I woke up early this morning with her sitting next to me. She looked at me with her adoring big brown eyes and said: “Pappa, jag vill spisa frukost!”, “Daddy, I want to eat breakfast!”. Somehow, between a blog post and a book deal, Elsa has learned how to talk. She has of course been saying words for several months, but all of a sudden all those random words are formed into sentences. She says the cutest things, using a mix of Danish and Swedish words. Just like we do. When Luise and I met we spoke English with each other, even though Danish and Swedish are pretty similar. We learned to understand each others languages and have since then come to speak a mixture of both. Our use of Danish and Swedish words seems quite random, but Elsa has totally picked it up. And suddenly she is not a baby anymore. She tells us what she wants. And what she doesn’t want to do (that list is growing rapidly at the moment). It’s a new voice in our family and parenting just became ten times more complicated. And twenty times more fun.

Back to this morning. One of our most usual breakfasts is porridge. We usually vary between oatmeal and buckwheat porridge, but a while back Luise introduced a new porridge to us. It’s a Danish porridge that originally is called øllebrød, and is made on old rye bread and beer (!). A simpler and much healthier version is just to make it on rolled rye or rye flakes, water and a dash of organic light beer (2,8%). The beer is optional. It’s not something we usually incorporate in food, but it releases such interesting flavors into the porridge. Don’t be scared by it, Luise doesn’t like the taste of beer at all, but she loves this porridge. And all the alcohol disappears as you boil it, so no worries about getting drunk before lunch.

We topped it with rhubarb from our csa box, lightly cooked into a compote with fresh apples as sweetener. They taste so fresh with a hint of sweetness and tartness. If you like it sweeter you can add some agave or maple. In Denmark they traditionally also serve this porridge with whipped cream, but we use yogurt. It’s truly a breakfast for champions.

Rye, Rhubarb & Beer Porridge
Serves 4

2 cups rolled rye (similar to rolled oats)
3 cups water
1 1/2 cup organic light beer (2,8%)
5-10 dried prunes (depending on how sweet you like it)
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp ground vanilla

Place all ingredients in a medium pot and bring slowly to a boil. Lower the heat and cook for about 5-7 minutes, while stirring. Serve with warm rhubarb compote (see recipe below), vanilla whisked yogurt and roasted hazelnuts.

Rhubarb & apple compote

2-4 stalks fresh rhubarb, sliced
2 red apples, cut into cubes
1 tsp vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp ground vanilla

Place all ingredients in a small pot and bring slowly to a boil. Lower the heat and cook for about 7-10 minutes, stir occasionally. Do not over cook it, you don’t want the rhubarbs to loose their color and texture too much.

Photos by: Johanna Frenkel

It has been a while since we listed blogs, recipes and other stuff that has inspired us throughout the month. So we thought it was about time. We are also keeping our promise from last week, to share the recipe for our gluten free picnic tarts. You’ll find it at the end of this post. But first, the list:

• After years of using an “old” camera we have finally geared up. It costed two arms and a leg, but we are so happy with our new toy!

• Until now David has walked around with our camera wrapped in a scarf (not kidding). We obviously need to put an end to this, so he is looking for a nice looking camera bag. We think this bag looks kind of neat. If you have any other tips on camera bags, please let us know. We’d love to check them out.

• This is one of our latest blog crushes. We are appealed by their simple and minimalistic photography that puts all focus on the beautiful food.

• A very talented friend of ours is having an art exhibition in London. We LOVE her decadent and spectacular art. If you are there, go and check out Dust, Dirt & Dingy Weeds.

• Here is a wonderful illustrated food blog.

• Oh, and if you haven’t checked out this vegetarian blog, you have missed out on something gorgeous!

• Doesn’t this pasta recipe sound absolutely fabulous? We are doing something similar (but with forest picked greens) in our book.

• Adorable video of a rhubarb and strawberry pie.

• We are incredibly grateful and excited that so many have downloaded our app and given it nice reviews. More than 100 reviews worldwide, 71% five stars and 12% four stars! Right now it is featured in both the Cooking Campaign and the Go Green Campaign plus being a Staff Favorite in US! We are adding some more recipes to it right now, so stay tuned.

We used chestnut flour in the crust, which adds a wonderful nutty flavor. All tarts are filled with different vegetables but they have the same coconut milk base. We share our favorite filling with you, oyster mushroom, sheep cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. Bon appétit!

