Let’s celebrate spring with this super speedy quick and easy tomato spinach pasta! If you’re just as sunburned and happy faced as the rest of us, then chances are you live in Germany. These past two weeks have been crazy (amazingly) warm. Not just warm. Summer-like temperatures reaching all the way up to 28 degrees celcius. If you live in the U.S.: I used to be super good at converting celcius to Fahrenheit, but now I’m even too lazy to convert it. Let’s just say it was flip flop, shorts and stay out late while BBQ-ing weather.

It was amazing and I hope this wasn’t the only week of 2018 where Germany will be blessed with summer weather. Yup. If you consider moving to Germany. Think twice, because giving up U.S., South American or Australian weather for German weather is mental. Full stop. Don’t know what that has got to do with my quick and easy tomato spinach pasta, so let’s head over to the actual recipe.

On a different note, especially now that the days are longer and you can actually spend time outside again, we are craving super easy, delicious yet nutritious meals. That’s why I’ve come up with a new idea for the past couple of weeks: under 30 minute nutritious meals. Today marks the start, and I got an amazingly tasty yet super simple tomato and spinach pasta for you. I eat pasta probably two or three times a week for lunch or dinner, so I’ve got some great tips how to pimp your pasta and make it even more nutritious.

Here are my kitchen hacks for quick and nutritious pasta dishes:

• Freeze pre-chopped onions and garlic. This saves you loads of time when you want to make the actual dish. I tend to peel a few onions every month, freeze them already chopped and then use them up within a month. Best thing ever.
• Use tinned tomatoes. I know this isn’t super sexy, but tinned tomatos are life-savers in my kitchen.
• Use lentil, buckwheat, brown rice or quinoa pasta instead of pasta made from grains. They are richer in protein and fiber and taste delicious.
• Up your Greens: Freeze your own baby spinach. It is the best addition to any meal. Also keep frozen peas in the freezer at all times. They are the easiest green energy booster.
• Up your protein: always add a bit of nut butter or sunflower seed butter to your sauces. The protein and fat in the butter will keep you satisfied longer while adding well-needed nutrients.
• Sprinkle some chopped nuts, seeds, hemp seeds or fresh herbs over your pasta. A quick way of adding more nutrients.

I hope you’ll find these tips helpful. They safe me tons of time and sweat when I don’t know what to cook. And I hope you will enjoy this quick and easy tomato spinach pasta!

Enjoy!

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*This post is sponsored by REWE.

Have you ever thought about where mushrooms come from? I recently had the pleasure to visit a local mushroom producer from REWE*, and he showed me the whole process of modern mushroom production.

First things first, the mushrooms that you find in the supermarket have never seen a forest in their lifetime. It’s an industrial process that allows mushroom producer to meet the demand of the consumers. Only few of us still have the time or the knowledge to pick mushrooms on the forest, hence, mushroom producers like Dohme in Lower Saxony enable us to eat mushrooms whenever we want to.

REWE Regional Ambassador – a matter of my heart

Eating locally grown food is a matter of my heart. I’m not saying that I’m perfect – heaven forbid – but since I work with and like to eat food a lot, I want to know where my food comes from. That’s why I love the REWE campaign that aims to make our locally grown food more transparent. You might have seen the portraits of local farmers in your REWE market, or you may have noticed the yellow REWE Regional logo that labels all locally grown products. I think it’s a great initiative that I absolutely support.

As a REWE ambassador, I get to visit local farmers this year and learn how they grow their crop. Even though I grew up on the countryside, these visits are always so interesting to me, because there is so much that I do not know about local agriculture. Last time I visited a strawberry farm, and this time, I learned all about the production of mushrooms.

The four phases of mushroom production

Growing mushrooms is not as easy as it may seem. A lot has to do with the right temperature, the right resources and lots of space. The first phase of mushroom production is the mixture of water, hay, and horse dung. Together they undergo a process that creates heat and steam, and eventually turns into a substrate that is rich in nutrients, a breeding ground for mushrooms. In the big halls that you see on the picture, the mixture has to be moved from left to right constantly to ensure the best results. In the second phase, the breeding ground has to be freed from unwanted bacteria. This happens with heat, similar to pasteurization. During the third phase, the mushroom spores are seeded so they can grow through the breeding ground. The whole process takes roughly 8 weeks before the mushrooms can be harvested. At Dohme, this happens by human hand – every single mushroom!

Mushroom production and sustainability

Before visiting the mushroom production, I was sceptical about industrial agriculture and sustainability. Though I am not an expert at sustainable agriculture, I leaned that the mushroom production is more sustainable than I thought. First of all, Dohme uses no chemicals for their work. Mushrooms only grow on dead organic material of horse dung, water and hay, which  makes a substrate that resembles forest grounds – no chemicals necessary. They also use bio gas for heating and cooling, and photovoltaic for parts of their energy needs. Dohme is also working on new packagings for the mushrooms to eliminate plastic use. It may not be perfectly sustainable yet, but it’s definitely a beginning.

