These golden wholemeal spelt shortbread sticks are not too sweet and full of fragrances and characters. They are seasoned with fresh thyme, lemon zest and a sprinkling of fleur de sel. If you do enjoy a little digestives in the snack, this is the right one for you. They're irresistible plain or served with a cheese dip.
Adapted from Food

60 g Bio wholemeal spelt 140 g All purpose flour 40 g Sugar 1/4 tsp Salt 1 tbsp Finely grated lemon peel 2 tsp Fresh thyme, chopped 150 g Butter, at room temperature 2 Large eggs 1 tsp Fleur de sel

1. Stir together the flours, sugar, salt, lemon peel and chopped thyme. Cut in butter and rub together, using your fingertips, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Lightly beaten eggs and reserve 1 tablespoon of the egg mixture for brushing.
2. Add the remaining egg mixture and blend until dough comes together. Wrap the dough in a plastic film and chill for 1 hour until firm. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line the bottom of a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll the dough between plastic films into a rectangle, about 12x7-inch. Cut the shortbread dough in half, forming two 6x7-inch rectangles. Using a pizza wheel, cut into 1/2-inch wide strips. Place the shortbread on the prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops with the reserved egg mixture and sprinkle sea salt on top. Bake for about or minutes until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Baked chocolate base (adapted from Joy of Baking) filled with a layer of fluffy cream cheese peanut butter mixture (adapted from Betty Crocker) and finished off with a chocolate layer. Those bars are super easy to prepare and they make a great party food.

Base	Topping
130 g All purpose flour 50 g Unsweetened alkalized cocoa powder 1/4 tsp Baking soda 1/4 tsp Salt 90 g Unsalted butter 150 g Caster sugar 1 tsp Vanilla extract 1 Egg white	200 g 17% Cream cheese 180 g Creamy peanut butter 80 g Powdered sugar 100 ml Whipping cream 350 g Semi sweet chocolates, coarsely chopped 50 g Butter, diced

1. Preheat oven to 190C/375F and line a 12x8-inch rectangular baking pan with baling paper. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter, sugars and vanilla extract on high speed for about one minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the egg white. Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated. Press mixture firmly into prepared baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Set on a rack to cool completely.
2. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, peanut butter, powdered sugar and whipping cream on low until blended. Beat on high about 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
3. Place the chopped chocolate in a heavy saucepan over very low heat, stirring constantly till the chocolate begins to melt. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and stir in diced butter until thoroughly blended and smooth.
4. Spread 1/4 cup chocolate mixture evenly over the cooled cookie base. Place it in the freezer until the chocolate is firm, about 5 minutes. Now evenly spread cream cheese peanut butter mixture over the chocolate layer. Give the rest of chocolate mixture a quick stir and then spread evenly over top of the layer of cheese and peanut butter mixture. Cover the pan with a plastic wrap and chill overnight. Once set, use a sharp knife to cut into small squares. Serve them cool and store the rest in the fridge.

This Asian-flavoured, warm chicken sandwich recipe is truly delicious prepared with homemade yakinori chicken and Kaiser bun fresh out of the oven. It would make a great snack or paired with some French fries and call it a meal!
Adapted from Essen und Trinken

• 10 g Fresh ginger
• 4 tbsp Sherry
• 4 tbsp Soya sauce
• 1 tbsp Water
• 2 tsp Brown sugar
• 150 g Chicken breast
• 1 Tomato
• 1 stalk Spring onion
• Green bell pepper
• Red onion
• 1 tbsp Corn oil
• 2 Kaiser rolls (adapted from The Bread Baker's Apprentice)
• or toast bread

1. Peel and thinly slice the ginger. Mix sherry, soya sauce, water and brown sugar in a bowl. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Add in ginger slices.
2. Slice the chicken breast and add into the marinade. Set aside for 30 minutes. Cut tomato in slices, spring onion, red onion and green pepper in rings.
3. Remove the sliced chicken from the marinade, drain. Reserve the marinade. Heat a skillet with oil. Add in sliced chicken and cook for 5 minutes until lightly golden brown. Now pour in the reserved marinade and cook until chicken is done.
4. Cut the roll crosswise in half and toast. Layer chicken, tomato slices, spring onion, green pepper and red onion rings on the Kaiser roll bottoms.

