Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie, Oh My!

If you want to make a dessert that is easy, healthy and delicious, with no baking, no sugar and the 'pumpkin-y' taste of Thanksgiving, freeze some bananas, buy some fresh pumpkin and try out this recipe!

Start with the crust, which is made up entirely of almonds and dates - approx. 3 handfuls of almonds and 10 dates - chop in your food processor and mush into pie dish to cover the bottom.

Steam about 2 cups worth of fresh pumpkin (or use canned in a pinch) and combine with spices in food processor - mix in cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, (soaked) dates, vanilla and anything else you like. Freeze in an ice cube tray for a few hours, pop them out, set aside about 6 cubes for this recipe and save the rest for another time.

Chop the frozen bananas (approx. one per person) into small pieces, and combine with a handful of walnuts, a drop of vanilla and the 6 pumpkin cubes to form a thick creamy mixture to go on top of your pie crust. Freeze until serving time.

  

Hope you enjoy...have a happy & healthy Thanksgiving!

Waldorf Salad with a Twist

A Waldorf salad is a salad traditionally made of fresh apples, celery, and walnuts, tossed with mayonnaise, and usually served on a bed of lettuce as an appetizer or a light meal.

The Waldorf Salad is said to have been created in the 1890's by Oscar Tschirky, the maitre d' of the famed NYC Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. It included only diced red apples, celery and mayonnaise. Chopped walnuts were added soon after, and there have been many incarnations since.

Adding extra ingredients like grapes, chickpeas, dried cranberries/raisins and/or shredded coconut bring a wonderful dimension to this already delicious salad, and a vegan mayonnaise or special dressing makes it even healthier and more delectable. There are loads of recipes available online, but below I offer my own delicious variation that will hit the spot and delight your taste buds.

For this recipe I decided to leave the amounts of each ingredient up to you, since the quantities may vary depending on your personal taste.

Ingredients:

• Red Delicious apples, chopped
• Celery, chopped
• Walnuts, chopped (toasting them is extra yummy)
• Grapes - halved
• Chickpeas
• Shredded coconut
• Dried cranberries or raisins (unsweetened)
• Vegan mayonnaise
• Juice from lemon/lime
• Dijon mustard (optional)
• Ground nutmeg

(You can use cashews, pecans, almonds, pine nuts or any other nut if you prefer instead of walnuts, and replace celery with jicima, fennel, radish, parsnip, red bell pepper if you prefer...be creative and please share!)

• Combine apples, celery, walnuts, cranberries/raisins, chickpeas in a bowl and set aside.
• Add mayonnaise, mustard & lemon juice and mix into salad.
• Serve on a bed of fresh salad greens.
• Drizzle the dressing on top and sprinkle with coconut and ground nutmeg right before serving.
• Can be refrigerated in an air-tight container for a few days.
  

Healthier Mayonnaise Replacement Dressing:

• 1/2 apple
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 2 tablespoons raisins
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons water, more if needed
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt (optional)

Blend well until slightly thick, adding water to make it thinner. Pour over salad and enjoy!

Mango - The Perfect Addition To Your Salad

Happy Summer!  Mangoes are now in season and a favorite in our house. We eat them for breakfast, as a snack, and at least a few mangoes get consumed daily these days. The 'king of fruits', as mango is sometimes called, is one of the most nutritionally rich fruits with unique flavor, taste and health-promoting qualities. They taste so good it's hard to believe they are actually healthy, but they are! 

Mangoes are loaded with more than 20 vitamins and minerals that defend the body against disease. They are high in iron, so people who suffer from anemia can enjoy mangoes regularly. Mangoes help to reduce cholesterol and are a rich source of vitamin A. Mangoes are even good for better sex, since the vitamin E which is abundantly present in mangoes, help to regulate sex hormones and build sex drive.

Mangoes can also be used externally to improve skin tone, as they clear clogged pores and eliminate pimples. Mangoes help to make the body more alkaline and are also important in preventing constipation due to their high fiber and water content. Recent studies have shown that contrary to popular belief, mangoes may also help to protect against diabetes.

My favorite salad this season is one that includes mango - I am addicted! I can eat it every day and never tire of the taste. No matter what other vegetables are included, mango makes a salad sweeter, yummier, prettier, zestier and more flavorful. Add some lemon or lime juice and perhaps a little vinegar, olive oil and/or herbs, and you have an amazing and very satisfying dish.

The easiest and most efficient way to cut little cubes is to slice each side of the mango just past the pit and cut a grid without breaking the skin. Turn it inside out and just use your thumb to push off the little pieces right into your salad.  As you do this, the sweet mango juice will drip into your salad and garnish it with yummy-ness.

More good news - mangoes are very low in calories, only about 110 in each. The sweetness of mangoes also helps in curbing the appetite for other sweet things, because the high fiber content helps keep us feeling full, with less of a need to snack.

Mangoes fight cancer, alkalize the body, aid in weight loss, regulate diabetes, help digestion, clean your skin and make the perfect snack. We should all be eating more mangoes, don't you think?

Hope you enjoy!

Avocado Chocolate Mousse

This avocado chocolate mousse is gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free and vegan, and only contains 3 ingredients: Avocado, Cacao Powder and Dates.

