Spinach, chickpea and bulgur salad

Whyyyyyyy???? Why is it soooo hot? I can not concentrate on anything, besides trying not to sweat, and I'm telling you, that's not working out very good for me either.

 I hope you're as excited as me about me going to the beach in 2 days. Yaaay!!! Are you? You don't have to answer that, just keep on nodding. I think I will not come out of the water for hours. Pretty much like in my childhood, when I would spend all of my beach time in the water and would come out only after my lips are purple-blue. Aaaaahhh best memories ever!

But before I go, I'm still trying to lose some belly, so I can look like a slimmer whale on the beach, and not like the fattest one. And now I'm eating mostly alkaline - mostly salads, wraps and watermelons (love love love love love watermelons). I have to admit everything is really delicious and I feel a whole lot better than during the times when I was eating mostly pizza, burgers and sweets. OK, those times were less than 2 weeks ago, but hey 2 weeks is something right?

I make this salad and it's variations really often, and mostly it's my lunch at the office. I don't feel sleepy afterwards, so I can still work, so that's probably good for some reason.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups spinach
1 cup chickpea (canned)
1/2 cup cooked bulgur (1 cup uncooked bulgur makes about 3 cups cooked - you can store it cooked in the fridge for at least 5 days)
1 small tomato
1 small cucumber
1/3 cup chopped parsley
handful of arugula
dill
olive oil
salt

DIRECTIONS

As for all the salads preparation is really easy - one of the many good things about salads. You just wash and afterwards chop all the vegetables and herbs (spinach roughly). Place vegetables, herbs,  chickpea and bulgur in a bowl, add some olive oil and salt to taste and you're ready to serve, even better to eat. Does not take more than 20 minutes and afterwards you don't have to take a nap.

READ MORE

Bulgur with broad beans

Hello bulgur lovers (and soon to be bulgur lovers like my mother)!

To be completely honest here I just tried to copy a recipe from my aunt. She made this very delicious dish for Christmas with rice and broad beans. It was the first time I've eaten broad beans in my life. More than six months have passed since then, and I still can not forget this dish. I've tried to get over it with other dishes...lots of them. Nothing worked. Two results - a fat belly and a broken heart.

And the saddest thing is I couldn't even buy broad beans, because they were not in season. I've tried with dried and canned, but they tasted disgusting (to put it delicately).

This month my torture was over, because I finally found broad beans and was able to make a dish similar to the one my aunt made. Of course I substituted the rice with bulgur, are you kidding me? Not that I'm an enemy of rice, but bulgur is more nutritious and very easy to prepare.

INGREDIENTS

1 kg/ about 2 pounds fresh broad beans (large)
2 cups bulgur
1 bunch parsley
1 cup of spearmint
2 onions
2 tbsp dry basil (if you have fresh - even better, put as much as you like)
1 tsp paprika (ground red pepper)
salt
olive oil

DIRECTIONS

1. The first thing you need to do with the broad beans is free them out of their pods, boil them for 1 min and free each bean out of its coating.

Removing the beans from the pods

Free broad beans with coating

And after just 1,5h of pure fun BAAAM - all the broad beans are freed out of their pods and coats and are ready to get steamy.

Broad beans without coats

At some point I felt like I've been uncoating broad beans a lifetime. But if you listen to some nice music you might even not have the urge to hang yourself. I recommend that.

If you don't want to use all the broad beans right away, you can put them in a freezer bag and freeze them. They should be good for about 1 year, so you'll have some time to think about what you want to do with them.

2. Next - in a large non-stick pan, at medium high temperature, place the chopped onions, the broad beans, add some olive oil, paprika (ground red pepper) and the basil stir for 2 min, add some water (not too much - 1/3 cups) and cover for 3-4 min.
3. Add the 2 cups of bulgur and coat with water (about 1 cup, maybe you'll have to add some more) and cover the pan for about 7-8 min. Check every now and then, if there is enough water in the pan, and if bulgur and beans are ready.

