A Strawberry salad to go with this summers BBQs!

Anyone else longing for hot summer nights and the smell of the BBQ? Yes, I know it's almost June but I do live in Sweden where the summer weather is about as predictable as bull on speed, so I haven't had much of a chance to use my tiny little bucket BBQ yet. Once has the weather given me the opportunity and even then it rained after a while. This strawberry salad is a good reminder that despite the weather, it is summer and the nights are a little bit lighter and people are a little bit happier. It's so simple, whip it up in about 1 minute flat, needs no preparation, just serve with a nice piece of meat or add more to it, like grilled asparagus and spring onions. 

The What

(Organic) baby spinach

(Organic) arugula

Romaine salad

Strawberries

Purple basil leaves

balsamic vinegar

olive oil

Salt and pepper

The How

Wash the salad and rinse the strawberries.

Cut the strawberries in half. 

Mix the salad and the strawberries in a large bowl, top with basil leaves, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and fresh ground pepper. 

Serve with freshly BBQ d meat, chicken or veggies. 

Sweet potato salad

Sometimes the journey is the goal. In the same way, sometimes leftovers are the goal! I made this salad only from leftovers and it was just amazing. A tight budget is not always a bad thing, it really forces you to get creative and use what you have, like the famous Kajsa Warg once said; "You use what you have". 

The What

Oven baked cold sweet potato

Gorgonzola

Arugula

Baby spinach 

A bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Salt and fresh ground pepper

The How

Take the skin off the sweet potato.

Cut the Gorgonzola in smaller pieces.

Wash the salad. 

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and toss. Top with olive oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar, salt and a few turns with the pepper grinder. 

Serve with other leftovers like avocado spread, dark bread, humus and veggie sticks and you have yourself a damn good lunch on a budget!!

Hummus - the healthy snack, breakfast spread or side dish!

I am a big evening snacker; I always feel like something after dinner, preferably a little nibble to go with the latest episode of S.H.E.I.L.D or Orange is the New Black, just to make an ordinary Monday night a little more special. The problem with this arises when you have absolutely no self control regarding unhealthy snacks and stuff your face with all kinds of crap like chips (crisps for the brits) and chocolate 7 nights a week. It's better to quit cold turkey (at least during the weekdays...).

If you, like me, enjoy the occasional evening snack to your favorite show, make it a healthy one. Hummus with sticks of raw veggies is actually quite hard to beat. It tastes great and it won't add to any I-just-over-did-it-again-anxiety. Easy to make too! This of course, is my simplified version of it since I didn't have any tahini (ground sesame seeds) at home and didn't feel like making any. 

The What

1 can of chickpeas

3 tbps sesame seeds

olive oil

1 - 2 cloves of garlic

freshly squeezed lemon juice

salt & pepper

Chili oil

chili flakes

The How

Rinse the chickpeas in cold water thoroughly. 

Put all the ingredients in a bowl (apart from the salt, pepper, chili oil and flakes), mix in a blender or using a hand blender. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Top the hummus with chili oil and chili flakes and serve with vegetable sticks. 

You managed to have some hummus left over? Put it on your morning sandwich! It's the perfect start to your day and will keep you full until lunch, guaranteed. Below featured on sunflower seed bread, topped with hard boiled egg and a bit of ground pepper. Laying next to a lovely sandwich with avocado spread... mmm amazing breakfast!

Blackened chicken drumstick with sweet potato fries, kale salad & yogurt sauce

Kale; the super food that has recently turned up on almost every foodies and health freak blog in every shape and form. Chips, in a smoothie, various pie constellations and just the way it is, raw. I'm surprised no ones made a kale cupcake yet. Oh wait! I take that back, according to Brooklyn Magazine, "Kale Cupcakes Are a Thing", read their post about them here. I'm not surprised, why not do a mash-up of two foodie trends? I'm just pissed I didn't think of it first. More and more people are getting hooked on the kale trend; what kind of foodie would I be if I didn't join the craze?

