Nordic Food & Living

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The BEST recipe for Healthy Nordic Food

This recipe archive contains my personal BEST and favorite healthy recipes. You can find everything from delicious salads which are full of great vitamins to whole-grain bread which are full of filling dietary fibers. Besides international classics you can of course also find plenty of Nordic and Scandinavian inspired healthy recipes. All these healthy recipes are made by a Danish guy and with a Nordic twist.

Tomato and Chives Omelet

Categories: Breakfast/ Fast and Easy Food/ Healthy Food/ Lunch/ Vegetarian

Recipe for Homemade Tomato and Chives Omelet

This time I would like to share one of my absolute favorite breakfast/lunch/dinner recipes - which is a tomato and chives egg omelet. The great thing about this omelet is that it is super easy to make and you can eat it for all meals. I normally have it for dinner but I have also served it for breakfast and lunch. It only takes about 15 minutes to make this omelet so it is perfect if you are late from work or if you only have a little extra time in the morning and want to make something delicious. [Read more...]

Marzipan without refined Sugar

Categories: Cake/ Desserts/ Healthy Food/ Vegetarian

Recipe for Homemade Marzipan without sugar

This is a recipe for a homemade marzipan where there has not been added any refined sugar. A traditional marzipan is made from two very simple ingredients; skinned almonds and sugar - super simple but also a bit unhealthy due to the amount of refined sugar. However, this is not an issue because marzipan is normally only used to make candy and cakes where sugar typically is not considered an issue. [Read more...]

Roasted Tomato Soup

Categories: All Recipes/ Dinner/ Healthy Food/ Soup/ Vegetarian


Recipe for homemade Roasted Tomato Soup

This time I would like to share a great and very delicious recipe for a roasted tomato soup. A traditional tomato soup is normally cooked on a stove in a saucepan or similar. This tomato soup is mainly prepared in the oven by roasting some great ingredients. This way the soup gets a super delicious and special taste. [Read more...]

Risotto with Fried Cod and Fresh Peas

Categories: Dinner/ Fish/ Healthy Food

Recipe for homemade Risotto with Cod and Fresh Peas

This recipe for risotto with fried cod and fresh peas is a super delicious dish which is relatively easy to make. Risotto is an Italian rice dish, where the rice is cooked on a pan in broth. In this recipe the broth is based on chicken and some white wine, and is used to boil the rice into a nice and creamy consistency. Normally Risotto is just the creamy rice. However, this recipe is twisted a bit, we have added some fresh peas and the juice from half a lemon - it adds a nice freshness to the dish. In addition, we thought that the dish should have a little more than just the Risotto rice, so we have added a nice piece of fried cod - it goes great with the delicious Risotto rice. As we have mentioned in previous recipes on this blog, in Denmark the official recommendation is that you eat fish at least two times a week. The Risotto with fried cod is a perfect dish to get some delicious fish. [Read more...]

Sweet Potato, Spinach, Chickpea and Coconut Curry

Categories: All Recipes/ Dinner/ Healthy Food/ Vegetarian

Recipe for Homemade Sweet Potato, Spinach, Chickpea and Coconut Curry


This recipe for a Sweet potato, Spinach, Chickpea and Coconut Curry is without doubt on my top-3 list of favorite vegan dinner dishes. The dish is actually really easy to prepare and it only takes about 45 minutes which is including 30 minutes of simmering time - time you can use to talk with your spouse, your kids or maybe just to relax after a long day at work. Besides being very easy to cook, it is also a very delicious and a good tasting dish. The soft sweet potato, the spinach, the semi-crisp chickpeas and the coconut curry is just a wonderful combination, if you ask me. [Read more...]

Red Cabbage, Orange and Apple Salad

Categories: Healthy Food/ Salads

Recipe for Homemade Red Cabbage, Orange and Apple Salad


This recipe for a red cabbage salad topped with slices of oranges and apples is one of my favorite salads during the fall. During the fall and winter months, I can buy fresh red cabbage for almost nothing in Denmark. The climate in Denmark is perfect for red cabbage production, which is way it is such a popular and very cheap vegetable in Denmark. I am sure this applies to many other countries around the world. Especially, most European countries and the northern states in the US. [Read more...]

Danish Rye Bread Chips

Categories: Healthy Food/ Nordic Bread/ Snacks

Recipe for Homemade Danish Rye Bread Chips

This recipe for Danish Rye bread Chips is super easy to make and is a delicious and healthy snack. I personally love these rye bread chips and I typically have them as snack just before lunch or in the late afternoon when I am hungry but it is too early to make dinner. These chips are baked in the oven in a little olive oil and sprinkle with some sea salt - super crisp and very delicious. [Read more...]

