Sweet potato soup with toasted pumpkin seeds

This sweet potato soup screams autumn. I found it on the website of Sweet Paul and I only made minor changes: I added the choice of using coconut oil instead of olive oil, I used Greek yoghurt instead of heavy cream, and I added the ginger. I haven't tasted it with thyme twigs yet but I'm sure it adds a wonderful flavour. Happy Autumn!

SWEET POTATO SOUP WITH TOASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS

INGREDIENTS

• 1 onion
• 1 garlic clove
• optional: fresh ginger (about the size of a dice)
• 4 large sweet potatoes
• 3 large carrots
• 1½-2 tablespoons olive oil or coconut oil (2 in original recipe)
• 2 organic vegetable stock cubes (or chicken)
• 1 litre (4 cups) water
• 190 ml (¾ cup) Greek yoghurt (heavy cream in original recipe)
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground chilli
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• garnish: toasted pumpkin seeds and thyme twigs and Greek yoghurt (or heavy cream)

METHOD

1. Peel and chop the onion, sweet potatoes, carrots, and ginger
2. In a large saucepan, sauté them briefly the oil
3. Add the vegetable stock cubes and water and bring to the boil, then lower the heat to low-medium
4. Cook for around 25 minutes or until the vegetables are tender
5. Using a hand blender, purée the soup. Then add Greek yoghurt (or cream) to thicken it
6. Stir the soup and bring to the boil
7. Season with chilli and pepper. Add salt if required
8. Toast pumpkin seeds in a pan until lightly toasted
9. Serve soup in bowls garnished with pumpkin seeds, fresh thyme and a drizzle of Greek yoghurt (heavy cream)

Potato and spring onion quiche (veggie pie)

Maybe this recipe should be called potatoes with quiche on the side! There are a few potato lovers in this family that I had in mind when putting it together. In my quiche, you will not find 5 eggs and double cream in the filling, and there isn't a mountain of butter in the pastry, in fact, there is none. There is also no need to plastic wrap the dough or blind-bake the pastry with baking beads before adding the filling. Sounds good, right? If you have been using store-bought pastry so far it is time to say goodbye to those and make your own. It's way easier and simpler than you think. Not to mention healthier. If you like potatoes I hope you will enjoy this quiche; other versions will appear on the blog later.

POTATO AND SPRING ONION QUICHE (VEGGIE PIE)

INGREDIENTS

FILLING

• 4 large potatoes (ca. 600 g / 1.3 lbs), precooked for 20 minutes
• 2 eggs
• 250 g cottage cheese (about 1 cup)
• 2 teaspoons (organic) mustard
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley or thyme
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• 7 cm (2.7 inches) piece of the green part of a bunch of spring onions (scallions), sliced
• 2 large handfuls (ca. 60 g) salad blend (e.g. endive, radicchio, lettuce) or spinach
• Topping: 75-100 g (about ¾ cup) of your favourite cheese, grated, and some freshly grated parmesan

PASTRY

• 1¼ cup spelt flour
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 2½ tablespoons organic vegetable oil
• 4 tablespoons water

METHOD

1. Start with precooking the potatoes maybe one hour before preparing the quiche: Cook them for 20 minutes without a lid. Drain the water and allow the potatoes to cool
2. In a large bowl combine the eggs (you can lightly beat the eggs first if you prefer), cottage cheese, mustard, herbs, salt and the salad blend/spinach
3. Take your bunch of spring onions and cut a 7 cm (2.7 inches) piece of the green part. Slice rather finely and add to the bowl. Set the bowl aside while preparing the pastry
4. For the pastry: Sift the spelt flour and sea salt into another bowl. Add the oil and water and mix gently with a spatula. Use your hands to gently knead the mixture in the bowl to get a feel for the texture. If it crumbles then you need a bit more oil; if it's too oily just add some spelt flour. (If you need to add oil, just put a few drops in the palm of your hands and knead the mixture in your hands until the texture feels right)
5. On a light spelt-floured surface shape the dough into a ball and then roll it out until you have a circle with about 28 cm diameter (11 inches). Use just a touch of oil to grease a pie dish (24 cm / 9.5 inches) and line it with the pastry. Prick the base with a fork in a few places
6. Peel the potatoes, dice them and add them to the filling. Then pour the filling into the pastry shell, even out and top with the grated cheese
7. Bake at 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 for 50-55 minutes until the cheese turns golden brown
8. Let the quiche sit for about 5 minutes before serving

Mushroom salad

On Saturday I was in a magazine shop leafing through some issues and in the French food magazine Saveurs I came across a mushroom salad with such an appealing photo. I knew it wouldn't leave me alone so I decided to serve it with dinner that evening. I didn't understand every word in the recipe but I took a mental note of the ingredients and here you have my version of it (the proportion in the magazine was much larger as they used 1 kilo of mushrooms). Making the salad couldn't be simpler but keep in mind that the mushrooms need to marinate for two hours. I served the salad with grilled chicken and couscous for dinner and, as my husband phrased it, it was surprisingly delicious in its simplicity. I totally agree.

MUSHROOM SALAD

INGREDIENTS

• 300 g mushrooms (to save time you can use pre-sliced)
• 1½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• juice from about ⅓ of a lemon
• sea salt
• a handful of freshly chopped coriander

METHOD

1. Slice the mushrooms (or safe time and buy pre-sliced) and let them marinate in a large bowl with olive oil, lemon juice and some sea salt for two hours. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and if possible, stir occasionally
2. Before serving add the handful of chopped coriander