feel food club

Vegetarian

The meanest green sandwich with grilled halloumi and lemon spinach

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Who doesn’t love a good sandwich? And not just a good one but a really delicious and healthy one. Marinated lemon tomato spinach paired with pesto, avocado and perfectly grilled and soft halloumi. Every single bite is a pleasure. 

Sandwiches are truly one of the best meals you can have. I mean, they consist of bread, and who does not love bread? And you can fill them with whatever you like!! Pretty genius to be honest. But really, today we are not going to make a basic boring sandwich. We are going to make a next level sandwich that makes your mouth water and still is ready in 15 minutes! 

What is special about this dish?

It is the unusual fillings if the sandwich! How often is the bread just spread with butter or mayonnaise and topped with ham and cheese? Way too often in my opinion. Not only, that it really is not healthy, but kind of boring right? In this sandwich we have an incredibly delicious combination of incredibly delicious marinated spinach that is tossed in a mixture of lemon juice, olive oil, dried tomatoes and chili flakes, some delicious creamy avocado, a gentle spread of pesto, and let’s not forget about the star of the show, the soft halloumi. If you have never had the combination of avocado and halloumi, then now it’s high time.

Are sandwiches healthy and how to make them healthy

There definitely is no yes or no answer to this question. This really depends SO much on what the sandwich is made out of. If you have some white toast with butter, cheese and ham, then no, it is not healthy. There is no fiber but lots and lots of fats in it. But if you make one like this, it is fair to say that it is healthy. You have got nutrients and vitamins from the spinach, healthy fats and vitamins from the avocado, and a bunch of fibre and complex carbohydrates from the whole grain bread. The halloumi is nit super duper healthy but it is super delicious and the combination is what makes it. The sandwich is very well balanced out with healthy ingredients such as spinach and also deliciousness as the halloumi. 

But how can you make a healthy sandwich? With very easy changes, you can get a big difference in the nutritional value. It already starts with the bread. Instead of white toast, you can long for whole grain bread. More fiber and more complex carbs which will provide more nutritional value and will keep you full for longer. Then it comes to the spread. Instead of using butter, you can long for avocado, pesto or hummus for example. They all are loaded with unsaturated fats and are a healthier choice over butter. 

Then, what I always love to do is adding some kind of veggies. You can do some salad, like in this sandwich, or you can also do something else like cucumber, bell peppers, radishes or whatever you like! And for me, personally I always like to have something to be kind of the „star of the show“. So something kn the middle that really fills the sandwich and makes it taste amazing. This could be halloumi, scrambled eggs, smoked or pan fried tofu, smashed chickpeas or anything else to your desire. 

How to make this sandwich:

This is truly simple. First you need to marinate the spinach. For that you just need to combine the oil, tomatoes, lemon juice and chili flakes. Next you need to toast the bread. This is not obligatory but crispy bread just tastes better in my opinion. Next, you need ti spread the pesto on both sides. This way the bread will not taste dry and it adds a bunch of flavor. Now, we need to pan fry the halloumi. For this just add the halloumi to a pan and heat it up. And then it already is down to being assembled. Yep it is that easy! 

I really love this sandwich as a brunch, a quick lunch or an easy but still fancy dinner! It is packed with so much flavor, pretty healthy and incredibly delicious while it still is super easy to make! 

I hope you like this recipe as much as I do and will make it ok repeat! 

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Meanest Greenest Sandwich with Lemon Chili Spinach and Grilled Halloumi

a delicious, easy and healthy sandwich that is ready in basically no time! Perfect dor meal prep or as a quick lunch!

Course Breakfast, brunch, lunch
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Cook Time 5 Minuten
Total Time 15 Minuten
Servings 2 Sandwiches
Calories 413 kcal

What you will need

  • 4 slices Whole grain bread
  • 1/2 Avocado
  • 125 G Halloumi
  • 2 Handful Spinach
  • 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 Tbsp Chopped dried tomatoes
  • 1 Tsp Chili flakes
  • 1/2 Lemon juiced
  • 2 Tbsp basil pesto

How to

  1. Combine the olive oil, chopped dried tomatoes, chili flakes and lemon juice in a bowl. Add it to the spinach and mix to combine. Let sit to marinate for about 10 minutes.

  2. Toast the slices of whole grain bread. Slice up the avocado. Heat up a pan and add the halloumi. Fry for about 2-4 minutes on each side.

  3. Spread the pesto on one side of every bread. Add the spinach on top, followed by the halloumi, the sliced avocado and close with the second slice of bread!

