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Make Empanadas Yourself: Here’s How

Empanadas are a culinary specialty from Spain. Here you will find a simple recipe for the crispy dumplings – with various ideas for vegan and vegetarian fillings.

Empanadas are small dumplings that are a staple of national cuisine in most Spanish-speaking countries. Traditionally they are filled with meat, vegetables and cheese. Our recipe contains a basic vegan filling.

Make sure the ingredients for the empanadas are organic if possible. You support ecologically sustainable agriculture that treats the earth’s natural resources with care.

Make empanadas yourself: Here’s how

Ingredients:

600 g spelled flour
200 g vegan margarine
2 teaspoons cream of tartar baking powder
4 tsp salt
300 ml water
1 onion
1pepper
1 clove(s) garlic
2 tablespoons rapeseed oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste
150 gkidney beans
150 gcorn
200 g chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon raw cane sugar
pepper

Directions:

First knead the spelled flour, the vegan margarine, the cream of tartar, two teaspoons of salt and the water in a bowl to form a smooth dough. Place the dough in the refrigerator covered with a damp tea towel.
Cut the onion and the pepper into small pieces. Chop the garlic.
Heat the canola oil in a large pan. Sauté the onions in it over medium heat for 3 minutes. Then add the peppers and tomato paste and cook for another five minutes, stirring occasionally.
Then add the kidney beans, corn and chopped tomatoes to the pan. Also add the raw cane sugar. Cover and let the mixture simmer for 10 minutes. Then season with pepper and the remaining salt.
Flour a work surface and knead the dough vigorously again. Then, using a rolling pin or a glass bottle, roll it out about half an inch thick. Then use a glass or bowl to cut out round pieces of dough. They should be ten to fifteen centimeters in diameter.
Place about 1/2 or 1 tablespoon of the filling in the center of each piece of dough. Then fold them into a crescent and gently press the edges together with a fork.
Place the empanadas on a baking sheet lined with baking paper or baking paper substitute. Brush them with some liquid margarine.
Bake the empanadas at 200 degrees top/bottom heat for 20 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Complete!

Empanadas: possible variations

You can prepare empanadas with a wide variety of fillings. There are numerous vegan and vegetarian options:

A very simple variant of the empanadas, for example, is only filled with (vegan) cheese.
You can also make vegetarian ground beef and add it to the filling instead of the kidney beans.
Instead of the peppers, you can also fill the empanadas with zucchini, eggplant, spinach or kale.
A dip is traditionally served with the empanadas. For example, red salsa and salsa verde or homemade guacamole go well with the crispy dumplings.

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Food

Make Your Own High-energy Vital Biscuits: Here’s How

These vital biscuits are suitable for giving you energy all year round – not just for the baking time at Christmas. We’ll show you how to prepare them here.

Anyone who likes to eat nuts or trail mix will probably like these biscuits too. You can vary the dry ingredients as you like, as long as they have a similar consistency – for example, pumpkin seeds instead of oatmeal.

You don’t need flour, butter or sugar for vital biscuits, so it’s not a conventional biscuit dough. They contain honey, which can liquefy again after the biscuits have been stored for a long time. To counteract this, you can simply bake the cookies again at around 170 degrees so that the honey caramelizes further.

Vital biscuits: Quick recipe for the high-energy pastry

Ingredients:

75 g sesame
75 g hazelnuts, chopped
75 g almonds (chopped)
50 g seeded oat flakes
30 gcranberries 1organic egg
2.5 tbsp honey
1 drop of vanilla flavoring
1 pinch(s) of salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 180° top/bottom heat. This is necessary to caramelize the honey – this only works if heated quickly.
Place all the nuts, sesame seeds, rolled oats, and cranberries in a bowl and mix together.
In another bowl, mix the egg with the honey and vanilla essence and add the salt. Add the liquid mass to the grain-nut mix and fold it in with a tablespoon until everything sticks together.
Use two tablespoons to scoop small amounts of the mixture onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper alternative or parchment paper.
Place the tray in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes.
Let the biscuits cool down.

Tips and tricks for vital biscuits

Try to look for an organic seal for as many ingredients as possible. This shows you that the goods have been organically grown in a controlled manner. The Naturland, Demeter and Bioland seals are particularly recommended. Here you can find out why you should prefer them to the EU organic seal: EU organic seal: These things are prohibited with organic

Also, pay attention to the Fairtrade seal, especially for imported nuts and grains. It guarantees fair trading conditions for farmers and also rewards organic farming.

You can also prepare the vital biscuits without eggs, but you should then use half a tablespoon more honey. However, with this variant there is a risk that the cookies will get lost. Then, after baking, while the cookies are still lukewarm, shape them back into cookies to let them cool completely.

If you use egg, you can buy organic eggs without chick shredding, i.e. ones that guarantee the rearing of male chicks.

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Food

Chinese Cucumber Salad with Squashed Cucumbers: Here’s How

The special thing about Chinese cucumber salad is the crushed cucumbers. The squeezing makes the light dish particularly crisp, refreshing and aromatic. We’ll show you a recipe for the healthy side dish.

Chinese cucumber salad is a popular side dish in Asian cuisine. Unlike the traditional cucumber salad, the cucumbers for this recipe are first squashed or smashed. Crushing creates small gaps that allow liquid to drain away. That’s why the Chinese cucumber salad will be particularly crisp later. In addition, the dressing can be better distributed in the small gaps and contributes to the aromatic, fresh taste.

When buying your ingredients, make sure they are organic. In this way you ensure that the food is free of chemical-synthetic pesticides. The organic seals from Demeter, Naturland or Bioland stand for high standards.

Cucumbers and other vegetables are usually available from regional cultivation during the season. This saves long transport routes and thus also CO2 emissions. In addition, by the way, it is very easy to grow cucumbers yourself.

Chinese cucumber salad: how to prepare it

Ingredients:

1 cucumber
1 tsp salt
2 cloves)garlic spring onion
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 teaspoon nectar
1 tsp soy sauce
0.5 tsp coriander, ground 1 red chilli (optional)

Directions:

Place the cucumber on a board and squash it until it’s split open on both sides. For example, use a rolling pin or another hard object.
Tip: You can cover the cucumber with a kitchen towel beforehand to prevent the cucumber juice from splashing around when you crush it.
Cut the mashed cucumber into small cubes, one to two centimeters in size.
Put the cucumber cubes in a fine sieve. Place a bowl underneath to drain excess liquid.
Mix the cucumber cubes with the salt and set them aside for 30 minutes.
Caution: If you skip this step, the Chinese cucumber salad will be too watery.
Meanwhile, finely chop the onions and garlic.
Mix together the sesame oil, rice vinegar, agave syrup, soy sauce and the ground coriander.
After resting, place the cucumbers in a salad bowl and mix with the dressing, onions, and garlic.
Optional: Chop the chilli very finely and garnish the Chinese cucumber salad with it.

Chinese cucumber salad goes well with these dishes

Chinese cucumber salad is a light dish. Eat it as a light lunch or as a snack between meals. If you’re having the cucumber salad as a main meal, serve it with some flatbread or fresh focaccia.

As a side dish, the Chinese cucumber salad goes particularly well with fresh vegetables. Cook the vegetables the Asian way, like in this vegetable curry with local ingredients or the Thai dish Pad See Ew. Serve cooked rice or rice noodles with salad and vegetables.

Spices and herbs such as coriander, mint, parsley and various types of chili also go well with the Chinese cucumber salad.

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