Warm pumpkin, poppy seeds & pomegranate salad

Versiunea in limba romana:  Dovleac in crusta de mac, cu rucola & rodie 

This autumn was quite warm, dry and sunny so far in Bucharest, but for the last couple of days it's getting quite dark and cold. Leafs went from green to yellow in no time and now all my beautiful trees lust their crowns. It's autumn, all right. My kids already started to write their Santa letters. New versions every day, of course... 

When I discovered this salad on one of my favorites blogs, My new roots, I was in heaven. This happy colorful salad was exactly what I needed in a cloudy cold day. Warm pumpkin, poppy seeds, rocket salad and pomegranate. Happy autumn! 

250 g pumpkin, without seeds and skin, cut in 1 cm pieces
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp poppy seeds
fleur de sel
rocket salad (for 2 portions)
1 small onion, cut in rounds
juice of 1/2 lemon
a  splash of olive oil
salt, freshly ground
pomegranate

Heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Put the pumpkin, garlic, olive oil and poppy seeds in a heat resistant ceramic dish, mix well and bake for around 30 minutes.

 

Pumpkin must be soft, but not mashed. Let it cool for 15 minutes. 

Wash and dry the rocket salad. Open the pomegranate and put the seeds in a bowl, without crushing them. Mix rocket, onion,  olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mix a little. Put baked pumpkin and pomegranate on top and serve right away.

Aprox 2 portions. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from here.

Fig tart with orange cream and chocolate crust - raw vegan

Versiunea in limba romana: Tarta cu smochine, crema de portocale si blat de ciocolata

Happy vegan friday! I played  a little with almonds, cashews, oranges, vanilla, cocoa, vanilla honey (Kzarinne) and fresh figs and the result was delicious. What a beautiful tart! My kids loved it! I like raw desserts, as they are really easy to prepare, just a bit of waiting time, but it does not bother me.  This raw tart is healthy, easy to make and quite  filling, a little piece is all I could handle at a time. I can hardly imagine anyone fighting with an entire tart. Little healthy portions, perfect for satisfying sweet tooth cravings.  

A delicious tart with fresh figs, orange cream and chocolate crust. Simple, healthy, fast!  Happy Vegan Friday!

P.S. Status: 26 weeks, another 98 days to go, quite a round belly, resting a lot (forced relaxation, but doctors order, it's true). No extra weight except baby, so far. Have a great day!   xoxo

Crust
325 g raw almonds
30 g cocoa raw
3 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp salt

Cream
280 g raw cashews, kept in cold water for 2 hours
3 tsp vanilla honey
finely grated zest and juice of one orange
1 tsp lecithin granules

fresh figs 
maple syrup

Blitz almonds in a blender, untill  you obtain a course almond flour. Mix it with cocoa, maple syrup, coconut oil (very slightly warmed), vanilla and salt. It should look like fine crumbs. Put this crumbs in the tart tray, press it tightly and refrigerate for a while. 

To prepare the cream: drain cashews, then blitz it in the blender together with the orange juice and zest, vanilla honey and lecithin. Put the cream over the crust and refrigerate for a couple of hours. Just before serving,  cut the figs in thin slices.

Arrange it nicely over the tart and brush it with maple syrup. I chose maple syrup as it is easier to brush, but we can use also honey or agave nectar.

 

I prepared 3 tarts, using 12  cm diameter tart trays. 

Enjoy!

Maple ginger pumpkin cheesecake with walnuts in maple caramel

Versiunea in limba romana: Cheesecake cu dovleac aromat & nuci in caramel de sirop de artar

Ah, my precious! My perfect cheesecake: ginger, cinnamon & nutmeg flavored pumpkin, with a delightful mix of walnuts and pumpkin seeds in maple caramel. I baked it yesterday, refrigerated it overnight, guarded it carefully against the possible attack of drooling kids.  In the morning, my husband came from gym convinced to eat the cheesecake. It was a hard negotiation, but in the end we made a pact: he gives me 10 minutes to make my pictures with the untouched cheesecake and I offer him 2-3-4-5 big pieces of cheesecake. Tough negotiation, I can tell you. So, here you can see the results of my 10 minutes photo session with a beautiful cheesecake. What a feast came after! Kids absolutely loved it! We enjoyed it with a warm cup of Earl Grey tea. A delight...

A delicious cheesecake, with autumn flavors and autumn colors  ♥

150 g digestive cookies
75 g butter, unsalted, melted and cooled
50 g candied ginger, finely cut
675 g  Philadelphia cream cheese, at room temperature
1 jar of condensed milk, at room temperature
850 g pumpkin, no seeds or skin, cut in little cubes
3 eggs, bio
60 ml maple syrup
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
240 ml double cream
180 ml maple syrup
60 g walnuts
2-3 tbsp pumpkin seeds

Vapor cook the pumpkin, until soft. Let it cool to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Prepare a ring tray, with removable bottom, brush it with some butter and then put baking paper in it. Transform the cookies in rough crumbles, mix it with the candied ginger and the melted butter, then press it strongly on the bottom of the tray. This way we prepare a good support for the cream cheese filling.

Mix well the cheese, until creamy, then slowly add the condensed milk. When the composition is homogenous, add eggs, maple syrup (60 ml), the pumpkin, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix slowly, without trying to hard to puree the pumpkin. Pour it in the prepared tray, over the crumb crust. 

Bake the cake for almost 1 hour and 15 minutes, take it out of the oven and let it cool to room temperature, then refrigerate it for a couple of hours, or better, overnight.

Just before serving, prepare the maple caramel: heat the double cream and maple, bring to a boil, then let it boil on a medium fire for around 20 minutes, mixing rarely. When the syrup is more consistent, add the walnuts and pumpkin seeds. Set aside. Let  cool a little. Serve with the cheesecake. Just perfect :)

Recipe is adapted from  here