Persimmon Smoothie Bowl

Persimmons (for the Dutchies: Kaki Fruit), for me a 'new' type of fruit which I just tried and they are delicious! But you have to make sure they are ripe and soft when you eat them because then the sweetness is even better! The fruit is high in Vitamin C so perfect for Fall and Winter! We had a heavy bootcamp training session this morning so when I got home I was really hungry! Found a persimmon in my fruit bowl and decided to make another smoothie bowl with it! It's perfect, high in protein due to the quark so perfect for building those muscles!

Duration: 5 minutes

The ingredients:

• 1 persimmon
• 1 banana
• 4 tbs quark (or (greek) yoghurt if you don't like quark)
• 1 ts chia seeds
• 1 tbs homemade granola

What you do:

1. Simple add 3/4 of the persimmon (cut into pieces) and 3/4 of the banana (sliced) to your blender together with the quark and blend until smooth. Add a splash of water if it doesn't blend well.
2. Poor it into a bowl and top it with the rest of the persimmon and banana. Add the granola and the chiaseeds and your delicious breakfast or post workout snack is ready to be eaten!

Enjoy!

Fish Cuisine with Green Beans and Baked Sweet Potato

This is so my week! Last Tuesday I heard that my article named: "Implementation matters": but what do we actually measure? A systematic review of process evaluations for worksite health promotion programs" was accepted for publication! It's not online yet, just received the proof version and need to make some small changes in layout but I'm super excited! One step closer to getting my PhD! For those of you who don't know it, I'm currently working at my PhD project which focusses on the implementation of lifestyle interventions at the worksite. Very interesting! And I need to finish it 1 April 2013 so need to work hard these last couple of months to finish it. That's also the reason that I don't post a new recipe every day because I just simply don't always have the time. But today I scheduled it so here is a new recipe, partly my idea and the fish recipe is from a Dutch Cooking book that's really helpful if you try to eat clean and make lots yourself! I got it as a gift from my dear friend Lizzy for helping her with the Lizz is More Vitality Event.  (Koken met Karin: Zonder pakjes & zakjes deel 2 door Karin Luiten. Onder andere verkrijgbaar op www.bol.com (link gaat direct naar het kookboek!)

 

Duration: 20 minutes

The ingredients for 1 serving:

• 1 white fish fillet of about 150 g (I used pollock from the freezer which I defrosted in the refrigerator, but you can also use codfish)
• 1 lemon
• 1 slice of spelt bread without crust
• 3 tbs quark
• Fresh parsley
• 1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1 ts sweet paprika powder
• 100 gr green beans
• 150 gr sweet potato 
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• Salt & pepper

What you do:

1. Cook water in your kettle and preheat your oven to 200 degrees of Celsius. Peel the skin from the sweet potato with a peeler and cut it into cubes of roughly the same size. Boil these 10 minutes in a pan with some sea salt, until they are fairly soft. 
2. Meanwhile, cut the ends of the beans and get the fish out of your refrigerator and pat dry with paper towels and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Crumble the bread in your food processor and put in a small bowl. Finely shop the parsley and at this to the breadcrum with some lemon zest, the olive oil, quark, juice of half a lemon, sweet paprika powder, salt and pepper and mix well!
3. Put the fish fillets in a greased baking dish and spoon over the quark mixture and bake in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes depending on how thick the fillet is).
4. Cook the green beans for about 10 minutes. Drain the water from the sweet potato, pat dry with paper towels and add to a hot frying pan with 1 tablespoon olive oil and fresh thyme and rosemary leaves. Bake for about 5-8 minutes. 
5. When everything is done put the beans on your plate with the fish on top and the potatoes on the side.

Enjoy!

Some Facts About the Natural Sugar Content of Fruits

I just love fruit! It's one of my favorite healthy snacks and I incorporate them in my diet every day! Since I don't eat any artificial sugars any more fruit is really my moment to have something sweet. Try it yourself! Stay away from any products that contain a lot of refined and artificial sugars and syrups and your taste buds will adapt and your fruit tastes way better and much sweeter! Sometimes I really crave a cake or something else with sugar and that's just my body telling me that it is in need of a sugar boost. I think it's really important to listen to your body, but instead of going to buy a cake I reach to fruit instead!

