Month: August 2012

Simple Date Tarts – Nut free

Dates are naturally sweetened and healthy for you. They contain nutrients such as calcium, fiber, amino acids, sulfur, iron, manganese, magnesium, phosphorous, copper and potassium. They are also a good source of dietary fiber and are rich in vitamins A1, B1, B2, B3 and B5. We love the flavor in butter tarts and noticed that our dried dates tasted similar to butter and sugar, so we decided to make some simple date tarts that consist of only 4 ingredients! The date filling is raw and nut free so it is a good choice for those who presently have nut allergies. The tart crust is gluten free and grain free so they are very healthy! See recipe below. Enjoy!

Date Tarts Recipe 
Makes 2-3 tarts 
Ingredients: 
For Crust
1/2 cup of organic coconut flour
2 tsp of organic coconut oil (melted or at room temperature)
Optional:

1 tbsp of coconut palm nectar/sugar
1tbsp of organic white chia seed powder

For Filling/topping 
4 organic medjool dates (pitted)
2 tbsp of organic hemp seeds
Directions: (Start with crust ingredients)
1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add coconut flour and coconut oil. Mix well. It will appear crumbly. (Add sugar and chia seeds as well if you choose to use them). Set aside.
3. Line 2 tart bowls with coconut oil (we use the removable bottom tart bowls) and distribute crumbly dough evenly in tart bowls. 
4. Press crumbly dough down, with your hands, to create a crust around tart bowl. It will stay in one piece once you begin to press down to form crust.
5. Place tart bowls on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
6. Add dates and hemp seeds in small mixing bowl.
7. Using a hand blender blend all ingredients to create a paste texture. Set aside.
8. Once tart crusts are baked, let sit for 5 minutes.
9. Once tart crusts have cooled, distribute date paste evenly over top of bowls, using a butter knife. (We do not recommend removing tarts from tart bowls until you have filled them with the ‘date butter’. The crust is very fragile – but it melts in your mouth!)
10. Serve and enjoy! 

The Benefits of Barley Miso Soup

In Japan, those affected by radiation sickness from the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, were treated with miso soup. Miso neutralizes toxins and alkalizes the blood. It contains an excellent source of digestive enzymes, probiotics, essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals! We wanted to make miso paste from scratch but were uncertain about the exact process of fermenting. We decided to purchase some barley miso paste for now, until we can learn how to ferment it ourselves. Miso soup is very healthy and tasty! See our simple recipe below. For more information on miso and radiation sickness click here.

Barley Miso Soup Recipe 
Serves 2-4 
Ingredients:  
∙ 4 cups of spring water 
∙ 2 organic leek leaves 
∙ 1 organic carrot 
∙ 1 organic celery stalk 
∙ 2 tbsp of organic ginger root (minced)
∙ 2 pieces of organic kelp   
∙ 2 tbsp of organic coconut oil 
∙ 4-6 tbsp of organic barley miso paste  (MAY CONTAIN GLUTEN – use gluten free miso if you have diet restrictions)
∙ sea salt (optional) 
∙ organic black pepper 
Directions: 
1. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil and then turn down heat to medium-low. 
2. Chop leek, carrot and celery. Then add to water with ginger and simmer for about 15-20 minutes (this will be your broth). 
3. Cut kelp in small pieces and set aside. 
4. Chop leeks. Set aside. 
5. Once broth is made, turn off heat and pour broth into a large mixing bowl (drain and discard vegetables while pouring). 
6. Let broth sit for 2 minutes, then add the barley miso paste in portions, while stirring. The broth water should not be boiling hot when you add the barley miso paste.  
7. Add kelp and leeks to broth and continue stirring until miso paste has completely dissolved. 
8. Add salt and pepper to taste. 
9. Serve in 2 bowls. 
10. Enjoy!

