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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Potato and Carrot Stew

I'm a parsley maniac! Yes I am! I eat parsley in HUGE quantities and not just as garnish. I sometimes eat it just as it is...chop it, put it in a bowl..Tadaa! Parsley Salad! Parsley is very healthy. Did you know that parsley contains 4 times more vitamin C than citrus fruits? The ideal vitamin C provider.

Mom is just the perfect comfort food cook. She always makes delicious meals that are quick, easy  and even more..they're healthy! I'm glad I learned from her these wonderful recipes. This is a great meal for a family dinner/lunch. Vegs or non-vegs..your family will love it!

P.S. Can't wait for all those awesome green veggies to appear! I have a huge list of recipes that I'll love to share with you. So...Spring! Hurry up! Don't want to see any more snow outside! 

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Spicy Mussels with White Wine and Garlic Sauce

Ha ha! I’m not on a seafood diet but still.. it’s funny! I found this on pinterest and it immediately put a smile on my face. This awesome recipe is for my non-veg readers. It’s a healthy recipe which I’m sure you’ll love. 

First of all let me just say that this is not my recipe. Cooking seafood isn’t exactly my thing; I’m also not a very frequent seafood eater...a few times a year at most! This recipe was made by my dad. He likes cooking special recipes and he’s really good at it. It was just YUM and it is very easy to make, ready in half an hour!

Hope this recipe will remind you of warm, sunny days! Can't wait for winter to pass... but the snow outside doesn't look like it wants to go away very soon. 

Let me know if you like this recipe! Hugs!

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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 Shepherd's Pie - with vegan version

This dish is an absolutely must-try for all of you vegans/vegetarians who sometimes miss the taste of meat. This recipe was made by my mom, who is eating less and less meat and she's trying to "vegetarianize" all recipes that she cooks. I'm am so happy that I succeeded in changing  my parents' eating habits even just a little.

Yes, this recipe takes a little longer to prepare but it is definitely worth it! Try it and let me know if you liked it as much as I did.

BIG DILEMMA! What is the most suitable name for this recipe? Some people told me that this is pastistio, others told me it is more like a vegetarian shepherd's pie and now I'm a bit confused because the Romanian moussaka recipe contains meat and no eggplants like the Greek one does and that is the reason why I called it a "moussaka". Any ideas? :)

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Hungarian Plum Dumplings - with vegan/sugar free version

First of all let me begin by telling you that this is not my recipe, this wonderful dessert was made by my mom. I tried to make it a bit healthier by substituting some of the ingredients. For example instead of sugar I used honey and sucanat; also I lowered the amount of oil used in the original recipe.

This is a must try! Unfortunately it takes 2 hours to make about 25 dumplings; I don’t have that patience so that’s the main reason why I avoid making cooked desserts. Also I wanted to take a "group" photo with all the lovely dumplings but it was too late, these little sweets disappeared as soon as they were served!

You should definitely try this Hungarian dessert! You’ll love it!


Question: Do you know any healthy and preferably gluten-free dumpling recipes?

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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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Boiled Potatoes with Onion and Rosemary

 

 I wanted something cooked but cooked fast and the word “potatoes” popped into my mind. I have about a sack full of baby potatoes from my boyfriend’s parents garden so I have to eat in this week a lot more potatoes that I usually eat, because I don’t want them to spoil.  This dish was very tasty! Potatoes are great in general, but the combination with onion dipped in paprika was just perfect. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

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