Dream Date

What dream indeed…wheat free, dairy free, sugar free! Does it actually taste good?! Well, you know it wouldn’t be here if it didn’t. You can have your cake and eat it too.
I dipped into this delight for the first time last weekend at my friend’s place. After a long walk in the wintery frost, we came back inside to enjoy in a hot cup of tea and this totally fantastic date-almond-orange cake. It was love at first bite: rich, moist, spicy oragne-y-ness, and oh so satisfying! “What the heck is in this thing?!” I asked. She said she’d send me the recipe.
I should have guessed: dates. Those sweet little nuggets get me every time - and if you haven’t started baking with dates I suggest you jump on the bandwagon. They not only add a sweetness that rivals processed sugar, but they impart a moistness, and rich flavour that the refined stuff just can’t touch.

Almonds instead of Flour
The almonds in this recipe replace the flour, which is great news for people who are trying to avoid wheat and gluten. You can find almond flour at natural / health food stores, but the almonds used in this recipe are not exactly the same thing. Almond flour or almond meal is very different from whole ground almonds as it’s more like flour. The almonds in this recipe will become chunky, not finely ground. In this form they add a certain heaviness to the cake, and desired richness.

Often called “the king of nuts”, almonds are loaded with many essential nutrients. They are higher in calcium and fiber than any other nut, and are also an excellent source of potassium, magnesium, phosphorous, folic acid, and protein. Choose raw almonds for this recipe, and purchase organically grown ones if possible.

The original recipe called for 6 (!!!) eggs, but if I know anything now, it’s that I can replace eggs with applesauce. I was a tad hesitant to substitute all of them, so I replaced 4 of them and left the other two. It worked out just fine, so I will make the next version completely vegan. Exciting.

Dream Date Almond Orange Cake
Ingredients:
2 ¼ cups soft dates (soaked overnight if necessary)
1 ½ cups raw almonds, plus more for garnish
5 Tbsp. sunflower oil
zest and juice of 1 non-waxed, organic orange
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
generous pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 organic, free-range eggs

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 320F or 160C.
2. Flour an 8” bundt, spring form, or round cake pan.
3. Put all ingredients in a food processor, except applesauce and eggs. Blend until rather uniform, with some chunks of nuts remaining.
4. Add applesauce slowly, ¼ cup at a time while blender is running. Then add the two eggs in the same manner, one at a time while blender is running.
5. Pour batter into pan, spread until even. Bake for 40-45 minutes until a knife inserted comes out clean.
6. Let cake cool completely before removing it from the pan (important!)
7. Chop up some extra almonds and scatter them on top. Serve.

This cake is super-moist and dense – almost like a pudding cake. A small slice goes a long way and makes for a delicious afternoon pick-me-up with tea or even an indulgent breakfast! Remember that the main ingredients are fruit and nuts, so enjoy with delight, it’s a dream come true.

info source: Balch, Phyllis A. Prescription for Dietary Wellness.
New York, NY: Penguin, 2003.

Just the Flax

Not quite a cracker, not quite a flatbread…you can imagine the amount of restraint it required not to entitle this post “crack bread”, especially considering how good they taste.
Although this is not exactly bread, and therefore not really fulfilling one of my new year’s food resolutions, I think this is a good intro to the world of unleavened, savory baked goods at the very least. Give me some credit – it’s only been two weeks. This recipe went through three evolutions: the little-bit-naughty one, an extremely healthy, birdseed style version, and what I am presenting you with today: the very happy medium.

The inspiration for the recipe came from the humble flax seed - one of those food items that has received massive attention in the past couple years for its explosively high content of Omega-3 Fatty Acids. However, there is yet another powerful aspect to this seed, a component in the shell itself, called a lignan.

What in the world is a lignan?
Lignans are special compounds found in flax and in other seeds, grains, and legumes that are converted by beneficial gut flora (re: probiotics) into two hormone-like substances called enterolactone and enterodiol. These hormone-like agents demonstrate a number of protective effects against breast cancer and are believed to be one reason a vegetarian diet is associated with a lower risk for breast cancer. In animal studies conducted to evaluate lignans' beneficial effect, supplementing a high-fat diet with flaxseed flour (like in the recipe below, for example) reduced early markers for mammary (breast) cancer in laboratory animals by more than 55%.

What else do lignans do, Sarah?
I’m glad you asked that. The lignan-rich fiber found in flax meal (ground flax seeds) has also been shown to decrease insulin resistance, which, in turn, reduces bio-available estrogen, which also lessens breast cancer risk. And, as insulin resistance is an early warning sign for type 2 diabetes, flaxseed may also provide protection against this disease. Groovy.

