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strawberries

Asparagus and Strawberry Salad

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This salad is like spring in a bowl. So mush freshness, fruitiness but also savoury goodness. Super easy to make, full of vitamins, perfect side dish or light main course. Absolutely in love!

Spring honestly is my favourite season. Everything is starting to bloom and coming back to life. Flowers are so colourful and the markets are full of fresh fruits and vegetables. Including two of my favourites: Asparagus and strawberries.

How we typically eat Asparagus

Asparagus is something very typical in Austria. We usually have it with Risotto, as a side or very very typical with potatoes, ham and molten butter or sauce hollandaise. But while this is good once in a while I feel like it is really heavy and not healthy in the long term. This salad, on the other hand is something very light and refreshing.

Which Asparagus works best?

Definitely a mix! Use some white stalks and some greens because the combination of the slightly different flavours is just super good! If you want, you can also use purple asparagus although I would not necessarily recommend to buy it extra for this. I have tried it out with purple asparagus but it lost its colour while cooking and turned green. So it was a bit of a pity.

How to cook asparagus?

This actually is not as easy as many people think. I mean it is to hard but you just need to know how. Green Asparagus is super easy. You just need to cut off the ends of the stalks and boil it in salted water for about 5-10 minutes, depending on how thick the stalks are. White asparagus is slightly different. It also needs some boiling water, you need to salt it, and add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 teaspoon of sugar. This takes out the bitterness of the asparagus and makes it really good!

Do you need to peel asparagus?

Depends. Green asparagus does not need to be peeled. Neither does purple one. White one on the other hand needs to be peeled!! Generously! I would recommend to peel it twice. If it is not peeled well it will have strings when eating and that’s not good tbh.

Fruit in salad?

A big YES!!! This is game changing! Especially the combination of strawberries and asparagus is insane! The sweetness of the strawberry pairs perfectly well with the freshness of the asparagus. If you do not have strawberries on hand or do not like them, you can add in raspberries instead, which also must taste really good!

Other add-ins:

Here you can be really creative! What would 100% work well is some kind of cheese like mozzarella, burrata cheese, cottage cheese or feta. Those would make it really good! Also, grilled chicken breast or prawns would take this next level but also hard boiled eggs.

When & how to eat it?

You can have this as a nice side dish and leave it as is or make a little more and add in something like hard boiled eggs for example and enjoy it with some freshly toasted bread or couscous to have it as a filling salad!

I hope that you like this recipe as much as I do and that you will make it many times this spring!

Happy cooking,
Enjoy,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière

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Asparagus and Strawberry Salad

Not your average asparagus side dish but much better! Sweetness of the strawberries paired with the taste of fresh asparagus is just heaavenly!

Course Appetizer, lunch, Salad, Side Dish
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Cook Time 20 Minuten
Total Time 30 Minuten
Servings 4 sides
Calories 149 kcal

What you will need

  • 500 g white asparagus
  • 500 g asparagus
  • 500 g strawberries
  • 2 spring onions
  • 1 handful mint
  • 1 handful basil
  • 1 handful parsley
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp maple or honey
  • 1 tbsp butter or magarine
  • 1 tsp sugar

How to

  1. Bring a large pot with water to a boil. Peel the white asparagus generously (about 2x). Cut the ends (about 3cm) of both, white and green asparagus and throw them away. Cut the asparagus into about 3-4cm sized pieces.

    Add the butter (or magarine) and sugar into the boiling water and salt it. Add in the white asparagus and cook for about 5 minutes. Then add in the green asparagus and cook for another 5-10 minutes, depending on how thick the stalks are. You can test if they are ready by pieking through them with a fork. If they almost fall off the fork, they are done. Then drain them.

  2. In the meantime remove the green part from the strawberries and half them or cut them into quarters, depending on how big they are. Slice the spring onions and seperate the onion rings from each other.

