Rainbow bowl, my latest and greatest obsession! I could eat them every day, but as much as I like a dish I can’t eat the exact same meal too many days in a row, or I’ll start disliking it. Since I think it’s important to eat as simple and vibrant as possible I decided to make some variations on one of my favorite type of bowls. You can use any type of noodle to make this bowl with, but trust me nothing beets unicorn noodles, thats a fact! To find out how they are made go over to this post….
Archives for January 2017
Beyond The Kitchen
Hi my friends, I’ve got a little announcement, which I’m sure won’t come as a surprise as I already have some “lifestyle” posts up on this website, but let’s take this one step further.
I want to take you on a journey, we’re literally going to step outside of our kitchens. On this journey I’d like to invite you to a journey beyond the kitchen where we can truly connect. Keeping it simple, I’ll be sharing more “lifestyle” type of posts, I’ll be sharing pieces of my journey, with you.
If you come here for the recipes, don’t worry, it’s still called the indigo kitchen and food will remain the main focus of this platform. Food has brought us together, it inspired me to step out of my comfort zone, to share and connect. And let’s be honest, this blog wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for you asking me to share the recipes of the food pics I share on my instagram account.
Now, let’s go on a voyage beyond the kitchen and explore all the other aspects of life that deserve equal attention. You might noticed that the “lifestyle” tab has turned into the “beyond the kitchen” tab, it’s the same principle, but over the coming months I want to take it one step further by making it more personal. My goal is to discuss more intimate topics such as mental health and other delicate topics. Since I’m privileged by being able to voice my opinions through platforms like these I felt it was time to do so!
For us as a society it’s very important to be more open about mental health and discuss topics such as living with it and how it affect the people around me. You can also expect to read more on yoga and how/why it’s such a big part of my journey. And of course fun posts, such as product reviews and reviews on vegan hot spots.
Most importantly, I’ll be authentically and unapologetically me.
I hope you’ll join me on this voyage, let’s explore this life together!
One Love,
A.J.
Let’s Try #4: Vivera Spekcjes
Hi friends, I’ve got another product to test which (for as far I know) is only sold in the Netherlands, but don’t click away yet if you’re not from here, cause I’ve got a delicious recipe waiting for you at the end of this post.
Note: Although this product was sent to me, this does not influence my opinion of the product I am about to try!
When I’m cooking for my family, I love using meat replacement products since they still have to have a piece of “meat” with their meal. And honestly some meat replacement products are simply delicious. Hey I am still making an effort to eat more clean and less processed products, but I like to enjoy everything in moderation. And I honestly do believe these meat replacements to be a healthier option than meat.
Now when vivera send me some of their products to try, I knew I was gonna make some delicious meals for me and my family to enjoy! You can find another recipe using one of their products right here.
The first product I decided to try were their spekcjes, which are like mock bacon bits. I thought of making it with some boerenkool, which is a dutch dish made from mashing potatoes with kale, but my mind was quickly drawn to another dish I enjoy even more, creamy pasta! And this time I decided to not use gluten-free pasta since I was felt like indulging, sometimes you’ve simply got to treat yourself! I made a white sauce, cooked the “bacon bits” and some pasta and combined everything in a large pan and voila, one of my favorite dishes was born.
This dish was served to my mother and grandparents, and they absolutely loved it! I know I’ll be making more of this in the near future, it was a winner. My mother loves bacon bits and this products scored great points in here book, I myself enjoyed it as well.
Now of course I can’t send you away without a recipe, scroll down to find it!
Ingredients:
- Vivera Spekcjes (optional, but recommended)
- Pasta of choice
- 3 Tbsp Vegan butter or vegetable oil
- 4 Tbsp Flour
- 2 1/2 cups plant-based milk, I used oat since it has a mild taste. And make sure the milk doesn’t contain vanilla.
- A generous pinch of nutmeg
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- First let’s start by making the white sauce. Add the vegan butter or oil to a sauce pan and bring the heat to low, once the butter has melted you can add the flour and stir it well until combined, this will make the roux that will thicken the sauce.
- Now add the milk and spices and whisk well to avoid lumps, turn the heat to medium/low and keep stirring for about 10 minutes, or until you reached your desired consistency.
- Now make the pasta and cook the bacon bits, once ready I added everything in a pan and combined it well. You can also simply pour the sauce over the pasta and add the bacon bits.
I hope you enjoyed this post and if you decided to recreate this dish feel free the tag me in your recreation on instagram.
One Love,
A.J.