Thank you, Anne of "From My Sweet Heart", Eli of "Food and Thriftfinds", and Cooking Rookie of "Cook Book of Trial and Error" for sharing those beautiful awards with me.

A delightful combination of eggplants, canned tomatoes and spinach taglierini make this pasta dish a delicious and satisfying main course meal, and you won't even miss the meat.

• 250 g Spinach taglierini or linguini
• 2 Large aubergine
• 8 tbsp Olive oil
• 2 clove Garlic, crushed
• 2/3 can Crushed canned tomatoes
• 1/4 tsp Crushed dried chillies
• 1/4 tsp Dried oregano
• 1 handful Chopped spring onions (or basil leaves)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Cut off the tops and bases of each eggplant and cut across into two. Cut each piece lengthways into thick sticks. Place into a colander and sprinkle them with one teaspoon of salt. Place the colander over a bowl and leave the eggplants for 40 minutes to disgorge some of their juices. Pat the eggplants dry with kitchen paper to remove the salt and excess juices.
2. Heat 6 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large frying pan. Add in the aubergine pieces and fry, turning occasionally, until golden-brown all over. Remove with a slotted spoon and place onto a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain.
3. Fill a large pot with enough water and bring to the boil. Add the salt, then the spinach taglierini and cook according to packet instructions, or until al dente. Shortly before the pasta is ready, add the remaining olive oil and the garlic to the frying pan and return it to the heat.
4. As soon as the garlic begins to sizzle, add the crushed chillies, dried oregano and the tomatoes and cook over a high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the eggplants and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add in chopped spring onions or basil leaves and mix well.
5. Drain the cooked spinach taglierini and divide into 2-3 bowls. Spoon the eggplant mixture over. Serve right away with some shaved Parmesan cheese if desired.

Layers of soft sour cream chiffon cake nestle between spread of stabilized whipped cream flavoured with rich ducle de leche and top with fresh blueberries. Vanilla buttercream would be a great substitute for whipped cream.
Adapted from Food and Wine

	Dulce De Leche Whipped Cream
3 disc 10-inch Sour cream chiffon cake (without cranberries) 400 g Blueberries, rinsed and dried 2 tbsp Apricot jam 1/2 tbsp Water White chocolate curls or mint leaves to garnish	450 ml Heavy cream, chilled 120 g Dulce de leche, chilled 4 sheet Leaf gelatin

1. Soak the gelatine sheets in cold water for 5 minutes to soften. Remove the gelatine from the water, squeeze it between fingers to remove any excess water. Melt the squeezed out gelatine in a microwave on high power about 10 seconds.
2. In a large bowl, combine the heavy cream with the dulce de leche. Beat the cream until slightly thick, then slowly add in the dissolved gelatin and beat until the cream holds soft peaks.
3. Place one cake layer, cut side up, on a round cardboard. Spread 1/3 of whipped cream over cake.Repeat procedure twice. Smooth the top of the cake with the flat edge of your spatula. Hold a decorating comb on the side of the cake and run around the cake to form ridges.
4. Arrange the blueberries on the top. Heat the apricot jam and water in a microwave until melted. Strain the jam through a fine strainer to remove any fruit lumps. Gently brush on the blueberries. Garnish with white chocolate curls or mint leaves.

A deliciously simple, colourful salad with bite-size balls of fresh mozzarella, homemade ramsons pesto and rocket leaves that can be made in a jiffy. They are ideal as a great finger food or a side salad for barbecue meat.

• 15 Cocktail tomatoes
• 15 Bocconcini Mozzarella balls
• 3 tbsp Ramsons pesto
• 1 tsp Lemon peel, grated
• Salt and freshly mulled black pepper
• Rocket leaves to serve

1. Cut a thin slice off the top of each cocktail tomato. Scoop out and discard pulp. Sprinkle the cups with a bit of salt and drain.
2. Drain the bocconcini and place them in a bowl. Add in ramsons pesto, lemon peel and freshly mulled black pepper to taste. Mix well.
3. Arrange the rocket leaves on a serving plate. Fill the tomato cups with prepared bocconcini and place them on the serving plate.