  3. Roughly chop up the basil, mint and parsley.

  4. Add the asparagus, strawberries, spring onions and herbs into a bowl. In a seperate small bowl combine the olive oil, the juice of 1 lemon and the maple syrup. Toss the salad in the dressing and serve!

    Enjoy!

Notes

If you want to have it as a main dish just make more (about half more, so 6 servings for 4 people). You can then also add in other things like hard boiled eggs, feta or mozzarella cheese, grilled chicken breast or prawns! 

3 Ingredient Strawberry Chia Jam (healthy & vegan)

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It is the perfect combination of sweet, creamy and tangy. But instead of a lot of white sugar we are using whole food sweeteners, fresh fruits and seeds to achieve the best taste, texture and color. An essential staple in my household. It pairs perfectly with literally anything from yoghurt bowls, to bread and rice cakes.

An Austrian Tradition

In Austria, where I am from, it is very common to eat jam. And lots of jam with bread and butter. It is an Austrian tradition I guess, and both of my grandmothers have taught me how to make the classic. You will find it on every single typical Austrian breakfast table or in any breakfast restaurant. We love it. Most of the time it is paired with a Semmel (a white bread) and some butter. The go-to breakfast.

Why is jam not healthy?

And because it is so typical and popular I decided to make it a little healthier. But what actually is not healthy in it? I mean there is fruit in it! – That is right. There is fruit in it. But because we cook it, a lot of vitamins get to loss. Not all of them but many. Additionally, when we add lots of sugar and gelatine this is not healthy either. We all know that sugar is not the best friend of a healthy diet, especially not white and refined one. To make it healthier I recommend using a healthy sweetener such as raw honey, pure maple syrup or coconut sugar. These still contain sugar but also other nutrients, such as antioxidants and fibre which helps control the sugar rush in your blood.

Is jam vegan or vegetarian?

The answer might surprise or shock you: no it is not. At least most you can find in a supermarket are not. The reason for this is that they contain gelatine in some form. Either pure gelatine or mixed into the sugar. And gelatine is made from animal bones. This means that it is neither vegetarian nor vegan. When you want to buy one that is vegetarian or vegan you have to carefully study the labels and check that it doesn’t contain any gelatine. What is used in most places is called agar-agar or agartine.

How to make homemade jam:

This actually is really simple. Probably easier than you think. And it does not differ much from regular jam. As a first step you add your raspberries to a pot. They can be fresh or frozen, whatever you have on hand. Depending on ho sweet your berries are and how sweet you like your jam to be, you add as much or as little sweetener as you like. If you want, and it makes it really tasty, you can now add a squeeze of lemon juice. It adds some freshness and brings out the flavours even more. Then we let everything simmer for a little while until the strawberries have softened up a lot. Now it is time to transfer it to a blender. If you really do not like the texture of chia seeds in your jam, add them now but adding them later really adds a nice texture to it! So we are blending it up, adding it back to the pot and bringing it to a boil again. Then we let it cool a bit and you will immediately see how it starts to thicken up. After cooling, transfer it to a jar and store in the fridge for a few weeks.

Does it only work with strawberries?

NO! Definitely not. You can make this jam with any fruit of your preference. I also find it to be super tasty with raspberries, apricots, pineapple or orange. Do it with whatever sounds good to you!

How to best eat it:

So, this really is up to an individual! I personally like it most with a rice cracker and some cream cheese. This combination is just out of this world and makes a great snack or dessert. But in a yoghurt bowl, on a toasted slice of sourdough bread or with some brownies it tastes amazing too! Even with cake it works well! Just use it for whatever you would use normal jam too.

I hope that you like this recipe and that you will try it out soon!
Stay healthy & have fun cooking!
Love,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière

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Strawberry Chia Jam (healthy & vegan)

A healthy version of the classic. Quick, simple and so good! Crazily addicting, perfect addition to any sweet meal!

