Soulfood - Spinach Salad

Oh my god it. is. hot.
Nap season has officially begun where I have to take a nap as soon as I get home because the heat is so physically exhausting, and I am sure I am not the only one who can't stand the thought of a warm meal when it's 31°C outside. So I switch over to a lot of vegetables and less carbs, when it's warm I get a weird desire for healthy food (well, at least things that feel healthy). Last weekend I was visiting my mum, and since my sister was out and my boyfriend was at a fancy dinner for doctors/med school students/anyone who is somehow involved in the whole health care business we made a lovely dinner for ourselves and since my boyfriend is weirdly opposed to raw fish, we tried a recipe I found on Buzzfeed the other day and made a salmon poke bowl which was really, really good. At this point I want to stress that even though I spend a great evening with my mum and had a great meal, I am a bit pissed that just this one time I would have liked to submit to gender roles and play my boyfriends arm candy to get awesome food for free but no, they wouldn't let me. Yes, I am a bit sulky about that.
Anyways: Salmon is quite expensive, so I don't feel like making this just for myself would be worth it. Plus, even though I am not a vegetarian anymore (because I am a weak ass bitch), I try to keep eating meat and fish to a minimum, so today I decided to make a salad a bit similar to the poke bowl.

Ingrediences

• 2 hands full of fresh spinach
• 1/2 cucumber
• 4 cherry tomatoes
• 1 avocado
• 1 shallot
• 2 tbsp. of sesame
• 2-3 tbsp. of soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. of olive oil
• pepper and chili to taste
• optional: Nori leaves for garnishing

How to make the thing 

1. Cut the spinach in stripes.
2. Dice the cucumber, tomatoes, shallot and avocado.
3. Put everything in a big bowl and add the oil, soysauce and sesame.
4. Mix everything. 
5. Season.

 Et voila. You can eat this as a normal salad but you could also put it in a wrap, on rice, on toast etc. if you're missing some carbs here. If you want to buy a house anytime soon you can, of course, skip the avocado as well. 

Excursion To Poetry #2 - Apr. 2015

I see how you look at me.
I see your look
that always brushes me when we meet
how it wanders up my body
inch by inch
until it rests on my face.

I see the way you look at me and I think
I know what that means:
desire.
Craving.
Wild emotions in a heart
that can rarely be wild,
if ever,
the heart of a person that seems as if
in regards of softness,
a lack of impulsivity
could compete with a rabbit:
for flight reasons, tops,
but fully unfit for the hunt.
And it's good as it is.

I enjoy that look way too much,
enjoying the attention,
enjoying feeling more than welcome,
as if you and I,
in this room full of people,
share a secret that was never has been told,
never spoken aloud,
that maybe doesn't exist at all.

I enjoy this feeling to be special,
a fobidden fruit,
a jewel displayed on a velvet pillow,
ready to be grabbed but surrounded by alarm systems.
Look, don't touch,
or your world will collapse on you.

It is good as it is,
that you are reserved,
because I enjoy it too much to tempt you,
being the emboyment of a fantasy
that mustn't come true
and, in the next moment,
blinking innocently,
wallowing in my own guilt.

I am torn between monster and moralizer,
and I am sure that if you were not you
we'd already boarded
the night train to the brink,
but I dream. I am allowed to dream.
My thouhts are free,
and I will think, dream,
as long as my conscience lets me.

Dreaming of fingers running through my hair,
touching nose tips,
only half open eyes,
only quiet, muffled breaths,
of the dawn,
just standing on the ledge a few more minutes
staring down, fascinated by not seeing the bottom of the pit,
dropping a pebble down from time to time
to estimate how far down it goes
before you hit the ground.

And then taking a respectful step back,
one step, two steps,
to safety where no one has to catch me,
until the echo of the pebble fades away
and I can finally sigh with relief
and then pretend nothing ever happend,
and that I never saw that look of yours.

Soulfood - Hangover fried rice

No, I am not actually hungover right now as I am writing down this recipe. What I am is drinking red wine late at night while watching the new season of Sense8 and it does get to my head a bit faster than expected (I am still at my first glass and I am a little dizzy already and I have no idea how that happened). Anyways, this dish is easy to make (great when you're not as capable as your fully sober well rested self), takes little time and is full of carbs aka great for soaking in that alcohol - and it tastes great, so here we go.

Ingrediences (for 1-2 servings)

• 1 bag of rice (125g)
• 1 medium shallot
• 2 gloves of garlic
• 1 big or 2 medium champignons
• 2 hands full of fresh spinach
• 2-3 tbsps of olive oil
• 2-3 tbsps of soy sauce
• 50g sesame
• 1 egg
• pepper, chili
• 1-2 spring onions

How to cook the thing

1. Cook the rice. 
2. Cut the garlic, the shallot and the champignon and stir-fry them on high heat in a pan with the olive oil. When they start to get brown, add the spinach. 
3. Mix the soy sauce and the sesame and add them to the pan. 
4. At this point, your rice should be all cooked. Add it to the pan and mix everything in there before adding the spices and the egg. 
5. Put it in a bowl and sprinkle it with spring onion. 

