A summery dish....carrot tart with cocoa crust

Hey guys!

How are you doing after this wonderful weekend?

Since we all had a lot of meat the last days (you know all the BBQs and stuff) I decided to go for vegetarian recipe this week.

Today we are baking a carrot tart with nuts and cocoa crust.

I don’t know if I already told you but I was a vegetarian for quite a long time. I started eating meat again in fall 2014. Today…to be honest…I’m still not a big fan of meat but I eat some chicken or turkey from time to time.

As always I start with the health benefits of this deliciousness:

• carrots – …have a great amount of carotene (the greatest of all veggies) and fiber. Moreover they contain a bunch of vitamin B and folic acid as well as vitamin D, E and K. These vitamins are fat-soluble, which means you can resorb them better if you add a little oil. Make sure that you eat carrots always with one tablespoon of oil to get all the benefits. 

•  nuts – …are rich in healthy unsaturated fatty acids and protein (15-20%, in comparison: roast beef has 9.5%). In addition they contain a lot of B vitamins and phytochemicals. But eat them consciously…as healthy they may be…they are really high in calories. (one hand full of nuts has around 650kcal).

• cocoa – Two tablespoons of cocoa powder contain about 1.5g of fat, 3.6g of fiber and notable amounts of magnesium and iron. Moreover cocoa has a lot of antioxidants, which may lower LDL cholesterol and high blood pressure. Be careful most of store-bought cocoa products have the flavonoids (antioxidants) removed because of their bitter taste. Try to get raw cocoa powder to obtain the health benefits without the sugar.

Before we start I have to thank my friend who helped me cooking. First she was a bit skeptical to compare cocoa and carrots but in the end she liked the tart quite a lot.

Now let’s start cooking!

First I prepared the crust. I combined 1 ½ cups of flour with 2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder, one egg, ½ cup of butter and ½ tablespoon of baking powder. I kneaded the dough until it came together to ball. Afterwards I wrapped it into foil and stored it in the fridge for about half an hour. 

Next I rolled it out and placed it in a greased pan. I pierced the crust with a fork several times to prevent that it rises too much. I baked it for about 20 minutes at 180°C [360F].

In the meantime I stir-fried two cups of peeled and sliced carrots.

  
Then I scrambled three eggs with one cup of sour cream and a pinch of salt.

Afterwards I spread the carrot slices on the crust and poured over the egg mix. At the last I put a few slices of goat cheese on top and baked the tart for about 30 minutes at 180°C [360F].

 

As soon as the cheese was melted I removed the tart from the oven and let it chill for about 10 minutes.  I decorated my piece of tart with some rocket and almond flakes.

Tell me what you think about the cocoa dough down below and let me know if you want to see a special recipe.

 

I hope you enjoy!

xoxo

Andrea

4th of July can come...with these red, white & blue salads

 

Hey guys!

You all know 4^th of July is right around the corner and with it lots of garden parties, BBQs and fun with friends!

And...I have the perfect recipes for you!

Healthy, delicious and totally „Instagram-worthy“ because everything is blue white or red.

Today I present you two summery salads: the classic tomato mozzarella salad with blueberries and the fancy watermelon, blueberry and goat cheese salad.

Let's start with some infos about the nutrients:

tomatoes - ...are full of vitamins A,C, E (antioxidative) as well as vitamin B. In addition tomatoes contain a lot of magnesium, iron and calcium and rare micronutrients such as cobalt and zinc.

blueberries -  ...are really a secret weapon of health. They contain a lot of carotene and vitamin C. The best ingredient is by far the natural colorant „myrtillin“: Together with iron and vitamin C it protects your blood vessels and can prevent strokes.

watermelon - ...is like a big red bottle of mineral water. It cleanses your kidneys and contains 95% water and a bunch of good micronutrients such as calcium, iron, iodine and fluorine.

cheese - …is are great way to add protein to your salad. 100g of mozzarella cheese contain 18% and goat cheese has even 21% of protein.

And now let's prepare delicious salads!

