snacks « crunchy bits

Archive for the ‘snacks’ Category

Blushing Almond Sundae

August 7th, 2010

The other night, I made a decadent dessert of banana crepes with cashew whipped cream and strawberry sauce atop. Gatlin ate two he loved them so. River is not a banana fan and so I am going to make apple crepes next time. They were lovely but I wanted a little twist and wasn’t in the mood for a crepe.

Into the fridge I went……. I came out with a new favorite sweet treat that truly makes me blush. Almond butter seems to have that warming effect on me.

I scooped a big dollop of raw almond butter into a bowl and topped it with strawberry sauce and a nice dollop of whipped cashew cream. Ooooo wheeeee! It is quick and easy!

I used the cashew cream recipe in Ani Phyo’s Raw Food Essentials since I have it on loan from the library right now. This book also has the wonderful crepes mentioned earlier.

Strawberry Sauce

2 cups fresh strawberries or 15 oz frozen strawberries
1-2 TBS ground chia seeds

Mash the strawberries in a bowl. I use a potato masher.
Grind chia seeds in a spice or coffee grinder
Mix ground chia seeds with strawberries until well combined
Leave to sit 5-10 minutes.

The chia seeds absorb moisture. Chia seeds also help to keep you hydrated since they absorb so much water. Adding more or less ground chia seeds allows you to reach a sauce consistency or a jam like consistency. This stays fresh in the fridge 3-5 days.

Go ahead and be creative! place sliced bananas on the bottom of your sundae or over banana ice cream. Add different toppings like chopped walnuts, whole chia seeds, cacao nibs, buckwheaties or dried coconut.

Have a sundae party and put everything in it’s own bowl and let everyone make their own. Especially fun for kids!

Enjoy!

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PB Granola

May 20th, 2010

Whoo, I have been on a recipe search for new granola recipes and Gone Raw had one that caught my eye. It is titled Peanut Butter granola and I imagined a nice hearty granola bar that had that creamy nut butter yum. Mmm!

Almond Butter Granola
serves 1-4

1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c. raw oats
1/4 c. dried cranberries
1/4 c. goji berries
1/2 c. almonds chopped
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4-1/2 c. honey
1/2 c. almond butter

Mix in a bowl starting with 1/4 c. honey. Taste for sweetness. Dehydrate 8 hours or overnight. Eat warm or cold.

Well, I tasted this little bit that it makes and fell in love so I started dumping a lot more in. I used about 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 1/2 c oats and doubled the cranberries. I didn’t have gojis so I used raisins instead. I hadn’t soaked more almonds so I only used the original 1/2 c. but added chia seeds and hemp seeds, a little more salt and only 1/2 c. honey total. And yes, more lovely almond butter to make it ooey and gooey. I started dehydrating it in the afternoon and Gatlin and I both had it for a snack that evening warm with some almond milk in it. By morning, it was done in the dehydrator. I had some plain in a bowl. It would be fantastic with berries on top as well.

Another option with this great recipe would be to make cookies. Form the batter into balls and freeze for a couple hours. Play around and add your favorite dried fruits to make all sorts of fantastic granola perfect for breakfast, a filling snack or to take on those summer vacations!

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Cheezy Almonds

May 18th, 2010

While perusing the recipe sites for raw food in the land of internet time suck, I found a post on Gone Raw that had me curious. So, into the kitchen I went. I am always keeping an eye out for recipes that are good snacks to have on hand for the kids especially since we need easy to travel food with all the homeschool activities we are out doing and outings with friends. Lately the need has expanded. We watched Foodmatters as a family recently and my hubby, Dan was really struck by a few of the facts presented. I declare this a must see for all! Anyhow, I am now on the search not only for the boys and I but for my love to be able to take snacks to work that are high in nutrition, raw, filling and yummy!

The author wrote that this is her version of the Living Nutz Vegan Cheezy Nutz. There were quite a few good comments following the recipe so we are giving it a try.