So here’s the recipe that I’ve been working on, adapted from an old issue of Gourmet. If you choose to ignore all that incredibly valuable information I just spewed out, by all means omit that flax meal for a real treat (a.k.a. crack bread). However, if you would like to take advantage of all the benefits flax seeds have to offer, I suggest that you grind your flax fresh as the delicate fats (those good ol’ omega 3’s) are extremely sensitive to heat and light and go rancid super fast. If you must buy it pre-ground, find it in refrigerated/freezer section of your grocer, preferably in a lightproof vacuum-sealed bag, and check the expiry date. Making your own at home when you need it will ensure absolute freshness. Whole flax seeds on their own last a very long time, but once you crack them open their shelf life declines considerably. Store any extra in the freezer.
You can purchase golden or brown flax seeds (I used golden in this version) – they are nutritionally equal.

As for the salt, I went with a delectable smoked sea salt (pictured. Yes, that is the real colour) to enhance the richness, but any high-quality sea salt is fine. You can find various salts at specialty gourmet shops and health food stores - this is a great opportunity to try something new!

These flatbreads / crackers / crisps are rich and nutty-tasting with a seriously luscious flakiness. These would superb as a bed for black olive tapenade, or roasted red pepper hummus. If you’re into dairy, a soft-ripened cheese would be delightful I bet. The rustic, free form shapes created simply by breaking the large rounds into pieces, lend a certain informality to a distinctively sophisticated flavour. Oh my.

Flax-Rosemary Flatbreads with Smoked Sea Salt
• 1 cups spelt flour
• ½ cup whole flax seeds, freshly ground OR ¾ cup flax meal
• 2 Tbsp. chopped rosemary (preferably fresh)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. smoked sea salt (but any sea salt is fine)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup olive oil plus more for brushing

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450°F with a heavy baking sheet on rack in middle.
2. Grind flax seeds in a coffee grinder or blender until all seeds are pulverized. It should resemble flour.
3. Stir together flour, flax meal, chopped rosemary, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in center, then add water and oil and gradually stir into flour with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Knead dough gently in the bowl 4 or 5 times until it comes together.
4. Divide dough into 3 pieces and roll out 1 piece (keep remaining pieces covered with plastic wrap) on a sheet of parchment paper into a 10-inch round (shape can be rustic; dough should be thin).
5. Scatter small clusters of rosemary leaves and a little salt, pressing in slightly, then lightly brush top with additional oil. Slide round (still on parchment) onto preheated baking sheet and bake until pale golden and browned in spots, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer flatbread a rack to cool, then make 2 more rounds (1 at a time) on parchment (do not oil or salt until just before baking). Break into pieces and serve.

info source: whfoods.com

Help for Haiti

I am so horrified and devastated by the events in Haiti.
Seeing as we are so incredibly fortunate, let us all dig deep and help in the ways that we can.
I have sent a small donation to the United Nations World Food Program to help those in need be fed. You can to.

Here are a couple more suggestions:
Oxfam International
Action Against Hunger

Peace and Blessings,
Sarah B.

2010: Tasty Ambitions

Happy New Year everybody! I hope you all had a delightfully delicious holiday filled with love, and tummies filled with delicious food! Mine was slow and relaxing, with plenty of time for cooking and reflections.
Over the break, I came up with some new year’s food goals and I thought it might be fun to share them with you. I tend to do this every year, and I am always amused to look back and see how many of them I’ve accomplished 12 months later.

1. Learn some new cooking techniques.
2. Try eating a greater variety of fruits (when in season).
3. Do at least 2 fasts/cleanses in the next 12 months.
4. Start taking probiotics regularly again (eek! I’ve been lazy with those…).
5. Drink fresh-pressed vegetable juices more often...this may involve buying a juicer, even though my kitchen has no more space for appliances!
6. Have breakfast parties.
7. Experiment more often with flavours that intimidate me.
8. Don’t let food go bad in the fridge.
9. Eat when I’m really hungry, stop before I’m really full.
10. Learn how to bake really good, healthy bread from scratch.

I hope that this inspires you create your own list! Challenge yourself, even if it’s one little thing.

Sending love and light to each and every one of you. Thanks for continuing to visit My New Roots. Have a spectacular 2010!
Sarah B.

p.s. – To answer one of the comments from the last post regarding whether or not I really indulge myself, the answer is a proud “hell yeah!” Of course I have been down the road of ‘extreme health’, limiting myself to basically plants and water, but I have found a delightful balance somewhere between the candy-obsessed, white bread lovin’ girl I used to be, and now, someone who just simply enjoys to eat healthy because it feels good. That being said, I feel so proud of myself that I have finally come to a place where I feel happy to indulge and to let the odd pastry cross my lips. Eating healthy is one thing, but it can often become an obsession, and you can never really find a limit. We forget that health also resides so much in the mind, and being content with the choices we make and relinquishing judgment is the most important thing.

And if you really want to know, my absolute undoing is freshly baked bread, straight from the oven, with butter. And I am so happy that you asked.