feel food club

Season

Fall Harvest Salad (V, S)

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Fall is officially here and the temperatures are going down. Although the weekends are still super nice and sunny, you know that fall is here as soon as the leaves start to turn red, brown, and yellow and the first chestnuts are lying on the ground. Fall is such a great season, such beautiful colors and beautiful landscapes. So beautiful. Fall also means comfort foods to me and hot soups. But only because the season changes doesn’t mean just eating unhealthy comfort foods. There are so many great seasonal foods you can pack into super delicious salads. 

With this salad I tried to bring all of the beautiful fall colors into one bowl. The orange in the pumpkin, the red in the pomegranate seeds, the yellow in the pear, the brown in the almonds, and the green from the spinach. It is like eating the rainbow. A lot of people see salads as summer-food but I think that they are a great way to switch up things and not only eating soups and heavy dishes. This one is super refreshing because of the dressing but still really hearty because of the war roasted pumpkins, and the nuts. 

I used Delicata Squash because I think it works great in Salads and or roasting. It has a slight sweet taste and is not quite as dense as for example Hokkaido pumpkin. It is super simple to bring out the flavor and it roasts for only 20 minutes which I think is really great. I seasoned it very simply because I think that otherwise it would overpower the flavor of the rest of the salad. You can use any pumpkin you like but the roasting time will vary depending on the type of pumpkin. 

As a base I decided to go for baby spinach because of its mild flavor and it soaks up the flavor of the dressing easily. I simply love the slightly buttery taste and texture. If you do not like spinach you can go for anything else, lambs lettuce would work great too but I would not recommend kale because it needs more heartiness in a dressing to taste really good in a salad. You can also do a mix of different ones, it would work really great too if you decide to make it a little fancier! The pear on top adds some sweetness and soft butter-like texture, which goes really well with the salad base and the crunch of the toppings. 

For a little crunch I added the pomegranate seeds and the almonds. You can buy prepackaged pomegranate seeds but I like to to buy a whole pomegranate and take them out myself. It is a little work, takes maybe like ten minutes but you do not need unnecessary plastic packaging, they are fresher, and they last for longer, which I think is great. The almonds just give the whole salad some richness, healthy fats, and protein. I really like the heartiness and kind of dryness of almonds as I think they pair very well with the soft, juicy roasted Delicata Squash but some walnuts would work really well in szuch a salad too! Walnuts are a great seasonal food in fall and also regional here in Austria but I unfortunately did not have them on hand when I made this salad.  

For the dressing I decided to use Tahini because it is my favorite ingredient when it comes to salad dressings. It makes it so incredibly creamy and tastes so good! Also Tahini is a great healthy fat and contains a lot of vitamins. I mixed it with some Dijon mustard, lemon juice, a little olive oil, some of the pomegranate juice that ran out when I took out the seeds, and a tiny splash of maple syrup. Just mix it all up and voila, so delicious!

I really like this salad to enjoy as a light lunch and making it fresh but it also works great as meal prep if you store the dressing separately. It comes together really quickly and simple and is such a great healthy fall dish! If you decide to recreate it, make sure to tag me on Instagram with @uneptcuisiniere or with #unepetitecuisiniere! I hope you will enjoy and like it as much as I do.

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Fall Harvest Salad

A healthy and delicious salad to enjoy al of the seasonal foods that fall brings us.

Course Main Course, Salad, Side Dish
Prep Time 20 Minuten
Cook Time 20 Minuten
Total Time 25 Minuten
Servings 2 people
Calories 379 kcal

What you will need

For the Salad:

  • 200 g Baby spinach
  • 1/2 Pear
  • 1/2 Pomegranate
  • 400-500 g Delicata Squash
  • 1/2 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 30 g Almonds

For the Dressing:

  • 1 tbsp Tahini
  • 2 tbsp Pomegranate Juice
  • 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
  • 1/2 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
  • 1/2 tbsp White wine vinegar

How to

Thats how it works:

  1. Cut the Delicata squash into about 1cm thick slices. Remove the seeds and place them in a bowl. Generously salt and pepper them and mix the with the Olive oil. Place them on the baking tray and make sure that they do not overlap. Bake them in a preheated oven at 180C for about 20 minutes.

  2. While the pumpkin is baking, wash the spinach and the pear. Plcae the salad into a bowl and cut the pear into about 1.5cm large cubes. roughly chop the almonds. Cut the pomgranate in half and take out the seeds. I believe it is easiest to carve them out with a fork into a bowl and then take out the parts from the shell thaat came with it. Add the two fruits to the spinach along with the chopped up nuts.