Ingredients:

2 c. raw almonds soaked 6-8 hours
1 lemon juiced
1 TBS wheat free tamari
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 TBS olive oil
1/2 c. pumpkin seeds ground fine

Rinse and drain the almonds. Set aside in a bowl. Grind pumpkin seeds in a coffee grinder and put in a small bowl. Add other ingredients to pumpkin seeds and mix. Pour over the almonds and mix until they are coated. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. If the mixture is too runny, add more ground pumpkin seed. Otherwise, place on teflex sheet and dehydrate at 115 for 8 hours. Transfer to screen and finish dehydrating until crisp.

These take a while to dehydrate! I lowered the heat to 105 so they will take a little longer. I have been snacking on them out of the dehydrator and they are yummy. As always, after soaking the nuts, feel free to add spices and seasonings you like for more variety. Happy travels!

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Almond Pulp part 2

May 16th, 2010

More almond milk made and more recipes needed for the leftover almond pulp. Back to Segi and Valya’s Eating Without Heating, I made Vrinda’s So-Raw-Dough Crackers.

3 C. almond milk pulp
1 c. golden flax seed
1 c. water
1/2 tsp. caraway
1/2 tsp. sea salt

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Spread one-half inch thick with a spatula on dehydrator sheets. Dehydrate for about 12 hours or until crisp.

Ok, I made quite a few adaptions to experiment with this one. I only had 2 cups of almond pulp so I adjusted the recipe as such. I also love caraway so I added almost double of that. I also tripled the water. I am always challenged when it comes to spreading dough thin enough. I end up with bread even for cracker recipes. Adding more water (as Sioux suggested) worked perfectly! I spread half the dough on a teflex sheet and then went back to the food processor where the rest of the dough was. I added garlic, oregano, basil, parsley and onion to it. I pulsed it in the processor and then spread that on another teflex sheet. I still had some dough left, so I spread that in a round to start the makings of a raw pizza.

Since I had spread it so thin, it only took about 4 hours to dehydrate. They are super thi, crispy and not overpowering. These crackers could have taken on a bit more seasoning but are still yummy. They would be great spread a little thicker to make bread as well. Enjoy!

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Almond Pulp part 1

May 15th, 2010

We have been going through quite a bit of almond milk lately and so I have been looking for recipes to use the pulp. I will sometimes dehydrate it and store it in the fridge for later use but I notice, there it is, still in the back of the fridge and I don’t often find a use for it.

After making pulp today, I made a couple different recipes with the fresh pulp. The pulp was unflavored to start with. If I make cookies, I falvor the milk before blending and straining so they base of pulp already has a yummy flavor perfect for cookies. Since I was making cheese and crackers with this pulp, I wanted no flavor to start with. I blended my almonds and water, strained the pulp out and then added the milk back into the blender to add my honey, sea salt and vanilla just the way we like it.

Both of the recipes come from Sergi and Valya’s Eating Without Heating book.

Valya’s Spicy Almond Cheese:

Mix the following in a bowl
2 c. almond milk pulp
1/2 c. olive oil
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/2. tsp salt
1/2 bunch fresh or dried dill
1/2 c. diced onion
1/2 c. diced red pepper
Serves 4

This was a last minute endeavour so I had no fresh dill on hand. I also had no red pepper and didn’t feel like chopping onion. So, I used dried dill, dried onion, threw in some garlic powder, oregano and basil and mixed it up. It is yummy. I would like the addition of some diced red pepper or other veggies cut in would be tasty.

It would make a lovely addition to a raw sandwich or to add to top a salad. I also set some aside for a raw pizza in the making. The cheese with the red pepper and diced tomato can accompany crackers or make a nice pate. The way I made it makes a nice spread or to layer with other dips or as a cheese for a raw dish with tomato sauce.

It was super easy to make requiring no appliances and will last several days in the fridge. Adding some nutritional yeast would change the flavor slightly and make another great cheese topping. This is a versatile recipe and can take on any seasonings you are in the mood for!

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favorite fresh rolls

May 14th, 2010

I have been attempting to up the percentage of fresh fruits and veggies that our family, but especially the kids, consume. Luke and I tend to eat a variety, but the kids tend to get sticky-stuck in their starchy rut. So the other night for dinner, I made what I thought were two of their favorites — cucumber arame salad and bok choy salad.