Chestnut Tart Crust
Makes 1 large or 6 small tartlets

100 g (1/2 cup) rice flour
45 g (1/4 cup) chestnut flour or amaranth, quinoa, almond flour
2 tbsp corn starch or potato starch
½ tsp sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp coconut oil or ghee, butter (room temperature)
5 tbsp ice-cold water

Oyster Mushroom Filling
coconut oil, ghee or olive oil for frying
1 clove garlic, minced
Oyster mushroom or mushroom of choice
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
½ cup coconut milk (unsweetened)
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
sea salt & black pepper to taste
5 sun-dried tomatoes (in oil)
50 g (1/4 cup) sheep feta cheese, crumbled

Making the Tart Crust: Combine the first 3 ingredients in a bowl; season with salt and pepper. Add coconut oil and ice-cold water. Using your hands, work dry ingredients toward the center until dough forms. Gather it 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°F (190°C). Press the dough evenly onto bottom and up sides of the tart pan. Trim dough flush with edge of pan. Prick bottom with a fork to prevent it from bubbling as it bakes.

Making the filling  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until lightly browned; add mushrooms and rosemary. Cook until it is brightly colored, about 5 minutes. Whisk coconut milk, eggs, nutmeg, salt and pepper in a small bowl until well mixed. Place mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and sheep feta cheese on the tart. Pour coconut and egg mixture over the tart pans. Place on medium rack and bake for about 35-40 minutes.

Photos: Johanna Frenkel

It’s Thursday morning and Elsa and I are packing our bag, we are flying to Barcelona in a couple of hours. Correction, I am packing while Elsa is unpacking the same things (apparently it’s very funny). Luise is already there with some friends, so we are meeting her up to have a family weekend before we begin to shoot our book. And talking about the book, we have cooked up a whole bunch of great recipes lately. We still work on the recipe list – loosing one recipe, adding another. But at the moment we feel pretty satisfied with the mix.

The day before Luise left, we packed a basket and went on a picnic in the beautiful park Rosendals Trädgård in Stockholm. It was almost too early for that kind of picnic, since half the park wasn’t even properly opened. But we found a bench around a tree where we could enjoy muffins, strawberry & bean salad and an arrangement of different pies. Everything tasted so gooood!

These muffins are not monster big or heavy like the american version. They are quite small, very light and filled with a wonderful cardamom flavor. They totally melt in your mouth! And they are gluten free. We got the idea for these after trying a pistachio muffin recipe from Bea’s wonderful cookbook. We wanted to make something similar but with a new set of ingredients and flavors.

We will post the recipes for our gluten free coconut pies (which you can see in the first photo) as soon as we are back from Barcelona. Now you have to excuse me, I need to pick up all the sweaters that Elsa has thrown out of the bag.

Cardamom & Sunflower Muffins (Inspired by a recipe from the La Tartine Gourmande Cookbook)
Makes 10 muffins

½ cup (90 g) sunflower seeds, shells removed
½ cup (60 g) walnuts
1 tsp baking powder
salt
50 g butter
4 tbsp agave syrup OR honey
1/2 vanilla bean OR 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cardamom, freshly ground
4 egg whites

Set the oven to 350°F / 180°C. Immediately put the sunflower seeds on a sheet in the oven. Roast for 8-9 minutes, until slightly darker but not burnt. Remove from the oven and let cool down. Grind the walnuts and the roasted sunflower seeds into flour using a mortar, coffee grinder or food processor (if you use a mortar you may want to grind a little at the time). Sift in baking powder and salt and set aside. Melt the butter in a small sauce pan. Add agave syrup, vanilla and cardamom.
Set aside and let cool off. Beat egg whites for about a minute, until very foamy. Stir down the nut flour and pour over the melted butter. Divide the batter into muffin molds, about 2 dollops in each mold. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden on the outside and baked inside. Don’t bake too long. They will become a little firmer when cool.

Whenever we visit Luise’s family in Denmark we also eat smørrebrød. Have you heard of it before? It’s a traditional Danish lunch with rye bread and different toppings. Usually meat, paté, spreads, cheese or fish. We have been working on some delicious vegetarian spreads, patés and dark rye sourdough bread for our book, but you have to wait until next spring to see the result. Meanwhile we would like to introduce you to another danish smørrebrød favorite. Meet the Danish Egg Salad. Normally it is only made with mayo, curry, salt and egg, but this is our more contemporary and healthier take on it.

We wanted to infuse spring, so we have added asparagus, fresh broccolini, walnuts, sprouts and some fruit for sweetness. And we replaced most of the mayo with a thick yogurt. The result is so good. Full of flavor and crunch. Serve it on a piece of cabbage lettuce, with a salad, as a side dish or as the Danes; on a piece of dark rye bread. Velbekomme!