  3. Add all the ingredients for the dressing into a bowl and mix well until combined. By now the pumpkin should be cooked through, so take it out of the oven. Mix the dressing with the salad, divide it onto two plates and top it with the roasted squash. Serve and enjoy!

3 Tomato Gnocchi with Garlicky Prawns

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If you have ever been to Italy you know how a sauce with fresh tomatoes tastes. Creamy, sweet, tangy, fresh, natural, just delicious!! My family and I, we go to Italy every year, at least twice and eating some kind of pasta, gnocchi or risotto with fresh tomatoes is a staple there! I can’t spend time in Italy without eating the delicious Italian tomatoes.

Well, now I am back from holidays, back from Italy and only dreaming about those incredibly delicious tomatoes (not sure if you already know, but I am a tomato addict!! Favourite food of all time), and if I buy a tomato sauce at the store it is far from what you´d get in Italy. I’m not saying that they are not tasty but just not comparable with what you would get in an Italian restaurant. But as I was really craving a tomatoey dish with all the flavor I decided to start experimenting and finally created this super delicious 3-tomato gnocchi.

I was able to find some local, big, austrian tomatoes in different colors and shapes, at the farmers market, which I really liked (the more local the better!!), and all were organic from farmers around and did not contain any chemicals or anything else they didn’t need. I honestly loved the variety of color and really liked the different shapes, which made every single tomato unique. I definitely prefer them having different shapes and sizes without any artificial stuff in them than having 10 tomatoes with exactly the same color, the same shape, and the same taste, which 1) is boring & 2) not natural! I also found some small honey tomatoes which are my favourite! (Best snack ever!) They are sweet, have a great texture and just every bite is treat. The third kind of tomato I used was tomato paste, to intensify the flavor, and I would definitely not leave out when making this because it does make a difference!!! 

I also used fresh basil from our garden, white wine from the vineyard next to our house, and some sour cream from Austrian farmers (if you want to make a vegan version of this sauce, either leave out the sour cream at all or substitute it with coconut cream or another vegan cream cheese substitute)! The prawns that I used were from Italy and I bought them frozen so that they are really fresh. For this dish I used parted tiger prawns because I do not like to have small prawns where there only is one bite. I’d recommend peeling them before grilling or frying them since I believe that it is easier do this before than after cooking but if you prefer peeling it after to give it a look then that works too! 

When it comes to gnocchi I would always recommend using fresh ones. I personally do not like the packaged ones a lot since most of them only tend to become more and more the longer you chew them. You can either make them yourself or if you have a gourmet food store or an Italian store close to where you live, Idaho recommend buying fresh gnocchis there because the quality of fresh ones is just better. I used frozen ones I made over a year ago, which was not the best decision because they were in the freezer for pretty long, so they turned very mushy as soon as I cooked them. It didn’t make a difference in taste but in the looks. So if you can, use as fresh ones as you can get. Of course, if you do not like gnocchi, the sauce also tastes really really good with some pasta or even with rice!

I always make this dish when I start to miss Italy, and it is especially delicious in summer when the tomatoes are fresh, seasonal, and so flavorful. It also is a really healthy and balanced dish. You get some good carbs and vitamins out of the potatoes in the gnocchi, a lot of vitamins and antioxidants from the tomatoes, healthy fats from the olive oil, and some protein from the prawns. It is such a delicious and simple dish that will please the entire family and satisfy all your needs. I hope that you will like this dish and if you have any questions just leave them in the comments, I will answer you! If you are recreating it, just leave the hashtag #unepetitcuisiniere and I will see them!

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3 Tomato Gnocchi with Garlicky Prawns

A delicious & quick weeknight dinner

Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 13 Minuten
Cook Time 10 Minuten
Total Time 23 Minuten
Servings 2
Calories 584 kcal

What you will need

Thats what you will need:

  • 500 g Tomatoes lrge, and best different colours
  • 200 g Cherry tomatoes
  • 20 ml Olive Oil
  • 1 tbsp Tomato Paste
  • 1 Chili
  • 1 tbsp Sour Cream
  • 125 ml White Wine
  • 3 Garlic Cloves
  • 300 g Tiger Prawns
  • 300 g Gnocchi
  • 1 handful Basil

How to

Thats how it works:

  1. Cut the large tomatoes into 2cm cubes. Half the cherry tomatoes. Peel and finely slice one garlic clove and chili. In a big pan heat up half of the olive oil. In a smaller pot start bringing some water to a boil. When hot add the tomato paste to the oil and stir well until everything is well combined. Then add garlic and chili into the Oil and saute until it starts to turn golden-brown. Add the tomatoes into the pan and saute them for about 3 minutes. Pour the white wine over the tomatoes and add the sour cream and let it all simmer for 10 to 12 minutes. Generously salt and a little pepper. If it gets too thick, add some more wine, if it is too thin add some more sour cream or let it simmer for a little longer.