Red Beet And Carrot Cookies

Juicing is healthy! We made some beet and carrot juice and used the leftover pulp to make some cookies! We use a Breville juicer for our vegetables and save the pulp because it still contains about 20% of the juice after juicing. We followed most of our Beet Carrot Cacao Mini Muffins recipe but we added more beet and carrot and didn’t add the cacao powder. The cookies are gluten free and dairy free so they are healthy and tasty! See recipe below. Enjoy!
TIP: Shape these cookies into hearts, using a heart shaped cookie cutter, for your love ones on Valentines Day!

Beet Carrot Cookie Recipe 
Makes 18-20 cookies
Ingredients:
∙ 1/2 cup of organic coconut flour 
∙ 1/2 cup of organic shredded coconut*
∙ 1 cup of organic beet and carrot pulp (from juicing)
∙ 1/2 tsp of organic baking soda
∙ 1 1/2 tbsp of organic hemp seeds
∙ 1 tbsp of organic black chia seed powder
∙ 3 tbsp of coconut palm powder/sugar (optional)
∙ 3 tbsp of organic coconut oil (melted) 
∙ 1/4 cup of natural coconut water
∙ 2 happy free range chicken eggs

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 
2. Mix dry ingredients first. (Mix well) Set aside. 
3. Mix coconut oil, coconut water and eggs in a small mixing bowl. Then add to dry ingredients. 
4. Mix all ingredients well until crumbly.
5. Using your hands or spoon, knead dough.
6. Using a spoon, scoop out small parts of dough and place on a cookie sheet. (We used a cookie cutter to cut pieces. Try a heart shaped cookie cutter for Valentine’s Day!)
7. Place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top and edges are brown.

8. Remove from oven and let cool.

9. If you didn’t add the sugar for baking, you can drizzle some organic raw honey to sweeten and add additional nutrients to your cookies.
10. Serve and enjoy!

* Our shredded coconut is the pulp left over from juicing our coconut meat to create coconut cream.

A Red Latté

Red rooibos tea is caffeine-free and rich with minerals such as iron, calcium, potassium, copper, fluoride, manganese, zinc and magnesium. It contains anti-oxidants that have been shown to increase when you grind the tea and make it into a Red Espresso. We love lattés, so after we made our espresso shots, we added steamed milk that we frothed. Unfortunately, all the milk alternatives that we have tried so far (coconut, soy, rice and oats milk) can’t produce foam so we’re still unable to make cappuccinos. We used oats milk for our ‘Red Latté’ and it tasted amazing! We love that it’s caffeine free and that it provides us with health benefits! Give it a try. See process below. Enjoy!


Instructions for Red Latté:
Serves 2
Using a cappuccino maker:
1. Grind some organic fair trade rooibos tea leaves in a coffee grinder (espresso grind).
2. Using a cappuccino/espresso maker, make a double shot of rooibos espresso.
3. Divide and pour into 2 mugs evenly.
4. Steam some healthy milk of your choice, using the steam wand.
5. Once it reaches 140-150° on the thermometer, turn off steam wand and then divide and pour evenly into mugs.
6. Add a healthy sweetener of your choice (optional). Serve and enjoy the health benefits!
Using a coffee maker:
1. Grind some organic fair trade rooibos tea leaves in a coffee grinder (espresso/fine grind).
2. Brew coffee, adding only 1/2 cup of water for about 2 tbsp of ground rooibos tea.
3. Once brewed, divide and pour into 2 mugs evenly.
4. In a small saucepan, warm some healthy milk of your choice.
5. Once heated (at medium – low heat), divide and pour evenly into mugs.
6. Add a healthy sweetener of your choice (optional). 
7. If you have an IKEA frother, you can use it at this point to froth your milk. Serve and enjoy the health benefits!

