We have been enjoying Michael Ternoot's VEG & TABLES blog for a while now. His recepies look so good, so we had to reach out and have him curate 5 of his favorite recipes that help keep him (and you) looking perfect, here's his edit.
Beetroot Burger with Mango Chutney
Makes 4 burgers
For the chutney: 1 ripe mango | 2 ripe tomatoes | 1 red onion | 1 cm fresh ginger | 1 medjool date | 1 tbsp olive oil | 2-3 tbsp apple-cider vinegar | 1/2 tsp mustard seed, grinded | 1 tbsp garam masala
For the burgers:
3 medium beetroots | 2 tbsp olive oil | 1 small onion, chopped | 1 clove garlic, crushed | a handfull walnuts, crushed | 1 tsp fennel seeds, grinded | 130g tinned chickpeas | 1 medium egg | 150g oat flakes | peper and salt
For the dressing:
3 tbsp greek yogurt | 1 tbsp tahin | peper and salt | 1 tsp lemon juice
First make the chutney in advance. Cut the mango, tomatoes and onion in equal cubes. Chop the ginger and medjool date finely. Heat the olive oil on medium heat and cook the mango, tomatoes, onion, ginger and date 1 minute. Add the grinded musterd seeds and garam masala and mix. Add the vinegar. Turn the stove on low heat and let simmer for 15 minutes with the lid on the pan. Remove from heat, put in a airtight box and refrigerate overnight. Peel and slice the beetroots to make the burgers. Roast them for 10 minutes in the oven at 180°C.
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil and sweat the onion and garlic for a minute. Add the walnuts and grinded fennelseeds and cook for another minute. Put this in a foodprocessor, with the roasted beetroots and chickpeas. Pulse, on high speed, for 20 seconds. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add the egg and mix. Season with salt and pepper. Add the oat flakes and mix again.
Set away in the fridge for an hour (or a night) so the oats can soak up the liquid. Form with your hands or a metal ring 4 patties. Grill the beetroot burgers a couple of minutes on each side. Mix for the dressing all the above ingredients. To serve, take the base of a spelt burger bun. Add some beetroot salad and yogurt-tahin dressing. Put the burger on it. Brush with the chutney and top with some sprouts.
Carrot-Fennel Croquettes
Makes 8 croquettes:
1 big carrot, scrubbed | 1 tbsp pine nuts | 2 dried abricots, cut into small pieces | 1 small shallot, cut into wedges | 1 tbsp ground fennel seeds | pinch of peper and salt | 1 smal egg | 45g breadcrumbs | fresh parsley | flour
For the dressing:
125g ricotta | 80g white yogurt | 1 tbsp lime juice | 1 clove garlic | sesamseeds | dandelion salad | juice from blood orange | sweet apple, slices
Cut the carrot into small pieces. Steam it for 20 minutes untill tender. Transfer to a bowl, add the pine nuts and mash to a smooth purée. Add the abricots, shallot, egg, breadcrumb and spices to form a soft dough. When the dough is too sticky, add more breadcrumbs. Roll eight balls from it, lightly dusting with flour and place them on a tray lined with baking paper and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Heat olive oil (1cm deep) in a deep frying pan over medium heat. Cook the croquettes until golden (6minutes) and drain on absorbent paper. Or you can also cook them in the oven for 10 minutes at 180°C. Mix for the dressing, the ricotta, white yogurt, lime juice and garlic. Serve with sesamseeds, salad, juice from blood orange and sweet apple slices.
Michael Ternoot started his blog VEG & TABLES because although he's not a vegetarian he is a nutritionist that is curiously fascinated by vegetables.
Ricotta Gnocchi
Makes 30 gnocchi
For the tomato sauce:
450g San Marzano tomatoes | 1 precooked beetroot (optional) | 1/2 red or yellow onion, chopped | 1 large clove garlic, finely crushed | 2 tbsp cold pressend olive oil | 1 thsp cumin | 1 tbsp za’atar | 1/2 thsp chili flakes | pinch of salt | pepper
For the cheese gnocchi with spinach:
150g fresh spinach | 200g ricotta | 1 medium egg, beaten | 20g grated Parmesan cheese | salt and pepper | nutmeg | 4 tbsp bread crumbs | flour | few leaves of basil and Parmesan
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Bring water to a boil and blanch the tomatoes 10 seconds. Keep the water aside! Remove the tomato skin as also the seeds. Transfer the tomatoes to an ovenproof dish. Put the beet, red onion and crushed garlic with it. Drizzle with olive oil and season with cumin, za’atar, chili flakes, salt and peper. Cook them 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 °C.
