Espargos com molho vinaigrette à l’oeuf (adaptado do livro “French Provincial Cooking”)
Coza ao vapor meio molho de espargos verdes. Pique muito bem uma chalota ou um pedaço de cebola juntamente com uma colher de sopa de salsa. Junte 3 colheres de sopa de azeite, umas gotas de sumo de limão e tempere com sal e pimenta. Coza um ovo por 3 minutos, retire a gema e junte ao molho. Pique a clara do ovo e junte ao molho. Sirva sobre os espargos.
As the weather warms up, my food cools down. This seems to happen every single year without my even noticing. A couple weeks ago while blending up a green smoothie, I realized that the seasons must be shifting because my body is suddenly asking for different foods.
Besides frosty drinks and fresh fruit, I have been getting back into Bircher muesli, or as it is also known, overnight oats. This is a perfect summertime breakfast – light, raw, and refreshing, yet filling at the same time. If you like a warm bowl of oatmeal porridge in the colder months, I think Bircher muesli will be right up your alley for this time of year. And if you’re a particularly busy person, you’ll also fall in love with the incredibly simple prep that leaves you all that extra time in the morning for eating instead of fussing about in the kitchen (or an extra hit of the snooze button).
Bircher muesli was invented in Switzerland by a physician named Maximilian Bircher-Benner. Bircher-Benner had this ‘crazy idea’ of feeding convalescing patients raw vegetables and fruits, nuts and whole grains as a means to heal them – a practice contrary to many of the beliefs held at the end of the 19th century. Inspired by observing the simple, healthy life of Swiss shepherds, he also believed that people are most balanced living in harmony with nature. What a nut job.
Okay, enough sarcasm. I genuinely love this breakfast because it is so easy, so satisfying and so very, very good for you. Quite simply, Bircher muesli involves soaking oats in a liquid (milk, water, yogurt), placing them in the fridge overnight, and eating them in the morning. If you like eating raw foods for breakfast, but do not always feel “full” after, this is the perfect meal to try because it satiates with high-quality carbohydrates and plenty of whole grain fiber. You can dress overnight oats up however you like with nuts, seeds, coconut, fresh fruit, superfoods, jam, honey, maple syrup, yogurt etc. For this recipe I made a raw strawberry sauce that is similar to a jam, but without any processed sugar. I usually add this to the oats in the morning, but if I know that I have to get up and go first thing, I will layer it all in a jar the night before and take with me on the run. So convenient and delicious! If you are kind of person that doesn’t like to eat as soon as you wake up, this is a perfect solution too. Take the container of soaked oats to work and wait until you’re really hungry to enjoy – this is the healthiest thing to do anyway, as we should never eat before our body gives us true hunger signals. Get on the soaking grains train!
If you’ve been a reader of My New Roots for a while, you’ll be familiar with my enthusiasm for soaking nuts, seeds, legumes, and grains before eating them (you can read more about that here and here). Bircher muesli of course takes advantage of this process, which aids greatly in digestion and the absorption of vitamins and minerals. Here is an excerpt from Nourishing Traditions about soaking grains, written by one of my favorite authors and experts on traditional foods, Sally Fallon: All grains contain phytic acid (an organic acid in which phosphorous is bound) in the outer layer or bran. Untreated phytic acid can combine with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron especially zinc in the intestinal track and block their absorption. This is why a diet high in unfermented whole grains may led to serious mineral deficiencies and bone loss. The modern misguided practice of consuming large amounts of unprocessed bran often improves colon transit time at first but may lead to irritable bowel syndrome and, in the long term, many other adverse effects. Soaking allows enzymes, lactobacilli and other helpful organisms to break down and neutralize phytic acid. As little as seven hours of soaking in acidulated water will neutralize a large portion of phytic acid in grains. The simple practice of soaking cracked or rolled cereal grains overnight will vastly improve their nutritional benefits.
