Tag Archives: vegan

Picture of a wholegrain bread with soy

Wholemeal bread with soy

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Yoga Kitchen – Simple, healthy, and plant-based

Bread with extra plant power

Bread. It’s so ingrained in the food cultures of Europe, Africa, the Near East and India. According to some currents in the food world, it’s not such a healthy food after all. You would be better off soaking and then cooking cereal grains rather than eating them in a rather dry, baked form like bread.
However, bread has unbeatable advantages in terms of taste and practical considerations.
There’s nothing like the smell of freshly baked bread filling an entire room, is there! In our childhood, when we came home from the bakery, the irresistible outer slices would disappear into our mouths before the bread had even reached its final destination.
Besides, bread is easy and practical. Once the bread is baked, you always have something on hand that, with a few appropriate toppings, makes for a satisfying meal in no time.

Wrapless and circular

I’ve baked bread throughout my adult and independent life. Most often with yeast, more rarely with sourdough, and occasionally varieties without yeast or sourdough. There have been ups and downs. Depending on my determination to make healthy bread myself, for less money and with better ingredients.

In recent years, I’ve also started making my own soy milk, from soy beans. This initiative was partly motivated by my dissatisfaction with soy milk cartons. Because I wanted to drink soy milk without packaging. I got the hang of it, but I had to find uses for the large quantities of soy pulp resulting from the soy milk manufacturing process. I just couldn’t throw them away! This meant I had to set up a circular process: the waste or residue from one process becomes the raw material for another process.

One of the results is soy bread: an almost wholemeal bread that contains soy pulp as an additive. The bread recipe below, meanwhile, has been perfected and is worth sharing.
What’s more, I’ve learnt to appreciate the manual kneading of dough as a very soothing, almost meditative process, which has made me (re)discover the importance and pleasure of working with my hands. And all this in an increasingly digital world! I used to dread it and think it was a waste of time.
Finally, bringing extra protein to bread is a good thing if you’re making your way through life as a vegan.
Two hands holding a loaf of bread

What ingredients are needed for a loaf weighing around 680g?

  • up to 100 g soya pulp
  • 350 g organic 75% wheat flour (T80)
  • 50 g organic wholemeal rye flour
  • one teaspoon sea salt
  • one teaspoon whole cane sugar
  • and one tablespoon ground flaxseed
  • 200 to 210 ml water
  • half a packet of fresh baker’s yeast (about 12g)

If you don’t have or don’t want to use rye flour, take a total of 400g of 75% wheat flour.
Instead of fresh baker’s yeast, you can also use dried baker’s yeast. In that case, take the quantity for 500g of flour.

Here’s how to make this delicious bread yourself

  • Mix the yeast in the (lukewarm) water and leave to stand for a while.
  • In a large mixing bowl, bring together all the dry ingredients and the soy pulp, and mix, with a fork or whisk.
  • Pour the water with the yeast into the dry mixture.
  • Mix the resulting dough with a fork and then knead by hand for about five minutes.
  • Roll the dough into a ball, place it at the bottom of the bowl and leave it to rest and rise for an hour to an hour and a half, covered with a kitchen towel.
  • Then remove the leavened ball of dough from the bowl, and now knead more intensely for about 10 minutes.
  • Shape the dough into the shape of your choice, or place it on the bottom of a baking tin lined with greaseproof paper.
  • Let rise again for an hour and a half to two hours, covered with a kitchen towel.
  • Preheat the oven to 210°C (200°C in a hot air oven).
  • Insert the bread into the oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes.
  • After baking, remove the bread from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.

This will give you a firm, semi-complete loaf that is both tasty on its own and delicious toasted.
Kneading techniques have been the subject of a wealth of literature. I’m not an expert on the subject. During the second kneading phase, I press the dough flat each time with forward arm movements. I then fold it into a square and press it flat again, for a total of about 10 minutes.
The dough should not stick to your fingers. If it does, it’s too wet and it’s better to add more flour. Sprinkle it over your kneading surface and the ball of dough.

Is bread good for your health?

Rather than rejecting bread by definition, it’s worth looking at the circumstances:

  • Who eats the bread?
  • What type of bread are we exactly talking about?

