Tag Archive for: vegetarian

Sauerkraut Börek

These delicious layers of crispy phyllo dough and the soft fragrant sauerkraut flavor of this sauerkraut börek are a perfect side dish or a meal on their own.

These delicious layers of crispy phyllo dough and soft fragrant sauerkraut flavor of this sauerkraut börek are a perfect side dish or a meal on its own.

Today, I’m sharing a dish we’ve been making a lot this Winter. And it’s honoring the deliciousness of sauerkraut, which we have on the menu at least once a week during the cold months.

What is sauerkraut?

Sauerkraut is fermented cabbage, that is usually cut finely, but you can also get the whole cabbage heads. I’m not sure if these can be purchased everywhere, but they are quite common in the Balkans.

The name sauerkraut comes form German and means sour cabbage.

While sauerkraut is not a traditional filling for börek, we can’t stop making it after tasting the sauerkraut börek. It is created with very simple ingredients, and the process is straightforward.

This recipe also includes the recipe for homemade phyllo dough, although the storebought is just as fine. Whenever I use the storebought, I prefer finding phyllo dough that’s very thin. It creates a very crispy and flaky skin on the börek.

These delicious layers of crispy phyllo dough and soft fragrant sauerkraut flavor of this sauerkraut börek are a perfect side dish or a meal on its own.
These delicious layers of crispy phyllo dough and soft fragrant sauerkraut flavor of this sauerkraut börek are a perfect side dish or a meal on its own.
These delicious layers of crispy phyllo dough and soft fragrant sauerkraut flavor of this sauerkraut börek are a perfect side dish or a meal on its own.

How do you make the homemade phyllo dough?

Although it might sound intimidating to make your own phyllo dough, it’s actually not that difficult. Take it from me, I’m by no means an expert. If you ever stop by YouTube and check the professionals, you might easily be discouraged, but it really only takes a gentle hand while stretching the dough.

The dough is basically just flour, water, and salt. Optionally you can a little oil for flavor. I used olive oil for this sauerkraut börek, however, I don’t even put oil every time I make phyllo dough. The dough is very soft and is very easy to knead by hand. It might stick a bit at first, but once you get the gluten going you’re good!

Then all it takes is to rest the dough in an oiled bowl, covered with some foil, so it doesn’t dry out. After you’ve left the dough to rest for at least 30 minutes, you roll the dough just a little bit, oil the surface, and let it rest covered for about 20 minutes. This lets the gluten relax. After that, the dough is ready to be stretched. Gently slide your fingers under the dough, right to the center, and gently stretch towards yourself. Move around the dough and stretch. Always make sure you stretch the thicker parts and not the parts that are already very thin.

Some people also use the rolling method, however, I don’t own a long thin rolling pin, so I use this method, which is very common for the Balkans anyway. Here’s a nice video to show you how this method works.

While you can stretch the entire dough in one go and get one huge piece of dough, I find it easier to divide my dough into smaller doughs right before resting and then stretch each one separately.

Time to fill the börek

After you’ve stretched the dough you can fill it with the most delicious sauerkraut filling. I have to be honest with you. The person who actually created the filling recipe for this sauerkraut börek is my husband with a bit of help of my son. I’m usually responsible for making the dough and they get to do the fillings when we make any kind of börek.

These delicious layers of crispy phyllo dough and soft fragrant sauerkraut flavor of this sauerkraut börek are a perfect side dish or a meal on its own.
These delicious layers of crispy phyllo dough and soft fragrant sauerkraut flavor of this sauerkraut börek are a perfect side dish or a meal on its own.
These delicious layers of crispy phyllo dough and soft fragrant sauerkraut flavor of this sauerkraut börek are a perfect side dish or a meal on its own.
These delicious layers of crispy phyllo dough and soft fragrant sauerkraut flavor of this sauerkraut börek are a perfect side dish or a meal on its own.
These delicious layers of crispy phyllo dough and soft fragrant sauerkraut flavor of this sauerkraut börek are a perfect side dish or a meal on its own.

I know, you’re probably waiting anxiously for the recipe, so let’s just dive in! If you’re interested in making another similar dish with phyllo dough, I also have a recipe for Chicken Spanakopita.

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

These delicious layers of crispy phyllo dough and soft fragrant sauerkraut flavor of this sauerkraut börek are a perfect side dish or a meal on its own.
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Sauerkraut Börek

Course Appetizer, brunch, Main Course, Side Dish
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Baking Time 30 minutes
Servings 6 people

Ingredients

  • homemade phyllo dough (recipe below) or 500g store bought phyllo dough
  • 1 kg thinly cut sauerkraut
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 1 TBSP paprika
  • 1 TBSP turmeric
  • crushed black pepper to taste
  • 1/4 tsp anis seeds
  • 1/4 tsp ground carraway seeds
  • 1 shallot
  • 2 red onion
  • 5 garlic cloves
  • cooking oil for frying the filling, brushing the pan and top the börek
  • 1 small egg + 1 tsp water for egg wash (optional)

Instructions

  1. Finely slice shallots and red onions and fry them on a tablespoon of cooking oil for a few minutes until translucent.

  2. Finely slice or crush the garlic. Add to the pan and fry for an extra two to three minutes.

  3. Add all the spices and fry for another minute.

  4. Drain the sauerkraut. Taste the sauerkraut to see how sour it is. If you find it too sour for your liking, you can wash it quickly under running water and then leave it to drain.

  5. Add drained sauerkraut to the pan and fry on medium heat for about 20 minutes. It should become a bit dryer and softer.

  6. Divide the filling phyllo dough into the same amount of parts as you have phyllo dough sheets.

  7. Spread one part of the filling onto one sheet of phyllo dough, but cover only one third starting from the edge. Start rolling from the side, where he filling is, then roll it.

  8. Shape it into a snail shape and continue filling another sheet of phyllo pastry. You can either add it to the snail, to ultimately create a large börek or create small separate böreks. If you create separate böreks, reduce baking time for 5-10 minutes.

  9. Generously oil the pan you'll be using to bake and place the börek onto the pan.

  10. Brush some oil on top of the börek. If you're doing an egg-wash, brush it over oiled börek.

  11. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (350°F) for 30 minutes.

These delicious layers of crispy phyllo dough and soft fragrant sauerkraut flavor of this sauerkraut börek are a perfect side dish or a meal on its own.
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Homemade Phyllo Dough

Prep Time 15 minutes
Resting + Stereching Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 500 g high protein white flour (all-purpose flour works as well)
  • 300 g water
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 TBSP olive oil (omit if you're using all-purpose flour)

Instructions

  1. Sift flour into a large bowl.

  2. Make a well and pour in the water. Add salt and oil to the water.

  3. Start mixing from the center with your fingers. It will be sticky, but once it all comes together it will go off your hands easily.

  4. Mix until you can see the dough coming together a bit, then you can start kneading to incorporate the flour in. Every flour needs a different amount of water, so you might end up adding more flour or leaving some flour in the bowl at the end.

  5. When the dough starts to become uniform transfer (this will usually take somewhere from 3-4 minutes) it to the bench and continue kneading for another 8 minutes. The dough should be soft and uniform. It will stick to your hands just a little bit, that's okay. If it sticks too much add a little more flour and knead it in.

  6. You can either leave the dough whole and end up creating a large piece of phyllo. I prefer dividing it into three parts, to make it easier when I'm stretching.

  7. Whatever method you use. Place the dough into an oiled bowl (or three oiled bowls) brush a little oil over the dough and cover with plastic wrap right on the dough. Leave to rest for at least 30 minutes. You can prepare the dough a day before, and store it in the fridge, then take it out and leave it at room temperature for at least an hour before proceeding.

  8. After resting, place a large sheet onto the table and generously sprinkle it with flour. Place the dough onto the floured sheet and roll it out a little bit. If I'm making one large dough I like to roll it out to about 40 cm (15 inches) or 20 cm (8 inches) if I divide the dough into three parts. The precise measurements don't really matter, just to give you a rough idea. Generously pour oil over the rolled dough and brush all over the surface. Be sure to cover the edges too. This will prevent the dough from drying out. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rest for 20 minutes so the gluten relaxes.

  9. After that, you can start stretching. Make sure you cover a large area of the sheet with flour, so the dough will not stick.

  10. Place your hands under the dough and gently pull towards yourself. You will immediately see stretching happening. Move around the dough and to the same. Make sure, that you don't stretch the parts that are already very thin and continue stretching the thicker parts. In the end, you will end with edges that are a little bit thicker. You can continue stretching them for as long as the dough can handle it.

  11. Leave the dough to dry for a minute or two then you can start adding the filling.

These delicious layers of crispy phyllo dough and soft fragrant sauerkraut flavor of this sauerkraut börek are a perfect side dish or a meal on its own.
These delicious layers of crispy phyllo dough and soft fragrant sauerkraut flavor of this sauerkraut börek are a perfect side dish or a meal on its own.

The Softest Sourdough Doughnuts

Once you’ve tasted these irresistibly soft and fluffy sourdough doughnuts, you’ll never try any other! This one-and-a-half-day recipe is well worth the time it takes.

Once you've tasted these irresistibly soft and fluffy sourdough doughnuts, you'll never try any other! This one and a half day recipe is well worth the time it takes.

