Smoked Salmon Salad and Marinated Shrimp

Marinated Jumbo Shrimp

10 jumbo shrimp

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 sunflower oil

3 tbsp lemon

3 tbsp mustard

5 sprigs parsley

dash peppar

1. Boil shrimps for 5 minutes, de-shell and clean. Leave to cool-down.

2. Put oils, lemon, mustard in a small bowl

3. Pour sauce over shrimps and top with parsley and pepper

4. Let marinate in fridge overnight

Smoked Salmon Salad

1 bag of organic pre-cut lettuce

8-10 mini tomatoes, halved

1 yellow bell pepper, diced

one small package smoked salmon (150g)

1 tbsp gravad lax sauce (recipe in blog or from IKEA)

drizzle olive oil

dash of salt and pepper

1. Wash all veggies and put in salad bowl

2. Top with salmon, sauce, olive oil and then salt/pepper

Dairy/Gluten Free Cupcakes!! Cupcakes Crush, Malmo, Sweden

I am on my way back to Greece and on my way I picked up some homemade cupcakes from owner and baker, Asa-Helene, of Cupcake Crush. Asa was kind enough to bake four special cupcakes for Magnus and I- what a treat!!

The flavors are very unique: lime-coconut-raspbery, wasabi-chocoate, lemon licorice, and mocha-chocolate. I was SO excited to try a bite as these cupcakes are they dairy and gluten free, which is right up my alley. Here are our thoughts on these unique beauties:

Overall, the consistency of the cake and frosting was incredible- due to the use of rice milk, rice/potato flour and vegan margarine.

There was one cupcake that stood out well above the rest- The chocolate wasabi cupcake. The cake seemed to weigh a lot in my hand so I thought it might be dry, due to being so dense, but when I put it in my mouth it melted. I almost had a heart attack. If I could marry a cupcake this is the one I would keep for all time. This is my perfect cupcake. This cupcake had a layer of "guff" white meringue and was covered in a very hard dark chocolate shell. Cracking into the chocolate was like finding a gold treasure at the end of a rainbow. I couldn't quite taste the wasabi, however, it very well might have been what I loved so much about the cupcake, but it wasn't very distinct to either Magnus or I.

The chocolate mocha was fantastic as well, the frosting was creamy and perfectly sweet and tart. I didn't like the other two as much, the coconut lime and lemon licorice. I felt the licorice taste was very strong and I am not used to eating licorice as much as Magnus, so he liked it more and thought the lemon matched the taste perfect. I would have liked a stronger lemon flavor. The frosting consistency was perfect though. The coconut and lime went well together but it didn't "wow" me like the wasabi chocolate. I did like the consistency of the cupcake, it has pieces of lime zest in it, which made the cake chewy, and crispy coconut crumbles on top of, yet again, frosting with perfect consistency.

So as an overall rating I liked these cupcakes more than any of the others because best they are dairy and gluten free. When I am eating healthy food it tastes better to me, because I am eating for both my body and my mind. These cupcakes were exotic as well and kept my tate-buds thoroughly entertained. People will pay good money for fun and taste like this!

If you are in Southern Sweden contact Asa-Helene and place an order through her website. The cupcakes are 25KR each. Do yourself a favor and order two wasabi chocolate cupcakes just for yourself :) Thank you Asa!!

Asa-Helene's website:

www.cupcakecrush.se

Planting seeds at home- Magnus's Top 5 Tips

Magnus is an expert when it comes to home planting. He has mini greenhouses all over his flat and I came at the perfect time- planting season- which means that I can pick up some tips from him. I purchased organic local seeds from both Denmark and Sweden (carrots, peppers, tomatoes, dill, parsley, arugula, spinach) and we will be planting next week in our Athens flat. We will start indoors and transfer our seedlings outdoors when it becomes warm enough. Thankfully, I have a lot of farmer blood flowing in my veins. Plus, we have Magnus :)

Here are Magnus's TOP 5 tips on home planting, in no particular order:

1. Planting depth- Make sure that seeds are not planted too deep in the soil, otherwise they might never have the chance to sprout.

2. Soil quality and type- Make sure that the first soil isn't too fertilized because it will inhibit instead of assist in seed growth. Avoid soil with too much added turf. Sand is often found in planting soil, which is good for the seeds. Put an inch of normal planting soil at the bottom of the pot so when the roots are matured they are able to feed off this before replanting to a bigger pot (or outdoors). This bigger pot/outdoors will only have normal soil.

3. Water- If your plants are in a dry environment, make sure to cover the pots with a plastic bag with small holes. This will allow the soil to maintain moisture and heat, acting as a mini greenhouse. A mini-greenhouse is the best option if it is possible to buy or build one. If you live in a humid area this will not pertain to you. Just be sure that soil stays moist but not wet.

4. Lighting-Make sure to add extra lighting if the pots do not receive roughly 14 hours of steady light. Any florescent lamp or bulb will do. It has been shown that if you have poor lighting, such as winter months in Sweden, it is better to solely have artificial light on the plants.

5. Transferring outdoors- When transferring plants from indoors to outdoors, make sure that the temperature difference isn't too great. Bring the plants outdoors for a few hours each day for about a week to get the plants acclimated to their new environment.

Planting and harvesting seeds from home can save money off your grocery bill and nothing tastes as good as homegrown produce- it IS worth the effort. We hope you give it a try this season. But hurry, as planting season has already started!!

Vegan, dairy free, Lentil Carrot Soup with Apple Almond Crumble

Lentil Carrot Soup

150g onion, finely diced

300g carrots, finely diced

150g red lentils

1 cube vegetable bullion

2 tsk fresh mint

2 spk apple cider vinegar

salt/cayenne pepper

1 L water

1. Bring first three ingredients to a boil and cook over medium for 20 minutes or so

2. Add last three ingredients and simmer for another 10 minutes

3. Remove from heat and, with a kitchen aid mixer, puree ingredients will smooth.

4. Top with apple almond crumble, recipe follows below

Apple Almond Crumble

70 g almonds, briefly chopped

3 spk fresh parsley

1 large sweet apple, finely diced

2 small cloves garlic, finely diced

1 spk olive oil

1 tsk fresh mint

salt/pepper

Sweden's Finest

Here are some photos of my favorite things about Sweden. Notice how many different kinds of marinated fish (sill) the Swede's have in the grocery store!! My favorite is the curry sill. It goes so well with boiled egg, onion, and red pepper. The graffiti is minimal here, but the picture included reads, "You are poor because they are rich," very true in some countries but not so much in Sweden due to the social democrat government. One of my favorite activities about the Swedish culture (Danish too) is sitting down for a long lunch full of goodies to pile on rye bread. It is healthy, delicious and I get to play with my food a bit- so the kid comes out in me. It is creativity at its finest :) The messmor comes from Northern Sweden and is made from a blend of goat and cow milk and is sweet in a light caramel sort of way. There are no words to describe the taste- it is one of a kind and only available in Scandinavia (to my knowledge). I don't eat a lot of dairy products, but when I am here I do indulge in the cheese. One other aspect of Sweden worth mentioning is how intricate their recycling system is. When Magnus takes out his trash it takes him about 5 minutes to sort everything- different colors of glass, papers, bottles, cans, compost- you name it, needs to be sorted. And the Swedes gladly do it out of respect for their country, the environment, and each other. I believe this is one aspect other developed countries should pay attention to and hopefully incorporate into the daily practices of all the communities.