Category: Healthy Recipes

We begin the last quarter of the year with a new menu, which brings all the flavour of an autumn meal. Sit in our dining room or backyard if the weather allows and enjoy a delicious artichoke soup accompanied by our baked seed crackers. If you have more space, you can order our already classic lemony lentil curry!

Take a look in our Today's menu section, where you will find not only our homemade main courses but also our variety of desserts and snacks. Our kitchen is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Wednesday to Saturday. Sunday until 6 p.m!

You are very far from our store but would you like to try our menu? Find us at Thuisbezorgd, we deliver throughout Amsterdam. 🚲

When you think you have tasted everything in terms of vegan cheeses you discover The Nourishing Garden and say to yourself: “Where have they been all this time?”

The founder and creator of this lovely artisan cheese factory is Mariluz, a passionate chef who is also interested in meditation, spirituality and leading a healthier lifestyle. 

When approaching the raw vegan world, she noticed that there were a lot of sweet bites but very few savory options. There was a need to fill! After experimenting with different ingredients and fermentation methods, Mariluz hit the spot! Thanks to his creativity, dedication and perseverance, today you can enjoy a wide range of vegan cheeses made entirely by hand and available in our store.

From mozzarella cheese balls, through the exquisite chèvre and the impressive pizza cheese (it really melts!) to her latest creation: feta cheese!

But The Nourishing Garden lives not only on cheeses: we also have available her water kefir in two flavours: hibiscus and natural.

Come to our store and ask for a taste! In the meantime, find out more about The Nourishing Garden and Mariluz in this interesting interview done by Flavors From The Earth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUJdMRUC6ak

Many people have asked at the store how to use the soy chunks we sell. Say no more! Here you have an easy recipe that will surprise everyone, vegan or not!

This recipe was planned for 3 to 4 portions.

Ingredients:

• 1-2 onions
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 carrots
• 1 parsnip
• 250 g small soy chunks
• 50 g tomato puree
• 2 cans crushed tomatoes
• Spices: paprika, garlic, onion, cumin, basil, thyme, chili flakes, black pepper and salt
• Olive oil
• Homemade ketchup

Start by mincing the onion and garlic. The carrots and parsnip can be grated, but personally I use a small food processor to mince them and save time.

In a pot, heat up the olive oil and fry the onions for about 5 minutes until they soften and get some light brown color. 

Add in the garlic, minced carrots and parsnip. Keep frying until the rest of the vegetables have soften and get some color. Next, add in all the spices you are using, mix around and also add in the pot the soy mince. Here is a tip: there is no need to soak the soy mince; this way the soy really sucks up the flavors and spices and stays crispier. 

Add in the puree and crushed tomatoes. Rinse the cans with water and add it in to the pot. I like to add a generous amount of homemade ketchup to tomato based sauces for the acid it needs and everyone usually has some ketchup at hand. If you don’t have ketchup use apple cider vinegar, wine or lemon juice instead.

Let the sauce simmer on low heat for up to an hour, half an hour minimum and taste. 

Serve with some cooked spaghetti, fresh basil and vegan parmesan.

Surprise your diners with this appetizer of asparagus with hot tomato vinaigrette that we bring you this month. A very easy recipe to make that will give a fine touch to your starter.

This recipe is for 2 to 3 people. You only need very basic ingredients:

• 6 to 8 asparagus
• 1 sweet or shallot onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 tomatoes
• bunch of basil, parsley or your favourite fresh / dried herb
• 2 tablespoon of olive oil
• 2 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon of coconut sugar
• black pepper
• lemon juice
• salt

Start by peeling the asparagus carefully, making sure to remove the first layer completely. Then, cut the last 3 cms. of the stem away, as it is usually too hard to cook. Reserve for later.

Chop the onions along with the garlic in small cubes and add them in a small pot with the two tablespoon of olive oil. Stir everything over low heat and leave it for about 5 minutes or until the onion is soft. Add salt and black pepper to taste while increasing cooking to medium heat. Next, add the apple cider vinegar, coconut sugar, chopped tomatoes and stir for a few seconds, letting the mixture to boil a bit for a couple of minutes. You can add a bit of water if it looks too thick. Let it boil slowly for extra few minutes. Finally, add the herbs, a pinch of lemon juice and turn the heat off.

You can adjust the level of sourness or sweetness by adding apple cider vinegar or coconut sugar to taste.

Let's jump to the asparagus! Very easy: just put them to boil for 3 minutes, adding at least 6 teaspoon of salt to the water to let the asparagus absorb as much as possible.  The asparagus must be crunchy so be careful to not over boil them.

Finally, serve and decorate as you wish. We suggest accompanying this entry with a refreshing Chardonnay, totally ad-hoc for summer evenings!