Fast forward to now... I’m so grateful to have the time to make my meals, 3 times a day, 7 days a week. One of the dilemma's many cruisers face when they start their journey is, what to make for food! But all of us figure it out sooner or later. One way to learn is by looking through different cookbooks, like “The Cruising Chef Cookbook”. Occasionally, I like to look in cookbooks, but when you live aboard you usually don’t have all the ingredients required. Plus, it’s always nice to add your own spices more or less. On Earthling, the menu is diverse and creative. Dishes are made based on what’s available in the pantry and the refrigerator. Luckily, we have a refrigerator and a small icebox/ freezer.
Where did I learn to cook? I was never really taught! I grew up in a household where we ate freshly prepared food everyday thanks to my Mother. She is an excellent cook and I’m so lucky to have been brought up in a great kitchen. When you eat well like that growing up, I feel it is inevitable that you will develop a passion for cooking. At home in our kitchen, Persian cuisine was dominant but since we lived in Sweden for many years as well, a Swedish twist was developed during my upbringing.
Furthermore, I lived in Chicago for 12 years which offers a diverse cultural variety of food. In Chicago I ate everything from Asian sandwiches to gourmet Ethiopian. My business clients in the city were mostly fine dining restaurants. I worked with Francesca’s, which is Italian, Marigold, authentic Indian, Little Mexican Cafe, Agami Sushi, the Brasserie was french, Ethiopian Diamond and so forth.
This is my food background and has been the inspiration for my passion for cooking.
There are certain staples we always carry, such as: rice, pasta, potatoes, onion, garlic, and fresh vegetables. In the little pantry you also find lots of different kinds of dried beans and greens. My dear Mother dries many different greens such as parsley, dill, & spinach every year and sends them with me for the time I’m going to be gone. Dried food lasts longer and if you can’t find any fresh greens, you can use dried greens. Soak dried dill in water for an hour and you have virtually fresh dill. We also carry a few kinds of sprouts, such as, Alfa Alfa, wheat, and bean, which are easy to grow, don't need soil, and can be used in salads and sandwiches. On top of that, we stock up with a variety of canned foods: tomato paste & sauce, corn, peas, tuna, mushrooms, etc. With all this food aboard you just have to be creative to make your favorite dishes. I will continually put new dishes up as we go, to share and inspire others to be creative food makers.
I would like to add that I make food with the main ingredient being “LOVE”. Put LOVE into your food making and it will taste a thousand times better!
Ever since Nico joined Earthling, I have given most of the kitchen and cooking responsibilities to him. The first 3 are some of his great creations.
Nico’s Granola
Ingredients:
4 cups of Oat meal
4 Tbsp Vegetable/olive oil
1 Tbsp Butter
1/3 cup Sugar/vanilla sugar
4 tsp Honey
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp of Rum
Zest of a half citrus fruit
1/2 cup Flax seeds
Roast oat meal in a pan on medium heat till light brown. Continuously stirring so it doesn’t burn, about 10 minutes. Set aside oat meal and roast flax seeds on low heat for 5 minutes (If the pan is hot the flax seeds will pop)! In a a different pan over medium heat mix together oil, butter, salt, rum, honey, cinnamon, and sugar. Keep stirring till sugar is melted and you see a light caramel color.
Add the roasted oat meal and flax seeds to the liquid mix along with the citrus zest, keep stirring on low heat for 15 min. (You can substitute one oat meal cup by a cup of roasted nuts of your choice)
Serve alone or with milk or yogurt.
Enjoy!
Crepes
Wet ingredients:
4 eggs
1 Tbsp of melted Butter
2 cups of Milk
1 Vanilla Bean
Zest of half a Citrus fruit
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Dry Ingredients:
1 cup of Flour
1 tsp of baking powder
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1 tbs salt
Whisk eggs, milk, oil, salt, and melted butter. Slice the
vanilla bean in half, scrape the inside and smash it into the liquid. Sift in the dry ingredients over the liquid, whisk till it’s nicely incorporated.
Melt half a teaspoon of butter in a pan on high heat,
pour a ladle of the liquid in the pan and spread it as thin and round as possible. Turn it over once it’s golden brown. Add your favorite combination of toppings.