  4. Serve and enjoy!

Happy cooking, 

Enjoy,

Katie

Saucy Green Curry Noodles with Oven-Baked Crispy Sesame Tofu

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Is it traditional? Definitely no! Is it delicious! Holy, yes! Soft Rice Noodles in a spicy and addicting green curry sauce with all the veggies. As if that wasn’t good enough already, we have some crispy sesame tofu to top everything off. This combination is pretty amazing!

What is special about this dish?

Everything. usually curry is not served with Noodles and it is served with more sauce. Here we do not have that much sauce because we want it to be closer to a str fry kind of dish than to a soup. Also crispy sesame tofu? Never had this at a Thai restaurant before (although I wish I had). So the combination of those two makes this dish really unique, plus we are only using green veggies, which means vitamins pure. Super good.

Actually I do not know exactly how I came up with this dish. I think it is because I am obsessed with curry, but also really love some stir fried noodles. So I probably though that the combination must be heaven. And it definitely turned out to be. If you have been following me round for a while you would know that this „simple“ combo was to simple for me. So I knew I had to add something to make it fancy (that is still easy to make of course)!

How to make crispy healthy tofu

Making crispy tofu is nt hard. But making it healthy is. Why? To make crispy Tofu you could just deep fry it and then you have it! But deep frying always comes with a lot of oil and therefore fats! Is there a way to make healthy crispy tofu? Yes there is! In the oven. Usually I am not a big fan of making crispy things in the oven to be honest. They often just turn out lame and without any taste. But not this tofu.

To add some flavour at first, we are marinating it in some soy sauce. This really gives it so much flavour. Then, we need to coat it. It is important to use breadcrumbs here as they will make it the crispiest. And since we want a little asian touch, we add some sesame seeds. So in the end we have a mixture of sesame seeds and breadcrumbs. Make sure to coat the tofu well on each side.

Now we need to bake them. At very high heat! This is an important step. Before baking tough, we need to drizzle some oil. And yes this is essential. baked good just won’t turn out crispy without oil. And they won’t taste as good either! So we drizzle it with oil, so every tofu piece has some oil. And we also make sure they have space between them on the baking sheet. This is important because when the baking sheet is overcrowded, the tofu will rather steam than bake. After baking, we take it out and let it cool a little bit. Just a little bit will allow it to add the final crisp. And then you have it; addictively good healthy baked tofu.

Is this dish healthy?

Yes! I mean, look at the crazy amount of veggies we have in here. All the green veggies add a whole bunch of vitamins and fibre to the dish. The curry paste adds some good spice, the tofu the protein (and it is not deep fried, which means it is way healthier) and the glass noodles our much beloved carbs. A very balanced, delicious and healthy dish!

Substitutes:

Rice Noodles – Soba Noodles, Ramen, Udon
Brussel Sprouts, Broccoli, Edamamde, .. – truly any veggie you have in your fridge
Green curry paste – any curry paste
Sesame seeds – love them out and use breadcrumbs only

I really really love this dish as a nice and quick dinner or lunch and it also works very well for meal prep! It is full of nutrients, incredibly delicious (and when I say incredible, I mean INCREDIBLE) and super easy to make!

I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I do and will also make it on a regular basis. perfectly comforting for the upcoming colder season too!

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Green Curry Noodles with Crispy Tofu

An incredibly delicious and easy dinner or lunch! Spicy Noodles in a delicious, addictive green curry sauce topped off with some seriously good crispy tofu

Course bowl, dinner, Main Course
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Cook Time 20 Minuten
Total Time 30 Minuten
Servings 4 servings
Calories 610 kcal

What you will need

Crispy Tofu

  • 400 g tofu
  • 6 tbsp breadcrumbs
  • 3 tbsp sesame seeds
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce

Green Noodles

  • 250 g rice noodles
  • 50 g green curry paste
  • 100 ml coconut milk
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 100 g broccoli*
  • 100 g edamame*
  • 2 pak choi*
  • 100 g brussel sprouts*
  • 100 g spinach*

How to

  1. Preheat the oven to 220°C. Cut the Tofu into 1cm sized chunks. Toss them in the soy sauce. In a seperate bowl combine sesame seeds and bread crumbs. Toss the tofu in the mixture and spread them out on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Make sure there is space inbetween the chunks. Drizzle the oil and bake for 17-20 minutes. Then take out and let cool a little bit.

  2. In the meantime chop all of the veggies into bite sized chunks. Heat up the oil in a nonstick pan. Once hot fry the veggies for 3-4 minutes. Turn down the heat to medium-low. In a bowl combine the coconut milk with the curry paste until smooth.

