This super easy mediterranean sun-dried tomato quinoa dish is my knew addiction. It’s so versatile, easy and nourisging – you’re going to love it!

[Ad for a super amazing workshop in Hamburg] Before I continue with my small series of „30 minute and under“-dishes, I have a small announcement to make. I am giving a speech at the BetterYou Workshop this Sunday in Hamburg. There are still some final tickets left, so there is a 50 % Mother’s Day special going on until the end of tonight. Simply use the code MAMAISTDIEBESTE at the Eventbrite check-out. In the workshop I will talk about my food philosophy, my take on a balanced diet and what drives my passion for healthy eating. I will also give some advice on healthy eating with a busy lifestyle. We will also cook a three-course meal together and have time to talk and mingle afterwards. I look forward to seeing many of you there! [End of ad]

Now on to this sensationally easy sun-dried quinoa dish. I don’t know why it has taken me so long to realize that it’s genius to cook your quinoa with some flavor-adding ingredients such as sun-dried tomatoes! It’s really a genius move that I will definitely be using in the near future a couple of times. Also, the non-greasy dry sun-dried tomatoes become so delicious and soft when cooked with the quinoa. Definitely one oft he many reasons why I love this dish.

The whole dish is made with only six ingredients: red onion, paprika powder, tomato puree, sun-dried tomatoes, quinoa, and optionally vegetable stock paste or sea salt. That’s it. Of course you can make it even better by adding pine nuts, fresh basil, olives and rocket to make it even more Mediterranean-style.

The best thing about this quinoa is that it really is so versatile. I have made it a couple of times by itself for lunch, but you can also eat it with roasted vegetables, or turn it into a salad with rocket. You can even use it as a base for a delicious Buddha bowl. There are endless possibilities.
If you live in Germany, then you can also get your local quinoa now as some local farmers are successfully harvesting quinoa in northern Germany – super exciting I think!

Quinoa is one of my favorite pseudo-grains and my preferred plant-based protein source. Quinoa not only contains all the essential amino acids, it also contains the amino acid L-Tryptophan, which aids in the production of the happiness-hormone serotonin. How amazing is that! I guess it’s safe to say that quinoa really does make you happy on a bio-molecular level! So cool!

I am sure you’ll love this super quick and delicious quinoa version just as much as I do! I look forward to seeing your creations online, so tag me on social media, if you want me to see your creations or use the hashtag #heavenlynnhealthy.

Guten Appetit!

The post Super quick mediterranean sun-dried tomato quinoa – 30-minute recipes appeared first on Heavenlynn Healthy.

Today I’m starting a new section of the blog called “Heavenlynn’s friends from around the world”. As my blog is approaching its first blog birthday on the 1st of March, I asked some of my blogger and Instagram friends to join my birthday party by contributing a healthy recipe or anything else health-related. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably noticed that I am quite active on this social media channel. Instagram has really helped my blog grow over this past year, and it has allowed me to connect with like-minded, health-conscious people from around the world.

One of these people is the lovely Kathrin, who was so kind to share this gorgeous looking and heavenly tasting eggplant curry with us. Kathrin is one of the first people that I connected with through Instagram, and her feed is absolutely stunning and you need to check it out asap if you have Instagram. Almost 50,000 people follow Kathrin’s healthy journey, and her style is so unique that you could recognize her photos amongst thousands. I am so honored that Kathrin agreed to sharing one of her favorite recipes with us today, and let me tell you, this curry is such a flavorful dish that I could eat it every night. The roasted chickpeas make this curry so unique and add a nice unexpected crunch to the meal. If you haven’t roasted chickpeas before, you need to give this a try, because they aren’t just the best snack, but also a great topping for salads or soups. The number of spices (9!) that Kathrin uses for this curry may seem like a lot, but trust me, every single one is worth it, and makes this curry so unique and delicious.

Below the recipe, you’ll find a short and inspiring interview with the developer of this recipe, Kathrin.

An interview with Kathrin

Who are you and what do you do?

Most of the day I am an online editor, social media manager and consultant at a PR firm in Hamburg. The rest of the day, you can find me in either in my small kitchen, practicing Yoga, or spending time with my friends. I am 28 years old (every time I write this, I think to myself: “Oh wow, that’s already really old!” :)).

Where do you live?

In Germany’s most most beautiful city, Hamburg. I live in an exciting small neighborhood with many restaurants, cafés and boutiques close to the river Alster.

What inspired you to eat healthy? 

I’ve always loved to eat and to cook. When I was a child, my mom used to incorporate lots of vegetables and fruit into my diet, and I was a child that basically ate anything (spinach was my favorite thing in the world). So when I moved out when I was 19 to go to university, I started eating even more consciously, paying closer attention to regional food that I bought on the farmers’ market. Most of my meals (well, except for the school cafeteria food) were already healthy back then. About a year and a half ago, I started eating even more consciously, and some awesome blogs like Nutrition Stripped and Green Kitchen Stories introduced me to this clean, holistic way of eating. After I started my Instagram account about a year ago, my passion for healthy food grew even more, because I was exposed to so many more great accounts, that inspire me every day to eat healthy and consciously.

