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If you follow me you know that I am mostly vegan but do enjoy the occasional really good dairy product. I guess I was raised in a dairy culture country, and it was already hard to fight meat and be a vegetarian ! but cheese and yogurts have been all around my entire life. And I did enjoy them for a long time of my life. Especially cheese….Being more educated on their nutritional value, + and – health benefits, I have become quite savvy about when and how to eat those. And I also rely a lot on what’s my gut feeling ! If you can digest dairy and eat in moderation some organic, real yogurt or cheese, I believe you can actually benefit from their nutrients (calcium, protein) But this is so personal, right ? And having said that I know that I ‘ll always feel better when I skip those for sometime in my diet. So finding something that can replace the texture and flavor cheese bring to dishes is really important for me. On the other hand I don’t want to claim my “vegan feta” is anything to compare with traditional feta. I have said it before, but it scares me that some people eat now lots of processed vegan food and truly believe it is healthy ! We should not try to eat the same, but learn how to make new ingredients combinations that bring us the same level of yum 🙂 and are at the same time good for our health. Anyway, that’s my personal view on the current vegan trend, and even if you disagree with me, you can still give a try to recipe below. It’s sour, tangy, crumbly, and can definitely play a similar part in the flavors building of a salad / soup/ … as feta would do. Give it a go and let me know.
Ingredients
- 135 g blanched almonds
- 4,5 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 3,5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 fat crushed garlic cloves (don’t omit)
- 115 ml d’eau
- 1,5 tbsp of fresh shredded thyme, oregano or rosemary (my favorite is rosemary)
- 1,5 tsp sea salt (adjust to taste)
Directions
- Soak your almonds in 500 ml of water the night before
- In the morning, drain them and rinse them well
- Transfer them to your high speed blender, adding all the other ingredients and blend until you get a creamy texture.
- Transfer your batter in your milk bag and make a tight knot to get a ball you’ll strain for min 8 hours in your fridge
- Once it has strained, transfer your batter in your greased mold (I use olive oil, or baking paper if you don’t want to add any oil).
- Put in your preheated oven at 175°C fan forced for 35/40 min (check, it should have get some golden color on the top and have some cracks, but should still be soft under the firm top)
- Leave it to cool down in your mold and once cool, transfer in a container in your fridge
- When ready to eat, add a drizzle of olive oil, some cracked pepper and fresh herbs, even honey if you’d like (but not vegan). Can keep for up to 5 days in your fridge.
- Enjoy on sourdough toasts, crumbled in salads or to top soups, in wraps, or on pizzas.
Being in Lockdown and far away from home, I guess some days I just crave for the food I grew up with. As a kid, I loved quiches, which were my Mum go to dish when she was running out of time and ideas 🙂 Being already a vegetarian I loved those days ! It’s also one of the first savory dish I learnt to cook by myself. At first using pre made dough my Mum would buy at the supermarket (to save time again 🙂 but then when I started to learn how to read food labels (scary :)) I decided to make my own dough. Except for “pate feuilletée” which requires some skills, you have no excuse not to make your pie pastry ! In the recipe below I have twisted a little the dough adding a few tsp of thyme, you can also add some spices or even seeds… when you make your own, combinations are infinite !!
If asparagus are not in season, switch for brocoli, broccolini, spinach… and you can also replace the feta with soft goat cheese. Whatever the combo, I promise it will turn out super yummy !
Recipe just below. Happy Baking and eating.
Serves 6
Ingredients
Quiche
- A Bunch of green asparagus, washed and trimmed
- 100 g crumbled soft real feta cheese
- 3 large pastured eggs
- 250 ml full fat fresh milk
- 1 medium red onion thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp grated organic lemon zest
- 4 tbsp chopped herbs (chives and parsley)
- A pinch of grated nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste
Dough
- 200 g T55 flour, 100 g butter, 75 ml water, 5 g sugar, 3 g sea salt (optional: 2 tsp dried thyme or 1/2 tsp turmeric or 1 tbsp poppy seeds…)
Instructions
Start making the dough:
- Mix all dry ingredients. Add the butter cut in small pieces and mix using your hands to get a sandy texture. Don’t overdo it ! Make a well in your “sand” and add the water gradually. Using your hands incorporate the water to the dough until you get something homogenous and smooth. Cling wrap it and put it in your fridge for 30 min. It is then ready to be used 🙂
- Preheat your oven at 190°C fan forced
- Mix your liquids: eggs, add the milk, mix well, add the lemon, chopped herbs, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
- Roll your dough and transfer it to a pan layered with baking paper. Top with your liquids, then add the red onions and finish with the crumbled feta and the asparagus (I chose to keep them in full as I find it nicer 🙂 but you can cut them if you prefer)
- Put in the oven for 30 min, until it is nicely golden brown.
- Enjoy with a nice salad as a main meal.
Yes salads can be pretty, healthy, nourishing and very tasty ! The one I am sharing with you today is super well balanced, combining, good GF carbs, legume proteins, veggies, sheep dairy, lots of herbs and a healthy fat dressing. It can be satisfying as a main on its own but feel free to add some more protein if you have a busy/ sporty day and a few more greens as a side salad to have a complete lunch. It can be easily adapted if you don’t have sorghum, don’t worry (replace with quinoa, farro or millet) and also switch for a vegan cheese alternative if you eat plant based. I rarely eat dairy nowadays, but feta can bring that special twist I want sometimes. If you do use feta, ensure it is real one made only with goat and sheep milk, please ! as there are so many bad ones on the market !
The only time consuming step is the lentils cooking in the recipe, so ensure you cook more and keep some for some lentils burgers patties/ falafels / a nice dahl / another salad…. in coming days.
Recipe below, serves 6 as a main / 8 as a good side !
200 grs uncooked Puy lentils
200 grs shorghum
300 grs cherry tomatoes quartered
100 grs persian style soft marinated real feta (or marinated tofu for vegan alternative)
2 red onions diced
2 large garlic cloves crushed
20 grs chopped parsley / 20 grs chopped chives / 20 grs thyme
70 ml lemon juice
100 ml extra virgin olive oil
salt and cracked pepper and roasted pepitas to top
Rinse and cook your lentils. Do the same with the sorghum.While they are cooking prepare the lemon dressing, mixing garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and a bit of salt.
When your grains and lentils have cooled down, put them in your serving bowl, add the cherry tomatoes, the onions and pour over the dressing. Finally add the feta and the herbs and top with extra salt/ black pepper and roasted pepitas. As simple a that !