A juicy treat with orange, turmeric and ginger
Today's post is dedicated to all my friends who have a cold - unfortunately, quite a few at the moment. I would love to have them all over to nurse them, so I decided to come up with a tasty and healthy juice, full of vitamins and powerful roots to give them a recipe that will strengthen them again!
My current favourite, the blood orange, is as important to this juice as freshly grated turmeric and ginger roots. Turmeric is a great helper when your body suffers from inflammations, be it in the throat, the ears or your tummy. This root has an important role in the Ayurveda philosophy and is assumed to have a big effect on our cells like ginger which is an antiseptic boost to the immune system.
If you feel well and strong - which I hope you all are - then you can just enjoy this wonderful juice and its spicy, fruity taste. And anyways, prevention is better than cure.
For 1 big glass of this powerful drink, you will need around 350ml of freshly squeezed orange juice (I used 6 of my blood oranges), 1/8 teaspoon of freshly grated turmeric root and 1/4 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger. I bought the turmeric in a small organic shop around the corner but you can find it in lots of Asian shops as well.
Drink it, enjoy, and get well soon!
My Pastrami, Turnip and Winter Purslane Sandwich
It's Wednesday again, time for another sandwich!
At the moment I am really hooked on roots so my sandwich today can't do without them. My choice is a German turnip called "Teltower Rübchen". It tastes similar to horseradish, just a bit softer. I also have some winter purslane (sometimes known as miner's lettuce), its flavor is quite mild and sits well with the turnip. I must admit that I chose the winter purslane because it looks really cute. The centre piece of this sandwich is Pastrami but I wouldn't dare calling it a "Pastrami Sandwich" as, traditionally, this sandwich is literally piled up with slices of meat which is too much for me. This is lighter, on ciabatta bread, with a bit of olive oil, crushed pepper - delicious.
A Sandwich with Pastrami, Turnip and Winter Purslane
For 2 people you need
a small loaf of ciabatta
Pastrami, 6-8 slices
Teltower Rübchen, thinly sliced (or horseradish, grated)
winter purslane, a handful (or rucola/ rocket, a few leaves)
olive oil
crushed peppercorns
Cut your bread and slice it in half. Drizzle some olive oil on the inside, line with the pastrami and put either the turnip slices or a bit of grated horseradish on top. Garnish with a few leaves of winter purslane or rucola and enjoy a big bite!
A Celebration of Roots, Garlicky Potatoes and Gingery Rutabaga
This meal celebrates roots in all their variety. On one side, mashed potatoes which are absolutely addictive, combined with garlic and lemon. The mash is fluffy, it is tasty and it is so good that you don't really need anything else with it but I want another root on the plate: rutabaga (also known as swede). This root gets spiced up with ginger as the two flavors combine perfectly.
Winter is the time for roots and I love to try out different variations otherwise I wouldn't be able to eat it for so many months. But there is so much you can do with it! You just have to be a bit brave and play around with it. The potato-garlic-lemon idea came up because we love mash potatoes (also in the very basic version) but I thought it would be nice to add some favors to make it more suitable for other, more extreme combinations like the gingery rutabaga for example. Together with garlic and lemon we can still have our mash on the plate even when there are more exotic roots involved!
Mashed Potatoes with Garlic and Lemon and Gingery Rutabaga
For two people you need
For the mash (the amounts are a rough guideline)
medium potatoes, cooked, 6
clove of garlic, crushed, 1
juice of half a lemon
olive oil, 2-3 tablespoons
butter, 30g / 1 ounce
milk, around 150-200ml
salt and pepper
Heat up all the ingredients in a pot on medium heat and mash. If the mixture becomes too dry add more milk, if it is too liquid let it cook a bit more. Season with salt and pepper.
For the rutabaga
small rutabaga, peeled, 1
ginger, grated, a thumbnail sized piece
olive oil for frying
white wine for deglazing
salt and pepper
Cut the rutabaga in very thin slices (about 2mm). Cut these slices in strips (1cm / 1/2") and cut these strips in 2-3cm / 1" pieces (see my first picture for the shape).
Heat up the oil in a pan, add the rutabaga and let it become golden. Add the ginger, fry for a minute and deglaze with the wine. Add salt and pepper and a splash of water if necessary (the liquid should come up to 2cm / 1"), close with a lid and let it cook on medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Check the rutabaga in between as it shouldn't get too soft and season with salt and pepper if necessary.