recipe

Fresh Cucumber Dill Salad With Sour Cream

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Let’s talk about nutritients today. Cucumbers are packed with them. In just a single cup of cucumber slices, you’ll get 14% to 19% of the vitamin K you need for the day. You’ll also get vitamins B and C along with minerals like copper, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium.

Cucumbers are also great for hydration.  Each one is about 95% water. That’s important because your cells need enough water to work right. All that water in cucumbers doesn’t just hydrate your cells. It also fills your belly, and that may help you eat less. A cup of sliced cucumbers has just 16 calories. That means it has very low “energy density.” People who eat more foods with low energy density often find it easier to lose weight.

Cucumbers have a unique set of antioxidants, including flavonoids, lignans, and triterpenes. They not only protect cells but also lessen inflammation that’s linked to arthritis and other long-term conditions. Their antioxidant activity helps slow or stop heart-related disease. And some research seems to show that the unique mix of nutrients in cucumber seeds could help improve your cholesterol numbers, which could have a direct impact on heart health. 

Cucumbers are a refreshing, nutritious and incredibly versatile addition to any diet. Fun fact: did you know that cucumber is a fruit?

Dill weed is native to the Mediterranean and southern Russia but can be grown in most parts of the world. The feathery green is often added to salads or soups, or used as a garnish. Some people also use dill to gain certain health benefits.

In traditional herbal medicine, dill has been used to help manage and prevent digestive ills and bad breath, and also to lower cholesterol and blood sugar. Dill is packed with micronutrients that provide health benefits – vitamin A, vitamin C, fiber, folate, calcium, manganese, and iron.

When buying dill, look for fresh, green feathery fronds that have been freshly cut. Dill has a fresh, grassy taste that some food experts describe as a combination of fennel, anise, and celery. Many people are familiar with the taste of dill pickles, which have a much more intense flavor that combines salt, vinegar, and dill. Dill, alone, has a more delicate taste.

Let’s make this cool salad now, shall we?

This is the best easy, creamy cucumber salad ever! When you’re looking for an easy summer salad that highlights fresh garden cucumbers, this is it. Healthy, creamy cucumber salad with sour cream and dill takes just 10 minutes, a handful of simple ingredients, and can also be made ahead of time. You’re going to love it!

Ingredients:

  • 4 cucumbers, skinned and sliced
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh dill
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • salt

Instructions:

1. In a large serving bowl, combine cucumbers, salt, dill and sour cream. Whisk well to combine. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour before serving (the longer this salad marinates in sour cream and dill the tastier it is). Serve and enjoy!

Something to remember:

– taste each cucumber before chopping it up. If you find a bitter one, don’t put it in your dish

– if you have time, store in the refrigerator for a few hours to let the flavors blend

– you can also add some vinegar or lemon juice if you like

– you can replace sour cream with Greek or plain yogurt

– you can also use dried dill

– make sure your cucumber slices are thin

– you can skin the cucumbers or leave the skin on

This salad is so delicious and easy to make. It smells and tastes like summer. Love it!

Fluffy Lemon Cake

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How do we call one simple batter that transforms into perfect creamy cake? We call it – pure perfection! Or Fluffy Lemon Cake. This cake is so delicate, light, not too sweet but sweet enough to satisfy your sweet tooth. It’s delicious and there is something so refreshing about the citrus flavor. It reminds me of summer and Amalfi Coast.

This lemon cake is so easy to make from scratch. You just need few basic ingredients you probably already have in your pantry. Every bite of this creamy lemon cake is bursting with lemon flavor and it’s made from scratch in 10 minutes or less.

The cake batter is very thin, similar to a crepe batter, and all you have to do is pour it into a baking dish, place it in the oven, and enjoy in magic of baking (and lemony smell that will fill your kitchen, top to bottom).

Ingredients

  • 4 eggs, room temperature (separate yolks from whites)
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsalted melted butter
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 3/4 cup lukewarm milk
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp lemon zest
  • powdered sugar for dusting cake

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 170 C degrees. Grease a 8×8 inch baking dish or line it with parchment paper.

2. Separate eggs. Mix whites until stiff. Set aside.

3. Beat the egg yolks with sugar until light. Add melted butter and vanilla extract. Continue beating for a while and then add the flour and mix it until fully incorporated.

