My Life on this planet.

Potatoes, not my favourite food unless fried in oil or butter or smashed or in a gratin as I describe here. Ingredients : Potatoes Butternut Onion Mushrooms Peanuts Garlic (Hot peppers) Herbs such as pepper, dry basil, ... First, I cut the potatoes in relatively thin layers before boiling them although not too much as they will continue cooking in the oven. All the next frying is done in olive oil although also other oils or butter can provide a great taste to the food. While the potatoes are boiling, I cut part of the butternut in small pieces and fry them in oil so they become slightly soft without being overcooked while they get a nice slightly brown outside. Halfway the cooking, I add some herbs and garlic (this can change according to taste). Next I slightly fry some pieces of mushrooms and afterwards some peanuts and pieces of onion, while I add some herbs and garlic halfway through so they get a lovely flavour (don't need to be the same...

Today, I prepared something Italian. I loved it and therefore want to share it. Ingredients: Almond and pine nuts Green asparagus Mushrooms Wok mix Pasta: Mezzelune con verdure alla griglia Garlic Herbs Olive oil and spicy olive oil Let's start ... The pasta are mezzelune filled with basil, spinach and grilled vegetables including courgette and aubergine. I bought it prepared in a package and only needed to boil it for about 3-4 min but if you really like cooking, you may try to prepare it yourself (I won't). In addition, I decided there needed some extra vegetables so I can use the pasta spread over two days. Therefore, I cut some green asparagus in half and some mushrooms in small pieces. I also used mixed sprouting vegetables called "wok mix". Finally, I cut a garlic in small pieces. Some of the ingredients, i.e. "wok mix", mushrooms, green asparagus and garlic together with the pasta While I started heating the water, I added some ...

I prepared another vegetarian rice dish that I liked and thus want to share with whoever is interested. I cheated by using a tin of spicy spinach with cottage cheese (maybe you prefer to prepare that yourself) but I never can resist the feeling to do something more. And I know, it seems rice and potatoes should not be used for the same meal but I do as I like them together. Further, I don't eat meat thus I don't eat cholesterol and saturated fats and thus I think I am allowed some wrong combination. Ingredients Tin : Palak paneer (the above mentioned spicy spinach with cottage cheese). Other vegetables : Onion, Potato, Lentils (dry), Black-eyed beans (dry), Almond nuts, celery leaf. Herbs : garlic, ginger, salt and pepper, dry basil, vegetarian bouillon. Rice Olive oil Recipient Start with boiling the dry lentils and beans as they need some time to soften. I added some bouillon. In the meanwhile, clean some potatoes and cut them in pieces. After about 15 min of bo...

I just finished eating pasta, and as I think it was very nice, I will also share this recipient with those who may sometimes read my blog. Of course, only vegetables were used as I am vegetarian. As I am single, I describe what I used for one meal, but you can increase the size as you prefer. Ingredients : Almond nuts Onion Mushrooms Young fresh spinach leaves Tomato and grilled vegetables sauce Hot pepper Garlic Some herbs Parmesan cheese Pasta Recipient : Tomato sauce First, I cut half an onions in small pieces and four medium-sized mushrooms in four to six pieces (not too small), depending upon the original size of the mushrooms. I also cut a garlic and part of a hot pepper (I like it a little spicy) in small pieces. Finally, the almond nuts are cut in half so they are not too big as they can't be cut easily on a plate without making a mesh. Olive oil is added to a frying pan and placed above the gas fire. When sufficiently hot, I added first some pieces of a...

First, the future of meat - Congratulations scientists Two days ago, the first lab-grown meat (beef)burger was eaten. Congratulations Dr Mark Post. Indeed, it may one day be a great help for people who want to reduce the suffering of animals but find it nearly impossible to eat a meal without meat. And although at this moment animals are still needed to get muscle stem cells before we can grow them to large numbers as indeed muscle stem cells have a limited lifetime and thus need replacement after a few months (although the animal doesn't need to be killed because a biopsy is sufficient to get the muscle cells while much less cows are needed to have a very large number of burgers) while blood of unborn cows (FCS = Foetal Calf Serum or FBS = Foetal Bovine Serum with some other factors) is needed to grow them, I am convinced that in future we will find ways of growing the stem cells indefinitely and thus without having to hurt an animal to get the muscle stem...

Today, I have eaten pasta, more specifically with cheese sauce. Indeed, it doesn't need to be rice during each meal. But in my good tradition, it is vegetarian. While in the shop I saw some macaroni pasta and as a result I fancied macaroni with cheese sauce although that contains normally ham. I replaced the ham with peanuts and pine nuts, red peppers and courgette. I also used tagliatelle instead of macaroni but I kept the cheese sauce. I fried the peanuts, red pepper and courgette pieces in olive oil in such a way the vegetables got a light brown colour. Then I added some pine nuts. To improve flavour, I added a little salt and pepper, dried basil and some cayenne pepper and at the end some pieces of garlic to prevent it from burning too much. At the same time I prepared the cheese sauce (most people know how to do this better than me, thus I don't need to explain). At the end I mixed some pieces of fresh basil leaves and added the vegetables. In the meanwhile, the t...