  2. Meanwhile peal the prawns, slice the other 2 garlic cloves, and add the remaining olive oil into a pan and heat it up. Cook the Gnocchi in the boiling water for about 3 minutes (depending on the Gnocchi you have), until soft. Fry the prawns with the garlick in the oil for about 2 minztes on each side.

    Cut the basil into thin strips and add into the sauce. Keep a few leaves for the garnish.

  3. Drain the Gnocchi and add to the tomato sauce. Divide it onto 2 plates, add the prawns and garnish with basil.

    Serve & enjoy!

Grilled Peach Salad

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I currently am enjoying the last barbecues with friends and family on those late warm (or not so warm as we have here in Austria :() summer days. It’s a coming together, spending time with loved ones, enjoying sun, summer & drinks. Just laughing, chatting and feeling so free, just happy. You’re just sitting around a table and enjoying your time. Honestly, who doesn’t enjoy it? I am really going to miss the smell, taste and atmosphere of the barbecuing during winter, when it is cold and you only step outside when there is no other option. Thinking about this just gives me even more reason to enjoy every day, on which sitting outside and having a barbeque is still possible, as much as I can.

Barbecue to me means grilling some goood meat and making a bunch of delicious sides & salads. But who only wants boring salads. I mean – I get it, get some Vitamins in and be healthy but that doesn’t have to be boring. It is so simple to transform a boring salad into super delicious and addicting one with very little effort and ingredients. I can tell you so much, this salad is so mouthwatering and has such a great flavor so everyone will love it. Believe me. Even my brother who can be hunted with salads, really liked it. This salad is such a great side for any grilled dish. And if you don’t feel like barbecuing you can just make more of it, top it with some feta cheese, chickpeas or grilled prawns to enjoy it as a main. 

So why still sit around? Hurry up to still get those delicious late summer peaches from your local market and step into the kitchen. Stone fruit season is such a great season for cooking. You can make amazing sweets like tartes, cobblers, ice cream and muffins, just to name a few, or you can enjoy them in savory dishes such as salads, skewers, curries or chutneys. You can even mix them into drinks and make a Bellini and home. How versatile? For this salad I’d recommend using some orange or pink peaches as they make the salad nice & colorful. Also take some that are a little firmer so you don´t have problems with taking them off the grill because they´re falling apart. If you feel really fancy you can drizzle some balsamic reduction on them while grilling to make them extra sweet.

The dressing for this side is not your average oil-and-vinegar dressing, no it is much better. I used some creamy Tahini which is an oriental sesame paste, a fresh egg yolk, a good squeeze of lemon juice from lemons we grew in our garden, some balsamic vinegar for a refreshing twist, a little honey to sweeten it up and some Dijon mustard to give it that addictiveness! Absolutely bomb ?. To get that extra creaminess you don’t just whisk the ingredients but similar to a super quick mayo you use a hand blender and pull it up in one go. It just creams it all up and you get your new favorite salad dressing. Sure, it takes a little more time than simply adding 2 ingredients but it’s so worth it. 

To give the salad some more texture and make it more filling I added a few other ingredients. Some avocado (because what is a salad without avocado?), for some extra vitamins, fiber, and healthy fats, some cucumber for freshness, vitamins, and crunch, a mix of fresh herbs for a summer feeling a flavor, and last but definitely not least I decided to sprinkle some pine nuts. I love nuts in salads because I think that they make it more filling, add a good crunch, and just make it a little heartier. 

Now I can honestly just give you one more tip; go to a market to get some peaches, and you´ll be the chef of your next barbeque. 

If you recreate this I would love to see it, so just tag me on Instagram with @uneptcuisiniere or with the hashtag #unepetitecuisiniere so I can see if you enjoyed it as much as I did. You can also send me a mail or leave a comment behind, I would be really thankful for that! 