4. Add lemon juice and lemon zest then slowly start adding lukewarm milk and mix until everything is well mixed together. Gently add the egg whites, and fold them using a spatula.

5. Pour batter into baking dish and bake for 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the cake is firm to the touch. The baking time could depend on the oven, so take a peak at around 30 minutes and see how it looks.

6. Sprinkle some powdered sugar after cake has cooled.

How to serve?

Make sure your fluffy lemon cake is completely cooled before you dust the top with the powdered sugar. You can add some citrus zest as garnish to really make the presentation stand out.

Some questiones answered:

1. Egg Whites

When you add the egg whites to the batter, don’t fold the egg whites in completely so that it’s a smooth batter. You need to leave those white bits in there.

2. Baking Time

Each oven is different so baking time will depend on your oven. I baked this cake for 40 minutes and, as you can see, it’s nice and brown on top. Some people have said that after 20 minutes the cake is done, but for some other people it was 70 minutes.

One trick is to touch the top of the cake to see if it’s firm. Make sure it’s firm to the touch, and not jiggly. If it’s jiggly it’s not cooked completely. The important thing to remember is that the cake needs to be a bit golden on top and firm to the touch.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe

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A few months ago, I said: “I’m going to make some banana bread.” The rest is history. Everyone fell in love with this wonderful banana bread and I’ve been baking it ever since. To be perfectly honest, I don’t think I can stop making it. Yesterday I made two of them. There are no leftovers for today.

Banana bread is one of those classic, vintage, retro, comfort food recipes. It fills the whole house with warmth, happiness, and makes everything better. Banana bread is true magic.

The beauty of banana bread is you don’t need a lot of ingredients, a fancy mixer, a lot of bowls and dishes. Banana bread is simple. You just need a bowl, a basic mixer or a fork to whisk the eggs and a wooden spoon to mix the batter.

You can toss in it whatever you like – a cup of chopped nuts, raisins, or chocolate chips which I prefer to use because they give banana bread that wonderful choco flavor.

Did you know you can use your electric mixer to mash bananas? Break or slice the spotty bananas into large pieces and place in the bowl of your stand mixer– or use a regular mixing bowl and your hand mixer. Begin beating on low, then gradually increase to medium-high speed as the bananas break down into mashed banana.

When you have some spotty leftover bananas in your kitchen, don’t hesistate to bake this banana bread, you won’t regret it. This is the best banana bread recipe I ever tried, and I tried some, believe me. If you still haven’t tried banana bread or you are still searching for your perfect recipe, look no further. Try this one.

It is simple, easy to make and you will fall in love with it.

The best bananas to use for banana bread are those that are over-ripe. The yellow peels should be at least half browned, and the bananas inside squishy and browning.

Ingredients:

  • 3 to 4 very ripe bananas (with brown spots, peeled)
  • 1 egg
  • pinch of salt
  • 50 g butter or 50 ml oil
  • 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar (1/2 cup if you would like it less sweet, 1 cup if more sweet)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup chocolate chips (or 2 cups, depend if you like more chocolate or less)

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
  • In a mixing bowl mash bananas with mixer (or a fork) until completely smooth. Stir in beaten egg, melted butter or oil and a pinch of salt. Mix all well with mixer or a wooden spoon.
  • Stir in the sugar, flour, baking powder and mix all together. Add chocolate chips.
  • Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 20 or 30 minutes (depends on the oven) at 180°C, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
  • Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for a few minutes. Then remove the banana bread from the pan and let cool completely before serving. Slice and serve.

STORAGE SUGGESTIONS: This bread is moist, so it will keep for two or three days at room temperature. Store it in the refrigerator for five to seven days, or in the freezer for up to three months or so. 

FLOUR ALTERNATIVES: Instead of all-purpose flour you can use the whole wheat flour, you can use an equal amount of all purpose flour, whole wheat pastry flour, spelt flour, or gluten-free all-purpose flour blend.

OIL OPTIONS: I use vegetable or sunflower oil but you can also use coconut oil, grapeseed oil or even olive oil (might lend an herbal note to your banana bread).

Overall, this is a SUPER easy recipe for classic banana bread. The batter takes about 10 minutes to throw together, the bread stays moist for days, and nothing beats the smell of fresh banana bread in the oven!

Did you make this banana bread? Let me know how it turned out for you!