Here in Slovenia, we’ve had our carnival festival these past few days. And there is no carnival without some soft and fluffy doughnuts. Just like last year, I’ve made my sourdough doughnuts. While the ones from last year were okay considering I made them just a month after making my first sourdough starter or ever baking anything sourdough. However, the ones that I made this year were to die for!

I’m not exaggerating. The perfect size, the perfect shape, the softerst texture and the sweetest flavor. So good!

Lessons I’ve learned about sourdough in a year have paid off.

So if this is the first time making sourdough doughnuts, my number one advice is to be patient. There’s a lot of waiting involved and it’s easy to get very excited and not leaving the dough to rest or rise long enough. You just wanna go in there and work, right? However, it is really important to just watch your dough and wait, without really looking at the clock. This is also the reason there’s no very specific time frame in my recipe. The fermentation works very differently at different temperatures.

I will share my times and temperatures just so you can have some ideas of how long you should really wait.

One more thing. Be gentle with your dough. The more gentle you’ll be the more air will stay inside your dough, creating the sof center.

And the second thing, make sure to create enough dough strength so it can hold its shape. This is especially important when you’re shaping doughnuts into small balls. Take your time!

Note: if you’re not the sourdough type, I also have a very delicious yeast doughnut recipe here.

Okay scroll down for my timetable 🙂

Once you've tasted these irresistibly soft and fluffy sourdough doughnuts, you'll never try any other! This one and a half day recipe is well worth the time it takes.
Once you've tasted these irresistibly soft and fluffy sourdough doughnuts, you'll never try any other! This one and a half day recipe is well worth the time it takes.
Once you've tasted these irresistibly soft and fluffy sourdough doughnuts, you'll never try any other! This one and a half day recipe is well worth the time it takes.

My sourdough doughnuts making timetable:

9 am – First Levain Feeding

9 am – 3 pm levain fermenting at a variable temperature from 23-25 °C until doubled in size

3 pm – Second Levain Feeding

3 pm – 8:30 pm levain fermenting at a variable temperature from 23-25 °C until doubled in size

8:30 pm – Making the dough (first mixing, resting, kneading, first coil fold)

9 pm – 10 pm – Bulk ferment at 23-25°C (I did a coil fold at 9:30 pm and 10 pm)

10 pm – Transfering the dough into the fridge (with around 8°C)

10 pm – 8 am – Bulk ferment in the fridge

8 am – Moving the dough back to room temperature

8 am – 11 am – Bulk ferment at 23-25°C (I waited for the dough to get to room temperature)

11 am – Shaping

11 am – 9 pm – Proofing at 23-26°C (I waited for the doughnuts to double in size!)

9pm – Frying and eating two hot doughnuts 🙂

Once you've tasted these irresistibly soft and fluffy sourdough doughnuts, you'll never try any other! This one and a half day recipe is well worth the time it takes.
Once you've tasted these irresistibly soft and fluffy sourdough doughnuts, you'll never try any other! This one and a half day recipe is well worth the time it takes.
Once you've tasted these irresistibly soft and fluffy sourdough doughnuts, you'll never try any other! This one and a half day recipe is well worth the time it takes.

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

Once you've tasted these irresistibly soft and fluffy sourdough doughnuts, you'll never try any other! This one and a half day recipe is well worth the time it takes.
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The Softest Sourdough Doughnuts

Adapted from sourdoughmania.com

Servings 20 small doughnuts
Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Sweet Levain – First Feeding

  • 20 g water at room temperature
  • 50 g strong white flour (all-purpose flour works as well)
  • 10 g sourdough starter (100% hydration)
  • 10 g white sugar

Sweet Levain – Second Feeding

  • 40 g water at room temperature
  • 90 g strong white flour
  • 20 g white sugar

Dough

  • 400 g strong white flour
  • 120 g milk room temperature
  • 2 larger eggs room temperature
  • 70 g white sugar
  • 4 g salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla seeds or vanilla extract
  • 60 g softened unsalted butter room temperature

Instructions

Levain Feedings

  1. First Feeding: Mix all ingredients for the first levain feeding. Mix just enough for all ingredients to bind. No need for kneading.

  2. Let sit at room temperature until the levain doubles in size. Anywhere from 21-28°C or 60-82°F is okay, but keep in mind that the levain will mature quicker at higher temperatures. This stage should take anywhere from 3-10 hours.

  3. Second Feeding: After the levain has doubled in size, it is time to feed it the second time. Add water to a bowl and shred in your levain. Mix a little to dissolve the levain. It won't dissolve entirely. Add all other feeding ingredients and knead just enough to make the levain come together in a dough.

  4. Let sit at room temperature until the levain doubles in size. Anywhere from 21-28°C or 70-82°F is okay, but keep in mind that the levain will mature quicker at higher temperatures. This stage should take anywhere from 3-10 hours.

Dough

  1. For the times and temperatures I used for this recipe, check the article!

  2. Making the dough: After the levain has doubled in size the second time, it's time to mix our dough.

  3. Dissolve the levain in milk.

  4. Add flour, sugar, eggs and vanilla seeds or vanilla extract.

  5. Using a stand mixer, mix the dough just enough to bring the ingredients together. Leave covered for 10-15 minutes.

  6. After resting, add salt and knead the dough in a stand mixer for 8 minutes.

  7. Then add softened butter and knead until the dough can pass the windowpane test (link to see how the windowpane test works in the recipe notes). The dough will separate at first, but will come back together quickly.

  8. Bulk ferment: Transfer the dough to your bulk ferment container and do a coil fold (link to the coil fold method in the recipe notes).

  9. Cover the container and leave to ferment until doubled in size. This should take anywhere from 4-10 hours at room temperature. You can do a part of the bulk ferment in the fridge to slow the ferment. Do a coil fold every 30 minutes for the first two hours.

  10. Shaping: After the dough has risen about 50% in size, transfer it to your counter, but be very gentle to not release too much air from the dough.

  11. Divide the dough into 50g pieces and roll them into small balls. Make sure to create enough tension on the balls so they keep a nice shape.

  12. Proofing: Leave the doughnuts to rise at room temperature until doubled in size. This stage will take anywhere from 8-12 hours depending on the temperature.

  13. Frying: After the doughnuts have doubled in size, prepare the oil for frying.

  14. Use about 1 inch or 2.5 cm of oil and fry at a temperature between 160-170°C (320-340°F). A good indicator the temperature is perfect is to check with a wooden spoon. If little bubbles start to form around the spoon handle the oil is ready to go.

  15. Place doughnuts top side down in hot oil, but prior to that brush away the flour. A lot of flour will burn your oil and it will not be re-usable. Fry the doughnuts for about 3 minutes covered. When they turn golden, turn them around away from yourself, so you don’t burn yourself! Fry for about 3 more minutes on the other side uncovered.

  16. Transfer the doughnuts to a plate covered with paper towels to drain the excess oil. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool.

  17. Fill and decorate to your liking. Enjoy!

Notes

Link to the windowpane test here.

Link to the coil fold method here.

Once you've tasted these irresistibly soft and fluffy sourdough doughnuts, you'll never try any other! This one and a half day recipe is well worth the time it takes.

Elderflower And Passion Fruit Gin And Tonic

Fresh passion fruit and delicious floral elderflower syrup give this refreshing elderflower and passion fruit gin and tonic recipe a sweet valentine’s day twist.

Fresh passion fruit and delicious floral elderflower syrup give this refreshing elderflower and passion fruit gin and tonic recipe a sweet valentine's day twist.

Did you notice that Valentine’s day is next week!!!??

Luckily I have a lovely cocktail ready for a romantic dinner. Even though most of the world is still in one or another form of lockdown, we still deserve some splurging, right?

A nice dinner with the best dessert ever. And of course this elderflower and passion fruit gin and tonic!

I love gin and tonic because it’s so easy to make. Basically, all you need to do is add some ice in your cocktail glass, add all the ingredients and enjoy 🙂

This time, I’ve given it a bit sweeter twist with fresh passion fruit, which I absolutely love, and homemade elderflower syrup. However, if you don’t have a homemade one, a storebought is just as fine.

This combination of flavors and sweetness with the biterness of gin and tonic is in my opinion the biggest selling point of this cocktail.

If this floral flavor is not your jam, I have a more citrusy grapefruit gin and tonic recipe as well.

Fresh passion fruit and delicious floral elderflower syrup give this refreshing elderflower and passion fruit gin and tonic recipe a sweet valentine's day twist.
Fresh passion fruit and delicious floral elderflower syrup give this refreshing elderflower and passion fruit gin and tonic recipe a sweet valentine's day twist.

A good gin and tonic is made with quality gin and quality tonic as well. Keep in mind that your gin and tonic will only be as good as the ingredients put in. This doesn’t mean you need to go with the most expensive stuff. However, the cheapest plastic bottle drinks are probably lower quality than you want in a gin and tonic. So, I encourage you to explore, which flavors you like.

Most of simple gin and tonics include some amount of citrus flavor. For my Valentine’s day elderflower and passion fruit gin and tonic, I passed on adding citruses. I used my elderflower syrup that already included some lemons. Most elderflower syrups do.

Plus, I really wanted to create a more feminine floral/tropical cocktail. But, if you feel like adding a hint of citrus go ahead and squeeze in a bit of lemon juice!

