Describe your style of cooking in 3 words…
Simple, plant-based and healthy in an awesome and non-restricted way. Oops, that was more than three words.
What are your first food memories?
I (David) remember baking blueberry muffins with my mom when I was quite young. I believed that I almost baked them myself even though my mom actually did most of the work. I basically just got to pour in the blueberries and stir the bowl. And now, I am doing the exact same thing with our children (although my blueberry muffin recipe is a little different than my mom’s).
{image - Triple Chocolate Mint Bowl}
What are your ‘non-negotiables’ when it comes to diet & lifestyle?
We don’t have too many rules around eating as we want to have a positive approach to eating and cooking. So we don’t forbid ingredients even though we generally try to have a healthy and fresh take on cooking. With that said, I am a vegetarian and would feel very uncomfortable cooking anything that once has been alive.
{image - Chocolate Velvet}
How do you go about creating a new recipe?
We don’t really have one magical way but recipes seem to come to life in our kitchen from a lot of various reasons and approaches.
However, the first thing we usually start with is looking at what ingredients are in season. Inspiration then comes from dishes or flavours we have tried on our travels, a flavour combination at a restaurant or a photo of something we have seen on pinterest, a magazine or instagram. When we get inspired by other people's photos, the final result usually turns out entirely different though.
Another source of inspiration is our kids, many dishes happen when we need to create a quick dinner with them running laps around our legs.
{image - Grab & Go Blackberry Oats}
What are your top 3 food photography tips?
1. Light! Move your food to a window with indirect light or take it outside. That's the easiest trick to capture the natural colours of the food.
2. If using a phone for food photos, try restricting the depth of field by shooting from above or holding the food against a simple background. A wall or a friend with a one-coloured sweater usually works fine.
3. Focus on making the actual food looking good. If you have a pretty dish, very little else is needed.
{image - Mocha Morning Buzz}
What do you love about living in Sweden? Are there any restaurants, cafes, stores you visit for inspiration?
I think my favourite thing about Sweden is to pick berries and mushrooms in the forest during the late summer and early autumn. It feels like walking in a gold mine, filling buckets with the most amazing superfoods. We do have a couple of favourite places around Stockholm and have listed them here.
When did you first become aware of Loving Earth and what's your favourite way to use our foods?
I remember that we found your Luvju hearts in a health food store here in Stockholm and loved them. And when we later did a 3 months trip to Australia with our kids, we got hooked on your Buckinis, Chocolates and Coconut Paste. We use them for breakfast, baking and in smoothies!
{image - Spicy Apple & Carrot ‘Hot Toddy’}
What’s next on the horizon for Green Kitchen Stories?
Apart from our new smoothie book that is just out and that we feel really excited about promoting, we are actually also working on another, bigger book which is more focused on quick dishes, shortcuts and how we cook healthy food at home.
For more foodie inspiration check out Green Kitchen Stories Instagram & and website.
This recipe is taken from Green Kitchen Smoothies by David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl, published by Hardie Grant Books and available now where all good books are sold. Find out more information on the book here.
So many yummy recipes. At the moment my favourite go to smoothie is my healing mango super smoothie which consists of:
Frozen mango
1/2 Banana
Coconut Oil
Almond Milk
Filtered Water
Dash of Maple Syrup
Fresh or dried Turmeric
Dash of Camu Camu Powder
Ice
I sometimes add a little cinnamon too or chia seeds or gluten free oats to bulk it up :) super filling and super delicious
x
I love a loaded choc smoothie.
Almond milk
Coconut kefir (homemade)
Frozen banana
Cacao
Chia seeds
Avocado
Sweet potato (pre steamed)
"Snickers Bar Smoothie"
I love this chocolate bar, but not the calories, hence I have devised a smoothie version of this popular snack that satisfies my tastebuds:
250 ml almond milk
1/2 avocado
1 tbsp maca powder
2 tbsp all natural crunchy peanut butter
1 tbsp yacon syrup
2 dates
2 tbsp cacao powder
pinch of sea salt
1/2 cup ice
Top with roasted chopped peanuts
The avocado and maca mimic the creamy nougat texture of the Snickers bar and the dates and yacon mimic the caramel. A vitamin packed superfood smoothie that satisfies chocolate cravings and helps to wash away winter blues!
