lunch - Choice of Magic

Shaved Zucchini with Feta, Walnuts and Honey

June 7, 2021

This #homemadeMonday called for a light dish – not because of any efforts towards a summer body (all bodies are summer bodies) but because it´s Sangria season and that to me means light dishes and heavy Sangria jars. And since the farmers´ market I go to on Saturdays has been displaying an exquisite selection of zucchinis for the past few days, I thought of giving the raw zucchini a chance. Mind you, I´ve only ever tasted cooked zucchini before, but was pleasantly surprised by how the raw version tasted. I inspired myself from this recipe – changing some things like replacing the goat cheese for feta cheese, the pine nuts for walnuts, choosing amaranth microgreens for an even nutty-er flavour and coating it all with honey instead of lemon juice. Read on for my recipe, or check the one I linked.

International Dinner Food

Rainbow Salad with Mango and Blackberries

November 9, 2020

I should perhaps start this #homemadeMonday recipe with a confession: I am one of those insane people that likes pineapple on my pizza. I mean, I don´t love it, but I don´t mind it either. What I do love though, is fruit in my salad. And while I rarely post salad articles on the blog, when I made this salad, I felt I really wanted to share it with you all. A little bit of unsolicited context for when I first made this salad: I was reading Marissa Peer´s book Perfect Weight Forever, and was working on bettering my food habits by not associating heavy comfort food with feeling better when I was down. I instead decided to stick to eating well and healthy when I was feeling sad and not try to fix these moments with fast food. So I made this salad and it was so delicious that I swore never again to order a way too greasy cheeseburger to stop me from crying. Here´s the super simple recipe:

Romanian Food Lunch

Mom´s Magic Polenta

October 26, 2020

Took me long enough, but this month´s #guestchefseries comes from my one and only mom. I´ve been waiting to post my mom´s magic polenta recipe for over a month now. During my trip to Romania last month I asked her to make it several times and thereby fell in love all over again with this dish that so thoroughly influenced my childhood. If you didn´t know that already, polenta is an instrumental part of our culture as Romanian. It´s a humble, yet versatile dish , that despite its simplicity not many youngsters dare to make. And so I thought I´d share my mom´s recipe of what we in my family call “gâscã” or “goose” – polenta with sour cream and cheese. Easy as a #homemadeMonday morning. Note: my mom likes to make it extra creamy so it looks almost like a soup. I personally think that´s one of her secrets. Bonus: pictures of Didi, our basset hound eyeing the deliciousness.

Italian Food Lunch

Easy Spaghetti with Sausage and Mushrooms

September 21, 2020

Last night I ate some of the best pasta of my life. You can find them at one of Sibiu´s best restaurants – Max. Just order the tagliatelle paglia e fieno in salsa di tartufo e misto di funghi. The name alone makes me drool. I actually wanted to attempt making them at home today, for this #homemadeMonday, but truffles are really difficult to find in my hometown and as much as I loved the dish, I am not sure my teenage brother would have. So I asked him what pasta to make and he immediately told me about my dad´s amazing spaghetti with sausage and mushrooms. We´ve been eating Italian in our home for as long as I can remember since my dad often went on business to Italy. I think I remember this particular dish from when I was little but I wasn´t quite sure. So I bought some things, took some tomato sauce from our cellar and watched my dad in action. We cooked as a family and what came out were some super easy to make spaghetti to comfort your rainy days.

Food Lunch

Stuffed Zucchini Boats

June 22, 2020

A thing about me: I love stuffed veggies. Sure, they have little utility, but I just love the process of carving them. It reminds me of carving pumpkins for Halloween with my grandpa. And then there´s the aspect – they just look like adorable little boats, ready to set sail for our stomachs. And while the carving is a bit time consuming and when not done properly you can also lose quite a bit of the veggie (which goes against my #minimalistcooking philosophy), I do love doing these recipes every now and then. As such, this #homemadeMonday brings you my very own stuffed zucchini boat recipe.

Food Lunch

Penne with Feta and Asparagus

June 15, 2020

This #homemadeMonday brings you the recipe that made me fall in love with asparagus. I have to credit it (or a healthier version of it) to my friend Danny who first cooked it for me on a summer day in Berlin. Danny is an excellent chef and so is his brother who cooks in some of the best restaurants in Tel Aviv. Back then, Danny steamed the asparagus, and while I usually do that too, this time I decided to sautée it in butter. The blend of tastes (the assertive, slightly bitter asparagus combined with the salty, pickled feta) goes excellently with both butter and olive oil. I actually used both this time. This simple recipe literally only has 4 ingredients + salt/pepper and the optional olive oil. And even though I started eating more asparagus since, this remains my favourite use of it!

Food Lunch

Creamy Potato and Leek Soup with Apple Croutons

May 25, 2020

This #homemadeMonday I will be giving you, dear readers, an exclusive peek at my first ever attempt of cooking with leek. Two weeks ago I ordered one of those fruit and veggie baskets in an attempt to avoid the supermarket and consume more greens. One of the things that came with it was a beautiful piece of leek, that I had absolutely no clue what to do with. So I pinterested my way around some leek recipes and found tons of potato and leek soups, that just seemed to be missing something. Or two things in particular. Read on to discover my two secret ingredients for the creamiest soup ever.

Food Lunch

Spinach and Broccoli Soup with a Pesto Twist

May 4, 2020

From the series of “ingredients I hate that make astonishing tasty recipes” comes this #homemadeMonday. This recipe actually has two ingredients I hate and a couple that I love. It´s a tasty green soup, half creamy, that is ideal for both cold winter evenings as well as hot summer nights. Without further ado, here goes the spinach and broccoli soup with a pesto twist.