For physically active people or children and young people in an active growth phase, healthy bread can be consumed without reservation. Classic wholemeal or semi-whole wheat bread contains mainly carbohydrates. These provide fuel for our bodies. It also contains a good proportion of plant proteins, including gluten. It also contains a good deal of fibre and minerals.
Wholemeal (or semi-complete) bread is therefore suitable for people who consume a lot of energy. People who take little exercise, or those who are older and have a metabolism that consumes less energy, would do well to eat bread in moderation to avoid obesity in the long term.

Besides, bread and bread are two things. In principle, you only need four ingredients to make bread: wholemeal (or semi-wholemeal) flour from one or more cereals, water, a leavening agent such as yeast and a little good quality salt. That’s all there is to it. Most industrially-produced breads in supermarkets contain up to 20 different ingredients, including sugar. You can often see this on the labels. These ingredients don’t make the bread healthier, but they do make it sweeter and keep it longer on the shelves. What a classic fresh warm bakery uses in its bread is, frankly, often hard to guess. So buy your bread from a health food store or make it yourself, as in the recipe above. Use only good quality essential ingredients, preferably of organic origin.

Almost wholemeal soya bread, per 680g loaf

Energy Carboh. Sugars Fat Sat. Fat Protein Fibre Salt
1671 kJ/2191 kcal 314 g 1,3 g 22,5 g 3,1 g 74,3 g 51,80 g 5,00 g

Almost wholemeal soya bread, per 100g of product

Energy Carboh. Sugars Fat Sat. Fat Protein Fibre Salt
246 kJ/322 kcal 46 g 0,2 g 3,3 g 0,45 g 11,0 g 7,6 g 0,7 g

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Picture of a fvegan ruit crumble

Warm fruit crumble

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Yoga Kitchen – Simple, healthy, and plant-based

Autumn sonata with seasonal fruit, oatmeal and walnuts

A very quick and easy dessert, ideal for autumn or winter.
This is when freshly harvested fruit and nuts are available in abundance.
Warmed fruit delivers a subtle palette of flavours and aromas. The spices not only add a touch of flavour but also aid digestion. The recipe is 100% plant-based with no added refined sugar.

What ingredients do you need?

For the fruit marinade:

  • 4 pieces of seasonal fruit
  • one tablespoon lemon juice
  • a teaspoon of cinnamon (or more, depending on taste)
  • another half tablespoon of maple syrup
  • Optional: half a teaspoon of ground cardamom

For the crumble pastry

  • 120 g walnuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts or a mixture
  • 100 g rolled oats
  • 2 tablespoons heatable oil (for example sunflower oil or coconut oil (melted))
  • 4 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • Sea salt to taste

Here’s how you can do it:

In a nutshell, it’s very simple:

  • You mix the fruit with the marinade ingredients and spread it out on the bottom of a baking tray.
  • Then you mix the crumble ingredients and place this mixture as a second layer on top of the fuit layer.
  • Then bake in the oven.

Proceed step by step as follows:

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C (or 170°C with hot air circulation)
  • Cut the fruit into pieces
  • Mix the fruit with the marinade: lemon juice, cinnamon, maple syrup and optionally cardamom
  • Spread the fruit mixture in the bottom of a mould or on a baking tray and set aside
  • Coarsely chop the oats and walnuts in a food processor fitted with an S-shaped blade
  • Add the oil, maple syrup, cinnamon and sea salt and blend
  • Add the crumble batter in a second layer over the fruit in the baking tray
  • Bake for approximately 20 minutes in the preheated oven

And there you have it! The crumble can be eaten chilled but is best warm. You can serve it with a generous spoonful of vegan cream if you like.

Is it better to eat fruit raw?

Raw or not raw: it’s one of those debates in the world of food that can often be the subject of a veritable religion :

  • For raw food fans, it’s good to eat lots of fruit and heating above 40°C is taboo.
  • For followers of Ayurveda and macrobiotics, steaming or cooking fruit is preferable. According to these prescriptions, you are better off eating fruit in moderation, and separately from other foods.