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Prep Time 5 Minuten
Cook Time 15 Minuten
Total Time 20 Minuten
Servings 15 servings à 2 tablespoons
Calories 83 kcal

What you will need

  • 750 g strawberries
  • 150 g chia seeds
  • 100-200 g pure maple syrup or honey or cocnut sugar (a healthy sweetener of choice)
  • juice of 1 lemon (optional)

How to

  1. Remove the green leaves from the strawberries and then cut them in half or in quarters. Add them to a pot along with the maple syrup and the lemon juice.

  2. Bring to a boil and let them boil until they are soft and mushy, for about 5 to 10 minutes. If you have one that is heat safe, transfer it to a blender or a food processor, otherwise purée it with a hand blender.*

  3. Pour it back into the pot and add the chia seeds. Bring to a boil again and then take it off the heat and let it cool for about 5 minutes. You will immediately see how it starts to thicken.

    Transfer to jars and store in the fridge for up to 5 weeks.

Notes

* you can add the chia seeds before blending if you want a smoother consistency. But adding them after makes it really interesting!

Breakfast Quinoa 2 Ways

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This recipe is for all of the breakfast lovers out there who want to switch up their usual morning game. With these breakfast quinoa recipes you can add a healthy twist to the absolutely best meal of the day, which, with no doubt is breakfast! If you do not know what breakfast is so important you can go check out my Ultimate Breakfast Tacos Blog Post. 

Ok, I get it, you know how important this meal is but still do not want to spend a lot of time in the mornings cooking your meal because sleep?! Well, no problem! I got you. These recipes are super quick and come together in under 10 minutes in the morning, which is so amazing! This also works great if you are the type of person, which I am, who eats breakfast food for every meal of the day, no matter what time it is, because these meals are perfectly balanced meals with great nutritional value. The contain carbohydrates, protein, fibre, vitamins, and fats. So what do you want more? Delicious, quick, healthy, and super nutritious!

Although I rather am the savory type of person, I know that not all of you are so I decided to make both, a version for the sweet tooth, and one for hearty lovers. And honestly, I could not say, which one I like more. They are both super delicious and can be adapted to whichever season it is if you want. 

The sweet breakfast bowl is made with frozen fruit to sweeten it up and give it flavor, which I love because if you buy frozen fruit you 1) can be sure it is fresh because it is frozen directly after being harvested and 2) it does not vary depending on the season, which means you can have berries in winter, since they have been grown and frozen in summer. The frozen berries are mixed with the pre cooked Quinoa, the sweetener of your choice and the Almond milk when the grain is reheated. This actually is great because you do not have to heat them up separately! 

Once this mixture is heated up it can be transferred into a bowl and topped with whichever toppings are at your preference. Here you can totally decide on what you like most and be creative. I like to top mine with some plant based yoghurt, some fresh fruits such as bananas or other seasonal fruits, nuts and nut butters and some granola for that extra sweetness and crunch. That’s it is what you are thinking? Yes! It is as simple as that. And with such little effort you just created a super delicious and nutritious breakfast. Amazing, no?

The savory option is not much more complicated but you do need one more pan than for the sweet one (but it actually is not necessary). So first you fry up the bacon in a pan to get it nice and crispy. When it is done, you take it out of the pan and lay it out onto a kitchen paper to let any excess fat drip off. The bacon grease that remains in the pan does not have to wasted because we can use this to fry up an egg if you want to. I personally prefer poached eggs over fried ones so I would use the bacon grease if I wanted to add some more sautéed vegetables, but this is optional. 

So if you want to poach an egg you have to bring a small pot with water to a boil. Once it boil, add about 1 – 2 tablespoons of vinegar to it and reduce it until it barely simmers. Crack a room temperatured egg into a small bowl and let it slide into the hot water slowly and carefully. The whites will set around the yolk and the egg can be taken out of the pot after 3-6 minutes depending on how soft you want the yolk to be. Place it on a kitchen paper to let any water that is still on it drain off. Meanwhile reheat the quinoa in a small frying pan with some fat. Here you can use olive oil, butter, or even the bacon fat. When I made this I actually had some truffle butter leftover in the fridge and heated it up in this and it was heavenly. You can also find truffle oil in any supermarket which will totally bring this to the next level for your upcoming Sunday brunch. Once this is reheated you can assemble everything. The quinoa on the bottom, topped with the egg, bacon, some fresh greens, and some sliced up avocado. If you feel like doing it, add some hot sauce on top or sprinkle some grated cheese. This is a perfectly balanced meal which is so decadent and delicious while still being healthy!

