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Tasty and Easy! Make Your Own Matcha Latte

Admittedly, Matcha Latte with its green color takes a little getting used to. But the green tea drink is not only healthy but also delicious and very popular with celebrities. We reveal how you can make Matcha Latte yourself.

Matcha was originally prepared by Buddhist monks, later it became the favorite drink of the samurai and then an integral part of the Japanese tea ceremony – even today.

With us, the ground green tea from the delicate leaf tips of Tencha tea has become more and more popular and well-known in recent years. Last but not least, Hollywood celebrities strolled through the streets with a matcha latte and were photographed by the paparazzi.

Of course, matcha tea can also be drunk pure, i.e. only infused with water, but it becomes an in-drink and coffee substitute with milk. The drink is then called Matcha Latte and is super easy to prepare. Health-conscious people, people with lactose intolerance, and vegans use soy milk. However, it also works with cow’s milk.

Make Matcha Latte yourself: This is how it works

  • ½ tsp matcha powder
  • 50ml hot water
  • 200 ml frothed soy milk

Put the matcha in a small bowl and stir in 50 ml of hot water. It gets lump-free with a matcha whisk. Pour liquid into a glass or mug and then add frothed soy or cow’s milk. If necessary, sweeten the Matcha Latte with honey or agave syrup (vegan). You can find more great Matcha recipes such as waffles with Matcha filling or tiramisu with Matcha here

Matcha is healthy

A bowl of Matcha contains about 3% caffeine. However, the drink does not make you jittery or nervous, but the green tea powder has a pleasantly invigorating effect.

Matcha is also said to have an anti-inflammatory effect and strengthen the immune system. You can find out everything you need to know about matcha and why it is so healthy in our product information about matcha.

Matcha: An expensive affair

Matcha powder can be bought in tea shops or health food stores. However, it is not cheap due to its complex production. Apart from growing and picking, it takes about an hour to get around 30g of matcha powder from tencha tea. Therefore, you pay at least 15 euros for a small can (30 g). Be careful with cheaper products. It is not uncommon for this not to be real matcha. Store Matcha in an airtight container and protected it from light. The Japanese also like to keep their matcha in the fridge after opening.

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health

Immune Booster Ginger Shot: So Tasty and Really Healthy – You Should Know That

Ginger shots are very trendy. The spicy drink is primarily intended to support the immune system and to build up the body’s defences.

Ginger shot: why vitamin intake is so important in winter

As many of you know, in the winter months, from November to March, the body cannot absorb vitamin D from the sun’s rays and therefore has to resort to food, preparations or occasional visits to the solarium to prevent a seasonal vitamin D deficiency avoid. Supplementing with vitamin D in winter is one of the most sensible dietary supplements of all and makes an important contribution to health.

Vitamins are of central importance for a functioning immune system. Being deficient for half of the year puts an enormous strain on the body. According to a study, an annually recurring deficiency increases the risk of infections, autoimmune diseases, cancer, dementia, cardiovascular diseases and generally leads to higher mortality.

In order to provide the body with vitamin-rich foods, you should eat enough fruit and vegetables, especially over the winter. The ginger shot is perfect for this, to get the body healthy and strong through the winter.

Ginger shot: What can the hot drink do?

By now you’ve probably heard about the little yellow shots, which are all the rage right now. But why is the spicy shot so popular? Ginger is sometimes referred to as a superfood. Totally right! The hot root contains certain ingredients called gingerols and shogaols. They are not only responsible for the sharp taste, but also for some health effects. Ginger has been used as a remedy in Asia for thousands of years and is used for the following ailments:
stomach pain
nausea
toothache
asthma and breathing difficulties
rheumatism
a cold
Other valuable nutrients in a ginger shot are provided by other ingredients such as orange, lime, lemon and turmeric. The fruits all contain a lot of vitamin C and various minerals, which, like ginger, offers optimal protection against colds and protects the immune system. Turmeric in particular has an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect and should therefore not be missing from your ginger shot! Tip: It is recommended to drink about 20 milliliters in the morning after getting up. The vitamin kick wakes you up and gives you a better start to the day.