As it turns out, they both loved the arame salad as usual, but weren’t fans of the sprouted mung beans I put into the bok choy mix. They did eat a bowl each, as well as significant portions of the cuke-aame salad, so I’m not complaining.

Since I’ve also been brainstorming about good foods I can make ahead for days we’re on the road, I wanted to test out fresh roll leftovers. With cheers ringing in my ears, I set out all the stuff to make the rolls. I made 12, thinking everyone could have 2, and we’d have some left for lunch the next day. However my little gobblers gobbled the entire batch up at dinner, so my leftover experiment will have to wait for another day. I was able to form another hypothesis tho — my kids will eat loads of veggies if they’re wrapped in a delicate rice wrapper! I’ll report back on the test results soon.

We get these at places like Pho Mai in Middletown or Pho Boston in the same plaza as the pungent wonderful Asian grocery store A Dong in West Hartford, off New Britain Ave. The first time I went there, I was transported back to Chinatown in Boston, thanks to the stunningly similar, er, aromatic ambience.

Usually the rolls have rice vermicelli, sliced fried tofu, thai basil and/or cilantro and maybe some lettuce. I had the noodles out on the counter, but spying the vibrant green sprouts in the playroom, I decided to swap starchy noodles for some buckwheat lettuce. I would like to try sunflower shoots next time but didn’t have any that were ready to cut yet.

Fresh Rolls with Hoisin Sauce

rice wrappers
avocado
tomato
shredded carrots
buckwheat lettuce
thai basil

I used a Hoisin Sauce recipe I found at high on health, but would tweak the recipe the next time using less tamari and more sweetener. And maybe molasses. I’d have to play with it and didn’t have time as everyone was sitting before I got to the sauce. The kids didn’t care for this really salty sauce, and ate them plain. I drizzled it over the bok choy salad and that was pretty good, but I ended up rinsing out the leftovers since it wasn’t a big hit.

The fresh rolls took me a few tries before I got the knack, but they end up being pretty easy to make. I had heard that you were supposed to dip the stuff, flat wrappers in a bowl until they softened, but when I did this, i ended up tearing them. What has worked best for me is to dip them or run them under water, and put them on my rolling surface (usually a plate) while very wet but still stiff. They soften as I add the veggies and by the time I’m done, I can wrap them up, much as I do a burrito — bottom up over the veggies, then each side, then roll up until the top flap is wrapped up.

These used to seem like such an effort for me, so I don’t make them very often. But this time, the sprouts took just a second to cut, the carrots just a minute to shred in the food processor, and once the avocado and tomato are sliced I was good to go. I didn’t have any more cukes on hand, but we have also added julienned cucumber or really thin round slices (which look pretty if used as the bottom layer so that they end up pressed against the wrapper once it’s done), and finely shredded cabbage also brings a nice sweetness to the rolls. If you wanted to make them completely raw or didn’t have a chance to pick up rice wrappers, you can use the outer cabbage leaves, swish chard or collards. You can blanch the latter to make it more pliable.

Do you make fresh rolls? What do you put inside? And what do you use to dip them in?

Comments ( 5 )

avocado, carrot, fresh rolls, rice wrappers, sprouts, tomato

cinco de mayo spanish rice

May 10th, 2010

At this weekend’s raw potluck, the theme was Cinco de Mayo and delicious dishes were everywhere, including (at the time I took the picture — a salad with sprouts and some desserts appeared later, but I was too busy eating and forgot to snap a picture):

* gazpacho — a creamy, blended version, with chopped tomato, cuke and cilantro for garnish

* corn chowder

* Ani Phy’s walnut cranberry butternut squash rice

* Spanish rice with mockamole

* chunky chili

* almond pulp cheese with crackers

* fajitas

* green salad with sprouts, pecans and mesclun mix

* mango pie

* chocolate coconut macaroons

One of the guests, who has a severe allergy to avocados, found a delicious alternative — peas! She recommends fresh if you can get them, but says you can use frozen. Measure the frozen peas out and let them sit in cold water until they’ve begun to thaw but are still slightly frozen. Drain and “blend the heck out of them” until they have a smooth, even consistency. She used about 1 cup of peas to replace 1 avocado in the Spanish rice recipe, and said that her avocado-loving husband was devouring the avocado mixture, surprised that it wasn’t made with avocados.

