Pumpkin soup with mushroom topping

This soup tastes like autumn, if there is such a thing.

1 small pumpkin or butternut squash

1 carrot

1 brown onion

20 cm of a small leek

1 clove of garlic

1 tbs veggie bouillon

1 cup creme fraiche

chopped fresh thyme

a bunch of mushrooms to fry in butter and throw on top

Start with chopping everything, then put it in a large sauce pan.

The pumpkin and I had a bit of a fight cause apparently I wasn't strong enough.

But after some 15 minutes it looked like this.

Stir fry for a while. Then add about 2 cups of water and let it boil until soft.

Mix it, then add the creme fraiche and thyme and re heat it.

Serve the soup with some nice bread, like this one for example.

Cheese bread with thyme and sundried tomatoes

Today I made one of my favorite breads which definitely not would be in the healthy category if I had one of those. It's a buttermilk and bicarbonate soda bread that's very easy to make and you can use a bit of everything that you've got at home to spice it up. I used sundried tomatoes, cheddar cheese, thyme and pumpkin seeds this time but last time I had parsley and parmesan and it was just as good.

Basic:

4,5 dl flour

1 bicarbonate soda sachet

1 cup buttermilk (2,5 dl filmjölk på svenska)

2 eggs

1-2 dl grated cheese

1 tbs salt

1 tbs pepper

2 tbs olive oil

Extra:

chopped fresh herbs

chopped sundried tomatoes or olives

seeds of choice for garnish

Mix all the "wet" ingredients (buttermilk, eggs, olive oil) in a small bowl. Mix all the dry ingredients (flour, bicarbonate soda, salt, pepper) in another, bigger bowl.

Stir in the cheese, sundried tomatoes and herbs into the bowl of wet ingredients.

Then mix everything in the big bowl. It's gonna be very sticky.

Put the dough in a baking pan and into the oven on medium heat for 45 minutes.

Voilà.

Penne with butternut squash, thyme and goats cheese

A couple of days ago I made penne with spinach, butternut squash, thyme oil and goats cheese which was a very, very good combination. Just roast the squash in the oven, sauté the spinach, grind the thyme in a mortar with some salt and olive oil, boil the pasta, crumble some goats cheese and voilà; delicious dinner!

My favorite recipes #2: Soups

This is such a simple but great idea, just add a poached egg into your tomato soup and it's instantly so much tastier.

Roasted cauliflower and truffle soup (minus the bacon).

I found this recipe when me and Peter lived in Brixton and our kitchen didn't have an oven, meaning no lasagna. Instead we made lasagna soup!

Soup with kale and sausages, just switch to a veggie sausages or maybe mushrooms if you're like me.

Coconut and bok choi soup.

You can find all pictures and links to the recipes in my Food map on Pinterest.

My favorite recipes #1: Pasta

Ok, first of all, the title of the post is a lie. I never, ever follow recipes, I just look at the pictures, read the name of the dish and cook my own version of it. But here follows five of my favorite Pinterest inspiration pictures that I've "cooked" several times. First up is this cacio pepe with parsnips.

Then we have gnocchi with mushroom ragu. Like the perfect dish for fall.

Walnut Bolognese! This is SO good. Love to use nuts in veggie food.

Parmesan and spinach orzo. This is not so much for the sauce but for the variety of pasta; orzo. Use it for stuffing in oven baked veggies or to make a fast food pasta version of risotto.

Last up is butternut squash lasagna which you have to try if you haven't already. Yum.

Follow my food map on Pinterest here.

Pea pesto, cucumber salad and a sunset gif

Yesterday I made a green pea pesto out of frozen peas, a clove of garlic, some fresh basil leaves, pine nuts, salt, lime juice and olive oil. Just thaw the peas and mix it all together and it's ready to eat.

It had been raining most of the day but when I was cooking suddenly there was this beautiful sunset which turned the whole kitchen golden.

I also made this cucumber salad inspired by a picture from Love and Lemons instagram. It's just cucumber, feta cheese, red onion, dill, lime juice and olive oil.

Curry with spinach and paneer

Yesterday I did a curry inspired by Indian spices and flavors. I used coconut cream, paneer cheese, spinach, coriander, onion, garlic and loads of spices. For example ginger, coriander, fenugreek, cumin and cardamon. 

I just chopped everything and put it in a pan with about 2 dl of water. Cook until creamy.

I cheated and bought ready made mini naan. Someday I'm gonna make my own.

Lime and sesame salmon with sautéed spinach

Yesterdays dinner was salmon marinated in lime juice, agave syrup, soy and sesame oil.

Then topped with sesame seeds and chili flakes. 

While the salmon was in the oven I sautéed spinach with garlic, soy and some sesame oil. 

Then we ate the salmon and spinach with rice and a simple cold sauce made of créme fraîche, wasabi, some agave syrup and salt.

My french onion soup

Yesterday I made my own take on the autumn classic, French onion soup. I used 10 small brown onions, about 2 dl of the cheapest Sainsbury's Chardonnay, one big clove of garlic, 2 bay leaves, veggie bouillon, tomato paste, a piece of Cheddar cheese and some slices of toast. Plus about half a liter of water and some paprika. If you have thyme, which I didn't, you should definitely use it too. This recipe will feed 2 people.

Chop and stir fry the onion and garlic with some tomato paste and a pinch of paprika.

Then add the wine and the water, the veggie bouillon and the bay leaves and cook for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile I did croutons of the old toast bread. 20 minutes in the oven on quite low heat.

If you, like me, don't have baking dishes to do a proper French gratin soup you can always just sprinkle som cheese on top. Yum!

My first chia pudding

A couple of days ago I decided to make chia pudding.

I used 4 dl almond milk, 5 tbsp of chia seeds, 4 tsp of grated coconut and 1 pinch of vanilla powder. 

Then I let it soak in the fridge overnight.

The morning after I ate it with berries and an avocado toast. Unfortunately the pudding was slightly too runny and loose. Maybe I should've used soy milk or maybe I didn't blend it well enough? The taste was nice though so I'll try again again sometime.