Inside-out Almond Joy

I went out for a little dessert picnic at the Astoria Park with my girlfriend, which warranted a new creation that would be delicious and easily transportable.

If you hadn't noticed yet, I love coconut and particularly coconut macaroons. Simple to make, easy to share, and healthy as usual.

These little guys turned out lovely! They're the consistency of an oatmeal cookie but the flavors of coconut with the little gooey treat inside! Also perfect for travel and easy to eat on the run if you need a quick pick-me-up.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to: 350'

2. Mix together all ingredients until a stiff dough (except almonds and chocolate)

3. Rub hands with flour and grab a little scoop of the coconut mixture, pat it flat in your hand, place 1 almond + 1 chunk of chocolate in center, fold over, and roll into a ball. Repeat.

4. Place on oiled cookie sheet or parchment paper. 

5. Bake for 12 minutes

6. Let cool a little + enjoy

Yield: 10 balls

Tips: You can roll these in almond pieces, or in melted chocolate for a more refined appearance, or mix in the almond pieces for flavor throughout. But I like the idea of a little hidden treat in the center. 

Double the batch, they're addicting!

Enjoy!

-Nelli

Links

Zucchini Boats

My days off almost always include a trip to my local natural food store (5th photo down), where I spend a good amount of time perusing the isles to see whats on sale + all of the goodies that I don't need but will inevitably come home with anyhow. This particular trip included the purchase of: zucchini, tomato, carrots, sunflower seed butter, tea, brazil nuts, cashews, beer, and some random health food bars. I often decide what I will make for dinner while wandering these isles, but on this day I found my dinner hours beforehand while I was sipping my morning coffee, watching the news, + skimming over blogs. I came upon one of my new favorite bloggers, In Sonnet's Kitchen, + this dish.

Simple, easy, healthy, what more can the lazy chef here ask for?

Directions:
1. Cut zucchini in 1/2 + scoop out insides with a spoon
2. Spread a layer of pesto (or sauce of your choosing)
3. Stack ingredients: tomato, olive, onion, etc.
4. Sprinkle with salt, olive oil, + balsamic vinegar (+ cheese if you desire)
5. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes
6. Enjoy

Tips:
Fill these little guys with anything you would like on a pizza.
The pesto recipe I used is one that I created a month or so ago, and is delicious!

Until we meet again,

-Nelli

Apple Banana Carrot Oat Muffins

Apple Banana Carrot Oat Muffins, these muffins have so many goodies in them that I figured they deserved an acronym, so ABC-O it is (which I intend to be pronounced as ABC-OHHHHH!).

This is the first recipe I've concocted all on my own. I set out to create a breakfast muffin that could replace the mass amounts of fruit I consume for breakfast (Typical Day: 1/2 apple, 1 orange, 1/2 cup berries, 1 carrot, 1 celery, + 1 mini muffin). Not because I don't enjoy the fruit, but because it takes me a good 20 minutes to eat + I figured I needed to give myself a challenge. Thus the ABC muffins were invented. I then decided to make + use oat flour because oatmeal is a breakfast food, so oat flour would make them more breakfast-y. The flavor of these muffins is wonderful, but I had a little trouble with them setting up, which you can read about below.

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325
2. Make oat flour: Place 2 cups of oats in food processor + blend until desired consistency
3. Mix oat flour + dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
4. In food processor: grate carrots + apple
5. In a separate bowl mash the banana
6. To the banana add: honey, oil, + milk. Stir.
7. Mix banana mixture with dry ingredients until well combined.
8. Add the carrots + apples. Stir.
9. Divide into muffin tins + bake for 20-30 minutes
10. Let cool + enjoy!

Yield:
12 mini muffins + 12 normal sized muffins

Tips:
I think this might work better if I had mixed 1/2 oat flour with 1/2 spelt or whole grain flour. They were quite wet and needed to cook on the longer side before they could set up, or I could have used less milk + wet ingredients. The recipe above has less milk than what I used (3/4 cup), which should improve future recipes.

Sweet Potato Croquettes

I've been smitten with sweet potatoes for some time now, they're good for digestion, they taste delicious, and there is a plethora of recipes for how to use them online.
So of course I go on a hunt for a croquette recipe, because what better way is there to eat your veggies than mashing them all up and rolling them into a ball?

These little guys turned out to be one of my absolute favorites, I don't know if the word 'croquette' does it justice, its more of: 'if a falafel + hush puppy had a baby + filled it with sweet potato it would be this.' These are so flavorful + delicious, just thinking about them has me drooling.

Any-who, I hope you enjoy!

Directions:
1. Bake or boil sweet potato for 1 hour
2. Cook quinoa (1/2 cup dry + 1 cup water, boil, cover + simmer for 12 minutes)
3. Mash sweet potato
4. Put all of the ingredients together and mix
5. Place rounded spoonfuls onto oiled baking sheet
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes

Yield:
15 croquettes

Tips:
Add Flour!
On my first round I attempted to do these flour-less (from the blog I was following) and they were a disaster. While the flavor was good they were basically the same as the 'mash' so if you want to bake them and make them into croquettes add some type of flour.

Until we meet again,

Nelli

Cabbage-Carrot Slaw

Lately my weekly habits have tended towards making large quantities of food on Sunday night that will last me through the week. This weeks food creations were Falafel, Hummus, and this delicious Cabbage-Carrot Slaw.

The falafel and hummus I had been planning for awhile, but this creation was no-where near my radar! I was browsing through one of my favorite blogs My New Roots when I came upon this beautiful Purple Power Salad that fit what I was searching for. She made this recipe for a picnic, and I made it for my lunch. One major mistake (or perhaps perk) of mine was my lack of thinking. I didn't consider just how much this recipe would yield until after I made it. Of course the size of the salad will depend upon how large each ingredient is, but in my case I could only eat about 1/2 of what I actually made. The rest has been pawned off onto my (willing and adventurous) friends + co-workers; each of which told me how much they enjoyed it!

Cabbage-Carrot Slaw

Slaw

1 head of cabbage

1 bunch of carrots

1 cup of mint (about 1/2 a bushel)

1 cup chopped dried figs

1 cup pumpkin seeds 

(could substitute any seeds/nuts/dried fruit you have handy, however this combo is delish!)

Dressing

3 Tbsp. Olive oil

3 Tbsp. Lemon juice

1 (to 3) Tbsp. Honey

1 Clove garlic

2 Tsp. Ground Cumin

2 Tsp. Water

1 Tsp. Cinnamon

1 Tsp. Salt

(if you would like a sweeter dressing add more honey)

Directions:

In food processor use grater-disk (the one that looks like a cheese grater) put in the carrots & cabbage.

Transport the chopped veggies into a large bowl and add seeds, figs, and mint; combine.

In a separate bowl whisk together dressing ingredients. 

If you plan on serving this to a large crowd simply add the dressing to the salad and combine, however, if you're like me and you're eating this on a more daily basis keep the dressing and slaw separate until you're ready to eat it.

I separated the slaw into individual containers and stored in my fridge. Each morning while I'm packing my lunch I add a little of the dressing to the slaw and shake it before placing it into my lunch box. Keeping the two in different containers prolongs the shelf-life of the slaw.

If you're looking for a side-dish that is light, colorful, healthy, and delicious look no further!