4. In the end - turn off the heat, add chopped parsley and fresh spearmint, stir in and cover the pan for 2-3 min.

And then you're ready!!!

Now I don't remember anymore how many portions this made. But it was a lot, because I remember I ate it for 3 days, I even took it as a lunch at the office. And I have to say - it was very good, but after eating it for 3 days and peeling broad beans for 1,5 h I don't think I'll be making this dish another time this year.

Serve it with some salad - mine was tomatoes, arugula, hot green peppers and some olives.

READ MORE

Shrimps in tomato sauce? Yes, please!

I start drooling just by looking at this picture and I have to concentrate to give you the recipe, but it's million degrees outside. Yesterday I was so desperate that I jumped into a very very dirty pond, swum for 3 min and felt a little like a sweet little piggy. Don't have pictures of that! But I must admit it was very refreshing. Might even do it again, but for now I just can't wait to go to a real beach next week and possibly catch some shrimps with my bare hands. Because then I could cook this dish again.

Is it a shrimp, is it a tiger, a black tiger? Oh it's a black tiger shrimp. Many black tiger shrimps on a plate in something red. Poor delicious creatures.

When I was a student (the first time) and had even less money than now I couldn't even afford to dream of a shrimp. Now look at me - living the dream and eating...like 10 black tiger shrimps at a portion. So what do we learn out of this - don't give up, dreams do come true!

INGREDIENTS

1 cup of cooked black tiger shrimps
2 tomatoes
1 big bunch of fresh coriander/cilantro
1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp olive oil
tomato paste
dry chilli

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large non-stick pan add shrimps, olive oil and chopped tomatoes and cook at medium heat for 5-6 min.
2. If the sauce is too fluid add some tomato paste and cook until the sauce gets thicker.
3. Add pressed garlic cloves, dried chilli and chopped cilantro and parsley, salt to taste, cook for 2 min and turn off the heat.
And that's it. It's  very possible that you would like to eat this dish every day. That's what happened to me. I ate it for one week without any regrets.

READ MORE

Not another hummus recipe

Greetings everyone!

Hmm, I haven't posted anything here in a long time and my excuse is: I've been ridiculously lazy. Bad Stella!

Good news is, I will post all the recipes I've done lately during this and next week and on Friday next week I'm going back to my home country Bulgaria to spend some time on the beach, eat real food and just be lazy a little more. But!! At least this time I'll try to keep you updated on my laziness and on what's not going on in my life and in my kitchen.

On another note my back and neck are killing me and I want to kill the orthopedist, who told me that this is normal and I should do some exercises. I will do some exercises with a needle on a voodoo doll with your face on it!  It's called acupuncture, don't worry ;)

Before I start making the doll let's see what you need for this ridiculously (my favorite word lately) tasty hummus. Well it's not actually hummus. I like to make different things out of garbanzo beans - jewelery, clothes, paper, sometimes dishes and next up: voodoo doll!

Yeah, I made almost all of the above up - I use garbanzo beans just in dishes. But now that I think about it, what a waste, right?

Anyway, normally I just take one big can of garbanzo beans, open it, put the beans in my food processor and process the hell out of it with whatever I have in the fridge. Then tadaaa!!! Best dip ever! Every time I tell you! So yes this is the first hummus recipe on this site, but definitely not the last.

INGREDIENTS

1 can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas) (about 250g)
1 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp olive oil
1 dried chilli
1 eggplant/aubergine
some dill

DIRECTIONS

1. Start with the aubergine/eggplant. Wash it, make small holes all over it with a fork and then bake it at medium high heat until it's soft inside - just try with the fork. Take it out, put it in a bowl/pan and cover for 20 min. Afterwards remove all the fluids (they're bitter) and peel the aubergine.