Salmon, Spinach and Ricotta Cheese Pasta

Categories: All Recipes/ Dinner/ Fast and Easy Food/ Fish/ Healthy Food/ Lunch

Salmon, Spinach and Ricotta Cheese Pasta

This recipe for a salmon, Spinach and Ricotta Cheese Pasta is just super delicious and absolutely one of my most favorite pasta dishes. The great thing about this pasta dish, besides that it is very delicious and tasteful, is that it is a great source of good vitamins from the Spinach, good proteins from the ricotta cheese and then the good and healthy fat from salmon. Furthermore, it is quite easy to prepare the ingredients for this dish and in general simple to make. [Read more...]

Healthy Banana Pancakes

Categories: Breakfast/ Desserts/ Healthy Food

Healthy and easy homemade banana pancakes
These little banana pancakes are made entirely without sugar, but they are still so fantastic and sweet because of the bananas. They are a perfectly healthy alternate to normal breakfast pancakes. You can serve them with some fresh fruit and a maybe some healthy Skyr on top of the pancakes. Skyr is an Icelandic cultured dairy product, similar to strained yogurt. It is very healthy, full of protein and has a thick consistency. They are great at the breakfast table, but also for a snack in the middle of the day. You can even use frozen bananas for this recipe – that is really easy! [Read more...]

Healthy Pork, Broccoli and Bacon Pasta

Categories: All Recipes/ Dinner/ Fast and Easy Food/ Healthy Food/ Pork

Recipe for a healthy Pork and Bacon Pasta dish

I am constantly on the lookout for tasteful and delicious dinner recipes which are simple and easy to make - this recipe for a pork and bacon pasta dish is one of them. This dish is very simple to make and it only takes about 30-40 minutes of work which is why it is one of my favorite when I am in a rush or just late home from work. Besides being an easy-to-make and tasteful dish it is also very healthy be course of the broccoli. The dish contains carrots and broccoli which are both great sources of dietary fiber and vitamins and together with some good ground pork meat which are rich on proteins, then you have a healthy and fast dinner. [Read more...]

Muffins with Spinach and Tomatoes

Categories: All Recipes/ Breakfast/ Dinner/ Fast and Easy Food/ Healthy Food/ Lunch/ Side Dish/ Snacks/ Vegetarian

Recipe for homemade muffins with spinach and tomatoes

This time I would like to share another of my favorite recipes which can both be served for breakfast or later at the day for dinner.

The recipe is egg muffins with spinach and tomatoes. There are several reasons why I like these muffins a lot. The main reason is because they have a great taste and that they are very simple to make. The preparation time is only about 20-30 minutes and it does not require any special skills. I normally make these muffins in my muffin oven pan which has 8 holes to hold the muffins. If you don’t have such a muffin pan then you can use some muffin cups, they should give the same results. [Read more...]

Banana Ice Cream

Categories: Desserts/ Healthy Food/ Ice Cream

Recipe for healthy banana ice cream

Sometimes we are just craving for something delicious dessert but we don't want all the sugar and empty calories. This is a recipe for a delicious banana ice cream which is a really great alternative to regular ice cream. This banana ice cream does not contain any sugar or heavy cream - it only contain one ingredient; bananas. The ice cream has a nice and creamy consistency which is similar to sorbet ice cream. If you prefer the consistency of regular ice cream you simply just refreeze it after you have made it. Will like to serve this ice cream will some chopped dark chocolate as topping. [Read more...]

Healthy Banana-Oat Cookies

Categories: Fast and Easy Food/ Healthy Food/ Snacks

Recipe for Homemade Healthy Banana-oat Cookies

I want to share one of my absolutely favorite recipes. This recipe for banana-oat cookies is super easy to make and you only need those two ingredients; banana and oats. These cookies, if you can call them that, literally only takes 20 minutes to make. The great thing about them is that they are very healthy and filling so it is great snack in between the main meals. Each cookie has less than 100 calories so you can, with no problems, grab a couple of them. [Read more...]

Healthy Nordic Banana Waffles

Categories: Breakfast/ Fast and Easy Food/ Healthy Food

Recipe for Homemade Healthy Banana Waffles

We have previous made these healthy banana pancakes which turned out to be one of the more popular recipes on our blog - both our English and Danish blogs. This time we have made healthy banana waffles which are perfect as a breakfast meal for the weekends or maybe as a snack in between two main meals of the day.

See also: Recipe for healthy chocolate cake without flour and sugar

The recipe is very simple and only contains ingredients which are normally always on the shelves in the kitchen. The waffles contain oats which have been blended into a flour - oats have a high content of dietary fibers and are therefore very [Read more...]