Well, the truth will lie, as it often does, somewhere in the middle.
My advice is to find out how you digest fruit best. In any case, heating fruit comes at the expense of some of its nutritional value. This has been scientifically measured. In fact, some vitamins (such as vitamin C, which is naturally abundant in fruit) are degraded when heated.
The shorter the food is heated and the gentler the cooking technique, the greater the remaining nutritional value. Mild cooking techniques are therefore better.

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Marinated edamame beans

Two hearty snacks with edamame

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Yoga Kitchen – Simple, healthy, and plant-based

Nutritional value hinges on preparation

Edamame are green soybeans. Young green soybeans are also called mukimame.
Edamame beans are not readily available everywhere, but you can find them more and more. In organic shops and Oriental supermarkets most easily. Usually deep frozen, and stripped of their pods. And if you have a choice between with or without pods, do without. Because the fibrous, rough pods are not so tasty.
Edamame beans are not only very healthy, but also super tasty. Of all the beans, they are also the quickest to prepare.
Below are two ideas for an edamame bean-based snack. These immediately give food for thought. About how best to handle preparing legumes and food in general.

Recipe 1: Edamame with cheese and onion flavour

This 100% plant-based recipe uses no cheese at all, of course. However, by cleverly combining some purely plant-based ingredients, you do get something reminiscent of the taste of cheese and onions.

What ingredients do you need?

  • 250g frozen edamame beans, shelled
  • one tablespoon of nutritional yeast flakes
  • half a teaspoon of onion powder or onion grits
  • some black pepper
  • a quarter teaspoon of sea salt
  • half a teaspoon of (apple cider) vinegar
  • and finally half a teaspoon of olive oil

This is how to prepare them

  • Cook the edamame beans in lightly salted water for 5-6 minutes
  • Drain them and rinse briefly
  • Combine all the other ingredients for the marinade
  • Mix the beans into the marinade

Done!

Recipe 2: Grilled spicy Edamame beans

The big difference here is that the marinated beans are grilled in the oven or in an airfryer at 180 to 190 °C.

What ingredients do you need?

  • 250g frozen edamame beans, shelled
  • a teaspoon of red paprika
  • a pinch of cayenne pepper
  • one teaspoon of onion powder or onion grits
  • another teaspoon of garlic powder
  • a tablespoon of melted coconut oil
  • and finally a teaspoon of sea salt

This is how to prepare these appetisers with edamame

  • Heat the oven to 190 °C
  • Mix the edamame beans and all the ingredients well
  • Spread them out on a baking tray lined with baking paper for the oven or on the grid of an airfryer
  • Bake for about 30 minutes until brown and crispy

The grilled beans are ready.
Grilled edamame beans

The taste test

I personally fall like a log for the edamame beans in the first recipe. A heavenly flavour with notes of salt, acid and umami with the creaminess of the olive oil. The beans have a firm bite and are juicy. They also look like fresh, firm beans.

Recipe number two sums up very well what flavour and bite is popular in our Western snacking and fast-food culture. It is the sought-after combination of salty, spicy, dry and crunchy. The beans crack just like classic brittle roasted peanuts. Many people will love this and won’t be able to stay away from it. Easily available fast-food peanut snacks are often fried in a crust of oil, salt, sugar and flour. In contrast, these roasted edamame snacks have the advantage of being exempt of sugar, flavour enhancers or food preservatives.
But they look nothing like the fresh, moist beans they were at the beginning of the run. They are now dried out and brown …

The health verdict

Put yourself in the place of your stomach and digestive system for a moment. Which is easiest to digest: the short-cooked beans that have retained their natural moisture content? Or the hard, dry and now browned beans? After all, for these latter, our intestines need extra moisture to digest them.
And which is healthiest: the unheated olive oil or the coconut oil heated to 190 °C?
Recipe number one wins with flying colours!

Eat your food as little processed as possible

Many cookbooks are full of recipes that seem to only give importance to taste, feel and appearance of our food. Rarely is there any mention of health, digestibility or the ease with which the dish can be absorbed by our metabolism.
The same goes for most products displayed in our food shops and supermarkets.
Not infrequently, good ingredients lose much, if not all, of their nutritional value and energetic potential just by the method of preparation chosen. Either by the way they are processed or altered.

What are the healthiest cooking techniques?