I hope you enjoy it, 

Katie <3

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Grilled Peach Salad

Amazing salad to round up the barbeque season

Course Salad, Side Dish
Prep Time 15 Minuten
Cook Time 5 Minuten
Total Time 20 Minuten
Servings 4
Calories 198 kcal

What you will need

For the Salad

  • 4 handful Salad I would recommen using something like spinach or lambs lettuce
  • 2 Peaches
  • 1 small Cucumber
  • 1/2 Avocado
  • 3 Spring onions
  • 2 tbsp Pine nuts
  • 1/2 handful Basil
  • 1/2 handful Mint
  • salt & pepper

For the dressing:

  • 1 Egg yolk
  • 1 tbsp Tahini
  • 2 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 lemon juiced
  • 2 Tbsp vinegar you can use a little less if you prefer it less sour

How to

Thats how it works:

  1. Heat up the barbeque.

  2. Wash and rinse the salad and add it into a bowl. Cut up the paches into 1.5cm thick slices. Finely slice the cucmber and add it to the salad. Cut the spring onions into thin strips and take the rings apart fromeach other. Slice the mint and basil and roast the pine nuts.

  3. Brush the hot grill with a little olive oil and place the sliced peaches on top. Let them grill for about 3 minutes on each side.

  4. For the dressing, get a tall mug. Gently place the egg yolk on the bottom, in the middle of the mug. Add therest of the dressing ingredients on top of it. take you hand blender and carefully place it on top of the egg yolk. Turn it on and slowly pull it up in one go. This will make the dressing really creamy.

  5. Mix together all of the ingredients in the salad except for the peaches. Pour the dressing on top and mix again. Divide the salad onto 4 bowls and top the with the grilled peaches.

  6. Serve & enjoy!

Creamy Vegan Summer Pasta

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This Summer Veggie Pasta is going to be your new weeknight favorite. It is so simple to prepare but yet so flavorful and nutrient dense. Seasonal summer vegetables in a light and creamy coconut sauce with our all-time favorite carb – pasta!

I was going to our local farmers market and I saw all the fresh veggies. Mushrooms, tomatoes, rhubarb, potatoes, peas, like every summer vegetable I could think of. When walking by that it just made me really want to eat all of them at once. I love going to local markets since buying products there is way more sustainable.

Later, I wasn´t sure what to make with the huge basket of vitamins, so I thought about pairing it with pasta, because with pasta you can never go wrong. Sure, this dish is not a traditional Italian pasta dish as it is made with coconut milk – but I promise you, it is at least as delicious as in Italy.

It is really simple to prepare, which is perfect after a long and hot day of work. The recipe only requires 9 ingredients, which you are very likely to have on hand anyway. For the peas you do not have to use fresh ones – you can go with frozen instead, same with the corn, you could use frozen or canned one instead of fresh one. If you do not have some of the vegetables on hand but still want to make this recipe, feel free to simply substitute one ingredient for another.

I would recommend using normal wheat or whole wheat pasta for this recipe since it brings out the flavor most. If using a rather dry pasta like chickpea pasta I would recommend using more coconut milk to not make the dish taste dry.

I think this is a great recipe if you are a vegan and want to in cooperate more veggies into your diet without giving up the good taste of pasta or even if you are not vegan or vegetarian but want to create a plant-based recipe. I hope that you will enjoy this dish and if you do so be sure to tag me on Instagram with @unptcuisiniere when sharing it!

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Creamy Vegan Summer Pasta

This is a really delicious summer pasta recipe that will safe you your weeknights. Super falvorfull, quick, simple, and vegan

Course Main Course
Prep Time 6 Minuten
Cook Time 10 Minuten
Total Time 16 Minuten
Servings 2 people
Calories 763 kcal

What you will need

  • 250 g pasta
  • 1 tbsp Olive oil
  • 2 stalks spring onion
  • 100 g cherry tomatoes
  • 100 g corn cooked or canned
  • 100 g chanterelles
  • 160 ml coconut milk
  • 1 handful basil

How to

  1. Bring the water for the pasta to a boil. Add a lot of salt and cook the pasta according to the package instructions. In the meantime finely chop up the spring onions. Half the cherry tomatoes and mushrooms. Then heat up the olive oil in a big pan. Once hot sweat the onions in there for about 2 minutes. Add all the other vegetables and let cook for another 4-5 minutes. If needed add some more water or oil to help cook. Once the vegetables are mostly cooked through, add the coconut milk and some water to thin out the sauce.

    Reserve one cup of pasta water and drain the rest of the pasta. Add it into the pan with the sauce along with a little of the pasta-water. Here it really matters which type of pasta you have chosen to use. If it is a ather dry pasta, I would recommend adding more water.

    Serve with some fresh basil leaves and enjoy!

Notes

if you are not vegan, a great idea is to add some crumbled feta cheese on top for more flavour and texture. If you are recreating this dish be sure to tag me on instagram with @uneptcuisiniere.