I went with a kale salad to match this blackened chicken and sweet potato fries, because to be honest, you really don't have to do much with kale. It tastes great just the way it is (you can always dress it up a bit like Cupcakes and Kale has done, with apples and walnuts. See her recipe here!). Add a bit of olive oil and some freshly squeezed lemon juice if you like and you're all set for a salad packed with fiber, protein, iron, magnesium, vitamin A, C, B6 and calcium, to name just a few. You can read more about it here.

The What

4 portions

4 chicken drumsticks

2 large sweet potatoes

4 handfuls of kale

Greek yogurt

feta cheese

fresh thyme

Marinade

1 dl olive oil

½ dl soy sauce

2 tbsp honey

1-2 garlic cloves

salt & pepper

The How

Mix the marinade in a large plastic bag or in two smaller bags. Add the chicken. The marinade should completely cover the chicken. Close the bags and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, turning the bags once. 

Set the oven to 200 degrees. 

Cut the sweet potatoes into sticks, I cut mine a bit bigger than regular fries, but you can do as you like. Keep in mind that thinner fries have a tendency to get dry faster so keep an eye on them in the oven. Spread the fries on an oven tray, season with salt & pepper as well as chili flakes, if you like. Drizzle over olive oil and put in the oven for about 20 minutes, depending on the size. 

Put the chicken in an oven safe dish and set in the oven. The chicken is done when the juice is clear, the meat is white and comes easily off the bone. If you're unsure, cut one open and check. Better safe than sorry! 

Crumble the feta cheese, add the yogurt and some pepper. Mix together and top with fresh thyme. 

Serve with the kale salad, just as it is or with some freshly squeezed lemon, olive oil and salt & pepper. 

Kale and Spinach Stuffed Portabello Mushroom topped with Feta Cheese - or Brunch!

There are very few things that are better than a home made Sunday Brunch. No stress, no musts and no hectic weekday schedule to follow. The thing with brunch is that you want a lot of food that doesn't take all morning to make and that you can sit and enjoy for a couple of hours. This stuffed portabello was easy and fast to make and will definitely be making more frequent appearances on our brunch table in the future!

The What

1 portabello mushroom per person (we were two)

2 handfuls of spinach

fresh green kale

2 cloves of garlic

chili flakes

salt and pepper

olive oil

feta cheese

The How

Set the oven to 200 degrees.

Sear the spinach and kale in a pan along with coarsely chopped garlic, chili flakes and salt and pepper. 

Stuff the mushrooms with the spinach and kale, top with feta cheese. 

Put in the oven and bake until the feta cheese is melted and has a little color. 

Easy and fast, and you know what? It tastes amazing. Really gets your taste buds dancing in the morning!

Eat it as it is or together with other brunch dishes like chevré and sun-dried tomato omelette or with a side of smoked salmon. Anything goes during brunch!

Saffron quinoa with butternut squash, goats cheese and pomegranate seeds, served with mint yogurt

Quinoa is a super food; full of protein, vitamin B and antioxidants. And a big plus, it tastes great! This dish is easy to make and is super healthy, a boost for your taste buds and your body!

The What:

3 dl of quinoa (I used black)

1 packet of saffron

1 butternut squash

1 - 2 spring onions

1 packet of goat cheese (I used chevre, but I think feta cheese would go well with this dish as well)

Seeds from 1 pomegranate 

Arugula

1 cube of vegetable stock

6 dl of water

salt and pepper

The What for the Mint Yogurt

Greek style yogurt

Fresh mint leaves

Honey

The How

Set the oven to 200 degrees.

Rinse the quinoa in hot water. 

Melt butter in a pan, add the saffron and let fry for a few seconds before adding the quinoa, the vegetable stock and the water.

Simmer under a lid for about 15-20 minutes.

Cut the butternut squash into cubes, put in an oven safe dish, pour over some olive oil, salt and pepper. Stick in the oven for about 10 minutes or until soft. 

Slice the onions, was the arugula and take out the pomegranate seeds (wear an apron, they stain!).

Coarsely chop the mint leaves and mix together with the yogurt and honey.

