Veggie Soup with Semolina Dumplings

This is one of my favorite childhood lunch meals. A delicious veggie soup with dumplings was just perfect after an exhausting play time outside. My grandma and my mother used to make this. This is especially good when having a sore throat or a cold as it will instantly make you feel better. Semolina dumplings are very tasty and combined with flavorful carrot and sweet potatoes, this soup will become one of your favorites for sure!

Low fat, diet friendly and very filling, this recipe is a must-try!

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Potato and Carrot Caraway Flavored Creamy Soup

I am huge fan of creamy soups! My all time favorite is the Creamy Red Lentil Soup but this potato and caraway soup definitely occupies the second place.  I also love caraway seeds; did you know that caraway is great for digestion? Yes! If you experience some unwanted digestion problems all you need is to make yourself 2-3 cups/day of caraway tea and you'll start feeling a lot better.  Just add 1 tsp of caraway seeds in a cup of boiling water and infuse for 10 minutes. It is even better if you have ground caraway seeds.

About this delicious soup...well it's easy and fast to make! Yep..I love to cook but don't really enjoy spending lots of hours in the kitchen..especially in hot summer days.  All you need to do is quickly peel and rinse the veggies, cut in chunks and let them boil. Ready in less than 30 minutes, this soup is just perfect for summer - add some croutons and it will be even better!

Enjoy!

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Hearty Veggie Soup – perfect for cold winter days!

 I was desperately craving for a delicious hearty soup to warm me inside out and so I decided to make this easy veggie soup which is just perfect for a snowy day! I guarantee you that you’ll love it! Even my boyfriend, who is very picky when it comes to soups, said that this was one of my best soup recipes.

This recipe is really easy to make. The only annoying part is when you have to peel the garlic cloves...arrrgh...I really hate it! But it’s worth it ‘cause you’ll love the subtle garlic flavor. Unfortunately I didn’t have any fresh herbs (that’s why I don’t like winter!! Less fresh veggies...) and I’m sure it would have been perfect with some fresh parsley on top. I also used some frozen celery leaves which are basically as good as fresh ones.

About the veggie mix... use any kind of veggie mix you like but try to use one that is as healthy as possible – low in salt and free of monoglutamate monosodium/ E621; It is ideal to have a homemade condiment mix so when the summer comes make sure you don’t forget to sundry some vegetables and prepare yourself an awesome-good-for-everything veggie mix :)

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Stuffed Button Mushrooms with Garlicky Rice Noodles

Yum! Yum! I'm a huge mushrooms fan! I love their texture and how they can easily replace meat in your diet. High in proteins and low in calories, they're just perfect for anyone who wants to maintain a healthy lifestyle! Portobellos are my favorite because they're easy to cook and have a really a soft texture. 

Easy and diet-friendly, this recipe can be made by anyone. The stuffed mushrooms can be served as a main or side dish or even a party appetizer! The rice noodles are also really healthy and super-fast to cook! Just put some boiling water over them and they'll be ready in no time! The sauce although must have a strong flavor or else they'll be pretty tasteless.

Hope you'll like this recipe!  

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Vegetarian Serbian Rice Pilaf

Sorry for the long break dear foodies! I had lots of exams recently and no time for cooking. I made this recipe especially for those of you who are always on the run and want something healthy to eat. This recipe is ready really fast and feeds 8 people!  

What other ingredients do you use for rice pilafs? I love rice and I'd like to try different recipes as well.

Tips for cooking rice pilafs: How do you know how much water you need to add? Easy! 3 times the amount of rice.  It’s a 1:3 ratio. Also, boil the rice only for a couple of minutes then remove from heat and cover with a lid. This way it will absorb all the water and you’ll never have to worry again about burning the rice.

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Vegan, Low Fat "A La Russe" / Olivier Salad

This is a special recipe for me because I only eat this salad once a year! It's a tradition for us Romanians to make this salad on Christmas and New Year's Eve. The original recipe is Russian and contains meat but it's just as delicious without it.

I'm not a fan of mayo and I tried to make it as healthy as possible. The sour flavor of pickles blends perfectly with the sweetness of the corn, carrots and potatoes. The combination is just perfect.

I hope you like this simple and easy world-known recipe - now healthy!

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Vegetarian Mushroom and Brown Rice Dolmas

First of all let me tell you what dolmas are . Dolmas are grape leaves traditionally stuffed with a mixture of rice and meat and then cooked. They are a Middle Eastern and Mediterranean specialty and are served as appetizers. The vegetarian ones are usually served cold and the ones with meat warm.

 I prefer them warm and served as a main dish with a tasty sauce on top. If you are vegan you can try a tomato based sauce and if you are vegetarian some sour cream (+ garlic - optional) on top will make these dolmas just perfect.  

Unfortunately I didn't count them before I put them in the oven and now once they're ready it's pretty impossible to do it. I think I made about 30 dolmas but this is only an approximation.  

Enjoy this healthy and delicious low calorie meal!

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The Perfect Butter Beans Stew

This dish goes straight to the first place in my favorite foods list! It is absolutely perfect! I like beans a lot and I have tried different recipes but this one has the ideal combination of flavors. I know, I know I'm bragging but still...you have to try it and you'll see that I'm right.

Use dry butter beans! Don't cheat and use canned ones because I don't guarantee that the taste and texture will be same.

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Brown Rice Mushroom Pilaf

This is one of my favorite dishes. I love everything about it, texture, flavors, you name it. It is so simple and yet so tasty. I usually eat this with a big bunch of chopped parsley on top because I’m such a parsley lover and this combination seems perfect to me.