Fresh passion fruit and delicious floral elderflower syrup give this refreshing elderflower and passion fruit gin and tonic recipe a sweet valentine's day twist.
Fresh passion fruit and delicious floral elderflower syrup give this refreshing elderflower and passion fruit gin and tonic recipe a sweet valentine's day twist.
Fresh passion fruit and delicious floral elderflower syrup give this refreshing elderflower and passion fruit gin and tonic recipe a sweet valentine's day twist.

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

Fresh passion fruit and delicious floral elderflower syrup give this refreshing elderflower and passion fruit gin and tonic recipe a sweet valentine's day twist.
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Elderflower And Passion Fruit Gin And Tonic

Course Cocktail, Drinks
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Servings 1 cocktail

Ingredients

  • ice
  • 2 ounces quality gin (1/4 cup / 60ml)
  • 4 ounces quality tonic water (1/2 cup / 120ml)
  • 1 fresh passion fruit
  • 1-2 tsp elderflower syrup

Instructions

  1. Fill the cocktail glass with ice.

  2. Add the flesh of fresh passion fruit and elderflower syrup to the glass.

  3. Pour over gin and finish with pouring over the tonic.

  4. Gently stir to combine.

Notes

Homemade elderflower syrup recipe

Fresh passion fruit and delicious floral elderflower syrup give this refreshing elderflower and passion fruit gin and tonic recipe a sweet valentine's day twist.
Fresh passion fruit and delicious floral elderflower syrup give this refreshing elderflower and passion fruit gin and tonic recipe a sweet valentine's day twist.

Dried Fruits And Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

This dried fruits and chocolate chip bundt cake is packed with Winter flavors and rich chocolate, topped with a quick and simple glaze. It’s the most delicious Christmas bundt cake!

This dried fruits and chocolate chip bundt cake is packed with Winter flavors and rich chocolate, topped with a quick and simple glaze. It's the most delicious Christmas bundt cake!

I tried not to bake too much this year, since we’re in a lockdown and we have no one to share the sweets with. But I couldn’t resist baking another Christmas bundt cake. Do you remember the chocolate hazelnut bundt cake from last year?

I had the idea of making a bundt cake and then my son insisted on us baking a cake. He’s not very friendly with bundt cakes, since they don’t usually include any cream filling. So I tried to find a way to make him love it. And found the perfect solution.

Adding lots of chocolate and dried fruits did the job. He’s a big fan of both! And I love how they made the cake a bit juicier and creamier. We also added some orange zest, because it’s almost Christmas and you can’t have Christmas without some orange zest, right? For me, it’s one of the most distinct flavors of Christmas.

This dried fruits and chocolate chip bundt cake is packed with Winter flavors and rich chocolate, topped with a quick and simple glaze. It's the most delicious Christmas bundt cake!
This dried fruits and chocolate chip bundt cake is packed with Winter flavors and rich chocolate, topped with a quick and simple glaze. It's the most delicious Christmas bundt cake!
This dried fruits and chocolate chip bundt cake is packed with Winter flavors and rich chocolate, topped with a quick and simple glaze. It's the most delicious Christmas bundt cake!

It’s super easy to make this dried fruits and chocolate chip bundt cake!

One of the reasons I love bundt cakes is how easy they are to make and how well they usually last in terms of freshness. Definitely not in terms of not-eating them, because we finished it in a day!

All you need to do to make a perfect bundt cake is beat sugar and butter together. There’s not so much butter in this recipe, so don’t get scared if the mixture is not as fluffy as for example a buttercream. It still needs to get airy and brighter, though. You add the eggs one at a time and finish with flour and milk. At the very end, you add chocolate chips and dried fruits and pour it all in a bundt pan.

It’s a very simple cake and you can eat it as is or make a simple glaze with icing sugar and milk.

This dried fruits and chocolate chip bundt cake is packed with Winter flavors and rich chocolate, topped with a quick and simple glaze. It's the most delicious Christmas bundt cake!
This dried fruits and chocolate chip bundt cake is packed with Winter flavors and rich chocolate, topped with a quick and simple glaze. It's the most delicious Christmas bundt cake!

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

This dried fruits and chocolate chip bundt cake is packed with Winter flavors and rich chocolate, topped with a quick and simple glaze. It's the most delicious Christmas bundt cake!
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Dried Fruits And Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

Course Dessert
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

  • 1¼ cup all-purpose flour (180 g)
  • ¾ cup sugar (150 g)
  • 1 stick unsalted butter (110 g)
  • 2 large eggs
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla seeds (or vanilla extract)
  • zest of half an orange
  • pinch of salt
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnammon
  • ½ cup chocolate chips (80 g)
  • ¼ cup raisins (35 g)
  • ¼ cup dried cranberries (35 g)

Simple glaze

  • 1 cup icing sugar
  • 1-2 TBSP milk

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F) and grease a 6-cup bundt cake pan with butter.

  2. In a bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar for 3-4 minutes, until fluffy.

  3. Add eggs one at a time, and make sure to incorporate the first fully, before adding the second.

  4. Add vanilla and orange zest and mix quickly.

  5. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

  6. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined. Then add 1/2 of the milk and mix on low speed. Continue with 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by 1/2 of the milk, and finishing with the remaining 1/3 of the flour mixture.

  7. Add chocolate chips and dried fruits and use a spatula to gently incorporate them in the batter.

  8. Pour the batter into a greased bundt cake pan and bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes. If you're doubling the recipe add 10-15 minutes to the bake.

  9. The bundt cake is done when the toothpick comes out clean.

  10. Wait for 10-15 minutes before removing the bundt cake from the pan.

Simple glaze

  1. For the glaze mix together icing sugar and milk to get a smooth paste. First, start with 1 TBSP of milk and add more, little by little, until you get the consistency you like.

You can find the recipe in Slovene here.

This dried fruits and chocolate chip bundt cake is packed with Winter flavors and rich chocolate, topped with a quick and simple glaze. It's the most delicious Christmas bundt cake!
This dried fruits and chocolate chip bundt cake is packed with Winter flavors and rich chocolate, topped with a quick and simple glaze. It's the most delicious Christmas bundt cake!

Gingerbread Spiced Tiramisu

If you’re craving a non-traditional Christmas dessert this gingerbread spiced tiramisu will be the perfect treat.

If you're craving a non-traditional Christmas dessert this gingerbread spiced tiramisu will be the perfect treat.

We’ve got our first snowfall of the season. And it’s already more than the previous season all-together. So I’m feeling happy.

Me and snow are big buddies, I turn into a kid when I see it. What about you?

My dream is to have a big closed terrace in my home one day and observe snow falling outside while I sip on a warm drink under a blankie. All calm and peaceful.

If I had a piece of this gingerbread spiced tiramisu, I definitely wouldn’t mind. Or the whole tray, while I’m at it 🙂

So I thought since Christmas is approaching I’d try and make tiramisu and add some spices to make it more seasonal. And it turned out to be such a good idea. We ate it a snap and I had to make another one again immediately the next day.

And that’s why I’m sharing it with you today.

If you're craving a non-traditional Christmas dessert this gingerbread spiced tiramisu will be the perfect treat.
If you're craving a non-traditional Christmas dessert this gingerbread spiced tiramisu will be the perfect treat.

What do you need to make this gingerbread spiced tiramisu?

Cookies

You need some ladyfinger cookies. I know some people make sponges for tiramisu, but I’ve never eaten one without the ladyfingers. Ladyfingers are the original cookies used in tiramisu and for a good reason. They turn into such delicious almost sponge-like goodness when you soak them. I used store-bought cookies since I’ve never tried making them at home (my mission for next time I make tiramisu!).

But I found a good recipe for ladyfingers from Kayley from The Kitchen McKabe in case you want to make your own or don’t have access to any in your store.

Coffee

You also need some coffee. Typically you’d use espresso. I used Turkish-style coffee and strained the coffee afterward. I also tried cold brewing, but I felt like the taste was a bit too mild and sour for my liking. If you like that, then that’s also an option.

I can’t have caffeine and if you have the same issues, decaf is perfectly fine.

Spices

You also need gingerbread spices. I have a recipe for the mix down below, but if you have your own, go for it.

Cream

Italians traditionally make the cream with raw eggs and mascarpone.

I’ve made this cream many many times and it’s amazing. However, since we have a kid and in the midst of a pandemic I certainly don’t want anyone, let alone a kid, to get food poisoning, I decided to do a pasteurized version.

For my cream, you need egg yolks, mascarpone, and whipping cream. The cream is going to substitute the egg whites from the traditional recipe. I included the recipe for pasteurizing the egg yolks in the recipe below.

Dusting

Traditionally that’s cocoa. But I mixed it with some gingerbread spices to add more of the Christmasy feel.

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If you're craving a non-traditional Christmas dessert this gingerbread spiced tiramisu will be the perfect treat.
If you're craving a non-traditional Christmas dessert this gingerbread spiced tiramisu will be the perfect treat.
If you're craving a non-traditional Christmas dessert this gingerbread spiced tiramisu will be the perfect treat.