Ginger Shots: Buy or Make Yourself?

Nowadays, ginger shots are mainly sold in small bottles in supermarkets and drugstores. It usually contains a mix of ginger pieces, ginger juice and often sweetened fruit juices. The catch is that because packaged juices are heated prior to final sale, giving them a longer shelf life, valuable nutrients are lost in the process. Better choice: do it yourself!

A freshly squeezed shot contains far more vitamins and minerals than a store-bought and processed shot. However, this must be stored in a cool place and even then it can only be kept for a few days. In terms of price, you’ll definitely save yourself some money by making your own vitamin shot. Because the small bottles in the supermarket are relatively expensive with prices between two and five euros.

In the supermarket, the ginger shots are often mixed with inexpensive apple juice, which also makes up a large part of the drink. This makes the drink a little sweeter and dilutes it. The added sugar is particularly questionable, also in the form of agave syrup. If you make your ginger shot yourself, you know exactly what’s in it and can do without or add more ingredients as you wish.

Ginger shot recipe: Very easy to make yourself

2 to 3 lemons or limes
2 to 3 oranges depending on size
100 grams of ginger
50 milliliters agave syrup, maple syrup or honey
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 to 2 teaspoons turmeric
Preparation: Peel and dice the ginger and add to the blender with the juice of the lemons or limes and oranges. Mix at the highest level for about 20 seconds and pour through a sieve into a bowl. This is how you remove the mixed ginger pieces and what remains: the juice. If the juice is too spicy for you, you can dilute it with water. Then add all the other spices and mix everything again. Then pour the juice into one or more bottles and enjoy!

Try it yourself and see how your ginger shot tastes best. Or just skip the coffee in the morning and try the vitamin kick! Ginger shots definitely do justice to the trend and should be drunk in every household several times a week, preferably daily, especially in winter. Cheers!

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Legumes – From Beans to Lentils: Tasty and Healthy?

Legumes are a great source of protein, especially for vegetarians and vegans. But meat eaters also benefit from the “superfood”. And of course there are also tricks against the intestinal complaints.

There are 730 genera of legumes worldwide. The most important are:

Lentils: Yellow Lentils, Green Lentils, Red Lentils
Peas: Chickpeas, Green Peas
Beans: Soybeans, Runner Beans, Green Beans, Kidney Beans, Lima Beans, Mung Beans, Black Beans, Soybeans
peanuts
lupins
Legumes are an important part of human nutrition because of the possible large yields on small areas and are therefore indispensable.

The most important ingredients at a glance

Vitamin bombs: vitamins B1, B2, B6, B9, C, E, K. Legumes contain B vitamins, among other things, which are among the most important nutrients of all. However, beans and co. usually have to be cooked for a long time, which is why they hardly contain any heat-sensitive vitamins such as the B vitamins.
Protein: No other plant-based food contains as much protein as legumes. This is often of high biological value, i.e. the body can absorb them well (e.g. soybeans). However, they do not contain all the protein building blocks necessary for life. However, a combination with grain, for example, can easily compensate for this deficit.
Fiber: Legumes contain a lot of fiber. However, the values ​​vary greatly depending on whether the seeds are peeled or unpeeled.
Secondary plant substances: Beans, peas and the like contain secondary plant substances such as alkaloids, saponins and isoflavones.
Iron: In addition to the high protein content, the plant-based superfood also has a lot of iron. However, they also contain phytate: a substance that in turn slightly inhibits iron absorption in the body.
Legumes also collect plus points for people with certain intolerances, as they are vegan, gluten-free and lactose-free. Leguminosae, as they are called botanically, are particularly interesting for vegetarians and vegans. Mainly because legumes have a high protein content, the body can easily absorb these proteins and because the fruits provide many other important nutrients.