There are many variations on Bircher muesli, or overnight oats, but I will give you my simple version. Feel free to play with the recipe to achieve a final product that works for you. I really like adding chia seeds to the oats before soaking because they absorb so much of the liquid and create a lovely, pudding-like consistency. Chia also boosts the nutritional value of the breakfast bowl with Omega-3 essential fats, protein, antioxidants, extra fiber, as well as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, molybdenum, niacin, and zinc.
This is one of the most versatile and satisfying raw breakfasts I know of – definitely one to try for anyone who needs a lot of energy to get them through the morning all the way to lunchtime. Bircher Muesli Serves 1
Ingredients:
2/3 cup oats or any other whole, rolled grain
1 cup milk of your choice (I like Brazil nut, almond, or hemp) or water
a dash of freshly squeezed lemon juice (½ tsp.)
2 Tbsp. chia seeds
Directions:
1. Fold all ingredients together in a jar or bowl, place in the fridge overnight.
2. In the morning, remove muesli from the fridge and let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes if desired. Layer in more milk, yogurt, and the Spiced Strawberry Sauce with more fresh fruit. Enjoy.
I was most definitely moved to create a seasonal sauce for the Bircher muesli because although it is delicious on its own, it has a relatively neutral flavour that acts as a base for so much more! And seeing as the Danish strawberries are now available, I couldn’t help but use them. This sauce is insanely delicious. The sweetness of the berries explodes onto a background of warming spices, vanilla, and citrus. It is bright and bold, clean and complex – a truly addictive condiment. I made an entire batch and ended up “accidentally” eating all of it in one sitting because I could not put it down. Ahem. While sitting alone in my kitchen, silently plowing through this gorgeous creation, I came up with all sorts of other uses for it besides just eating it out of the jar. I know that Spiced Strawberry Sauce would get along famously with pancakes, yogurt, ice cream, and it would make an incredible filling for my Almond Butter and Jam Sandwich Cookies. Get creative or remain lazy – any way you eat it will be delicious. Spiced Strawberry Sauce Makes 6-8 servings
Ingredients:
1kg/2 pounds organic strawberries
zest of ½ organic orange
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
2 cardamom pods
1 star anise
1 black peppercorn (optional)
1 teeny pinch sea salt
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp. raw honey or agave
Directions:
1. Wash and cut the strawberries in half, or into quarters depending on their size. Place in a large jar or container. Add all other ingredients and using a muddler or a large spoon, smash the berries extracting their juices, but leaving some of the whole. Be sure to crush the whole spices too (you may want to use a mortar and pestle before placing them in the jar).
2. Cover with an airtight lid and place in the fridge to marinate (at least an hour). Keeps for a week. Serve with Bircher muesli, or on pancakes, yogurt, ice cream etc.
Seeing as there are so many versions of Bircher muesli out there, I would love to hear your suggestions on toppings and add-ins! What do you like to put in/on your overnight oats? Leave your suggestions in the comments section. Thanks!
- 4 chávenas de flocos de aveia
- 1 chávena de amêndoas com pele aos bocadinhos
- 1 chávena e meia de flocos de côco
- 1 colher de café de flor de sal
- 1/3 de chávena de mel (maple syrup ou agave)
- 4 colheres de sopa de óleo de coco (óleo de girassol, ghee [manteiga clarificada] ou manteiga) - sementes de girassol, abóbora, papoila e sésamo
Preparação:
Pré-aquecer o forno a 200°.
Colocar a aveia, as amêndoas, o coco e o sal numa taça e misturar bem. Levar ao lume o mel e a manteiga (foi o que usei) até aquecer um pouco. Verter este preparado sobre os flocos e misturar bem.
Forrar um tabuleiro com papel vegetal e distribuir a granola e levar ao forno, quando estiver ‘loura’ deve dar-se uma volta para que toste por igual. Vá verificando de vez em quando para que não queime..
You know those conversations you have with friends where you discuss, in all seriousness, that if you were animals which one you would be? Well, my buddies and I do this, but with vegetables. “You are so totally an artichoke!” “No, she’s an cucumber.” “Guys, I’m dating a turnip.” etc, etc.