2. Put garbanzo beans, olive oil, tahini, chilli and prepared aubergine in a food processor and process until smooth.

3. Put in a bowl or a plate and garnish with parsley, cilantro or in my case with some dill.

You can use this as a dip (with carrots, cucumbers, fingers work also), spread for bread/wraps or as a side dish.

READ MORE

To alkalize or not to alkalize - that is the question

Having a cold during summer made me  is almost over and now I can almost taste the sweet life again - outside, in the sun, walking around without stuff dripping from my nose...and guess whaaat? Everybody at work is sick now. BUT, BUT before you start pointing toes and fingers - it is definitely not my fault. Last week I didn't even go to work. My colleagues should blame it on their own crappy immune systems.

Speaking of immune system, I'm seriously thinking about starting to eat alkaline, or at least more alkaline than now. I've been stuffing too much cheese, meat, pizza and donuts in my belly the last....ummm I don't even know how long it's been. But I'm not feeling good, I'm tired the whole time, and have back pains and please if I don't stop whining like a spoiled little princess sleeping on a pea, just slap me across the face really hard. Maybe I'll forgive you and will finally shut up.

Or maybe I will just punch you back in the face and start whining about how much my fist now hurts. You have to take a chance. Who knows? It's all written in the stars. And I'll be counting them with One Republic.

OK, now concentrate! Alkaline eating!!!! Rigghht! I've heard about alkaline eating long ago and I've read a lot of scientific articles about the alkaline diet and its influence on our health. Lately I've also been googling a lot about that (because Google is the best source of everything), and I'm just surprised how popular this way of eating has gotten.

People who've tried alkaline diet claim to feel really energized, to have no headaches, to have gotten rid of cellulite (what's light about cellulite? Got it? cellu-light...um ok doesn't matter), skins glowing, hairs growing...

Stop it! I'm SOLD! I'm gonna try it out!!! You had me at cellulite, and I especially liked the part about getting rid of it. And if my skin glows and my hairs grow...that's a nice bonus.

You must think I'm so superficial. But I'm just a woman. Of course I want to be more energetic and headache-free, but I forgot to tell you what the alkaline diet is. Maybe you don't know. So here I go, try to stop me!

Did you know that the human body is made up of approximately 100 trillion cells (that’s one hundred million million, thank you Wikipedia :*)  with only 10% of these cells being actually human and the other 90% bacteria (mostly found in the gut and on the skin)? 

See I didn't know the exact numbers. Now I know. But what I do know is that like us humans, each one of those cells has its own life, its own purpose and needs the help of other cells to fulfill its purpose in the human body. Who's superficial now, ha?  

To keep these cells performing at their best the body needs to maintain certain conditions - among others a neutral to slightly alkaline pH. For the most part the lungs and the kidneys take good care of the acid-alkaline balance, working hard and removing constantly excess acids and bases from the body.

Choosing what to eat is one of the very few decisions we are privileged to make for our bodies. This way we can also influence the body’s acid-base balance.

So by choosing alkaline and not acid forming foods you can make it easier for your body to function properly.

IN GENERAL: 

HIGH PROTEIN & SUGAR FOODS ARE ACID FORMING.
FOODS RICH IN POTASSIUM CITRATE (VEGETABLES) ARE ALKALINE FORMING.

• meats, fish, dairy products, and grains are almost exclusively metabolized to acids;

• grains are acid forming, but not as acidifying as animal products;

• fats and oils are neutral;

• seeds and nuts are for the most part also acid forming. Hazelnuts, almonds, chestnuts, sunflower and  pumpkin seeds are the exceptions - they're base-forming;

• most fruits and all vegetables are metabolized to bases.

Look at this! I didn't make it, you've seen my coriander pizza, it was gooD, and it didn't look anything like that. This is pizza hut (this is not a commercial, this is a sneezer).

And yes it is what I ate yesterday for dinner. 

