabbage really worked well. If you give this a try, please let me know how it was!

Onion and garlic stuffed trout with bacon

2011-09-03T03:06:00.000-07:00

I love the versatility of trout. If you buy a nice fresh trout, you can stuff it with a great variety of herbs, spices, vegetables...you name it and it can be put in or on a trout and it immediately changes the flavor of the fish. Meditarenean trout, Asian trout, whatever you want. This recipe, which uses bacon to seal, is incredible.
Whatever you choose to pack inside the fish, will stay in there neatly and the fat of the bacon keeps everything nice and juicy. Here's what I did:

Ingredients (serves 2):

2 whole trouts
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
8 slices/strips of bacon
2 tsp of dried Italian herbs
Salt & pepper
Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C). Rinse the trout with water and pat dry with a paper towel. Open the body cavity of the fishes and sprinkle about a teaspoon of herbs in each fish. Cut the onion in half and then in thin slices. Stuff about half an onion in each fish (or as much as it can hold, without too much hanging outside the cavities). Slice the garlic as thin as possible and put on top of the onion. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper on top of the garlic/onion mix. Put about 4 slices of bacon on your work surface and place a trout on top. Wrap the bacon carefully around the cavity, to hold the stuffing, and press a little on the sides, so it will stick. Repeat with the other fish.

Put a little olive oil in a baking tray and carefully place the stuffed trouts in to it. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper on them and give it another good slush of olive oil. Place in the oven for about 35-40 minutes. Serve with a big salad. We ate this with a Greek salad with a little feta cheese.

Home grown tomato fail

2011-09-03T02:09:00.000-07:00

With trying to eat more natural foods, comes groing your own. I know, it's not very "Hunter-gatherer", but it beats gathering your pesticide-laden greens at the supermarket. Besides, I got tired of paying way too much money for a few lettuce leaves, if I could get a packet of organic seeds for the same price and grow hundreds more.

I started with a tiny square foot garden box and some easy to grow greens: lettuce like romain, rocket and Lollo rosso. Also some swiss chard (wich is awesome, since it grows right back after harvest so you can harvest the same crop at least three times). Another very easy vegetable to grow yourself, are beets. I also tried to plant carrots and cauliflower, but the cauliflower never really grew more than an inch, so I took it out and planted some more lettuce. I got to harvest three crappy carrots, so that failed too. And the picture above, is all that's left of my attempt to grow cherry tomatoes. Sad, isn't it? I planted about five different plants, and this is the only plant that has actually grown, instead of died after three weeks. It yields no less then a whopping four tomatoes...now I honestly hope that they at least all become red and eadible :-) If anyone has any tips for me on growing tomatoes, please, I'm open to all suggestions.

I won't give up though. Next year I will expand my square foot garden boxes and try again. Because it's really rewarding to eat your own vegetables. I just need some more practice...

Roasted beet salad with goat cheese

2011-08-29T12:26:00.000-07:00

Earlier I did a post on roasted beets. That was my first attempt on roasting beets and I think that roasting is now my favorite way of preparing beets. But, as with almost everything else, you need to try some different flavors, otherwise things get boring. It turns out that goat cheese is a great companion for beets. Along with a tiny hint of sweet and sour.

This salad is one of my favorites. It's full of flavor, but still light and very easy to make. There aren't a lot of ingredients, because I believe that with this combination of very flavorful items, less is more.

This recipe serves 2:

Ingredients:

1 pound (450 gr.) beets

2 oz. (60 gr.) soft goat cheese

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon of honey

Salad greens

Oil

Preheat an oven at 400 F (200 C). Peel the beets and cut them into wedges. Pour about 2 tablespoons of oil (olive, ghee, whatever you prefer) into a baking tray. Toss the beet wedges in the oil. Cover the tray with tin foil and bake for 35-40 minutes.

Take the tray out of the oven, and take the foil off. Mix the vinegar with the honey and pour on top of the beets. Toss the beets again and make sure that most of them are covered with the vinegar/honey mixture. Put back in the oven, and bake, without the foil, for another 15 minutes. This caramelises them, making them sweet and shiny. Let them cool (this will only take about 10 minutes).

Place a handful of salad greens on a plate and put the caramelised beet wedges on top. If you have some juices left in the baking try, you can use this as a dressing. Just pour some over the beets and leaves. Finally, crumble the goat chees on top and you have an amazing salad!