No-Bake Cacao Cake ~ GF Raw Vegan

Serves 2

2 cups almond flour

2 tbsp flax meal, 6 tbsp water, allow to sit for 5 minutes

1 banana

1/4 cup of cacao, roughly chopped in the measuring cup

3 tbsp oat milk

4 tbsp agave

5 dates, finely chopped

1 tsp cinnamon

In a large mixing bowl, mash the banana until its smooth. Add agave.

In a double boiler add the oat milk and chopped cacao, mix on medium heat until the cacao is melted fully but not burned. 

Add the cacao to the banana and mix well. Add the chopped dates and continue mixing. 

Add the flax and water mixture. Slowly begin to add the almond flour. 

Because the mixture does not need to be cooked, I usually taste it here and alter it if needed. More agave, more almond flour, etc. 

Ideal consistency is a tiny bit thinner than cookie batter but not much. 

I put some wax paper into a small deep dish, like a ceramic fruit cup dish. Add the mixture and put into the fridge for 2 hours or until firm.

Empty the dish into a serving bowl and peel away the wax paper. 

Serve with fruit and coconut milk whipped cream. I like serving with blueberries and strawberries, or goldenberries.

Leave me a comment below!, how did you like this recipe?

Plantain & Quinoa Veggie Burgers, GF + V

I like to serve these patties with a side salad, or you could top your favorite bun, fold them up in your favorite tortilla or wrap, or sandwich between some nice leaf lettuce. They also refrigerate well, just throw them back in the skillet and heat for a couple minutes on each side.

Ingredients:

2c cooked quinoa

1 large plantain

2 tbsp coconut aminos or tamari

1 tbsp coconut oil

2 tbsp ground flax seed combined with 6 tbsp water (allow to sit for 5 minutes to create a ‘flax egg’)

1/3 cup cassava or tapioca flour

2 tsp parsley

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp basil

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp pepper / 2 tsp salt (or to taste)

To prepare:

In a high power blender or food processor, create a pulp or mash with the plantain. It will likely be some what chunky and that is okay. Add this to a bowl with the quinoa. Mix together with the coconut aminos, coconut oil, and then mix in the flax egg. Once well mixed start adding the cassava flour, mix well and be sure there are no lumps of flour. Add herbs and salt and pepper to taste. 

Heat a large skillet on medium, add a little coconut oil to the pan, and then using a spoon, dollop a small amount of the patty mixture to the pan. Some times I like to make a teeny one to cook and taste to be sure I have the seasoning right.

Using a spatula I like to squish the mixture down into a flat patty shape. It shouldn’t stick to the spatula because of the coconut oil in the batter. 

Let cook on one side until the edges start to brown and then flip to the other side. 

When both sides are brown and crispy, remove from the pan. 

If you try this out, leave me a comment and let me know what you think and how you found them to be the best way to eat them!

Nutrient Dense Lasagna ~ Gluten Free Vegan

This lasagna is super easy to make—it takes 20 minutes to prep and assemble and an hour to bake.

Fast lasagna that is actually packed with nutrients—ever heard of that? Now you have!

For the Vegan Basil Ricotta

Ingredients:

1 block of firm tofu

1/4 c nutritional yeast

juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp garlic powder or paste

large bunch of freshly chopped basil leaves

salt and pepper to taste

Put everything except the basil into a high power blender like a vitamix, or food processor and blend until it forms a smooth ricotta-like consistency. Transfer to a bowl and fold the basil in. Set aside.

Remainder of Ingredients:

approx. 3-4 yellow squash and zucchini sliced length wise.

1 box of gluten free lasagna noodles. I use brown rice lasagna noodles—any kind will due but I can’t 100% guarantee that it will turn out the same.

1-2 jars of your favorite pasta sauce or you can make your own like I do when I have time.

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tbsp hemp hearts

1 tsp pink himalayan salt

Assembly:

In the bottom of a lasagna dish put a thin even layer of sauce.