In the world of health philosophies, people pretty much agree on one thing. Namely that processed, especially extremely processed foods can be downright harmful in the long run.
Not all foods can be eaten raw. Legumes or certain starchy root vegetables, for example, have to be cooked. On the other hand, some foods are sometimes even nutritionally enhanced after heating. This is the case for steamed or boiled carrots compared to raw carrots, for instance. Fermentation techniques can also change the taste and nutritional value of vegetables for the better.
And in our own kitchen, too, we can very consciously choose those recipes that use short, gentle cooking techniques. Because these involve the fewest losses.
Below are some cooking techniques classified from softer to harder:

  • steaming (over boiling water)
  • blanching
  • boiling
  • steaming (in a small amount of water and fat)
  • baking
  • braising
  • broiling
  • stir frying (wok)
  • grilling
  • deep frying
  • popping
  • blackening

The shorter the food item is heated and the softer the cooking technique, the greater the remaining nutritional value.

Edamame beans, frozen, unprepared, per 100 g product

Energy Carboh. Sugars Fat Sat. Fat Protein Fibre Salt
507 kJ/121 kcal 8,9 g 2,2 g 5,2 g 0,6 g 11,9 g 5,2 g 0,03 g

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Picture of a vegan chocolate cake

Simple vegan chocolate cake

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Yoga Kitchen – Simple, healthy, and plant-based

Undoubtedly the easiest vegan cake ever

To make the dark chocolate cake below, you use a dead simple recipe that you can literally get done in an hour. Truly a cake for beginners with no baking experience.
The result is a deeply dark, juicy cake with the bitter flavour of dark chocolate. However, we do not use chocolate for it, but rather raw cocoa.

What ingredients do you need?

It is unimaginably simple. Just 5 ingredients, at least, if you leave out the water.

  • 200 g sieved flour
  • 130 g (or ml) of neutral-tasting oil you can fry with (e.g.: sunflower oil)
  • 70 g sieved (raw) unsweetened cocoa
  • 100 to 180 g whole, unrefined sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 500 ml boiling water

About the sugar: The original recipe specified 180 g of whole cane sugar. I reduced that, as I often do, to almost half (100 g), and used coconut blossom sugar. So adjust that according to your preferences.
As for the flour: I used a mixture of semi-whole and white wheat flour. That way, you get still some extra minerals and fibre in the cake.

This is how to prepare it:

It couldn’t be simpler:

  • Preheat your oven to 180°C (or 170°C for an oven with hot air circulation).
  • Grease a round baking tin of about 20 to 24 cm with some oil or line the bottom and edges with baking paper.
  • Mix the 4 dry ingredients flour, cocoa, baking powder and sugar in a bowl.
  • Then pour in the oil, stirring a little.
  • Finally, pour in the hot water and mix to a homogeneous, fairly liquid batter.
  • Pour the batter into the lined tin.
  • Bake for about 30 minutes at the bottom of your oven.
  • Let cool and remove from the springform pan.
  • Garnish with a topping of your choice

An example for a vegan topping:

For a luscious vegan top layer with chocolate and coconut flavouring:

  • Mix about 100 ml of canned coconut milk (17-23% fat content) with two tablespoons of cocoa and two tablespoons of agave syrup or whole (cane or coconut) sugar.
  • Spread this chocolate coconut cream on top of the cake.
  • Garnish with fruit such as berries or banana slices if desired.
  • Finally, put the cake in the fridge for one and a half to two hours.
  • Take it out of the fridge 30 minutes before serving.

Simple as that. This vegan cake certainly rivals its traditional counterpart in flavour and is remarkably moist thanks to the water. The texture is somewhat reminiscent of a flan, another archaeological find from my Flemish childhood.
Enjoy!
I found inspiration for this recipe at “The Happy Pear” from Ireland. Their website is full of delicious and healthy vegan recipes.

Do I need butter and eggs to bake cake?

The answer is no, of course.
Traditional cake such as the famous “quatre quarts” from French cuisine, always uses the following ingredients:

  • White flour
  • Butter
  • Eggs
  • Refined sugar

Okay, cake is not something you eat every day. It’s fun food. But the above list shows that the resulting classic cake is quite a chore for the body to digest as well as metabolise. The white flour, refined sugar and butter are high in calories but very, not to say totally “empty” of nutrients. The eggs provide a lot of cholesterol. We are so conditioned by the traditional pastries of our childhood. The above vegan recipe is very basic and consists of just 5 ingredients.
Opting for vegan pastries is good for your health, the environment and animals. It just takes the courage and initiative to step outside the known paths.

