Chocolate smoothie

This is actually an undercover green smoothie, but the addition of cocoa powder obviously makes it brown; and even better...makes it taste like liquid chocolate. Does it get any better? I think not :)
I prefer to pour my smoothie in a bowl with loads of toppings, but you can of course just drink it. Up to you.

I use a high powered blender for my smoothies. You need a quite powerful machine to blend the frozen ingredients, and get it completely smooth.

What you need:
- 400 ml plain plant milk
- 100 grams frozen, shelled edamame
- 150 grams frozen spinach
- 2 frozen bananas
- pure cocoa powder to taste (I'd say 2-4 tbsp)
- ½ tsp vanilla bean powder

Optional:
- 1 tsp lucuma powder
- 1 tsp maca powder


- Pour some boiling water over the frozen edamame, and set aside while you prepare the rest.

- Everything else just goes into a blender.

- Drain the edamame, and rinse under cold water to cool them back down. Then add to the blender.

- Now blend away. You might need to add a little more milk, if the blender struggles.

- Drink, or make a smoothie bowl with loads of toppings: fresh fruits, fresh berries, granola, hemp hearts, cocoa nibs etc etc.

Check out the recipe for my favorite green smoothie. Find it HERE.

Breakfast brownies

Should you be eating brownies for breakfast? Probably not :)
But if there was a recipe that was healthy and nutritious enough, why wouldn't you? This is that recipe :)

Loaded with sweet potato and oats, this is a healthy treat for any time of the day.

These are dense and soft. Just the way I like them. I hope you will too :)

What you need:
- 500 grams sweet potato
- 100 grams oats - ground into flour (use gluten free if needed)
- 30 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
- 50 grams coconut sugar (or your sugar of choice)
- 1 tbsp flax seed flour/meal
- ½ cup (120 ml.) plain plant milk (I prefer soy)
- ½ tsp pure vanilla powder
- a pinch of salt
- optional: a pinch of cinnamon


- Peel the sweet potato, dice it and then steam it until tender. Steam, not boil. I just do it in the microwave, but do it however you like.

- Grind your oats into flour. A bullet style blender works great for this, but a regular blender works just fine. You can also do small batches at a time in an electric coffee grinder.

- Mix the oat flour with the rest of the dry ingredients.

- When the sweet potato is tender, blend it with the milk into a smooth puree. I just do it in a bowl with a stick blender.

- Now add the puree to the bowl with the dry ingredients, and start mashing it all together. I find it easiest to use a flexible, silicone spatula for this.

- Then add to a 20 x 20 cm baking tin lined with baking/parchment paper. (This dough/batter is very firm and won't spread, so if you don't have a baking tin in the correct size, just spread it out to about 20 x 20 cm in a bigger tin. No problem)

- Bake for 35 minutes at 175 degrees celsius with the fan setting on.

- Now carefully slide the cake with the paper onto a cooling rack. It will look, and feel like it's way too soft, but this is how it's supposed to be. After 15-20 minutes it should be firm enough for you the remove the paper, so it can cool a little faster.

- Let cool completely before cutting, and eating.


I think these brownies are better with a little sweet something on top. You can grate a little chocolate onto them right when they come out of the oven. It will melt, and you don't need much this way.

Or, in keeping with the breakfast theme, how about mashing a banana, and mixing it with cocoa powder or peanut butter, and using that as a 'frosting'

Or use frozen bananas to make nice cream, for a decadent brownies and ice cream breakfast......or dessert :)

I hope you will give my healthier brownies a try. Let me know if you like them :)

Snickers bites

This is a recipe I'm bringing over from my old blog. It's crazy easy, and crazy delicious.

Snickers was always my favorite candy bar, and these little bites totally satisfy that snickers craving :)

What you need: (makes about 14 bites)
- 75 grams softened coconut butter (not coconut oil)
- 75 grams date syrup, or coconut blossom nectar/syrup
- 50 grams salted peanuts
- a good pinch of vanilla bean powder (optional)

- 80-100 grams melted chocolate

Optional topping: chopped peanuts or sea salt.

- Stir the softened coconut butter, syrup and vanilla (if using) together. It will start forming a semi firm ball. That's ok.

- Roughly chop the peanuts, and mix them in.

- If you'd rather roll into balls or maybe make more of a bar, you can put the mixture in the fridge for a bit to firm up, and make it easier to work with.
I just divided the mixture into mini silicone muffin molds right away.

- Once you've shaped or divided your mixture, put it in the freezer for 30 minutes.

- Then coat with melted chocolate, and sprinkle with chopped peanuts or sea salt if desired.

- Put back in the fridge to set the chocolate.

