For this recipe I followed my friend’s suggestion Nastaran and added grate ginger! It has a beautiful harmony with the flavor of beetroot and yogurt. I also added black onion seeds that combines well with the rest of the ingredients but it’s optional.

This Borani is a good option also as breakfast with cereal but without onion seeds. 🙂

Ingredients | 4-5 servings

• 8 tablespoons of yogurt (whole, no sugar)
• 1 medium beetroot.
• 2 g grated ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon of onion seeds
• to taste Salt, pepper

Preparation

– Cut in dice the beetroot, some prefers to grate them. It’s up to you.

– Mix all the ingredients in a bowl: yogurt, beetroot, salt, pepper, ginger and onion seeds. You’re done!

I took this photo the day after. It’s always so much work to do when you have guests at home and want to serve a Persian banquet. So Borani is one of those choices that you can prepare a day before so you may work on other dishes. Time also helps to have a more tasty and colorful Borani!

Notes:

• Some grate garlic instead of ginger. Do as you prefer. The main ingredients are yogrut and beetroot for the rest you are the boss! 🙂
• The proportions between yogurt and beetroot is subjective. For more creamy result add more yogurt.
• When you prepare beetroot Borani the day before, it probably thickens because beetroots and onion seeds absorb the humidity of yogurt. Add 1-2 tbsp of yogurt to adjust Borani’s creaminess.

Noosh e jan

The post Borani of beetroot appeared first on Foodcraftz.

If you have both main ingredients (lentils and squash) cooked, this dish will take no longer than 20-30 minutes.

Ingredients | 5 servings

• 400g/14.1oz squash
• 200g/10.5oz lentils
• 1 medium onion
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 3 tbs clarified butter
• Lemon juice (to taste)
• salt and pepper (to taste)

Preparation

– Cooking lentils: add them in a pot with 4cm/1.5in water above the surface. (follow the package instructions for cooking time)

– Stir fry chopped onion in clarified butter, till they become golden.

– Add the squash and a bit of salt. To have a greater taste, stir for 10 minutes, then put the lid on and wait other 10 minutes so the squash is tender.

– Add: cumin, turmeric and stir. The squash should be soften by now. Smash the squash pieces by pressing the back of spoon or a meat masher. This will help the stew become creamy.

– Add the cooked lentils, pour 2 cups of boiling water.

– Add freshly grate nutmeg on top and let it simmer for ⏳ 20 minutes.

– Adjust the season with salt and a bit of lemon juice and it’s ready!

Notes:

• While cooking lentils, don’t add salt because it makes them harder to cook. Add salt when they are cooked.

• Make sure the squash has a good quality so it sweet taste has a greater impact on the the dish. Once I bought from the super market the squash and the stew was very tasteless.

Serve with extra virgin olive oil and bread.

Noosh e Jan and Enjoy ☺️

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For the olives I used “Taggiasche olives”, their origin is the Liguria region in Italy, but feel free to use any olive you like, just make sure they don’t have any additives. Even if the label says: “added natural aroma”. Because since they are chemicals, in contact with heat in the oven, they change the flavors and ruins the taste of the dish. (It happened to me :-/ )

Ingredients | 4-5 servings

• 4 Bell Peppers colors of your choice
• 4 tbsp Olives
• 1 tbsp Oregano
• 1 Onion
• 2 Tomatoes
• 2 cloves Garlic
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Black pepper

Preparation

Preheat the oven at 180C°/350F°

– Deseed and cut into strips the bell peppers, chop the onion, tomatoes and garlic.

– Put the ingredients into a large baking dish, toss with olive oil & oregano.

♨️ Roast them in the oven for ⏳ 1 hour at 180C°/350F° and they are ready.

This dish is tastier if served lukewarm.

Notes

• The roasted peppers become more delicious the next day.
• If you like add some cheese on top, but add them in the last 10 minutes before finishing avoid altering the flavor in too high heat.
• They are a perfect side for all kinds of proteins.