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

If you're craving a non-traditional Christmas dessert this gingerbread spiced tiramisu will be the perfect treat.
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Gingerbread Spiced Tiramisu

Course Dessert
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 30 minutes
Total Time 3 hours
Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Gingerbread Spice Mix

  • 2 TBSP ground cinnamon
  • 2 TBSP ground ginger
  • 1½ TBSP ground allspice
  • ½ TBSP ground cloves
  • ½ TBSP ground nutmeg
  • TBSP a pinch of ground black pepper

Cream

  • 3 large egg yolks
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 cup mascarpone cheese (about 250 g or 8 oz)
  • ¾ cup whipping cream

Other

  • 20 ladyfinger cookies
  • 3 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1½ cup coffee room temperature
  • 1 TBSP rum

Instructions

Gingerbread Spice Mix

  1. Mix all spice mix ingredients together. Set aside.

Cream

  1. Place eggyolks in a heat-proof (non-metal) bowl and place it over a sausepan with simmering water.

  2. Use a whisk to constantly stir the eggs. They should heat very slowly, so they don't get cooked. They are done when they reach 60°C (138°F). If you don't have a termometer, you can either use raw eggs and skip this step or see how you can troubleshoot in the notes.

  3. Place the pasteurized eggs into a mixing bowl, add sugar and whip for 5 minutes, until slightly lighter (the pasteurized eggs don't get as fluffy as the raw eggs).

  4. Add mascarpone and mix on medium speed.

  5. In a separate bowl whip the whipping cream and fold it gently into the egg mixture.

Assembly

  1. Pour room temperature coffee onto a soup plate. Add rum and 3/4 of the spice mix.

  2. Soak ladyfinger cookies on both sides in the coffee and rum mix. Less if you want less soaked tiramisu and more if you want a more soaked tiramisu.

  3. Place ladyfinger cookies in a serving dish in one layer, covering the entire dish.

  4. Spread half of the cream over.

  5. Add a second layer of ladyfinger cookies on top and then spread the remaining cream over the cookies.

  6. In a small bowl mix the remaining 1/4 of the spice mix with cocoa and sprinkle it on top of the tiramisu.

  7. Place in the fridge to set for a few hours.

Notes

No termometer?

You can substitute the egg yolks with a chocolate spread like Nutella. You can add 2-3 TBSP, but omit the sugar.

This is also a nice kid-friendly version.

If you're craving a non-traditional Christmas dessert this gingerbread spiced tiramisu will be the perfect treat.
If you're craving a non-traditional Christmas dessert this gingerbread spiced tiramisu will be the perfect treat.

Persimmon Salad With Orange Dressing

When it comes to fall salads this persimmon salad is a winner. With the smoothest dressing made with olive oil and fresh orange juice this is a perfect fall lunch.

When it comes to fall salads this persimmon salad is a winner. With the smoothest dressing made with olive oil and fresh orange juice this is a perfect fall lunch.

Time for another hearty salad. I posted a recipe for a fruity winter salad in the winter and now I’m posting another recipe for a salad that uses delicious seasonal fruits. This time it is persimmons. One of my favorite fruits of the season. One other way I like preparing them is to make homemade pudding, with no starch whatsoever.

Okay, back to the salad. For this salad you can use any variety of persimmons that has a solid center when ripe, so you can cut it in slices or wedges. The varieties that are only ripe when gooey are not okay, since they won’t hold its shape and honestly the texture would probably feel awful in a salad. So let’s stick with a solid meat persimmon! But make sure they are ripe.

When it comes to fall salads this persimmon salad is a winner. With the smoothest dressing made with olive oil and fresh orange juice this is a perfect fall lunch.
When it comes to fall salads this persimmon salad is a winner. With the smoothest dressing made with olive oil and fresh orange juice this is a perfect fall lunch.

What other ingredients are in this persimmon salad?

Lots of green leafy lettuce. You can uuse any variety you like or have in your garden. I used endive in my salad. The other leafy lettuce I used is radicchio. I love it both for color and its flavor.

There’s also some thinly shaved carrots for bite and freshness. And I topped it all with some chopped almonds and goat cheese.

And now the best part…

The orange dressing. This persimmon salad wouldn’t be so delicious without the orange dressing. The orange adds a nice freshness to the salad and I also added a little turmeric, just because we all need to boost our immune systems right now, do you agree?

When it comes to fall salads this persimmon salad is a winner. With the smoothest dressing made with olive oil and fresh orange juice this is a perfect fall lunch.
When it comes to fall salads this persimmon salad is a winner. With the smoothest dressing made with olive oil and fresh orange juice this is a perfect fall lunch.
When it comes to fall salads this persimmon salad is a winner. With the smoothest dressing made with olive oil and fresh orange juice this is a perfect fall lunch.

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

When it comes to fall salads this persimmon salad is a winner. With the smoothest dressing made with olive oil and fresh orange juice this is a perfect fall lunch.
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Persimmon Salad With Orange Dressing

Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Persimmon Salad

  • half of a green leafy lettuce chpped into bite sizes
  • half of a radicchio chopped into bite sizes
  • 1 small carrot sliced with a peeler
  • 2 small persimons cut into thin slices or small wedges
  • 1/2 cup goat cheese (100g)
  • 2 TBPS almonds chopped

Orange Dressing

  • 2 TBSP freshy squeezed orange juice
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 TBSP apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • pinch of turmeric
  • pinch of black pepper

Instructions

  1. Add all dressing ingredients in a mason jar, close the lid and shake util well blended.

  2. Place all salad ingredients in a large salad bowl, pour over the dressing and toss to coat all the ingredients.

You can find the recipe in Slovene here.

When it comes to fall salads this persimmon salad is a winner. With the smoothest dressing made with olive oil and fresh orange juice this is a perfect fall lunch.
When it comes to fall salads this persimmon salad is a winner. With the smoothest dressing made with olive oil and fresh orange juice this is a perfect fall lunch.

Spiced Mandarin Upside-Down Cake

This mandarin upside-down cake with vanilla and cardamom will bring joy and coziness to these gloomy fall days. It’s super simple to make!

This mandarin upside-down cake with vanilla and cardamom will bring joy and coziness to these gloomy fall days. It's super simple to make!

I just love the season of mandarins! They take me back to my childhood when we spent afternoons with my family eating them and having a good time. They come at the perfect time when the autumn is getting moodier and cooler. So we get to hang out together, talking and playing games over healthy snacks, and also add have some extra vitamins.

I feel like this is even more important this year than any other. An extra dose of vitamins is super important. I hope you’re doing well! Please take care of yourself and the people around you. One way to do that is also by baking this delicious mandarin upside-down cake.

This mandarin upside-down cake with vanilla and cardamom will bring joy and coziness to these gloomy fall days. It's super simple to make!
This mandarin upside-down cake with vanilla and cardamom will bring joy and coziness to these gloomy fall days. It's super simple to make!
This mandarin upside-down cake with vanilla and cardamom will bring joy and coziness to these gloomy fall days. It's super simple to make!

This mandarin upside-down cake is super simple!

I know I say this with most of my recipes, but this is probably the simplest cake ever. You can make it in only one mixing bowl. This means less cleaning, and this is a big win for me already 🙂

It’s a little denser and moister than a regular sponge cake, which I find perfect for colder days. Together with some warm tea or mulled mandarin juice, it makes for a perfect afternoon dessert.

I used some yogurt, which I use a lot when I want to make a sponge a bit juicier and when I want to add that milky flavor. Because yogurt already makes it a bit denser and heavier, I used oil instead of butter. And the end result was amazing.

Imagine baked caramelized mandarins on top of a delightful cake. I can’t imagine anything better to have right now. I hope you try the recipe and enjoy it just as much as we did.

This mandarin upside-down cake with vanilla and cardamom will bring joy and coziness to these gloomy fall days. It's super simple to make!
This mandarin upside-down cake with vanilla and cardamom will bring joy and coziness to these gloomy fall days. It's super simple to make!

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

This mandarin upside-down cake with vanilla and cardamom will bring joy and coziness to these gloomy fall days. It's super simple to make!
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Mandarin Upside-Down Cake

Course Dessert
Keyword cardamom, mandarins, spiced cake, sponge cake
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 1 7-inch cake
Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

  • ½ cup + 2 TBSP sugar
  • ¼ cup sunflower oil (olive oil is great too)
  • ½ cup Greek-style yogurt or crème fraîche
  • ¼ cup mandarin juice (you can cut slices first and use the ends to squeeze out the juice)
  • 2 medium-size eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla seeds or vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ⅓ cup hazelnut flour (or finely gorund hazelnuts)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp powdered cardamom
  • pinch of salt
  • 3-4 mandarins
  • 2 TBSP sugar for sprinkling
  • butter for greasing the cake tin

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 170°C.

  2. Cut mandarins into 0,5cm (1/5 inch slices). Save the ends and use them to sqeeze out the juice. Save it for later.

  3. Butter a 7-inch cake tin and place mandarin slices on the bottom in one layer.

  4. Mix sugar, oil, yogurt, and eggs at a high speed until well combined.

  5. Add mandarin juice and vanilla (if using vanilla extract) and mix again.

  6. In a separate bowl mix together flour, hazelnut flour, baking soda, cardammon, vanilla (if using vanilla seeds) and salt.

  7. Add flour mixture in two increments and mix on a low speed.

  8. Sprinkle the mandarins in the cake tin with sugar and add the cake batter.

  9. Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.

  10. Wait to cool completely, before removing the cake from the tin. If the cake has a big dome, cut it away, before turning the cake around.

You can find the recipe in Slovene here.

