Music Festival Energy Orbs

So this weekend I am off to party with 80,000 other music fans. No big deal.
If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you know that I never go anywhere unprepared, and my healthy tummy, no matter where I am, always comes first. Although I’ve heard that there will be fruit stands and lemonade carts set up at this festival, I can’t take any risks – I must bring reinforcements!

I’ve been pondering the kind of snack that travels well, doesn’t need refrigeration, and is calorie-packed for a quick hit when the never-ending nights of dancing never end. I’ve come up with a raw food snack that fits the bill, and is both tasty and uber-healthy.

The great thing about raw foods is that they contain far more nutrition than their cooked counterparts. Raw foods also contain enzymes, the substances necessary to digest and absorb the nutrients inside them. When we don’t eat raw foods, our bodies must work hard to produce our own digestive enzymes, and after years of doing so, our ability to digest properly declines. You can read more about the benefits of raw foods from my previous post, here..
You probably eat a lot of raw foods already: fruits, salads, smoothies – but here is a recipe for a raw food snack that will hopefully inspire you to include more raw foods in your diet – it’s easy!

The base for this snack comes from dates. I am a huge fan of these delicious, dried fruits because they taste just like brown sugar, but with tons of health benefits! They are power-packed energy nuggets, filled with nourishing carbohydrates, fiber and naturally occurring sugars, which are quickly assimilated in the body. They are also an excellent source of potassium. Potassium is an essential mineral your body needs to maintain muscle contractions including the vital heart muscle. Potassium is needed to maintain a healthy nervous system and to balance the body’s metabolism as well. In addition, dates are an excellent source of B-complex vitamins for energy, and magnesium to metabolize that energy. So perfect for the amounts of energy I require when I am sacrificing sleep for dancing!

These snacks also contain nuts and seeds, which are excellent sources of healthy fats to satisfy hunger in a hurry, and vegetarian protein for non-meat eaters like me. You can mix and match the nuts and seeds to suit your dietary, nutritional, and flavour preferences. Just make sure you maintain the nut-to-fruit ratio for proper consistency.

Music Festival Energy Orbs
Ingredients:
2 cups dates, chopped (or you can also use some raisins, cranberries, prunes, apricots)
2 cups nuts (I used walnuts, almonds and sunflower seeds, but pecans, Brazil nuts, cashews, macadamias also work well.)
Dash of cinnamon
Sesame seeds for rolling (optional)


Directions:
1. Set out a few sheets of parchment paper and a Tupperware container (you will have very sticky hands when you’ll need this)
2. Place the dates and /or other dried fruits in a food processor. Pulse until processed to a paste. Transfer paste to a medium bowl (don’t clean processor).
3. Add the nuts to the processor and pulse until finely chopped (see photo above). Add the nuts, along with the cinnamon, to the bowl with the fruit paste. Use your fingers to knead the nuts into the paste (this is the fun part – kids love it too!)
4. Taking small amounts at a time, shape the kneaded fruit dough into small balls. You can roll the balls in sesame seeds, which will prevent the balls from sticking together, but this is optional. I like the crunch it gives and the extra boost of calcium never hurts!
5. Store in layers, in parchment-lined containers in the refrigerator until you set off on your next energy-intense adventure!

Hopefully, I wont be stuck eating falafels and other "fake health food" all week, but who knows? Sometimes, you just have to embrace the full experience and make sure you’ve got a little bit of energy tucked into your back pocket. You never know when it will come in handy!

Lemon Heaven

When you weren’t looking, I snuck off to southern Italy. The trip was filled with sun, sea, and of course, food. But being someone with an aversion to white flour, dairy and meat, finding appropriate cuisine for me was, challenging to say the least.
A swathe of gelato may have graced my lips on occasion (when in Rome…), but on account of it making me feel less than perfect, I went in search of something less rich. Lo and behold, the granita stand appeared, a holy, lemony light falling upon it. Related to sorbet and Italian ice, granita has a more crystalline texture. This is largely the result of different freezing techniques: the smoother types of frozen desserts are produced in a gelato machine, while the coarser varieties, like granitas, are frozen with only occasional agitation, then scraped or shaved to produce separated crystals. This is good news for those of us who only have a freezer and a fork!
Granita stands are everywhere in Naples, and each serves delicious slushy-ice in a myriad of fruit flavours. My favorite, and the most traditional, was the lemon. So refreshing and with a sweet, but tangy bite…oooh! It’s amazing how such a simple combination of water, juice and sugar can produce such delicious results – so much more than the sum of its parts.