Of course you can add nuts, fruit, and anything your taste buds desire, but this combination of healthy and delicious ingredients create a dense and rich mousse that will delight you, your family & friends, and even your kids!

Avocado has been called one of the world's most perfect foods and is a nutritional powerhouse with over a dozen health benefits, so you can enjoy this decadent treat while knowing that you are nourishing your body.

You can make it in a food processor or blender, eat it right away, chill it in the fridge, or freeze it and blend it again later for more of a frozen treat. Experiment and see what works for you.

I would suggest soaking your dates for at least 15 minutes before making it so they are soft and blend well without chunks. I keep blended dates in a small tupperware for recipes that call for sweetener.

3 Dates and 1 Tablespoon of Unsweetened Cacao Powder per (small Haas) Avocado works well, however that is up to you.

This dessert is truly delicious and a great way to get your 'creamy chocolate fix' in the healthiest possible way. 
Hope you enjoy...

Vanilla Cashew Date Spread

It's customary to dip apples in honey in honor of Rosh 
Hashana, for a Sweet New Year...

This year we made something different...

Vanilla Cashew Date Spread! 

All you need are 3 ingredients: 

Dates, Cashews and a few drops of Vanilla.

So easy, delicious, filling, healthy, and extremely versatile... 

For 1 cup of spread use about 8 dates, 1 cup raw cashews 

(or 1 cup raw cashew butter) and ½ teaspoon vanilla

Soak dates in 1 cup of water for 30 minutes, then strain, but save a few tablespoons of this water. In a blender or food processor whip cashews and dates and slowly add water, little by little, until smooth consistency is reached

Also delicious on bread, pancakes, waffles, muffins, crackers...

If you want it sweeter, add more dates. Less sweet? Use fewer dates. 

Experiment and enjoy!

Wishing you and yours a Happy, Healthy 

& Sweet New Year!

Heavenly Creamy Tahini-Miso Dressing!

I am so excited to share this amazing, healthy and delicious salad dressing that I am just crazy about! I don't know why it took me this long to discover Miso, but I am totally hooked and I imagine you will be too! 

My 'go to' dressing has always been a lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar based dressing with herbs and spices, but for a change I like a creamy dressing every now and again...I usually add Tahini (sesame paste) to make my dressings creamy, since I always have it on hand to make humus and techina, and now that I have found Miso, the 'magical ingredient', my taste buds and I are 'in love'! 

This rich and thick creamy, vegan, Tahini-Miso dressing or sauce goes with just about everything. It’s great drizzled over roasted or steamed vegetables, brown rice, quinoa, potatoes, whole wheat pasta, lentils, beans, in a seaweed or tortilla wrap, and obviously, with any kind of salad. It's great to serve as a dip as well, just make it a bit thicker by putting less water.

Miso is an inexpensive ingredient with Asian origins, which you can find in the refrigerated section of any Asian grocery store or health food store. It's a fermented soybean paste and lasts for months in the fridge, so it’s a fun ingredient to have around for experimentation with all kinds of recipes.

You can whip up a small amount in a few minutes by hand with a fork or whisk, or make it in your food processor or blender, especially when making a large amount. 

However you decide to make it is up to you...hope you enjoy...

INGREDIENTS

Creamy Tahini-Miso dressing

• 1/4 cup tahini (sesame paste)
• 1 tbs miso (soybean paste)
• 1 minced garlic clove or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
• Juice from 1 lemon/lime 
• 1/3 cup water
• Small handful chopped herbs such as cilantro/parsley/basil/
• Optional additions - dash of tamari or soy sauce, honey, ginger, cayenne

Wheatgrass - so easy to grow yourself!

How can I make wheatgrass on my own? I used to ask myself that question every time I bought a 'shot' for $2.50 at Whole Foods...

As you know, wheatgrass is a very healthy and popular drink in juice bars or sold as powdered supplements at health stores, but it can be rather expensive. 

I hope the easy instructions and photos in this post inspire and empower you to grow your own!

Please take the time to review the Amazing Benefits of Wheatgrass for extra motivation.

There is loads of information, instructions and great YouTube Videos for extra help, but here are the basics to get you started:

1. Soak your hard winter wheat seeds (also called wheatberries) which you can find in Whole Foods or on line for very cheap (wheatgrass-seeds)
2. Sprout the seeds in a jar for the next 24 hours, by rinsing and draining the seeds well three times a day, (before work, after work, and before bed). Put cheese cloth or mesh over the jar, or use a sieve with tiny holes to drain.
3. Plant the seeds after a very short 'tail' is visible, on top of the soil (basic potting mix or top soil will work fine.) Do not bury the seeds under the soil, but do keep them wet. As you can see, I used small plastic pots leftover from plants I purchased and saved, or you can purchase wheatgrass trays.
4. Water gently, but soak the soil, once in the morning and once in the evening, so they don't dry out. 
5. By the fourth day you can already see the grass growing, which is very exciting, and within a few days it will be ready for you to consume.
6. Cut with a scissors and juice!

I do not own a dedicated juicer, but have been enjoying the benefits of wheatgrass along with a mixture of greens in my juices. I also blend wheatgrass in my shakes and smoothies and love the extra flavor, energy and healing properties it offers.

A picture tells a thousand words...hope you enjoy!