Enjoy! ☺️

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Get yourself a good organic chicken breast*. In Italy, fortunately many small farmers avoid antibiotics or feed chickens with GMOs. I Bought these two (in photo), one from conventional supermarket and the other from a trusted butcher. See how obvious is the difference between an industrial and free-range chicken:

Ingredients | 2 servings

• 1 Chicken breast
• pinch Saffron
• 1 Lime or Lemon
• pinch of salt
• Olive oil extra virgin

Preparation

– Cut the chicken in big strips of 1 inch/1.5cm thickness

– In a small glass, add a pinch of saffron and pour 2tbsp of hot boiling water wait ⏳5 mins till it color turns red.

➡️ We’ll add salt later, to keep the chicken’s juice.

– In a bowl, mix the the chicken with 1 lime juice (or lemon).

– Add the saffron water and a drizzle of olive oil & mix.

– It should rest at room temperature for ⏳ 30 minutes.

Preheat the grill pan, add salt and pepper to the chicken and start to grill right after. Cook each side of chicken for 2-3 minutes (it depends on how thick is the chicken breast).

Taste to check it’s consistency and salt before removing from pan.

Serve it right away!

Notes

• The lemon helps the meat to tenderize.
• Lemon and saffron mixture are a classic marinate for chicken kababs in Iran.

Buon appetito. ☺️

* Check out this article in Dr. Axe website: Free-Range Chicken Benefits vs. Conventional Chicken Dangers

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It’s rich, without making you feel stuffed. Livers and other internal organs are usually overlooked in Italy, where I live. That’s why they are so cheap! (and I don’t complain about it)

⏳ This dish is ready in 15 mins, perfect for hectic days.

Ingredients | 2-3 servings

• 350g/12.3oz Chicken livers and hearts
• 1 Onion
• 1 teaspoon Turmeric
• 1 tbsp Tomato paste
• 2-3 tbsp Clarified butter / oil
• Salt and Pepper

Preparation

– Remove the white parts from the livers.

– Cut the hearts in smaller pieces because they need more time to cook.

– Chop the onion too

Cooking process

On medium heat:

– Stir fry onions till they become slightly golden

– Add turmeric, salt and black pepper

– Add heart pieces and stir fry for 5 mins ⏳

– Add livers and continue to stir for some seconds till they change their color and releases their juice

– The last ingredient is tomato paste which gives sour taste and a nice red color to the dish.

Stir fry for ⏳ 5 minutes, adjust the seasoning and it’s ready to serve!

Notes

• Traditionally it’s served with flat bread, chopped fresh onions and vinegar, plain greek yogurt and fresh herbs

Noosh e Jan! (in Farsi: Buon Appetite ☺️)

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If you replace the fruits with lemon juice this recipe will have no fructose.

Ingredients

• 200g/7oz Almonds
• 200g/7oz Flax seeds
• 1 tbsp Soy or Sunflower Lecithin
• 1/2 tbs pure Stevia
• 5-7 Strawberries
• 1 Kiwifruit
• 1/2 tbs Vanilla
• pinch of Salt

Preparation

– Ground the flax seeds and almonds .

– Add the lecithin with a pinch of salt.

– Blend the fruits and mix with stevia and vanilla.

➡️ In case you are using none pure stevia, add 2-3 tablespoon instead

– Mix all ingredients together

– Put it in the fridge and it will be ready in 3-4 hours but it will be perfect the next day.

Notes

• Also monk fruit is a valid substitute for stevia.

in the photo, I’m serving the paste with low-carb bread.

enjoy! ☺️

The post Fiber Paste for breakfast appeared first on Foodcraftz.

Don’t expect to have crunchy bread out of the oven right away but if you cut it and toast it, like any other bread, it will become crunchy.

Ingredients

• 1.5 cup Almond flour
• 3 tbsp Coconut flour
• 5 tbsp Flax seed flour
• 1 cup Egg White
• 1.5 tbsp Vinegar
• 1.5 cups of hot Water 90C°/194F°
• 5 tbsp Psyllium husk Flour
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• Poppy seeds for the top of the bread
• 1 tsp Baking Powder

Preparation

– Preheat the oven at 180°C/360°F.

– Mix all the dry ingredients.

– Pour hot water and mix.

– Add Egg whites followed by vinegar.

– Knead till you have a compact dough.

– Create dough balls and put them on the baking tray covered with parchment paper.

– Sprinkle some poppy seeds on top.