Why do you care about the healthy, holistic way of eating? 

When I was a child, I used to have problems with allergies and skin irritations, which forced me to cut certain foods like milk or wheat out of my diet, to test if they were the reason for my problems. These health issues still follow me today, and I’ve come to notice that I can really help my skin by restricting myself from eating milk or wheat. This kind of diet also significantly improved my immune system and mood. For me eating healthy means eating balanced and consciously.  I eat a lot of vegetables and fruit, legumes, spelt or whole wheat products, but I also can’t say no to pizza, pasta or sweets all the time. I think it’s important to find the right balance, and then you don’t need to restrict yourself from eating certain foods. However, I try to cook most of my meals from scratch, and I avoid packaged foods and ready-to-eat meals.

What is your all time favorite meal that you could eat every day? 
Smoothies, definitely. Greens, beeries, mango or banana. I love smoothies. And almond butter. When it comes to savory dishes, I’d say definitely sweet potato fries and avocados.

Savory or sweet? 
Principally, I love to eat savory. Except for breakfast, them I like it sweet.

Breakfast person or dinner-lover? 
Breakfast is the most important meal for me. I even get up at 6am sometimes, to fit it into my busy schedule. But I could never go to bed without having had dinner.

Thank you for this lovely recipe and the interview, Kathrin. 

The post Heavenlynn’s Friends: Eggplant Curry with Roasted Chickpeas by Kathrin appeared first on Heavenlynn Healthy.

You are going to love this risotto. I promise. It’s so incredibly good as it combines all my favorite ingredients and it’s so heavenly creamy. I’ve always had a thing for risottos, I love their creaminess, the cheesy flavor and the different vegetables that you can put in it. Unfortunately I am never able to eat it all because they are just way too heavy. Whenever I have cheese-stuffed risottos it feels like I carry a stone in my stomach afterwards. That may partially be due to the large amounts of risotto that you get in German restaurants, but of course it’s also due to the amounts of cheese. That’s why this sweet potato risotto is completely free of cheese but still tastes incredible. Its creaminess comes from the sweet potatoes and avocado which turn into a heavenly cream when pureed. The lime juice and apple cider vinegar (or white balsamic vinegar – whatever you have in stock) add a bit of tanginess and sort of break the sweetness of the other ingredients – making it the perfect risotto ever.
Every single ingredient in this dish is incredibly good for you. While traditional risottos are made with sticky white rice, this one uses brown rice instead. Brown rice is much more healthy than the refined white version, because it still contains all the nutrients which have been stripped away from his white brother. It contains much more fiber which keep you satisfied for ours. Fiber also stabilizes your blood sugar balance, which means that it will release its carbohydrates over a longer period of time, thus preventing you to fall into those nasty sugar lows. The sweet potatoes add healthy vitamins and minerals to the risotto such as vitamin A, which is vital for a healthy vision. They are also bursting with antioxidants, that protect our body from harmful free radicals, thus preventing chronic diseases such as certain types of cancer.  Risotto is usually quite a heavy meal due to mountains of cheese it contains, which fill you up pretty quick but leave you full and sometimes even uncomfortable. In this risotto, it’s the healthy fiber that fills you up and keeps you satisfied four hours. So you’ll have lots of energy after eating this delicious meal. 

Ingredients:

– 1kg sweet potatoes (about 2 large ones)
– 1 cup (180g) brown rice
– 1 tbsp paprika powder
– 1 tbsp rosemary
– 1 tsp cinnamon
– 1 tbsp olive oil
– 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar or white balsamic
– 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
– 1/2 avocado
– 1 lime
– 2 tbsp coconut milk (full fat)
– a handful of fresh coriander (cilantro)
– salt and pepper

METHOD

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C. Start by cooking the brown rice according to the package. This should take between 25 and 45 minutes, depending on your kind of rice.
2. Start by peeling the sweet potatoes. Cut them roughly into cubes and place them on a baking tray. Sprinkle them with the olive oil, the paprika powder, rosemary, cinnamon and a sprinkle of salt. Roast them for about 20 – 25 minutes until they are heavenly soft.
3. Put about two handful of sweet potato cubes aside and place the remaining ones into food processor or high power blender. Add the avocado, coconut milk, apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper and the juice of the lime and blend until you have a creamy potato mash.
4. Now drain the rice and pour it into a large bowl. Combine it with the sweet potato mash and mix everything until the rice is completely covered.

Sprinkle with some chopped coriander and enjoy.

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