David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl (together with sidekick and daughter Elsa) are the creative force behind the immaculately shot, styled and designed blog, Green Kitchen Stories, set in Stockholm, Sweden, which tracks their lives through the inventive vegetarian meals they prepare at home. Food allergies or intolerances don’t drive how they eat; rather, vitality, and their diverse mix of recipes starring raw, cooked, wholefoods and fresh produce will appeal to the health-conscious or otherwise (think Yotam Ottolenghi’s dishes in Plenty). In 2013, the popular duo released their first cookbook, Green Kitchen Stories (Hardie Grant), with recipes inspired by their blog (a sample of which we’ve featured here). For fans, word has it there’s another book coming soon...
“For us, the best recipes are all about natural flavours and real ingredients. Food that not only looks colourful and tastes great but also makes you feel energised after a dinner rather than heavy and tired. We believe that one of the most important things in a diet is variety. Sometimes they call for buckwheat, which is gluten-free and other times for spelt, which is not. Many of our recipes are vegan, but we love to eat eggs, cheese and ice-cream every now and then. Eating is about feeling good, not following rules! We often start our experiments in the kitchen with different theories, like how to make pancakes without using flour (answer: with mashed bananas and shredded coconut). Or what can we put on the barbecue instead of burgers (answer: large and juicy portobello mushrooms).”
“We came from two vastly different food backgrounds – unhealthy vegetarian vs über healthy meat eater – and wanted to document our food endeavours as we were learning how to cook together.”
The must-cook recipe on our website is...
“Probably our beet bourguignon (classic meat dish turned vegetarian) or herb and pistachio falafel (because it’s so good). Lately it seems like everyone has been raving about our baked carrot cake oatmeal.”
I can’t wait to go back to...
“India to eat my way through all their flavourful vegetarian dishes.” David
“Santa Barbara to visit the small cafe where we had the most fabulous açai bowls.” Luise
My current food obsession is...
“Vegetarian bibimbap”. David
Eating...
“Toffee-flavoured ice-cream takes me back to the year I lived in Rome (and met Luise).” David
“The Danish dessert soup koldskål takes me back to my childhood days.” Luise
I learnt to cook from...
“Generally, the women in my life. But lately I’ve been stuck on Youtube.com watching shabby home cooking videos from all over the world about how to make proper Italian gnocchi, Indian paneer cheese or Turkish börek. Videos are really helpful when you want to learn how to cook something for the first time.” David
“My mother. Who doesn’t actually enjoy cooking very much, but still is very talented at it.” Luise
When I go back to my home town...
“Stockholm, the first thing I eat is something cooked in our own kitchen.” David
“Copenhagen, the first thing I eat is Danish rye bread. They bake it so much better there than in Stockholm.” Luise
Friends always ask us to cook our...
The one thing I can’t cook is...
“Anything meat related (obviously).” David
“Bread – I am terrible at following exact measurements.” Luise
If I ever met...
“Donna Hay, I would ask her to make a vegetarian issue (together with us).” David
We always have...
“Nuts randomly shattered all over our pantry, organic vegetables jammed into our fridge, and an array of berries in our freezer.”
My favourite biscuit to dunk in a cup of tea is...
“David’s brilliant apple and oat scones. They are vegan, gluten-free and absolutely delicious on a Sunday morning.” Luise
Our most sauce-splattered cookbook is...
“Tender by Nigel Slater.”
The most difficult food to shoot/style and make look tasty are...
“Veggie stews. They taste so good but look so ugly. It is one of our most common dishes to eat at home but least frequent on the blog.”
Beyond your own blog, what are some of your favourites reads
“101 Cookbooks for the recipes. Sprouted Kitchen for the beautiful photos. Happy Yolks for the stories. What Katie Ate for the food styling. And Yotam Ottolenghi’s, Nigel Slater’s and Mark Bittman’s books.”
