Tomato-Cress sandwich

Not really a recipe, but just an awesome combination!

No, i know. This is not really a recipe, but just a great tip for lunch! (or breakfast, or any given time)
Last weekend my friend and i did a 'kids-swop'. She took the boys, i took the girls. (i don't know why i always get the girls, the boys seem so much more relaxed together. Having the girls means lots of arguing, whatever they do, and it retains a lot of patience) Anyway, it was very nice though, because they baked and cooked and ate throughout the weekend. If you forget the arguing, it was nice to watch!

So yesterday we swopped back. And when i arrived at my friends place to give her back her child and to take home mine, the first thing i saw, were five (yes 5!!) jars of mayonaise. I hear you thinking, what the hack is so special about mayonaise? Well,.. if it's the very best mayonaise you've ever tasted, but CAN'T get anywhere in your country, believe me, it makes you smile from ear to ear. At least, that's what happened to me.
For some reason the French 'Maille' Mayonaise, is not for sale in Holland. You can buy many types of mustard from it, in almost every supermarket, but for sure not the mayonaise.
Always, when we go to France in summer, (and often we go together with these particular friends) the first thing we get is our beloved mayonaise, frenchbread and incredibly sweet tomatoes.

So when you eat this sandwhich, you eat a little bit of sunshine and happiness on your bread. At least, again, i do.

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Risotto with carrots, mushrooms and celery

It's time to Risotto!

There is one type of food, (or no, two actually; pasta counts as well) which is ALWAYS good, and tadaa.. that's risotto. Whenever i make it, i make sure to make twice as much as we need, to put in the fridge for the next day. (and usually it won't make the evening, and that is not just because of me)

There are so many ways of making this creamy rice recipe, and most of them are just great. This one isn't very complicated, but tasteful and nutritious and absolutely a great way to cheer up! With a nice glass of Chardonnay (yes, my favorite) and some parmasan, my evening (morning and afternoon) could not be better!

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Very (really very) tasty Spinach-cheese melt sandwich

Very (really very) tasty Spinach-cheese melt sandwich

Mm, i wasn't sure what to make today, though i had in mind it had to be a sandwich, and so i looked up some old recipes i used to make way back with my brother. The one i remembered was a sandwich with omelette, brie, avocado and coriander. I used to like it a lot, (though it's really the only thing you can eat in a day, due to the high level of calories) and so i decided to give it a shot.

As always, my sweet ega, Nicolaas, is the lucky one to test & taste all my trials, but besides the fact it looked awesome, the combination was way too much. I didn't like him (honestly) telling me that,(seriously, after spending the whole morning doing groceries, making and photographing the whole thing..) and so, out of frustration, i ate the whole thing. I still don't feel well..  If i would make a heavy-eat-as-much-as-you-can-blog, this recipe would be the first to place. And so i won't.

Lucky you! I just gained about a kilo! Anyway, instead, i just thought of what i would like on a sandwich (not that i was going to eat any more) and came up with a terrific, very tasty spinach-cheese melt with goat cheese an the Dutch 'Leerdammer' cheese. It's just a regular cheese with wholes and it tastes a bit bitter. I like it a lot. The combination with fresh spinach, arugula and homemade pesto is great. (i took a bite of Nicolaas, who was very satisfied with his second plate)

I was dubbing about adding tomatoes, but than again, i thought it would be a bit too caprese. But of course, it should taste great as well.

Don't worry, i tried it my self! It's great!

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Amazing workshop at one of Holland's best restaurants 'De Librije'

Amazing workshop at one of Holland's best restaurants 'De Librije'

A few months ago, one of our friends had this great idea to gather enough people to intent a fully veggie cooking course at three-star restaurants: 'De Librije': the restaurant of super chef Jonnie- and his wife and wine-expert Therese Boer. We had to be with at least 12 people, but ended up with 16. And since Zwolle isn't directly around the corner (of Amsterdam) we decided to book a little hotel in de centre of the old city, just a 15 minute walk away of the place to be. (but i think it took us about an hour to get back..!)

We made some amazing dishes, which even the big meat lovers among us (yes, they also attended the course) loved a lot.

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Happy Veggie Valentine's day!

Happy Veggie Valentine's day!

It's really not that i'm that fond of Valentine's Day. Really i'm not. But Juney (again!) wanted to bake a heart-shaped-chocolate-cake for school - don't ask me why- and so i thought it would be nice to spend the afternoon baking and making heart-shaped food. 

This little appetizer looks gorgeous on your lovers plate and does taste great as well. The boiled sweet beets and contrasting mozzarella combine awesome with the sour juice and zest of lime, and the purslane is, surprisingly enough, a very tasteful veggie.

Not to heart to make!

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Homemade pesto

The very best pesto is the one you make yourself!