Store these in the fridge. For a chewier texture store in the freezer, and take them out 2 minutes before eating :)

Hummus soup

Hummus is a vegans best friend. Am I right? :)

The other day I came across a recipe for chickpea curry soup. The minute I saw chickpea soup my brain instantly went to hummus. And then I thought.....hummus soup?
So off to the kitchen I went to experiment. And what an experiment it was. This is gonna be a staple in my kitchen from now on. Hopefully in yours as well :)

What you need: (1 big serving)
- 1 small onion
- 1-2 cloves of garlic
- ½ tsp ground cumin (if you really like cumin, feel free to add more)
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- 1½ cups (360 ml) vegetable stock (maybe a little more at the end)
- 1 can chickpeas
- 1 tbsp tahini
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- salt
- pepper
- pinch of chili (optional)



- Chop the onion and sauté in a pot with a little oil (for oil free use water. You know the drill)
- After about 5 minutes of cooking, add chopped garlic, cumin, coriander, and chili if using.
- Stir for about a minute, to warm the spices through.

- Add the stock, the drained and rinsed chickpeas, and a pinch of pepper.
- Cover with a lid, bring to the boil, turn the heat down and let it simmer away for about 15 minutes.

- Now carefully transfer everything to a blender.
- Add tahini and lemon juice.
- Put the lid on the blender, but remove the little cap in the middle (to let steam escape) and cover the hole with a kitchen towel.
- Start the blender on low, and slowly increase the speed.
- Blend away till completely smooth.
- If you think the soup is too thick, just adjust with a little more stock.

- Adjust to taste with salt (stock is often really salty, so you may not need much)
- Add more lemon juice if needed.


Serve with whatever you like: fresh diced tomato (my personal favorite), fresh parsley, sun dried tomatoes, cauliflower rice, cous cous, bread, pita bread chips. The list goes on :)

If you wanna get an extra serving of greens, then throw a handful of fresh spinach in the blender. That's what I did on the picture above :)

Green smoothie

Who doesn't love a green smoothie? Well, for a long time I didn't. I just couldn't find the combination of fruits and greens, that was just right for my taste buds.
I did succeed in the end though, hallelujah :)

So I want to share my recipe with you, and hopefully your taste buds will like it too :)

I prefer to pour my smoothie in a bowl with loads of toppings, but you can of course just drink it. Up too you.

I use a high powered blender for my smoothies. You need a quite powerful machine to blend the frozen ingredients, and get it completely smooth.

What you need: (this is a big portion)
- 300 ml. water (coconut water is also delicious)
- 2 kiwi fruits, peeled
- 1 orange, peeled
- 100 grams frozen, shelled edamame
- 225 grams frozen spinach
- ½ frozen banana (or ½ avocado)
- a piece of fresh ginger (as much or as little as you like)
- 1 tsp licorice powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp vanilla bean powder

- Pour some boiling water over the frozen edamame, and set aside while you prepare the rest.

- Everything else just goes into a blender.

- Drain the edamame, and rinse under cold water to cool them back down. Then add to the blender.

- Now blend away. You might need to add a little more water, if the blender struggles. You know the drill, I'm sure :)

- Drink, or make a smoothie bowl with loads of toppings: fresh fruits, fresh berries, granola, hemp hearts etc etc.


If you have leftover smoothie, try adding some chia seeds, and refrigiate. Then you have a quick, healthy snack for later, or even for breakfast the next day. Eat it as is, or pimp it up, as I like to do :)

Sweet pumpkin soup

 My first recipe on this blog, is actually a recipe I posted on my old blog as well. But since it happens to be vegan, and really yummy, I thought I'd bring it with me over here :)
And since pumpkin season is just around the corner, I thought it appropriate to start off with this wonderful soup.
I'll be eating this over and over again till pumpkin season is over :)


This sweet pumpkin soup makes a very nice breakfast. Perhaps a welcome change, or alternative to porridge. Also very nice as dessert:)

What you need:
- 500 grams of sweet pumpkin (kabocha squash is excellent here)
- 150 ml. coconut milk
- 150 ml. water
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla powder (or equivalent vanilla paste, bean etc.)
- 1-3 tbsp. sweetener of choice (coconut sugar, maple syrup etc.)
- pinch of salt
- juice of 1 lemon

Toppings:
Whatever you like. Granola, chopped nuts, diced apple are all great additions.

If you want to add more bite and substance to the soup without using nuts and fruits, then try adding some steamed cauliflower rice when serving :)


- To a pot add the coconut milk, water, vanilla, sweetener and salt. Bring to a simmer.

- While that heats up, chop the pumpkin into smaller pieces (remove the seeds), and blitz in a foodprocessor into rice sized pieces. (This will just make the pumpkin cook tender faster)
There's no need to peel the pumpkin. The peel will go soft and tender when cooked. (obviously use organic if eating the peel)

- Add pumpkin to the pot. Cover with a lid and let everything simmer till the pumpkin is tender, stirring occasionally. Should take about 10-15 minutes.

- Blend everything to a smooth soup. I just use a stick blender straight in the pot.
- Add lemon juice, and blend again.

- Adjust the soup with more vanilla and sweetener if necessary.

- Serve as is, or with your toppings of choice. A little cinnamon, or pumpkin spice mix, is also a very nice addition :)