TRICKS

Are you perhaps a fan of figs  ?

Many primates eat figs, but none of them is able to make lovely dishes with them.

Sandwiches, salads, all kind of deserts, to stuff meat, make a jam and eat with pattées… Let your imagination run wild, with figs you can hardly go wrong.

No matter if you love them fresh or dry, it has a lot of nutritional benefits. Eating half a cup of figs has as much calcium as drinking half a cup of milk. Ounce for ounce, figs have more fibre than prunes and more potassium than bananas.

Dried figs are an excellent source of minerals like calcium, copper, iron, manganese, selenium and zinc – all important for healthy red blood cell formation, as well for cellular oxidation. So, when fresh figs are not available, try soaking some dried figs in water for a few hours and blend into a sweet and creamy fig pudding or add to your favourite smoothie. 

Figs have a 55%natural sugar content, making them the sweetest of all fruits. No wonder that the fig tree is a symbol of abundance, fertility and sweetness. Aside from being able to replace sugar with fig puree, it can also replace fat in baking. Furthermore, figs naturally help hold moisture in baked goods, keeping them fresher.

Not necesserly related to cooking facts, but here are some interesting informations regarding figs.

• Fig trees have no blossoms on their branches. The blossom is inside of the fruit! Many tiny flowers produce the crunchy little edible seeds that give figs their unique texture.
• Figs are harvested according to nature’s clock, fully ripened and partially dried on the tree.
• Many believe it was figs that were actually the fruit in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, not apples.
• The early Olympic athletes used figs as a training food. Figs were also presented as laurels to the winners, becoming the first Olympic “medal.”
• In Roman times figs were considered to be restorative. They were believed to increase the strength in young people, to maintain the elderly in better health and to make them look younger with fewer wrinkles.

And remember, the fig tree is wise, so eating those fruits helps us to make wise choices in our lives.

I wish you to enjoy these delightful fruits 😊

Have you ever been to Greece?

My first thought about Greece is those lovely sun dried black olives. I know you can find them in shops all over the world and they’re a good thing to make a summer lunch from in a minute. If you want a Greek touch, then start with a glass of Ouzo, make a huge Greek salad with Feta cheese and olives and finish it with a slice of water melon, well chilled.

My favorite are Thassos olives, sun dried and cured with salt and vinegar. This way their skin almost looks shriveled like a raisin does from the sun. There are a few very simple methods to make those black dried olives yourself, but honestly I haven’t tried any of them.

I’m sure that if you love olives you already use them in many different way, starting from cocktails, salads, pizzas, sandwiches, casseroles etc.

But did you know that olives are a fruit, not a vegetable? So no matter if you choose green, purple, and brown or black – you are eating fruits – tell it to your mum :-). The only difference between green and black olives is ripeness. But unlike other fruits, olives are not edible ripe, they must be treated before edible.

Except they’re delicious, salty and fun to eat, they are great for your health. Consider them one of the best antioxidant food you can find. They are extremely rich in vitamin E.

Eating olives help improve your memory and even more helps skin stay soft and beautiful. Olives are not fattening, it’s interesting that they have a negative calorie load. Eating a few olives before a meal can take the edge off your appetite.

So start eating olives if you haven’t already and you will do a great thing for your body. Just the fact that olive tree is evergreen and can live up to 2000 years might make you think about it.  

Do you know what millet is? It looks like something you would feed your parrot with, but in fact it’s very healthy and naturally gluten-free. It’s being used in diets of about a third of the world’s population.

Millet has a mild corn flavor taste and once you start using it, you will discover more and more ways to involve those great seeds in your cooking.  For starters, it’s rich in iron, B vitamins and calcium.

There are plenty of benefits in adding millets when cooking for yourself and your family. I will just list a few as:

• Helps in weight loss
• Reduces diabetes
• Reduces high blood pressure
• Helps in relieving menstrual cramps
• Treats Coronary artery disease
• Aids breast milk production
• Reduces the risk of colon cancer
• Gives good sleep

Cooking millet is very simple. My mom thought me to rinse it before cooking, although it isn’t necessary. Just put one cup of millet and two cups of water, little bit of salt and cook for 12-15 minutes.

You can eat it as breakfast porridge, in that case you can cook it with your favorite milk. Adding coconut oil, nuts, and fresh or dried fruits will make a delicious morning start.

Add a handful of millet in your favorite soup, it goes particularly nice with tomato soup.

You can add ground millet to bread, muffins, and sponge cake recipes.

And of course it’s always a nice alternative to rice or potatoes, as a side dish.

I encourage you to find your own original way of using this wonderful “bird food”. Go ahead, try it and refine it 🙂 ♥

Dates – the fruit the most deserving of the title “the fruit of paradise”.

