Quinoa Caprese with tagliatelle from zucchini

Let's combine some great combinations!

Just like tomatoes, basil and mozzarella seem to be made for each other, the combination of zucchini and tomatoes is quite outstanding too!
I used to make the tagliatelle from zucchini dish often for my kids, when they where younger; it was a great way to have them eat veggies without the sour faces. And the nice thing is, it's such a pure dish, it's incredibly easy and absolutely rich in flavour.

 Since I've discovered quinoa, (please say keen-wa!) I can honestly say I fell in love with it. Besides it's tastiness, it's one of the most healthy products on earth. The seeds (it's not a grain!!) where already cultivated in the Andes, 5000 years ago, and formed the basic diet of its inhabitants, the glorious Incas. They considered quinoa as sacred food, a gift from god. They called it "La Chisiya Mama," the mother of all grains.
Quinoa is a complete source of protein, which contain all the essential amino acids that the human body can not produce itself. These amino acids help your body to actually use the proteins you eat.

Quinoa contains a lot of fibre, more than rice, pasta or potatoes and is richer in vitamins and minerals such as iron, calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin E and vitamin B, than all other grains.

So.. and there it comes, I thought of combining the great taste of Caprese with quinoa and the zucchini- tomato dish. It worked out wonderfully well, and looked amazing! I used a small form to layer the dish, but if you don't like that, or don't have a form that fits well, please just layer the food on your plate. The colours will do the trick!

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Easy quinoa with mushrooms, arugula and thyme

Day 2: Easy quinoa with mushrooms, arugula and thyme 

Well, it's official. After all the parties; the famous Dutch 'Queens'- into 'Kingsday', the holiday of the kids with sleepovers and thus more get togethers with friends and drinks: it was time to just stop for a while. Get our bodies back in shape, get clean again and healthy. We decided to take a break on our grown habits: coffee in the morning, many products with gluten (bread, pasta's, potatoes etc), dairy (cappuchino's, cheeses..), our awesome glasses of Chardonnay (God, I miss you already), and all the other goods that go along.. (which might be vegetarian, but maybe not that healthy..)

Just none of it all for (at least) 30 days. Our  '30 day challenge' started yesterday, and though i thought it might be tough here or there.. it really isn't at all! (so far.. this is day two, i admit) But it just feels great being busy with your health in a good way; finding and creating new recipes without the stuff that makes you tired and look and feel exhausted! Fresh juices in the morning, great salads for lunch and awesome dishes for dinner...
While we actually just wanted to quit drinking alcohol for a month, we decided to go radical, and quit drink and eat many things of our normal diet.

Thereby, I bought the amazing new cookbook of Gwyneth Paltrow, (yes, she is a cookbook author, I didn't know that either) which just amazes me with beautiful pictures and incredibly simple but tasty recipes.
The book 'It's all good', which Gwyneth wrote with co-author and food-writer Julia Turshen, is really a must have, if you want to change your normal eating program for whatever reason, or suffer allergies like gluten- or dairy intolerances. This easy quinoa recipe is one of hers, and is so easy, it's almost amazing it tastes so good!

Oh, come on, and join us, it's only for 30 days!

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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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