I hope that you will really like these recipes and if you do so be sure to show me if you recreate them and tag me with @unptcuisiniere or #unepetitecuisiniere! 

Enjoy!

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Sweet breakfast Quinoa (Vegan)

This breakfast recipe is a new way to switch up your breakfast game with adding some more nutrients into your first meal, plus making it super delicious!

Course bowl, Breakfast, brunch, Dessert
Prep Time 4 Minuten
Cook Time 6 Minuten
Total Time 10 Minuten
Servings 2
Calories 310 kcal

What you will need

For the base:

  • 250 g cooked quinoa equals 100g raw
  • 140 g frozen blueberries can be substituted for other frozen fruit
  • 150 ml almond milk
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp agave or sweetener of choice

For the toppings:

  • 3 tsp nut butter
  • 4 tbsp plant based yoghurt
  • some fresh fruit & nuts

How to

That is how it works:

  1. Into a small pot add the pre cooked quinoa, the frozen fruits, almond milk, cinnamon, and sweetener of choice. Bring it to a boil. Once hot transfer it into two bowls.

  2. Add the yoghurt and nut butter and whichever topping you desire. I really love fresh fruit such as banana as well as granola on top!

    Serve and enjoy!

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Savoury breakfast Quinoa

This is my savoury twist on the breakfast quinoa recipe. It is perfect for all those who love something hearty in the morning but healthy, plus it comes together in only 10 minutes!

Course Breakfast, brunch, lunch
Prep Time 3 Minuten
Cook Time 7 Minuten
Total Time 10 Minuten
Servings 2 servings
Calories 355 kcal

What you will need

  • 250 g Cooked Quinoa equals 100g raw
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 avocado
  • 1 handful greens
  • 4 thin strips of bacon
  • 2 tsp oil

How to

That is how it works:

  1. Heat up the bacon in a pan until crispy on both sides for about 4 minutes.Tka it out of the pan and place it on some kitchen paper so the remaining fat can drip off.

    Meanwhile bring a pot with water to a boil. Once it is at a boil add in the vinegar and reduce the heat so it barely simmers. Crack two room temperature eggs into two seperat bowl and gently slide one after the other into the hot water. allow the first egg to set a little bit before adding the second. Let them simmer in the water for abou 3-6 minutes depending on how soft you want to yolk to be. Then take them out and place them on a kitchen paper so the excess water can drip off.

  2. If this is too much work for you you can also simply fry up an egg or use a soft boiled one.

  3. In the meantime heat up the oil in a pan or simply use the dripped off fat from the bacon. Once hot, add the quinoa into it and stir it around until it is reheated and a little crispy.

  4. Seperate the quinoa onto 2 bowls. Top with the eggs, the bacon strips, the fresh greens, the sliced up avocado and a generous pinch of sea salt. Serve and enjoy!

Lemon Creme with Basil Strawberries

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Who else really enjoys this hot weather? Me, definitely! Summer barbecues, picnics, meeting friends, going to the pools and beaches, just enjoying the sun, … Summer is just the definition of happiness!

I love going to local markets and shopping seasonal and regional ingredients. So many fresh fruits and vegetables just motivate one to eat healthy. The variety of colours and smells simply give you a good feeling. I did not pass by a single market since June where I haven’t seen strawberries being sold.

In the past years I’ve always wanted to cook with strawberries but somehow I never really tried out a lot of dishes with them, so this summer I promised myself that I am going to experiment with them a lot. When ripe they just have such a sweet and juicy flavour that they pair wonderful with both sweet and savoury.

