This is a simple and satisfying side order to go with some smoked salmon or maybe organic chicken. In my mind (and in my mouth to be exact) this tastes like pizza so it does makes me happy… In a way that no pizza would do. Anyway, I’m too coward to promise you a definate pizza experience but even as what it is - veggies seasoned with oregano - it’s delicious. Nothing too fancy but oh so satiating. Eggplant works the best sucking all the flavours in!

Pizza Vegetariana

• half of an large eggplant
• half of an large zucchini
• 2 carrots
• 2 dl pureed tomato (or crushed tomato) in a can
• 2-3 Tbs nutritional yeast
• dried oregano
• butter, salt, water

Chop the veggies into generous bites, carrots more thinly. Fry the veggies in a heavy amount of butter on a large skillet. Add the canned tomato and a little water. Season with oregano, salt and nutritional yest. Let it cook up until it’s more like a stew than a sauce and so that the tomato loses its bitterness. There you go. Uno Pizza Vegetariana, por favor.

Love at first sight! That’s what it was when I laid my eyes on this recipe just a few brief days ago in Thee Finnish Food Blog, Pastanjauhantaa. The recipe originated from a Finnish glossy food magazine Glorian Ruoka and included a whole HALF a decilitre of sugar. A genuine paleo monkey such as myself of course arrogantly sweeps away even the thought of adding sugar in food and so I just skipped that one ingredient, whistling like Piglet. Still, the result blew me away. As well as the rest of the eaters. Oh yes, this one’s a keeper.

Indeed it’s not the best quality paleo salad there is since it includes a whole lotta mayo but you gotta get your omega 6s somewhere to balance the omega 3s from all the grass-fed beef and wild-caught salmon  (or the lemon tasting bottle, to tell the truth). You are welcome to prepare your own mayo (I can has mayo!) but I just went with a store-bought this time.

Mayo Monster (aka broccoli salad)

• 1 kg broccoli
• 4 shallots or a generous bunch of spring onion/a junk of red onion/whatever onion you like
• 2 dl (0,8 cups) cashews
• 300 g bacon

Tear the broccoli florets in a bowl and chop the onion(s) along them. Roast cashews on a hot pan, set aside. Leave the bacon until later. Prepare the sauce.

Sauce

• 2,5 dl (1 cup) mayonese
• 2 Tbs raw apple cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Mix the sauce and blend it among broccoli and onion. Let the salad sit in the fridge for about two hours. When it’s time to serve the course, bake bacon until crispy and cut it in pieces. Spread cashews and bacon bits over the salad and dig in! …it’ll be gone before you have time to say HOLY CATS!

Some cheesy news for the Finnish readers of Monkeyfood. I had an opportunity to get to taste some of the cheeses from a goat farm in Finland and I absolutely LOVED them! And as a disclaimer I have to add: I don’t recommend anyone to regularly consume dairy (other than butter or full fat cream), whether it being from a cow or a goat, but every now and then it’s an excellent way of indulging. I really, really love cheese. But only as a rare treat it’ll love me back! And it is quite common that people tolerate goat’s milk better than a cow’s.

PÄIVITYS 19.8.2010: Vuohitila Tähden tuotteita saa Helsingistä Lentävästä Lehmästä (Sini-Tähti ja joskus tuorejuusto), vanhasta kauppahallista Paalaselta, Maatilatori Eat&Joysta, K-Supermarket Mustapekasta (pääasiassa tuorejuustoa), Kuuselasta (mikä se on? O_O) löytyy Pinjaa ja tuorejuustoa ja Heinolan Heilasta voi myös kysellä.

Sain siis Vuohitila Tähden juustoja maistettavakseni kiitos minulle tärkeän lähes-sukulaisuussuhteen. Onnenapina olen! Vuohitila Tähden fetatyyppinen juusto oli mahtavaa: ei oikeastaan kuin feta, vaan jotakin fetan ja halloumin väliltä, erittäin maukas ja mukavan napakka.

Samoin Tähden toinen vuohenjuusto, manchego-tyyppinen Pinjajuusto, oli makuuni, samoin kuin Lihansyöjän. Miedohkon kermainen, rakenne sopivan pehmeä, ei tippaakaan kumimainen. Juusto sopi erinomaisesti fetatyyppisen kanssa yhteen.