  3. Prepare the rice noodles according to package instructions but undercook them for 2 minutes. When done cooking, drain them and add them to the veggies along with the curry sauce and the spinach. Gently mix through until everything is well combined. Divide onto the bowls and top with the crispy tofu! Enjoy!

Notes

*you can use whichever veggies you like or have at home

Happy cooking,
Enjoy,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière

Super easy roasted sesame miso eggplant with coconut rice

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The soft „meat“ of the eggplant, soaked with flavour of the sesame miso marinade combined with creamy coconut rice and a baby spinach salad. Way easier than it sounds. And so delicious. 30 minutes, full of flavour, healthy and comforting.

I have never been to Japan, unfortunately, but it definitely is one of the top destinations of my travel list. I just really like all of the flavours, spices and fermented goods in their cuisine. Since the current situation makes travelling a bit difficult, it is time for us to bring Japan home! Taking the delicious and decadent flavours and making masterpieces out of them in the kitchen! And also, here is no better way to start into the slightly colder season than with some good comfort food. Heating up the oven and baking and the bubbling food on the stove. A super soft on the inside eggplant and creamy rice is the perfect dish for such occasions.

What is special about this dish?

Kind of everything, to be honest. The eggplant that is prepared and soaked up with the slightly sweet but so delicious asian marinade and baked to perfection and the rice that is not you average side dish rice but made with much more flavour.

What is miso and where can you get it?

Miso is a paste made from fermented soy beans and salt. It originated in Japan and is typically used in Asian, especially Japanese cuisine. Probably it’s most common use is in miso soup, which you can find at most Japanese restaurants. There are several different kinds of miso paste, from black to yellow and sweet so sour. For this recipe, I would recommend using a yellow/ light one without added sugar since we are adding the sweetness ourselves.

You can find Miso paste at pretty much any asian grocery store. It also often can be found at health stores or organic markets because of its high content of probiotics (through fermentation) or speciality stores.

Is this dish healthy?

I would definitely say so! You get great nutrients such as vitamins and fibre form the eggplant and also healthy probiotics from the miso (although there won’t be as much due to heating it up). The rice adds some great carbohydrates and protein and the coconut milk adds a healthy dose of fats. The only thing you should note is that this dish is a bit high in sodium because of its Miso and soy sauce content. If you have issues with sodium or make it sodium reduced, you can long for sodium reduced soy sauce, which you can find at any supermarket!

Meal prep & friendly?!

Yes and yes! You can very well store this in containers and heat it up whenever you want to enjoy it. The flavours will stay and consistency wise the reheating won’t be a problem. It also is pretty family friendly and a great way to sneak some more veggies onto the plates. If in your family, someone cannot go without meat, an easy way to include this is to just add some chicken, prawns or any other meat/ seafood of your preference into the marinade and then just fry it up in a pan while the eggplant is baking!

I hope that you will enjoy this recipe and that it gets you a little bit excited for the colder season ahead of us!

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Super easy roasted sesame miso eggplant with coconut rice

Soft eggplant that is full of flavor and easy to make paired with some dreamy, creamy coconut rice and a fresh salad!

Course dinner, lunch, Main Course
Cuisine asian, Japanese
Prep Time 5 Minuten
Cook Time 35 Minuten
Total Time 40 Minuten
Servings 4 people
Calories 530 kcal

What you will need

For the eggplant:

  • 2 eggplants
  • 1 tbsp Tahini
  • 3 tbsp miso paste
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • a few drops Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp hot sauce
  • 6 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup

For the rice:

  • 250 g rice
  • 200 ml coconut milk
  • 300 ml water

For the rest:

  • 4 handful baby spinach
  • 2 scallions (spring onions)
  • 2 tbsp sesame seeds

How to

  1. Cut the eggplants lengthwise. Carefully cut a grid-pattern into each half of the eggplant. This only is supposed to add some depth to the eggplant to soak up the flavor better. Do not cut the eggplant through!

  2. In a bowl/ tupperware combine all of the inrgedients for the sauce. Place the eggplant halfes, pattern side down in the marinade and let marinade for about 2-4 hours if you have got the time (if you do not, continue on from the next step).

  3. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place the eggplant halves on a baking tray and brush some of that remaining dressing into the grids. Bake the eggplant for 25-30 minutes. Take them out of the oven, heat it up to 225°C. Brush the eggplants again and bake for another 5 minutes.

