In the last few years I have been trying to remember all the things that are important to me. Is easy to forget them in the rush of everyday’s life. One of the things that are important to me is to do the best I can to keep a good balance between eating healthy and enjoying food. I keep my grandmother’s words with me every day: “Eat everything but within measure”. Not sure if this expression translates very well from Romanian but what it conveys is basically to keep variety and balance in your diet.

Besides balance, I value simplicity. I will always prefer a dish that is simple but mixes quality ingredients that go well together and preserve their natural taste as much as possible. But finding those simple but tasty ingredients is not always easy. Many times the food that the local supermarkets offer is rushed, mass produced and it keeps less time that you would ever think! I know that will have to do most of the times because is minutes away and it’s reasonably priced. But that doesn’t mean I won’t continuously try to find opportunities to at least sprinkle my diet with a bit of taste that I pick myself! Is simple and is straight from the source!

Here is what I found so far:

• Berries picked from both Sweden and Romania over the years. Every time I visit families I pick blueberries, blackcurrant, blackberries and wild  strawberries depending on the season. Forrests are full of them. A blackcurrant bush can give sometimes 4-5 litters of berries, amazing! And you are probably wondering how easy is to preserve and transport them. I simply dry them, naturally or for faster results in an electric food drier. They take very little space and keep their taste very well. You can fix the consistency issue by soaking them in yogurt, porridge or kefir! Mix them in your muesli – success! The only exception are lingonberries – they are mostly used to make jam.
• Hazelnuts, walnuts and chestnuts are so easy to find and so good! They keep for months or even a year. You can dry them naturally in skin and you can have them on your Christmas table and cook with them the whole winter!
• Mushrooms! Chanterelles are my absolute favourite, you can boil and freeze them or you can dry them, they are great either way. I have a few boxes of dried summer and autumn chanterelles, and just the other day I threw some in a pasta sauce with blue cheese and it was just amazingly tasty!
• Rose hip is probably one of the most amazing fruits that can be found in abundance in Europe. I used to pick rose hip with my grandmother and you can use them for jam, tea and soup! Get a real boast of Vitamin C straight from your cup of tea!
• Elderflower and lilac make a fantastic ingredient for cordial. I don’t really like the juice that can be found in the shops and every now and then, those cordials offer a great alternative.
• Fresh nettles can be used to make a fantastic soup or simple wilt them with salt, pepper and garlic. Fantastic starter or side and very good for your health.
• Dandelion leaves are amazing in salad if you pick them before the buds are open.

Berry Drier

Those are just a few gifts that the nature is keep on giving. And even if it’s just a breakfast, a tea, a pasta sauce or a soup, now and then, I still take pleasure from the fact that my diet includes some of these wonderful and totally organic ingredients. And the process of picking and preserving them is a good way to get some space from screens that bombard you with information and from the buzz of the cities! Even more health benefits!