This is how they affect the body

Legumes lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels thanks to vegetable proteins and fiber. This automatically reduces the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Legumes are also appropriate for meat eaters, who often struggle with these diseases through their diet.
The amino acid lysine helps the body produce antibodies, which boosts your immune system.
Proteins and roughage prevent cravings and make legumes long-lasting satiating foods. In addition, digestion is boosted, which has a positive effect on your organism.
The saponins (secondary plant compounds) are soap-like substances that may inhibit cancer, have an antibacterial effect and lower cholesterol. But be careful: Other studies show that in high doses they have a haemolytic effect, i.e. they can dissolve red blood cells.

The downside can be summed up very simply: flatulence. But that need not be. If you prepare legumes properly, you can digest them better.

Flatulence will decrease if beans and co. end up on the dinner plate more often
Start with legumes that cause less gas, such as cowpeas, baby peas, shelled lentils, and tofu and tempeh
If you have fresh legumes, soak them beforehand – for up to 24 hours, depending on the fruit
Insider tip: add some baking soda to the soaking water. This helps reduce the hard-to-digest substances
Boil them long enough – and don’t use the soaking water
Herbs and spices help them digest more easily. Rosemary, thyme, marjoram, savory and coriander are particularly good.
Specialists recommend 60 g/serving (after cooking that’s around 200 to 250 g) two to three times a week.

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Healthy Sugar Substitute: Tasty Alternatives as a Sweetener in Everyday Life

Many low-calorie drinks now have a permanent place on the menu of our favorite restaurants. Our diet also offers us many opportunities to avoid sugar with the help of sweetening alternatives. But which sugar alternatives are there, what can they be used for and how healthy are they actually?

Artificial Sugar Alternative #1: Saccharin

With a sweetening power 300 to 500 times stronger than our table sugar, saccharin has made it to the top of the most popular sweetening alternatives. Saccharin is not metabolized and is ultimately excreted unchanged. Because it is calorie-free, saccharin is often used in light products.

#2: Aspartame

The same can be said about aspartame. Aspartame has protein building blocks (proteins) that contain four calories per gram. Therefore, it comes very close to sugar, also with four calories per gram.

#3: Erythritol

We often come across erythritol in the sugar department, packed in a bag as an alternative sweetener. It is mostly used 1:1 like sugar for baking

More artificial sugar alternatives

Sucralose is a real all-rounder! This is a new sweetener made from sugar that is not metabolized and is excreted unchanged in most people. In addition, it is 600 times sweeter than sugar, good for the teeth, water-soluble and can be used for many foods.

Natural Sugar Alternative #1: Stevia

After dealing with the chemical sweeteners, we turn to the natural, plant-based alternatives and their special features.

#2: Xylitol

Even if the name is more reminiscent of a musical instrument: xylitol
The sweetener from Finland has the name “birch sugar” because it is traditionally made from birch bark here. Xylitol dissolves well in water, looks just like our table sugar and is often used for chewing gum and toothpaste due to its tooth compatibility.

#3: Coconut Blossom Sugar

Coconut blossom sugar is also known as palm sugar and is considered one of the top sweetening alternatives. With a whopping 380 calories per 100 grams (sugar at around 400 calories) it is the most sinful sugar substitute. If you also look at the nutritional values ​​(90g per 100g of carbohydrates), you might ask yourself why coconut blossom sugar is supposed to be healthier.

Other natural sugar alternatives: rice syrup and sweeteners from the kitchen

Rice syrup is made into syrup using a fermentation of cooked rice and originally comes from Japan. Rice syrup* comes to about 290 kilocalories and 70 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams. The syrup also contains no fructose and is therefore well suited for people with a fructose intolerance. Rice syrup tastes less sweet than sugar and also has an effect on blood sugar levels. Rice syrup contains calcium and iron.