Spanish Rice

1 head shredded cauliflower
1 red peppers, chopped
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped finely
5 green onions, sliced thinly
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 recipe of Spanish Avo Mix

Spanish Avo Mix

1 avocado, mashed
juice of 1 lime
1 Tbs basil
1 Tbs paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 Tbs sweetener
crushed red pepper, finely chopped, to taste
sea salt, to taste
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin

Mix Avo mixture in a separate bowl, the add it to bowl with veggies and stir to coat.

This was tasty and light, and I will definitely give the avo mix recipe a try with the peas as a dip, or try replacing avocados in a recipe when I don’t have a ripe one on hand. Thanks for the recipe and the idea for an avocado replacement!

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dinner, potluck, salad, soup

apple crumble

April 22nd, 2010

So on with another dessert — a quick-to-make and easy-to-adapt recipe that is one of our favorites. I first made this recipe two summers ago inspired by something I found on goneraw.com (haven’t been able to find this one on there since, so no link, sorry). I used fresh, local peaches with the same crumble topping and oh my GOSH was it delicious! I have since made it with berries, cherries, pears, apples and plums. All have been scrumptious, but peach and cherry vie for first place for me personally. The cherry blossom petals are snowing my backyard, which means it’s not too long til cherry picking time! Yay spring!

Another beautiful quality of this dish, aside from versatility and quick prep, is that it can be made last minute with things I tend to have on hand. And honestly — why limit it to a dessert — it makes a very fine breakfast, lunch or snack as well. Not to mention that having a jar of both parts of the recipe (fruit as well as crumble topping) means you can add a new dimension to banana ice cream, chocolate mousse, banana pudding and more.

Oh, and did I mention that you can also make it ahead of time, keeping the crumble separate from the fruit until ready to serve. This makes it a great holiday dish when you have other things to do last minute besides worry about dessert. Seriously, what more could you want from a delicious dish!? I had stored some apple filling in a small metal tiffin, so I dumped this out into a plate and it held it’s shape. So I put crumb topping around it instead of on top for the picture. It’s much prettier with some sort of berry or cherry, but hey, looks aren’t everything, right?

Better than Betty’s Apple Crumble

Crumb mixture:

2 cups walnuts
2 cups pecans
1 cup dates
2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbs honey
cinnamon to taste
pinch salt

Pulse nuts in food processor until smallish — if you take it down to a flour at this stage your crumble will have a different, more cohesive, dough like texture, less crumbly. Not a bad thing, still delicious, just a different feel.
Add remaining ingredients and process just until the dates are broken down. Pour out into a bowl or storage container if you aren’t serving immediately. I don’t bother cleaning out the food processor bowl, as this comes out without leaving much residue, so on to the fruit without further ado.

Apple delight:

4 lbs apples, cored
1/2 cup raisins
1 Tbs honey
cinnamon to taste
1/2 banana

I chopped my apples into 1 inch cubes or so. Well, actually, I quartered the apples (a mixture of green, braeburn and pink lady) and tossed all but 3 of them into the processor. And couldn’t get my Cuisinart to process them — the chunks were too big, and the blade just couldn’t get to most of them. So, I dumped out half and cut it all into smaller pieces and was able to get it to process.
After the apples were almost pureed, I put in the rest of the ingredients. I added the half banana because it seemed like it needed something to give it a bit of creaminess as well as sweetness to balance the tartness of the green apples I used. I would consider adding a whole banana next time, but this one was really ripe, thus intensely flavored, and I didn’t want to taste banana when I ate it.
Once the puree was all set, I scraped that out into a bowl and added small pieces of the 3 remaining apples to the processor. I pulsed until these were what looked like a good size (small enough to chew politely but big enough to give my teeth something to do) and then mixed them into the puree.
The nuts will get soggy if you mix this ahead of time, so I like to serve it in two bowl and let people take the amount of crumble they want right at the table.

I think you can easily make this recipe without the honey, using whole food sweeteners like the dates, raisins and bananas. The original recipe called for a tablespoon of coconut oil in the fruit mixture, but I tend to leave that out. I bet coconut butter would also be delicious — especially if you use mango, papaya, pineapple, strawberry or a combination of those for the fruit.

