Broccoli Salad

This is another of my favourite lunches.  I also enjoy making it for summer barbecues instead of the usual stodgy salads that are on offer.  I generally make it in a similar way to this, but decided to add a couple of things (chia seeds, hemp seeds and flax oil) to make it even healthier this time.  

Here's what I did...

Diced some Spanish onion and doused with balsamic vinegar.  Let this sit for a while so that the vinegar would take the 'edge' off the raw onion.

Added some extra virgin olive oil, flax oil and Dijon mustard (helps emulsify the dressing)

Added Celtic sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and cayenne pepper

Mixed it all together until the dressing was well-combined

Added a large, chopped red bell pepper

Lots of chopped broccoli

Added chia seeds and hemp seeds

Lots of pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds

Mixed it all together and gobbled it up :-)

Best Ever Asparagus Bake

When I first read about this dish, I wasn't at all convinced that it would be good.  I mean, who cooks asparagus for 90 minutes???  But the result was tender, slightly crisp, absolutely delicious asparagus.  I've honestly never enjoyed it more than I did in this dish!!
Here's what I did...

  I washed about a pound of asparagus and cut off the woody stems.  Laid half of these on parchment paper (very large sheet) on a baking tray.

Started layering sliced shiitakes and sliced prosciutto on top, as well as seasoning with freshly ground black pepper, Celtic sea salt, a couple of sprigs of fresh tarragon and freshly grated nutmeg

Added another layer of the same (spraying everything on both layers with extra virgin olive oil)

Folded the parchment up and stapled the edges

Baked in a 200F oven for 90 minutes and then opened it up to see this delicious concoction!!!

Put some quinoa (cooked with onions, coconut oil, Celtic sea salt, freshly ground pepper and lots of cayenne) on a plate.

Topped the quinoa with the asparagus mixture and promptly gobbled it up...fantastic!!

Coconut Superfood Cookies

This is yet another recipe from Meghan Telpner and it's another winner!  I didn't make many changes to Meghan's recipe.

The only things I did differently were to add a little Celtic sea salt for that sweet/salty contrast and some chia seeds just for the heck of it.  

These cookies are crispy and sweet and oh so yummy!

Here's what I did...

Put some unsweetened coconut in the food processor

 Added some coconut oil

Sesame seeds

 Some freshly ground flax seeds

I was soooo excited when I found this coconut palm sugar :-)

I added 2 tablespoons of the coconut palm sugar

Mixed it all up in the food processor, adding 1 tablespoon of water after a few minutes just to help it come together

Added some chopped goji berries as I didn't have any golden berries

And some raw cacao nibs

A little Celtic sea salt

Finally some chia seeds

Dumped it all onto some parchment and then covered it with another sheet of parchment

Rolled it out and then removed the top layer of parchment

Scored into cookie-sized pieces

And baked for about 17 minutes at 350F.  I'm sure I rolled mine way too thinly as they were already getting brown on the outside after 17 minutes.  Next time I will either leave them thicker or will bake them at a slightly lower temperature.  Regardless, they're delicious!!

**UPDATE**

I made these cookies again today, with the following changes...

  I added the zest of an orange.  I also baked them at 325F instead of 350F.  I baked them for 30 minutes, which was too long as they were still a little overdone. Next time I'll stick with 325F but only leave them in for 25 minutes.  They're still really delicious though and I love the flavour the orange zest added.
p.s.  I forgot to point out that the last time I made these I did the entire procedure in the food processor (rather than completing the final mixing in a bowl).

(phone pic., so not the best quality)

Raw Chocolate Treats

I've been wanting to make Meghan Telpner's Raw Chocolate Brittle recipe for a while now, but had been unable to find the raw cacao powder.  I finally located it at WholeFoods on Saturday and was so excited to get a batch of this made yesterday.  Oh yum, it is absolutely delicious!!  It has a flavour similar to raw chocolate cookies I used to make when we were in our 'raw' phase, but these are so much better because of all the nuts and seeds in them.

Here's what I did...

I gathered together some superfoods

Lightly warmed coconut oil and added it to raw honey with bee pollen and the raw cacao powder.  I also added 1/2 teaspoon of Celtic sea salt and I like the salty/sweet combination

I was about to reach for a bottle of vanilla when I remembered I had some fresh vanilla pods

I split one in half and scraped out all those lovely little tasty vanilla seeds

I mixed the vanilla seeds, into the mixture and added raw cacao nibs and raw almonds

Added some unsweetened coconut

Raw pumpkin seeds

And some raw chia seeds

Mixed it all together and spread it on a parchment-lined cookie sheet

I made sure I got all of that chocolaty goodness out of the bowl :-)

Popped it into the freezer for 15 minutes to harden

Then broke it into bite-sized pieces

***Update***

I made these again (they didn't last long) but this time instead of using dried coconut, I sliced up some fresh coconut and added it.  I also used chopped almonds instead of whole. Both changes were for the better, so I'll continue to make it that way from now on!

 

Super Green Super Bread

Spirulina strikes again :-)  This is yet another wonderful superfood recipe I received in The Superfoods Tutorial
from Meghan Telpner's blog. She calls it Incredible Hulk Bread.

I soaked the quinoa overnight last night and made this bread first thing this morning.  It tastes 'green' and hearty and delicious!  I decided to use oat flour instead of buckwheat or brown rice flour as that's what I happened to have on hand.  I also topped mine with some toasted sesame seeds since I had some left over from last night's superfood snacks.

Here's what I did...

I gathered together some of my ingredients

Drained the quinoa and put it into a large bowl

Added eggs, agave, arrowroot flour and sea salt

Mixed in almond milk

 In a separate bowl, measured out baking powder, baking soda and spirulina

 Added oat flour

 Mixed them together

 Added the flour mixture and some chia seeds

 Then stirred it all together to make this lovely Hulk-green mixture

 I sprayed a loaf tin (well glass, not tin) with olive oil and placed a parchment sling in it

 Poured in the green goo :-)

 Then sprinkled the top with toasted sesame seeds

 Baked it for 55 minutes (I have a slow oven) at 350F

 Let it cool and sliced it up