Maca cinnamon vanilla coffee with almond milk

Don’t you also love your coffee crazily? It somehow reminds me of the old days when I still used to smoke.. it’s more like a kind of ritual, when you need a break, when you’ve accomplished something or treat yourself with something special- that’s my coffee to me… But coffee has a bad reputation sometimes, and I’d like to share with you that’s it not really like that if you consider some little changes.

When I did my detox a couple of months ago I was not only surprised, but more than delighted to learn that I don’t have to skip my coffee at all, rather than just use good quality beans (ideally organic, never instant, but that’s a NO NO for me anyways…), skip the sugar and use other kinds of milk instead of cowmilk. I tried everything from coconut milk, to hazelnut and almond milk (be sure you get a good one, not just one which claims to be and only contains almond aroma a lot of sugar) and chose the latter as my favourite due to yummy flavour and it’s frothing lovely.

As soon as I started to look out of my “usual kind of coffee box” I also started experimenting with adding healthy and delicious flavours to it like maca powder (which is a natural superfood with great health benefits), cinnamon (also a spice with lots of potential health benefits) and pure vanilla.

This version is one of my favourite.. it’s cold, mixed in my smoothie maker and a delicious, yet healthy treat!

What you need…
(serves 2)

• cooled 200ml of espresso (I love to make mine in my oldfashioned Italian espresso maker machine)
• 200ml of organic almond milk (see recommendations above)
• 1 teaspoon of maca powder, cinnamon and vanilla essence (pure) each
• some ice cubes

What to do…

Put coffee, almond milk and some ice cubes in your blender. Mix for 30sec on max until the icecubes are disappeared. Add the maca powder and vanilla essence and mix a bit more until it’s nice and frothy. Put in glasses and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Enjoy on a Sunday morning, a late afternoon after work or whenever you need it!

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Blackbean salad variation: Wholemeal wrap with goat cheese

As some of you may know I love to reuse left overs and create something new out of them. I had a small portion of yesterday’s blackbean salad and bought some wholemeal wraps yesterday night. So instead of eating the same salad a second time I thought why not put it in a wrap?

As usual I wanted to keep it quick and easy (always starving after work – hehe!!) so I just heated up the wrap in a griddle pan for a couple of seconds, chopped up some green salad and was delighted to find some goat cheese in my fridge which is not only healthier than cow milk but also gives it a particular flavour which I love! I used 2 tablespoons of creamy Thyme & Rosemary Chavroux as a base and 2 slices of hard goat cheese which I just broke into small pieces and mixed it in the salad.

Look what came out of it in less than 5min (and honestly I liked it even better than the salad yesterday… lol)

BTW! If you’re not into black beans, like my dear friend E who liked my salad on my Facebook page but wrote me she just can’t get into black beans, – why don’t you just substitute them with white beans, chickpeas or lentils? All of those lovely grains go perfectly fine with this combination – just be creative and exchange what you dont like! And within seconds another new, delicious meal is recreated 😀

Black bean salad with grilled halloumi

Hmmm… I’m still enjoying the last seconds of joy after my late lunch. This is definitely worth waiting until 3pm when I finish with work and then take some time for myself and dedicate it to making a fine meal. As usual, the drawers and cupboards are my inspiration!

Some time ago I bought a can of organic black beans. So this is it today! I washed and drained them and added fresh cucumber, tomatoes, and lots of parsley to make a nice, tabouleh kind of salad with it. You enjoy it either like this, use it as a side, or add some topping as I did with the halloumi, one of my favourite cheeses which is originates from Greece and is normally grilled. The chewy, salty halloumi balanced perfectly with the fresh salad, so never grill to much of it (a third or half by person is quite enough).

Mmmmmhhh, I must say – I really enjoyed this, and it’s not only pretty and quick but also delicious! Hope you like it too!

What you need…
(for 1 portion, or maybe a bit more…)

• 1 can of organic black beans (washed and drained)
• half of a cucumber
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 yellow pepper
• a bunch of fresh parsely
• 1 spring onion
• sea salt, fresh pepper, ground cumin
• juice of 1 lemon & olive oil
• half of a halloumi

What to do….

Chop all veg in small pieces (I like it when everything is about the size of the beans). Slice the halloumi and fry it in a griddle or normal pan until nice and golden (sometimes you have to get rid of a bit of water coming out of the cheese). Put all the veggies in a bowl and dress with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and ground cumin. Serve on a plate and put the grilled halloumi on top.

Bon appetit 🙂