Healthy Banana, Oatmeal and Chocolate Cookies

Categories: Cake/ Desserts/ Fast and Easy Food/ Healthy Food/ Snacks/ Vegetarian

Recipe for Homemade Healthy Banana, Oatmeal and Chocolate Cookies

This is a recipe for some small and healthy chocolate cookies based on banana and oatmeal. Actually, we are not sure that cookie is the right word for these cakes. They do look like small cookies but they have a slight different consistency. The banana makes these cookies soft but still a bit chewy. Instead of using sugar, these cookies are sweetened by banana which makes them a healthy alternative to regular cookies. They also doesn't contain any oil or butter - we personally think [Read more...]

Eggplant Rolls with Parmesan and Ricotta Cheese

Categories: Healthy Food/ Side Dish/ Tapas

Recipe for Homemade Eggplant Rolls with Parmesan and Ricotta Cheese

These eggplant rolls with Parmesan and ricotta cheese are just wonderful - the slightly grilled eggplants just goes perfectly together with the Parmesan and ricotta cheese. Ricotta cheese is an Italian whey cheese normally made from sheep milk or sometimes goat or cow milk. The Ricotta cheese is made from the left over from the normal cheese production and does normally have a lower fat content, making it a great product rich on protein. [Read more...]

Nordic-style Baked Salmon with Honey and Almonds

Categories: Dinner/ Fast and Easy Food/ Fish/ Healthy Food

Recipe for Nordic Baked Salmon with Honey and Almonds

This fish recipe has without doubt the best easy-to-cook vs. taste ratio that we have ever tried. This oven baked salmon with honey and almonds only takes about 30 minutes to prepare and you only need four different ingredients. The sweetness from the honey and the crunchy feeling from the chopped almonds goes perfectly together with the delicious salmon fillet.

The official recommendations in Denmark is that we should eat fish at-least two times a week. This can, for some people, be a difficult task to manage. Fish can be very delicious but some people think it can be difficult to prepare or maybe they simply just lack inspiration on where to start. If you want to eat fish two times a week, it has to be easy. Many people has a lot to do in the afternoon and evening - so dinner has to be fast and easy. This recipe surely is very easy to prepare and does not require much cooking skills. The fresh salmon fillet is simply just greased with honey and sprinkled with chopped almonds and then baked for about 15-20 minutes - it is that simple!

We normally serve this salmon fillet together with a crisp salad and some freshly baked bread. A simple salad can easily be prepared while the salmon is in the oven. You can find inspiration for different salads in our archive with salad recipes.

Because this fish dish is so easy to prepare and has a wonderful taste - we can easily say this is our top-1 fish recipe.

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5 from 1 vote

Nordic-style baked Salmon with Honey and Almonds

Recipe for SUPER easy Nordic-style baked salmon with honey and almonds. Delicious, easy and very healthy. Done in only 25 minutes!
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Danish
Keyword: Fish Recipe
Servings: 4 people
Author: NordicFoodLiving.com

Ingredients

  • 800 g salmon fillet with skin
  • 70 g almonds
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • salt
Metric - US Customary

Instructions

  • Place the salmon fillet in an ovenproof dish. Face the skin side down.
  • Coarsely chop the almonds.
  • Using a table spoon; distribute the honey on the salmon fillet.
  • Season with salt and then sprinkle the chopped almonds on the honey coated fillet.
  • Bake the salmon fillet for about 15-20 minutes at 200 C (400 F). The salmon is done when the meat turns light-pink and the meat easily fall apart.

Notes

Serve the salmon fillet together with a delicious fresh salad and some freshly baked bread.

Recipe for Nordic Baked Salmon with Honey and Almonds

Recipe for Nordic Baked Salmon with Honey and Almonds

Recipe for Nordic Baked Salmon with Honey and Almonds

Healthy Banana Cake with Chocolate and Dates

Categories: Cake/ Desserts/ Healthy Food

Recipe for Healthy Banana Cake with Chocolate and Dates

This recipe is another healthy cake without sugar, flour and milk. The first healthy cake we made was this healthy chocolate cake, which made us realize that you actually can make a very delicious cake without using any white sugar or flour and at the same time without compromise on the taste.

As said, this recipe for a banana cake with chocolate and dates doesn't contain any flour and milk which makes it gluten- and lactose-free. Another important factor is that it doesn't contain any refined sugar - we did use chocolate with sugar, however, if you want a completely sugar-free cake it's possible to buy sugar-free chocolate. The sweetness in this cake comes from dates and bananas which are natural sweet and are therefore a great substitute for white refined sugar. Of course dates contain a certain amount of fructose (fruit sugar). However, it's supposed to be better compared to white sugar. If you have some frozen bananas you can use them in this recipe. Instead of using regular all-purpose flour, this cake has ground almonds.

