4 easy, healthy and satiating first course recipes

With the arrival of the cold, you want more energetic preparations, soft textures, cooking in the heat of the oven, combining new ingredients … Look at what ideas!

Would you expect an onion soup to be crispy? When you think about preparing rice to eat, does it occur to you to do it with mango, korma style? Sometimes, turning the weekly menu around is as simple as starting from the basic weekly menu that we tend to repeat and looking for new preparations that take advantage of the ingredients of the season or the traditions of other cultures, thus offering new stimuli to the palate.

4 EASY AND HEALTHY FIRST COURSE RECIPES

We propose 4 first dishes full of vegetable nutrients but also very satisfying, ideal for these colder months. Roasted ingredients, spicy preparations and combinations with seasonal vegetables for original menus full of vitamins and revitalizing energy.

ONION SOUP WITH CRISPY CHEESE

Ingredients (for 4 people):

• 750 g onions
• half a tablespoon buckwheat flour
• 1 liter of vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons plain vegetable yogurt
• 2 slices wholemeal toast
• 2 tablespoons virgin olive oil
• 50 g grated gruyere vegan cheese
• 50 g grated vegan Parmesan cheese
• freshly ground white pepper and salt

Preparation (10’+25′ cooking):

1. Peel and cut the onions into very thin slices. Sauté them in a saucepan with a simmering bottom, in olive oil previously heated and stirring occasionally.
2. When they are golden and soft, add the buckwheat flour and stir for a few moments. Add the broth and yogurt, season, and let cook for 10 or 15 minutes.
3. Distribute the soup in individual refractory bowls, add the chopped bread and cover completely with the mixed cheeses.
4. Gratin in the oven for a few minutes until the cheese has melted and browned.

Variant

Adding a little leek this recipe will be delicious.

Nutritional information

• Calories: 353
• Carbohydrates: 40 g
• Protein: 16 g
• Fat: 14 g
• Cholesterol: 25 mg

CORN PIE WITH ALMONDS AND BROCCOLI

Ingredients (for 6 people):

• 80 g polenta or maize semolina
• 500 ml broth or water
• 1 onion
• 300 g broccoli
• 80 g splintered almonds
• 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
• 200 g tomato sauce
• olive oil
• salt

Preparation (10’+15′ cooking):

1. Chop the onion finely and sauté it in a thick-bottomed casserole with a little olive oil.
2. When the onion is transparent, pour the broth or water, add salt to taste and, when it comes to a boil, add the polenta, little by little and without stopping stirring so that it does not form lumps. Let cook for about ten minutes and pour into a baking tray smeared in oil, until you have a height of two fingers.
3. Prepare and wash the broccoli, separating it into twigs, and steam it in a bamboo basket or with the help of a flexible stainless-steel basket.
4. When the polenta cools and has a solid consistency, unmold and cut it into triangles or squares. Over the portions place the cooked broccoli and sprinkle with the chipped almonds and poppy seeds.
5. Place them back in the oven to heat them, and once hot serve on individual plates on a tomato sauce base.

Variant

Polenta can be prepared and left to stand overnight.

Nutritional information

• Calories: 306
• Carbohydrates: 25 g
• Protein: 10 g
• Fat: 18 g
• Cholesterol: 0 mg.

MARINATED AND ROASTED PUMPKIN WITH SHITAKES

Ingredients (for 4 people):

• 500 g pumpkin, diced
• 14 fresh shitakes, diced
• half zucchini, diced
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 80 g of a vegan cheese type Mahon, or another that melts well
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 9 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons Pedro Ximenes wine
• nutmeg, fresh parsley and salt

Preparation (25’+30′ cooking):

1. Season the pumpkin with the soy sauce and four tablespoons of olive oil, and bake at about 130º C half an hour.
2. Meanwhile, sauté the onion with two tablespoons of oil and the wine, over low heat, for at least 20 minutes.
3. Cut the cheese into rectangular slices and sauté the shitakes and zucchini over medium heat in a pan with the remaining three tablespoons of oil and chopped parsley, five minutes.
4. Remove the pumpkin from the oven, spread on the plates forming a rectangle along with the onion and season with a pinch of nutmeg. Crown with the cheese and bake for a minute to melt better. When you take it out, spread over the mixture of shitakes and zucchini

Nutritional information:

• Calories: 358
• Carbohydrates: 13 g
• Protein: 10 g
• Fat: 30 g
• Cholesterol: 19 mg

MANGO KORMA WITH JASMINE RICE

Ingredients (for 4 people):

• 2 mangoes, ripe but firm, diced
• 250 g Thai jasmine rice
• 200 ml coconut milk
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 spring onions, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 100 g cauliflower
• 100 g zucchini, diced
• 100 g peas
• 1 tablespoon cumin and coriander ground in equal parts, and chopped fresh cilantro for garnish
• extra virgin olive oil, black pepper and salt

Preparation (20′ + 25′ cooking):

1. Mix coconut milk with 300 ml of water. Pass the rice through the pan with a tablespoon of oil for about three minutes, add 450 ml of water and cook two minutes over high heat and ten more at least, without uncovering it at any time. Hollow out and set aside.
2. Sauté the spring onions, garlic and pepper in a pot for five minutes. Add the spices, cauliflower and coconut milk, salt and pepper, boil for 15 minutes, add the mango, zucchini and peas, and cook another five minutes.
3. Let stand and serve with rice and fresh cilantro.

Nutritional information:

• Calories: 268
• Carbohydrates: 46 g
• Protein: 6 g
• Fat: 6 g
• Cholesterol: 0 mg.