Month: January 2018

Superfood Energy Balls

These superfood energy balls are loaded with all the goodness. From heart-healthy oats, natural almond butter and medjool dates as a base, to loading in any of your other superfood hero’s. Chia, pumpkin seeds,and  hemp hearts are my usual go to’s when looking for a big nutritious punch. To sweeten up this snack, add in some antioxidant berries (in this recipe I used a great cherry, cranberry, blueberry mix) or if you want to indulge, add in some dark chocolate chips.

These balls come together in a quick 10 minutes or so and you can easily adapt to your liking. I’ll share my other go to recipe soon!

These are a great snack on the go and make for the perfect pre or post workout snack, plus they will leave you feeling guilt-free if you’re just looking for something to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Superfood Energy Balls (yields ~12)

  • 1 cup old fashioned oats
  • 3/4 cup almond butter (or your choice of nut butter)
  • 1/4 cup ground flax seed
  • 2 tbsp chia
  • 2 tbsp raw pumpkin seeds
  • 2 tbsp favorite dried fruit
  • 3 medjool dates, pitted
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup (honey or brown rice syrup works well too)
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon

FullSizeRender (39)

  1. Combine dates, almond butter, dried berries and maple syrup in food processor and pulse until dates are fully chopped and everything is combined
  2. In a bowl mix together oats, flax seed, chia, pumpkin seeds, and cinnamonFullSizeRender (41)
  3. Add date and almond butter mixture and stir until fully combined. If the mixture is not quite sticky enough for you (this can vary depending on the nut butter you use) just add a bit more maple syrup or nut butter into the mixture
  4. Roll into 1 inch balls. Place balls into an airtight container and store in the fridge or freezer for snacking throughout the weekFullSizeRender (40)

Snack on! xx

Cauliflower Steaks with Walnut Caper Salsa

Happy New Year, Friends!

Here’s to a happy and healthier year ahead. With that in mind comes lots of new healthy recipes and in 2018, I am definitely going to focus on more plant-based eats. I came across this amazing recipe a few weeks back from Bon Appetit and finally got around to making these delicious cauliflower steaks. Wow wow wow!! It is a new favourite that I’ll make again and again.

Check out the dish below (with a few modifications) from one of my favourite recipe sources – Bon Appetit

Cauliflower Steaks with Walnut Caper Salsa (yields 2-3)

Walnut Caper Salsa

  • ⅓ cup walnuts (toasted)
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 3 tbsp drained capers, patted dry
  • 1 chile pepper or hot pepper of your choice, seeds removed, finely chopped
  • 3 tbsp coarsely chopped parsley
  • 1 tbsp dried currants
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
  • Himalayan Salt

Cauliflower 

  • 1 small head of cauliflower
  • Himalayan salt
  • 1-2 garlic cloves, finely grated
  • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp tahini
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp earth balance all natural spread or butter
  • 2-3 sprigs oregano
  • 2-4 strips lemon zest
  • Lemon wedges (for serving)

Salsa Prep:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Toast walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing once, until golden brown, 7–10 minutes. Let cool, then coarsely chop.
  2. Heat oil and capers in a small saucepan over medium, swirling often, until capers burst and are golden brown and crisp, about 8 minutes. Carefully pour oil and capers into a small heatproof bowl; let cool.
  3. Mix in walnuts, chile, parsley, currants, vinegar, and lemon zest; season with salt.** Salsa can be made 1 day ahead, covered with plastic, pressing directly onto surface. Bring to room temperature before using **

    FullSizeRender (10)

Cauliflower Prep & Assembly:

  1. Remove the toughest outer leaves from cauliflower (leave on any tender inner leaves). Trim stem to create a flat base. Resting cauliflower on stem, cut in half from top to bottom, creating two lobes with stem attached. Trim outer rounded edge of each piece to create two 1½”-thick “steaks” (the stem should hold the florets together); set steaks aside. Very coarsely chop remaining florets.
  2. Cook florets in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until very tender, 6–8 minutes. Drain well, then process in a food processor with garlic, lemon juice, tahini, and 1 tbsp water until smooth; season with salt. Set aside. **Purée  can also be made a day in advance and heated before plating**
  3. Heat oven to  425° for roasting cauliflower.
  4. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add earth balance spread or butter, swirl until melted, then add cauliflower steaks, oregano, and lemon zest. Cook, gently lifting up cauliflower occasionally to let hot fat run underneath, until steaks are deep golden brown (if oregano or lemon start to burn, place on top of steaks). Turn steaks and season with salt. Transfer skillet to oven and roast until cauliflower stems are fork-tender, 10–15 minutes.
  5. To serve, spoon about 1/4 cup cauliflower purée onto plates and place steaks on top. Spoon salsa over and sprinkle with salt. Serve with lemon wedges.

FullSizeRender (12)

Bon Appetit! xx