Super healthy

Eggplant Parmesan, in my way

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Eggplant parmesanI didn’t plan to share this recipe on the blog, but after a step by step Insta Story, many of you wanted to try it. I couldn’t be happier, so here we are talking about eggplant parmesan, an Italian dish that is so dear to me.

Eggplant parmesan is basically eggplant baked on tomato sauce and cheese. The ingredients and techniques are very simple, but the flavor is so complex.

Eggplant parmesan is amazing in summer when eggplants and tomatoes are at their best, but I love to make it on early autumn also when the weather slightly cools and we naturally look for warm and comfort meals.

Eggplant parmesan

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Raspberry smoothie – my favorite summer smoothie

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Raspberry smoothieI am definitely a smoothie girl who finds joy on simply mixing ingredients together trying to get that best texture, flavor, and color.

I kind of have a favorite smoothie for each season. My autumn favorite is this apple smoothie, my winter favorite is this peanut butter smoothie, spring favorite is this strawberry smoothie and summer favorite is this raspberry smoothie. It is so fresh and light and sweet, simply amazing. Continue reading →

Healthy raspberry popsicles

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Raspberry popsiclesIce cream for breakfast, ice cream as an evening snack, ice cream for dessert, or all at the same time, because is too hot. Why not? These yogurt and raspberries popsicles are a great suit for each of these cases.

These raspberry popsicles are so easy to make and taste really like ice-cream. I’m sure your children will love them, so don’t hesitate to replace a high calorie and high sugar treat with a clean option.

All you have to do is mix some yogurt, with fresh raspberries and honey and pour it into popsicles molds. I also add some granola on top for a bit of crunchiness and flavor.

Raspberry popsicles

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Colorful fruit salad with honey and poppy seeds

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Fruit saladI’m not sure if the world needs a recipe for fruit salad, but I really enjoy talking about fruits, photo shooting fruits and even more eating them, so why not have a colorful and tasty conversation.

I prefer fruit salads over whole fruits because this way you get to eat more types of fruits. When I make fruit salads I always combine seasonal fruits and enhance flavors with a simple dressing made with lemon juice and honey. The dressing keeps fruit from oxidizing also adds up on sweetness.

The best part is you may save your fruit salad in a jar in the fridge for up to 2 days.

I usually pack fruit salads in small jars, so they are ready to take away or put in your lunchbox. This is also a great way to make your children eat more fruits, since they are fresh from the fridge, sweetened with honey and nicely combined.

Fruit salad

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Quinoa with shrimps and zucchini

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Quinoa with shrimps & zucchiniAlmost 2 months ago I made a short questionnaire that I shared on my Facebook page on what you would like to find more on this blog. The top answer was “healthy recipes”. Obviously, it made my day, since I love experimenting with healthy recipes.

Quinoa with shrimps and zucchini is the synonym of healthy food. The recipe is very easy to follow and the result is a colorful plate with an amazing aroma and flavor.

Depending on the season you may use other vegetables instead of zucchini like spinach, peas, leeks, asparagus or whatever you like and think can match well with quinoa. I choose shrimps since they’re my favorite seafood, but other seafood also works well.

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Homemade Jufka with dried porcini mushrooms

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One of the perks of being a food blogger is that all your friends share their thoughts and experiences on food and special food products with you.

The latest wonderful gift I got were homemade Jufka. Jufka are Albanian traditional pasta, cooked especially on Diber, made with fresh eggs, milk and wheat flour. Dried Jufka keep well for months and are traditionally prepared with meat, chicken or lamb in the oven.

Since I do not eat meat recently, I had to find a creative way to prepare Jufka. And since they are a traditional Albanian product I thought I should combine them with another Albanian delicacy, dried porcini mushrooms from Puka. Porcini mushrooms are one of the best you could use, with a deep earthy flavor and full on proteins and potassium. The result was amazing. I can’t wait to make them again. If you are curious to try other traditional recipes, you may find many of them in the blog.

Jufka

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Healthy strawberry chia jam that is ready in few minutes

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Strawberry chia jamI confess, I am a jam addicted person.

For many, many years (until I discovered oatmeal) my breakfast was bread, butter, jam and a glass of milk. Being conscious of the dangers of sugar I ended up looking for a healthy way to cook jam and after some research here we have the fruit & chia jam. Using the gelling power of these tiny little seeds, you can transform a few cups of ripe fruit into a naturally sweetened, delicious jam, in few minutes. As you see, chia is not only the secret ingredient to a healthy pudding, but also to healthy jam.

All we have to do is mash up, or blend some fruit, add maple syrup or honey and stir in a few tablespoons of chia seeds. Within a few hours, the chia seeds will absorb the fruit juices and thicken it to a jammy consistency and you’ll have this amazing chia jam ready for you to enjoy.

I make chia jam two ways cooked & not-cooked and below I’m gonna show you how to make strawberry chia jam in both ways.

The non-cooked version is easier, but tastes more like raw fruit and it should be consumed quickly since the fruits are raw and it can get spoiled.

The cooked version tastes almost the same as the traditional jam, and has a slightly lower life shelf.

I always use the ratio 1 cup fruit pure to 1 tbs of chia seeds, but you may add some more chia if you prefer a thicker consistency. I choose strawberry because they’re in season and because I love them, but you may prepare chia jams with other berries also like blackberries, blueberries and raspberries.

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Sweet potato, millet and greens salad

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Sweet potato and greens saladMe and my salad obsession are back. This time I’m sharing with you an old love of mine “sweet potato, millet and greens salad”. This wholesome salad with earthy flavors was an “empty the fridge creation”. I had some leftover spinach and lettuce and a single sweet potato that was sleeping in my pantry for quiet some days, so I had to invent something.

I stirred fried the sweet potato, hand chopped the spinach and lettuce and added some leftover cooked millet and voila, the salad base was ready.

Than it was “play with seeds and dressing, time”. I added some pepita and sesame seeds and prepared a simple dressing with lemon juice, fig balsamic vinegar, olive oil and tahini. It was so good, I couldn’t stop eating. Anyway, a salad a day keeps the doctor away, so who could blame me.

If you’re looking for other healthy and wholesome salads you may find many recipes in the blog.

Sweet potato and greens salad

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Cauliflower pizza – a must try pizza recipe

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Cauliflower pizzaCauliflower pizza is such a nice alternative to regular pizza, and a great way to consume more vegetables.

The crust recipe I use is slightly adapted from my foodie friend Assorted Bites. The recipe is very easy to follow and is ready in few minutes. All you have to do is blend cauliflower until it reaches a rice consistency, add eggs, flour, olive oil and cheese, mix and it’s ready to bake.

Regarding the toppings anything that works on a regular pizza works also on cauliflower pizza, so unleash your fantasy and enjoy.

tart with pie crust and pastry cream

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Bulgur salad – a summer favorite

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Bulgur salad is one of my favourite summer plates, because it is fresh, tasty, colorful and ready in few minutes. I usually prepare bulgur salad in the morning and take it to work.

It is full of the best summer ingredients and one of my favorite grains, bulgur. Bulgur is wheat that’s been parboiled, dried, and cracked into small bits. It cooks fast and tastes sooooo good. Bulgur is most common in European, Middle Eastern and Indian cuisine. I usually use it into salads, for extra taste, crunchiness and fiber intake.

This is my version of bulgur salad that I usually cook in summer, but you may play endlessly with it by adding different vegetables, nuts and spices.

In case you are curious and want to try other easy savory recipes there are plenty of options in the blog.
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