With only a few days left until Christmas we wanted to share one last holiday recipe with you. This jam is actually a perfect Christmas gift (or a perfect gift for any occasion). It is simple to make, and if you use small jars one batch will be enough for supplying your whole family. We don’t eat a lot of jam in our family, most of them are too sweet for us. But when we do we always go for the naturally sweetened or unsweetened kind. When you heat pomegranate seeds and raspberries they become quite sweet on their own, so this jam doesn’t need much sweetener at all, we just added a little agave syrup in the end. The fresh thyme gives it a nice twist, and it blends unexpectedly well with the fruity flavors. So basically, all we want to say here is that you should give this jam an hour of your life and you will both have a delicious treat for breakfast and your last Christmas gifts all wrapped up and ready. Enjoy!

Pomegranate, Raspberry & Thyme Jam
Makes 6–8 small jars

We don’t blend the seeds since we like our jam crunchy. But you can easily blend them to get a smoother jam .

3 pomegranates
250 g frozen raspberries
1/2 lemon, juice
1 handful fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup agave syrup (or more to your own taste)

1. Divide the pomegranates in half and transfer them to a large bowl, in which you discard the peel and the membranes so that only seeds and juice is left. This is kind of messy so don’t wear your favorite shirt. You could also fill the bowl with water and do this with your hands below the surface, but you will lose some of the juice in the process.
2. Transfer the juice and seeds to a large pot. Add the raspberries and agave and heat slowly until it boils. Stir well so that all is mixed.
3. As soon as it boils, lower the heat, add the thyme leaves, stir around and let everything simmer for 20-30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile sterilize the jars by boiling them in hot water for several minutes.
5. Add the lemon juice. Let it stay on the heat for one more minute.
6. Transfer it carefully into the sterilized bottles and close the lid. Allow it to set at room temperature.
7. Refrigerate when set. Stays fresh for a few weeks.

 Ps. BIG HUGS to all of you. Hope you have a great Christmas! Elsa is at least super excited about celebrating her first real Christmas (last year was in Thailand). She (kind of) sings Christmas songs all day long.

A while back we received an email from one of the editors at Bon Appétit Magazine, asking if we wanted to create a vegan and gluten-free Christmas menu for them, as a special web feature. We usually aren’t strictly vegan or gluten-free, but were so flattered by the offer that we didn’t have to think more than 2 seconds before answering them that we would happily take it on as a challenge (while dancing a silly dance and singing “We are working with BA, we are working with BA…”).

We came up with five different recipes; Cinnamon roasted root vegetables, Mustard kale salad, Spiced spinach tarts, Christmas falafels and a Pomegranate cheesecake. It is always fun to cook at Christmas since you get to use holiday flavors like saffron, clove, cinnamon, mustard and lemon. We hope that the recipes will be of some assistance in all the Christmas commotion, wether you make one dish or go for the whole menu.

The whole thing has been up on the Bon Appétit web for about a week now, and apparently it is on their top list of most popular articles (we’re dancing that silly dance again!). Click here to see it on Bon Appétit. You can also scroll down to read the recipes here.

Spiced Spinach and Mushrooms in Almond Tartlets
Makes 6 tartlets  

Our gluten-free tart crust has the subtle taste of almonds and fresh herbs, and it can be filled with just about anything. One of our favorites is this clove-spiced spinach and mushroom filling. Potato starch, tapioca starch, and all flours are available from Bob’s Red Mill.