Another great thing is that it doesn’t take much time to make; you just throw there some ingredients and let the fire to its job. Unfortunately I don’t have as much time as I’d like to spend in the kitchen and I know that most of you are in the same situation as I am, that’s why I want to show you simple, quick and healthy recipes.

Do you know other brown rice pilaf recipes? I only tried it with mushrooms or chicken (when I wasn’t vegetarian). Do you think that this will work with other veggies as well but still maintain its smooth texture?

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Mashed Butter Beans with Tomato Sauce

This is an easy recipe that can be used as a side, appetizer or even a main dish. Because this recipe is high in fibers and low in fat and sodium, it is recommended for those of you who are on a diet trying to lose weight.

What I like most about this recipe is that it is also very versatile; you can add a carrot instead of celery, which will give the beans a beautiful orange color or you can change the sauce, for example tahini paste will be delicious if served on top of these mashed beans. Feel free to try an combination you like.

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Raw Vegan Cranberry Brownie

I love desserts and because I often eat sweets, I prefer them raw. We all know that all sweets are high in calories, but making mostly raw desserts makes me feel good and guilt-free; this way I know I get plenty of vitamins, minerals and other great nutrients and so I ignore the calories.

Another thing I love about raw desserts is that they’re so easy to make! This took me less than 5 minutes, excluding the time required for soaking and freezing.
Question: Do you know other brownie recipes that are healthy and gluten-free?

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Asian “Chicken” Stir Fry

This is the perfect meal if you want to fool a meat eater into believing that what he eats is chicken. This happened to my boyfriend and he realized he’s not eating chicken only when he saw that I was eating too.

You’ll love the soy texture and the spicy aromas. This recipe is easy, fast and healthy. Let me know if the trick worked for you as well.

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Black Bean Veggie Nuggets

I am constantly trying to make my bf give up meat and what is a better way than cooking some meat-like, fast food looking, healthy meals. He loved this recipe! And I mean LOVED! It resembles the traditional Romanian meat nuggets recipe which honestly is delicious but really unhealthy. I used a very small amount of oil, gluten free flour and black beans which are a lot better than the white ones because they contain more fibers and have an impressive amount of antioxidants.

By the way, these nuggets can be easily transformed in burger patties.

I really hope you’ll like this recipe. It is simple and delicious!

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Vegan Bolognese Spaghetti

I love Italian food, especially pasta! This is the well known Bolognese Pasta recipe turned vegan. The texture and taste are almost the same as in the original recipe, which is a great thing! Even better, I used gluten free spaghetti.

Hope you'll like it!

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Autumn in a plate - Oven Roasted Vegetables

I love roasted vegetables; so easy to make, so simple and yet so delicious. Of course raw vegetables are a lot healthier than cooked ones but sometimes you just need a hot meal right?! Anyway this dish is very healthy, low in calories, low in fat and also low in sodium, diet friendly and it is very filling too.

Did you know that unlike other fruits and vegetables, where nutritional content such as vitamin C is diminished upon cooking, processing of tomatoes increases the concentration of bioavailable lycopene. Lycopene in tomato paste is four times more bioavailable than in fresh tomatoes. For this reason, tomato sauce is a preferable source as opposed to raw tomatoes. If you don't know, lycopene is a powerful antioxidant and it has been considered a potential agent for prevention of some types of cancers.

Another great thing about this recipe is the combination of tastes and textures: sweet and salty, crunchy and soft...amazing! I also love the colors; the potatoes look like they were painted! It’s like having autumn in a plate!

Try it!

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Black Linguine with Green Veggies

                                          

I was really hungry today and I wanted to cook something tasty but fast. I’ve been eating eggs for the past 2 days because I had no time for cooking, fortunately today is not such a stressful day.

I found a pack of black linguine in my pantry. I never cooked linguine before and I decided to give it a try. I know that black linguine is usually cooked with seafood but I tried something different. It works just as well with veggies and it is delicious; a lot better than regular pasta. I don’t know if it’s the color that I like so much, or the texture, but I know that I’ll be cooking this more often.

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Baked Carrot Frittata

First of all, this recipe isn’t vegan. As you know I am not totally vegan and honestly I don’t think I’ll ever be. I love eggs and in my opinion there is absolutely nothing unhealthy about eggs as long as they’re from hens that were not given any growth hormones or that were not fed with chemicals. Fortunately, I have a family friend that has a countryside house and all my eggs come from her.

Now, there is a different story with store-bought eggs. I never buy eggs from the store because I know where they come from and there is nothing healthy about stuffed-with-hormones hens. All chemicals and hormones that were given to hens will be transferred to the egg and finally to you. I only recommend eating eggs that were bought from a safe source. Maybe you’re lucky and you’ll find a trustworthy farmer at your local farmers market.

This is a breakfast recipe for 3-4 people or 2 really hungry ones. (By the way, it is very difficult for me to decide how many servings a recipe has because I eat normal to small servings but my boyfriend eats up to three or even four times more than me. Yeah, he has a big appetite and a fast metabolism. Wish I was like that too.)

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Multigrain Bread

I’m not a huge fan of baked goodies and I also don’t eat bread very often, but unfortunately my boyfriend needs bread at almost every meal the same way he needs air to breathe. I decided then to make a compromise, so once a week I make him a healthy and tasty bread which is surprisingly filling and instead of eating 5 servings of “filled with chemicals” bread a week, he only eats a healthy one. This is a simple recipe that does not require a lot of kneading.

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