  4. In the meantime add the rice along with the coconut milk, some salt and water to a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and let simmer until all liquid is absorbed. Cover and let steam on very low heat for another 3-5 minutes until the rice is soft.

  5. Wash the baby spinach and toss it with some slat, pepper,a nd the remaining eggplant marinade.

  6. Divide the rice and salad onto the plates and add the eggplant on top. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, chopped up scallions and cliantro. Enjoy!

Happy cooking,
Enjoy,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière

Super quick Peanut Soba Noodle Stir-fry with best sticky tofu

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Soft noodles tossed in a (super delicious) creamy peanut sauce together with some crispy veggies and topped with a slightly sweet sticky maple soy tofu. And all of that’s vegan. I can truly see no reason you would not love this. It’s quick, it’s healthy, it’s versatile and it’s incredibly tasty.

What is special about this dish?

It is not your regular asian inspired stir-fry dish, neither is it your regular satay Salad. It is a great combination of the two of them. Also, we are using soba-noodles, not regular egg or stir-fry noodles. Plus, it has some delicious sticky maple-soy tofu that is the perfect addition. And, it is ready in pretty much no time.

What are soba noodles?

Soba noodles are noodles that originated in Japan but now are eaten all over the world. They are made from buckwheat flour, and most of the time it is in a wholewheat form. That makes them taste a little bit different from regular noodles, meaning they have a slight nutty flavour. The also take very little time to cook and are great in stir fry´s or soups. I already have a few other soba noodle recipes on my blog like my curry soup with lemongrass meatballs.

Is this recipe healthy?

Yes, it definitely is. Why? The soba noodles add a bunch of carbohydrates and fibre (since they are wholegrain) to the dish. The tofu gives a nice and delicious kick of protein and the peanut butter (please use a natural one, and not one with thousands of add-ins) has all the healthy fats you need. Not to forget about all of the veggies you add into the dish, that provide a whole bunch of fibre and vitamins! So yes, definitely healthy!

Easy to make, family friendly and meal prep friendly

This dish truly ticks all of the boxes you need. It is ready in 20 minutes, which makes it a great quick lunch or an easy dinner. Also, it is very versatile and family friendly, since you can substitute ingredients in and out, depending on your preference. Instead of tofu you could go for chicken or prawns or if you do not like a specific veggies leave it out or use something else. Also if you do not have a certain vegetable at home, leave it out and it will still be delicious! I also really like to take this with me and enjoy in my lunch break as it is really easy to heat up and it will still be delicious!

This truly is one of my favourite things to have, warm or cold. I absolutely love how quick it comes together and how incredibly good it still tastes! Unreal. A favourite!

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Quick Peanut Soba Noodle Stir Fry with sticky Tofu

An easy, delicious and nutritious meal. Crispy veggies with delicious noodles, all tossed up in a creamy peanut sauce and topped with some tofu.

Course dinner, lunch, Main Course
Cuisine asian
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Cook Time 10 Minuten
Total Time 20 Minuten
Servings 4 servings
Calories 599 kcal

What you will need

  • 320 g soba noodles
  • 200 g oyster mushrooms *
  • 1 red bell pepper *
  • 1/4 head red cabbage
  • 2 large carrots
  • 100 g edamame beans
  • 2 tbsp oil

For the peanut sauce:

  • 2 tbsp peanut butter
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 2 cm ginger
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 1.5 tbsp coconut sugar
  • 4 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar

For the tofu:

  • 400 g firm tofu
  • 4 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tsp cornstarch

How to

  1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the soba noodles and cook according to package instructions (about 5 minutes). When done cooking, preserve 2 tablespoons of the water they were cooking in and drain them and rinse under cold water to stop them from continuing to cook.

  2. Peel the carrot and grate it roughly. Slice the bell pepper, mushrooms and the cabbage into bite sized pieces/ slices. In a pan heat up 1 tbsp of the oil and fry the veggies on high heat for about 3 minutes, then turn down to medium.

  3. In the meanwhile cut the tofu into 1cm sized chunks. Mix the soy sauce, maple syrup and cornstarch until no chunks left. Heat up the remaining oil in another pan and fry the tofu on each side for about 1-2 minutes until crisp. Turn the heat down and add the soy sauce mixture. Stir to make sure the tofu is all covered with the sauce.

  4. In a blender blend together all of the ingredients for the peanut sauce and add the 2 tbsp of preserved water. Add it to the veggies along with the cooked noodles and mix till well combined. Divide onto plates and top with the tofu! Enjoy!