Tartlet shells
½ cup superfine chickpea flour or garbanzo bean flour
¼ cup almond flour or almond meal
2 Tbsp. potato starch, tapioca starch, or cornstarch
½ tsp. sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. each finely chopped fresh rosemary and thyme
3 Tbsp. virgin coconut oil plus more for pans

Filling
2 Tbsp. virgin coconut oil or olive oil (for frying)
1 small red onion, finely chopped
½ tsp. ground cloves
4 cups fresh spinach
1 leek, thinly sliced (including green leaves)
12–15 crimini (baby bella) mushrooms, sliced
Juice of ½ lemon

special equipment: Six small tartlet pans

Making the Tartlet shells: Combine the first 4 ingredients in a bowl; season with salt and pepper. Add coconut oil and 3 Tbsp. ice-cold water. Using your hands, work dry ingredients toward the center until dough forms. Gather dough into a ball, wrap in plastic, and chill for 30 minutes. DO AHEAD: Dough may be made 1 day ahead. Wrap tightly with plastic and chill.

Preheat oven to 375°. Divide dough evenly into 6 portions. Form each portion into a ball and press 1 dough ball evenly onto bottom and up sides of each tartlet pan. Trim dough flush with edge of pans. Prick bottom with a fork to prevent it from bubbling as it bakes. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

Let tartlet shells cool slightly, then invert each pan and turn out shells onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

Making the filling  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cloves and cook until onion is lightly browned; add spinach, leek and mushrooms. Cook until spinach is brightly colored, 3–5 minutes. Add lemon juice and cook 2 minutes longer. Spoon 2 dollops filling into each tartlet shell and serve hot.

Baked Saffron Falafel
4–6 servings  

For this vegan and gluten-free dish, we were inspired by two Swedish Christmas classics—saffron buns and Swedish meatballs. Use red cabbage leaves to wrap individual falafel into small parcels; they’ll look like mini Christmas presents that you’ve set out for your guests. You might recognise this recipe since it is similar to our herb and pistachio falafels.

Falafel
½ cup raw shelled sunflower seeds
2 cups cooked or canned chickpeas, rinsed, drained
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. buckwheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. saffron threads

Tahini dressing and assembly
4 Tbsp. tahini (sesame seed paste)
4 Tbsp. fresh orange juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1 red cabbage, cored
1 cup salad greens
2–3 Tbsp. plain soy yogurt

Making the falafel: Preheat oven to 375°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pulse sunflower seeds in a food processor for about 30 seconds. Add chickpeas and pulse 1 minute longer. Add onion and remaining ingredients and pulse, occasionally scraping down sides of work bowl, until mixture is slightly coarse and well combined. Using your hands, form 24 small round falafels and place on prepared sheet. Bake, turning every 5 minutes, until falafels are evenly brown, about 15 minutes.

Making Tahini dressing: Using a fork, beat tahini, orange juice, and garlic in a bowl until creamy dressing forms. Set aside.

Assembling: Gently separate leaves from cabbage; rinse and pat dry. Place 2 falafels in the center of a cabbage leaf. Top with a few greens; spoon a little dressing and yogurt over. Fold each side of leaf in toward center, about 1”–2”, then fold the end closer to you over the filling and tuck it under the falafels. Tie with kitchen twine to hold together.

Cinnamon Roasted Vegetables
4–6 servings  

This simple dish takes just a few minutes to prepare; then the oven does the rest of the work. You can throw any kind of vegetable in here; simply adjust the cooking time according to the size.

1 head Romanesco or cauliflower, trimmed, halved lengthwise, cut into small pieces
2 lb. carrots, halved if large
½ lb. parsnips, halved if large
2 medium sweet potatoes. Cut into thick sticks
2 whole garlic cloves, mashed with the end of a knife
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
5 2”–3” cinnamon sticks
sea salt

Preheat oven to 375°. Place vegetables and garlic in a single layer on a baking sheet and drizzle with oil; sprinkle cinnamon over and scatter cinnamon sticks around. Season with salt. Using your hands, toss vegetables to coat well. Roast until golden and crispy, about 1 hour. (Time will vary depending on size of vegetables.)

Mustard Quinoa, Cranberry & Kale Salad

4–6 servings  

Here is one of our absolute Christmas favorites. Red quinoa, with a mustard and lemon dressing, served with fresh kale, pomegranate seeds, cranberries, and roasted pecans is perfect for any holiday gathering. You don’t want to miss this one.