The new cookbook looks fabulous! My favorite smoothie combo is Blueberry, mint, and pink grapefruit with coconut water. It's really refreshing :-)
Favourite smoothie is my sublime green lime chocolate macadamia smoothie recipe! Blend a whole coconut, a heaped teaspoon each of Loving Earth's raw cacao, maca & rainbow powders, 1/4 cup australian macadamia nut butter, a handful of ice, a scoop of your favorite vanilla alkaline protein (I love VEGA) and a squeeze of fresh lime. Serve drizzled with caramel buckinis, shredded coconut, raw bee pollen, crushed macadamias, and shaved fresh lime peel. For a treat, toss your macadamias in a few blocks of Loving Earth's melted salted caramel.
One of my favourite smoothie creations is custard apple with avocado! Avocado also works really well with mango. A new smoothie combination favourite of mine is mandarin, orange, and frozen blueberry (which is also delicious with some Loving Earth cacao powder!)
Love your website and amazing recipes! My fave green smoothie combo is baby spinach, coconut water, banana, chia seeds, dates and pineapple.
Yum! I can't wait to try out some new smoothie recipes. My fav combo at the moment is:
Frozen banana
Green apple
Lime
Leafy greens (kale, spinach, etc)
Coconut water
Chia seeds
All blended with ice
It tastes like a banana-yoghurt smoothie but it's dairy free!! :)
Super Chia, banana, cacao powder = yum with strength to knock off the household chores bouncing with ease, life becomes ex-SEED-ingly super powered.
My favourite is a Salted Caramel Coffee smoothie
2 frozen bananas
shot of espresso
2-3 dates
pinch of himalayan salt
1 tbs of almond butter
1 tsp of coconut oil
dash of almond or coconut milk
Yum! :)
Oh, these photos look divine. I love drooling over the Green Kitchen Stories instagram feed.
My favourite smoothie recipe would be a banana and coffee smoothie:
½ frozen banana
½ cup fresh, cooled coffee
½ cup coconut milk
¼ cup coconut yogurt
1 tbsp activated abc butter
1 tbsp cold pressed coconut oil
Sometimes I make it with avocado instead of banana for some creamy, green goodness.
Your smoothies look wonderful and your book Green Kitchen Smoothies would give me new, much-needed inspiration. I make green smoothies for my family every morning but some of them taste pretty horrible. My kids' favourite was a hallelujah moment this week - I combined weeds (Mallow, Dandelion and Chickweed) with frozen mango. Unlikely as it seems, we all just loved it!
My fave smoothie:
Choc mint smoothie
-1/2 cup almond milk
-1/2 cup coconut water
-1 Tbs raw cacao
-1/4 avocado
-few drops stevia (to taste)
-handful spinach
-1-2 drops peppermint oil
- ice cubes
This is so delicious! Taste like a treat but so good for you, yummm!
My favourite smoothie combo would be banana caramel - combining all of my favourite things - frozen banana, 1 medjool date, dash of coconut milk, generous spoonful of tahini, topped with some crunchy pecan & coconut granola.
I love Green Kitchen Stories and their smoothie combos sound so delicious! At the moment my favourite smoothie is a turmeric, cinnamon, almond/coconut milk, carrot, and banana smoothie. Nice way to get in some veg and it tastes absolutely delicious too!
My favourite smoothie combo is generally when I am craving chocolate (which is pretty much all the time hehe) is Loving Earth's Cacao Powder, Peanut butter for a little saltiness and protein, Loving Earths Acai powder and activated almonds, frozen bananas, fresh spinach blended with almond milk and topped with Loving Earths Cacaco nibs and a sprinkle of their chocolate buckinis. I recommend serving with a nice big wide straw and viola! A smoothie to nourish you, fix any cravings and a whole lot of natural love xx
My favourite smoothie combo is Mexican chocolate - just frozen bananas, cacao powder, almond butter and a pinch of cinnamon and cayenne pepper. It's rich and chocolate-y but healthy at the same time :)