Zucchini ‘Fettuccine Alfredo’

One of our favorite pasta dishes is Fettuccine Alfredo. We had some coconut cream available so we decided to create a dairy-free version of the Alfredo sauce and incorporate it with some zucchini pasta. Although it didn’t taste like the Alfredo sauce we were used to, because coconut cream is sweeter as opposed to Parmesan being saltier, the results were still very tasty! It’s worth trying out! (See recipe below.) The health benefits of coconuts include fiber, vitamins and minerals. Coconuts are used in modern medicine to kill viruses that cause influenza, herpes, measles, hepatitis C, SARS, AIDS, and to kill bacteria that cause ulcers, throat infections, urinary tract infections, gum disease and cavities, pneumonia and other diseases! Enjoy good healthy eating!


Zucchini Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe

Serves 2 
Ingredients for ‘Alfredo’ sauce:
∙ 3-4 organic garlic cloves
∙ 1 organic leek leaf
∙ 1 organic shallot
∙ 1-2 cups of organic shiitake mushrooms (or mushrooms of your choice)
∙ a handful of organic cilantro
∙ 1 tbsp of organic white chia seed powder or flax seed meal
∙ 6 tbsp of organic coconut cream
∙ 4 tbsp natural coconut water
∙ 3 tbsp of organic coconut oil (1tbsp for frying)
∙ 1 happy free range egg yolk
∙ sea salt (to taste)
∙ organic black pepper (to taste)
 Ingredients for pasta:
∙ 2 large organic zucchinis
Directions:
1. On a chopping board, chop garlic, leek and shallots. Set aside for 5 -10 minutes.
2. Chop mushrooms. Set aside.
3. In a frying pan, add coconut oil at medium low heat.
4. Lightly fry garlic, leeks, shallots and mushrooms for about 3 minutes. Set aside.
5. Chop cilantro and add to a mixing bowl. 
6. Add flax seed meal, coconut cream, coconut water, coconut oil and egg yolk to mixing bowl. Then add mushrooms and onion mix and mix well. The subtle heat from the mushrooms and onions will help mix everything into a sauce texture. Set aside. (You have the option of heating the sauce after you mixed it. We chose not to, so that the zucchini pasta stays cold with live enzymes.)
7. Using a carrot peeler, peel zucchini lengthwise (until you reach the seeds).

8. Evenly distribute peels, including skins, to 2 plates. Do not discard of the the skin peels as it holds the most nutrition!
9. Top off pasta with ‘Alfredo’ sauce
10. Serve and enjoy!

Beet and Kale Cauliflower Crust Pizza

The super-nutrients found in kale include glucosinolates, which help to activate detoxifying enzymes in the liver that neutralize carcinogenic substances. It is an excellent source of vitamin K – a key nutrient for regulating the body’s inflammatory process. Since we are incorporating raw foods daily, for our latest dairy free pizza recipe, we baked a cauliflower crust topped with raw kale and red onions that were oven dehydrated (at 130°) for 30 minutes. Oven dehydrating at a low temperature of 130° removes the water content, but keeps the enzymes, vitamins and minerals in place. The pizza crust and other ingredients were baked at a regular temperature (of 325°F) for about 15 minutes in total. We also had a side of raw avocado soup. See pizza recipe below. Enjoy!

Beet and Kale Cauliflower Crust Pizza Recipe 
Serves 2-4
Makes 1 pizza
Ingredients for crust: 

∙ 1/2 organic cauliflower
∙ 1 cup of natural shredded coconut (optional – you can substitute with 3/4 cup coconut flour)
∙ 4 tbsp of organic coconut flour
∙ 2 tbsp of organic black chia seed powder
∙ sea salt for flavor
∙ 2 large happy free range chicken eggs
∙ 2 tbsp of organic coconut oil (melted)

Toppings:
∙ organic kale
∙ organic red onion
∙ organic spices (salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper mix)
∙ organic leeks
∙ organic garlic
∙ organic red beets
∙ 1 happy free range chicken egg 
∙ organic sun dried tomatoes 