1 cup red or black quinoa
Sea salt
4 Tbsp. olive oil
Zest and juice of 1 lemon, preferably organic
2 Tbsp. prepared English mustard
4 large kale leaves, center ribs and stems removed, finely chopped
¼ cup dried cranberries, preferably unsweetened or sweetened with apple juice
¼ cup roasted, salted pecans
Fresh pomegranate seeds


Rinse quinoa in water. Drain and place in a medium size heavy pot; add 2 cups water and season with salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until a curly string-like germ has separated from the circular part, 15–20 minutes. Let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, whisk oil, lemon zest and juice, and mustard in a bowl until smooth and creamy; season mustard dressing with salt.

Transfer quinoa to a bowl and drizzle with mustard dressing; toss to coat. Divide kale among serving plates; top with quinoa, cranberries, and pecans, dividing equally. Garnish with pomegranate seeds.

Frozen Pomegranate and Cashew Cake
8 – 10 servings  

This is a Christmas version of our Flower Power cake. We use soaked cashews that when blended become super creamy and smooth. The crust is sweet and crunchy with nuts and dates, and the pomegranate topping adds a fresh, fruity note to the Christmas spiced filling. Serve the cake cold but not deep-frozen.

Crust
1 1/2 cups raw almonds, walnuts, or hazelnuts
1/2 cup raw, shelled sunflower seeds
2 Tbsp. hemp seeds
12 fresh Medjool dates, pitted
2 Tbsp. virgin coconut oil
1 tsp. sea salt

Filling
1/3 cup virgin coconut oil
1/3 cup agave syrup (nectar)
2 cups raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours
Zest and juice of 1 large lemon
Zest and juice of 1 orange
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

Topping
Seeds from 2 medium pomegranates (you could substitute it with frozen raspberries to make it less expensive)
Juice of 1/2 lime

Special equipment: An 8”-diameter nonstick springform pan

Crust  Grind the first 3 ingredients in a blender or food processor for 1 minute. Add dates, oil, and salt and purée until mixture comes together. Place in springform pan and press evenly across bottom of pan. Chill.

Filling  Heat oil and agave in a small saucepan over low heat, whisking, until liquid. Place mixture in a blender or food processor; add soaked cashews, lemon juice and zest, orange juice and zest, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; discard bean. Purée until very smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Pour filling over crust and chill in freezer until set, about 30 minutes.

Topping  Place pomegranate seeds and lime juice in blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Pour topping over cashew filling. Chill in freezer until solid, 30–60 minutes. Let stand at room temperature 10–15 minutes before serving. Run a sharp knife under hot water to make it easier to cut the slices. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Remove from freezer and let stand about 20 minutes before serving.

Photos by: Johanna Frenkel

Today’s story is really easy to tell but not as easy to write down (and in a few seconds you’ll understand why).
Last Friday I did the stupidest stupidest thing. Something I think everyone who has used an immersion blender can relate to. I was pulsing ingredients for some mung bean burgers when a few pumpkin seeds got stuck in the blender. I used my finger to get them out and … accidentally touched the power button!!! I am not going to make you lose your appetite, but there were blood. And tears. Lots of it. One week later I am still in pain, but it looks like I will at least still be a 10 fingered girl (even though one of the fingers will probably never be as pretty as before). As for the mung bean burgers. Well they will have to wait a while before making it onto this blog.

Instead we made some Christmas gifts. I made a few batches of Christmas granola. I was inspired by an old recipe that you can find here and this gluten free version. I didn’t use so much dried fruit this time, only some goji berries. And I only sweetened it with apple syrup. It’s super delicious and a very popular gift.

We also made pomegranate and thyme jam that we will post next week, and our own version of the swedish Christmas drink Glögg. Scroll down for the recipe.