Mushrooms and their amazing health benefits

The healing powers of mushrooms have been known to our ancestors for hundreds of years. Especially in the Chinese medicine, it is common to use mushrooms for treating illnesses. Even if you do not use mushrooms for medical purposes, they contain lots of nutrients such as proteins, and also micronutrients such as potassium, and even iron. Yet another reason to enjoy mushrooms on a regular basis, don’t you think?

I hope that I was able to give you a quick overview of how mushrooms are grown and harvested. It’s so interesting to learn about how our food ends up on our table, don’t you agree? By the way, I wanted to end this post with a quick “did you know…?”. Did you know that you shouldn’t wash mushrooms? If you want, you can brush them lightly, but washing them will decrease their flavor. Now you know how to properly prepare mushrooms.

If you live in Germany and grocery shop at REWE, then you will now know where your mushrooms come from. It’ll make for a good story at the dinner table, believe me.

Of course I also brought you a new and super easy recipe along with all this information about mushrooms. It’s such an easy weekday dish, and it’s just waiting for you to give it a try.

Enjoy!

*This post is sponsored by REWE. All opinions are my own, always. Thank you for supporting the brands that support my daily recipe testing sessions.

The post Quick Mushroom-Millet Stir-Fry and a visit to a local mushroom farm with REWE* appeared first on Heavenlynn Healthy.

Asparagus Sandwich with Pea Basil Creme that will transform the way you think about asparagus.

You guys have got to try this sandwich.

I’m serious – if you’ve never had asparagus on bread before then you’ve been missing out on a lot of fun. I don’t know why I have never thought about it before, but asparagus and crispy sourdough bread go so increadibly well together. Since I love to cook seasonally, ’tis is the season for asparagus. I’ve already had asparagus soup this year, asparagus salad, plain asparagus with avocado hollandaise and another oriental asparagus chickpea salad (very delicious by the way!). Today’s recipe is perfect for leftover asparagus, which is pretty common in my kitchen as my boyfriend is not the biggest fan of the green stalks. My love for asparagus goes pretty deep. So deep, that I even participate in the yearly “asparagus relay” in my hometown.

Yup. You heard right. I said asparagus relay. And it’s everything you’re imaging right now.

The asparagus relay has become a real event in my town, and tickets always sell within minutes of its release. Every team has five runners, each one having to run roughly 2 miles, so it’s more a fun event than a real race. The winning team is drawn out of all participating teams, and they are all put on an XXL scale to measure – and the other side of the scale is filled with asparagus, strawberries, potatoes, sparkling wine and lots of other delicious goodies. What a win, hun?

So unfortunately this year, I won’t be able to run, because we didn’t get a ticket, but I will be cheering, eating asparagus and simply having a wonderful time. I think I should be suggesting that they add this recipe to the food booth lists, because it’s just so delicious.

Apart from being delicious, asparagus is also incredibly healthy. 200 grams of asparagus already cover 70% of the daily requirement of folic acid. The b-vitamin is espeically important for cell division, so without folic acid, there would be no life! That’s why pregnant women have an increased need of folic acid. The demand of folic acid increases the older we get, so it’s never wrong to stock up on folic acid. Other sources of folic acid are green leaves such as spinach or kale, but also nuts such as walnuts or hazelnuts.

The real hero of this dish, however, is the super easy peasy pea and basil creme. It’s basically just a mix of peas, basil, some lime juice and salt. Super basic, but super delicious. It definitely gives this sandwich an instant upgrade.

I also like it a lot with the date-dijon dressing from my quinoa salad, but it also tastes delicious on its own.

What is your favorite way to enjoy asparagus? Let me know in the comments below.

Enjoy!

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE OR HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS, QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

Feel free to leave a comment below, and don’t forget to tag your creations on social media using #heavenlynnhealthy.

I’d love for this blog to be a dialogue.

Merken

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This recipe is from my sister May. Since she has the celiac disease (a severe form of gluten intolerance) the recipe is completly gluten-free. If you leave out the feta cheese, it is even vegan.
The recipe is so simple and it has been my boyfriend and my go-to-recipe for the past couple of months. Not only is it easy and fast to make, it is also packed with great nutrients. It’s also a great recipe to make as your work lunch – it will keep you full all afternoon since it contains lots of protein from the chickpeas, but it won’t let you fall into the afternoon hole of fatigue.
 Health Benefits:
– iron (important for healthy red blood cells that transport oxygen through your body)
– lycopene (antioxidant that helps fight various diseases)
– manganese (for nerve health)
– protein (important for a healthy metabolism, immune systems, production of enzymes)
– vitamin C (good for your immune system, tissue health)

The beets are a great source of iron, the red pepper is the world’s best source of Vitamin C, tomatoes are packed with the anti-oxidant Lycopene which helps fight various diseases. The fresh mint adds the extra fresh touch to the recipe.
Even though I admit that the pre-cooked beets do not contain as many nutrients as the fresh ones do, they are a great option for all of us lacking time to prepare whole meals. If you want to make yourself feel better about the packaged beet, use raw chickpeas and soak them over night. That way you eliminate all the preservatives that canned chickpeas contain. But since nobody’s perfect, it is perfectly fine to use the canned ones. None of us is perfect and at least you’re trying to eat better by preparing this recipe.

Enjoy!

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