Tonight, I garnished my bowl with a bit of avocado and a leftover mini schnitzel, you could also add salmon, literally any meat, shrimps, or to keep it vegetarian carrots or cheese. Or, if you're not in the mood for this fancy shit, leave it as it is, I am not the boss of you.

Soulfood - Sweetpotato Stew

As I might have mentioned in my very own so very subtle way I am really bloody stressed lately. My written final exam is next week, I have to work a lot, and to be very honest, job hunting isn't going great (and to be absolutely honest it is going like shit, so bear with my whining on that topic).
The only thing that is keeping me going is food. Really delicious, wholesome food. And cooking said food. Those of you who have been on my Instagram already know that I really love to cook and I thought since maybe some of you are having a hard time as well, I might share some recipes for the dishes that keep me running somehow and calm me down after a hard day - so here is the first one.

Ingrediences (for 3 servings)

• 2 big sweet potatoes
• half of a big zucchini
• 3-4 medium champignons 
• ca. 80 g of sesame
• ca. 100 ml red wine
• 2 shallots
• 2 gloves of garlic
• 2-3 hands of fresh spinach
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• ca. 80 g butter
• salt, pepper, chili, nutmeg 

How to cook the thing 

1. Cut the sweet potatoes, the zucchini, the champignons, the shallots and the garlic into dices.
2. Melt the butter in a big pot.
3. Add the sesame and the vegetables and fry everything for a few minutes.
4. Add the tomatoes, the wine and the spinach. 
5. Add the spices to taste and let everything boil until the potatoes are soft enough to be picked up with a fork. 

And that's it. It's really easy, takes about 15 minutes to make and warms your heart and your belly after a rough day. I like to garnish the bowl with grated cheese, a fried egg, fried onions and/or a few slices of avocado. This dish is also very versatile,  you could add or change one of the vegetables mentioned above with celery, asparagus or leeks, for example. Change the butter for olive oil and use vegan wine and you have an A+ vegan stew. You see, the possibilities are endless!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - Review

Ooga chaka ooga chaka ooga chaka I CAN'T STOP THIS FEELING that there is a new Guardians of the Galaxy movie and it's really awesome again!
That's it. That's the review. Peace out.
No, of course not, I do have to go in detail with all the gushing I have to do for this movie.
First of all, I want you all to know that when it comes to Marvel (or DC, for that matter), I am not a big comic reader. All those endless series is a bit too much for me to be honest. Don't hate me for that.
Accordingly, as in 2014 when I went to see the first Guardians of the Galaxy, I had really no idea what the second one would be about either, other than a group of... people? In space? The trailers are really vague about that. What it is about is that Peter Quill aka Star-Lord finally meets his dad. In the first movie we already learned that Peters father is not human. Instead, he turns out to be a celestial being with, apparently, unlimited godly powers. However, Gamora remains sceptical about him when Peters father takes her, Peter and Drax with him on his home planet. Might be due to his name, Ego, which does sound like you should stay woke around him, I'll give her that. With Ego is Mantis, a girl with feelers who can sense and, to a certain degree, change someones emotions by touching them. She is very sweet, naive and shy - and accidently reveals Peters love for Gamora in public which is a problem due to the "unspoken thing" between them. 
The second plot line is the Sovereign, a golden perfectionist race, chasing the Guardians of the Galaxy all through space because Rocket stole some batteries that they originally were hired to protect from a giant monster.
And last but not least there is Yondu standing against all Ravagers since he did not fulfill the codex and his own crew wants him gone since they think he's become "soft". With the help of Rocket and Groot, Yondu escapes and starts a new life helping the Guardians.
Admittedly, it is hard to summarize the plot without spoilers (I hope I did well) since there are a lot of puzzle pieces scattered all over the place but I promise you that all those pieces come together perfectly when you watch the whole movie.
Once again I am really in love with all the characters. While with the Avengers, I have favourites and characters I don't like that much, I couldn't do that with the Guardians of the Galaxy. The characters are so well-written, threedimensional and loveable, asking me who was my favourite would be like asking me which one of my children I love most. Within the movie, each one of them has a good amount of character developement going on, it is not much but the perfect amount to still have a proper plot and multiple very awesome fighting scenes. The new characters (Ego and Mantis) follow that direction perfectly.
I have one little bit of criticism for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but that's really complaining about first world problems: This movie, as the second one, lives from the amazing soundtrack, the Awesome Mix Vol. 1 is iconic by now. While Awesome Mix Vol. 2 is really cool too, it is, in comparison, a bit forgettable. I am missing a signature song or two, but that's it. That's all I can say about this movie (negatively). Other than that, it is another must see for everyone who enjoys space, aliens, talking raccoons and trees (baby Groot is the cutest) and a humorous Marvel masterpiece.