This mandarin upside-down cake with vanilla and cardamom will bring joy and coziness to these gloomy fall days. It's super simple to make!
This mandarin upside-down cake with vanilla and cardamom will bring joy and coziness to these gloomy fall days. It's super simple to make!

Simple Rustic Plum Pie

This delicious plum pie is made with fresh plums, a flaky pie pastry, and optional some spices for the cozy cooler days.

This delicious plum pie is made with fresh plums, a flaky pie pastry, and optional some spices for the cozy cooler days.

Okay, so I’m this crazy pie lady and I know it. I just love them so much, and late Summer/Autumn is for sure my favorite pie season. All because I get to make a ton of plum pies. Probably much more than I should, if there even is such a thing.

Plum pie is my absolute favorite. It has that perfect amount of sweetness, acidity, and creaminess. So it’s surprising to me that I’ve never posted a baked plum pie here, yet. I have a no-bake recipe and an apple pie with plum jam (YUM!) but no cozy baked pie. Until now!

So here it is!

This delicious plum pie is made with fresh plums, a flaky pie pastry, and optional some spices for the cozy cooler days.
This delicious plum pie is made with fresh plums, a flaky pie pastry, and optional some spices for the cozy cooler days.
This delicious plum pie is made with fresh plums, a flaky pie pastry, and optional some spices for the cozy cooler days.
This delicious plum pie is made with fresh plums, a flaky pie pastry, and optional some spices for the cozy cooler days.

I’ve tried a new kind of pastry that includes some baking powder and I love it. It’s a bit different from the pastry I normally use. The baking powder makes it a bit softer and just a bit cake-like. It’s amazing straight from the oven (because warm pie is YUMMY) but it gets even better the second day. So if can manage to keep your hands off for a few hours, then you’re in for a treat. I know it’s hard, but trust me, you’ll thank me later.

The filling is really simple, no fancy stuff, just simple plums, and a tiny bit of sugar. But if you have very tasty and sweet plums, you don’t even need that! Just plum with nothing on is amazing. I love simple pies!

So if you are ready to ride into Autumn with this delicious plum pie, here’s the recipe.

This delicious plum pie is made with fresh plums, a flaky pie pastry, and optional some spices for the cozy cooler days.
This delicious plum pie is made with fresh plums, a flaky pie pastry, and optional some spices for the cozy cooler days.
This delicious plum pie is made with fresh plums, a flaky pie pastry, and optional some spices for the cozy cooler days.
This delicious plum pie is made with fresh plums, a flaky pie pastry, and optional some spices for the cozy cooler days.

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

This delicious plum pie is made with fresh plums, a flaky pie pastry, and optional some spices for the cozy cooler days.
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Rustic Plum Pie

Course Dessert
Keyword pie crust, pie pastry, plum pie
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Resting time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
Servings 1 10 inch (25 cm) pie
Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour (240g)
  • ½ cup fine sugar (110g) You can use any kind (white, cane, coconut…) but make sure it's fine, not too coarse
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 stick of butter (115g) cubed and chilled
  • 1 tsp vanila extract or vanilla seeds
  • 4-6 TBSP cold milk or water (alternatively you can add two egg yolks and reduce the liquid)
  • 500-600 g plums
  • some sugar for dusting

Instructions

  1. Add flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt to a food processor and mix shortly to combine all ingredients.

  2. Add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand.

  3. Add the liquid (water, milk, and/or egg yolks) one tablespoon at a time and vanilla extract (or seeds). Pulse until the pastry comes together.

  4. Wrap the pastry in a plastic foil and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

  5. In the meantime, cut plums in half (or into quarters for larger plums).

  6. After 30 minutes divide the dough into 1/3 and 2/3. Use the bigger piece to roll out the bottom of the pie. I only cover the bottom, but you can cover the sides as well, only the crust will be a bit thinner.

  7. Place plums on top so they cover the entire surface.

  8. Use the remaining 1/3 of the pastry to decorate the top.

  9. Sprinkle with a tablespoon or two of sugar.

  10. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (355°F) for 55-60 minutes.

This delicious plum pie is made with fresh plums, a flaky pie pastry, and optional some spices for the cozy cooler days.

Summer Berry Pavlova

The best Summer berry pavlova is when fresh summer berries meet a crisp and chewy meringue and some fresh whipped cream.

The best Summer berry pavlova is when fresh summer berries meet a crisp and chewy meringue and some fresh whipped cream.

We’re super excited here because of all the Summer berries. We only grow strawberries, blueberries, and red currants at home, but our family, friends, and neighbors have others as well, so we go pick them up almost on a daily basis. This year is a very good year for all kinds of berries. There are so so many of them everywhere and I’m not complaining 🙂

So last week I had this huge amount of all the colorful berries so I made pavlova. Because there’s no dessert that screams summer like a pavlova. Don’t you agree?

Although I really love a chocolate pavlova, Summer screams for a more refreshing version like this berry pavlova. Just a little bit of cream, fresh summer berries, and quick homemade berry syrup. I mean, aren’t berries and cream the best flavors of Summer?

This recipe makes more syrup than is necessary, because it’ very hard to make syrup from a very small amount of berries. But you can store it in the fridge and use on ice creams, fruit salads, coctails or simly make a refreshing drink by diluting it in some cold water 🙂

So is this berry pavlova hard to make?

The good thing about Pavlova is that it’s actually pretty easy to make, once you know a few basics:

  1. Know your oven. I was baking it in my mom’s oven (since my oven is dying and the temps are all over the place). I almost never bake in her oven so I’m not used to it and the first pavlova came out too baked on the outside (brown). Nothing wrong with that actually, it still tastes good, but I wanted a nice snow-white pavlova (we ate the brown one too, of course)
  2. Humidity. Very humid weather can mess with your pavlova. If your pavlova fails, this could be the reason.
  3. Timing. Timing really depends on how thick your pavlova is and also the temperature you’re baking at. Since you shouldn’t open the oven while baking, you should do some research on timing or follow the recipe 🙂
  4. Really beat in the sugar. The sugar needs to completely dissolve otherwise the eggwhites will turn liquid and you’ll end up with a weeping pavlova.
Summer Berry Pavlova
Summer Berry Pavlova
Summer Berry Pavlova
Summer Berry Pavlova
The best Summer berry pavlova is when fresh summer berries meet a crisp and chewy meringue and some fresh whipped cream.
The best Summer berry pavlova is when fresh summer berries meet a crisp and chewy meringue and some fresh whipped cream.
The best Summer berry pavlova is when fresh summer berries meet a crisp and chewy meringue and some fresh whipped cream.
The best Summer berry pavlova is when fresh summer berries meet a crisp and chewy meringue and some fresh whipped cream.
The best Summer berry pavlova is when fresh summer berries meet a crisp and chewy meringue and some fresh whipped cream.
Summer Berry Pavlova

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

The best Summer berry pavlova is when fresh summer berries meet a crisp and chewy meringue and some fresh whipped cream.
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Summer Berry Pavlova

Course Dessert
Keyword berry pavlova, meringues, pavlova, summer pavlova
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Resting time 5 hours
Total Time 6 hours 40 minutes
Servings 8 slices
Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Meringue

  • 3 large egg whites (100g)
  • 3/4 cup caster sugar (150g)
  • 1 tsp corn starch
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • pinch of salt

Berry Syrup

  • 2 cups strawberries cubed (250g)
  • ½ cup sugar (100g)
  • 2 TBSP lemon juice or white vinegar

Other ingredients

  • 1 cup whipping cream (250ml), use coconut cream for a non-dairy version
  • 2 cups fresh Summer berries

Instructions

Meringue

  1. Preheat the oven to 130°C. If you're using a fan oven, shut off the fan. Draw a 18cm circle on a baking paper and place it on a baking tray.

  2. Beat eggwhites and a pinch of salt until stiff but not dry. Then add caster sugar a tablespoon at a time. At the end add the lemon juice or vinegar and cornstarch. Beat gently until thick and glossy. You can make a test if the meringue is done: place a bit of the meringue between two fingers and see if you can feel the sugar. If you can still feel some sugar, then you need to beat them a little longer until you can't feel the sugar no more.

  3. Spread the meringue evenly into a circle, making the edge a little higher that the center. Alternatively, you can pipe the meringue onto the paper for a different look.

  4. Move into the oven and reduce the temperature to 100°C. Bake for about 90 minutes. It should look crisp on top and feel dry, but when you press it you should feel soft in the centre.

  5. Turn the oven off, open the door slightly and leave in the oven to cool overnight.

Berry Syrup

  1. Place all ingredients in a saucepan and cook for 15-20 minutes until the syrup starts to thinken. Leave to cool completely, befor pouring it over pavlova. The syrup will thicken more as it cools down.

Assembling the cake

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment add the heavy whipping cream and whip until soft or stiff peaks form (depending on your taste).

  2. Top the cooled meringue with cream right before serving. Top with berries and pour over a little berry syrup.

  3. If you're not eating the entire pavlova at once, it's better to pour syrup on cut pieces separately, otherwise the pavlova will get soggy. If you store an assebled pavlova, take into consideration that it will get softer.

  4. Store a non-assembled pavlove covered on the counter (not air-tight) for 1-2 days before assembilng.

The best Summer berry pavlova is when fresh summer berries meet a crisp and chewy meringue and some fresh whipped cream.
The best Summer berry pavlova is when fresh summer berries meet a crisp and chewy meringue and some fresh whipped cream.

