The chef of the future

  A few days ago I was interviewed for a column of a Dutch magazine and asked what my favorite restaurant in Amsterdam was. My answer was censored and eventually not published, but you can read it right here. Dear reporter, the chef is always the person who is influencing the health of the people … Read more

The best kimchi ever

I made a lot of kimchi the last years in my cooking workshops and pop up events. Every time people taste it, they ask for the recipe. So here you go. It is all here. Make it, enjoy it and spread the word. Kimchi is a Korean dish of spicy fermented Chinese cabbage. What gives … Read more

On health, sustainability and whole foods

I assume that you also agree with me about how transitioning into a plant-based diet can have a positive impact on our health, environment and climate. So how can we encourage more people to undergo this transition? And how can you make this transition more easy for yourself? There are two factors that are often … Read more

Whole Foods vs. Processed Foods

I am beyond thrilled to see that the impossible seems to be happening and that plant-based cuisine is becoming more popular and more mainstream. Having said that, I am a big supporter of the whole foods plant-based movement which stands for eating foods in their whole, original form as much as possible, with little or … Read more

Eat a lot of carbs!

The low carb trend seems to rise and fall periodically and lately the not so new trend has also flooded the plant based circles. First of all, all plant based folks out there, seriously, if we stop eating carbs, what are we left with?! (I know sun diet seemed to work for one or two … Read more

Pumpkin Oliebollen/ Dutch donuts

This is a great treat/snack which is extremely popular in the Netherlands throughout December and the new year. The streets are full of stalls that are selling oliebollen and other sugary goods. Oliebollen are a sort of Dutch donuts that are usually risen with yeast and sweetened with sugar. Here I make my own take … Read more

Vegan cinnamon rolls

When we were kids and my mother’s best friend, Rozana, would come to visit us, we would ask her to make her specialty, and we called it ‘Rozanichki’, after her name.  Later it turned out to be called cinnamon rolls. If I remember correctly, there was also a family tale that calimed that, judging by … Read more

Summer salad with oranges and black olives

It was last week during my time in the perma culture farm La Ferme du Bois-le-Comte in the Ardennes in south Belgium. The fresh lettuces just kept on coming fresh from the field and we kept on making more and more salads from it. It was 33 degrees outside and everything seemed to keep on … Read more

Miso soup with crispy tofu

I was lucky to be introduced to healthy plant based cuisine by Velentina Nelissen, a great chef, cooking teacher, dear friend and back then, 10 years ago, a classmate at the dance academy where we were studying. One of the first dishes Valentina would cook for me was a miso soup. It was way before … Read more

Spring cleaning+dashi broth recipe (ook in het Nederlands)

Written for VEGAN magazine, Spring 2015. Voor Nederlands zie onderaan.  The heart is beating while thinking that spring is here again. It’s this heart beat that gets you so excited before a new adventure is coming. It’s this same heart beat before the first day in school, or the first day at work, or a far … Read more

Once in a lifetime- my vegan trip to Brazil

In my mind I can still see the terrified faces of my friends to whom I told that I’m going to travel to Brazil. ‘Don’t worry’ I told them, it’s not as dangerous, many people are going to travel there. Saying that, I could notice their expressions turn even more worried and pitiful saying: ‘right, … Read more

Autumn is the new spring + autumn chickpea soup recipe

Nature has its own funny and sad, obvious and mysterious, simple and complicated ways. And by nature I mean the nature of our environment in this time of the year, the nature of our soul in this time of the year and the nature of our life in this time of the year. Throughout human … Read more

Cooling foods for a hot summer

My friend and vegan activist Debby van Velzen PMed me yesterday hysterically that in two days it’s going to be 30 degrees in Amsterdam and that she is urgently looking for an article about cooling foods. Now, I live in a country where people are born with a bike chair stuck to their buttocks, rain … Read more