Long livethe Summer! Or at least according to the calendar. When I look outside, there’sa whole different story. But I don’t mind. Rain is good sometimes. It makes themushrooms grow and our cabin’s grass roof flourish. Soon we can make apicnic on our roof and eat delicious mushrooms! But until there aren’t any shrooms,I offer you five (!) new great recipes to make your summer dinners andget-togethers even more tastier. 

this feast is for 4 – 6 people

Pan-fried shashlik

I havediscovered a way to make these bland dried soy cutlets absolutely delicious. Over the years, I have tried many different versioins, but this crispy and juicypan-fried shashlik is my favorite. The secret to the best dishes made out ofdried soy products, is that you have to soak or boil them first and thencarefully squeeze out all the extra water. That way they will get nice andcrispy on a pan and absorb all the good flavors.


·        4 ½ oz / 125 g driedsoy cutlets·        4 Tbsp oil·        3 onions·        1 tsp salt·        ½ Tbsp (apple cider)vinegar·        3 Tbsp soy sauce
Soak thedried cutlets in plenty of water for an hour or more. If you are in a hurry,you can boil the cutlets for 10 minutes until they are soft. Drain the cutletsand carefully squeeze out all the extra water from every cutlet. Now cut thecutlets into strips. Heat up some oil on a pan. Add soy strips and let themcook without stirring for at least a couple of minutes. Then stir and cook somemore, until the soy strips are getting crispy and golden brown. Add slicedonions and salt and another tablespoon of oil if you wish. Stir and cook untilthe onions are golden brown. Add vinegar and soy sauce. Stir and cook for acouple of minutes. Remove the heat.

Vegan cottage cheese salad
Thissauce/salad reminds me of a good old cold cream sauce or cottage cheese salad I usedto eat with young potatoes. And I just cannot get enough of my favorite thing –sunflower seeds! These cheap fellas will always come to my aid when I’m in needto make a creamy sauce. Tofu will give this sauce a nice cottage cheesetexture but you can leave it out if you want.

Sunflower seed cream:
·        2 cups / 300 g peeledsunflower seeds·        1 ¾ cups / 400 mlwater·        1 tsp salt·        1 Tbsp lemon juice
Salad:
·        one bigger cucumber·        4 big ripe tomatoes·        9 oz / 250 g firm tofu·        fresh dill and springonions·        1 tsp salt
Soak thesunflower seeds for a couple of hours or boil them for 15 minutes. Drain andrinse. Add water, salt and lemon juice. Blend until smooth.
Wash andchop the cucumber and tomatoes. Crumble the tofu. Finely chop the dill andspring onions. Mix all the ingredients together. Add salt and sunflower seedcream and mix some more.
Rustic wheat bran breadwith fried onions
Thisearthy bread is packed with fiber since it contains a whole lot of wheat branflakes. So you shouldn’t have any problem digesting this whole feast! Friedonions and thyme add a really nice smell and taste to this lovely loaf.

9 inch x 5 inch / 23x 13 cm loaf pan

Caramelized onions:
·        3 – 4 Tbsp oil·        2 big onions·        1 tsp dried thyme·        ½ tsp salt
Wheat bran bread:
·        ⅔ cups / 100 gall-purpose flour·        ¾ cups / 100 gwhole-wheat flour·        1 ⅓ cups / 50 g wheatbran flakes·        ½ tsp baking soda·        1 tsp baking powder·        ¾ cups + a couple oftablespoons / 200 ml water·        1 tsp (apple cider)vinegar·        ⅓ cups / 75 ml oil
Preheatthe oven to 350 F / 180 C. Heat up some oil in a pan. Add finely choppedonions, thyme and salt. Cook for a couple of minutes until the onions areslightly crispy and golden brown. Remove the heat.
Mix theflours and wheat bran flakes with baking soda, baking powder and salt. When theoven is ready, mix water with vinegar and add the water-vinegar mixture tothe dry ingredients along with onions. Add oil and mix some more. Grease a medium sized loaf panand pour the batter in. Smooth it with a spoon and sprinkle some wheat branflakes on the top. Bake the bread at 350 F / 180 C for 35 minutes. Let it cool downbefore cutting and serving.
Avocado hummus
So simplebut it works so well. Avocado adds a fresh and „eggy“ taste to this hummus soyou will have a nice buttery spread to eat with you wheat bran bread.

·        1 ripe avocado (peel it)·        14 oz / 400 g cannedchickpeas or white beans (drain andrinse)·        ½ Tbsp lemon juice·        ¾ tsp salt·        1 tsp grated lemonzest
Blendeverything together until smooth.
Melon boats with fruitsalad and strawberry and coconut cream
I cannotbelieve this dish. It was absolutely heavenly! And it doesn’t contain a singlegrain of added sugar. I used golden raisins to make the strawberry and coconutcream sweeter. You will get a nice big bowl of cream so you can smother it onfruits or just eat it alone. I couldn’t keep my spoon away from this creamydream!

PS! Before making this cream, be sure the coconut milk can has been in thefridge over night.
Strawberry and coconut cream:
·        5 ⅓ oz / 150 g goldenraisins·        14 oz / 400 g fresh orfrozen strawberries·        14 oz / 400 g cancoconut milk (full fat!)
Fruit salad:
·        1 ripe melon·        1 ripe mango·        3 ripe kiwis·        1 batch of red grapes

Pour someboiling water over the raisins. Let them soak for a couple of minutes. Drainand blend smoother. Add strawberries (if you are using frozen strawberries,thaw them and drain out the extra liquids). Now take the coconut milk can outof the fridge. Flip it upside down and then open it. Pour away the liquids. Nowyou are left with a coconut cream in the bottom of the can. Scoop it out andadd it to the blended raisins and strawberries. Blend some more until you havea smooth strawberry and coconut cream.
Cut themelon in half. Scoop out the flesh and cut it into chunks. Add peeled andchopped mango, kiwis and grapes. Mix everything together and fill the melonboats with fruit salad. Serve with strawberry and coconut cream.