This spring salad is really a WINNER. So simple and quick to prepare with easy to obtain ingredients and so delicious. I use salsa verde for the salad as I have some ready in the fridge, but a herb vinaigrette, or honey and mustard dressing would be great as well.

Salsa Verde	Salad
3 tbsp Olive oil 2 tbsp Parsley , roughly chopped 2 tbsp Basil, roughly chopped 1 tbsp Capers, drained and rinsed 1 clove Garlic, minced 1 tsp Dijon mustard 2 Anchovies 1 Lemon, zested and juiced Salt and black pepper to taste	2 Eggs, hard-boiled 1 handful Baby greens 6 Cherry radishes, each cut into 6 wedges 1 tbsp Finely chopped parsley 1-2 tbsp Olive oil Some wholewheat bread, cut into inch dices

1. Put olive oil, the herbs, capers, garlic, mustard, anchovies, lemon zest, and the lemon juice in a food processor. Blend until well mixed. Season with salt and pepper. Chill until ready for use.
2. Place the eggs in a small pan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer uncovered for 5-8 minutes, depending on the desired doneness. Drain, rinse in cold water until cold enough to handle.
3. Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add in diced bread and toast until they are lightly browned and crunchy.
4. Divide the baby greens and cherry radish wedges into two serving plates. Peel eggs. Coat each with chopped parsley and slice into half. Arrange them on the serving plates. Spoon some prepared salsa verde over and scatter the croutons over. Drizzle with a bit of balsamic cream if desired.

Looking for more healthy salad recipes, check out Best Health today.

Ramsons is also known as "wild garlic" due to its pungent garlic odour, or "bear's garlic" as the brown bears after hibernation, seek it out to cleanse their system. Ramsons has similar medicinal properties to those of the garlic. It is therefore especially valuable for a spring cleaning and waste removal course of treatment. They can be used as salad, as a vegetable, in soup, or as an ingredient for pesto in lieu of basil.

	Ramsons Pesto
250 g Wholewheat spaghetti 10 Cherry tomatoes, halved 10 Bocconcini, optional A handful of baby greens Freshly ground black pepper	80 g Ramsons leaves, chopped 60 g Almond, chopped 80 g Parmesan-Reggiano, grated 130 ml Olive oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Add only enough chopped almonds to the skillet so they lie in a single layer. Turn heat on to medium and toast, stirring occasionally until the nuts are fragrant. Remove from heat and cool.
2. Rinse, dry and chop the ramsons. In a food processor, pulse toasted almonds and ramsons a few times. Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on, stopping to scrape down sides of container. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. If you have a mortar and pestle, do use them to pound the ingredients.
3. To store the pesto, simply place them in a jar and allow the oil to rise to the top. If it doesn't add a little oil to seal the top. It will keep fresh in the refrigerator for about a week.
4. Cook pasta to al dente according to package directions. Drain in colander and transfer to a mixing bowl. Add in pesto (about 1/2 cup) and gently toss to coat thoroughly. If pesto is too thick, you can add a tablespoon of the pasta water to thin it a little.
5. When pesto is mixed in, add cherry tomatoes, bocconcini if used, baby greens and season with freshly ground black pepper to taste.

A delicious tea time cake/tart with a tangy rhubarb filling topped with nutty and buttery streusel. Serve it warm, if desired, with ice cream or vanilla sauce.

Cake	Streusel Topping
150 g Flour 50 g Sugar 1 pinch Salt 1 Egg yolk 75 g Butter, diced 1 tbsp Cold water 500 g Rhubarb 70 g Ladyfingers, crumbled 50 g Brown sugar	100 g Flour 100 g Almond, ground 100 g Sugar 1/3 tsp Nutmeg powder 1/2 tsp Cinnamon powder 150 g Butter, diced

1. To prepare the base. Place flour, sugar, salt, egg yolk, butter and cold water in a mixing bowl. Stir with a hand mixer attached with dough hooks until the mixture comes together. Form it into a ball and chill, wrapped with a cling film, for 30 minutes.
2. Clean and trim rhubarb, removing any leaves. Cut the rhubarb stalks into 1cm pieces. Crush the ladyfingers until fine crumbs form. In a mixing bowl, mix together 100 grams sugar, flour, ground almond, nutmeg and cinnamon. Cut in butter to form crumbs. Chill, covered, until ready to use.
3. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Butter a 26cm tart dish or line with parchment paper. Roll the dough into a 32cm round between two sheets of parchment paper and place it into the tart dish. Sprinkle the crumbled ladyfingers at the bottom of the tart, scatter over the rhubarb pieces, and then sprinkle on brown sugar evenly. Now cover it with streusel topping. Bake in the middle of hot oven for 45 minutes until nicely golden brown.

