Moroccan lamb burgers with caramelized onion and raisin sauce.

B's birthday was 10 months ago and even if I baked her a birthday cake, I've failed to make her our traditional birthday-burger -shame on me- but BUT better late than never! so HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY!!! Since B loves to share my addictions with people I've thought I'd pay her back  -It wouldn't be fair to me if I appeared as the only greedy one-
So out of B's loonggg, veryy looonnng, (so long that it would take me months to tell you the whole list) list of addictions, there is LAMB. Yep she loves lamb, she adores lamb, and if you ask me I find it pretty cruel knowing that lambs are baby sheeps... but since this recipe was for her birthday and since I don't mean to highlight the violent and cruel aspects of B's troubled personality -and of course I'm kidding- I'll just end this by saying that this is not a vegan blog anyway and that these "lamburgers" were DELICIOUS. 
Hopefully she'll get another burger in two months, or maybe six, or nine...

Ingredients:
Makes 2 burgers

- 200g (ground) lamb
- 1 egg
- 1 onion
-30g raisins
- parsley
-cilantro,cumin,paprika (I used a mix of Moroccan spices containing those three)
- mint
- salt, pepper
- olive oil
-vinegar
-1/2 cucumber

Directions:

1) Grind 200g lamb in a food processor. In a large bowl, mix the ground lamb with 1 egg, parsley, cilantro, mint, salt and pepper.
2) Divide the lamb into 2 portions and form two patties and let rest in the fridge.
3) Heat 1tbsp olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 chopped onion and 1 tbsp vinegar. Let cook until the onions are caramelized and add salt, pepper, cilantro, cumin, paprika and 30g raisins.
4) Pour about 2 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan, when the oil is hot, cook the patties until done.
5) Serve on buns and top with 1/2 sliced cucumber and the caramelized onion and raisin sauce.

K.

Watermelon, Raspberry and Mint Smoothie.

Let me introduce you to our first smoothie recipe ! Kama has a real love affair with watermelon -though she called me a heretic as she would never "sacrifice" a watermelon to make juice!-, I have one with raspberry, we both love smoothie, so this recipe makes sense. Simple, fresh and quick to make, it is just perfect for summer days.

Ingredients:

for 4 glasses
- 400g watermelon
- 100g raspeberries (frozen or fresh)
- a handful of chopped fresh mint

No directions. Just mix all these ingredients in a blender and serve immediately.

Enjoy,
B.

Quinoa, Beef and Portobello Mushrooms stuffed Bell Peppers.

A few years ago I didn't like bell peppers, I don't really know why. But now I do like bell peppers, in fact I love bell peppers.It took me a few years, but by tasting them in different recipes I guess my palate just got used to the taste and I don't regret it because now I like to put bell peppers in almost everything I cook especially in the summer! So the recipe is not vegetarian, it could be healthy -if you get rid of the ton of Swiss cheese I added on my bell pepper- but it's perfect because even if it looks rich and fat it's actually pretty light - but only if you're reasonable enough not to eat more than one!-

Ingredients:

- 4 Bell peppers
-200g quinoa
-1 cup water
-200g ground beef
-100g Portobello mushrooms
-1 onion
-Swiss cheese
-Parsley
-salt, pepper
-1 tbsp vinegar
-olive oil

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 450F. Cut off the tops of the bell peppers and remove the seeds. Put them in a large dish and drizzle with olive oil. Put in oven for 40 minutes.
2) In a sauce pan, cook 200g quinoa with 1 cup salted water for about 12 minutes. 
3) Meanwhile, cut 1 onion. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan and  add the cut onion. Add 1 tbsp vinegar to caramelize the onions. 
3) Saute 100gr Portobello mushrooms with the caramelized onions, parsley, salt and pepper for a few minutes.
4) Mix in 200gr ground beef and cook the whole mixture over medium heat for a few minutes.
5) When the quinoa is cooked, add it in the frying pan and stir with all the other ingredients.
6) Remove the bell peppers from the oven and stuff them with the mixture.
7) Put back in a 375F oven for about 10 minutes.
8) Remove from oven and add a pinch of shredded Swiss cheese on each bell pepper.

Enjoy, K.

Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies.

A recipe was missing on our blog, a recipe you can find on almost EVERY food blog in the world except for ours... at least until now.
Yes this is our first cookie recipe and it was about time!
Shout out to B who generously gave me her perfect, delicious, yummy, ohmygodIcouldeatthesecookieseverydayfortherestofmylife, double chocolate cookies recipe!
As you can see I've changed the recipe a little bit because that day I was craving for peanut butter. 
So here is my Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Chip cookies recipe. The result was as good as expected and they mysteriously disappeared after a few hours. 
Now we need a brownie recipe!

Ingredients:
Makes about 18 cookies.

- 100g butter at room temperature
- 50g peanut butter
- 2eggs
- 250g flour
- 2tbs milk
- a pinch of salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 125g brown sugar
- 60g sugar
- 100g milk chocolate chips

Directions:

1) Mix125g brown sugar, 60g sugar, 50g peanut butter and 100g butter until you get a creamy homogenous mixture.
2) Add 2 eggs
3) Add the dry ingredients: 250g flour, a pinch of salt and 1 tsp baking powder. Mix all the ingredients together.
4) Add 2 tbsp milk and 100g milk chocolate chips
5) Store in the fridge for 15 minutes
6) Form medium sized balls on a parchment paper. Cook in a 450F oven for 20 minutes. Let the cookies cool down for about 15 minutes.

Enjoy, K

Strawberry yogurt Mousse and Coconut Chantilly.

Here I am with my mousses again. But this one is different because it's healthy! Strawberries and yogurt! In fact I had so many strawberries in my fridge I didn't really know what to do with them so I thought why not make what I love so much: a strawberry mousse! and to make it "healthier" I've replaced the whipping cream with yogurt and I've tried to convince myself that this recipe was fat-free and healthy but the whipping cream I didn't put in the mousse I put in the chantilly -I need my monthly chantilly fix-.
I know, shame on me but I just love whipped cream sooo muuchh! Anyway the recipe is not very different from the other mousse recipes I've made because you'll need the same basic ingredients except this time you'll replace whipping cream with yogurt. The result was pretty good, light and creamy and the coconut chantilly (I love coconut too) added a tasty and exotic extra flavor that matched perfectly with the strawberries.

Ingredients:

for the mousse:
- 250gr strawberries
- 500gr yogurt
- 1 lemon
- 50gr sugar/20gr sugar for the egg whites
- a pinch of agar-agar
- 3 egg whites
- a pinch of salt

for the chantilly:
- 30cl whipping cream
- 30cl coconut milk
- 1 tbsp sugar


Directions:

For the chantilly:
1) We'll start with the coconut chantilly because it's the easiest thing to do if you have a whipped cream dispenser. Add 30cl whipping cream, 30cl coconut milk and 1tbsp sugar in the dispenser. Mix and refrigerate for a few hours.

For the mousse:
1) Start by heating the juice of one lemon and add a pinch of agar-agar.
2) Mix 250gr strawberries with 50gr sugar and add the lemon juice.
3) In a large bowl, add 500gr yogurt (I used a 0% fat yogurt) and incorporate the strawberry puree.
4) In another large bowl, whip 3 egg whites with a pinch of salt until firm. Mix again for a few minutes with 20gr sugar.
5) You can now incorporate the strawberry yogurt into the egg whites and stir slowly with a spatula for a few minutes until the mixture is homogeneous and you get rid of the lumps.
6) Refrigerate for at least 5 hours and add the coconut chantilly on top before serving.

Enjoy, K.