Refreshing Cucumber and Peach Salad

This refreshing Cucumber and peach salad is the perfect intro to Summer! With some prosciutto, feta cheese, and spicy basil dressing it’s a winner!

This refreshing Cucumber and peach salad is the perfect intro to Summer! With some prosciutto, feta cheese, and spicy basil dressing it's a winner!

Yay! It’s officially Summer and that’s my favorite season for salads (and cocktails).

Eating fresh veggies and fruits topped with a bunch of goodies and a delicious dressing is my Summer jam. If it’s your too, keep reading!

The other day I had some cucumbers left from a photoshoot and then my husband brought some very ripe nectarines and I got the idea of putting those together since I love fruits in salads. So I tried this salad and it was so good. Okay, I called it a peach salad and that’s because I actually love peaches just a tad more than nectarines, but the fruits in the photos are nectarines. You can use both, of course 🙂

This refreshing Cucumber and peach salad is the perfect intro to Summer! With some prosciutto, feta cheese, and spicy basil dressing it's a winner!
This refreshing Cucumber and peach salad is the perfect intro to Summer! With some prosciutto, feta cheese, and spicy basil dressing it's a winner!
This refreshing Cucumber and peach salad is the perfect intro to Summer! With some prosciutto, feta cheese, and spicy basil dressing it's a winner!

Peaches, cucumbers, prosciutto, feta cheese, fresh basil, and spicy basil dressing. I call this a perfect Summer salad. Fresh crunchy cucumbers go so well with soft and sweet peach and I loved it so much I even made a recipe video for the very first time! I’ll be sharing it soon…

I was hoping June would be a little better this in terms of weather, but I was so wrong. Yesterday was the first day of June when we could actually be in shorts the entire day. But otherwise, we had so much rain and wind it almost felt like Autumn. Not very Summery at all. So weird!

Anyway, I’m pretty sure this cucumber and peach salad will scare the bad weather away. And I also can’t wait for fresh tomatoes to grow in our garden, so I can make my spicy goat cheese pesto pizza.

This refreshing Cucumber and peach salad is the perfect intro to Summer! With some prosciutto, feta cheese, and spicy basil dressing it's a winner!
This refreshing Cucumber and peach salad is the perfect intro to Summer! With some prosciutto, feta cheese, and spicy basil dressing it's a winner!
This refreshing Cucumber and peach salad is the perfect intro to Summer! With some prosciutto, feta cheese, and spicy basil dressing it's a winner!

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

This refreshing Cucumber and peach salad is the perfect intro to Summer! With some prosciutto, feta cheese, and spicy basil dressing it's a winner!
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Refreshing Cucumber And Peach Salad

Course Salad
Keyword cucumber salad, peach salad,
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings 2 servings (as a side)
Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

  • 1 cucumber
  • 1 peach
  • 1/4 cup feta cheese crumbled
  • 2-3 slices prosciutto
  • 1 bunch of basil
  • 1/3 cup oilve oil
  • juice of 1 lime
  • ½ tsp chili flakes
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

Spicy Basil Dressing

  1. Set a few basil leaves aside and chop the rest.

  2. To make the dressing mx olive oil, lime juice, salt, chili flakes and chopped basil

Cucumber And Peach Salad

  1. Cut cucumbers and peaches into ½cm (1/4 inch) slices. Place them into a salad bowl.

  2. Add crumbled feta cheese, prosciutto torn into smaller slices and the basil leaves that you set aside.

  3. Drizzle with the dressing.

This refreshing Cucumber and peach salad is the perfect intro to Summer! With some prosciutto, feta cheese, and spicy basil dressing it's a winner!

Cherry Pistachio Pound Cake

Soft and fluffy pistachio pound cake with a sweet cherry glaze. Just what you need for the afternoon tea!

Hello sweet cherries!

While I still mourn our cherry tree that we had to cut last year, I got some very delicious ones from the farmers market and even though we ate almost the entire bunch in a day, I managed to save some to make a delicious pistachio pound cake with a cherry glaze and some fresh cherries on top.

Since most pound cakes I’ve made so far were buttery and a bit denser, I decided to try a fluffier and more delicate one. I switched a part of the butter for oil which creates a different texture since the oil doesn’t firm as it cools, while the butter provides a nice milky taste.

I don’t have pistachios on hand, can I use something else?

In this recipe, I’ve used ground pistachios, since I’m a huge fan of pistachios in sweets. You can replace them with some other nuts like almonds or hazelnuts with no problem.

I prefer grinding nuts myself, since the only storebought I can find, usually contain some larger particles and are not really very fine. These work great too, but I prefer no particles for this cake in particular. But if you can’t find a well ground nuts or you don’t have a grinder at home, that’s fine too 🙂

How to make cherry glaze?

The cherry glaze is very simple to make. Like any icing glaze, you need icing sugar and a tiny amount of liquid. With glaze, you really need just a teeny-tiny amount, less than you’d think.

For this recipe you need 2/3 cup icing sugar and only about 2 TBSP cherry juice.

You can make the juice two ways:

  • with a blender: Just pop deseeded cherries in and mix until you get a very fine purée and then run it through a mesh strainer to remove the particles.
  • with a juicer: pop cherries with seeds in the juicer and let it work its magic.

I have to sneak in the third option: You can use a store bought juice as well, but I prefer the taste of freshly squeezed juice 🙂

More cherry recipes:

Vegan Almond Cherry Ice Cream Sandwiches

Cherry Braised Beef Brisket With Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Cherry, Brie & Bacon Grilled Quesadilla

I hope you enjoy this cherry pistachio pound cake just as much as I (and my neighbours) did 🙂

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

5 from 1 vote
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Cherry Pistachio Pound Cake

Course Dessert
Keyword cherry glaze, pistachio cake, pistachio pound cake, pound cake
Servings 1 4-cup pound cake tin
Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Pistachio Pound Cake

  • 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup ground pistachios
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 eggs
  • seeds of 1 vanila pod
  • 1/2 cup butter softened
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2/3 cup milk room temperature

Cherry Glaze

  • 2/3 cup icing sugar
  • 2 TBSP cherry juice (instructions for making homemade cherry juice in notes)

Instructions

Pistachio Pound Cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a 4-cup loaf pan with baking paper.

  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix together softened butter and sugar for one minute then add oil and mix for a few minutes until fluffy.

  3. Add eggs one at a time and mix until combined before adding the next.

  4. In a separate bowl mix together the rest of the flour, ground pistachios, baking powder and vanilla seeds.

  5. Add flour and milk to the egg mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. 

  6. Pour the batter into a prepared baking tin and bake for 45-55 minutes. Check after 30-35 minutes and if you see the top browning too quickly, cover with alluminum foil or the rest of the bake.

  7. The cake is ready when the toothepick comes out clean.

  8. Let cool completely befor adding the glaze.

Cherry Glaze

  1. Mix icing sugar and half of the cherry juice and mix well. Add more juice ½ TBSP at a time to reach a desired consistency.

  2. For instructions on making homemade cherry juice check notes.

Notes

How to make cherry juice:

  • with a blender: Just pop deseeded cherries in and mix until you get a very fine purée and then run it through a mesh strainer to remove the particles.
  • with a juicer: pop cherries with seeds in the juicer and let it work its magic.

Homemade Wild Garlic Pasta Dough

This homemade wild garlic pasta dough recipe is easy to follow and tastes incredible. With a gentle herbal flavor and the most amazing color, it’s going to freshen up these early Spring days!

This homemade wild garlic pasta dough recipe is easy to follow and tastes incredible. With a gentle herbal flavor and the most amazing color it's going to freshen up these early Spring days!

It’s that time of the year again. Yeah, it’s wild garlic time!

Despite what’s happening in the world right now, I can still go to the nearby forest and pick some wild garlic and for that, I’m so so grateful. If you’ve seen my wild garlic sandwiches or wild garlic risotto recipes, you know I’m obsessed with wild garlic. I can’t get enough.

So this year I’ve tried making wild garlic pasta. Although I love pasta that actually has herb particles inside, I wanted to make pasta that has a very uniform color, while still having that delicious wild garlic flavor.

And it turned out amazing. Mildly herbal and so incredibly tender.

This homemade wild garlic pasta dough recipe is easy to follow and tastes incredible. With a gentle herbal flavor and the most amazing color it's going to freshen up these early Spring days!
This homemade wild garlic pasta dough recipe is easy to follow and tastes incredible. With a gentle herbal flavor and the most amazing color it's going to freshen up these early Spring days!
This homemade wild garlic pasta dough recipe is easy to follow and tastes incredible. With a gentle herbal flavor and the most amazing color it's going to freshen up these early Spring days!
This homemade wild garlic pasta dough recipe is easy to follow and tastes incredible. With a gentle herbal flavor and the most amazing color it's going to freshen up these early Spring days!
This homemade wild garlic pasta dough recipe is easy to follow and tastes incredible. With a gentle herbal flavor and the most amazing color it's going to freshen up these early Spring days!
This homemade wild garlic pasta dough recipe is easy to follow and tastes incredible. With a gentle herbal flavor and the most amazing color it's going to freshen up these early Spring days!
This homemade wild garlic pasta dough recipe is easy to follow and tastes incredible. With a gentle herbal flavor and the most amazing color it's going to freshen up these early Spring days!
This homemade wild garlic pasta dough recipe is easy to follow and tastes incredible. With a gentle herbal flavor and the most amazing color it's going to freshen up these early Spring days!