Today, I like to share another vegetarian meal I eat based on a Palestinian receipt. I bought a can of Medammas, containing fava beans ( or Vicia faba, also known as the broad bean ) and garbanzo beans (or chick peas), water, salt, olive oil, lemon juice and as a secret natural spices (I think with curry as the sauce was yellowish and a little spicy). Can of Medammas Ingredients Can of Medammas, rice, potatoes, green lentils, onion, mushrooms, sprouted soy beans, peanuts, almond nuts and pine nuts, tomato herbs (e.g. pepper and salt, garlic, curry powder). Preparing the meal First, I cut garlic, fried them a little in olive oil before adding rice, some herbs and water to cook until ready. Of course, I also used other ingredients than only the beans in the can, partly because I don't want to cook tomorrow and thus needs a little more but also as a vegetarian I need a mixture of vegetables to be sure I have all necessary nutrients. I cut potatoes into small cubes tha...

Another vegetarian dish to show that vegetarian food isn't boring and can be very nice. This time I prepare vegetarian meatballs in tomato sauce. No, this is not because I want to replace meat although that argument is perfectly acceptable if you want to become vegetarian because you don't want animals suffer but have difficulties not eating meat. I eat it because the vegetarian balls are very nice and the sauce is totally veggie. Let's start ... Ingredients Fig. 1 : Vegetables to prepare the sauce. First we need the ingredients. To prepare the sauce I used as vegetables  green asparagus , red pepper , courgette , onion, peanuts and almond nuts , ginger and garlic, sprouting leek and wok mix (i.e. soya, azuki, lentils, chicken pea, borlotti, peas and wheat) while also tomato puree, tabasco sauce, vegetarian bouillon and olive oil and garlic butter ( Fig. 1 ). Of course, I also needed vegetarian balls which I bought but may one day try pr...

A few months ago, I published a recipient for a rice dish with as main ingredients asparagus and oyster mushrooms . It was very nice but a little dry and thus now I publish another rice dish, this time for people who prefer vegetables in a sauce . Let's start ... Ingredients I used. The majority of the ingredients are dried black eye beans and lentils (in my case Eston lentils), I think about 100 grams of each although I didn't weighted them. The other ingredients are rice , cheese , cornflour , water , olive oil , 1/2 red pepper , 1/2 courgette (small), two potatoes , 2 onions , 1/2 tomato , peanuts and almond , 1/2 vegetarian bouillon cube , one large garlic clove , a little ginger, herbs (such as Italian mix, chili, curry, nutmeg and red pepper powders and basil) and a little salt and pepper . Let's start preparing the vegetables Beans and lentils need cooking for quite some time before they become soft, therefore I started with them. I did them together in a...

Today I prepared myself something lovely: a vegetarian rice dish. I will share the ingredients and some pictures. Ingredients The ingredients were green asparagus (much more taste than the white ones that never saw the sun), oyster mushrooms (of course others can also be used but these I like very much as they have a great taste), peanuts , goat cheese , red hot pepper , garlic and rice . The asparagus and mushrooms were cut in pieces, as were the pepper and garlic. Nuts, asparagus and pepper. Addition of mushrooms. First I heated oil before adding the peanuts as they need some time to become crisp. Then I added the asparagus as they were quite big pieces and thus needed time to soften. I also added the pepper so their taste would be absorbed by the asparagus. I flavoured by adding mixed herbs and some black and white pepper and salt. After some minutes I added the mushrooms and this I let for many more minutes (the time depends on how thick the piec...

This weekend, temperatures in Belgium are predicted to reach up to 37 °C and many other parts of Europe and the world also suffer from high temperatures (although many people in Belgium will disagree with the word "suffer" as most people will be happy summer finally arrived after the previous wet and cold months). Therefore, to lessen my thirst I decided to make my own ice tea and share the receipt so others who may read this article can also drink something refreshing that is differently from cold water and is quite cheap. As it is easy to prepare, children who should stay inside during this extreme hot weather, can make their own ice tea and thus will be less likely to get bored (parents should boil the water as this is too dangerous to be done by small children). The children can later experiment to prepare their own version of tea and that is even more exiting as they are now almost real chefs. I give a few examples what can be changed. Most of the ingredients (ex...

Since about two years I am (mostly) vegetarian. Normally, I eat only vegetables together with eggs and cheese, so I am not completely against animal food. Cheese, milk and egg products are from animals but one does not have to kill an animal to eat it. I know, to have these products animals might suffer as they are not free. But then, even plants have to be killed to be eaten and I am sure, the plants don't like that too. Mostly, the only reason why I eat meat is not to offend a person who invited me for a dinner and did his best to prepare the food. Below some examples of food I have recently eaten. The first one with recipient. I used mushrooms, spring onions, aubergine and red and (from my own plant) yellow peppers. When cooking vegetarian, I always try to use lots of colours so it looks nice and taste good. Only green is boring, even for the taste. These were fried together in a home-made olive oil. Then I added broccoli that I had cooked before and, of course I use different...