⏳ Cook in the preheated oven (180°C/360°F), place the tray at the lower side, for 75 mins

The result should look like this:

➡️ I keep them in fridge, they are perfect for the breakfast, i cut them in slices and put it in the toaster to have a crunchy surface.

Enjoy!

The post Keto Bread – Low carb bread appeared first on Foodcraftz.

Instead of broccoli you can use any other veggie, fried onions and zucchini are another tasty variation of this recipe. Since the taste of some of the ingredients is bland, using a strong flavor cheese can make it much interesting ☺️

Ingredients

• 500g/17.5oz frozen broccoli (or fresh if you have)
• 200g/7oz Pancetta
• 20g/0.8oz cream
• 100g/4oz Mozzarella
• 4 Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Turmeric
• Half of a Chilly
• 160g/5.6 Provolone or Cheddar cheese
• 1 clove of Garlic

Preparation

– Chop the pancetta in small piece.

– Sauté garlic with chilly, turmeric then add pancetta.

– Stir fry till the fat of pancetta melts.

– Add the broccoli and continue to cook for other 10-15 minutes.

– In a jar mix eggs, cream, salt and pepper.

– Cut the provolone cheese into cubes

In muffin mold:

– First goes mix of broccoli, followed by some cubes of provolone.

– Pour the mix of eggs on each muffin cup.

– Put pieces of mozzarella on top.

– Place the muffins in the oven for 15mins on 180°C (356°F) the last 4 mins better to be on grill to have a crust on top.

They are great with salads and pickles.

Buon appetite

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Use skillet pan, or stone pans for grilling. Thermal shock on the surface brings more flavors to the chickens.

Ingredients | servings: 2

• 3-4 Chicken legs
• 1 Chilly
• 2 clove of Garlic
• 3-4 tbsp Ghee
• 5g of Ginger
• 1 teaspoon Turmeric
• 2tbsp White greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder
• 2 teaspoon of Tandoori Masala
• 1 teaspoon of Coriander Powder
• 2 Chopped spring onions

Preparation

– Cut the surface of the chicken (3-4 cuts per each) so the marinade can coat more surface of the meat.

Making the marinate

– In a bowl add: The grated garlic and ginger, chopped chilly, all the spices, salt, yogurt, half of the chopped spring onions and oil. Mix to have a paste.

– Add the chickens and massage the paste all over.

– Leave them on room temperature for 30 mins.

– On a hot pan place the chickens.

– Each side should cook for 10-12 minutes (on medium heat). While cooking, chicken will release its juice.

➡️ (optional) After cooking the chickens, you can grilled some chopped veggies, so they will absorb the tasty flavor of chicken from the grill pan.

Serve the grilled chicken tandoori with veggies or salad (for low carb), or with naan (bread) with chopped spring onions on top.

Enjoy! ☺️

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Ingredients | 2 servings

• 1 half Eggplants (cut in strips)
• 1 half Zucchini (cut in strips)
• 120g Monkfish per person
• 40-50g Pancetta
• 40g/1.4 Basil
• 1 clove of Garlic
• 30g/1oz Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 20g/0.7oz Finely ground Pecorino Cheese (or Parmesan)
• 2-3 roughly chopped Green Onions
• Half of a Chilly
• Chopped Parsley
• Walnuts some for topping
• 1/2 glass of white Wine

Preparation

Basil pesto

– In a mixer combine garlic, pecorino (or parmesan), walnut, extra virgin olive oil & basil and make a paste.

Prepare the veggies:

– Saute the eggplants till they become soft & brownish.

– Add zucchini & chili continue to stir for a few more minutes and turn off the heat.

– Add green onions & chopped parsley and mix. Put them aside.

Monkfish:

– Cut the monkfish into bites, wrap them with the strips of thin pancetta.

– Put them in a hot pan with a bit of olive oil and saute till the pancetta get smooth

– Pour the white wine and while it’s evaporating, stir the monkfish gently.

– Cook for 10 mins till the pan becomes dry.

Plating:

1. Make a bed of basil pesto.
2. Add the bites of monkfish in sides and form a circle.
3. Place the veggies in the middle.
4. Sprinkle crushed walnuts on top.

Notes

• This recipe taste great also with salmon and aioli. Since salmon isn’t as fat as monkfish, it helps to have more balanced flavors.

It’s ready to serve!

Buon appetito! ☺️

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