Since the wild garlic flavor is very mild and delicate I suggest a very mild sauce. We made rosemary butter and added some parmesan cheese and some chopped fresh wild garlic and that’s it. It makes a perfect light Spring lunch.

What if I can’t find wild garlic?

I hope you have access to forest and wild garlic these days. If not, this recipe would also work with spinach or some other baby greens.

The most important thing is to keep the flour to water ratio and you’ll be fine 😀

This homemade wild garlic pasta dough recipe is easy to follow and tastes incredible. With a gentle herbal flavor and the most amazing color it's going to freshen up these early Spring days!
This homemade wild garlic pasta dough recipe is easy to follow and tastes incredible. With a gentle herbal flavor and the most amazing color it's going to freshen up these early Spring days!
This homemade wild garlic pasta dough recipe is easy to follow and tastes incredible. With a gentle herbal flavor and the most amazing color it's going to freshen up these early Spring days!

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

This homemade wild garlic pasta dough recipe is easy to follow and tastes incredible. With a gentle herbal flavor and the most amazing color it's going to freshen up these early Spring days!
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Wild Garlic Pasta Dough

Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian, Mediterranean
Keyword homemade pasta, pasta, wild garlic, wild garlic pasta
Prep Time 30 minutes
Resting time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 4 people
Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

  • 250 g all-purpose flour
  • 150 g wild garlic
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

  1. Cook wild garlic in boiling water for around 30 seconds until it gets soft. Drain the wild garlic, but keep some of the liquid.

  2. Use a food processor to mix wild garlic finely. If necessary add some leftover water from cooking one tablespoon at a time.

  3. Use a strainer to squeeze out the liquid from the wild garlic paste. You should be left with 120g of strained liquid. If you don't have enough you can add some leftover water from cooking wild garlic.

  4. Mix flour, salt and strained green liquid and mix with a fork. When it starts coming together start kneading. At first, the dough will feel very dry, but after about 10 minutes of kneading it will become softer.

  5. When the dough is soft wrap it in plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 30 minutes.

  6. After resting it is ready to shape. You can use it for any kind of pasta.

If you're making noodles…

  1. Cut the dough in half or quarters.

  2. Use your hands or a rolling pin to just slightly flatten the dough, then use a pasta machine on the widest setting (usually marked as '1') to roll it out.

  3. Fold the dough into thirds lengthwise and run it through the machine two more times, doing the folding each time. Then continue rolling the pasta gradually through narrower settings, until you've come to the desired thickness. I like my pasta to be rolled to thickness number '5'.

  4. Use the same machine to cut the pasta into noodles. Alternatively, you can lightly flour the pasta, roll it and cut into strips with a knife.

  5. Once you have your pasta cut, lightly flour it and make noodle nests. Leave them to dry for 30 minutes or longer if you want to dry them completely.

This homemade wild garlic pasta dough recipe is easy to follow and tastes incredible. With a gentle herbal flavor and the most amazing color it's going to freshen up these early Spring days!

Juicy & Smoky Plant-Based Cheeseburger

This Juicy & Smoky Plant-Based Cheeseburger recipe is all about smoky flavors and freshness. These vegan burgers include the most delicious vegan mushroom bacon and quick homemade pickled radishes.

This Juicy & Smoky Plant-Based Cheeseburger recipe is all about smoky flavors and freshness. These vegan burgers include the most delicious vegan mushroom bacon and quick homemade pickled radishes.

Here we go with another burger recipe!

I love my beef burgers but today I have a special plant-based recipe for you.

When Nataša from The Amaze burgers wrote to me and asked if I wanna try their pea-protein burger patties I felt really excited to try them out. And I was excited to make an entirely plant-based burger.

My first thought was it needs to have a smoky taste and something that resembles bacon. So after a bit of testing, I decided on making my own mushroom bacon. And it tastes delicious. Why haven’t I tried this before? I’m pretty sure this is going to be my favorite topping form now on.

And to add some tang, I made quick-pickled radishes. Super easy and so so delicious. It adds some nice freshness and crunch to the burger.

As far as the patty goes I used the Amaze patty but you can use any patty you like such as bean or chickpea patty.

This Juicy & Smoky Plant-Based Cheeseburger recipe is all about smoky flavors and freshness. These vegan burgers include the most delicious vegan mushroom bacon and quick homemade pickled radishes.
This Juicy & Smoky Plant-Based Cheeseburger recipe is all about smoky flavors and freshness. These vegan burgers include the most delicious vegan mushroom bacon and quick homemade pickled radishes.
This Juicy & Smoky Plant-Based Cheeseburger recipe is all about smoky flavors and freshness. These vegan burgers include the most delicious vegan mushroom bacon and quick homemade pickled radishes.
This Juicy & Smoky Plant-Based Cheeseburger recipe is all about smoky flavors and freshness. These vegan burgers include the most delicious vegan mushroom bacon and quick homemade pickled radishes.

So what’s in this delicious plant-based cheeseburger?

Nothing but the best 😀 And it’s all about color, smoky flavor and freshness. Just like I love my burgers. So here’s what’s in these burgers:

  • a delicious soft burger bun,
  • some baby spinach or arugula,
  • plant-based burger patty,
  • vegan cheese,
  • vegan mushroom bacon,
  • homemade pickled radishes,
  • and smoky BBQ sauce.

Okay, I know you’re probably hungry by now, so let’s just head to the recipe.

This Juicy & Smoky Plant-Based Cheeseburger recipe is all about smoky flavors and freshness. These vegan burgers include the most delicious vegan mushroom bacon and quick homemade pickled radishes.
This Juicy & Smoky Plant-Based Cheeseburger recipe is all about smoky flavors and freshness. These vegan burgers include the most delicious vegan mushroom bacon and quick homemade pickled radishes.
This Juicy & Smoky Plant-Based Cheeseburger recipe is all about smoky flavors and freshness. These vegan burgers include the most delicious vegan mushroom bacon and quick homemade pickled radishes.

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

This Juicy & Smoky Plant-Based Cheeseburger recipe is all about smoky flavors and freshness. These vegan burgers include the most delicious vegan mushroom bacon and quick homemade pickled radishes.
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Juicy & Smoky Plant-Based Cheeseburger

Course Main Course
Keyword mushroom bacon, plant-based burger, vegan burger
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Cooling time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 4 burgers
Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Mushroom Bacon

  • 250 g mushrooms (button mushrooms, shitake…)
  • 2 ½ TBSP olive oil
  • 2 TBSP soy sauce
  • ½ TBSP maple syrup
  • ½ TBSP smoky BBQ sauce
  • ½ TBSP smoked paprika (or additional BBQ sauce)

Quick home-pickled radishes

  • 100 g radishes
  • ½ cup apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ cup water
  • 3 TBSP unrefined cane sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Other ingredients

  • 4 burger buns
  • 4 plant-based burger patties
  • 8 vegan cheese slices
  • ½ cup smoky BBQ sauce
  • a bunch of fresh baby spinach

Instructions

Mushroom Bacon

  1. Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a baking sheet with baking paper.

  2. To prepare the marinade, place all mushroom bacon ingredients except mushrooms in a small bowl and mix until well combined.

  3. Clean mushrooms with a brush and remove stems. Cut mushroom tops into thin slices, about 3-4 mm.

  4. Place mushroom slices in the marinade and gently toss to cover all mushrooms from both sides.

  5. Transfer mushroom slices to the lined baking sheet making sure there's not too much excess marinade on the mushrooms.

  6. Roast in the preheated oven for ten minutes then flip the mushrooms and bake for another 10-15 minutes. The mushrooms should be a bit crunchy on the edges and they will firm more after they cool. If you see mushrooms burning, lower the heat and bake for a longer time.

Quick home-pickled radishes

  1. Wash radishes and remove the greens.

  2. Place all ingredients in a small saucepan, stir well and bring to a boil. Cook for 2-3 more minutes over medium heat, then let cool to room temperature.

Making the burgers

  1. Cook your vegan burger patty as per instructions, adding two slices of vegan cheese two minutes before finishing, covering the skillet to help melt the cheese if necessary.

  2. To assemble the burgers, cut burger buns in half. Spread a tablespoon of BBQ sauce on each half of the buns.

  3. Place some spinach leaves on the bottom bun. Place burger patty with melted cheese on top. Add mushroom bacon, pickled radishes, and some more spinach. Top with the other half of the bun and serve immediately.

This Juicy & Smoky Plant-Based Cheeseburger recipe is all about smoky flavors and freshness. These vegan burgers include the most delicious vegan mushroom bacon and quick homemade pickled radishes.
This Juicy & Smoky Plant-Based Cheeseburger recipe is all about smoky flavors and freshness. These vegan burgers include the most delicious vegan mushroom bacon and quick homemade pickled radishes.
This Juicy & Smoky Plant-Based Cheeseburger recipe is all about smoky flavors and freshness. These vegan burgers include the most delicious vegan mushroom bacon and quick homemade pickled radishes.

Vegan No-Bake Pomegranate Coconut Pie

A simple and easy Valentine’s day dessert – a rich pomegranate coconut pie that doesn’t require any baking.

A simple and easy Valentine's day dessert - a rich pomegranate coconut pie that doesn't require any baking.