Mild flavoured and low fat filleted cod fish nicely crusted with a blend of ground coriander, cumin and garlic salt, and then seared to medium (or to your desire), served with yoghurt dressing and lemon wedges on a bed of zucchini salad.

	Zucchini Salad
1 tsp Ground coriander 1 tsp Ground cumin 1/2 tsp Sweet paprika 1/2 tsp Garlic salt 3-4 (about 150 g each) Cod fillets(or any white fish) 1 tbsp Corn oil Lemon wedges, to serve Some yoghurt dressing, to serve	180 g Green zucchini, trimmed and cut into 1cm pieces 1 tbsp Red onion, finely chopped 1 Tomato, halved, deseeded, cut into 1cm pieces 1 tbsp Finely chopped fresh mint 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley 1 tbsp Olive oil 1 tbsp Fresh lemon juice Salt & freshly ground black pepper

1. Combine ground coriander, cumin, paprika and garlic salt in a small bowl. Rub over fish fillets. Set aside for 15 minutes to allow the flavours to develop.
2. To make the zucchini salad, combine zucchini, onion, tomato, mint, parsley, olive oil and lemon juice in a salad bowl. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
3. Heat the corn oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add in fish fillets and cook for 2-3 minutes each side until nicely golden brown.
4. Spoon zucchini salad among 2-3 serving plates. Top with cod fish and drizzle with dressing. Serve with lemon wedges.

A simple twist to typical scrambled eggs. The additions of asparagus offers a good source of vitamin, dietary fiber and protein. I had it for the weekend lunch served with rye crackers, but it is as delicious as for breakfast. If you prefer your scrambled eggs moist and creamy, then cook them over low flame.

• 250 g Green asparagus
• 2 Eggs, large
• 2 tbsp Milk
• 20 g Parmesan, grated
• 1 tbsp Chives (or spring onion), chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 10 g Butter
• 1-2 slice Rye bread or pumpernickel
• 1 tbsp Sour Cream

1. Clean and trim the asparagus. Discard the woody ends and cut asparagus into 2-inch lengths.
2. Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl. Add in milk, grated Parmesan, chopped chives, salt and pepper. Beat the egg mixture with a whisk until all the ingredients are completely blended together.
3. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add in the asparagus and stir fry for about 4-5 minutes. Pour in the egg mixture and cook, covered, for about 5 minutes until set or to your liking. Turn the egg on the bread and serve with sour cream.

Creamy avocado, pungent blue cheese, sweet onions, and juicy tomatoes. This is one of my favorite salads to throw together. Dried fruits, like cherry or cranberry, and toasted nuts could also be added to create a wonderful salad with variety of textures and flavours.

Parmesan Vinaigrette	Salad
100 ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil 45 g Fresh Parmesan cheese, grated 1 tbsp White wine vinegar 2 tbsp Plain yogurt 1 tsp Dried thyme 1 tsp Dijon mustard Salt and black pepper, to taste	50 g Field salad leaves 1 Avocado, peeled and diced 80 g Gorgonzola cheese, diced 1 Carrot, peeled and thinly shredded 1/2 Red onion, sliced 1 Tomato, cut into wedges Some dried cherries

1. Whisk all ingredients until creamy and smooth. Store in the fridge until ready to use.
2. In a large bowl, place field salad leaves, diced avocado, Gorgonzola, shredded carrot, red onion and tomato wedges. Drizzle with Parmesan vinaigrette and toss gently. Divide the salad in two serving plates, then sprinkle the dried cherries over.

Last, but not the least, I want to thank two lovely ladies, Eva at DAILY DOSES OF SUGAR, and Parsley Sage from The Deep Dish for passing two wonderful blog awards to me. Thank you!