I’m a huge granola fan (examples: coconut quinoa granola, the ultimate granola). It’s pretty healthy, crunchy, full of fiber and good carbs and a little sweet, so what’s not to love? However, sometimes I like to spice it up a bit (literally) and make a savory granola. This granola is perfectly crunchy and has quite some fire to it thanks to a generous amount of black pepper.
I’m gonna be honest about it, I’m not the biggest fan of ginger. I think its flavor can be kind of intrusive and sort of overwhelming. However, when you only use a little bit of it, for example in a smoothie or in these delicious bliss balls, it just add a little depth and warmth to the overall flavor of the dish.
These tiny bliss balls are real powerhouses with healthy whole food ingredients like fresh ginger, turmeric, nuts and seeds. For example, it is scientifically proven that ginger has plenty anti inflammatory and antioxidant characteristics. Interestingly, a 2012 study even showed that when mice with tumors were fed 100 mg ginger extract per kg body weight, their tumors decreased in size by 56%! Even though this study was done in mice, it still provides an interesting perspective of the positive effect that ginger may have on our body.
As promised, today I present to you one of my favorite to-go lunches/dinners: Instant Noodle Soup! Whaaaa!! It’s a dream come true, or at least for me. I used to love instant noodle soup when I was younger, it was salty, it was warm and it was super quick — no prepping or cutting of vegetables involved, just pouring in boiling water and wait 3 minutes (which was the hardest part!) and then you’d have this delicious bowl of salty soup with teeny tiny chunks of veggies and lots of noodles.
Of course, that’s not really healthy, and most of those instant noodle soups have extremely high sodium levels and actually little ingredients that were nutritious or had any significant value of vitamins and minerals.
Most bouillon powders or stock cubes are chock full of additives, flavor enhancers, sugar, salt and other weird things that you don’t actually need. Although using stock cubes is an easy way to e.g. give your soups extra flavor, it can also give you all those things that you would probably prefer not to ingest. Therefore I went on an experimental journey, to see if I could make a powder as an alternative for stock cubes!
I know there are already two pumpkin soup recipes up on That Healthy Kitchen (this simple spicy one with chickpeas and this creamy one with coconut milk) and now I would like to add yet another one to my ever growing list of recipes: Pumpkin Soup with Harissa and Orange.
To those of you that don’t know what Harissa is, don’t worry, until two years ago I didn’t know either, but now I adore it! Harissa is a North-African/Middle Eastern sauce made from roasted bell peppers, red chillies, garlic and spices. Basically it is just Sriracha sauce, African/Middle Eastern style. Ever since I saw this recipe from Tieghan from Half Baked Harvest I’ve been wanting to make it at home too, but sometimes our “to-make wish list” just gets too long. I’m guessing basically everybody with Pinterest has that nowadays lol #toomuchinspiration
A little while ago I tasted my first ever roasted chickpeas… And wow, I was mind blown by the taste and texture! Normally, I find that the texture of cooked chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) can soon become a bit crumbly/mealy on the inside, which is something I absolutely hate (and with me most people I think). But with those roasted chickpeas that was not the case at all. They were actually super crispy and crunchy and very flavorful, and as a bonus they were even really filling too.
Of course, I had to recreate them at home, which was actually quite a challenge. I think it took me a good 5 batches or so to get the crispiness and the flavoring quite right, but now they are even better than the ones that I first had! The secret is to not use too much oil, and to preheat your oven as hot as possible. I have a really small and honestly not such a great oven, but it still manages to heat up to 220 degrees C, so even if your oven isn’t the most fancy model, this recipe should even work for you.
Oatmeal is one of the healthiest breakfasts you can eat. Oats are full of fibers and are high in protein, which will make you feel full until lunch time, but oats are also bursting with micronutrients like thiamin, manganese, phosphorus and magnesium.
For me, oatmeal is what I eat for breakfast almost every day, especially now that it is getting colder outside and I want something warm to start my day with. Normally I would opt for this Apple Pie Oatmeal, which is also perfect for this time of year, but to spice things up a little I’ve been making this Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal often for the last couple of weeks. It is perfectly spiced with hints of vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, and it is really smooth and creamy from the pumpkin puree. The pecans on the other hand add a nice contrast to the creaminess of the oats. On top of that all, the oatmeal is sweetened with date paste (or date caramel), which are actually pretty high in potassium and copper.