If you haven’t heard of glögg before it is a kind of spiced mulled wine that you drink for Advent in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. It is normally very sweet, so David made his own version on frozen blueberries and only sweetened it with apple syrup. He made one alcohol free, one with red wine and one where he also added some rhum. I don’t drink alcohol often, but even I fell in love with this, it taste like christmas in a cup.

Blueberry Glögg
Makes around 3 large bottles

If you can’t find unsweetened apple syrup you can also use 1/2 cup honey or agave. 

500 g/4 cups/1 liter frozen blueberries
1 cup/2,5 dl unsweetened apple syrup
3 cups/7,5 dl water
Peel from 1 orange
10 whole cloves
2 cinnamon stick
1 whole vanilla pod, halved
20 raisins
2 star anise
1 inch/2,5 cm fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
1 bottle of red wine
2 shots of rhum (optional)

1. Add frozen blueberries to a large sauce pan together with apple syrup and water. Bring to a slow boil then turn down the heat a bit.
2. Let it simmer for 10 minutes before pulsing it smooth with an immersion blender or food processor (be careful with your fingers ;-).
3. Add the orange peel and all the spices and let everything simmer for at least 20 minutes more.
To make it with wine:
4. Add a bottle of red wine (and 2 shots of rhum if you want it even stronger). Heat it but avoid to boil it and then pour through a sieve into sterilized bottles. Or serve it straight away in small cups together with some raisins and blanched almonds.
To make it alcohol free:
4. Add 2 cups water instead of the wine. Heat it and then pour through a sieve into sterilized bottles. Or serve it straight away in small cups together with some raisins and blanched almonds.

A while back we spent a weekend on the island Gotland in southern Sweden. One of their traditional dishes is baked saffron pancake with whipped cream and dewberry jam. The pancakes are made on rice porridge, mixed almonds, whole milk, eggs, sugar, flour and saffron. They taste incredible, but won’t win any healthiest cake awards. Whenever we come across a great tasting dessert we always ask ourselves: “How could we do this our way?“, and last week we decided to give this one a try.

We have replaced quite a few ingredients in our recipe. They are significantly healthier now, and as far as we can remember they taste quite similar to the original. Maybe a little more dense, but on the other hand you can now eat them as breakfast as well, even though they were originally intended as a dessert. That’s always a good quality from a dessert! The saffron, the pieces of almonds and the shredded carrots are just great together. Warm, sweet and saffrony.

Since dewberries almost only grow on Gotland we instead made a jam out of the only berries that you can get in Sweden this time of the year. Frozen. During the summer we fill our home with as many fresh berries as we can get hold of (and afford). Nothing beats fresh berries, right? But frozen berries are not to be underestimated. They are both beautiful and a real life saver during the winter. Make sure they are unsweetened (in Sweden most berries are). We made a 15-minute-jam with a bag of frozen forest berries (with the beautiful Italian name “Frutti di Bosco”) and only sweetened it with some dried prunes. Ridiculously simple. If you have the pancakes for dessert, a dollop of mascarpone cheese tastes a lot better than whipped cream. You could also go for some turkish yogurt.

Swedish Saffron Pancakes
Makes 6 tartlets 

1 banana, large and ripe
4 eggs
½ cup (1,2 dl) soy milk
½ cup (1,2 dl) rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
0,5 g saffron
2 carrots
½ cup (1,2 dl) almonds

coconut oil for the tartlets

Making the pancakes: Preheat the oven to 350F (175°C). Mash the banana with a fork, add the eggs and whisk together. Add soy milk, rice flour, baking powder, salt and saffron and stir around. Shred the carrots and chop the almonds roughly, add to the mixture and stir around. Grease the inside of 1 large baking tin or 6, 5-inch tartlet tins with coconut oil. Pour the batter into the tins and bake for about 20 minutes. Serve the pancakes while they are warm, together with forest berry jam and a dollop of mascarpone cheese.

