FvF Cooks in Stockholm: Veggie Crumble - Friends of Friends / Freunde von Freunden (FvF)

FvF Cooks in Stockholm: Veggie Crumble

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Recipes that allow for culinary freedom and experimentation are Belén’s favorites when putting together dishes for post-yoga nourishment. For the second meal of our Lunch Series with the yoga instructor and chef from Stockholm, we go for a no-hassle meal and brunch staple with a twist: The savory veggie crumble.

Belén first started her Yoga & Breakfast sessions after someone admired the colorful meal jars she prepared and enjoyed, almost ritualistically, after every yoga class. “There are a couple of things that led me to start the events: One morning after a class, I was eating some kind of packed homemade breakfast and someone told me, ‘you really have to sell these things that you eat everyday.’” But, apparently, it wasn’t just that: “Here in Sweden – and in the North in general – winter time is not easy for meeting new people and socializing in all sorts of places. Since people are likely to chat and open themselves while sharing a meal, I thought why not  create gatherings where people with the same interest, like yoga in this case, nourish themselves with healthy food while tending to their social lives?”

As for the crumble’s name – or lack thereof – Belén says, “I invited some friends to try all my lunch recipes at home while I was testing them out. Everyone seemed pretty happy with the result but they somehow became obsessed with finding a name for the crumble. They couldn’t accept that it was simply nameless. So, they were discussing the endless name possibilities around the table while I was in my own world trying to figure out if it was too salty, if anything needed some extra spices, if it was crunchy enough…It was a pretty funny discourse.”

An element that’s very inherent to Belén’s ideology surrounding food is mindful eating, a term we’ve been hearing left and right lately but for good reason. Belén’s approach to experiencing food has its roots in yogic philosophy – the key element of this practice is slowness, a concept we don’t have much appreciation for nowadays as it’s not compliant with our fast-paced lifestyles. The technique involves certain challenging tactics for the hungry wolf so if letting your fork rest for a minute after the first bite sounds like torture, it’s understandable. But by prolonging an act that brings satisfaction we naturally procure more enjoyment. Experiencing food more intensely, keeps our brains switched on instead of going into an automatic gulping mode. Since the rhythm of life is becoming more hectic and we don’t give ourselves the time to be in the present, the practice of pausing can uncover other deeper layers of enjoyment that might be worth a try and an exercise in patience.

This fulfilling dish can be made anew every time by simply mixing up vegetables – and even throw a fruit in there – depending on whatever is in season. Besides, the best part of this recipe is the ability to make it yours and give  it your own signature.

Ingredients

Ingredients (for 2 people)

  • For the crumble
    • 1 2 1/2 cup oats
    • 2 1/2 cup corn flour
    • 3 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
    • 4 5-6 tbsps coconut oil
    • 5 Fresh basil
    • 6 A pinch of garlic powder
    • 7 Sea salt
  • For the filling
    • 1 1 Hokkaido pumpkin
    • 2 2 tbsp lemon juice
    • 3 1 tsp garlic powder
    • 4 Olive oil
    • 5 Sea salt
    • 6 Black pepper
    • 7 12-14 cherry tomatoes
    • 8 250g fresh spinach or 3 handfuls
    • 9 Fresh thyme

Method

Place all the ingredients for the crumble in a big bowl and work with your hands to create big crumbles.until you get nice lumps of dough.

Peel and cut the pumpkin in small pieces. Combine the lemon, garlic powder, sea salt and pepper. Marinate the pumpkin with the lemon sauce.

Preheat the oven to 250°C. Place the pumpkin on an oven form and bake for 15 minutes. Let it cool down for a bit while preparing the crumble. Now add the rest of the veggies and then the crumble on top of the roasted pumpkin.

Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Before serving, drizzle the crumble with a bit of olive oil and enjoy this wholesome meal.

 

 

Thank you Belén for cooking another hearty meal with us. And many thanks to House of Radon for the space, Albin Holmqvist and Caro Crespi for helping out and Karin Eriksson for some of the ceramics depicted in the series.

Stay tuned as Belén will continue preparing delicious vegan lunches for us in the next two weeks. Have a look at the first lunch she put together for us, a Yogi Salad. Until the next dish, keep your cooking inspiration levels up by browsing all of our FvF Cooks and don’t forget to look up our previous FvF Breakfast Series with Marta Greber.

Photography: Marta Vargas
Text: Effie Efthymiadi

 

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