Spring Egg Salad

If you are allergic to nuts you can replace them with sunflower seeds or pepitas. Normally we also gives advices on how to make it vegan, but it’s kind of pointless this time…

6 medium eggs, boiled for 8 minutes
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted
5 broccolini, roughly chopped
grapes, divided in halfes
1 small apple, diced
5 asparagus, roughly chopped
1 small handful sprouts, we used broccoli sprouts (optional)

Curry dressing
1/2 cup yoghurt
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp ground curry (or more to taste)
a pinch of cayenne pepper
sea salt and black pepper to taste

Bring a pot of water to a boil, then place the eggs (with a spoon!) in the water, lower the heat to medium and boil gently for 7-8 minutes. Prepare the curry dressing by whisking all ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Remove the pot and place under running water. When the egg has cooled, crack and peel each egg and cut into dices. Place in a medium mixing bowl. Toast the walnuts on a dry pan for a couple of minutes on each side, cool and place in the mixing bowl. Prepare broccolini, grapes, apple and asparagus, place in the mixing bowl. Stir carefully (you don’t want to mash the eggs) around with a large spoon until everything is covered in curry dressing, garnish with sprouts.

When we were in Copenhagen last month we met up with Sarah B, a friend that we only knew through emails and blog comments before. I’m sure many of you are already familiar with her fabulous blog My New Roots. If not, you must hop over there immediately. Her recipes are enormously inspiring and delicious. You will also pick up a truckload of interesting nutritional facts without even reflecting about it. Sarah was just as warm and full of humor as her blog posts are. Her food philosophy is very much like ours, so you can imagine we had a great time together. She was planning a vacation and asked us if we’d like to do a guest post while she was gone. Such an honor!

We wanted to create something that we had never tried before, and came up with this unusually pretty breakfast dish. We sprouted buckwheat and quinoa and then dried them in a dehydrator (or at the lowest temperature in the oven) – together with linseeds, pumpkin seeds and dried fruit. What comes out is a raw sprouted granola that is crunchy, a little bit sweet, sticky and completely gluten free. Because of the sprouting, this recipe takes a few days to complete. But fear not, it is totally worth it. Serve it like we have done here – with a blueberry sauce, yogurt and some fresh fruit – and it will impress anyone.  If you scroll down we give you a quick tutorial how to sprout. You can read the rest of the recipe at My New Roots.

Find the full recipe here!

Luise is without doubt the more talented kitchen wizard of us two. She constantly surprises me with delicious and creative dinners from what for me seemed like an empty fridge. Her skills has made me less active in the daily dinner making. Errgh, that didn’t sound right. We still have somewhat equal rolls in the kitchen  – and I love cooking! – but I tend to ask her for help whenever I see an empty shelf in our fridge.

However, there is one area where I feel more comfortable and experienced than Luise. Baking. And specifically, Baking Chocolate Cake. If you ask my parents that hardly comes as a surprise to them. I spent my teenage years baking moist and rich chocolate cakes 2-3 times every week for several years (not exaggerating). I ate most of them myself. I even ate the whole batter – unbaked(!) – one time. How I didn’t end up looking like a balloon is a miracle. One thing I learned through those years is how a chocolate batter should look, feel (and taste) to become a decadent moist chocolate cake.

Back then, I used heaps of refined sugar, wheat flour and margarine. Those are ingredients that we don’t even keep in our pantry anymore, so I have quietly forgotten all about my old cakes. Until Luise a few weeks ago started experimenting with a beet cake. It tasted alright but she never really nailed it. And as I stood there looking at her batter, my past hit me. BAM! ”I know what kind of chocolate cake we should make!”

I had to tweak it quite a bit. Using spelt flour, maple syrup (or honey), oil and beets. But it didn’t change much. We still ended up with a super indulgent cake with a very rich chocolate taste. The beets add sweetness, moist and taste to the cake. We grated them quite rough, so they definitely also affect the texture.

You can eat this just as it is. But if you want to make it a little prettier you could serve it with a dollop of yogurt and some fresh fruit on top.

The cake you are looking at is our forth version in two weeks. I am definitely getting in to my old habits again. Can someone please just stop me from eating the batter.