Kolmas maistamamme oli kotijuustotyyppinen tuorejuusto, “perinteinen kutunjuusto”, mozzarellaa lähentelevä. Tuttu kotijuuston maku, mutta vuohisella vivahteella ja rakenteeltaan kiinteämpänä. Tätäkään ei voi kuin kehua.

Vielä on maistamatta ainoa vuohenmaidosta tehty sinihomejuusto Sinitähti, sillä yksin en uskalla sitä avata ja Lihansyöjä ei sinihomeeseen koske. Juusto lähteekin mökkievääksi ja kadonnee siellä parempiin suihin… Palaan kertomaan, miltä tuo aarre maistui!  Jos siis saat näitä aarteita käsiisi, suosittelen tarttumaan tilaisuuteen. Itse ajattelin tiedustella Hakaniemen hallin Lentävästä lehmästä, olisiko niitä sinne saatavilla.

Webisivujakaan tilalla ei näytä olevan, mutta tässä löytämäni esittely Vuohitila Tähdestä.

Doesn’t that sound romantic? Like a movie that sadly was never made. Luckily it’s easy to shoot this one home. I’m talking about the intelligent, articulate and witty Nora Gedgaudas‘ Nut Truffles from her book Primal Body, Primal Mind which I recommend EVERYONE to read. Working on getting it translated in Finnish as well.

Here’s the very basic recipe which you can then tune up by adding cocoa powder, seeds, coconut oil, coconut flour,  stevia, bee pollen, cocoa nibs… You know, whatever “floats your boat”. Cinnamon maybe?

Nut Butter Truffles

• 230 g nut butter (not cashew or peanut, for example almond will do and it’s easy to make yourself out of Brazilian nuts, that’s what I did, just blend the nuts until they form a moist butter)
• 1 cup (2,4 dl) of nuts (I used pecans and almonds)
• 0,5 cups (1,2 dl) shredded coconut
• 0,5 Tbs vanilla extract
• 115 g (organic) butter
• good quality salt

Prepare the nut butter if you’re not buying it ready made. Chop nuts in a blender until preferred chunkiness, don’t turn them into flour. Mix everything and spice it up with vanilla and some salt. At least I find Finnish organic butter to be too low in salt to make these delish. Form some sort of balls or just use a ice cube mold like I did. Spoon the mixture into the mold and refrigerate at least an hour. And action! Works as a snack, dessert or an add in at the breakfast. THANKS, Nora! For everything.

Awwwhh, this was good! Continuing on the raw side of life this also turned to be not just paleo and low carb but vegan as well. So it really suits everyone doesn’t it? Here’s just the basic idea, you may vary the vegetables and season it with chili or garlic or peppers or oregano. Still, it’s a perfect dish for the hottest day of the summer that’ll also please you delicate tummy being easy to digest.

Monkey Mush

• generous amount of chinese cabbage
• some broccoli florets
• a tomato
• a junk of courgette (aka zucchini)
• 2 stalks of celery
• coconut milk
• quality salt

Chop the veggies a bit and mush them in a blender. Pour in some nice coconut milk to make it more like a stew or even a soup if you like. Spice it up with salt and whateva! Tasty as hell and filling, thanks to the coconut.

I just had a wonderful weekend at my friend’s mom and dad’s summer house. As you may guess we also ate some brilliant food: self grown courgettes, freshly smoked salmon, strawberries, Asian fish stew and my friends also ate Maija’s freshly baked bread that at least smelled awfully good and cosy. And besides all this we also had some cauliflower salad that’s my friend’s family’s innovation. Yep, I think it’s an innovation; sort of a marinated and sort of a salad but better than each alone.

I made this already on Sunday to try it out myself and it turned out as good as it should. Also Meat Eater liked it tho he preferred onion over cauliflower.