The cake is very easy and quick to make and we've tested it on friends and colleges with great success :-)

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Healthy Banana Cake with Chocolate and Dates

Recipe for a healthy Banana Cake with Chocolate and Dates. This cake does not have any refined sugar or flour added. A healthy alternative to regular cakes which are packed with white sugar and wheat flour.
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Course: Cake
Cuisine: Danish
Servings: 8 people
Author: NordicFoodLiving.com

Ingredients

  • 100 g dark chocolate (or sugar-free chocolate)
  • 150 g dates
  • 200 g nuts (almonds/hazelnuts or similar nuts)
  • 2 bananas (or frozen bananas)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
Metric - US Customary

Instructions

  • Chop the chocolate and 50 g (2 oz) of the nuts.
  • Use a blender or food processor to ground the last 150 g (5 oz) of the nuts into a nut flour. In a large bowl, mix the ground nuts with the chopped chocolate and nuts.
  • Add baking powder and salt to the bowl and mix it all.
  • Use a food processor or blender to blend dates, bananas and eggs into a smooth batter.
  • Pour the banana batter into the bowl with the nut flour and mix it all well together.
  • Pour the batter into a 20x25 cm (8x10 inch) oven pan lined with baking paper.
  • Bake the cake at 180 C (360 F) for about 25 minutes.

Recipe for Healthy Banana Cake with Chocolate and Dates

Healthy Chocolate Cake without Sugar and Flour

Categories: Cake/ Desserts/ Healthy Food

Recipe for homemade Healthy Chocolate Cake without Sugar and Flour

Recipe for Healthy Chocolate Cake without refined sugar and flour

Today many people are talking about cutting down on fat and carbs, and the fitness centers are packed with people working out and trying to get in shape.

See also: The best Nordic recipes

We have several times said that it's sad to take some good food and replace a few ingredients with healthy choices. Most of the times you risk to replace some ingredients that was there for an important purpose - and by that changes the specific dish to something bad.

We believe that food should taste good, and if it's unhealthy we just eat less of it. The first time we came across this recipe for a healthy chocolate cake without sugar and flour we had our strong doubts whether it was any good. We have always thought a chocolate cake should at least contain sugar and flour - we couldn't be more wrong! [Read more...]

Spicy Salad with Avocado, Pomegranate and Sugar Snaps

Categories: Healthy Food/ Salads

Recipe for Homemade Spicy Salad with Avocado, Pomegranate & Sugar Snaps

In Denmark it's kind of a tradition, or at least pretty normal, to serve boiled potatoes as a side dish when you serve meat for dinner. In general we Danes eat a lot of potatoes and especially the white and boiled ones. Potatoes are relatively cheap, filling and they do contain some good nutritions, however they do also contain many carbs. We do not consider ourselves any kind of health fanatics but we do try to cut away most of the less good food, with many carbs and fat, and replace it with protein and salads. [Read more...]

Danish Smoked Mackerel on Rye Bread

Categories: Fish/ Healthy Food/ Lunch/ Traditional Danish

Recipe for homemade Smoked Mackerel Salad

This recipe for smoked mackerel salad is healthy, super delicious and very easy to make. In Denmark the official recommendation from the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries is that you eat fish at least two times a week (total of 350 g - 12 oz). Fish is known to be a good source of several good nutrients and vitamins like D-vitamin, protein and fish oil.

This mackerel salad will help you comply with this recommendation. Fresh fish can at some places be difficult to get a hold of due to large distances to the ocean. In Denmark we have about 7300 km (4500 miles) of coastal line and no matter where you are the distance to the coast is maximum 1 hour by car.

See also: Recipe for Nordic stone age bread

This means that we have really good opportunities of getting fresh fish - so at least we can't have any excuses of not eating enough fish. We normally eat this smoked mackerel salad together with some fresh rye bread or our healthy and very delicious stone age bread. You can also serve the mackerel salad with a lettuce and a some tomatoes - then you have a lovely starter.

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5 from 2 votes

Danish Smoked Mackerel Salad

Super delicious and very easy-to-make Danish smoked mackerel which is typically served on a slice of Nordic rye bread. Very healthy and full of vitamin and protein. The smoked mackerel salad done the Nordic way!
Prep Time20 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Course: Lunch
Cuisine: Danish
Keyword: Fish
Servings: 3 people
Author: NordicFoodLiving.com

Ingredients

  • 300 smoked mackerel
  • 1/2 red onion (finely chopped)
  • 3 tbsp low fat sour cream (or similar)
  • 1 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • pepper
Metric - US Customary

Instructions

  • Remove the bones from the mackerel.
  • Mix the sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice, the finely chopped red onions and pepper in a bowl.
  • Pick the mackerel into pieces and add it to the dressing. Mix well.


Recipe for Danish Smoked Mackerel Salad

Recipe for Danish Smoked Mackerel Salad

Recipe for Danish Smoked Mackerel Salad