Beet & Chocolate Cake

Since we have made this cake quite a few times during the last weeks we have been able to try a couple of different versions. Maple syrup and honey both tastes good as sweetener in this cake. I prefer maple syrup, but that is more on a personal level. We have also tried it with sunflower oil, olive oil and coconut oil. Again, they all work, but the olive oil adds more flavor than the sunflower oil. And the coconut oil makes the cake very dense if you put it in the fridge, so then you might want to reheat it before eating it again. We haven’t tried it without eggs, but I’m guessing that you could replace them with apple sauce (as in this recipe) to make a vegan version. Next time I’m going to try adding some coffee as well.

2/3 cup (100 g) sunflower oil (coconut oil or olive oil)
1/2 cup (125 ml) maple syrup/honey
50 g dark chocolate (70%), broken into pieces
250 g (around 2 cups) raw beetroots, grated
3 eggs
1 ½ cup (375 ml) spelt flour
2 tsp baking powder
5 tbsp cacao powder
a pinch salt
1 tbsp dried shredded coconut (unsweetened) 

Preheat the oven to 350F/175°C. Warm the oil in a medium size sauce pan on very low heat. Add maple syrup and chocolate and stir until the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat. Add the grated beets. Whisk the eggs in a small bowl and then add them to the sauce pan. Sift flour, baking powder, cacao powder and salt together and stir into the beet mixture. Grease a bundt pan or a cake tin with oil and add shredded coconut to prevent the batter from sticking to side of the pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until slightly dark and crackelated on top and still a little sticky inside. Enjoy!

Ps. Cook Vegetarian Magazine has a large (and very flattering) piece about us in their March issue. You can read a pdf of the article here.

There is a little something we haven’t been able to tell you until now. In some strange but enchanted way we have ended up with a book deal! One year from now “Our Green Kitchen” (working title) will land in book stores around the world. Isn’t that just CRAZY!

When we started this blog we could never ever guess that we would end up writing an international cookbook. I mean with all those talented writers, professional chefs, inspiring nutritionists and natural born photographers doing their own books, what could we – two home-cooks with no culinary education – possibly have to offer? Well, after reading all comments from you – kind readers – who have tried and appreciated our recipes, we have slowly learned to trust in what we are doing. So however it turns out, we promise to put all the creativity and love as we possibly can find into this book. And hopefully it will be inspiring and useful enough to find its way onto your kitchen table.

Miraculously, after what feels like 9000 emails back and forth, we ended up signing a book deal with not only one, but two different publishing houses. Hardie Grant UK for the European and Australian market and Rizzoli in the US. We have the sweetest and most inspiring editor who keeps sending us paper samples and layout ideas, so we have no worries there. The book will be hardcover, 256 pages with 80 new recipes (even though you might recognize a few of our favorites in new costumes). We brought in David’s sister as a photographer, so expect colorful food photos on beautiful (hopefully) matte paper.

We have already been working a couple of  months on new recipes, planning shoots and scribbling down our thoughts. But we have the most intense, challenging and hopefully also fun period ahead of us. This blog will go on as usual with new posts at least once a week, but if we run late a few days you know where we are (drowned under a pile of book recipes).

This definitely calls for celebration, don’t you think? We cooked up this fruity, flavorful and cooling drink that works great both with or without alcohol. We boiled the pear juice together with lemongrass to get a slightly thicker syrup with a intensely sweet flavor and a hint of lemon and rosemary. Make sure to serve it in the prettiest glasses you have.

Skål, Cin cin, Cheers from the luckiest little family in the world!

Pear, Rosemary & Lemongrass Cocktail
4 glasses 

Since the size and sort of the pears vary, you need to adjust the measurements to your own taste. If you don’t have a juicer you can use unsweetened pear juice. We use twice as much juice as sparkling water. If you try this with alcohol you might want to reduce the sparkling water. All liqueurs seems to work with this recipe. If using whisky we suggest adding a few drops of freshly squeezed lemon to each glass.

5 pears (medium size)
1/3 fennel
3 sprigs rosemary
1 inch fresh ginger, more or less according to taste
1 stalk lemongrass, chopped and crushed
a pinch nutmeg, ground
2 pinches ground vanilla
1/2 – 1 cup sparkling water or soda (start with 1/2 cup, add more to taste)

Run pears, fennel, 2 sprigs rosemary and ginger in a juicer.
Pour the juice into a small saucepan over medium heat, add lemongrass, nutmeg and vanilla. Bring to boil, turn down the heat and let simmer for 15 minutes, or until thickened. Allow to cool completely before straining. Pass through a fine sieve.
Crush the ice in a high speed blender.
Place the thickened juice in a pitcher or (cocktail) shaker, add soda water and stir to combine.
Fill the cocktail glasses with ice and pour over the juice and soda mixture. Garnish with sliced pears and fresh rosemary. Serve.