And guess what? It is an acid forming food. Mainly sulfuric acid forming. And no I'm not proud. But I needed a picture of acidifying foods here to show you what they look like. So in a way, this is me doing you a favor and it was a huge sacrifice. You are welcome WORLD! I'm kidding of course, I was just hungry and didn't have anything to eat at home. 

Time for a little quiz!!!Woooo, I love quizes!!! That's not a word is it? Well you know what I mean.

What do you think happens in your body after you eat a pepperoni pizza for example?
a) you're one step closer to being fat
b) you're one step closer to having a cardiovascular disease
c) an acid overload is generated

Bingo! All three are correct!

But now let's just have a little monologue about c). This excess acid must be neutralized and then removed from our precious organisms.  If the acid is not neutralized before elimination it would burn the kidney tissue.

For the neutralization the body uses its own base reserves from the bones (calcium and magnesium) and the muscles (nitrogen). So when you get rid of the acid, you also lose some of your mineral reserves - means bones and muscles get weaker, and maybe a little achy breaky.
Over time, if you continue eating crap expect no good - osteoporosis, muscle loss and kidney stones are some of the health complications of an acidifying diet. 

I don't know about you, but I'm not exactly ecstatic about having sulfuric acid in my body. I've been avoiding it like the devil since I'm alive. Even in the laboratory. It's not something that our organisms need, and something they can make any use of. Have you seen a sulfuric acid burn? I've seen some reports and it looks painful to say the least. 

BENEFITS OF AN ALKALINE DIET
The good news is, if you start eating alkaline, or at least increase your fruit and vegetable intake, you can improve your bone health, growth hormone levels, increase muscle mass and even relieve lower back pain.

Most fruits and vegetables contain certain compounds that activate detoxification liver enzymes and toxins are removed faster at a higher urinary pH. This means that eating alkaline will also enhance the detoxification in your body - you don't need to make all those juicing diets for weeks and then start eating crap right after, because this benefits only the people making the juices, not you. You can of course consume juices & smoothies, I even recommend it - as a snack, or as a single meal, but not exclusively.

CONCLUSION
Eat more fruits and vegetables. That's it. Groundbreaking I know.
Cheese, meats, fish and grains should of course also be consumed, because we actually do need protein like everybody's saying. But please in moderation and always combine with base forming foods (like I said mostly vegetables and fruits) so you don't waste valuable nutrients - make it about 70/30 on your plates, mkaay?

Soon I'll start to practice what I preach and will keep you updated on my alkaline challenge, but I will have to ease into it - I don't believe you can change everything from one day to the other, so it'll probably take 1 or 2 weeks. You can start easing into alkaline eating too. Do it!


Sources:

Savage, D. C. (1977). "Microbial Ecology of the Gastrointestinal Tract". Annual Review of Microbiology 31: 107–33

Dawson-Hughes B, Harris SS, Ceglia L (2008): "Alkaline diets favor lean tissue mass in older adults". American Journal of  Clinical Nutrition, 87:662-665

Deanna M. M. and S. B. Jeffrey (2007). Acid-alkaline Balance: Role in Chronic Disease and Detoxification. Alternative therapy 13(4):62-65

Schwalfenberg GK: The alkaline diet: is there evidence that an alkaline pH diet benefits health? Journal of Environmental and Public Health 2012, 2012:727630
 

READ MORE

Cinnamon chocolate balls

Hello good people!

This whole being sick thing is getting on my nerves. It's the 4th or 5th day now and I'm still not amused. Not at all, but at least it's kinda getting better. So let's hope next week it'll all be better. And then I only have to be patient for one week to start doing sports again. Until then I can just somewhat control what I eat. My least favorite part of getting into shape. Anyway I made these cinnamon-ginger balls, covered in chocolate. Usually I would use dark chocolate, but I said to myself hey yolo! hahahaha yolo whatever that means, crazy kids these days!

So where was I?