Baking with sugar alternatives – you should pay attention to that

Since hardly anyone would like to do without their sweet cake in the afternoon, the question arises as to how well the sweetening alternatives are suitable for baking. Because the correct dosage is particularly important when baking, as this can deviate from the usual sugar and the alternatives. As we noted above, sweeteners vary

Sugar alternatives: That’s what dental health is all about

The dissatisfied look of the dentist and then again: caries! It’s simple: oral bacteria feed on sugar, and sugar has become a big part of many of our foods. Because we are eating more and more sugar.

Sweet drinks in particular are dangerous because they quickly give us a lot of sugar and thus damage our dental health. Refined sugar and cane sugar promote the development of caries to the same extent. Even honey should not be consumed excessively when the teeth are suffering.

Sugar alternatives and weight: For a slim line?

The eternal suffering with sugar and the morning number game on the scales – if you want to lose weight, you should avoid sugar. This is often said and unfortunately it is also true. But what about sweeteners? Don’t worry, because sweeteners are often accused of making you fat, but the German Society for Nutrition has no current scientific evidence.

Due to the lack of metabolization and the lack of nutritional values, the body cannot utilize sweeteners, which is why the blood sugar levels are not further influenced. It should be borne in mind that artificial sweeteners increase the appetite for sweets as they trick the brain into thinking it is eating something “sugary” and this feeling does not last long due to the lack of energy (in the form of kilocalories). The feeling of hunger can thus return faster and let us devour the second piece as well.

However, as long as it’s two (maybe three) and a good balance, sweeteners shouldn’t interfere with weight gain. On the contrary: if used correctly, sweeteners can help reduce our cravings (especially at the beginning of a craving).

Sweeteners in diabetics and children

Sugar alternatives for children: As mentioned above, sweeteners are almost calorie-free, tooth-friendly and do not affect blood sugar levels, which is why they are harmless to children’s health in reasonable amounts. However, it is important to ensure a balanced diet, since sweeteners do not keep you full for long. In addition, children should not eat too much, as these are often heavily sweetened and they could get used to the above-average sweet taste.

Sugar Alternatives for Diabetics: Sweeteners (like aspartame, saccharin) are beneficial for diabetics because they come with no calorie content or blood sugar effect. Since diabetics should pay close attention to their sugar intake, the craving for lots of sweets can still be satisfied with sugar alternatives. Of course, the same applies here: enjoy consciously! Rice syrup and honey (similar to sugar) have a lot of influence on blood sugar levels. Xylitol affects blood sugar a little. No influence

In summary, sweeteners should be dosed correctly so that they do not have the opposite effect and trigger feelings of hunger. In terms of health, sweeteners have surprisingly many benefits. Therefore, the first sugar-free cake should not be long in coming!

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Cooking Tips

Freeze Chives: This is How They Stay Fresh and Tasty

Chives are one of the most popular kitchen herbs. Here you can find out what you should consider if you want to freeze chives. With our tips, the leeks stay fresh and tasty.

Freezing chives: you should know that

Fresh chives refine many dishes with their slightly spicy note. However, the popular kitchen herb is only in season from April to October. The rest of the year, chives come from greenhouses, which use a lot of energy. In addition, the leek plant usually has long transport routes behind it in the colder months.

To be able to use chives with a clear conscience outside of the season, you can freeze them in the summer. In this way, it retains its characteristic taste and nutrients. Important: Harvest the chives before they bloom. After flowering, the culms tend to be bitter and less aromatic. In this article you will learn how you can easily grow herbs yourself. Alternatively, you can buy organic chives at the weekly market or in the organic shop and freeze them.

How to prepare for freezing:
Wash the chives.
Dry it thoroughly with a tea towel. This is important, otherwise it will clump together when frozen and you won’t be able to use smaller portions.
Cut the chives into small rings. You shouldn’t freeze whole straws, as they may stick together. Use sharp scissors to chop. If you chop the chives with a knife, the stalks will crush and lose their flavor.

Freeze chives without waste: Here’s how

You can use a plastic container or an old plastic bag as a freezer container for freezing chives if you have one at home. Important: In order to avoid the production of new plastic, you should not buy classic freezer bags. In another article you will find out what else you can do to reduce your plastic waste. But plastic cans or bags that you have already used can also be contaminated with pollutants.

