Shiitake Mushrooms with Vegetable Soup

Some Metabolic Balance clients have Shiitake or Pleurotis or Oyster Mushrooms on their plans and especially in Phase 2 it is for most a kind of challenge to make a decent meal with it! Shiitake and Pleurotis are a great source of vegetarian protein and are actually very versatile and easy to use, especially if you make a soup of it!

The soup is meant as a means of transportation for the mushrooms and the vegetables!

Shiitake Mushrooms with Vegetable Soup

Ingredients for 1 Portion:

130g Shiitake Mushrooms (dried 10%)
135g vegetablese like chinese cabbage, paksoi
spring onion
1 tsp organic vegetable stock (like Morga or Naturata)
250 ml water
1 cm fresh ginger
red chili

Preparation:

Make the soup, take a big pan, put water and vegetable stock powder and the cleaned ginger in it and cook for 5 minutes. Cut your vegetables in stripes and the mushrooms in stripes too. Give everyting in the soup and cook for another 2 minutes . In Phase 3 you can add some Tamaris Soy sauce (gluten free) to it, some spring onions cut in rings and a bit of chili flakes or red chili (towards the end). Cook it in sesame or coconut oil in phase 3 is super too!

This very nutritious dish takes less than 10 minutes to prepare! To make the Asian experience complete use an Asian spoon.

Variation nr. 2: Make it with tofu instead of with mushrooms!

Chicken Breast with Sauerkraut

Baked chicken with sauerkraut and apple

Ingredients (for 1 person)
1 portion chicken breast
1 portion vegetables:
sauerkraut
20 ml. vegetable stock
fruit portion apple
pepper and salt

Preparation

Take the sauerkraut from the bag and let it drain. Clean and cut the apple in slices.
Wash the chicken under cold water and cut into 3 pieces. Season with salt and pepper.
heat up a pan and give in the chicken, cook on both sides for about 3  minutes. Take the chicken out and place in alufoil for a while. Give sauerkraut and apple in the pan and add the chicken on top covering it with sauerkraut. Add the vegetable stock and place the lid on the pan and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

Kale-Potato Mash, the Dutch Way!

Kale is an absolute staple in Winter in Dutch kitchens. We typically eat it with a fatty sausage on top and we make a little hole in the mash and add some gravy in it! I love kale but not with all the added calories, i think it is a great dish if you want to eat something balanced and alkaline, the potatoes bind the acids nicely and kale is full of vitamins and minerals aswell. I have added some minced meat that i season quite heavily and i personally like to add some sambal oelek to this dish so it is nice and spicy!

Kale-Potato Mash

(serves 4)

Ingredients

1 kg potatoes (the mehlig kochend – or floury – kind)
700g kale (cut up with a chopper or blender)
500g minced meat (beef or half-half with minced pork or minced lamb)
25g butter
1 tbsp. vinegar
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste

You’ll also need a potato masher (hand-held kitchen tool).

Preparation

• Bring a pot of water to the boil.
• In the meantime, peel, wash and dice the potatoes.
• Add a dash of salt and the potatoes to the water, and boil until done (ca. 20 minutes).
• Add the kale, cover with a lid, and cook for another 10 minutes. The kale will shrink!
• In a separate pan, cook the minced meat in olive oil, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.
• Once the potatoes and kale are cooked, discard the cooking liquid, reserving 1 cup.

• In the now-empty pot, mash the potatoes and kale by hand. Add the cooking liquid as needed, until you get the consistency you like.
• Add the minced meat and mix well.
• Just before serving, add a pat of butter, a dash of salt or pepper if needed, and the vinegar, and you’re done!

 

Note: This dish can also be eaten with sausage or some vegan wienerli (sausage replacements) or soy meat.

Italian Minestrone Soup

I love minestrone soup, it is so easy to make and the flavours are just lovely. It also fills you up on a cold day or when you just come from the office, it is so easy to quickly heat up and have a full fledges meal in no time. Just takes a little bit of planning ahead that’s all!

Italian Minestrone soup

(serves 4)

 Ingredients 

2 cans white beans, rinsed
150g celery, sliced (using the green, top section of the stalk, leaves reserved)
200g potatoes, diced (to bind)
200g carrots, diced
200g leek, sliced into rings
200g kohlrabi, diced
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
3 tbsp. olive oil
1.3L organic vegetable stock
2 tomatoes
salt & pepper to taste

 

Preparation

• Cut the celery stalk, reserving the leaves, into small cubes.
• Heat the olive oil in a pan, and add all the vegetables, stirring well.
• Add the chopped onion and minced garlic. Cook 5 minutes on medium-high heat.
• Add the vegetable stock, and for 15 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes and white beans, and cook on medium heat for another 15 minutes.
• Chop the celery leaves finely.

 

Before serving, season to taste, sprinkling chopped celery leaves over each bowl.

 

Bean or Lentil Stew with Vegetables

For my clients (and for me too) this is my absolute favourite bean or lentil stew recipe. You can pop it in the oven and make sure you set the oven’s alarm at 40 minutes to check if lentils or beans are properly cooked, they should still have a bit of a bite.

Excellent dish in the afternoon (to heat up) to keep your cravings at bay and your energy levels high and your tummy full! Enjoy.

I am really curious what you think of this dish, will you let me know in the comment`s?

Bean/Lentil Stew with vegetables

(serves 4)

Ingredients
500g vegetables (divided into 4 equal portions of 125g each):
Zucchini, celery stalks or celeriac, shallots, tomatoes
300g dried beans (NOT canned)
3 tbsp. rosemary
2 garlic cloves
8,5 dl (850ml) vegetable stock
salt & pepper to taste
balsamic vinegar (just before serving)

Preparation

• Preheat the oven on 160°C.
• Wash the beans, and clean and cut the vegetables into bite-size pieces.
• Heat an oven-safe pot or pan and cook the garlic, rosemary, and vegetables together in a splash of olive oil.
• Add the washed beans, cook for 5 minutes.
• Add the vegetable stock, cover the pan, and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Place the covered pan in the pre-heated oven. Bake for 60 minutes or slightly longer, as needed (keep the beans ’al dente’, though!).
• Stir the beans a few times, making sure that they’ve absorbed the vegetable stock.
• Before serving, add 1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper.

Heat it up, serve it cold, or freeze it! The prep for this meal is very easy, you just need to factor in your oven time.