Oh yeah, about the chocolate - well I used a whole milk chocolate. Sshhhhhhsh!!! Don't judge me! Or do, I don't care...because these balls were P*E*R*F*E*C*!T*!

INGREDIENTS

2 oz/about 50g hazelnuts (soak over night)
1 oz/ 25g raisins
1/3 cup/25g oats
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
whole milk chocolate for coating

DIRECTIONS

1. Grind oats to oat flour, add raisins and process. Then add the soaked hazelnuts. There should be small nut chunks in the mixture at the end.

2. Add cinnamon and ginger to the mixture - and it's ready. Form small balls (about walnut size like with the raw chocolate hazelnut balls) with your clean hands.

3. Melt chocolate - I did this in a hot water bath using a heat resistant bowl.

4. Once the chocolate is melted - coat the balls with the chocolate (use spoon, or just dip the balls into the melted chocolate, if I say melted chocolate again I might start drooling) and place them on a plate. Leave in the fridge to cool off.

And that's it. Although I used whole milk chocolate and I should probably go and seek a doctor right away, these balls still are better than any chocolate or cinnamon dessert you can buy in the store. So less judging and more trying, mkay? This made very delicious 8 balls, of which I consumed 8 in 2 days. You do the math for the rest. And it's about 80 kcal per ball.

See you soon or even better write to you soon!

READ MORE

Raw cottage cheesecake in a glass

After a few days of hot soups during summer, it's time for me to enjoy some desserts.

OK! Fine! I admit it! I've been eating secretly desserts the whole time I was sick. I'm out of control! And not even the good kind of desserts - but fat and processed sugar loaded crap.

But these cheesecakes are nothing like that. They're high in proteins, fiber and just delightful, because they're heavenly delicious and light.

Hey lil cheesecake, I wanna try ya! So right I had to make ya!!!

I still can not believe that Nelly's singing this song! First of all I didn't recognize his voice and second I never knew that he's tried my cheesecake. I'm a fan of yours too, Nelly!

Seriously guys, I haven't left the house for days and I'm going out of stuff to talk about. And out of my mind. This cold is slowly taking over my life, I feel like a lonely fish swimming in a fish tank.  And I feel so fat, which is not that dramatic, because with fish it's mostly Omega-3 fatty acids.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup hazelnuts (about 40g)
1/3 cup (20g) oats
15 raisins
1cup/200g cottage cheese
3 tbsp honey/agave
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup berries (fresh or frozen)

DIRECTIONS

1. For the base: Grind oats to flour, then add hazelnuts and raisins and process everything in your food processor. Take half of the mixture, place it into a small glass (u can use small jar, or like me a glass bowl) and spread it, pressing with your fingers, so it coats the base of the glass (try not to break anything). Do the same with the other half of the mixture, of course using another glass. Look down:

2. For the filling: process cottage cheese, honey/agave and vanilla until the mixture is very smooth. Shouldn't be more than 3 min, if your food processor is working properly. Serve as cottage cheesecake fingers (fingers dipped in the filling) or resist for the next step and do the whole thing. Spread over the base in the glass with a spoon. It should be smooth and be covering the entire base.

3. Process the berries for a short time and place them on top of the filling.

And you're ready! You have 2 raw cottage cheesecake filled glasses. Does not take more than 15 min to make them. Leave the cheesecakes for 1-2 h in the fridge to cool down, or if you're that bold (and beautiful btw) - start right away. My cheesecake didn't get too solid, so it's good it's in a glass. But it was so delicious I would dive into that small glass even if it's the last thing I would do. And it's guilt free, so enjoy it.

READ MORE

Meatball soup

I know, I know.

You're probably thinking: Another soup? She's crazy, it's summer.

Crazy or genius? You know it's only one step apart. And in my defense I'm still having a cold. Oh. You can see my reflection in the spoon. And yesterday I brushed my hair with a fork. I think maybe, I'm not using silverware properly.

