"Wait, that's it?!" - another week of Kitchen Adventures

Hello, and welcome to another week of Kitchen Adventures with Joy!

It was a strange week for kitchen adventures, too, because I was done fairly quickly - or, at least, if felt very quickly - and then was like, "Wait, where's the rest?" 😆

So, if you've watched the unboxing video (and even if not): Here is what I made with this week's delivery:

Kitchen Adventures with Joy

Dish #1 - cucumber salad

cucumber salad

Because sometimes you just need to eat an entire cucumber.

Or, at least, a pretty large part of it. Like about 2/3s of that interestingly shaped cucumber that was in my box.

Recipe:

1 entire cucumber

1 tablespoon peanut butter

2 tablespoons tamari

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 clove of garlic, grated

1 teaspoon chili paste (or more, or less, depending on your spice tolerance!)

sesame seeds

STEP ONE:

Grate cucumber into a container with a lid.

STEP TWO:

Add all ingredients for the dressing straight to the cucumber.

STEP THREE:

Put on lid, shake container well, hey presto: finished.

STEP FOUR:

Enjoy! 😄

The last 1/3 of cucumber then went into

Dish #2 - carrot salad

carrot salad with tahini-lemon dressing

A carrot salad, with the leftover cucumber and kalamata olives. Featuring a tahini-lemon dressing that doesn't taste even a bit of lemon - even though I used the juice of one entire, large lemon.

Recipe:

2 medium to large carrots

1/3 of a large cucumber

about 30 kalamata olives (or more, or less, as you prefer)

3 tablespoons tahini

1 tablespoon tamari

a dash of vinegar

juice of one large lemon

STEP ONE:

Grate carrot into airtight container, followed by cucumber (also grated).

STEP TWO:

Drain your olives, and then cut your chosen amount into half. Or quarters, depending on how big your olives are and/or your preference.

STEP THREE:

Mix ingredients in a separate jar. The tahini will need some encouraging to blend with the tamari and lemon juice - shaking alone won't be enough.

Once you have a creamy dressing, pour over salad.

Season with salt & pepper, as desired.

Also, shown in the pictures above - my new airtight containers, bought on Friday!

Or rather: given to my by the Universe. Because I'd already been thinking of making two salads, but I only had one container large enough with a lid, and so there was the thought of: "Huh, I'd really like/need another round container with a lid."

Lo and behold! in the supermarket: a set of three containers, a special offer from, like, weeks ago. But there were still a few, and one had obviously been waiting for me.

Thank you, Universe! I made two delicious salads! ❤️

Onto Dish #3 - zoodles!

zoodles with soy beans and green pesto

So, at first I'd planned to make bread with (some of) the zucchini in my box. Then the idea of zucchini "pasta", with spirelli made from chickpea flour and red pesto presented itself. Like, a pasta dish, but with some veggies in the form of zucchini "pasta".

"Okay, sounds cool," I thought.

Now, I can already hear the first of you pointing out that the above doesn't look like pasta with red pesto. You're right! Because the longer I stared at the note for the planned dish, the less "Right" it felt. And I began exploring other options that would feature zoodles.

Enter an idea that's migrated from one week's meal plan to the next a couple of times, that being soy beans with green pesto. An idea for an additional protein-rich dish I thought I might add (if other dishes didn't have enough protein).

Well, there the idea was. And why not combine the zoodles with the soy-pesto dish?

Yeah. That's what you see above: zoodles and soy beans, mixed in together with the green pesto.

... a green pesto that, by the way, didn't come from a jar or glass. It came from a little bag.

Yeah, kind of a dried pesto that required you to add water and oil. Before you scream: the mixture was ground cashews, dried basil, onionpowder, nutritional yeast, garlic powder and black pepper. So. All good!

Also, I used about half an avocado - the parts that hadn't gone off yet, oops - instead of oil.

Taste test was a success; is very yummy. 😄

... there also isn't really a recipe for that one. Because it's simply:

• turn your zucchini into pasta, either by use of peeler, or julienne thingy, or food processore, or kitchen knife

• saute for a few minutes - not too long, or the zoodles will turn soggy (valid warning, mine did)

• throw in soy beans from a jar, fry all together

• mix pesto - or open jar

• pour pesto on zoodles-bean-mix

• done: enjoy!