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Picture of cinnamon rolls

Fruity cinnamon rolls

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Yoga Kitchen – Simple, healthy, and plant-based

Sophisticated natural sweet

Cinnamon rolls are almost a cliché in the food world. Every fresh bakery or croissant stall has them. They are very easy to prepare purely plant-based. You can find the plant-based versions virtually nowhere on sale. Only at bakeries that already have a pure vegan offering, and there are very few of them. That’s how unwieldy, slow and conservative the food industry is, with its close ties to livestock farming.
We are happy to go ahead and make our own then!
The version below is very basic, gluten-free and consists of just 4 ingredients.
You can also prepare them in a raw version if you have a dehydrator.

What ingredients do you need?

For eight rolls:

  • Four bananas, ripe but not overripe
  • 40 grams of raisins
  • 150 grams of pitted soft dates such as mazafati or medjoul dates
  • 3 teaspoons of cinnamon
  • 6 tablespoons of water

150 grams of pitted dates, roughly equivalent to 13 to 14 pieces

This is how to prepare them

  • Mix the dates with the water and cinnamon and grind in food processor or blender to a spreadable date paste
  • Preheat your oven to 130 to 140°C
  • Cut the bananas lengthwise into 4 slices
  • Place them on a sheet of baking paper on a baking tray
  • Bake them for about 15 to 20 min at 130 to 140°C until they have dried out a little
  • Spread the date paste on all the banana slices
  • Distribute the sultanas evenly, one at a time, over the banana slices
  • Roll one banana slice into a cylinder
  • Place that roll on a second banana slice and roll into a wider cylinder
  • Place that thicker roll flat on the baking tray
  • Repeat for the remaining slices
  • Bake the rolled bananas for another 15-20 minutes at the same temperature

Important tips for slicing the bananas:

The first time when I tried this recipe, I struggled not to break the bananas into pieces. Hence:

  • Use a very sharp knife
  • Lay the bananas flat, i.e. on their sides and cut along in the direction of their natural curve

Tip for making the date paste

In the original recipe, the author indicated to grind the date mixture with a blender. But unless you want to make double the number of cinnamon rolls, I recommend using a food processor with an S-shaped blade. It is very common in recipes to be asked to use a blender, when the amount of ingredients is just way too small not to make a mess, with everything splashing around and you having to scrape the sides of the blender every so often.

Serve the banana rolls the same day, as they don’t keep so well in the fridge.
The result is a beautiful symphony of different tones of sweet with the aroma of cinnamon woven through it.
Enjoy!

Healthy sweet

Be moderate with sweet. In our Western food culture, all attention goes to just two of the five tastes: salty and especially sweet.
Preferably use wholesome sweeteners such as fruit, dried fruit, and only then cereal syrups and sweeteners such as agave or maple syrup and concentrated fruit juices such as apple juice. Coconut blossom sugar is also fine.
If you do opt for cane sugar, take the unrefined version. White, refined sugars like granulated sugar (from beetroot) or white icing sugar are really not done for your health.
In most recipes found in cookbooks, the amount of sugar is usually excessive. From my own experience, you can easily reduce the amount of sweet by half for the same eating pleasure.

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Image of raw vegan carrot balls

Surprising Carrot balls

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Yoga Kitchen – Simple, healthy, and plant-based

Light and healthy

These carrot balls have a very surprising composition. Usually, these kinds of sweet snacks make use of nuts. But here, no nuts at all! That makes these balls very light.
Moreover, they are completely raw and you are able to prepare them very quickly.

What ingredients do you need?

This will be it for about twenty to twenty-four pieces. All depends on how big you make them.