I really like the combination of lemons and strawberries since the lemons underline the sweetness of the strawberries and give them a refreshing twist. This lemon creme honestly is the best summer dessert. I mean, to be honest who likes to heat up the oven or stove when it already is 40 degrees outside? I don’t believe anyone. Neither is it really nice to spend hours and hours in the kitchen when the sun is shining outside and you could go to the beach or pool and enjoy the weather, am I right?

The best thing about this recipe is that the time you spend in the kitchen preparing it is minimal and it is super easy to prepare. You simply have to throw the ingredients into a mixing bowl and whip up the perfect dessert. If you have guest over at your house, just prepare this in the morning and when they have arrived, just take it out of the fridge and enjoy.

Also it is really easy to prepare in big batches for a lot of people. When I first made this recipe, I made it for our garden party for 60 people! And guess what?! It was really uncomplicated and way less work than baking 60 muffins. I just prepared a multiple of my recipe and filled it into small glasses. Everyone enjoyed it and they were sooo fast! Nothing was left at the end.

When I made it I used local strawberries from Austria, and lemons from Italy. In this recipe I did not add a lot of sugar because I believe the mascarpone and curd cheese already have a slight sweetness themselves. I did not want the added sugar to overpower the lemon and strawberry flavour but if you prefer it to be sweeter, simply go ahead and add more sugar.

Now, don’t let me stop you for longer by reading this post. I hope you enjoy this recipe and if you recreate it be sure to tag me on instagram with @happyfoodkitchen!

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Lemon Creme with Basil Strawberries

Such a refreshing and delicious summer dessert. This creme is such a simple, light, and hugely flavorful summer treat. It is so simple to prepare and a great crowd pleaser. I hope you enjoy it – it is my summer go-to.

Course Dessert
Prep Time 22 Minuten
Cook Time 3 Minuten
Total Time 4 Stunden 25 Minuten
Servings 4 people
Calories 470 kcal

What you will need

Lemon Creme

  • 280 g mascarpone cheese
  • 280 g quark if not available can substitue for cream cheese
  • 50 g powdered sugar
  • 1 lemon zest & juice
  • 140 g yoghurt
  • 2.5 sheets gelatine
  • 1 tbsp water

Basil Strawberries

  • 150 g Strawberries
  • 1 handful basil
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp lemon zest
  • 1 tbsp powdered sugar

Garnish

  • 4 leaves basil

How to

Lemon Creme

  1. Place the mascarpone, curd cheese and sugar into a mixing bowl and whip it up for about 3 minutes. Then add the juice and zest from 1 lemon and continue whisking for 2 to 3 more mintues. Set it aside and place the gelatine along with 1 tablespoon of water into a small pan. Stirring constantly dissolve the gelatine. When dissolved add a tablespoon of yoghurt and mix it into it. Pour the gelatine mixture back into the remaining yoghurt and whisk in until equally distributed. Fold the yoghurt mixture into the whipped cheese and pour it equally into 6 jars or bowls. Place it in the fridge for at least 4 hours to overnight to let the gelatine sit.

Basil Strawberries

  1. Half an hour before serving cut the strawberries into small pieces and add them into a bowl. Finely slice the basil and also put it into it. In a seperate bowl add the lemon juice, zest, and the powdered sugar. Pour it over the strawberries and let marinate for half an hour in the fridge.

Before serving

  1. add a quater fo the strawberries to each jar and garnish with a basil leaf. – Enjoy!

Notes

This is one of my favourite summer recipes since you do not have to heat up the oven, cook really, or spend a lot of time in the kitchen but still create such a delicious dessert. I’ve made it several times already this summer, also for our summer garden party. It is so simple to prepare and a really great crowd pleaser. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask me! And if you recreate the recipe be sure to tag me on instagram! I hope you enjoy it and I wish you all a beautiful summer!
Xx Katie