Directions:
1. Preheat oven at 130°F.
2. Chop red onion (your choice of portion). Set aside.
3. Place kale on parchment paper over top of a cookie sheet. Add spices and red onions over top.
4. Place in oven and dehydrate for about 20-30 minutes while you prepare other ingredients. (Make sure to leave your oven door open for air circulation.)
5. Using a grater (or you can use a food processor to shred), grate 2 cups worth of shredded cauliflower.
6. In a large bowl, mix shredded cauliflower, shredded coconut, coconut flour, chia seed powder and salt. Mix really well. Set aside.
7. In a small bowl, beat the eggs and mix in the coconut oil.
8. Add wet ingredients to large mixing bowl, mix well.
9. With your hands, begin to mold the mix into a dough. Set aside.
10. Put some parchment paper on a flat round pizza pan and place dough on top.
11. Using your hands, press dough down to cover pizza pan evenly and with a flat surface. Set aside.
12. Chop leeks, garlic and red beets. Set aside.
13. Remove kale from oven and raise oven temperature to 325°F.
14. Place pizza dough in oven and bake for 10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.
15. Once dough is ready, remove from oven and place leeks, garlic and beets over top.
16. Beat an egg and pour over top of pizza ingredients, covering entire surface and place in oven to bake for another 5-10 minutes.
17. Once pizza is ready, remove from oven and let sit for 2 minutes.
18. Add kale and sun dried tomatoes over top of pizza and cut into slices using a pizza cutter.
19. Serve and enjoy!

Check it out on lePetitchef.

Gluten Free Coconut Donut Holes

Heating cooking oil changes its chemistry – oils that are healthy at room temperature can become unhealthy when heated above certain temperatures. However, Coconut oil is heat stable, so it is suitable for cooking at high temperatures. Coconut oil contains lauric acid which turns into monolaurin when digested. Monolaurin is an antibacterial and antiviral substance and has been used to fight viruses, bacteria, yeast and fungi. Coconut oil is predominantly medium-chain fatty acid (MCFA). The liver and gall bladder do not need to digest and emulsify MCFA, so consuming coconut oil results in energy, increased metabolic rate and increased circulation.
Our latest gluten free recipe is ‘Coconut Donut Holes’ made with coconut oil, coconut flour, shredded coconut and coconut palm powder/nectar. We pan fried the donut holes with organic coconut oil so they are healthy to eat! See recipe below. We also made a ‘hard chocolate sauce’ using cacao and coconut oil instead of butter. Very healthy and tasty!

Coconut Donut Holes Recipe 
Makes 24-26 holes
Ingredients: 
Donut Holes:
∙ 6 tbsp of organic coconut oil (3 tbsp for mixture and 3 tbsp for frying)
∙ 1/2 cup of organic coconut flour
∙ 1/4 cup of organic shredded coconut* (homemade)
∙ 2 tbsp of organic flax seed meal
∙ 4 tbsp of organic coconut palm powder/nectar 
∙ 1 tbsp of organic vanilla
∙ 1 tsp of organic baking soda
∙ pinch of sea salt
∙ 3 happy free range chicken eggs
 Hard Cacao Syrup and Topping:
∙ 2-3 tbsp of organic coconut oil (melted)
∙ 1 tbsp of organic cacao powder
∙ 2 tbsp of organic raw honey
∙ 1/4 cup of organic shredded coconut
Directions: 
1. Heat a large frying pan at medium low heat and add coconut oil. Set aside.
2. Mix dry ingredients first. (Mix well) Set aside. 
3. Beat eggs and add coconut oil in a small mixing bowl. Then add to dry ingredients. 
4. Mix all ingredients well until crumbly. 
5. Using your hands, knead the dough inside the bowl and create small balls. (Divide dough in half, then quarters and so on until you reach desired size.)*
6. Drop each ball down into the heated frying pan and continue to fry at medium heat.
7. Using the pan handle, shake pan back and forth to move donut holes around every minute or so, until they are browned. It should take about 20 minutes in total.
8. Remove pan from heat.
9. Set aside the donut holes that will be dipped in hard chocolate syrup. Place them in a container and refrigerate for about 1 hour or freeze for 30min.
10. Cover the remaining donut holes in honey and then roll in shredded coconut (you should have shredded coconut spread out on parchment paper for this step).
11. Once the other donut holes are cold, remove from fridge or freezer and create your hard cacao syrup by mixing cacao with melted coconut oil in a small bowl. 
12. Dip cold/frozen donut holes in bowl and cover with cacao syrup and then roll in shredded coconut. The cacao will start to harden immediately, so be quick when adding shredded coconut after dipping in syrup.
13. Serve and enjoy!
TIP: When dividing the dough and creating your donut holes, roll each ‘hole’ lightly with the palm of your hands to form perfect balls. Don’t roll the dough hard with your palms or it will break apart. 
* We make our own coconut milk, here at home, by juicing the coconut meat in a juicer. When we make it ourselves, we save the shredded coconut left from the juicer because it still holds about 20% of the milk/liquid. We store the shredded coconut in the freezer and use it for baking.

