Falafel with Tahini Sauce

Recipe:
1 cup chickpeas, cooked and drained

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons flour


In a food processor combine all ingredients until you get a thick paste. Form the mixture into small balls. Fry in deep oil on each side. Serve with salads, pita bread and tahini sauce.


Tahini sauce
Recipe:
1/3 cup yogurt
1/3 cup tahini
2/3 tsp cumin
1/3 tsp salt
1 lemon juice
Minced garlic


Mix well all ingredients.

Corn Cake with Broccoli and Cheese

Recipe:
2 cups yogurt
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup cornmeal
½ tsp soda
½ tsp salt


Topping
2 cups broccoli florettes
1 cup grated cheese (cheddar)


2 tbls butter (for greasing a skillet)


Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and add them to wet ingredients. Mix well.


Melt butter in a 12-inch cast iron skillet. Pour in the batter. Arrange broccoli florettes over the batter and sprinkle the cheese on top. Bake it for about 45 minutes. Serve it warm, sliced into wedges.

Home-made Tortillas

Recipe:
2 cups flour (white, whole wheat or corn flour)
1 tbls butter or oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
½ to ¾ (120 ml to 180 ml) warm water


In mixing bowl stir together dry ingredients. Add butter, ½ cup of water and mix by hand until the dough can be gathered into a ball, add more water only if needed (up to ¾ cup). Let it rest for 15 – 30 minutes.


Divide dough into 12 balls. On a floured surface roll each ball in a round. Cook in an ungreased skillet over medium heat from both sides. Put each finished tortilla on a plate and cover with wet kitchen towel. When you finished cooking, leave tortillas to rest under wet towel which will make them more flexible. When they are completely cool transfer them into the freezer bag and freeze. When you need to use tortillas take the desired amount and let them warm up for 15 minutes at the room temperature.

Useful tip: make double or triple amount, you will find them disappearing quickly from your freezer. Also, tortilla wraps are one of the easiest and quickest meals you can prepare and without food additives that are found in store bought tortillas, you can safely enjoy them! This recipe is from “A Matter of taste” cookbook by The Committee of American Women’s Club of Luxembourg with my addition of wet cloth to prevent dryness and cracking of tortillas.

Jamaican Sweet Potato Cake

Olive oil, sweet potato and oats to create one of the most delicious cakes you ever had? Yes, you have to try this recipe. There are many recipes and varieties of Jamaican Sweet Potato Cake but this version is so healthy and nutritious that you can serve it for your breakfast. I found several recipes on the internet but  I substituted or changed almost every ingredient of the original recipe to make it lighter and more nutritious – flour for oats, butter for olive oil etc. If you like carrot cake you will love this cake.

Recipe:
2 cups quick oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup olive oil
2 eggs
1 cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup honey
1 cup peeled and grated sweet potato (about one small to medium sweet potato)
1 cup grated coconut
1 teaspoon finely grated ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup milk (or soy milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Topping:
¼ cup grated coconut
¼ cup brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tbls olive oil


PREPARATION:
Mix wet batter ingredients and add them to dry ingredients. Mix well with electric mixer.
Combine all the ingredients for topping in a small bowl.
Spoon the batter into greased and floured cake pan.
Sprinkle the cake with topping, preferably with fingers, evenly. Bake at 350 F for about an hour. This cake is quite thick and sticky in consistency, so knife or toothpick inserted in center does not have to come out clean. While backing, you will feel pretty strong olive oil fumes but do not worry; it will fade away and will be unnoticeable once the cake is baked.
Serve warm or cold. For breakfast, serve it with a glass of soy milk.