Forest Berry Jam
Makes 1 small jar 

2 tbsp water
1 lime, juice
15 prunes, finely chopped
250 g frozen berries
1 tsp cardamom, grounded

Warm water, lime juice and chopped prunes in a small pot on medium heat. Let it boil carefully for 5 minutes while stirring. Add berries and cardamom and let it simmer for 10, stir occasionally.

Ps. Since today is Black Friday we have reduced the price for our iPad app to $0.99. Today only. So if you haven’t checked it out yet, today is a good day to do it. Download it here!

With Christmas just around the corner we realize that a lot of people probably are asking themselves how to make their christmas food greener and a little more nutritious. Even though Christmas hasn’t been our focus at all this year we thought we could help out by guiding you to a couple of our recipes from last year that works great on a healthy vegetarian Christmas table. Happy Holiday!

Winter Buckwheat Porridge
The perfect breakfast on Christmas morning.

Warm Christmas Glogg
An alcohol free and sugar free version of the scandinavian Christmas classic.

Crispy Red Cabbage Salad
A Danish Christmas classic with a Green Kitchen touch.

Chili Choco Sweets
You can’t be afraid of chili when making these date based sweets.

Chestnut Spelt Bread
A dark, nutty and a little sweet tasting bread made on chestnut flour.

Black Quinoa & Kale Salad
One of our favorite recipes ever. It both looks and tastes like christmas. Try it!

Mushroom & Hazelnut Loaf
A vegetarian version of a meat loaf. Great on a buffet table.

Espresso & Oat Truffles
A sugar free christmas candy.

Saffron Bulgur with Vegetables
This recipe has been on our Christmas table as long as I have been a vegetarian.

Cinnamon & Chocolate Covered Nuts
You can make this treat in less than 10 minutes.

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On our way to Asia we stopped a couple of days in Sweden to visit my family. Elsa is the first grand child in the family and everyone was super excited to see her. During our stay she has been played with, danced with, fed, sung for and – of course – been given Christmas gifts. This meant that Luise and I could focus on eating Christmas food, taking walks in the snow and trying out a new recipe for Swedish Pepparkakor, my all time favorite Christmas cookie.

Pepparkakor or Swedish Gingerbread Cookies are very thin, crunchy, sweet and full of flavor. The traditional recipe calls for spices, sugar, butter, flour, molasses and sometimes even cream. Since we try to avoid most of those ingredients on this blog we decided to make our own version. It wasn’t all easy making a new recipe for pepparkakor since I have a life-long cake crush on the traditional recipe. Luise might kill me for writing this (since she doesn’t agree) but quite frankly, no oil in the world can fully replace the taste of butter in a cookie. We decided to try it anyway. And after a couple of not very good batches we came up with this recipe which not only got a similar texture and taste, but also adds some extra flavor and crunchiness to them. They are vegan, uses a more wholesome flour and less refined sweeteners. A not so traditional Pepparkaka with an almost traditional taste.

As you can see on the following pictures Sweden was drowned in snow and the contrast from sunny California could not have been bigger. It felt unreal walking around in this cold climate, knowing that we would be in a steaming hot Asia a couple of days later.

We are actually already in Beijing, China when we post this, but more on that in our next post. China has blocked facebook, twitter and youtube, so we won’t be able to tweet until we arrive in Thailand.

Swedish Pepparkakor / Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
Makes 20-40 depending on the size of the cookie cutters

1 cup almonds
15 dates
1/2 cup coconut oil, olive oil or canola oil
2 tbsp agave syrup or honey
2 tsp ginger, grounded
1 tsp cloves, grounded
2 tsp cinnamon, grounded
1-1,5 cup whole wheat flour or spelt flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

Grind the almonds into a flour in a blender or a food processor. Add dates, oil, agave syrup and the spices and pulse until everything is mixed into a sticky dough. Sift together flour and baking soda and start kneading the flour into the dough, little by little. When you can form the dough into a round moist ball without getting sticky, the dough is ready. Put it in the fridge over the night or at least for three hours.