Oh yeah, this is for sure my daughters favorite. I have no clue how often i've made fresh pesto for Juney, but i probably don't want to know either, thinking i'm the most boring person in the world. But than again, i've told you my daughter hates eating vegetables - can you believe it?? - so this always is a great solution, while i'm making something different for the rest of our family.

This pesto is really super simple. But since i've made it so often, i just pour everything in, blend it, and voila, there's your pesto. If you (quickly) want to make something very tasteful, you can't go wrong with this pesto. So, for you i did my best, and wrote down what went in!

Unless i can't find any, i always buy a whole basil plant. They usually have about the same size, but sometimes they are just a bit bigger or smaller. Anyway, they go in whole. So not just the leaves, but for sure also the stems. Try it, you'll see.

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Homemade ravioli filled with ricotta, arugula and lime

Homemade ravioli filled with ricotta, arugula and lime

It did take me some time to get started today and i certainly wasn't all shiny this morning. I mean, i didn't exactly feel the way i did last week, when i wanted to bake those yummie raspberry ricotta scones, because it was a 'family thing' to do on a sunday. To blame was my sweet friend who celebrated her birthday in the centre of Amsterdam last night. (which was really nice, by the way!) And though we had a babysitter at home who really didn't care about the time we'd be back again, you always have to remember there are three children at home, who will wake you at about seven. Or at least, the little one will. Also on sunday's, and also (or especially) when you had some drinks. Which we did.

Lucky me, i got up really early yesterday, which made it automatically Nicolaas' turn today.. Poor him. So i was able to sleep a bit more, but my headache, by the time i got up, wasn't any less. Some aspirines saved me, and i decided to just take it easy today. None of us got out of our pyjama's, and everybody was just really relaxed, doing whatever they liked. Amazingly wonderful! All kids amused themselfs, playing chess (!!), reading some books, surfed a bit on the internet, or in Wolf's case (he's just one year old) made an icredible mess, but again: amused himself to the max, and so i didn't care.

I mean, i really could do anything i liked, and since i wanted to make homemade ravioli today, (which i never did before) i decided to give it a try. It took me two attempts, and ok, a good glass of wine - it's the best remedy they say for a hangover -  to get them right. The stuffing of ricotta and arugula with the zest of lime worked out very well, but the dough had to be thinner than i made them the first time. In the end, they came out lovely and my kids liked them a lot. I made a pesto to go with it, which was nice, but not really necessary. Just a few drops of some good quality extra virgin olive oil and freshly ground pepper, would have done the trick as well.

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Tripple color bean salad, with crispy mustard seeds

Tripple color bean salad, with crispy mustard seeds

It's really funny how the idea of a new dish comes to live. It always begins with the thought of one particular ingredient, (kind of obsessively actually) and once the idea has settled itself somewhere in my head, it's almost impossible to get rid of it. It doesn't really matter what i'll make with it, as long as it's something with that particular vegetable or ingredient. Ridiculous, if you think about it.

Anyway, this morning i thought of beans. I know, i often do, but this wasn't about 'just some' beans, but about beans in different kinds and sizes, and in different colors and structures. It had to be something beautiful on your plate, (because people like to eat things that look good, it's a fact) but also as simple and pure as possible. Not anything like a Mexican-style-kindney-beans-and-corn-saladbar which you can find already prepared in you supermarket, for example. I'm just saying.

So, at a certain point this picture popped into my head of some very, very greenish broad beans, and didn't go away. Which was a good thing, of course. Broad beans do take some time to prepare, but are awesome in salads if you keep them fresh and crispy. They combine beautifully with the white giant beans and the darker green haricots vert. But more important, it's just a very nice and tasty salad, with crispy mustard- and cilantro seeds and some zest of an organically grown lemon. Need i say more?

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Very irresistible Raspberry-Ricotta scones

Very irresistible Raspberry-Ricotta scones

Searching the internet for a delightful scones recipe (i seriously just never made them, and i had an incredible need, or better say urge, to make scones on a sunday morning; i think it just sounds like the perfect family thing to do on a lazy sunday morning) i came across this very goodlooking recipe of raspberry-ricotta scones from Deb Perelman of the Smitten Kitchen. And i just couldn't resist. Who else ofcours, you may think, could come op with a scones recipe like this, and you're right.

Good for me, (and for you now) super food blogger Deb Perelman just recently published her first cookbook, which i, again, couldn't resist either. Her funny way of writing makes cooking a blast for everyone, and so, it was ordered before i new it!

So hopefully, in a few days the mailman will drop off a heavy package, containing my brandnew Smitten Kitchen cookbook, full of great pictures and a million new recipes. I might just hide for at least a couple of hours in our small, but super duper new indoor office! Thank you my sweet ega, for finishing it. At last!

By the way: these scones do like some mascarpone on top. I think you might too!

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