It is therefore best if you reuse a disposable screw-top jar for freezing. Glasses that are as round and straight as possible with a wide opening are suitable for this. You can simply fill the chopped chives into the jar and store it screwed on in the freezer. Glass lunch boxes work just as well.

You should consider this if you want to use the frozen chives:
Make sure that you only interrupt the cold chain for a very short time. If the chives are thawing, they will become mushy and clumpy if you refreeze them.
Only use the chives when they are frozen: if the chives are thawed beforehand, the cell walls will burst and they will lose their aroma.

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Food

Lemon Balm: A Versatile and Tasty Medicinal Herb

Lemon balm is a versatile medicinal herb that can alleviate a variety of ailments. We will show you how to grow lemon balm at home and how you can use it fresh or dried all year round.

Lemon balm has been a popular medicinal herb since ancient times.
calming and anxiolytic,
relaxes the intestines (against flatulence and a feeling of fullness),
against the first signs of cold sores (as a high-dose cream).
Thus, the lemon balm can help against various ailments.

Lemon balm: application and cultivation

You can use the lemon balm in many ways. For example as:
relaxing tea,
refreshing syrup or as
delicious herb in the kitchen.
If you want to grow the plant yourself, you can plant it in a large pot where it can spread well. The lemon balm is a perennial shrub. Once planted, you can harvest the leaves for many years.

The lemon balm…
…likes a sunny spot,
…needs a relatively large amount of water,
…also grows well in a herb spiral,
…needs no fertilizer,
…should overwinter on the windowsill.
In winter, the plant continues to grow slowly on the warm window sill, so that you have something of it all year round.

Cut and propagate lemon balm

When fresh shoots sprout from the lemon balm in the spring, you can cut them back and plant these shoots. For this type of propagation you should only use strong young shoots that serve as cuttings.

How to successfully plant a cutting:
To pull a new plant from the shoot, you only leave the top two leaves on the shoot. Cut off all other leaves. You should use a sharp, clean knife for this.
Put some potting soil in a pot and plant the cutting so that the top two leaves are sticking out.
Place the cutting in a warm place and water it thoroughly.
You can also propagate lemon balm by dividing it. To do this, carefully remove the perennial from the pot and free the roots from the soil. With a sharp, clean knife, cut the root system in two. Make sure each half of the plant has young shoots.

Tip: No matter which method you choose, remember that the plant needs more water than usual, so you should water it more.

Harvest and dry lemon balm

In winter you can still grow the lemon balm on the windowsill. However, it does not grow as quickly in the cold season as it does in summer. Therefore, you can always harvest a few strands to dry in summer and early autumn. From the first rays of sunshine in spring, the plant will thrive again and sprout.
You can use the dried leaves as a relaxing tea or as a culinary herb.

How to dry lemon balm:
First, cut off individual strands from the plant.
Pluck off the lower leaves.
Tie some stems together loosely with a rubber band.
Use string to hang the bouquets upside down in a dark, dry place.
The lemon balm should be dry within two weeks.
Caution: Other recipes recommend drying the lemon balm in the oven. However, this requires leaving the oven door open or preheating the oven and turning it off before adding the leaves. These processes require a lot of energy – that’s why we at Utopia advise you to dry herbs better in the air. If you have a dehydrator, you can use that as well.

The smell of lemon balm changes slightly when you dry the leaves. They no longer smell so strongly of lemon. But don’t worry: If you infuse the leaves as a tea, the typical taste and smell will come back.

After drying, you can store the leaves in a tightly sealed screw-top jar in the cupboard.

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Eating Beechnuts: Poisonous or Tasty?

If you want to eat beechnuts, there is basically nothing to say against it. However, you should properly process the mildly toxic seeds before consuming them. We’ll show you how to safely use beechnuts in the kitchen.