  • ca 80 grams of pitted fleshy, soft dates (Medjoul or Mazafati)
  • 120 grams grated carrot
  • 75 grams of sultanas, which you can pre-soak in warm water if necessary
  • A little sea salt
  • 75 grams of oatmeal
  • two teaspoons of an allspice mixture
  • about 20 grams of grated coconut for the finishing touch

This is how to prepare them

  • First cut the dates into small pieces
  • Mix all the ingredients excepot for the grated coconut in a bowl and knead intensely until everything sticks together well
  • Roll balls of the mixture
  • Pour the grated coconut into a plate and roll each ball in it to coat the outside

And there you are. When I weighed out the 20 grams of coconut according to the original recipe, at first I didn’t believe that amount would be sufficient. But it was right as pie!
These balls store well in the fridge.

Is it preferable to eat raw or cooked food?

There are views on food that assume it is best to eat everything raw, and as little cooked as possible. And there are views to the contrary: that it is best to eat cooked food as much as possible, and avoid raw.
There is no doubt that cooked food is easier to digest than raw food. Raw food costs our intestinal system more energy to digest, leaving relatively less energy available to meet our energy needs. On the other hand, some nutritional value is lost in the cooking process. After all, many essential vitamins and interesting enzymes break down during cooking. In any case, all the more reason to prefer gentle, short cooking processes for vegetables that retain as much nutritional value as possible. Grains and legumes, on the other hand, should be cooked long enough. After all, you don’t eat them primarily for the vitamins, but for the energy, the proteins and minerals.
Personally, I believe the middle ground is golden. Healthy plant-based food can consist of both cooked and raw dishes. And depending on the seasons and your personal energy needs, you can vary the ratio between the two. In the colder winter months, it is best to eat a bit more cooked, and in the warmer period of the year, a bit more raw.

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Picture of vegan coconut rocks

Vegan Coconut Rocks

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Yoga Kitchen – Simple, healthy, and plant-based

Tropical sweet

Even without added sugar, you can hit high peaks in terms of sweetness. These super simple soft biscuits, reminiscent of the archetypal coconut rocks, consist of just two to three ingredients.
Banana takes over the role of egg whites as a texturiser. (Whew!)
You have them prepared in no time.

What ingredients do you need?

For twelve pieces:

  • about 340 g peeled bananas
  • 75 g grated coconut
  • a pinch of salt
  • optional: 3 tablespoons of dark chocolate drops

This is how to prepare them:

  • Preheat the oven to 165 °C.
  • Mash the bananas finely, with a fork or in a food processor.
  • Add the coconut and the pinch of salt and mix until homogeneous.
  • Add the chocolate drops if wanted and mix well.
  • Place a sheet of baking paper on a baking tray and spoon 12 mounds of the batter onto the paper.
  • Let bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown.
  • Let cool for at least an hour before munching them.

Is all sweet equal before the law?

The human species has a distinct preference for sweet taste. Perhaps because our distant ancestors evolutionarily associated sweet taste with energy density.
In the last 50 years, consumption of sweet and sugary foods has increased dramatically. Many people struggle with obesity, and the incidence of diabetes resulting from unbalanced eating habits has never been higher than today.
Should you therefore ban sweet? No. But moderation is the message. And preferably choose wholefood sweet. Fresh dates, bananas or other fresh and dried fruits not only give us their heavenly flavour, but also bring vitamins and minerals. This, unlike crystallised or powdered refined sugar.
A tip: gradually reduce the sweet level of your dishes, until you learn to enjoy the subtle sweetness of sweet vegetables and cooked grains again. Be moderate with fruit, and prefer the whole fruit rather than just the juice.

What is the true cost of imported tropical fruit?

Imported tropical fresh fruits such as bananas, mangoes and coconut products, for example, have a huge carbon footprint due to long-distance transportation. They are also available all year round, whatever the season. Transport by plane – madness for agricultural products – scores the worst, but transport by ship and truck is also wasteful. Rail transport seems to be the most favourable ecologically for food products.
The origin of food products can give an indication of the means of transport used, although as a consumer you can never be sure.
That is why it is better to consume regional or local seasonal fruit, and to keep a limit on tropical fruit coming from very far away.

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Picture of a tofu marinade and its ingredients

Three tofu marinades

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Yoga Kitchen – Simple, healthy, and plant-based

It’s the marinades that make the tofu

Plain, white tofu has virtually no flavour. You can see that as a drawback, or as a positive. Because it allows you to add any flavour to this healthy supplier of plant protein. Moreover, it allows you to add structure to your cooking habits.
If you set aside half an hour at the weekend to dice a large block of white, firm tofu and make a few different marinades, you’ll immediately be set for the week.
Here are three examples of marinades. Besides, there is no brake on your creativity and you can replace these marinades with your own favourite combinations.