Hello February!

In a blink of an eye, we’ve arrived in the second month of the year. Omg, time flies!

This month we have a bunch of celebrations in Slovenia. First, we have a national holiday, when we celebrate the life and work of our biggest poet. It’s this Saturday, so we’ll be heading to the city for the celebration.

Then there’s Valentine’s day. It’s not really a traditional Slovenian holiday, but it’s quite popular anyway 😀 We have our own ‘Valentine’s day’ in March.

And at the end of the month, there’s the carnival. I can’t wait for it and I also can’t wait to try making sourdough doughnuts. Oh yeah, I’ve made my first (non-failed) sourdough starter last week and baked one bread already. It didn’t turn out perfect but it was delicious anyway.

So yeah, my mission is to bake more things with sourdough. And hopefully also share some recipes here as well.

A simple and easy Valentine's day dessert - a rich pomegranate coconut pie that doesn't require any baking.
A simple and easy Valentine's day dessert - a rich pomegranate coconut pie that doesn't require any baking.
A simple and easy Valentine's day dessert - a rich pomegranate coconut pie that doesn't require any baking.
A simple and easy Valentine's day dessert - a rich pomegranate coconut pie that doesn't require any baking.

Enough of me blabbing about holidays 😀

Let’s talk about this amazing recipe for this lovely pomegranate coconut pie. I made it with Valentine’s day in mind. You know the reds, whites, and pink. They remind me of Valentine’s day. And it’s a dessert. Can there really be Valentine’s day without a dessert?

Uhm, no!

Let’s talk about failure first. I had this idea about taking some beautiful photos of a white pie on a blue backdrop. Then suddenly my recipe changes and the pie no longer was only white. It also had red aka pomegranate. So when I took the photos of this pie I was unhappy with the results. It was so blah. I can’t even explain.

So I took it on another backdrop – this beige one. And I loved those so much.

But this wasn’t the only failure with this pie. At first, I wanted to make the coconut layer with coconut milk and cashews and I hated the texture and the taste. Too much cashew taste and not enough coconut. So I decided to add some white chocolate and use coconut paste instead of milk, just to make it even thicker than the creamy white stuff that forms when you’ve placed a can of coconut milk in the fridge.

And OMG this cream turned out better than I imagined!

I need to try making a cake with this cream. I’m pretty sure it would be just as amazing as this pomegranate coconut pie.

A simple and easy Valentine's day dessert - a rich pomegranate coconut pie that doesn't require any baking.
A simple and easy Valentine's day dessert - a rich pomegranate coconut pie that doesn't require any baking.
A simple and easy Valentine's day dessert - a rich pomegranate coconut pie that doesn't require any baking.

So how do you make this pomegranate coconut pie?

It’s fairly easy and straightforward.

First, you make the pie base with rolled oats, coconut flakes and ground almonds (or almond meal), coconut oil and dates. I just love the coconut and almond combination!

Then you make a pomegranate jelly using only pomegranate juice (bought or freshly squeezed) and agar-agar. You can use gelatine if you’re not vegan.

In the end, you make a coconut paste using creamed coconut and mix it with melted chocolate. Done! As simple as that.

The only thing you need to be aware of is that you’ll need to wait between each layer for it to set. So first you make the base and let it harden in the fridge. Then you make the jelly and wait again for it to set. In the end, make the coconut filling and wait again.

So not a lot of work, but a bit more waiting! You can watch your favorite series in the meantime or read a book 😀

A simple and easy Valentine's day dessert - a rich pomegranate coconut pie that doesn't require any baking.
A simple and easy Valentine's day dessert - a rich pomegranate coconut pie that doesn't require any baking.

Okay, let’s just make the pie!

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

A simple and easy Valentine's day dessert - a rich pomegranate coconut pie that doesn't require any baking.
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Vegan No-Bake Pomegranate Coconut Pie

Course Dessert
Keyword coconut pie, pie, pomegranate coconut pie, pomegranate pie
Prep Time 30 minutes
Resting time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 30 minutes
Servings 10 inch pie
Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

Pie base

  • 1½ cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
  • 1 cup ground almonds or almond meal
  • 9 Medjool dates soaked in warm water for 15 minutes
  • 5 TBSP coconut oil
  • ¼ tsp salt

Pomegranate jelly

  • 1¼ cup pomegranate juice
  • 1 tsp agar-agar

Coconut filling

  • 150 g creamed coconut coconut oil removed
  • 200 g vegan white chocolate
  • ½ cup + 2 TBSP water

Instructions

Pie base

  1. In a food processor blend all pie base ingredients into a sand-like texture that's slightly sticky

  2. Press into a 10-inch pie pan and set in the fridge to chill.

Pomegranate jelly

  1. Once the pie base is set, mix pomegranate juice and agar-agar in a saucepan and mix well.

  2. Place over a medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Simmer for a minute or two then remove from the stove.

  3. Leave a few minutes to cool just a little bit then pour into the set pie base and leave to set to room temperature.

Coconut filling

  1. Once the pomegranate jelly is set make the coconut filling.

  2. First, crumble creamed coconut into a food processor and add water. Blend until smooth.

  3. Meld white chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of boiling water.

  4. Once the chocolate is melted remove from the stove. Add coconut cream one tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each tablespoon.

  5. Pour the cream on top of the pie and place it into the fridge to set.

Serving

  1. Take from the fridge 30 minutes before serving.

A simple and easy Valentine's day dessert - a rich pomegranate coconut pie that doesn't require any baking.

Fruity Winter Salad with Mustard Dressing

When it comes to winter salad recipes, nothing beats arugula and kale salad with avocado, apples, feta, hazelnuts and some delicious mustard dressing.

When it comes to winter salad recipes, nothing beats arugula and kale salad with avocado, apples, feta, hazelnuts and some delicious mustard dressing.

The temperatures are finally getting more wintery over here, but there’s no sight of snow whatsoever!

Either way, a hearty winter salad with some fruits, cheese, and nuts is making me feel like Winter is as it should be.

It’s the beginning of a new year and it’s the time when a lot of us (including me) look more closely at what we eat. The thing is, in my personal experience if we give ourselves a tough challenge of eating lots of veggies we tend to fail soon if we’re not used to it.

I think it’s because we go to boring veggie foods. And I don’t mean veggies are boring, but they may seem this way if we don’t lift them up with some delicious add-ons.

And that’s what I love this salad!

It has some amazing leafy greens, but what it gives it heart and soul (and a chance that we’re not going to fail the healthy eating habit!) is the fruitiness of apples and pomegranate, creaminess of avocado and almond mustard dressing, flavor kick from feta cheese and some crunch from hazelnuts and also pomegranate.

It’s really such a simple Winter dish (or side dish), but I honestly couldn’t stop eating it when I first made this.

I used kale and arugula as the leafy green part, but if you grow or have excess to any other leafy greens I’m sure they will work just as well. As for the apple part, you could also use pears or some red oranges. Or all of them.

When it comes to winter salad recipes, nothing beats arugula and kale salad with avocado, apples, feta, hazelnuts and some delicious mustard dressing.
When it comes to winter salad recipes, nothing beats arugula and kale salad with avocado, apples, feta, hazelnuts and some delicious mustard dressing.
When it comes to winter salad recipes, nothing beats arugula and kale salad with avocado, apples, feta, hazelnuts and some delicious mustard dressing.
When it comes to winter salad recipes, nothing beats arugula and kale salad with avocado, apples, feta, hazelnuts and some delicious mustard dressing.
When it comes to winter salad recipes, nothing beats arugula and kale salad with avocado, apples, feta, hazelnuts and some delicious mustard dressing.
When it comes to winter salad recipes, nothing beats arugula and kale salad with avocado, apples, feta, hazelnuts and some delicious mustard dressing.

I’ll be a little shorter today. My poor sick son is asleep so I’m just trying to write this post and recipe as quickly as I can before he wakes.

Anyway, have a lovely weekend friends!

Tag #useyournoodles so I can see your beautiful UYN creations. Also, stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram or subscribe to get the recipes directly to your mailbox ♥

When it comes to winter salad recipes, nothing beats arugula and kale salad with avocado, apples, feta, hazelnuts and some delicious mustard dressing.
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Fruity Winter Salad with Mustard Dressing

Course Salad, Side Dish
Keyword winter salad
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Servings 4 people
Author Anja Burgar

Ingredients

  • 2 cups arugula
  • 1 cup kale sliced
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 apple
  • 1/2 cup pomegranate arils
  • 1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled
  • 1/4 cup hazelnuts chopped

Hazelnut Mustard Dressing

  • juice of ½ Meyer lemon
  • 4 TBSP olive oil
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1 TBSP almond butter
  • salt to taste
  • black pepper to taste

Instructions

Hazelnut Mustard Dressing

  1. Whisk all ingredients until you get a uniform dressing.

Salad

  1. Remove pits from the apple and avocado. Remove avocado skin. Cut apple and avocado into thin slices.

  2. In a large bowl mix arugula and kale slices and dress them with the dressing.

  3. Add apple and avocado slices on top and sprinkle with crushed feta cheese, pomegranate arils, and crushed hazelnuts.

  4. Serve immediately.

When it comes to winter salad recipes, nothing beats arugula and kale salad with avocado, apples, feta, hazelnuts and some delicious mustard dressing.