Next add a layer of lasagna noodles. KEEP THE NOODLES UNCOOKED. The liquid from the sauce and tofu will cook the noodles perfectly. I promise.

You want the dish to be as covered as you can without the noodles overlapping.

On top of the noodles spread a layer of the ‘basil ricotta’. Im pretty generous with this layer.

Place next some zucchini and squash and line it up best you can to fill the layer in. I usually put some salt, pepper, and garlic powder on the veggie layer.

Layer on more, sauce, enough to cover the veggies flat.

Follow with another layer of noodles, ricotta, veggies, season, sauce, etc.

When the dish is full to the top, cover and put in the oven.

350 F for 30 minutes.

Remove the cover and pop back into the oven for 15 more minutes.

Sprinkle the mixture of nutritional yeast, hemp hearts, and himalayan salt on top and return to the oven for the last 15 minutes.

When it is finished baking, let cool before you cut it —and enjoy!

Nutrient-Dense Almond Butter Date Breakfast Cookies

I have never been big on breakfast in my adult life, but I will say that having something small, tasty, and nutrient dense is a great way for anyone to break fast (hehe get it? the first meal of the day, breakfast is called so because it is breaking the fast of not eating all night!) I’ve spent a good 5 weeks of my pandemic social distancing making these cookies and I think I have found a winner recipe thats quick and easy to make.

Main ingredients for the cookie base:

1 cup almond butter

1/3 cup agave nectar

2 tbsp coconut oil

1/4 cup ground flax

1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

7-10 dates finely chopped

1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce

3/4 cup rolled oats

2 cups almond flour

Optional/interchangeable ingredients:

4 tsp Superfeast ashwaghanda

4 tsp powdered lions mane, cordecep, or reishi mushrooms

1/4 cup vegan chocolate chips or cacao nibs

3 tbsp cacao powder (if you want these to have a chocolate dough)

1/3 cup mulberries, gogiberries, and or gooseberries

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 275F

In a large bowl put mix the almond butter, agave nectar, applesauce, and coconut oil together.

Add the ground flax, shredded coconut, and the chopped dates being sure to distribute the pieces evenly through the batter as the chopped dates stick to each other fairly easily.

Add the chocolate chips, cacao nibs, possibly chopped pieces of the mulberries, gogiberries, or gooseberries.

Add your nutrient supplements or herbal tonics. Currently in mine I use SuperFeast ashwaghanda and masons mushrooms.

Once this is mixed well, add the rolled oats and almond flour. At this point I usually can not stir it with a spoon so I use my hands to mix it really well.

Now I want to NOTE: This recipe isn’t exact and may not be exact for you. Different almond butters are different consistencies as well as depending on what you choose to add to the cookies can change the dough too. I usually just eyeball when I make mine sometimes I need more almond flour if the almond butter I am using is super oily. Sometimes I grind my own almond butter in the machine at Whole Foods so its less oily, in this case I might need to add more agave nectar. Know that it should stick together and feel like cookie dough so judge accordingly what you need to add.

Once your mixture is ready, take an ice-cream scoop for consistency and make little balls. Mine are usually the size of a lime. These cookies dont expand or rise so the shape they go into the oven as is the shape they come out as—you can put them fairly close to one another. I usually ball the dough in my hands and then squish it down a touch before I put it on the baking sheet.

When they are all shaped and layed out, if I have the time I like to put a couple whole pieces of whatever superfoods I put in the cookies. These I topped with a mulberry and 3 little gogiberries for a cute design—again totally not necessary but it makes them have a vibe💕

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Nothing in these cookies needs to “cook” but the cooking process does help them set up and the ingredients become unified. They will be soft when you pull them out its okay they need to firm up as they cool.

Enjoy! These cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks. Let me know in the comments below if you try this recipe and enjoy it, and what you add or change to make them uniquely for you!

xoxo