True Food Kitchen Creativs at BLVD NIGHTS

No oven Lasagna

Today I made this delicious "no oven lasagna". One just has to boil the pasta-made layers and introduce cheese with tomato sauce between them. I also recommend introducing some zuccini with herbs and spices. Yummy yum yum!

La Isla del Tesoro

La Isla del Tesoro is a vegetarian restaurant in the center of Madrid. Lonely Planets says it is one of the best ones in Madrid. The decoration is certainly fantastic and the different courses have a lot of flavour. Think it's best to there for lunch during the weekdays because they have economic menus. If one orders from the menu, it is a little expensive.

Y took me here, she is such a sweet girl. We had a rough time deciding what to eat, everthing that we read sounded irresistable. It was hard to make up our minds.

I ordered a goat cheese salad with red onions, tomatoes and daits. Y got "Panchamama", it was like a potatoe cake with many vegetables.

And then of course, we could resist to having something for dessert like... "El gocho de chocolate".

Thank you so much Y, I'm going to miss you!!! I whish you all the best on your new job and I hope I can visit you in NYC sometime soon.

Oreo Cake

 Yesterday I made this delicious oreo ice cream cake :) I found the recipe on "Taste of America", a shop that offers american products overseas.

Here is the procedure:

For the base:
- 24 oreo cookies.
- 6 spoons of butter or margarine (melted).

One mixes the cookie crumbs and butter into the mold. Put in the freezer while you do the rest.

For the cream:
- 200 grams cream cheese.
- 1/2 cup sugar.
- 1/4 cup water.
- 3/4 cup milk.
- 1 paquet of gelatine (powder).
- 1/4 cup cold water.
- 1 cup whipped cream.
- 12 broken oreo cookies.
- My personal addition: greek yogurt (mix at the end with the refrigerated mix)

Mix cream cheese with sugar. Mix glatine with water and mix in a glass and mix with the cream cheese and sugar. Add milk little by little while stirring the mix. Keep in refrigerator.
In another bowl "whipp" the whipped cream (I'm not sure how to explain this correctly in English). Mix the whipped cream with the refrigerated mix.
Pour half of the cream in the mold, add the oreo cookies al around and pour the rest of the cream.
Leave one hour in the freezer.

Yerbabuena

Christmas is a time to eat with family and friends, so why not make it healthy? J and I went to yerbabuena today. It is a nice restaurant in the heart of Madrid. It is a little small but the waiters are very very nice. The inside is relaxed, clean and comfortable.

We had a try it all menu. Seriously, I had to take a doggy bag. For starters we got some hummus, beet juice, pinapple and coconut juice with poppy seads, salmorejo and a small salad with vegan shrimps (truly amazing!).

Salmorejo & Shrimp Salad

 To follow up, some nachos with cheese, guacamole and some spicy tomato sauce. We were certainly full after this one.

Nachos with cheese

And then, our main dish. J got a vegetable cake with blue chese with some  more veggies on the side and I got some vegetable crepes with nuts, flaxsead, spices and with some veggies as a side too.

Veggie Crepes

 It may not look so big, but believe me... it got me full half way through it. J felt the same with his. I think we can't call ourselves cookie monsters anymore.

Veggie cake (it is under all the white)

Last but not least, desert. Cake or yogurt. Oh! I always have a sweet tooth so I chose an apple cake while J got some Kefir with honey.

Apple cake with some yogur and cornflakes.

Light and filled with cinammon. I absolutely loved it :) And the presentation? Fabolous! I have to admit that J's Kefir was much better than I expected. I'm not so much into Kefir because it is too acid for me.

Kefir with a honey heart ;)

So, is anyone's mouth not yet watering? ;)

El Vergel

J and I were feeling sooo veggie today :) We had an offer at El Vergel restaurant, so we decided to go today. It is located near Príncipe Pío at Paseo de la Florida, 53. Upstairs a veggie-shop, downstairs...where they cook all the goodies!

 

The restaurant is orange themed: walls, decorations, paintings and even napkins. Candles at the tables with books to read if one likes. Relaxing. The menu has many options but we took the sampling tasting menu.

Starters

As a starter they brought was some delicious fried-like vegetables and some bread to go with it. Soon after, 4 dishes (chef's choice) were brought to our table: goat cheese salad with caramelized onion, walnuts, raisins and lettuce, brocolli filled red pepper with cheese, black rice (as if with seafood), and two croquetas (a type of Spanish tapas).

It thrilled me that they brought us a goat cheese salad, it is sure my fave. I have to admit I was almost full by this point but we still had our main dish and dessert to go (I shouldn't have eaten breakfast!). I had ordered lasagna and J got seitan fillets.

 Dessert was nice, I had some vegan orange custard and J sipped along with a soft lemon milkshake made with yogurt.

Oh, and last but not least...tea! It was so nice to sit and talk after lunch. It was sure a delightful evening, and I sure recommend this restaurant. They offer daily menu for 10 euros which includes two main dishes, bread, drink and coffee or tea, quite a deal right?

And of course... I couldn't help treating myself to some of my favorite soy yogurt: Sojade.

Omega 3

There are 3 essential fatty acids that our body requires for a good nutrition. Most of them are easily found on vegeterian resources such as avocados, soy, nuts... One may also find eggs with omega 3 (chicks are fed with flaxseed).

VERY IMPORTANT:  the ratio between omega 6 and omega 3  consumption should be between 2:1 and 4:1. This might be quite dificult nowadays because most products have high amounts of omega 6.

Linwoods offers milled seeds, an excellent daily supplement

Using monosaturated fats and oils in cooking such as olive, canola or nuts oil is highly recommended. Also, oils rich in omega 3 like flaxseed oil may be used but NOT heated.

There are three types of omega 3 acids: ALA, DHA and EPA. DHA and EPA can only be found in fish. However, they can be synthesized by our organisms with ALA. So... we are ok ;)

I recommend buying flaxseed (6€/kg) and grinding it at home with an electric coffee grinder. It is not so  expensive as buying Linwoods already milled flaxseed (16€/kg).


Source of nutrient amounts: The Food Processor Nutrition and Fitness Software, ESHA (except as indicated)

Food	Serving Size	Omega-3 Content
flaxseed oil	1 Tbsp	7.5 grams
flaxseed*	1 Tbsp	2.8 grams
walnut oil	2 Tbsp	2.8 grams
canola oil	2 Tbsp	2.5 grams
walnut halves	1/4 cup	2.3 grams
soybean oil	2 Tbsp	1.9grams
soybeans	1/2 cup	.3 grams
pecans, chpd	1/4 cup	.3 grams
tofu	4 oz	.3 grams
soy milk	8 oz	.2 grams
wheat germ	1/4 cup	.2 grams
kale, boiled	1/2 cup	.1 grams

Type of Oil	Omega-6:Omega-3 Ratio
flaxseed	0.3:1
canola	2:1
walnut	5:1
soybean	7:1
corn	58:1
safflower	365:1

Resources:
http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2001sep/2001sepomega3.htm
http://jillharris.suite101.com/omega3s-for-vegetarians-a50504
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega-3_fatty_acid#Other_sources
*source: Cyberdiet.com

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