When I got home, I set off to make my own granita, except a healthier version without using processed sugar. If you recall back to post on sugar alternatives, you may remember a delectable little nectar called agave, with a taste similar to honey, but without the blood sugar rollercoaster effects. Agave is perfect in this recipe because it is so viscous, and easily dissolves into the lemon juice and water mixture. It adds a light sweetness, which balances out the sour lemon, but doesn’t overpower. And if lemon isn’t your thing, try using other flavours like orange, strawberry, blackberry, or even coffee. Light and refreshing, this dessert is my idea of the perfect end to a summer’s meal.




Lemon Granita
Ingredients:
2 cups water
1 cup lemon juice (about 6 medium lemons)
½ cup agave nectar
½ teaspoon sea salt

Directions:
1. Combine water, lemon juice, agave nectar and sea salt in a blender.
2. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Freeze overnight.
3. Scrape the frozen mixture with a fork until all the frozen pieces are broken into small shavings.

You can serve the granita very frozen, which will appear more like ice crystals, or you can let it thaw slightly to create more of a slush. Either way, you will fall in love with its tangy brightness and refreshing finish. Ciao, bella!

Strawberry Sunrise

Good morning, gorgeous!
What better way to start your day than with a glass full of fresh, strawberry beauty? This is what I woke up to this morning and it was so delicious. With strawberries now in season, the time has come to worship their mouth-watering deliciousness with a drink fit to raise to the rising sun!

Strawberries compliment just about everything. Stars in salads, beauties in baked goods, decadent in desserts, but because they love being the center of attention, I tend to eat strawberries on their own or blend them up with just a few mild-tasting friends. This smoothie is a perfect example of that: sweet, yet mellow flavours serve to enhance the juicy, red ripeness that only summer berries bring! This combination of power-house foods and flavours is sure to wake you up and give you the kick-start you need to go play in the park, or jump in the lake, or fly a kite. Hey, it’s summer – and having fun requires lots of healthy energy!
To receive the most nutrition from your nuts, make sure to soak them overnight. Can’t remember why? Make sure to read my previous post on soaking nuts!

Strawberry Sunrise Smoothie
Ingredients:
15 soaked organic almonds - protein to maintain health hair, skin and nails, magnesium to build and strengthen bones, vitamin E to protect your delicate skin form ultraviolet light.

1 cup filtered water (or freshly squeezed orange or apple juice)

2 dates, washed and pitted - with fiber to scrub your whole digestive system clean, relatively low in calories, but high in natural sugars for quick-delivered energy.

1 cup organic strawberries, fresh (if possible!) or frozen, destemmed - vitamin C to protect cells from free-radical damage, cancer-fighting ellagic acid, manganese to keep your bones strong and healthy.

1 ripe banana, peeled, and broken into 2-inch pieces – potassium to help lower your risk of high blood pressure, pectin to help normalize movement through the digestive tract.

splash of fresh lemon juice (optional) – vitamin C to regenerate your vitamin E supplies and improve iron absorption, limonoids to help fight cancers of the mouth, skin, lung, breast, stomach and colon.

Directions:
1. In a blender, place the almonds, and process for 30 seconds to finely chop.
2. Scrape down the sides of the blender container, add the water (or juice) and dates, and process for 1 minute.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and process an additional 1-2 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Serve immediately.

This recipe also makes delicious popsicles! Just double or triple the smoothie recipe depending on the amount and size of your popsicle molds, pour liquid in molds and freeze overnight. Now your covered in strawberry from sunrise to sunset! How sweet is that?