Possible topping combinations:
Ham, brie, and steamed asparagus
Brie and honey
Nutella and banana
Jam
Just Sugar
Mmmmmmmmm!
Corn Pancake
Dry Ingredients:-One cup of corn meal
-1/3 cup of whole wheat flour
-1 tsp of baking powder
-1/2 tsp of Cinnamon
-1/4 tsp of nutmeg
Wet Ingredients:
-2 eggs
-1/4 cup of melted Butter & 1/4 cup of Olive oil
-1 vanilla bean
-2 Tbsp of honey
-1 1/2 cups of milk
-1/2 cup of plain yogurt
Mix the wet ingredients together, sift in the dry ingredients, heat up a skillet, pour the liquid in the skillet on medium heat and flip once they are brown, light brown or dark brown is a personal preference. After it’s done, sprinkle with vanilla, sugar or syrup and serve.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Classic Spanish Spinach Omelet
A basic Spanish Omelet is Potato and Egg, this one is the Earthling style!
Ingredients: Potato, Red Onion, Spinach, Corn, Eggs, Vegetable Oil, Pepper and Salt
Ingredients: Potato, Red Onion, Spinach, Corn, Eggs, Vegetable Oil, Pepper and Salt
2 servings
Preparation: Heat three spoons of Vegetable Oil in a pan. Peel and slice 1 large potato (I like sweet potatoes for breakfast) and fry for 5-10min on medium heat. Slice onion and add it to the pan, add spinach and corn, add salt and pepper as much as you desire, fry everything for another 5min. Crack 2 eggs over the mix. Cover and set heat to low for another 5 min. Toast bread and serve.
Preparation: Heat three spoons of Vegetable Oil in a pan. Peel and slice 1 large potato (I like sweet potatoes for breakfast) and fry for 5-10min on medium heat. Slice onion and add it to the pan, add spinach and corn, add salt and pepper as much as you desire, fry everything for another 5min. Crack 2 eggs over the mix. Cover and set heat to low for another 5 min. Toast bread and serve.
Peanut Butter Banana on Nutella Cracker
This is an easy and fast breakfast or dessert. It is basically two different snacks combined. Banana, Peanut Butter, Nutella, and cracker. They are perfect separately, but excellent combined.
Spread Nutella over cracker, slice a banana, spread peanut butter on Banana then place on the cracker. YUM!
Spread Nutella over cracker, slice a banana, spread peanut butter on Banana then place on the cracker. YUM!
Salami Panini on stove-top
Paninis are my favorite type of warm Sandwich. It’s great for breakfast or lunch. I tried a panini maker on the boat when I was still in Chicago, but it takes a lot of energy so it doesn’t belong here. Now we make paninis on the stove or on the grill. And there are a couple ways to make it, depending on the bread. On the stove, panini turns out best made with pita bread. Ingredients:
Pita bread, Salami, Red onion, Cheese, Cream Cheese, Mayonnaise
Preparation:Cut a pita bread in half, spread each side open to pockets, spread cream cheese on one side of the pocket, add a few slices of Salami (any lunch meat), cut thin slices of red onion, a few slices of cheese, spread a tea spoon of mayo on the other sider of the pocket. Melt a table spoon of butter in a pan on low heat. Place the prepared pita in the pan and toast each side for a few minutes until golden brown and crispy. Slice the pita and serve.
If you would like to make it more special:
Add Avocado and feta cheese inside the pita. Add pressed garlic and oregano to the butter in the pan.
The other way to make it is on the grill. Spray oil or butter on the pita then wrap the prepared pita in foil, sealed tightly and place it on preheated grill. Grill each side of the pita on low heat for 3-5 minutes.
Enjoy!