The Kiikala Cauliflower

• a cauliflower or two
• onion (preferably spring onion but red onion and other will do)
• balsamico
• good quality olive or other oil

Tear the florets from the cauliflower into a big bowl. Chop the onion/onions and add. Splash some generous amount of oil and add balsamico. Use maybe a third compered to the amount of oil. Mix well and let sit in the fridge as long as you can hold it. Works after couple of hours but is ultimate after one night. A brilliant side for fish, meat or to season a salad. And you can prepare a bigger amount and eat it several days in a row… If it’ll keep.

And once again, a billion thanks to all the girls! It was priceless. <3 Wanna do it AGAIN!

A year ago thee green smoothie was a steady friend of mine as a breakfast. I wouldn’t have skipped it for anything! But since, things have changed and I rarely blend anything. I’m not a big fan of liquid food; not because I wouldn’t like it but because I believe most of the time whole food should be kept whole. Anyway, I dug up my blender and did some SOUP today! And a dessert as well. Tasted as good as ever and filled me nicely together with the nori rolls and offered some needed variation.

Raw Tomato Soup (or “stew” - not so liquidy)

•  2 ripe tomatoes
• a piece of cucumber
• 2 celery stalks (with the leaves!)
• 1 glove of garlic
• salt, pepper
• herb mixture

Cut everything up and put them in the blender, let the blender do what it does best! Garnish with some sprouted beans.

Nori Rolls

• nori sheets
• kale
• sauerkraut
• carrots

Place the kale leaves (remove the thickest stems) on the nori as shown on the picture, add sauerkraut and sliced carrot. Roll baby! Eat away.

Just some quick ones, two different side orders and “Mc Feast” paleo burgers. Burgers made by the same killer recipe as before, mayo tuned with lemon. Deeeeelish!

Chantarelles and bacon

• chantarelles
• bacon
• -doh?

Chop them, bake them in the pan! You’d never had guessed?

Spring onion and cherry tomatoes

• spring onions
• cherry tomatoes
• olive oil
• salt, pepper

Cut the tomatoes in half, chop the onions. Put them on a baking tray and add a splash of olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Let bake in a hot oven until… done? A little char in the onions makes them taste sooo much better But any way you like!

I really like nori, the seaweed used in maki rolls. Since rice is a no-no and I don’t have the money (or energy) to always use smoked salmon to make these and since variation is a nice thing, we came up with these two bunnies. The latter was inspired by some nnnice mayo and cheese filled ham rolls tasted in Tallinn… Might as well be made with mayo.

Tuna rolls (no rice)

• nori sheets
• tuna in oil
• mayo (self made or a quality one from a jar/tube)
• lettuce, cucumber, carrot
• pepper, salt

Drain the tune a bit (not all the oil out! That’s where the flavour is.) and mix with some generous amount of mayo, lemon mayo went well with these. Season with salt and pepper if needed. Cut the carrot and cucumber thinly lengthwise. Put a nori sheet in front of you and place two leaves of lettuce in the other end. Add tunamayo and veggie strips and roll. Eat like a HOTDOG! Adding some sauerkraut worked for me as well. Not for the Meat Eater tho.

Ham rolls

• quality ham (preferrably smoked)
• hard boiled eggs
• butter
• salt
• (chives)

Smash boiled eggs with a fork and mix some butter in the egg crumble. Season with salt and possibly chopped chives. Roll into a ham slice. Easy peasy.

These brilliant transparent emerald treasures are kale chips! I know, don’t they look and sound appealing? No? I can assure they are delish! Crispy and salty and tasty. Filled with… stuff. You know, the healthy stuff. The GREEN stuff! So if you don’t wanna put it into a blender to make a green smoothie or eat it as a salad, try this. I have a food dryer but a normal oven will do as well. Inspiration from the lovely blog Appelsiineja hunajaa.

Kale Chips

• 2 bunches of kale
• extra virgin olive oil
• quality salt
• paprika (grounded dried one, what is it called? Capsicum? The red stuff anyway.)
• lemon juice

Tear the leaves and remove the thickest parts of the stems. Make a mixture out of a generous amount of EVOO, salt, spices and lemon juice. Mix it in the leaves thoroughly! Every leaf should have its share. Let marinade in the fridge for while and then let them dry in a dryer, several hours in 40 degrees worked. Tasty.