Oriental style marinade with peanut butter and sesame oil

This sweet and spicy marinade is excellent with rice or noodle dishes, accompanied by grilled and steamed vegetables.
Ingredients:

  • 200 g firm white tofu
  • 2 tablespoons of peanut butter
  • one tablespoon of soy sauce (tamari or shoyu)
  • 1 tablespoon of vinegar (e.g. apple cider vinegar)
  • 2 tablespoons maple, rice or agave syrup
  • Two tablespoons of sesame oil
  • 2 finely chopped garlic cloves
  • A good chunk of ginger, grated or very finely chopped

Greek style marinade with olive oil and lemon

This fresh and sour marinade is ideally suited as a substitute for feta cheese in salads, but is also very tasty slightly warmed up.
Ingredients:

  • 200 g firm white tofu
  • 2 tablespoons of nutritional or noble yeast flakes
  • Two tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon of dried oregano
  • 3 tablespoons of olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Spicy Mexican style marinade with chilli and paprika

A pungent, spicy marinade for lovers of spicy Mexican flavours. Ideally to use in wraps, with beans, vegetables and, for example, slices of fresh avocado. These are best eaten hot, by briefly frying the tofu with the marinade in a pan.
Ingredients:

  • 200 g firm white tofu
  • 3 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon plain white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder or two finely chopped or pressed cloves of garlic
  • sea salt to taste
  • 1 teaspoon paprika powder
  • 1 teaspoon of oregano

This is how to proceed:

Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and stir in the cubed white tofu. Transfer the marinated tofu into glass jars, for instance with a span seal. This marinated tofu will keep for 1 week in the fridge.

Nutritional info: white firm tofu from the brand The Hobbit, per 100g product.

This gives a good indication of the nutritional values for firm tofu. Tofu from other manufacturers may of course differ from these exact values.

Energy Carbohydrates Sugars Fat Sat. Fat Protein Fibre Salt
503 kJ/120 kcal 2,1 g 0,5 g 6,1 g 1,0 g 13,5 g 1,4 g 0 g

Is fermented tofu better than regular tofu?

Fermented tofu looks like ordinary tofu but has undergone a fermentation process. As a result, the flavour is slightly acid. Two advantages:

  • the tofu is slightly more digestible
  • this tofu has a more distinct flavour

In fermentation processes, bacteria grow and produce acids and enzymes. The enzymes trigger the digestion process, the acids provide stability and favourable acidity for the digestion process.
Fermented tofu is ideally suited for cold preparations with tofu, for example as an alternative to animal feta cheese. Great solution if you are vegan yourself or are visiting a friend or relative who does not eat dairy products.

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Picture of cocoa penut butter biscuits

Cocoa peanut butter cookies

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Yoga Kitchen – Simple, healthy, and plant-based

A quick and easy cocoa treat

Biscuits with peanut butter as an ingredient can be found here and there on the internet. I chose this recipe because, except for the sugar present in the (optional) dark chocolate granules, no other sugar is added. It is the banana that provides natural and mineral-rich sweetness. At the same time, the bananas give the soft, cohesive and springy texture to these soft biscuits. This is an example of how bananas can be the perfect egg replacements in sweet recipes.

The ingredients for approx 10 pieces:

  • 220 g peanut butter
  • 280 g ripe, mashed bananas
  • about two and a half tablespoons of oat flakes
  • about 35 g unsweetened cocoa powder
  • a pinch of salt
  • optional: two tablespoons of dark chocolate granules or drops

This is how to prepare them:

  • Grind the oat flakes into flour in your blender or food processor.
  • Mix the oat flakes and cocoa powder well.
  • Mix the mashed banana and peanut butter in a food processor until they form a homogeneous mixture.
  • Add the dry mixture to the liquid mixture and mix well.
  • Finally, spoon the chocolate drops through the mixture.
  • Set the mixture in the fridge for an hour and a half to stiffen.
  • Spoon out the batter one spoon at a time and finally roll 10 balls of the biscuit dough between your fingers.
  • Place the balls on a sheet of baking paper with enough space in between.
  • You may want to flatten the balls a bit with the back of a spoon.
  • Bake for a maximum of 10 to 15 minutes (depending on your oven) in a preheated oven of 165°C.
  • Let the biscuits cool on a wire rack before eating them.

