This bowl of oats embodies what whole plant-based eating is all about for me: getting to eat something scrumptious, filling and delightfully sweet, that’s also incredibly good for you! No compromise either on health or taste – it’s a beautiful win-win situation leaving you feeling satisfied (physically and emotionally) and almost a bit smug!
Continue reading “Creamy Chocolate Peanut Butter Overnight Oats”
I love love love coming to this place for a delicious, healthy yet indulgent meal. Eating out in Switzerland – especially Zurich – is generally more expensive than in many other countries, so for the average student like me, a visit to Hiltl is a wonderful treat, to be fully savored.
It’s a vegetarian restaurant, so not completely plant-based (e.g., there are curries with paneer). Most dishes are fully plant-based though, so you won’t feel limited at all if you don’t eat any animal products. Also, all dishes have labels, so just look for the “v” for vegan symbol if you’re unsure.
Fun fact # 1: Founded in 1898, Hiltl holds the Guinness World Record for being the “oldest continuously open vegetarian restaurant in the world”.
Fun fact # 2: Restaurant by day, Hiltl turns into a club by night. Just don’t show up in fur – you won’t be allowed to enter!
The food: While you can order à la carte, my recommendation is that you fill up your plate at the enticing and wonderfully colorful buffet. There is an array of cold dishes ranging from exotically flavored salads to lentil and chickpea dishes, bowls of quinoa, vats of guacamole and hummus, etc, etc. Above the cold options are the warm dishes, where you’ll find falafels, vegetable samosas and other delights. To the side of this buffet area there are hot dishes of curries, rice, sweet potato mash and much more! Oh and don’t forget: you get a complimentary little bread roll or slice of pita bread with your meal that you can pick from a basket (usually includes a gluten–free option).
For dessert you’ll be spoiled for choice again. Besides fresh fruit there are various vegetarian and vegan (soy-based) mousses, such as chocolate, mango and passion fruit, cakes and brownies (at my most recent birthday dinner there I had a vegan sweet potato brownie – so good!) and crumbles. To one side of the room there are also glass jars filled with various nuts, seeds, dried fruit and granola.
My favorite dish: definitely the cold orecchiette pasta salad with a tomato-balsamic dressing, olives and tofu (see picture below) – I never miss it. Other favorites that usually make their way onto my plate are the falafels, the seaweed salad, hummus, green beans with walnuts and some fresh mango.
How does it work? You take a small or large plate and pay by weight. To give you an idea of the price: my large plate usually racks up around CHF 25, while my boyfriend pays around CHF 35. My sweet potato brownie, chocolate mousse and mango were around CHF 7.
Bonus: Free water! This is something thrifty students will definitely appreciate, as it’s the exception in Switzerland. Unlike in the US where you are always served water at no extra cost, in Switzerland you’ll often be charged.
Location: I always go to “Haus Hiltl” which is located at Sihlstrasse 28 in central Zurich, close to the Orell Füssli bookstore. There is also “Hiltl Sihlpost” at Europaallee 1A, which opened earlier this year. If you’d like to enjoy this awesome plant-based food with a view, why not check out “Hiltl Dachterrasse” at Bahnhofstrasse 88?
Extra tip: If you like Hiltl you’ll also want to check out tibits, the slightly more casual sister of Hiltl. The vegetarian pay-by-weight buffet joint was founded by three Swiss brothers in collaboration with the owners of Hiltl. Today there are eight tibits restaurants in Switzerland and… there’s one in London as well! As I’m moving to London this September I was pleasantly surprised to discover this. If I get homesick I’ll know where to go 😉
Whole plant-based eating refers to a diet centered around whole (i.e., unprocessed) plant foods. Sometimes confused with veganism (which is a lifestyle not a diet), whole plant-based eating is generally adopted by people because they believe that it is healthier and not primarily because it benefits animals or the environment. This is why you may see honey used in plant-based recipes, but not in vegan ones. Another difference is the emphasis on “whole” foods. While it’s possible to be vegan by subsisting on fries and ice cream, a person eating a whole plant-based diet will avoid or minimize refined sugar and processed foods, such as ready meals or supermarket cookies.
For the past few months I have been eating this way and loving the way it makes me feel. Knowing that I’m nourishing my body with good foods full of nutrients that won’t spike my blood sugar or deposit lots of cholesterol in my arteries gives me a deep sense of satisfaction from my food, that lasts even after the pleasure from actually eating it has subsided. By eating this way I’m also discovering new and exciting foods (purple sweet potato, maca, tempeh and almond butter, to name a few) and incorporating more of some familiar foods (e.g., oats, beans, broccoli, flaxseeds, turmeric), bringing more variety to my diet than before.
Eating food that is not only good for you, but also delicious is in my eyes the ultimate win-win situation (what’s not to like about having chocolate pancakes for breakfast while providing your body withnourishment?!). To me, whole plant-based eating is a celebration of tastes and textures, flavors and flavonoids, abundance and anthocyanins and indulgence without compromsise. All this can also be a wonderful creative outlet, as it has become for me – experimenting with new foods, finding ever more interesting recipes and creating own ones.
I have also found that a passion for delicious and nutritious food can be incredibly social. Since starting this blog and my Instagram back in the summer of 2016, I have connected with so many wonderful people – both through social media and in real life. My move to London in September of the same year enabled me to (finally!) attend events by bloggers and brands I had previously been following from afar and I have been lucky enough to make amazing friends who share my passion. Plant-based eating and health & wellbeing are topics that more and more people care about and therefore have the potential of bringing people together.
Of course, what we eat and don’t eat is highly individual. I don’t believe a fully plant-based lifestyle is right for everyone, and it may not even be unconditionally right for me through all phases of life. While I do believe that the more plant-based and homemade meals the better, we should all eat in a way that makes us feel our best – physically and emotionally. Food should be a source of enjoyment – not something to beat ourselves up about or to impose strict and miserable standards on. Right now, a fully plant-based diet makes me happy and I will continue eating this way for as long as feels right, without feeling bound by any labels.
Finally, let me end this by saying: Whoever you are and however you eat (vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, ovolactovegetarian, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, plant-based or, as my Mom likes to say, simply “normally”), I hope this blog inspires you to eat some delicious, nourishing food and maybe try out something new.
xxx
Reading Tip: If you’re interested in reading about the benefits of eating lots of yummy plant food, check out How Not To Die, by Dr. Michael Greger (it’s what kick-started my journey to plant-based eating).
This satisfying concoction is what I’ve been having for breakfast almost religiously for the past months. In recent times I’ve started varying my breakfasts occasionally, making the odd chia pudding, homemade granola or trying out healthy pancake recipes (my favorites are the Banana Pancakes from Deliciously Ella – the blog – and the Sweet Potato Pancakes from Deliciously Ella Every Day). On most mornings, however, I automatically go for this smoothie in one variation or the other, as it’s what I crave the most. What I love about this smoothie is that it’s filling – the combination of healthy fats and protein keeps me going for longer than my classic oatmeal used to – yet doesn’t make me feel sluggish as a higher-carb breakfast sometimes would.
Continue reading “Avocado Berry Breakfast Smoothie Bowl”
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