Photos by: Johanna Frenkel

It’s been a looooong winter. They always are. Long and dark. The darkness is probably the most challenging thing about living in Sweden. But it also makes us appreciate the light. So when the first sun rays hit us we go absolutely nuts. We throw off our jackets, dig up our shades and head to the nearest park bench for a soup lunch under the sun. That is at least what we did last Wednesday. On the first day of spring in Stockholm. We know that lunch on a park bench might sound like a pretty average experience. But sometimes a good old wooden bench, a nice soup, the company of someone you love and a little sunshine is all you need to have a great day.

A while back we did a post about roots. Since then, we have actually implemented them a lot more in our meals. This soup is one of our latest favorites. When bubbling on the stove, hints of flavors from celeriac root, parsnip, sunchoke, lemon, fresh oregano and white wine fills the kitchen. And as you dig in you will immediately be struck by its creaminess, which is enhanced by the white beans. Roots may look wrinkly on the outside, but they are smooth as butter when used in soups.

When we were in Copenhagen last weekend we got a batch of these purple potatoes from Luise’s mom. Aren’t they wildly beautiful!? We turned them into crispy oven baked chips, but if you have more suggestions on how to use these small explosions of color we’d love to hear them.

That’s it for today. Go make this soup now. But remember to check back with us soon as we have some pretty exciting news coming up in our next post.

Root & White Bean Soup
Serves 4

2,2 lb (1 kg) root vegetables (celeriac, parsnip, jerusalem artichoke, turnip root, parsley root…)
1 onion, peeled and quartered
4 clove garlic, peeled
2 cups (500 ml) cooked white beans
4 – 6 cups (1-1 1/2 liter) water
½ cup (125 ml) white wine
½ lemon, juice
a couple of fresh oregano sprigs
2 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Homemade purple potato chips
1 lb (1/2 kg) purple potatoes (you can use other kinds of potatoes)
sea salt, to sprinkle

Preheat the oven to 400F/200°C.

Prepare the root veggies: Wash well and cut into large pieces, place on a baking sheet together with onion and garlic. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden and soft inside.

Meanwhile prepare the purple potatoes: Slice the potatoes paper thin by using a mandolin or a sharp knife. Pad them dry with a kitchen towel and place on a parchment covered baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes or until lightly brown and the edge lift slightly. Turn them every 5 minutes. Keep an eye on them as they burn easily. When done, remove from oven and sprinkle with salt.

Finishing the soup: Remove the root vegetables from the oven (let cool slightly) and place in food processor or use an immersion blender. Add beans and water (start with 4 cups, add more if needed) and mix until smooth. Pour the soup into a pot, bring to a simmer on medium heat and add white wine, lemon juice and oregano. Bring to a boil and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the stove and stir in the olive oil. Serve in bowls and garnish with your homemade potato chips and fresh herbs.

As you read this we’ll be on a plane to Copenhagen. We are spending the weekend there with a whole bunch of family. Luise is showing us around. She has lived almost four years in Sweden now, but loves to go back and visit her old hometown. We are also meeting up with one of our favorite bloggers, Sarah B of My New Roots. Yay!

Before we left I prepared these treats. I actually started making them without knowing what I would end up with. My only plan was to pair apricots with grapefruit. And to make something very uncomplicated. Maximum four ingredients. I kind of expected that I would end up with raw apricot bars. But after blending the ingredients together, the consistency felt a bit too loose so I decided to bake them. A while in the oven was exactly what was needed. Out came these golden sticky bite-sized toffee bars. I chose to make them small since I think normal size bars can be a bit too heavy sometimes. These are the perfect size.

The flavors came out exactly as I hoped. Naturally sweet, flavorful and with just a hint of tartness. Pack them as a snack or for a children’s birthday party. I can also imagine that this recipe (minus the baking) would be perfect as a raw cake topping or filling.

Before we leave you with these indulgent snacks, we just want to say THANK YOU to all of you who have downloaded our app Green Kitchen. We are so grateful and overwhelmed by your support and kind notes. The Australian newspaper Sydney Morning Herald has recently included Green Kitchen in their list of the 25 best iPad apps. Apple has featured it on their New & Noteworthy sections worldwide. And right now it is App of the Week in the Scandinavian App Stores. We have already sent an update to Apple with 6 more recipes and we also corrected some sloppy spelling mistakes (sorry about that!). We expect them to approve it any day now. So more recipes are on there way.

