Crunchy, nutty amaretti cookies, also known as Italian macaroons, are usually baked with ground almonds, egg whites and sugar. They can be plain, flavoured with liqueur or sandwiched with jam. The creation doesn't stop there! I have found this creative amaretti recipe with THYME from Küchen Götter, and decided to give it try with my "lemon thyme". They have turned out so well and super delicious!

• 3 Egg whites
• 200 g Castor sugar
• 10 g Lemon thyme leaves
• 200 g Ground almonds (I used hazelnuts)

1. Preheat the oven to 140C/280F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together the castor sugar, ground hazelnut and lemon thyme leaves in a bowl. In a stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, beat egg whites until firm. Fold in the dry mixture.
2. Fill the pastry bag with the cookie mixture. Pipe 1inch mounds onto the prepared baking trays, about an inch apart. Bake in the heated oven until cookies become crisp, about 40 minutes.

Crispy, crunchy and loaded with chocolate flavours. Those chocolate wafers are perfect ANYTIME sweet treat! Serve with ice cream, or sandwich them together with whipped cream. They're also great by themselves.
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

• 200 g All purpose flour
• 70 g Unsweetened cocoa powder
• 200 g Sugar
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Baking soda
• 180 g Unsalted butter, slightly softened and cut into smaller pieces
• 3 tbsp Whole milk
• 1 tsp Pure vanilla extract

1. Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, salt and baking soda in the bowl of food processor and pulse to mix thoroughly. Add in butter, milk and vanilla extract and process until the mixture clumps around the blade or the sides of the bowl.
2. Place the mixture on the work surface and form into a log about 14 inches/35 cm long. Wrap the log in wax paper or foil and refrigerate until firm, at least one hour, or overnight.
3. Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut the log of dough into slices a 1/8 inch/3 mm thick and place them 1 inch/2.4 cm apart on the lined sheets (cookies will spread). Sprinkle the top lightly with granulated sugar if desired.
4. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the the cookies puff up Remove from oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. These cookies may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks.

Spinach is low in calories yet packed full of nutrients, like vitamins, minerals and fibre, which are good for you. This is such a versatile vegetable. It can be eaten raw in salads or enjoyed cooked on its own or added to soups and other dishes. However, people who have kidney problems will have to be careful about eating this green, as "oxalates/草酸" in spinach may interfere with the absorption of "calcium/钙", as well as potentially crystallize. Find out more information of how to select, store, and enjoy spinach here.
The outbreak of the intestinal bacteria EHEC has now killed more than 10 people and hundreds of people falling ill in Germany. It is suspected that the outbreak is linked to contaminated salads and vegetables, but there has been no confirmation of the source. So to play it safe, I have prepared all sorts of leafy vegetables these days COOKED, even those greens on the pizza.

Red Wine Spinach (adapted from Essen und Trinken)

• 375 g Spinach, roughly cut into chunks
• 2 Shallots, finely diced
• 1 clove Garlic, pressed
• 25 g Butter
• 200 ml Red wine
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Pinch off the spinach leaves and discard stems. Soak the leaves in the water for 30 minutes. Drain. Rinse and drain a couple more times until the water is clear. Drain and roughly cut the leaves into smaller chunks.
2. Finely chop the shallots and crush the garlic through a press. Melt the butter in a large skillet. Stir in chopped shallots and garlic over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Pour in red wine and cook until it’s syrupy. Add in chopped spinach and cook, covered, for 2-3 minutes. Taste with salt and pepper.

Spinach Prosciutto Pizza

Fresh Tomato Pizza Sauce	Pizza
2 tsp Olive oil 1 Large onion, finely chopped 2 clove Garlic, finely chopped 1 kg Fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped 3 tbsp Tomato paste 1/2 tbsp Dried oregano 2 tbsp Sugar Salt and freshly ground black pepper	300 g Bread flour 1/2 tsp Salt 4 g Instant dried yeast 210 ml Water Tomato pizza sauce Mozzarella or Gruyere, grated Parmesan, grated Spinach Prosciutto Black olives Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Cut small x in base of each tomato. Bring a large pot of water to boil. In a large basin or container add cold water and some ice. Using a slotted spoon put a few tomatoes in the boiling water for about 20 seconds. The skin will split where the x was cut. Transfer each tomato to the prepared ice bath. After the tomato cools use fingers to pull the skin off of the tomato. Slice the tomato in quarters. Remove the seeds and chop.
2. Heat oil in large pan. Add in chopped onions and cook over medium heat for until transparent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, tomatoes, paste, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 30 minutes.
3. Stir together the flour, salt and instant yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on low speed with the paddle attachment until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. Fit the mixer with the dough hook and knead the dough at the lowest speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
4. Punch dough down, divide into 2 balls, and allow them to relax for another 30 minutes. Heat up pizza stone in a 250C/500F oven. Form a 12 to 14-inch pizza crust and place on a piece of parchment paper sprinkled with yellow cornmeal.
5. Top pizza dough with pizza sauce, spreading with back of a spoon to within 1/2-inch of edge. Place topping on the crust and place the pizza, with the parchment paper in the oven on the pizza stone. Bake until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 10 minutes.

A wonderful mixture of Romaine lettuce, cherry radishes complimented by the addition of honeydew melon, blueberries, and leftover teriyaki chicken and enhanced lively with a bright, tangy peach vinaigrette.

Pepper Rosé Peach Vinaigrette	Salad
1 Ripe peach, peeled and pitted 2 Peach halves from can 3 tbsp White balsamic vinegar 3 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil 1/2 tsp Salt 1/3 tsp Pink peppers, crushed	1 head Romaine lettuce 2-3 Cherry radish, diced Onion rings Shredded carrots 1 handful Blueberry Honeydew melon balls or cubes Left over teriyaki chicken

1. To make the dressing, place all of the dressing ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.
2. Rinse, drain and tear Romaine lettuce into bite-size pieces. Cut each cherry radish into 6 pieces. Arrange them in a serving bowl together with onion rings, shredded carrots, blueberries and honeydew melon balls. Finally top the salad with leftover teriyaki chicken.
3. Pour dressing over salad just before serving, and toss to coat.

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.