Salad Olivieh in Pita
Ingredients:
Chicken breast
Egg
Potato
Peas
Dill Pickles
Mayonnaise
Salt
Black Pepper
Dill
Makes 4 Servings
Boil 3 eggs, one large chicken breast, and 3 medium size potatoes (we didn’t have regular potatoes, I used 2 sweet potatoes and 1 eddoe. Eddoes are similar to potatoes and grown locally here in the Caribbean). Slice the potato in small (1/4” inch) cubes. Run eggs through a cheese grater. Shred chicken by hand. Add half a cup of peas from a can, chop 2 large pickles into small cubes. Put everything in a bowl, add salt and pepper as desired. Add 1/3 cup of mayo, sprinkle some dried or fresh dill. Mix everything well. Let sit in the refrigerator to cool (2 hours). Salad Olivieh is served cold on bread. We used pita bread.
Falafel over Rice
I used some packaged Ziyad falafel mix. But added a twist to it. I chopped a small Chilli pepper and added to the mix. Let the falafel mix soak in cold water for 30 min. The mix should be moist and firm enough to form into balls. Heat up a couple inches of vegetable oil in a frying pan. Shape round balls from the falafel mix, I use two spoons to form the balls. Fry in the oil till they are crispy and golden brown. I fry them usually 3-4 min on each side.
Falafels are served with tahini sauce. Mix equal parts tahini paste and yogurt. Add a tablespoon of lemon juice, add salt, chop 1 clove garlic. Mix together. Serve over the Falafels over rice.
The Saturday Farmer's Market
We went to the Saturday Farmer’s Market in Charlestown, Nevis and got plenty of vegetables. All the vegetables at the farmer's markets are home grown and fresh. To me it’s so exciting to go to the local market. You can find so many different kinds of vegetables and fruits, which increases your creativity and options for cooking. At the market in the middle of town, we bought okra, eggplants, different peppers, fresh beans, starfruit, tomatoes, cucumber, etc.
Local markets are the best place to get fresh healthy food for your bucks. Almost every major city in the Caribbean has a local market. Many are on Saturdays!
Okra Eggplant Stew over Rice
Ingredients:
Okra
Eggplant
Onion
Tomato Paste
Tomato Sauce
Yellow Hot Chili Pepper
Vegetable Oil
Salt
Heat up 2 spoons of vegetable oil in a pan, chop up a few okras, a large eggplant and saute it in the pan along with a teaspoon of tomato paste until they are soft. Chop up a yellow or white onion, a small chili, and add it all to the mix. Add as much salt as you prefer, I do half a teaspoon. Add a small can of tomato sauce to the mix, cover the pan, lower down the heat to low, let everything simmer for 20 min. Serve over rice.
Mushroom Lasagna
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| I was craving lasagna and since the oven has some propane leaks, the lasagna was made on the stove and it turned out great! |
Lasagna
Green onion
Garlic
Yellow pepper
Red pepper
Tomato paste
Vegetable Oil
Tomato sauce
Mushrooms
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Parmesan
Salt
Cayenne pepper
Oregano
Heat vegetable oil over medium heat in pan. Chop onion and garlic and cook with a teaspoon of tomato paste for a few minutes. Mix in mushrooms and let cook for another few min. Chop the peppers and add to pan and let cook for 3min. Add the amount of salt, cayenne pepper, and oregano that you desire. Add a can of tomato sauce and simmer over low-medium heat for 15min. Now the sauce is ready.
While you are making the sauce, boil the lasagna. (We did it with 1/2 sea water, 1/2 fresh water)
Oil a pyrex baking dish, layer noodles, a thin layer of sauce, and cheese, repeat steps. On the last layer of the noodles, I put most of the cheese and sprinkle more oregano and parmesan. Cover it tight with aluminum foil and let sit on the stove over low heat for 25-30 minutes. When making it on the stove, I like the bottom layer slightly crispy, but be careful not to burn the bottom.
Note: You can make this dish even if you don’t have all mentioned ingredients, Replace the ingredients with what you have access to. You can substitute the mushroom with ground beef or chicken.
HotDogs Gourmet Style
Ingredients:HotDogs
Buns (Baguette)
Spaghetti
Tomato
Pickles
Olive Oil
Ketchup
Mustard
Mayo
Salt
Pepper
Oregano
Grill or fry hotdogs. Prepare spaghetti noodles. Add olive oil, salt, pepper, & oregano to the noodles. Heat buns on grill. Slice pickles and tomatoes. Serve with ketchup, mustard, and mayo, just the way you like!