Eating Beechnuts: Raw seeds are slightly poisonous

Beechnuts are not only food for wild boar, birds and Co. – we humans can eat them too. In autumn they litter the paths in forests and parks. While other tree fruits such as chestnuts or acorns are particularly popular with children who pick them up for crafts, collecting beechnuts has been somewhat forgotten. You can use the small brown seeds in many ways in the kitchen.

However, it’s best not to eat raw beechnuts because they contain the mildly toxic compound fagin, named after the beech tree’s scientific name. According to the Federal Center for Nutrition, large amounts of this plant toxin can cause abdominal pain. Children in particular should therefore not eat raw beechnuts. If you want to eat the beechnuts safely, you should always process them properly beforehand.

Tip: In order to be able to eat beechnuts, you first have to open the hard shell with a knife. Underneath, the actual seeds appear in the form of small, white kernels. You can eat the brown skin that encloses the seeds without any problems.

Before eating the beechnuts: don’t forget to heat them up!

Before you can eat beechnuts, you have to neutralize the slightly toxic fagin they contain. Fortunately, this is relatively easy: if you heat the seeds, the substance is broken down. To achieve this, you can either
douse with boiling water
or toast them in a pan for a few minutes (similar to pine nuts or hazelnuts)
After that, the fagin is only present in very small amounts in the beechnuts and you can continue to use and eat them without any problems.

This is how you can use beechnuts in the kitchen

Once you have boiled or roasted the beechnuts, you can easily eat them on their own or process them further. With a fat content of 40 percent and their high proportion of protein, minerals, zinc and iron, beechnuts are also very healthy.

Here are some ideas on how to prepare the seeds:
Salad topping: You can use the roasted beechnuts to refine both leaf salads and fruit salads. Simply sprinkle the seeds over the salad like nuts.
Tasty snack to nibble: You can get a tasty and healthy snack for the TV evening if you roast the beechnuts and then roll them in salt.
Ground beechnuts in cakes and bread: You can also grind roasted beechnuts into flour and use it to bake bread, cakes or biscuits, which give them a particularly aromatic taste.
Oil from beechnuts: Producing oil from beechnuts is quite expensive, as you need around seven kilograms of dried beechnuts per liter. However, the effort is worth it because you can store the healthy oil for a very long time and not only cook with it, but also refine salads.
Caution: Beechnuts contain oxalic acid, which is also found in spinach. If you have or have had kidney stones, you should avoid eating foods with a lot of oxalic acid and therefore not eat beechnuts.

Make bread spread from beechnuts

Another delicious way to eat beechnuts is with this spread. You can easily make it from the seeds and a few other ingredients.

Ingredients for beechnut spread:
20 grams of roasted beechnuts
1 bunch of fresh herbs of your choice (e.g. chives or parsley)
500 grams of low-fat quark
2 tbsp olive oil
1 shot of milk
1 pinch of salt
some pepper
1 dash of vinegar (e.g. apple cider vinegar)
How it works:
Chop the roasted beechnuts as small as possible.
Wash the herbs thoroughly, chop them finely and put them in a bowl.
Now add the low-fat quark, the olive oil and the finely chopped beechnuts.
Mix everything together thoroughly, then stir in the milk until it reaches your desired consistency.
Season the spread with salt and pepper and refine it with the vinegar at the end.

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Cooking Tips

Kohlrabi Leaves: The Leaves are so Tasty to Use

You don’t have to throw away the kohlrabi leaves. We will show you how you can use the leaves sensibly and even conjure up delicious dishes from them.

Many remove the kohlrabi leaves in the supermarket and dispose of them. We recommend that you buy kohlrabi with leaves, for example at the regional weekly market. The leaves are rich in magnesium and vitamin C. They can also be used for delicious dishes.

If you keep small animals like guinea pigs or rabbits, you can also feed them kohlrabi leaves.

