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Chinese vs. Belgian new year

In belgium we do have some new year traditions like go and watch the firewordks and drinking lots of champagne. But we don’t really have a traditional dish eaten on new year.

Chinese new year is actually 15 days long rather than one. In those 15 days they eat a lot of food like for instace lumpia. We have made a recipe for some vegetarian lumpia or spring rolls, they are delicious and easy to make.

Enjoy!

#lumpia #spring roll

"When I was younger...”

Hi guys!

Today I talked with my grandmother about how eating habits have drastically changed and she told me some interesting things I thought I would share with you. Not to mention the fact that she was extremely pleased that I, for once, wanted to listen to one of her “when I was younger”-stories. Apparently, she - just like a lot of women back then - didn’t work so the entire family expected her to prepare a nice meal by the time everyone was home. So she couldn’t just say that she didn’t have the energy to cook and ordering a pizza or something was completely out of the question. She said that the evolution of the technology was a major reason why the eating habits have changed so dramatically. Things like pre-packaged foods and ready-meals weren’t heard of in her family so preparing a meal took a very very long time. Now we have a microwave that does all the work. She also said that they ate more frequently home-cooked meals. And although we don’t eat out every single night, it does occur now and again. The last thing she talked, more like complained, about was the fact that we can find food whenever and wherever we want to. There are supermarkets, restaurants etc. everywhere. We do snack a lot -sometimes too much - and my grandma thinks it’s crazy. So her opinions about this topic weren’t really positive. On the contrary, she summarized the entire conversation with the phrase “So you guys are basically a bunch of unhealthy and overweight people.”. A bit dramatic, don’t you think?

do-not-touch-my-food

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Nachos with Green Chile Salsa

Delicious milkshake!

I love milkshakes, it’s an easy and tasty way to use your overripe fruits. I had a couple of brown speckled bananas and decided, rather than throwing them away, to make a milkshake with them!

For this shake I used milk but you can also use vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients:

- bananas (you can choose how much)

- honey

- milk or vanilla ice cream

- chocolate

The things you’ll need:

- a blender

The method:

First chop the bananas into pieces and put them in the blender. Then add the milk or ice cream and the honey. At last chop the chocolate in small pieces and put it in the blender. Mix everything until there are no large chunks left.

You can choose the amount of ingredients depending on what you like more chocolate, milk or bananas.

I hope you like it!

#homemademilkshake #bananas #chocolate #milk #icecream #honey

Yesterday during dinner, we were talking about something and I thought it’d be interesting to share it. My mom had prepared baklava as desert that day while the rest of the family was partly watching and partly listening to a show that was on television. The show was about the story of Suleiman The Magnificent, The Great Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. My little sister saw a scene where the servants in the kitchen were busy preparing baklava. She got super excited because we were eating the same thing my mom prepared. My dad, who’s extremely interested in history and knows every single detail about it, explained why baklava is such an important dish in the Turkish culture. Apparently, The Sultan presented trays of baklava to the Janissaries on the 15th of the month of Ramadan in a ceremonial procession called the Baklava Alayi. And while we have dropped the entire “gift to the Janissaries” thing, baklava is still one of the most important traditional foods in Turkey.

#baklava

Lovely recipe!

My favourite vegetable is tomato so I am always on the lookout for nice and easy recipes. I made the following and thought that it was worth sharing.

First of all: the Ingredients

• 1 fresh red chilli

• ½ bunch of fresh basil

• extra virgin olive oil

• balsamic vinegar

• 600 g mixed cherry tomatoes

• 250 g halloumi cheese

• 1 large beefsteak tomato

• TOMATO & ROAST GARLIC DRESSING

• 2 yellow tomatoes

• 2 orange tomatoes

• 4 cloves of garlic

The method

Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5.

For the dressing, place the tomatoes and garlic on a baking tray and roast for 15 minutes, or until soft.

Deseed and finely slice the chilli and pick and tear up the basil, reserving a few baby leaves for garnish.

Once roasted, pop the tomatoes in a blender and squeeze in the soft garlic flesh, then blitz until smooth.

Add a few swigs of oil, a splash of balsamic and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper, blitz again and check the seasoning, then set aside.

Roughly chop the cherry tomatoes, then place in a bowl and dress with oil, the chilli and torn basil.

Slice up the halloumi, then hit it with some black pepper.

Preheat a large non-stick pan over a medium heat, then add the halloumi in a single layer so most of the slices are touching – you want to create a doily effect with a few gaps.

Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until golden and starting to melt together, then carefully flip over with a fish slice. If it breaks, don’t worry, it will all melt back together. Basically what you’re trying to create is a big halloumi plate.

Once golden on both sides, slide it onto a serving board.

Finely slice the beef tomato and lay the slices on top of the halloumi.

Tip over the dressed tomatoes over and scatter with the reserved basil leaves.

Take to the table with the tomato and roast garlic dressing to drizzle over before serving.

I found it at the website of Jamie Oliver:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/tomato-medley/#jhH5czkvdpv2eljV.97

Nice restaurant in Antwerp!

If you ever visit Antwerp, I really advise you to go and eat at the lunchbox.

It’s a restaurant/bar located in the centre of Antwerp at the Theaterplein, a five minute walk from the Meir (the biggest shopping street of Antwerp). It’s a healty food café which translates in a lot of vegetables ,fruits and vegetarian/meat dishes.They also have a large offer of homemade drinks, with or without alcohol (my personal favorite is the tropic thunder). In the winter you can eat inside and in summer you can eat at the lovely terrace. The establishment is open from 10 am til 10 pm. and on thursday it’s closed.

Hopefully you like it as much as we do

http://www.lunchbox.be

#healtyfoodcafé #antwerp

Save the pigs!

As you may know I am a vegetarian and my friend, Zumra, is Muslim so we both don’t eat pigs. They are really cute and deserve a good life so donate money at: https://www.gofundme.com/rescued-piglets and save the pigs!

Did you know that Chinese dumpling, eaten at midnight of the Chinese New Year, symbolizes wealth? Its shape is similiar to gold and silver ingots, which were currencies in ancient China. They were made in such shapes by people to show their wish to gain wealth. Traditionally, when people make dumplings on the eve of the Spring Festival, a coin will be put into a dumpling. The one who finds it will likely have a good fortune in the New Year.