Sunrise Parfait – Raw Vegan – Breakfast ideas
Chia parfaits are my go to lazy breakfast meals, they require little to no prep and are convenient since they can be made ahead of time. Not only is it an easy breakfast, but it’s also a filling and healthy way to start the day. Just don’t forget to check your teeth afterwards, chia seeds love hiding away between your teeth, they love it!
For this parfait I used home-made my own chocolate cashew mylk, but feel free to use store-bought plant milks. If you can find a vegan chocolate milk just add cacao powder and a sweetener to the chia pudding, I left the measurements in the recipe below. I’ll make a post on how to make your own plant milks from scratch, it’s super easy. Feel free to adjust the recipe to your own liking, try adding different fruits or maybe topping it with some coco whip, no ones judging you, treat yo selves!
I had these with a bunch of citrus fruits and called it a breakfast. I’ll be working on more different easy and affordable breakfast ideas asap, I mean chia seeds are great for the bod, but since they’re such a “super” food not the cheapest. Always feel free to leave suggestions in the comments below.
Also I’d love to see your recreations, so feel free to tag me in your pictures on instagram.
Enjoy.
Sunset Parfait - Raw Vegan
Ingredients
Chia Pudding
- 1 cup plantbased milk
- 1/4 cup chia seeds
- 3 tbsp cacao powder
- 1 tbsp agave or more for a sweeter pudding
Parfait
- 2 banana
- 1 handful blueberries
- 2 ripe persimmons
- 2 passion fruit
Instructions
Chia Pudding
- To make the chia pudding simply add everything to a bowl or jar and mix well. Place it in the fridge and stir it one more time after about 15 minutes. Now let it rest overnight.
Parfait
- To make the parfait I first added a layer of the chia pudding in a glass, topped it with blended persimmon and a banana blueberry smoothie, which consisted of 1 bananas and a big handful frozen blueberries. I topped the parfait with some passion fruit. Enjoy.
Soup turned into gluten free pancakes – Food Inspo #1
You might notice this isn’t labeled as a recipe, no it’s not a mistake, this is simply me sharing some inspiration! One thing I personally love about cooking is that it allows me to use my imagination, now I want to invite you to do the same, of course with a little inspiration. This will be the first of hopefully and probably many other inspo posts, where I’ll invite you to use your imagination to create a delicious dish without using a recipe. …
Spicy Green Smoothie – W/ a few drops of CBD oil
As I’m incorporating more “clean” foods in my diets and taking out the processed foods, I’ll of course be sharing fun and healthy recipes with all of you! To be honest I never really post smoothie or salad recipes as I consider them to be too simple, so no one would be interested. If it weren’t for one of my close friends, hi jazz, or my mom asking me for some inspo and telling me to share some recipes I thought, why not!?
Of course I can’t send you away by telling you to blend 2 bananas and a date, no this is not your regular smoothie, this smoothie requires a specific taste. I added black pepper and turmeric to not only give it a gorgeous colour, but this combination has many health benefits as well.
Another ingredient added to this smoothie might not be for you, but for me it’s a staple, it’s hot peppers, and in this case chili peppers. I added half a chili, simply to try a “mild” version which many people could enjoy, but since I’m partly dragon I would normally throw in a whole chili, seeds included. The flavors of the chili, turmeric and black pepper mingled perfectly with this green smoothie consisting mango, banana and spinach.
Now to the last and most notorious ingredients of all, CBD oil which is extracted from cannabis, and no it doesn’t make you high. I’ve been using CBD oil for the past couple of months, and never used it in one of my recipes, but today I thought, why not!? There are many discussions concerning the health benefits of this oil, but since I’m not an expert I’d recommend watching some documentaries or reading some studies. Also I’d like to note that CBD oil isn’t legal in every country, so you might not even be able to get your hand on it, no problem, just skip it!
This might not be your taste but since I’ll be focussing on eating more whole foods than ever before you, should stay tuned because there will be more smoothie recipes coming your way.
Have a blessed day and let’s start blending shall we!
One Love,
A.J.
Spicy Green Smoothie - W/ a few drops of CBD oil
Ingredients
- 2 bananas
- 1 handful frozen mango
- 2 handfuls spinach
- 1 dash turmeric
- 1 dash black pepper
- 1/2 chili pepper
- 1 date
- few drops CBD oil optional
Instructions
- this recipes is as simple as throwing everything into a blender and pulsing it a few times. Now do just that, you might want to add a little water for a thinner consistency. Enjoy