Kohlrabi leaves as a substitute for aluminum foil

When grilling, you should avoid aluminum trays and aluminum foil – for the sake of your health and the environment. Simply wrap your grilled food in kohlrabi leaves and fix them with wooden skewers. You can fill the grill packs according to your taste. Various types of vegetables, such as tomatoes or zucchini, olives or tofu are particularly tasty. Depending on your taste, a marinade made of oil, pepper and salt goes well with it.

You can simply eat the kohlrabi leaves afterwards. They are flavorful and ensure that you grill your vegetables without any waste.

Spinach substitute made from kohlrabi leaves

You can conjure up a tasty, spicy substitute for spinach from kohlrabi leaves. All you need is:

Leaves of 3 – 5 kohlrabi bulbs
1 onion
1-2 cloves of garlic
Salt pepper
3 tbsp oil
And this is how it works:

Wash the kohlrabi leaves and remove the stalks with a knife.
Cut the kohlrabi leaves into strips.
Peel the garlic cloves and the onion. Cut the onion and mince the garlic.
Heat the oil in a pan. Briefly sauté the diced onions and the chopped garlic in it.
Add the chopped kohlrabi leaves to the pan.
Let it simmer for 25 to 30 minutes over low heat. Add some water if needed.

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Infused Water: Tasty Recipes and Ideas

Infused Water is refreshing, versatile and healthy – we’ll show you how you can easily make the tasty water yourself from organic ingredients.

How to prepare infused water

Water that you flavor with fruit, vegetables, herbs, and spices is also called infused water. You can combine the ingredients according to your taste. It is important that you use them in organic quality so that you do not have any contamination from spray agents in your drinking water.

Use local and seasonal ingredients whenever possible. In our seasonal calendar for vegetables and fruit, we show you when which fruit and vegetable is in season throughout the year. You don’t need to buy bottled water – just use tap water.

The additives make the water taste sweeter or spicier. If you drink too little, infused water can be a good incentive to reach for a glass of water more often.

In order to benefit from the health-giving ingredients of your ingredients in infused water, you should squeeze the fruit slightly so that the juice is released. With herbs, you can gently press the leaves to release the essential oils. For a particularly intense taste, simply let the water steep for a few hours or overnight.

The classic: infused water with lemon and ginger

The fresh lemon note on the tongue and the slight ginger spiciness in the finish make this infused water a favourite. Fresh, sparkling and rich in vitamins – always delicious, whether you enjoy it in summer or winter. You need the following ingredients for one liter of water:

1-2 slices of ginger
a slice of lemon
Wash the lemon and cut it into slices.
Take the lemon slices and cut them in half. Slightly press both disc parts above the water so that some juice comes out and put them in the water.
Cut a slice of ginger and peel it.
Now cut the slice of ginger into small pieces and mash them individually with a fork.
Add the ginger pieces to the water as well.
Stir the ingredients well once.
Let the water steep for at least 1 hour. The longer it steeps, the more intense the taste.

These ideas are also fruity and lively and particularly suitable for the warm season:

lemon and lime
Raspberry with Lemon
strawberry with mint

Wintry infused water with orange and spices

The flavored water with oranges, cinnamon and cardamom is particularly suitable for autumn and winter. The combination of orange and spices has a beneficial effect in the cold season. For one liter you need:

a slice of orange
a cinnamon stick
a spoonful of cardamom powder
Wash the orange and cut it into slices.
Now cut an orange slice in half and gently squeeze it over the water so that some juice comes out.
Put the orange pieces in the water.
Break the cinnamon stick in half.
You can now break the individual pieces apart further and put them in the water.
Add the cardamom powder.
Stir the ingredients and let the water steep for at least two hours.
Infused water with:

apple and cinnamon
pear and cardamom

Unusual ideas for infused water

There are no limits to your imagination and joy of experimentation with Infused Water. Just try different combinations. Unusual flavors such as:

Orange with basil
Cucumber with mint and jalapenos
Pear with raspberries and rosemary
Have fun trying your favorite water! If you have any other ideas, please share them with us in the comments.