Mix the butternut squash, the pomegranate seeds, the spring onion, salt and pepper with the quinoa when it's ready.

Put the arugula on a plate, top the salad with the quinoa vegetable mix and crumble over the cheese. 

Top with the mint yogurt and serve. 

Enjoy! It tastes really good cold as well, try it for lunch the next day!

Chicken pie with asparagus and broccoli, topped with Parmesan

If you have a lot of ingredients at home that you can't really use for a full meal, like 1 chicken breast or 4 mushrooms or ½ a piece of ham, then make a pie! Easy and good, gets rid of all your leftovers and it's easy on your wallet too.

This is what I used:

Dough

3 dl flour

125 g butter

3 tbs cold water

Filling

6 eggs

6 dl whole milk

thyme

1 chicken breast

½ piece of smoked ham

300 g broccoli

6 mushrooms

asparagus

1 spring onion

2 cloves of garlic

grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

The How: 

Start making the dough as it needs to sit for about 30 minutes in the fridge before pre-baking it in the oven. Cut the butter in small pieces, put in a bowl together with flour and use your fingers to "nip" the dough together. Add the water and mix to a doughy consistency. Put the dough in your pie form and use your fingers to press it out evenly in the form. Use a fork to prick the bottom of the dough and stick it in the fridge for 30 minutes. Set the oven to 225 degrees and while it heats up, start with the filling.  

Cut the chicken into slices and fry in oil until cooked all the way through, add salt and pepper while it fries. Don't cook it too long, you don't want it to get dry! Put to the side for now. 

Cut the ham into smaller pieces, put to the side. 

Cut the mushroom, slice the onion and finely chop the garlic cloves, add salt and pepper. Fry in oil in a pan until soft and until the mushrooms have let out most of their water. Put to the side. 

Cut the broccoli in smaller bunches and break the asparagus to get rid of the thready part. Blanch in salted boiling water and quickly cool down under cold water. Put to the side for now. 

Mix the eggs, milk, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add fresh thyme. 

Take out the pie crust from the fridge and pre-bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Take out of the oven and put the chicken, mushrooms, ham, onions, garlic and broccoli in the crust. Pour in the egg and milk mix and top the pie with the asparagus. 

Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes. You may have to cover the pie with some foil after about 30 minutes so that it doesn't burn. When there's about 10 minutes left, take out the pie and top it with Parmesan cheese. Finish off in the oven. 

Serve with a nice salad!

I realize the HOW looks super difficult, but I promise, it's not. It's just a lot of steps. The prep time is only about 20 minutes and worth it to get a really good pie, bursting with flavor. And you can use whatever ingredients you like, which means that you can minimize the prep time. 

Get going, make use of your leftovers!

Hungry? Here's a 10 minute meal that tastes amazing

I LOVE gnocchi. I love it so much that I even tried to make it myself (major fail, will tell you more about that another time). The good news for us that apparently aren't very gifted in the make-your-own gnocchi department, there are now hundreds of different types of fresh pasta available in almost all standard grocery stores. Hooray!!

I had a wonderful day off today, finally being able to spend some quality time on my blog and my glorious plans for the future. Glorious plans for the future made me hungry but it needed to be a quick meal so as not to disturb me too much when I finally got my creative juices flowing. 

This is what I had at home: 

1 packet of fresh gnocchi

1 can of crushed tomatoes

2 garlic cloves

fresh thyme

Chili flakes

Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper

The How: 

Throw the gnocchi into boiling, lightly salted water. Cook until they start popping up to the surface of the water. Remove from water and put aside for now. 

Chop garlic, fry in olive oil in a pan together with chili flakes, until soft. Add the crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper and let simmer. 

Add the gnocchi and stir. 

Serve with fresh thyme and grated Parmesan. 

This is turned into a beautiful (super quick and not at all classic) Gnocchi Neapolitan in just under 10 minutes!

Now to get back to creating my Declarations of a Foodie empire!