When I first tried this recipe, I was very sceptical when I saw the sticky batter.
Dirty fingers guaranteed! But the result paid off. Soft, springy biscuits with a deep, dark chocolate flavour.
Yet another vegan treat that doesn’t take much time. One hundred per cent vegan baking fun with respect for all creatures of life.

This recipe is a personal interpretation of a recipe from the cookbook “Secrets d’endurance” by Christophe Berg. Highly recommended for anyone who values health. Especially endurance athletes will find themselves appealed by the many inspiring recipes, all with few, but varied and healthy plant-based ingredients. The booklet (in French), by the way, is published by that great publisher La Plage, which has lots of vegan titles in its range.

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Picture of red beet root smoothie in a glass

Heartwarmingly raw

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Yoga Kitchen – Simple, healthy, and plant-based

A warming and invigorating smoothie

Some people enter the new year with a headache, indigestion and a hangover.
I chose to enter the freshly new year on January 1st 2023 already very sober and healthy. In the name of my decades-old habit of eating as healthy as possible, I prepared this wonderfully simple raw smoothie with a generous add-on of fresh ginger. And I then slowly spooned it out, savouring each and every bite. And immediately the tone was set!

This is what you need:

The quantities below are meant for one serving.

  • A juicy, ripe pear. The juicier, the better.
  • One quarter of a big raw red beetroot.
  • The juice of half a lemon.
  • Approximately half a centimetre of a toe of fresh ginger.

Picture of a pear, beet root, lemon and ginger

Ready in the blink of an eye

  • Peel the pear, remove the seeds and core and cut into pieces.
  • Wash the piece of beetroot thoroughly. You can also peel the beetroot thinly if necessary. Next, cut it into pieces.
  • Press the lemon to extract the juice.
  • Remove the peel from piece of ginger.
  • Bring everything into the cup of a strong blender and blend until you get a homogeneous texture.

Done! Pour into a large glass or bowl and enjoy it, slowly and mindfully.

More than just macro and micronutrients

Raw fruits and vegetables are foods with low energy density and high density of nutrients such as minerals, vitamins and all kinds of secondary plant substances.
We in the West have a tendency to stare ourselves completely blind at the chemical composition of food products. Food certainly and surely acts on our bodies in a much more sophisticated and subtle way than you can tell just from the amount of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals and vitamins alone. Other, older food teachings do take into account these subtle effects, which can affect our organs and our whole body system very differently. I am referring here especially to Ayurveda, traditional Chinese nutrition and macrobiotics.
For example, red beetroot is said to have a strengthening effect on the heart and a relaxing effect on the liver. It improves blood quality.
The pear belongs to foods of a sweet-sour earth-wood type. It stimulates blood circulation and has a moistening effect, including on the lungs and throat.
Fresh ginger root is strongly warming, helping us in winter to ward off the cold.
And finally, the strongly sour-tasting lemon juice not only provides precious vitamin C, but also has a cooling effect.
Pictore of red beet root smoothie with garnish

Does modern science contradict traditional nutritional teachings?

Each of the traditional dietary teachings does have its incomprehensible, probably historically and culturally determined, sometimes somewhat warped taboos. For instance, eating raw vegetables is strongly discouraged in Ayurveda. With what we know today about the thermal sensitivity of vitamins and other secondary plant substances, this taboo appears a bit incomprehensible. However, we don’t have to dismiss everything just like that. It is better to look at what findings contemporary nutritional science comes to and whether they can also be compatible with ancient wisdom. Modern food science has the merit of unravelling the material chemical, biochemical and bacteriological phenomena of digestion and absorption and providing keys to optimise them.
The findings of traditional dietary teachings often look at food through an energetic lens. This way, they consider its direct effects on fluid and heat balance of the body. They provide surprising insights and tools to promote the proper functioning of our bodies throughout the seasons in a way that modern science sometimes overlooks.

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