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Eat Nasturtium: 3 Tasty Recipes

You can eat nasturtium not only as a decoration in the salad – there are many other ways to process their flowers and leaves. In this article, we’ll give you a few ideas on how to use the spicy herb.

You can not only eat the leaves and flowers of the nasturtium as a pretty decoration in the wild herb salad or smoothie. The hot and spicy taste, which comes from the mustard oil glycosides contained in the wild plant, also refines many other dishes. We’ll show you how to add spice to simple recipes for pesto, quark or spreads with the herb and how you can eat healthy nasturtium more often in everyday life.

Eating Nasturtium: These parts are edible

In Germany, it is mainly the parts of the nasturtium that grow above ground that we eat. If you are unsure how to properly prepare and eat the flowers, leaves and seeds of the nasturtium, we have compiled the most important information for you here:

Blossoms: The edible blossoms of the nasturtium are particularly beautiful to look at and are therefore often used raw as a decoration in salads or soups. You can also pickle the nasturtium flowers in vinegar. You can use the resulting blossom vinegar to refine dressings and sauces.
Leaves: You can eat the young leaves of the nasturtium in particular as a tasty topping for bread or in a salad. Because of its sharp taste, you should use the herb a little more sparingly than, for example, the milder-tasting watercress. You can not only use the leaves of the cress in salads, but also work them into quark or pesto.
Seeds and buds: dried, you can eat the rounded seeds of the nasturtium as a good substitute for pepper. The unripe, closed buds, on the other hand, can easily be preserved in vinegar and salt and later used as a substitute for capers.
By the way: The nasturtium originally comes from the Andes in South America. It is also common among the locals of this region to eat the tuberous nasturtium bulb. It is roasted like a potato or mashed.

Eat nasturtium as a delicious pesto

If you want to use as many parts of the nasturtium in a recipe, you should process the herb into pesto. In this way you can keep the freshly harvested leaves and flowers for a long time and eat the nasturtium even in autumn and winter.

The following recipe is enough for a glass full of pesto (350 milliliters).

Ingredients:

150 gfresh nasturtium (leaves and flowers)
120 mlolive oil
3 tsp salt
1jar with screw cap

Directions:

Thoroughly wash the leaves and flowers of the nasturtium and roughly chop them.
Pour the olive oil over the chopped flowers and leaves and add the salt. Mix everything thoroughly once.
Pour the nasturtium pesto into a boiled and cleaned glass jar. Be careful not to trap any air bubbles and leave some space at the top of the glass.
Top up the jar with more olive oil until the pesto is completely covered. Close the jar tightly and store in the refrigerator.

Refine spreads with nasturtium

Of course you can also eat nasturtium pure on your daily sandwich. If you want to make a seasonal spread yourself instead, you can easily incorporate the aromatic cress blossoms.

The following recipe is enough for one serving of spread (three tablespoons).

Ingredients:

1 handful of nasturtium flowers
3 tbsp cream cheese
a bit of salt

Directions:

Rinse the nasturtium blossoms gently under running water and dry them in a salad spinner.
Put the flowers in a bowl with the cream cheese and salt and puree everything thoroughly with a hand blender.

Eat pickled nasturtium seeds as a substitute for capers

You can pickle the seeds of the nasturtium instead of capers. To make the salty and sour snack yourself, you only need a few ingredients.

For a small jar of pickled nasturtium seeds, you need to follow the steps below.

Ingredients:

1 handful of nasturtium seeds
2 tsp salt
some vinegar

Directions:

Put the nasturtium seeds in a boiled mason jar and sprinkle with the salt. Be careful not to fill the glass to the brim.
Cap the jar tightly and shake vigorously. Put it in the fridge for four to five days, shaking the contents regularly.
Rinse the drained seeds and boil the jar again with hot water. Then fill the drained caper substitute back into the glass.
Boil some vinegar in a saucepan and then pour it into the glass with the seeds. Allow the jar to cool briefly and then place it in the fridge for a week or two. Before you can eat the pickled nasturtium seeds, you should drain them thoroughly.

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