Ayurvedic summer picnic

Is the summer weather also tempting you to go spend some time outdoors in nature? How about an ayurvedic picnic at an idyllic lake or your personal favourite place?
Heide Maria Vendler, our Ayurveda chef, has come up with ten great delicacies for you to spoil your friends and family with and to ensure your summer picnic is a memorable experience.

Ginger Mint Lemonade

Preparation
Place mint tea or 4 sprigs of fresh mint and ginger slices in a tea pot. Brew with hot water and let steep for 15 minutes. Pour the tea into separate container, add the juice of one lemon, honey or agave syrup, and cold water to taste.
Thinly slice the other lemon. Place one sprig of mint, one slice of ginger and two slices of lemon in each glass and fill up with the tea.

Quinoa Herb Tabbouleh

Preparation
Wash quinoa. Bring twice the amount of water (2:1 water to quinoa ratio) to a boil and add 1 tsp salt and gradually add the quinoa. Reduce heat, cover, and allow quinoa to simmer.
Cut tomatoes into very small cubes and finely chop herbs. Squeeze the  lemon juice and grate some lemon zest. Stir together lemon juice and zest, salt, pepper, cumin and olive oil. Mix all ingredients with the quinoa. Refrigerate the salad for half an hour. Mix again before serving and season to taste. Sprinkle with fresh chives.

Aubergine Rolls with Mozzarella Filling and Arugula

Preparation
Cut aubergines lengthwise into ½ cm slices (3 slices per person).  Lightly rub salt on slices and let them sit for 15 minutes. Pour off the accumulated water and pat the slices dry with paper towel. Fry both sides in olive oil until golden brown and sprinkle with asafoetida and cumin.
Cut mozzarella and dried tomatoes into 12 long pieces. Roughly chop pine nuts and cut basil into long strips. Place mozzarella, tomato strips, basil and nuts at the broader end of the fried aubergine slices, add some arugula leaves and pepper and then roll.

Serving
Divide arugula onto four plates, set aubergine rolls on top, drizzle some balsamic cream on top and sprinkle with pine nuts.

Spinach Samosas with Guacamole and Mint Chutney

Preparation Spinach Samosas (Dough/Filling)
Mix together flour, spices, oil and warm water and knead into a smooth dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let dough rest at room temperature for half an hour.
Heat water in a pot and quickly blanch the washed spinach leaves. Rinse in cold running water and squeeze out some of the liquid. Finely chop the spinach and cut mozzarella into small cubes. Mix spinach, cheese and spices and season to taste.
Roll out dough until it has a thickness of ½ cm. Using a pastry cutter, cut out circles 7-8 cm in diameter. Place some spinach filling on the circles and fold the dough into a half-moon shape. Push the edges together using your fingers. Place the moon-shaped dough onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Brush with water and sprinkle with some black cumin seeds. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes or until the edges are golden.

Preparation Guacamole
Peel avocados and finely mash in a bowl using a fork. Immediately drizzle with lemon juice so that it does not brown. Remove seeds from tomatoes and finely cube. Finely chop coriander and parsley. Stir all ingredients together. Season with salt, pepper and chili to taste and serve immediately.

Preparation Mint Chutney
Peel the mango and cut into small cubes. Pluck the mint leaves from the stems. Finely chop the mint leaves and fresh coriander. Mix together with yoghurt and mango pieces. Purée until fine using a hand-held blender. Add salt, pepper, lemon juice and lemon zest to taste.

Panzanella - Italian Bread Salad

Preparation
Coarsely crush the fennel seeds. Cut bread into 2 x 2 cm cubes. Roast bread and fennel in a pan without oil until crisp. Mix ingredients for the marinade (without oil). Place the crisp bread cubes into a wide bowl and pour marinade over top.

Let sit for 15 minutes. Chop tomatoes and cucumber into 1 cm cubes. Add vegetables, olive oil, arugula and basil leaves to the bread cubes and mix carefully. Add salt, pepper and some vinegar (if necessary) to taste.

Melon Skewers with Mint

Preparation
Peel melons and cut into 3 x 3 cm cubes. Skewer ingredients, alternating the honeydew melon, mint and watermelon.

Creamy Mashed Potatoes and Hummus with Veggie Sticks in a Glass

Preparation Hummus
Quickly roast the cumin, turmeric, and asafoetida in some olive oil. Drain the chickpeas. Place olive oil spice mixture, tahini, 2 tbsp lemon juice and the chickpeas in a high container. Blend until smooth using a food processor or hand-held blender. Add as much chickpea liquid as necessary to achieve a creamy consistency. Add lemon zest, salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle fresh parsley on top.

Preparation Mashed potatoes
Peel the potatoes and cut them into 2 cm chunks.  Put in a pot along with the spices. Add enough water or broth so that the liquid covers the potatoes by 1 cm. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover. Let vegetables cook for about 20 minutes until soft. Add more liquid if necessary. Remove bay leaf. Purée potatoes while still hot. Add enough olive oil to create a creamy consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with finely chopped parsley.
Cut carrot, kohlrabi, cucumber, and bell pepper into long strips and serve for dipping.

Cranberry Biscuits

Preparation
Coarsely chop the cranberries. Mix all dry ingredients together. Cut butter into cubes. Quickly combine all ingredients and knead into a dough. Make 6 rolls, each 3 cm thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for half an hour. Remove rolls from plastic wrap and cut into 1 cm thick slices. Flatten with the bottom of a glass and place onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake biscuits at 180 degrees until golden brown.

Coconut Rice Pudding with Mango and Berries

Preparation
Stir spices and lemon zest into rice, add water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 10 minutes. Add coconut milk and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat and let rice simmer for another 10 minutes while stirring gently so that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot. Sweeten as desired and let cool. Remove spices. Whip cream into soft peaks and fold into the rice.
Chop mango into small cubes. Mix half into the rice and purée the remaining mango with some agave syrup. Fill glasses with rice pudding and pour mango sauce over top. Garnish with fresh berries.

Banana Tarts with Coconut Cream Filling and Fresh Berries

Preparation
Mash the bananas using a fork and stir in the remaining ingredients. Let the dough sit for 15 minutes. Fill muffin tins ½ cm with the mixture and bake at 180 degrees with upper and lower heat element on until golden brown (approx. 20 minutes).
Let the tarts cool before removing from muffin pan.

For the cream, drain the coconut yoghurt in a sieve covered with a cloth and let it drip for about one hour.  Whisk cream and sugar until stiff. Add coconut yoghurt, cornflour, spices and lemon zest, and stir until creamy. Fill the cream into the tarts. Garnish with berries and lemon balm.