Well, it has been widely agreed upon that I am a sweet potato. This pleases me a great deal. I could easily write an entire blog just about sweet potatoes. I am in fact so obsessed with them, that I find myself holding back from posting yet another sweet potato recipe for fear of boring you all to tears. But today I can’t help it.
For anyone who is as wild about this tuber as I am, you’ve undoubtedly tried making sweet potato fries. Have the results disappointed you? Yea, I think most people are pretty bummed that unless a deep fryer is involved, sweet potato fries simply don’t get as crispy as regular potato fries. This is just the way it is. But! I’ve come up with a way of getting the about as close to crispy as one ever could and I am wildly excited to share the recipe with you.
The secret to this recipe is not just about the ingredients, but the process. You can imagine I’ve tried just about everything to achieve the perfect baked fry so hear me out on the following steps.
One, size matters. By this I mean that the fries need to be the same thickness otherwise they will cook at different rates, and that they should be sliced somewhere in the 1cm (¼ – ½ inch) ballpark range. Two, rinse well. Although some recipes claim that soaking the fries for up to 8 hours has a profoundly positive effect on crispness, mine have always been worse after soaking. I do agree however, that rinsing the fries just after they’ve been cut does help. This step removes some of the starch from the vegetable and helps improve crispness while baking. It is also important after this step to dry the fries well. The more water you can remove from their exterior, the better. Three, these fries need their space. Much like mushrooms, if the sweet potatoes are too close together on the baking tray, they will steam each other. Steam equals soggy. No thanks.
The last little element that really makes these fries special, is of course cornmeal. The idea came to me recently after trying polenta fries and making the connection between the delightfully crisp texture around the edges, and the cornmeal from which they were made. I realized that by coating veggies in cornmeal before baking them may deliver the same effect. Ta-da! I was right.
I did go the arrowroot road (or as some of you may have tried, the cornstarch coating) but I think it’s better when you are deep-frying case, not baking. Plus, the lovely thing about the cornmeal, is that is simulates that blistered, fried-textured exterior without the hazards of eating oxidized fats. Yay! And it adds a lot of crispness that you couldn’t get from the sweet potato fry on its own. Passing on the Healing Vibes I recently found out something really cool about sweet potatoes, and that is the amazing properties of their “storage proteins”. Storage proteins are unique nitrogen sources that exist in most dry beans and tubers, generated mainly during seed production. Soybeans have glycinins, potatoes have patatins, yams have dioscorins, and corn has zeins.
Sweet potatoes contain storage proteins called sporamins, and recent studies have shown their important healing benefits. It turns out that when a sweet potato plant is subjected to physical damage, sporamins are produced to help the plant heal! Their ability to do this is significantly related to their role as antioxidants, which help prevent oxidative damage to our body’s cells. When sweet potato is being digested inside our gastrointestinal tract, we may get some of their antioxidant benefits. [1] This means that the healing properties sweet potato plants exhibit on their own cells is passed on to us when we munch them. Talk about a good sharer.
I paired the sweet potato fries with a tangy chermoula and yogurt dip. Chermoula is a marinade frequently used in Moroccan, Tunisian, and Algerian cooking. Typically, it is used to flavour fish, but I am all about it with vegetables.
Like many herb and spice blends from around the world there are a number of variations, but the base is traditionally made of parsley, cilantro, pickled lemon, garlic, cumin, olive oil, and salt. Obviously, this already floats my boat. Some versions, including mine, take it to the next level with saffron, ginger, and smoked paprika. I didn’t have any preserved lemon, so I used the zest and juice of a lemon instead. When all was said and done, this blend was ridiculously delicious and I have been slathering it on anything (bread, for instance).
I mixed the chermoula green goodness with goat yogurt for this recipe. I felt that the tang offset the sweetness of the fries in a really addictive way, plus it was easier for the chermoula to “stick” to the fries with the yogurt addition. If you are not into yogurt, try blending up the chermoula with a ripe avocado, or soaked cashews. In either of these instances, use a little more lemon to simulate the yogurt-y tang. You can also leave the chermoula as is.