I remember having dates in the fridge since I was a kid. At that time we use to buy them in a packet of 16pcs on a small plastic stick. We collected those sticks and played with them. At that time we only ate dates as sweets, but now I use them in a variety of recipes, mostly as a substitute for sugar.

Dates are also delicious when added to smoothies and/or salads. They can be stuffed with walnuts, coconut, and ginger. They are almost irreplaceable in homemade energy bars and desserts.

They can provide a wonderful energy boost and help revitalize the body at any time of the day. Dates can be eaten out of hand as a quick snack. I always have a few dates with me, a great solution for emergency cases. Although they are sweet, it is great to eat one date two hours before bedtime for better sleep.

There are so many benefits you can gain from by consuming dates:

• Improved energy and brain function
• Helps to build bone and muscle strength
• Good source of vitamin A and B-complex
• Rich in minerals, such as iron, calcium, manganese, copper
• Contains anti-inflammatory and anti-infective properties
• Helps to control heart rate and blood pressure
• Could be irreplaceable in the fight against colds and infections
• Regular use of dates helps the body recover faster after a disease or surgery
• Dates contribute to the removal of excess fluid that causes swelling from the body.

Some interesting historical facts: Date palm is probably the most ancient cultivated tree in the world. The earliest record comes from Mesopotamia 3000BC. The Ancient Egyptians used the dates to make date wine. And there is a legend that the date palm was the tree of knowledge of good and evil and that the date was the fruit Eve so generously offered to Adam in the Garden of Eden.

However, I invite you to include dates in your diet and soon you will feel all the blessings of this paradise fruit.

The apricots are amazing food for rejuvenation.

The word that describes the apricots the best is warming. Apricots are warming food and an energy stabilizer. When you feel down, your reserves low, no energy to push yourself – turn to apricots – they are really life bringing-back food.

There are numbers and numbers of recipes where you can use apricots. Not only cakes and pies, but apricots are great to combine with meat, in sauces and casseroles too.

Apricots are incredibly high in minerals and rich in beta carotene and are one of the most healing fruits you can eat. Apricots are also wonderful for keeping the heart strong and healthy. They can improve the quality of your hair, skin, and nails.

Fresh apricots are the best. Be patient, do not eat them under ripe, the best are well ripened. But when fresh apricots aren’t available, you can use dry ones. Just make sure to buy sulfur-free dried apricots.

And of course there is very important role of our apricot-summer beauty –  it is very important emotional supporter to our soul. Here is what Anthony William said about emotional support regarding apricots  

“Apricots help us bring heart to life. They open us up, making us more kindhearted and helping those of us who have trouble with trust to tone down any nervousness or skittishness. Apricots calm us when we feel threatened and regulate a defensive nature, putting us in touch with our intuition so that we know when to keep our guards up and when to drop our defenses. When we become frustrated in any type of situation, apricots are excellent soothers.”

How many time has finding yourself with some roasted chicken leftovers that no one wants to eat happened to you?

Once I made those meatballs and since then my kids keep asking me to make them again and again.

Just put boneless chicken, dried apricots, walnuts and parmesan cheese in the food processor. With wet hands, form the meatballs and then either bake them in the oven or fry on the pan.

The meatballs are so tasty, eaten warm or cold. Serve them with salad, or add some rice as a side dish if you prefer. Then if there are going to be a few left ( which never happens in my family ) just make a nice sandwich. I like them the best with just lettuce salad, but you can find your own way of serving it.

So, no eggs, no flour, just 4 ingredients and you will have a completely new dish on the table. And most importantly no food waste. Have a wonderful lunch.

In our house there are always some small pieces of bread left that nobody wants to eat. As I’m really against food waist, I have my own way of reusing it.

Simply cut it into on small cubes and freeze in a bag. I keep filling the same bag with different kinds of bred.

So, whenever I need croutons, I just grab some frozen bread cubes, put them on some butter or olive oil, add seasoning (rosemary & sea salt are my favourite) and fry until golden. And in 5 minutes I have lovely, fresh and crunchy croutons to be added in the soup or on top of a salad.

Gnocchi leftovers – boiled the day before. Well, it sometimes happens that I boil too much gnocchi. I then pan fry some of them on butter to get a golden colour. I keep the rest in the fridge until I find use for them. You can then add to your gnocchi whatever you have in the fridge ( fruits, vegetables, cheese…) and make a whole new meal. It’s even better if you have some gravy, but if not, the butter will do. 

Today I grilled some pineapple cubes on butter, seasoned them and added them to the gnocchi leftovers from the fridge. It turned up being really nice. I gave it to my son as a side dish to a burger and young peas.

For another quick and easy gnocchi recipe, click here 🙂