Blended Deception: Making Nice into Naughty

I don't think I know anyone who truly does not have the desire to both look and feel their very best.  In my own personal journey to wellness, my efforts are now focused on adopting and maintaining a healthy, nutrient dense diet. While I am now making progress and starting to reap the rewards, I cannot deny that I still have a sweet tooth, with an incurable fondness for chocolate.

In my effort to have it both ways,   I have tried many of the healthier recipes that are currently trending on social media such as 3 ingredient cookies, chickpea cookie dough, and have found that these healthy treats have one thing in common; they aren't very good.  A treat should be a treat or why bother? Its just not worth the calories.

Therefore, I found I had the instinctive reaction of inwardly wincing when my friend, Hilda, offered me a vegan, black bean brownie that she had brought just for me. As I am well-known to be both a chocoholic and a vegan food enthusiast, I knew I couldn't bear to refuse her gift.  What I did need to do, was prepare my "eating face" in advance- people always watch you for a reaction when you are trying something they made.

So, with my game face applied, I bit into her creation and I can honestly report that it did not even remotely meet my expectation... because it was amazing. Not bean-y at all but tasted like the rich, dark chocolately/fudgy type brownies that I adore!! I would eat these no matter what. The healthy, protein-rich, gluten/flour free part is just a huge added bonus. It also has my favourite feature-EASY to make. Just blend and bake!

Black Bean Brownie     

.        1 15 oz. can (~ 1 3/4 cups) black beans, well rinsed and drained

·        2 large flax eggs (see below)

·        3 T coconut oil, melted (or sub other oil of choice)

·        3/4 cup cocoa powder (the higher quality the better)

·        1/4 tsp sea salt

·        1 tsp pure vanilla extract

·        heaping 1/2 cup raw sugar, slightly ground or pulsed in a food processor or coffee grinder for refined texture ( If you are avoiding sugar like me, Hilda has substituted the sugar for xylitol, with great results)

·        1 1/2 tsp baking powder

·        Optional toppings: crushed walnuts, pecans or semisweet chocolate chips

Flax egg

• 1 Tbsp flaxseed meal (ground raw flaxseed)
• 2 1/2 Tbsp water

Add flaxseed meal and water to a dish and stir. Let rest for 5 minutes to thicken. Add to recipes in place of 1 egg.

Instructions

1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.     Lightly grease a 12-slot standard size muffin pan (not mini). Make sure you've rinsed and thoroughly drained your black beans at this point.

3.     Prepare flax egg by combining flax and water in the bowl of the food processor. Pulse a couple times and then let rest for a few minutes.

4.     Add remaining ingredients (besides walnuts or other toppings) and puree - about 3 minutes - scraping down sides as needed. You want it pretty smooth.

5.     If the batter appears too thick, add a Tbsp or two of water and pulse again. It should be slightly less thick than chocolate frosting but nowhere close to runny.

6.     Evenly distribute the batter into the muffin tin and smooth the tops with a spoon or your finger.

7.     Optional: Sprinkle with crushed walnuts, pecans or chocolate chips.

8.     Bake for 20-26 minutes or until the tops are dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides. I found mine took about 25.

9.     Remove from oven and let cool for 30 minutes before removing from pan. They will be tender, so remove gently with a fork. The insides are meant to be very fudgy, so don't be concerned if they seem too moist - that's the point. Plus, they're vegan so it doesn't really matter.

10. Store in an airtight container for up to a few days. Refrigerate to keep longer.

 

Why do I have to make Moroccan Chickpeas so complicated?





 

Have you ever taken a quick glance at a recipe and immediately said to yourself "There is no way I'm even going to try that, it looks WAY too complicated!" I do. All the time-which is why I rarely follow a formal recipe. 

It has become an increasingly bad habit of mine to just throw together whatever ingredients that I have laying around and see how it turns out. (which is usually edible but beyond boring!)

So, when my friend and next door neighbour, Betty, emailed me this recipe for us to make together, I took a look at the long list in front of me and immediately felt overwhelmed. THREE SETS of ingredients?!! Who has the time? the organization? (answer; anyone but me)

If we weren't doing this together,I would have sent a polite reply back and then filed this recipe with the rest on my computer "Recipes  that I'm pretending I will make one day" But since Betty was helping me, and we had decided to split the shopping for ingredients, I was actually looking forward to making this.

As I like my almonds toasted, I did this a day or so earlier in my toaster oven (only takes a few minutes).

We got together, split up the tasks, and got down to it.   What amazed both of us, was how quick and easy this was. Add a glass of red wine, good conversation and we seemed to be finished almost as we got started!

Confession time: Most of these ingredients were things I had around anyway. Betty and I laughed how this recipe originally looked complicated yet was embarrassingly easy and quick when you just follow the steps.
Lesson learned: Long list of ingredients does NOT equal a high difficulty level, or even a required finesse in the kitchen.

Result:
The dried cranberries balanced out the lack of sweetness in the dressing. We both agreed that while the flavour of this salad was subtle, it had a real depth to it. Truly, the taste was the only complicated thing about the is recipe- and that is a good thing!

Pretty, isn't it?

Moroccan Roasted Chickpea Salad

For the chickpea and marinade:

·        2 tablespoons Soy Sauce (certified Gluten Free if necessary)

·        2 teaspoons Honey·        2 teaspoons Cinnamon

·        2 teaspoons Paprika·        2 teaspoons Cumin

·        2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil·        1/2 Lemon, juiced

·        Pinch of black pepper·        3 cups cooked Chickpeas

For the salad:

·        5 cups Spinach leaves·        1 large Sweet Potato, cubed

·        1/2 cup chopped Almonds  

         1/3 cup dried cranberries

·        5 oz goat cheese, crumbled  
(substitute your favourite vegan cheese-or just leave it out!)

For the lemon vinaigrette:

·        1/2 Lemon, juiced·        3 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar

·        1 tablespoon Olive Oil·        Pinch of salt and black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400F degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment or foil.

In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the marinade and whisk until combined. Add the chickpeas to the bowl and toss to combine. Pour the chickpeas onto a baking sheet and let sit for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the cubed sweet potato on a baking sheet and drizzle with about 1 tbsp of olive oil and season with salt and black pepper. Toss to coat.

Place both baking sheets in the oven and roast for about 30 minutes until the chickpeas are slightly brown and crispy and the potato is slightly brown and cooked through.

To assemble the salad, place the spinach onto a large serving plate or bowl, layer on the potatoes and chickpeas, then sprinkle the almonds, cranberries and goat cheese over the top.

In a small bowl, whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients and pour over the salad. Serve and enjoy!