dairy-free

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

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  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 **

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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.

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Bon Appetit! xx

Almond Coconut Irish Cream

We are officially on holidays and couldn’t be happier; sitting here sipping my coffee and homemade Baileys, anticipating the days to come and reflecting on the amazing year that was had. It’s these simple moments before the day begins that I really want to savour more often. The calmness and joy that comes from sitting and enjoying a cup of java rather than rushing out the door with a cup in hand. And with the holidays amongst us, your regular cup of joe can become much more festive with this quick and easy clean Irish Cream.

For the last two years, I have been loving my homemade Coconut Baileys Irish Cream, but this year wanted to try a recipe that didn’t involve stove time and one that was a bit lighter on the calories. Here comes my newest version, Almond Coconut Irish Cream.

It’s healthier, cleaner, dairy-free, paleo-friendly, vegan friendly and pretty amazing in my opinion. It’s easy to double or triple the recipe and makes for a great gift giving idea too!

Almond Coconut Irish Cream (yields 16 oz)

  • 1/2 cup Irish Whiskey
  • 1/2 cup + 2 Tbs canned coconut milk
  • 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 cup espresso or strong coffee, cooled
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup or 2 medjool dates work great too (add more or less to your liking)
  • dash of cinnamon
  1. Put all the ingredients into blender and mix
  2. Pour the Homemade Clean Irish Cream into a bottle/ airtight container and store in the fridge for 2-3 weeks
  3. Shake well before serving

Happy Holidays! xx

Chipotle Sweet Potato Noodles

I love Mexican flavours and try to often think of interesting ways to incorporate the flavour profiles outside of the beloved taco. Even though, I could eat taco’s every single day!

After a little inspiration from Pinch of Yum, this Chipotle Sweet Potato Noodle recipe is a new favourite dish added to the weeknight rotation!IMG_3283

Sweet, spicy, smokey, hearty and fresh; this noodle recipe is simple and healthy and an easy go-to recipe to whip up. The chipotle dressing and sweet potato noodles make for an amazing base that you can simply add any toppings of your choice and you are set for a delicious meal. I worked with what I had on hand, peppers, tomatoes, jalapeno, kale, avocado, pepitas, goat feta, and cilantro. However, this would be equally as awesome with some black beans and roasted corn. And you can easily omit the cheese to keep this vegan friendly.

Here’s the dish –

Sweet Potato Noodle Bowl (yields 4-6 servings)
  • olive oil
  • 2 sweet potatoes
  • 1 red pepper, diced
  • 1 jalapeno, diced
  • 1 tomato, diced
  • 1 avocado, diced
  • 1 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1 cup chopped greens – kale, spinach, arugula, etc (I love black kale!)
  • 1/2 cup raw pepitas
  • 1/4 cup goat feta or cojita (or opt for no cheese)

Chipotle Lime Dressing:

  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 2-3 tablespoons water
  • juice of one orange
  • juice of one lime
  • 2-4 individual chipotle peppers, canned in adobo sauce
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 teaspoon agave or honey
  • pinch of Himalayan sea saltFullSizeRender (8)
  1. Heat a little bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add chopped peppers and saute until soft.
  2. Pulse the dressing ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Taste and adjust to your liking.
  3. Remove, wipe skillet and add a little more olive oil over medium heat. Add the sweet potato noodles and toss for a minute or two until softened (no more than 5). Also, toss in a 2 TBSP of the dressing to coat noodles.
  4. Once slightly cooked, toss the noodles, peppers, kale, cilantro, and pepitas together.
  5. Toss with the salad ingredients and top with tomato, avocado and crumbled cheese.

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Dig In. xx

Pistachio Rose Mylk

Oh lord, this is a real treat! A mylk that you won’t make all the time, but a great way to jazz up your nut mylk game. Inspired by a favourite farmer’s market find (Mylko – Rose Pistachio), this combo is perfect for the holidays! Pistachio Rose

While the Rose water is a nice touch in this recipe, it’s not completely necessary. It won’t make or break this combination! It’s fragrant and lovely and offers great benefits but it adds time and you need to be super selective with where you source your roses.

The key star in this combo is the cardamon. Not a spice I usually steer towards but in this instance it is the perfect flavour partnered with the naturally sweet pistachio milk. Adding a boost when it comes to health promoting properties and combating digestive issues.

Ingredients (yields 4-5 cups)

  • 1 cup pistachios
  • 1/4 tsp cardamon
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 dates
  • Half cup rose water
  • Half cup vanilla almond mylk
  • 3-4 cups of filtered waterIngredients
  1. Place pistachios in bowl and cover with a couple inches of water. Soak nuts overnight (8 hours or longer).
  2. Rinse and drain nuts.Soaked Pistachios
  3. Select, fresh, fragrant, organic roses. Remove petals from stem and and rinse.
  4. Place rose petals in pan with a cup of water covering them. Cover pot with lid and set the heat to low.Rose Petals
  5. After about 20 -30 minutes, you will see that the water takes on the colour of the petals.Rose Petals after 20 minutes
  6. Strain petals.Rosewater
  7. Add all ingredients to blender and blend on high for 1 minute.
  8. Place cheese cloth or nut bag over a large bowl and pour milk.Pistachio Mylk + Cheese Cloth
  9. A lot of milk will filter right through, but you will need to squeeze the cloth/bag to ensure you get all the goodness into your bowl.Pistachio Rose Mylk

Drink up! xx