This soup is...how do I put this delicately? Well, it's really nutritious. It's meant for some cave man, wolverine, bear, werewolf, wolf, just anybody who's really hungry.

It not only contains meat balls and potatoes, but also chickpea. I don't know if there is an ingredient in this house, that my sister hasn't used in it. But again it was so delicious, I really can not complain. Woof! Auuuuuuu!

My sister again did a great job with this soup and normally I'm the one who makes really good soups. Respect, honors and love!

I learned from my dad how to make a soup. He definitely makes the best soups I have ever tasted. EVER! I don't know how he does it, but they just taste outrageously delicious.

But to the recipe, before my head explodes from the pain.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 lb / 200 g ground beef
1/4 cup dry bulgur
2 tbsp dried basil
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 big onion, finely chopped
4 cubed potatoes
1 cup chickpeas (canned, drained)
1/2 cup fresh spearmint leaves
1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves
1/2 cup chopped parsley
salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Forming the meat balls: In a bowl place ground beef, bulgur, dried basil, black pepper and salt (just the tip of a tsp). Then mix everything with your clean hands, kneading all those ingredients together. From this mixture form balls (a little smaller than walnut-size) and let them in a cooking pot containing around 30 oz/ 1 l water. Cook/ Boil at medium high heat.

2. Nextadd onion and potatoes and cook for 20 min. You might need to add water at some point so check for that.

3. Add chickpeas, spearmint, coriander leaves and salt.

4. Serve with some black pepper and parsley. You might add some chilli. I did that and I was on fire!

Like yesterday, I have no idea how much calories one portion has. I've had my 2 portions for today. I think it makes 4-5 servings. Hopefully five because I want to eat another one right now and my sister also had 2.

READ MORE

Chicken soup

Yep. This is how bad it is, guys. I'm eating a hot chicken soup during summer. But it's ridiculously delicious and makes me feel better about myself and about my cold.

On a totally related note - I just love the new song of One republic - Counting stars, I can not stop listening to it! In the last 30 min I replayed it 10 times. And maybe it's the cold, but I feel like I sound a little bit like the female version of Ryan Tedder, when I sing it. With this sore throat, singing is exactly what I should do.

You know what else I love? Having a cold during summer. Mmmmmmm! That's the good life! Everybody outside, having fun, walking around, no cares, no worries, free and careless like a bird soaring through the dirty city...aaahhh

And me?

I'm having the best time too. Sitting around at home like a prisoner, wearing all the winter clothes I have, my head spinning with headache, sweating like crazy and drowning in my nasal mucus. Mmmm! Tell me more, tell me more! Like do you have a headache?

Yes, but I also have soup, my sister made it. And here's how it happened.

INGREDIENTS

2 chicken thighs
1 carrot
4 small to medium potatoes, cubed
1 big onion, or 2 small ones, finely chopped
1/4 cup short fideo
1/2 cup chopped (or not) spearmint leaves
1/2 cup coriander
1/2 cup chopped parsley
chilli/black pepper/hot pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Boil the chicken legs in 1 liter/ 30 oz of water in a cooking pot until cooked (about 15 min at medium to medium-high heat). Take out the chicken thighs from the water (I used fork for that), cool them off with some cold water (you don't want to burn yourself), remove skin and bones, and shred the meat to smaller pieces. Then put the shredded meat back in cooking pot with the boiling water (now chicken flavored :))

2. Add the potatoes and finely chopped onion and cook until ready at medium-high heat (about 10 min). Salt to taste. You might need to add water at some point, because it evaporates continuously, so be aware of that.

3. Add fideo, chopped carrots, spearmint leaves and coriander and cook for additional 5 min. Turn off the heat.

4. Serve with a lot of parsley, add also black pepper/chilli for some spice.

Then cure your summer cold like that. I didn't do a nutritional info table for this soup, because I'm really sick. But I think it will be around 4 servings. And I think I will have them all. Today.

