These days are slow and calm. It's good.

CARROT DATE BREAKFAST MUFFINS

(makes 12-16 muffins)

480ml almond flour
1 heap tsp cinnamon
1tsp salt
2tsp baking powder
240ml soft dried dates, pitted
3 ripe bananas
3 organic eggs
60ml coconut oil, melted
1stp apple cider vinegar
360ml carrots, grated
150ml almonds, chopped (plus some for garnish)


Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix dates, bananas, eggs, vinegar and oil in a food processor until fully combined and smooth.
Add the mixture to the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula. Fold in carrots and almonds. Spoon mixture into paper lined muffin tins and sprinkle chopped almonds on top. Bake in 175 celsius for 25 minutes (baking time might vary a little depending on the size of your muffins).

These muffins are perfect for breakfast or a snack as they have no sugar or white flour in them. (They're adapted a little from a paleo recipe.) They also freeze well. I've made these both with very fine almond flour and much coarser almond meal; fine flour makes the muffins quite dense whereas coarser meal makes them very moist and light. I reckon a blend of the two would be perfect! I've also sometimes replaced carrot with apple, works really well!

The Green Kitchen Project, recipe no.4

It's half a year and a day since Nora and I had last met. It's lovely to have her back in Helsinki and it was so good to catch up with her. (And it's been a while since I cooked anything on The Green Kitchen Project but now here we go!)

SWEET APRICOT & CAULIFLOWER DAL

1/2tbsp coriander seeds
1/2tsp mustard seeds
1/2tsp cardamom seeds
1/2tsp cloves
1/2tbsp curry powder
1/2tsp ground ginger
a pinch of chili powder
6 organic dried apricots, chopped in half
2-3tbsp coconut oil for frying (or ghee or olive oil)
1 small onion
2 garlic cloves
1 cauliflower
2 carrots
200g red lentils
750ml coconut milk
225ml water
200g fresh spinach
salt
(a large handful of coriander/cilantro)


Trust me, freshly ground spices make all the difference.

Grind the first four spices (I used ground cardamom) in a pestle and mortar. Add the rest of the spices and and apricots and mix with your fingers. Heat the oil in a large saucepan on medium heat. Add the spice blend and stir constantly. Fry until it smells fragrant and looks browned but be careful not to burn to spices. Add chopped onion and garlic and fry for a couple of minutes, stirring. Add the cauliflower and the carrots and stir until they are fully coated by the spices. Then add the lentils, coconut milk and water and stir well. Let simmer, covered, for 15-20 minutes or until the vegetables and lentils are cooked through. Season with salt to taste. Last stir the spinach in (and garnish with cilantro if you like).

My dal tasted delicate but didn't look very pretty. I let it cook a little too long so the lentils got all mushy and the cauliflowers a bit too soft. I also felt it could've had more spices, a little kick of something, a little more warmth - but now as I wrote the recipe here I realized I'd measured all the spices with a teaspoon so I was missing a whole lot of coriander and curry there! I'll fix that next time; I'm definitely making this again. I really liked the apricots but only really tasted them once. I used six and chopped them in small pieces; next time I'll throw in 10 or more and just chop them in half or quarters.


Soundtrack for the recipe: Weaver of dreams by Esperanza Spalding


To accompany the dal I had a go on a new recipe of pan rolls (that Pete made for us in Berlin). They turned out soft and moist and perfectly delicious!

PAN ROLLS

(makes 8-10)

200ml turkish yoghurt
50ml water
11 g dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1tsp salt
1 egg
3tbsp olive oil
600ml flour (I used half wheat, half fine spelt)


Mix yoghurt and water and warm till 42 decrees. Add the rest of the ingredients mixing after each one. Add flours in parts and mix them in with your hands. (The dough will be very soft.) Cover with a kitchen towel and leave to rise for about a half an hour or until the dough is double in size. Form small rolls (15mm thick) using flour. Pour olive oil on a plate and dip both sides of the rolls in it. Fry the rolls on medium heat on a dry pan, a few minutes on both sides. (If you're using spelt flour, note that it burns easily!)

I tried out carrot cupcakes yesterday for a night at Helena's and they were so good I made them today as well for girls at work.

CARROT CUPCAKES

(makes 12)

250ml flour (I've been using different combos of almond, rice and spelt flour, you could also just use plain wheat flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1,5tsp cinnamon
a good pinch of ground cardamom
a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
a pinch of ground ginger
0,5tsp salt
200ml raw cane sugar
180ml oil
3-4 carrots
2 organic eggs (room temperature)

120g cream cheese
100ml powdered sugar
25g melted butter
organic almonds/hazelnuts for garnish


Mix the dry ingredients. Grate the carrots and mix them and the oil and the eggs with a spatula and add the mixture to the dry ingredients. Place paper muffin tins in a muffin tray and divide the batter into them. Bake in 175 celsius for about 10-15 minutes. Let cool complelety on wire racks. Make the frosting by mixing together cream cheese, sugar and butter until creamy. Cover completely cooled cupcakes with the frosting and sprinkle chopped almonds on top. Keep the cupcakes covered in the fridge overnight before serving; they'll taste a lot more and better the day after.

(You can also make a cake with the same recipe; just pour the dough into a lined or greased tin (diameter about 24cm) and bake for about 15-20 minutes, just until a toothpick comes out clean.)


(photo by Helena Mackey)