Yep, sometimes it's just that simple. Nice, hey? 😄

Okay, onto Dish #4 - what's probably my signature dish, too:

veggies with lentils

If you've been following kitchen adventures, you might by now recognise this type of dish: stir-fry veggies with a source of protein. In this case:

• onions, garlic, fresh ginger, sesame seeds, spices

• beetroot, carrot, zucchini, red peppers

• brown lentils

The lentils I cooked spearately beforehand. Chopped all veggies, then chopped ginger, garlic, and onions. In that order, to keep the crying to a minimum.

Sauted onions in coconut oil until translucent, then added garlic and ginger. After a minute or so of continuously stirring, I added carrot and beetroot. Another two minutes or so later, the zucchini. Aaand another four to five minutes later: the red pepper.

Put on the lid, turned the heat down to medium-high, and let simmer. Until carrots were just about softening, though still had some crunch. Then added lentils, stirred together, turned down the heat again, and let simmer another bit.

Then added a bit of tomato puree, because it felt right. Maybe two tablespoons? Something like that. Stir in well if you add it late!

Not shown in the picture: I also added some frozen spinach for extra green. (Defrosted and cooked in separate pot again, then stirred into the mix.)

What can I say? It's super nommy - and very filling. Good job, Joy. 😄

And alst but not least, as promised in the video:

Dish #5 - dessert

beetroot brownie

Beetroot brownies, fresh from the oven.

Very filling, and could have been a little more sweet and a little more moist. Otherwise? It's beetroot and chocolate, and I think it's amazing that this combination works.

For those interested in trying this out - I went the Kitchen adventures route, of course, and kind of combined two recipes. So here's what I did:

Recipe:

250g of beetroot

200g buckwehat flour

100g cacao powder

60g almond butter

120g agava syrup

120ml pantbased milk

3 tablespoons linseed

9 tablespoons water

3 tablespoons coconut oil

2 (heaped) teaspoons baking powder

STEP ONE:

Wash and chop bettroot into small pieces, then cook until soft (about 20 minutes).

STEP TWO:

Mix Linseed with water and let soak.

STEP THREE:

Put cooked beetroot, agava syrup, coconut oil, and almond butter in blender - or use the pot you cooked the beetroot and and a handheld blender. I recommend wearing an apron, or an old t-shirt or something. The beetroot is splash-happy!

STEP THREE A:

Wipe Self and kitchen; also check higher up on walls because, as I said: beetroot is splash-happy!

STEP FOUR:

Add buckwheat flour, cacao powder, baking powder and linseed-mix, and a pinch of salt, to your blender - or the mess in your pot. Try to form a mixture.

STEP FOUR A:

Realise this isn't working, and add some more adava syrup and then plantbased milk, so that you won't break your blender/spoon.

Taste test, and see if there might need to be a bit more sweetness.

STEP FIVE:

Pour batter into a baking tin. Recipe used a 9inch square baking tin. Having nothing of the sort, I used the somwhat rectangular-but-with-rounded-edges lid of my casserole dish.

Whatever you use, either use baking paper (like I did) or grease the form.

STEP SIX:

Bake in pre-heated oven for 30 - 40 minutes at 180°C / 350°F.

Take out afterwards and let cool.

And yes, I added chocolate sprinkles before putting it in the oven. One recipe added a chocolate coating/frosting, but I wasn't in the mood to melt chocolate. So: sprinkles.

... also added a "filling" of plum puree to one half, but haven't tried that half yet, so there's some surprise for all of us left over. 😄

As I said, it could have been sweeter and a little bit more moist. But overall it's good, and I am pleased.

(Next time, I'll try these with chickpeas. Just watch me!)

...

And this is the point where I went: "Wait! Where is the rest?" Because it felt as if there ought to be at least one more thing to make. But nope, all veggies from my box used up, and the fruit is going to be eaten in a fruit salad or by itself, so no pics for that.

So yes, this is the end of this week's kitchen adventures.

Isn't it weird?

See you next week! 😄