Baby spinach, strawberry and sprouted sunflower seeds salad

We are finally packing for our vacation - Belgrade-bound, hello mum!I am not leaving before I share a recipe with you. This salad is enchanting not only because of the fresh ingredients, but largely thanks to a unique secret ingredient - homemade strawberry vinegar.

If you find yourself eager to dabble in making more interesting salads, look for the June edition of Serbian Sensa magazine (if you'd like recipes in English, please email me). 

And now, en route to Belgrade and Sunshine. London rain still feels like winter-land.

BABY SPINACH, STRAWBERRIES AND SPROUTED SUNFLOWER SEEDS

The youngest can enjoy in this salad as it is, with no vinaigrette and packed in a snack box. Others... well, make a start of a romantic meal with it. 

Ingredients:

100 gr baby spinach

50 gr sweet organic strawberries, washed and hulled, 

handful of sprouted sunflower seeds

Vinaigrette:

2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil  

3 tbs strawberry vinegar (or more to taste) 

1 tbsp maple syrup 

unrefined sea salt

Mix all the ingredients and pour the vinaigrette over. 

STRAWBERRY VINEGAR

This homemade spring vinegar will change the taste to any salad throughout the year, but you can also pour it over sweet fruits, add fresh mint and water to it for a refreshing drink or even prosecco. 

Ingredients:

250g organic, sweet strawberries

200ml raw, unpasteurised apple cider vinegar or wine vinegar or balsamico  

1 tbsp maple syrup or rice syrup (add more to taste)

Wash strawberries and pat them dry before hulling and cutting them into small pieces. Place them in pre-sterilised jar and pour vinegar and maple syrup over them. Close the jar tightly and leave it at room temperature over 2 to 3 days. Strain through a fine mesh or cheesecloth - you can even leave it to drain overnight.Pour the vinegar into a pre-sterilised jar and it will keep up to a year in the fridge.

White fish with nut and herb crust and mango salsa

Breathe in, I cut. Breathe out, I stir.

More than ever before my daily organisation runs like a Swiss clock. I use every spare moment to breathe deeply, cook next meal, feed myself before Luka wakes up in the morning or from his morning or afternoon nap, pack the changing bag including toys, nappies and snacks and run all other errands that modern household requires doing. That means that most spontaneous moments have disappeared, but at this life phase spontaneity is hiding in unpredictable places, I guess - at work, pushing the buggy, in moments when I breathe deeply and do short meditation. 

My huge revelation is how much kids bring you to the present moment and every time my mind wandered it was followed with an outcry.  That is mindfulness. To live in the present moment, not to think about anything else, but be with what ever is there. Oh how much my ego protested at the start of motherhood, wanting to wander off somewhere else, but baby's basic needs always brought me back to the present moment. Baby's voice instead of Tibetan bowls. 

Mindfulness means residing and staying in the present moment and practicing the art of observation. There is so much written about it and in the last few years mindfulness-based stress reduction has become an important psychological therapy. You'll find a lot written about it on the internet and one of the links I recommend is http://www.mindfulnessatwork.org/. Do check out the page about parenting and mindfulness, it is a great introduction to the works of Jon Kabat-Zinn.

For me cooking is mindfulness in practice. I cut with my in-breath, I stir with my out-breath. 

I am conjuring up summer with this dish.

White fish with nut and herb crust and mango salsa

Mango salsa

1 ripe sweet mango, cut into small cubes

2 tbsp minced ginger

1/2 onion, finely diced

juice of half or whole lemon, to taste

2 tbsp of olive oil 

bunch of coriander

Mix all the ingredients in advance to allow flavours to marry. I make mine one day ahead, it softens the sharpness of onion. 

Nut and herb crust

1 cup of mixed pecans and pine nuts

bunch of coriander 

lemon zest

1 spoon of coconut oil

seasoning

Whizz all the ingredients in blender and top the skinless side of white fish with it. Roast at 170C for 15-20 minutes. Serve with mango salsa on the side and a colourful salad or sweet potato mash with white miso.

In, out
Deep, slow
Calm, ease
Smile, release
Present moment, wonderful moment.

Thich Nhat Hanh