We will be back next week with some photos from a (hopefully) sunny Copenhagen.

Apricot & Grapefruit Toffee
Makes around 40 bite-sized bars or 12 larger

You can of course swap the almonds for other nuts and the grapefruit juice for any other citrus juice. If you have a very powerful blender or very soft apricots, you don’t have to soak them.

1 1/2 cup (250 g) dried apricots
1 cup grapefruit juice (approx. 1 grapefruit)
1/2 cup (100 g) roasted almonds
2 tbsp dried shredded coconut (unsweetened)

1. Start by soaking the apricots in 1 cup grapefruit juice for 3 hours.
2. Roast the almonds on 300F (150°C) for 7-8 minutes. Remove from the oven (leave the heat on), and add them to a blender or food processor. Pulse for 20 seconds, until the almonds have turned into a coarse flour. Pour it in a cup and set aside.
3. Add the grapefruit soaked apricots to the blender, together with half of the remaining juice. Pulse until everything has turned into a sticky mess. If the apricots won’t blend, try adding some more of the remaining juice.
4. Add the almonds and the shredded coconut to the blender and pulse until everything is combined into a sticky mixture.
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the mixture out on it. Use a spatula to form the mixture into a rectangle, around 1/2 inch (1 1/2 cm) high.
6. Bake on 300F (150°C) for 20 mins. Remove from the heat, cut them into preferred size and put them back into the oven for 7-8 minutes more. Keep an eye on them so they don’t burn.
7. When warm they will still be a bit loose. But if you wait until they cool off they will become firmer.
8. Wrap them in wrapping paper and store in an airtight container in the fridge. Eat them within a week.

Before we are digging in on today’s dish, can I just take five seconds and tell you how much I love my daughter. One week ago Elsa turned two. And it got me thinking. I never ever expected parenting to be this much fun. But it is! She is just super hilarious and completely amazing all the time. And the hugs she gives. So utterly honest and full of love. Just needed to say that. Now on to the food.

Hopefully we only have a few more days of winter left. But we still wanted to give you one last comforting recipe before moving on to spring food. This stew is something that has kept us going through the dark and cold Swedish winter. Warm spices, tender sweet potato, chewy black beluga lentils, shaved fennel, a dollop honey and a few tablespoons of sauerkraut. Yes, this dish is probably as comforting as it gets. It’s like one of Elsa’s hugs. Warm and soft and full of life.

If you haven’t tried sauerkraut before, we urge you to give it a try. This fermented finely shredded cabbage – similar to the Korean kimchi, but less spicy – is not only super healthy, but it also gives a fresh twang to whatever you mix it with. In our recipe it works especially good because we both have honey and sweet potatoes that balance the sourness from the sauerkraut.

You can make your own sauerkraut. It is not that complicated, but it takes a while to get the whole fermentation thing going. So if you plan on making this dish sometime this month, you might want to pick up a jar from your supermarket or health store.

I spent the autumn experimenting with my own kimchi recipe. I still have a few jars in our fridge, but after a few months in there I am afraid to open it, thinking it might talk back to me.

Beluga Lentil, Sweet Potato & Fennel Stew with Sauerkraut

If you don’t want the lentils to color the rest of the stew you could also cook them separately (as we have done in the photo above), and then add them to the stew together with the sauerkraut and the honey. But the most nutritious way is to cook everything together.

2 tbsp ghee, coconut or olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp ground cardamom
½ tsp ground cilantro
1 pinch ground cayenne
1 inch fresh ginger, minced
4 garlic cloves
1 large red onion, diced
2 medium size sweet potatoes, cut into bite-size pieces
1 fennel bulb, halved and thinly sliced
1 cup lentils, rinsed
2 cups water
2 – 4 tbsp sauerkraut, more for serving
1 -2 tbsp honey
salt & pepper, to taste

1. Melt ghee, coconut or olive oil in a thick-bottomed pot on medium heat.
2. Add cumin, turmeric, cardamom, cilantro and cayenne. Stir constantly to prevent it from burning.
3. When the spices smell fragrant, add ginger, garlic and onions and cook for about 3–5 minutes. Add a little water if it is to dry.
4. Add sweet potatoes and fennel and stir for a couple of minutes. Meanwhile rinse and drain the lentils.
5. Add lentils and water, cover and let simmer for 30 minutes or until the lentils are cooked.
6. Add sauerkraut and honey. Season to taste with salt & pepper.
7. Serve in bowls and top with sauerkraut and fresh herbs.