READ MORE

Pasta bolognese

Hello hello!

My mission of getting fit is staring today! Yay! And because I have a cold, let's celebrate this with a big tasty portion of pasta bolognese.

Getting fit during the next 4 weeks will be a piece of cake. In other words, because I'm the worst cake maker in the world, for me it will be difficult. And with this cold even more so.

I make pasta bolognese a little differently than anybody else. My bolognese-version is healthy and it's not that dense in calories. Means if I don't eat the whole thing by myself tonight, I might not turn into a fat cow at midnight. At least Cinderella turned into a pumpkin - a healthy fruit-vegetable, not ground beef. Or maybe she didn't. John Grisham didn't report on that in The King of Torts. YET.

But enough about me and Cindy. Let's see what the pasta is doing.

Me: "Looking good pasta! Is your name Google?"

Pasta confused: "No, why?"

Me: "Because you have everything I've been searching for."

And then the pasta is mine. Best pick up line. Ever. I feel like fat Joey from Friends, when he said to some chicken or cheese nugget: "How you doin' "? I loooove it! And this video is such a great quality.

Anyway, I used whole-wheat penne for this recipe.

To anybody who's not exactly fond of whole-wheat products (like me) - I didn't notice any difference between this penne and regular penne. You cook it about 5 min longer, but that's it. Taste is pretty much the same. It doesn't contain less calories, but it has considerably more fiber and minerals. So do something good for yourself and start substituting regular pasta with the whole-wheat version.

INGREDIENTS

For the pesto (that's right I made a pesto for bolognese pasta):

1 cup basil leaves
1 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup chopped spinach
1-2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 medium tomato - chopped
3 tbsp olive oil


....and the other ingredients are:

4 oz/ 200g whole-wheat penne
1/2 lb / 200g ground beef
3 medium tomatoes
1 carrot - chopped
some arugula to serve with
salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook pasta according to the label instructions. 

Meanwhile chop carrots, tomatoes, pesto ingredients, process just the additional 3 medium tomatoes to a tomato sauce in your food processor and then start preparing the the pesto. 

For the pesto: you simply put all the pesto ingredients in your food processor until you have a mixture that looks somewhat like this: 

This pesto is not just very healthy, but it's also alkaline, so it somewhat neutralizes the acid our bodies form while metabolizing the pasta and ground beef. You will not need all the pesto for this pasta, maybe half of it. You can keep the rest in your fridge for at least 5 days (that's the longest I haven't used it after preparation)and use it in other dishes - like pizza, pasta, bread and so on.

2. Once you're ready with the pesto start with the ground beef. In a large non-stick pan put first the ground beef and add some water (not more than 1/3 cup), cover with the lid and let it steam for a few minutes. Once the meat is not pink/red anymore remove the lid and let the meat cook, until there is no more water in the pan and the meat gets brown-ish.

3. Stir in the fresh tomato sauce and 1/3 cup water and cover the pan again. Cook for about 5 min at medium heat.

4. Add 3-4 tbsp of the freshly prepared pesto, stir in, salt to taste. The sauce should not be too fluid, but thick. Turn off the heat, but leave the pan on the cooking plate.

5. Add the cooked penne, chopped carrot and stir together until all the penne is covered with the bolognese sauce. Cover the pan and leave for a little (about 2 min).

When you're ready the carrot should still be crunchy. Not only do I like the taste better like this, but vitamin losses (B, C) are also reduced. And because you consume the carrot with some fat sources (olive oil, sunflower seeds, beef) you absorb more beta carotene than if you eat a carrot alone.

And serve with some arugula. I know I add arugula to almost everything, but it's pretty great, so sue me for having good taste.

Makes 4 servings: about 360 kcal per serving with a lot of vitamin A, B, C, iron, potassium, zinc, magnesium. But like Notorious B.I.G. said in his song - More portions, more calories. Be aware of that, while enjoying this deliciousness.

READ MORE