Remove the cooked tomatoes from the oven. Cut the tomatoes coarsely and then add the tomato mass in an iron pan and heat on medium. Simmer for 10 minutes. Mix with a hand blender until you have a smooth tomato sauce. Whilst the tomato sauce is cooking, make the cheese gnocchi. Wash the spinach and remove the hard steals. Put the leaves with the adhering water in a saucepan and let shrink over medium heat. Drain the spinach in a colander, press as much as possible moisture (very important!) and chop the spinach leaves finely.
Mash the ricotta with a fork and mix the egg, parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg and breadcrumbs through it. Add the spinach and mix well. Dust a worksheet/table generously with flour and roll the cheese-spinach balls through it. At first it may seems a dirty and hopeless task but with some practice it will work.
Otherwise, use two spoons with flour in order to make balls. Bring the water from before with some salt in it to a boil and let the gnocchi’s gently glide in it. Wait until they come to the surface and remove them with a slotted spoon from the bowl. Serve the cheese-spinach gnocchi in the spicy tomatosauce and garnish with basil and some Parmesan cheese.
Carrot Cake
Ingrediënts for 6-8 slices
For the cake:
6 medium eggs | 6 tbsp hazelnut oil | 1 tsp honey (optional) | 5 medium carrots, thinly grated | 300g almond flour | 2 tsp baking powder | 1 tsp cinnamon | 1 tsp nutmeg | pinch of salt | 10 seedless dates, chopped | 80g raisins | 60g crushed walnuts | 50g coconut flakes | 2 pineapple (in juice) slices (optional)
For the cream:
400g cream cheese | 3 tbsp honey | 1/2 lime (juice) | 2 tbsp coconut flakes
For Topping: 2 tbsp crushed hazelnuts | zest of orange | chocolate sauce
Cake pan (16cm ø)
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Beat the eggs and add the hazelnut oil and honey. Mix the almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Add the eggs to it. Put this in a foodprocessor with the chopped dates and pulse about 10 seconds on medium stand. Add the raisins, crushed walnuts, coconut flakes, sliced pineapple slices and pulse another 10 seconds. Put this batter into an oiled an floured cake pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.
Stick a toothpick in the centre of the cake, when nothing sticks on it the cake is ready. Let it cool completely. Whisk together th cream cheese, honey, lime juice and coconut flakes. Put the half of it on top of the first layer. Put the second layer on top of it. Cover with the rest of the cream cheese. Finish with crushed hazelnuts, zest of orange and some chocolate sauce.
Banana Protein Smoothie
For 1 shake
BASIC: 1 banana | 250ml almondmilk* | 2 scoops whey protein (banana flavor) | 3 ice cubes | EXTRA: 15g dark chocolate | whipped coconut cream
Just blend all the basic ingredients untill smooth. The chocolate at the bottom is just melted chocolate but it firms immediately up when you pour in the cold milk. So if you want the taste of chocolate too, it’s better to chop it first and add it with the basic ingredients in the blender. If you like mocha, you can add 1 tbsp instant espresso powder. If you want to top it withwhipped coconut cream, be aware that you use full-fat coconut milk and that there is no guargum in the ingredients.
To make this, you have to put the coconut milk can in the refrigerator overnight. So you can better do this when you soak the almonds for the almondmilk. When you open it afterwards, the coconut cream will be seperated from the coconut liquid. Pour the coconut liquid in a bowl or use it instead of almondmilk in your shake and put the coconut cream in another bowl. Whip that cream and top it on your shake.
* To make the almondmilk: For 750ml
150g raw almondnuts | 750ml clean water | pinch of salt | spices (vanilla, cinnamon, clove, etc.)
Roast the nuts. Put them in a large bowl and let them soak overnight in enough water. Rinse them well. If you want a whiter milk, you can now pull off the membranes of the nuts, but it’s not necessary. Put the nuts in a blender with 750ml water and pulse for 1 minute on high speed. Sieve the mixture through a fine sieve or cheesecloth and press out all the moisture. Add the salt and flavors you want. I used one scraped vanilla bean, 1 tbsp cinnamon and 1 tbsp clove.