The amount of sugar that each type of fruit contains vary greatly so it's good to have some information about the natural content of sugars in fruit. But I do want to stress that fruit is healthy! Not as healthy as vegetables but still very healthy! Fruit contain mostly simple carbohydrates which in theory makes them part of the 'bad' carbohydrates and sugars. But fruit also contains high amount of dietary fibers. These fibers inhibit the absorption of sugar and this combination makes this the only simple carbohydrate that is healthy! If you want to avoid a rapid raise in your blood sugar levels you can also add some unsalted and unroasted nuts to your snacktime (see: Fruit as a Healthy Snack). Of course variation is key, so vary your fruits because different fruits have different positive effects on your health because they contain different vitamins, minerals and nutrients. But to give you insight into the natural content of sugar in fruit I found this chart which could be helpful if you want to keep track of your sugar intake! Note it respresents the amount of sugar per 100 grams of fruit!

Grilled Portobello Sandwich

Last Sunday I made this delicious grilled Portobello sandwich from Jamies 15 minute meals! I had it for dinner so I ate two of these sandwiches but they are also perfect for lunch at home, just use half of the ingredients. And if you want a vegetarian option just omit the ham! The original recipe has a radish salad on the side but I choose not to and just have two of these amazing sandwiches!

Duration: 15 minutes

The ingredients for 1 person dinner:

• 2 spelt baguettes
• 2 Portobello mushrooms
• 8 slices 30+ cheese
• Some fresh thyme leaves
• 1 ripe pear
• 4 slices raw ham
• 1 tomato
• 2 tbs cottage cheese
• Pepper & salt
• Couple of salad or arugula leaves

What you do:

1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees of Celsius and bake the spelt baguettes.
2. Cut the stems of the Portobello's and put the caps in a grill pan on high heat. The water will go out of them! After about 5 to 8 minutes they will be done.
3. When the baguettes are done get them out of the oven and put the oven on grill position.
4. Put the mushrooms in a baking dish with the slices cheese on top. Sprinkle over some fresh thyme leaves and put under the grill in the oven until the cheese is melted (about 5 minutes).
5. Meanwhile, cut the pear into quarters, put them in the hot grill pan and turn when grilled on one side. Then put it the raw ham and bake for 1 to 2 minutes. 
6. Put the cottage cheese on the sandwich, season with salt and pepper. Slice the tomato and put on top with the salad or arugula. Get the Portobello's out of the oven, halve them and put them on the sandwich with the smoked ham. Put the pear on the side and your dinner or lunch is ready!

 Enjoy!

Fig & Ham Bruschetta

Last Saturday I had a couple of friends over from Bootcamp and made them dinner! As a starter I decided to make these fig and ham bruschetta's from my new Delicious cookbook which I got from my mom. And they were delicious, perfect combination of flavors! It fits an Italian meal very well.

Of course you can also use the ingredients to make a delicious lunch baguette! Just substitute the ciabatta for whole wheat or spelt bread and cut the figs smaller after you grilled them!

Duration: 10 minutes

The ingredients for 4 servings:

• 12 slices ciabatta bread (If you want a more healthy version try whole wheat baguette!)
• 12 slices thinly sliced raw ham
• 8 fresh figs
• Soft goat cheese
• Some fresh basil leaves
• Olive oil

 Directions:

1. Put your grill pan on high heat. Lightly brush both sizes of the ciabatta slices with olive oil and put them in the grill pan for 1 to 2 minutes each side until golden brown.
2. When they are done put three pieces on each plate. Then halve the figs and lightly brush the pulp with olive oil and put them 'pulp-down' in the grill pan until they are caramelized (takes about 1 to 2  minutes).
3. Meanwhile put the slices of raw ham on top of the ciabatta. When the figs are done put 4 on each plate on top of the ham and crumble over the goat cheese. Finish with some fresh basil leaves and your starter is ready!  

Variation tip: If you're not a hugh fan of goat cheese you can also use feta cheese or blue cheese.

Enjoy!