Set the oven to 150°C/300°F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Roll out the dough roughly 1/8-inch thick between two sheets of plastic wrap, it keeps the dough from sticking on the baking pin. Cut it with cookie cutters and transfer it to the parchment paper. This dough is a little bit more brittle than normal gingerbread dough, so you need to be careful when transferring it to the parchment paper.

Bake for 7-12 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of the cookies. Keep an eye on the oven and make sure not to over bake them. Since they contain almonds they will burn easily.

Photos by David & Johanna Frenkel

We all need a good loaf recipe. Especially in the winter when you are starting to get tired of all those soups, stews and pastas, but still feel like making something special. We’ve tried a couple of different ones and this is by far our favorite.

We have filled it with mushroom, hazelnut, leek and brown rice and it works perfect as a main course with salad, on a buffet table, as a starter, or sliced on bread the next day.
We like our loaf crunchy so we are chopping the nuts very roughly which makes it a little bit difficult to slice, but since we slice quite large pieces it’s not a problem. If you like thin slices you should chop everything thoroughly.

Mushroom & Hazelnut Loaf
Serves 4 -6

Olive oil
2 garlic
200 g mushroom (sliced)
200 g hazelnut (chopped)
200 g leek (sliced)
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
salt & pepper

4 eggs
1/2 cup soya milk
1/2 cup brown rice (boiled and cold)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
salt & lemon pepper

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Pour olive oil in a frying pan and sauté garlic, mushroom, hazelnuts and leek. Add thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper. Let it stir for 10 minutes and set aside for a couple of minutes. Mix eggs, soya milk, rice and the spices in a bowl and add the vegetables. Pour everything into a non-stick loaf pan. (If you don’t have a non-stick pan you can use parchment paper or some oil). Bake it for 45 minutes.

Espresso & Oat Truffles
Makes around 20

15 fresh dates
4 tbsp rolled oat
2 tbsp dried coconut
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp cocoa powder (unsweetened)
½ tsp vanilla powder (not sugar)
½ tsp cardamom
1 shot espresso (cold)

Mix all the ingredients in a blender (or food processor) for 1 minute. Form 20 small round balls with your hands. Roll some of them in rolled oat and some in dried coconut. Put in the fridge for a while before serving.

Cinnamon Chocolate Nuts
Makes 200 g

200 g blanched almonds and roasted walnuts
100 g melted chocolate (we used a 85% dark chocolate)
1 tbsp cinnamon
0,5 tbsp cocoa powder (unsweetened)

Put the chocolate in a small bowl and put it in a pot with water, melt it slowly on low heat. Roast the walnuts and blanch the almonds. When the nuts are dry and cold put them in the melted chocolate, just a couple at a time. Put the chocolate covered nuts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place it in the fridge so the chocolate can set. Mix cinnamon and cocoa in a small plastic bag, add the nuts and shake until all nuts are covered.

A snapshot of the Cinnamon-&-Chocolate-Covered-Nuts thief…

Saffron Bulgur with vegetables
Serves 4

1 1/2 cup bulgur
3 cups vegetable broth
1/2 g saffron

olive oil
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 chili
1 red bell pepper (sliced)
1 zucchini (thinly chopped)
10 cherry tomatoes (cut in half)
1/2 lemon (juice)
1 handful coriander (cilantro)
salt & pepper
200 g goat cheese
roasted salted almonds

Cook the bulgur in vegetable broth for about 10 minutes and add the saffron while cooking. Add olive oil to a frying pan on medium heat. Stir in the onion, garlic and chili. Add bell pepper, zucchini, cherry tomatoes and juice from the lemon. Stir it around for about 10 minutes before adding half of the chopped coriander, salt and pepper, and half of the goat cheese. Mix it all with the bulgur and serve on a big plate. Sprinkle the rest of the coriander, goat cheese and some roasted salted almonds over before serving it.