Beautiful Farmers Salad

As you might have already guessed, I love vegetables! I love them in every way; oven baked, seared in a pan, fresh in a salad, as a side dish, as the main... well, you get the point. You've already seen my Hot Salad, hopefully you've even tried it :)! This beautiful and rustic farmers salad is made in the same way; hot in the oven. What makes it different is the veggies used and the fact that they are mostly roasted whole.

The What:

A bundle of asparagus

1 butternut squash

about 5 or 6 carrots

1 bundle of large spring onions

fresh thyme

olive oil

salt and pepper

Crumbled feta cheese and arugula to serve.

The How:

Turn the oven to 200 degrees. 

Peel the butternut squash and cut into smaller pieces, not too small though since the rest of the veggies will be roasted whole.

Cut the spring onions into halves. 

Break the asparagus in two to get rid of the "stringy" part. 

Wash the carrots and cut off any rough bits you don't want to eat. Keep the skin on. 

Put all the vegetables together in an oven safe pan, drizzle over olive oil and season with salt and pepper. 

Put the dish in the middle of the oven, keep an eye on the onion so that it doesn't burn!

Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the veggies are nice and roasted. 

Serve with a piece of meat, chicken or, as I did, all on it's own! 

It really doesn't need anything else!

The Best Chili Ever

The best chili ever, yeah, it's pretty cocky. But to be perfectly honest, it really WAS the best chili I've ever made and to be frank, it really WAS the best chili I've ever tasted. You want to challenge me? I always want to improve my cooking skills so if you have any tips, please, let me know! 

A warning for those under the age of 18; there is a lot of food porn going on in this post!! Keep reading at your own risk...

850 g of chuck beef

This chili takes about 20 minutes to prepare and about 2,5 hours to cook so make sure you don't start cooking at 10 pm on a Monday or you won't be eating until Tuesday!

The side dishes:

You need some guacamole, make it how you like it best, but there are a few key ingredients that you need to make it good; avocado, lemon, chili, garlic, salt and pepper. I also had coriander and a bit of sour cream in mine to give it a bit more flavor. 

You also need some salsa, sour cream and lime wedges on the side.

The What:

about 850 g of chuck beef (högrev for you Swedes)

5 garlic cloves

2 piri piri chili (or Spanish pepper if you're sensitive to spicy food)

2 pinches of salt

2 tbsp of ground cumin

2 tbsp of ground coriander

2 tbsp chili flakes (again, use less if you don't want it very spicy)

2 tbsp of oregano

1 tbsp honey

1 bottle (ca 33 cl) of lager or pale ale

2 tbsp of concentrated beef stock

butter to sear the meat in

The How:

Cut the meat into smaller pieces. 

Peel and chop the garlic as well as the chili. Take out the seeds if you want it less spicy.

Sear the meat in butter in a large pan until it has a nice color without being burnt. 

Add the rest of the ingredients and stir. 

Let simmer with the lid to the pan on, for about 2,5 hours. Make sure you stir it during this time and add extra liquid (more beer or just water) if needed. You can also use a fork to pull the meat every now and then, just like you did when you tried my Pulled Chicken!

Serve the chili in a blanched savoy cabbage leaf (or in a tortilla bread if you wish), don't be stingy with the sauces!

It tasted so amazing, I may have to make it a reoccuring dish at My Place!

Oven baked avocado filled with egg, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and chili oil

An easy, healthy meal filled with healthy fats and proteins - the eat after your workout!

The what:

1 avocado

2 eggs

Parmesan cheese (or any other cheese that you like)

Chili oil

Balsamic cream (if you want)

Salt and pepper

The How:

Put the oven to 200 degrees.

Slice open the avocado, making two halves. Remove the pit.

Crack an egg into the hole made by the pit, in both halves. 

Season with salt and pepper, and stick it in the oven for about 15 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs. After 15 minutes they are creamy, after 20 they are hard boiled. 

Take out of the oven, carefully pour over a bit of chili oil, sprinkle over some Parmesan cheese and season with some balsamic cream. Serve immediately and enjoy!

It's very filling and super healthy, you'll be happy you tried it!