I also occasionally add a couple tablespoons of hemp, chia or ground flax to the crumble once it’s been processed to boost the nutrition. I’ve been adding hemp seeds to guacamole — Dante and Lucia haven’t noticed and I feel good knowing I’m getting lots of healthy fats, vitamins and minerals, and protein into something they love to eat. Make sure you have enough dates or dried fruit going on in the crumble to absorb these extra dry ingredients if you choose to do so.

We use organic apples, so I just wash them and leave the skins on — if you haven’t had a chance to see the Shopper’s Guide to Pesticide to know which fruits and vegetables contain high levels of pesticide residue even after washing, head on over to our post about limiting chemicals in your home.

Happy crumbling!

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apple, dessert

banana cream pie

April 17th, 2010

It’s dessert week for our workshop, and I’m kicking it off with Alissa Cohen’s recipe for Ann Wigmore’s Banana Cream Pie. I forgot to take pics before we served the pie, so you’ll just have to fill in the rest with your imagination.

Ann Wigmore’s Banana Cream Pie (from Alissa Cohen)

Crust:

1/2 cup pecans
2 cups dates, pitted and soaked
1 1/2 cup dried coconut
1 tsp vanilla

Filling:

4-5 bananas
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup apple juice
2 tsp tahini
2 tsp honey
1 tsp vanilla

Grind pecans in food processor til fine.
Add dates and blend til creamy. I think the dough came out too wet, and would probably not soak the dates next time around.
Add remaining crust ingredients, and blend well. Sabrina had made this for raw potluck once, and recommended cutting the coconut to a scant cup. Since I’m not a coconut lover, I took this advice. Also, I’m reading David Wolfe’s Superfoods, and in the chapter about Maca he recommends using it to help bind crusts made from dried fruit and nuts, so I put 2 Tbs of maca into the crust as well.
Pour into pie place or springform tart pan and chill while you make the filling.
Add 4 bananas and remaining filling ingredients to food processor and process. I used an apple instead of the 1/2 cup apple juice. I also added a 1 Tbs of flax meal, and 1 Tbs of psyllium husk because I didn’t have a lot of time to chill the pie and wanted to make sure it was firm.
Pour filling into a bowl, and cut remaining banana and stir. Pour filling into crust and chill in fridge.
Just before serving, decorate the top with extra banana slices, cacao nibs, various seeds, berries, dried fruit, etc.

I took this pie to a family birthday party so I could have a sweet treat, but surprisingly many of the other guests tried it. None was left on the plates, except a particularly thick portion of crust. My kids liked it, but preferred the filling, so I will probably just make banana pudding for them in the future and save the pie for something special. Easy peasy wholesome dessert treat! One half went at the party, and my family gobbled the rest of it for breakfast the following day. Mmmmm pie for breakfast!

Maca is a root vegetable found high in the Andes of Peru. Consumption of the maca root powder is shown to strengthen the immune system, increase energy, and improve memory, endurance and libido. It is also an adaptogen, helping to relieve stress and depression. It has a malty flavor, and we like it in nut milk shakes with cacao. YUM!

Comments ( 5 )

banana, dessert, pie

friendly fruit

April 7th, 2010

Tired of snacking on a whole apple? Don’t have time to make fruit salad? Or maybe you have a lot of time on your hands and are feeling creative?

It’s time for a fresh approach to fruit! Fruit skewers are always appreciated — especially grapes frozen on skewers. These go over well, especially with hot or feverish little ones. As we mentioned in the banana ice cream post (also a great way to play with your fruit), frozen banana pops are a perennial favorite. Chop up some melon and set the bowl on the table with some toothpics and see what sorts of structures your family can create.

Put out some small bowls full of nuts, seeds, cacao nibs, and fresh fruit and/or veggies and see what sort of a zoo you can build — strawberry mice with cacao nib eyes and almond slice ears. Green apple frog with green grape feet.You’re only limited by the contents of your fridge and your imagination!

Mango Hedgehog with a Pinealoupe caterpillar