I started with chopping ¼ of a watermelon. I removed the green parts, cut the rest in bite-size chunks and placed them in a bowl. I added one cup of blueberries and stirred a little. Next I cut about nine cherry tomatoes in half and placed them in another bowl. Afterwards I mixed in half a cup mini mozzarella balls and half a cup of blueberries.

For classic salad dressing I blended ¼ cup of vinegar and 3 tablespoons of olive oil together. I added a pinch of salt and half a glove of garlic and mixed again. Afterwards I tossed my tomato mozzarella salad with the dressing and set it aside.

I marinated the fancy watermelon salad with a dash of lemon juice and one teaspoon of honey.

At the last I took a cookie cutter, cut out little goat cheese stars and placed them on the watermelon salad.

If you throwing a garden party/BBQ on your own, you can totally change the salad into cute skewers or a mini appetizers.

I hope you enjoy!

...and if you recreate my recipes please send me a photo...I'd love to see all the healthy dishes.

xo

Andrea

A homemade burger...kind of healthy "junk food"

My boyfriend and me are currently betting who of us will be fitter after the next two months. It's about a amazon coupon and although we didn't even have a neutral judge I'm determined to beat him!

But...from time to time both of us are craving some sort of junk food. This time it was a nice burger.

And since I'm always trying to add my personal touch to my dishes and make them a little healthier I did the same with a common burger recipe.

So...this is my healthy and homemade burger!!

Here are my modifications so that you can see all the benefits you get from a homemade burger:

• for my patty I just 100% organic beef
• instead of the common burger bun I made my own wholewheat burger buns – By replacing the white flour with wholewheat flour I prevent blood sugar spikes and go for a longer satiety.
• instead of the high processed cheese (to my opinion it isn't cheese at all) I used crumbled feta cheese – This substitution will safe you from a bunch of additives and about 5g of saturated fat (per 100g of cheese).
• instead of ketchup and mustard I made a Greek yogurt sauce with tumeric and garlic – Cutting out the ketchup means cutting out 2g of sugar which comes from high fructose corn syrup.
• instead of pickle slices and onions I opt for fresh veggies such as tomatoes, lettuce and fresh cucumber – Cooking with fresh vegetables will give you a bunch of nutrients and leave out all the additives which are required for a longer shelf life.

And now....here is what I did:

I made my wholewheat burger buns the day before because it would have taken to much time. (Sry but I completely forgot to take pictures.)

I placed about two cups of wholewheat flour in a mixing bowl. Then I disolved 42g of fresh yeast (two packages of dry yeast) in two cups of milk. Afterwards I stirred everything together and let it sit for about half an hour. Next I added another two cups of wholewheat flour, two eggs, a pinch of salt and one cup of milk. I knead all ingredients together and let my dough sit for another hour. As soon as the dough has doubled in size I formed my buns, placed them on a lined baking tray and baked them for 30 minutes on 150°C (300F). I removed them from the oven let them cool and stored them in a lidded box.

Today I started with cutting my buns in half and toast them a little.

For the sauce I mixed one cup of Greek yogurt with one tablespoon of tumeric paste and one glove of garlic together and added a pinch of salt and black pepper.

To make the patties I placed about two cups of organic minced beef in a bowl and added one egg. I seasoned it with one tablespoon of mustard and a pinch of salt and knead until everything is well combined. (Sry guys, but that is handwork....so wash your hands and dig in!)

I heated up a pan, poured in one tablespoon of oil and put my patties in. After ca couple of minutes I flipped them and fried them on the other side for 5 more minutes.

Meanwhile I had washed my vegetables, cut them in thin slices and crumbled the feta cheese.

Now it's time to build up that burger.

I placed the lower half of my burger bun on a plate. Then I put a lettuce leave on it and topped it with the patty. Next...the sauce. I spread one teaspoon of it on the patty and topped it with the cucumber and tomato slices. At last I sprinkled the feta cheese on and put the upper half of the burger bun on top.

Doesn't this look so delicious? I'm really getting hungry right now.

Can we find a cool name for this delicious burger? Please comment down below if you have a nice idea!

It remains saying enjoy your homemade healthy burger, wish me luck for my bet/competition and I'm looking forward to read all your comments.

xo

Andrea