Crispy Cornmeal Sweet Potato Fries with Chermoula Yogurt serves 3-4
Ingredients: 2 – 3 large sweet potatoes 2 Tbsp. melted coconut oil or ghee 4 Tbsp. cornmeal / polenta 1 tsp. sea salt (more to taste, if desired)
extra flavour options: garlic powder ground cumin smoked paprika cayenne black pepper dried parsley
Directions: 1. Scrub the sweet potatoes well under running water. Slice them into long sticks 1cm thick (between ¼” and ½”). Place them in a bowl of water, swish around a few times, then drain (this step helps remove some of the starch from the potato). Place potatoes on a clean tea towel and dry thoroughly. Let them air dry while you prepare everything else. 2. Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. On low heat, melt coconut oil or ghee in a small saucepan. Place cut potatoes in a plastic bag, seal and shake bag vigorously to coat (this process can also be done on a cookie sheet, drizzle the oil over and toss very well to coat). Add cornmeal and salt to the bag and toss well to coat. 3. Place fries on a lined baking sheet, making sure that they are not overlapping. Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden brown and crisp (in my experience, there was no need to flip them halfway through cooking). Chermoula Yogurt Dip
Ingredients: 1 large bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves and tender stems only 1 large bunch cilantro/coriander, leaves and tender stems only 3 cloves garlic 1 large hunk of ginger 1 tsp. hot smoked paprika 1 Tbsp. ground cumin ½ Tbsp. crushed coriander seeds zest and juice of 1 lemon pinch saffron threads
Up to 1 cup goat yogurt for blending (or yogurt of your choice, ripe avocado, soaked cashews)
Directions: 1. Blend all of the above ingredients to your desired consistency. Store in the fridge for 4-5 days. 2. Mix equal parts yogurt with the finished chermoula (e.g. ¼ cup yogurt + ¼ cup chermoula). I like to mix the chermoula with yogurt right before serving. The chermoula will last longer if kept separate from the yogurt.
I’d be nuts to end this post without reacting to the insane explosion-of-awesome from the last My New Roots recipe. I could seriously not believe the response that the Life-Changing Loaf of Bread got, so thank you for all of your enthusiasm, kind comments, tips and tricks! I also loved hearing how many of you actually made it and let me know how successful it was for you! That kind of feedback means the world to me, really. I hope you will all give this tasty recipe a go too. Crispy sweet potato fries; life-changing? How about life-improving? Whatever vegetable you are, just enjoy.
Heat oven to 325°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Combine cream, half-and-half, coffee beans, cardamom, and vanilla beans and seeds in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, about 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce heat to low and simmer until infused with coffee, cardamom, and vanilla flavor, about 30 minutes more. Strain cream mixture to remove coffee beans, cardamom, and vanilla and discard; set cream mixture aside to cool slightly.
Combine yolks, 1/2 cup of the sugar, and salt in a large bowl; whisk until sugar is dissolved and mixture is pale and thick, and leaves a trail when the whisk is lifted, about 2 minutes. Whisk in cocoa until just combined. Whisking constantly, gradually pour in cream in a slow, steady stream. Skim any foam or bubbles from surface.
Arrange 6 (2/3-cup) or 4(1 cup) ovenproof ramekins in roasting pan and evenly divide custard. Tap each ramekin a few times to break any bubbles that appear on the surface. Place roasting pan on oven rack and add enough warm water to come halfway up sides of ramekins or custard cups. Bake custards until just set in center, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer custards from water bath directly to refrigerator. Chill uncovered until cold, at least 2 hours.
When ready to finish, put 1 teaspoon of remaining sugar on each custard. Rotate ramekins to coat evenly. Using kitchen torch, melt sugar on each custard until deep amber. Let the caramel cool and harden and then serve immediately.