Zucchini ‘Lasagna’ with Eggplant and Shiitake Mushrooms

Our latest zucchini pasta recipe that we created was inspired by Citron Limette. Our recipe included eggplant and shiitake mushrooms with a homemade salsa sauce (see recipe below). It required a little more preparation than our Zucchini ‘Ravioli’, but it is worth trying out if you want to incorporate more raw foods, or are on a grain free diet. Zucchini is a great alternative to pasta and is high in vitamin C, potassium, magnesium and manganese. Give it a try!

Zucchini Lasagna Recipe/Assembly
Makes 4 lasagna slices
Ingredients:
Zucchini pasta and filling
∙ 2 medium sized organic zucchinis

∙ 2 organic Japanese eggplants

∙ sea salt 
∙ organic black pepper
∙ 2 organic leek leaves (chopped and lightly fried with coconut oil) 
∙ 1/4 organic fennel bulb (chopped and lightly fried coconut oil)
∙ 1/4 organic red onion (chopped and lightly fried coconut oil) 
∙ 4 organic garlic cloves (chopped and lightly fried coconut oil) 
∙ 1/2 – 3/4 cup of organic shiitake mushrooms (chopped and lightly fried coconut oil) 
∙ a handful of organic Italian parsley
NEW Tomato salsa/sauce

For recipe click here

Directions: (Start with zucchini pasta ingredients)
1. Using a mandoline tool, slice zucchini lengthwise and place slices on a plate. Add some salt (to soften) and set aside. (You will need a total of 20 slices – 2 medium sized zucchinis should provide you with that amount.)
2. Using a knife, cut eggplants into pieces (circles) and place on a baking sheet. Add some salt and pepper and bake at low heat for about 5-10 minutes. Once ready, remove from oven and divide into 8 parts. Set aside.

3. Place your fried ingredients (leeks, fennel, onions, garlic and mushrooms) in a mixing bowl and mix well to create stuffing. Divide into 8 parts. Set aside.
4. Prepare your tomato sauce and then divide into 4 parts. Set aside.5. On an empty plate place 5 zucchini slices across the plate, overlapping each other.
6. Using a spoon, add 1 part stuffing (of 8) on half the side of the zucchini slices. Then add your eggplant on top of the stuffing. (You will be folding the zucchini slices over, to then start your second layer.)
7. Fold the zucchini layer (slices) that does not have any stuffing on it and then add another 5 zucchinis on top, going across, overlapping each other.
8. Repeat the stuffing process and fold again.
9. Add your sauce on the top of the folded zucchini layer. This should complete the process and you should now have 1 ‘slice’ of zucchini lasagna.
10. Repeat this process 3 more times. You should have an equal amount of stuffing including eggplant and tomato sauce if you divided them into parts at the beginning of this process.
11. Good luck and enjoy!

This recipe can also be cooked and served warm. Simply fry zucchini on both sides, using coconut oil. Enjoy!