Farro salad with balsamic pearl onions, spinach and goat cheese | in my Red Kitchen

Farro salad with balsamic pearl onions

Farro salad with balsamic pearl onions, spinach and goat cheese | in my Red Kitchen

All my life I have been eating pearl onions, or ‘silver onions’ as we call them in the Netherlands. But this is the first time I’ve hold them in my hands in their own raw shape.

You see, in the Netherlands these pearl onions are pickled and sold in cans. I love anything pickled! So when the lovely people at Frieda’s sent me a bag of pearl onions I wanted to pickle them, just like the ones I used to snack on in the Netherlands.

Grilled goat cheese sandwich with bacon and dates - it's a scrumptious sandwich! | in my Red Kitchen

Grilled goat cheese sandwich with bacon and dates

Grilled goat cheese sandwich with bacon and dates - it's a scrumptious sandwich! | in my Red Kitchen

My husband doesn’t like goat cheese. Poor me! I know, i know… I shouldn’t complain because I can cook something with goat cheese for myself and give him a substitute.
And sometimes I do that, but it is more like a salad or pasta topped with goat cheese, or this sweet potato and kale mash. I give him bacon or prosciutto and I get to eat all the goat cheese, yay!

Black lentil salad with goat cheese | in my Red Kitchen

Black lentil salad with goat cheese

Black Lentil Salad with Goat Cheese | in my Red Kitchen

People often ask me if there is anything I miss from the Netherlands. I have to disappoint them (and you), because I don’t. Of course I’m happy when I stumble upon typical Dutch products in LA, like appelstroop, stroopwafels or beschuit. And the Christmas Stollen and bitterballen I made myself where also to die for.

But really missing those things? Nah… And you know why not?

Sweet potato and kale mash

Sweet Potato and Kale mash | © in my Red Kitchen

It’s hard to break from those bad holiday eating habits, isn’t it? You probably have some leftover cookies at home, or delicious marshmallows to go with your hot chocolate.

I know all about it. Even though I kept on hiking and juicing in between the holidays I gained some weight again. Not fun!

So to force myself to break with my new habit of eating some chocolate after dinner or go out for hamburgers I did a juice cleanse this week. This really forces me to eat healthy the days up to the cleanse.