My version on a healthy Kofta

Kofta is a worldwide meat dish, there are variations in Turkey, Middle-East, Greece and I will introduce you my style of Kofta. Kofta literally means meatball, and that doesn't sound that sexy right?

Although I don't eat meat a lot, not because I don't want to, I just don't like it that much. I love fish, every kind of fish and I do eat chicken at least once a week. But my boyfriend looooves meat, so we make compromises, I eat red meat once a week and he eats vegetarian once a week ;-) I do believe it's the most healthiest way as well. Vegetarian meals, 2 times fish (from which one is a fat fish like salmon or mackerel), chicken (most likely twice a week as well) and once a week some red meat.

I already introduced you to the real deal burger, well if you did enjoy that recipe you will definitely like this dish!

Ingredients
For about 4 persons

For the beef mixture
350g organic minced beef
1tbsp almond meal
1 organic egg
1 small tin tomato puree
1tbsp maple syrup
1tbsp cinnamon
1tbsp oregano
1tbsp sweet pepper powder
100g feta cheese (the real feta cheese, not the cheap disgusting cow's milk variation haha)
salt & pepper

The sauce
1 red onion
2 courgettes, diced
2 red bell peppers, diced
2 garlic gloves
1tbsp cinnamon
1tbsp oregano
400g tomatoes diced (tin)
half of the tin of the tomatoes filled with water
salt & pepper

Mix all the ingredients for the beef in a bowl and make small little meat balls, heat some oil in a pan and fried the meatballs until browned. They don't have to be cooked all the way, they will later on in the sauce. When the meatballs have the right colour, get them out of the pan and set aside. In the same pan you will make the sauce. Start frying the onion, than add the garlic, spiced and stir for 2 minutes. Now add the vegetables and fried until everything is browned, now add the tomatoes and the water, salt and pepper and add the vegetables. Cover the pan with a lit and let it simmer away for about 15 minutes. Serve with a fresh cucumber salad with yogurt dressing and cooked quinoa.

Nutritional information approx. 550 calories a person.

What to eat for lunch?

Today I'm writing about what to eat for lunch. A lot of people have trouble to think of a healthy lunch idea, especially when you are full time working or are on the road a lot. You need something, easy, delicious, healthy and the most important: portable. Ofcourse there is noting wrong with a slice of (good quality) bread, when you top it off right, but you can bring a lot more vitamins, minerals to your tummy with creating something different. Today I help you to create a easy portable lunch with some veggies.

Tip 1: Always buy a lot of vegetables, healthy grains, nuts and seeds. This way you already have your kitchen stuffed with healthy food!

Now here we go: For a quick healthy lunchyou can make a simple dressing with olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper. Grab a tupperware box and start with the dressing on the bottom. Next up you choose a leaf, than a grain/lentils/chickpeas or other bean, than you need a crunch like nuts and seeds, to make it more tasty choose something sweet like dried or fresh fruits. After step 2 you can choose whatever vegetable you have in your fridge to make this meal even better. Say you have leftover cooked broccoli from yesterday, add! Or sliced tomatoes, cooked beetroot, corn, cucumber, bell pepper, mushrooms...

My favourites?
Rocket -> quinoa -> beetroot and tomatoes -> roasted pine nuts -> dried cranberries
Mixed leafs -> lentils -> broccoli and cucumber -> pesto and alfalfa

Salad on the go!

Yesterday I had a fun and lovely shoot in the Netherlands. We made a cool editorial with all black and white elements with golden jewelry.

I knew the team and wanted to make something delicious for on set, something healthy ;-) I love salads, a lot of people think it's boring but I really don't understand how a salad can be boring. You can add whatever you like and make a million versions! I chose to make a rocket salad with some healthy ingredients like sweet potato which are high in vitamin B6, vitamin C and D, contain iron (proper immune functioning and white blood cell production) and are a good source of magnesium, which is the relaxation and anti-stress mineral. Further you need the best grain in the world quinoa, some goat cheese (use a good quality of feta cheese if you don't like goats cheese) and some vegetables and nuts. Further it just needs a bit of time and love to make this healthy, delicious salad.

Salad on the Go!

Ingredients

Quinoa
goat cheese
1 big sweet potato
raisins
rocket
cherry tomato's
cucumber
handful of mixed nuts
drizzle of olive oil
salt & pepper
cinnamon
vegetable stock

Boil water in a kettle. Grab a handful of raisins and add them to a cup with some of the boiled water, let it soak up the water for about 5 minutes. In the meanwhile slice the sweet potato in cubes (just wash, leave the skin on it's full of vitamins!) and cook them about 8 minutes until soft. In the same time you can cook your quinoa with some vegetable stock and a pinch of cinnamon. Cook until fluffy and let it cool down. Grab your Tupperware and start layering up. First the rocket, than the cherry tomatoes (in fours), the cucumber (in fours) and the cooled down quinoa and sweet potato. Sprinkle the chopped nuts, raisins and olive oil on top and serve with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper!

Some sneaky backstage unedited shots from the shoot

Skinny dinner

Today I will share another recipe that is inspired on my trip in Capetown last year. It's a very healthy vegetarian dinner (or lunch) because it contains healthy fats from the avocado and almonds (also full of protein and vitamin E, hello gorgeous skin and hair), complex carbs and protein from the worlds healthiest grain in the world: quinoa, and one of my favourite vegetables; eggplant. 

Ingredients:

1 eggplant

1 avocado

2 handfuls of almonds

rocket

fresh cilantro

fresh parsley

2 tablespoons of raisins soaked in hot water

Slice the eggplant in pieces and arrange them on a big plate with kitchen paper. Gently sprinkle some salt on them, put another kitchen paper on top and put something heavy on it. This way you will get some of the liquid out of the eggplant so by the time the eggplant will see the pan, it won't completely suck up all of the oil and becomes greasy! 

Next grab a coffee mug and fill with red quinoa (or any other kind) and place it in the pot with 2 cups of boiling water, a teaspoon of cinnamon and let it cook until done. When finished cooking gently mix it up with a fork so it becomes fluffy and give it some space to "unsteam". Heat a frying pan with a few table spoons of good olive oil, fry the eggplant until brown and caramelised and sprinkle with pepper (NO salt because you already did). 

Your dinner is almost ready now at this point! Grab a big plate and start with a big handful of rocket with a bit of the fresh herbs on it, combine the raisins with the quinoa and put as much as you like on the rocket. 

Next up the eggplant, almonds and avocado, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and dig in!