Eat Simply, Eat Well

Healthy recipes & tips to help you live the good life. by Ann Plough

Blueberry Cacao Smoothie

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Happy April Fool’s Day!

But let me tell you, this smoothie is no joke.  It’s packed with serious flavor and nutrients to have you sailing right on through your morning or to pick you back up off the floor after a tough work out. Use blueberries or bilberries, whichever you have, toss in the remaining ingredients and blend up a drink full of fiber, antioxidants, good healthy fat (from the avocado), Omega 6 (thank you Chia seeds).

Have you been feeling forgetful?  New studies on blueberries (and their wild friend the bilberry) show that eating blueberries help are great for brain health and improving memory. Very nice.

Need a little more oomph?  Then grab that bag of Maca Powder and toss in a little of that, too and it will give you the all-over energy boost that you just might be missing.  Especially at 6 AM. What exactly is Maca?  Nutrition stripped offers the complete overview of this excellent nutitrion source here.

To top it all off, toss in a generous spoon of Raw Cacao Powder for a smooth chocolate flavor that blends perfectly with the blueberries while packing in some extra iron, magnesium and antioxidants for your health.  For more information about Raw Cacao, take a look here.

What about that kale, you say?  You won’t even taste it.  But you’ll get the benefits of perhaps the most nutrient-rich vegetable on the planet, so don’t hold back!

This can be made the night before for an instant breakfast in the morning, or pack it in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid and take it with you for a snack on the go.

Blueberry Cacao Smoothie

1.5 cups cashew milk, almond milk, or other nut milk of choice
1 heaped cup fresh or frozen blueberries (frozen makes for a nice, thick, cold drink)
1/2 avocodo, pitted and peeled
3 leaves kale
2 tablespoons Chia gel (or 1 teaspoon Chia seeds soaked in 2 tablespoons of water for 5 min)
1 tablespoon raw cacao powder
1/2 tablespoon Maca powder
2 teaspoons pure maple syrup or 1 fresh, pitted date

Put all of the ingredients into a high-speed blender.  Process until completely smooth, about 1 minute. Divide between 2 tall glasses and enjoy

Makes 2 servings.

Raspberry Cacao Nib Muffins

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Anybody out there need another muffin recipe? Anybody?  Yeah, me too.

I love muffins.  They are a perfect quick breakfast or afternoon snack.  I take them on hikes and day trips and road trips.  I make a little extra and freeze them for later.  They travel well and taste great and are quick to make.

These muffins are healthy, too. Combining whole wheat flour and almond flour with kefir and eggs to create a nice, tender muffin, they are then packed with raspberries and cacao nibs so that the flavor really sings to you as you happily eat your way on down to the very bottom edge of the muffin wrapper.

If you’re not yet acquainted with cacao nibs, these are something worth trying out.  Packed with antioxidants, fiber, magnesium and iron, these are little nuggets are really good for you. Added to the list of other healthy ingredients in these muffins, you’ll find these give you a nice energy boost just when you need it.

A few notes on the ingredients:

  • if you don’t have kefir, use buttermilk or plain yogurt
  • if you need this to be gluten-free, use buckwheat flour instead of whole wheat flour
  • if you don’t have cacao nibs, you can use chopped chocolate – though the flavor will be a bit different and you won’t have the nice crunch the cacao nibs provide. They are worth seeking out at your health food store
  • Frozen raspberries work best here (I used wild raspberries from last summer).  If you use fresh raspberries, fold them into the batter carefully so they don’t get too smashed.

You know you want these! So go on and get your oven warming and your bowls out: you’ll have fresh muffins on the table in under an hour.

Raspberry Cacao Nib Muffins

Preheat your oven to 190°C/375°F.  Line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin cup liners.

In a large bowl whisk together:
1 cup/140g/2.5 dl whole wheat flour
3/4 cup/75g/1.25 dl almond flour
1/2 cup/1dl Indian sugar or coconut sugar (or use brown sugar in a pinch)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon Maldon salt or 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

In a small bowl whisk together:
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup Kefir (or use buttermilk or plain yogurt)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup mild oil like sunflower or avocado

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula until nearly all traces of flour are gone.  Add:

1 cup raspberries, preferably frozen
1/4 cup cacao nibs

Stir to incorporate the raspberries and cacao nibs into the batter.  Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups. Place the muffins in the oven and bake 25-30 minutes or until they are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.

Makes 12 muffins.

Did you like them?  Leave me a comment below and share this recipe with friends!

Cilantro-Parsley-Avocado Dip

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Back when I was a kid in elementary school, there was a saying we heard or saw pasted to the wall nearly every year for 6 years:

“March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.”

I don’t know who was responsible for this ubiquitous line, but I can tell you: Mother Nature had a completely different idea this year.  The lamb came early and the lion returned to say hello for a little while.

If there ever was a day where you need a little comfort food, it would be today.  After leaning full-on into the winds of Spring with the sun shining down encouragingly as the snow melted away, there’s been a shift.

The snow is back.

Oh, it probably won’t last long: it’s so wet and sloppy that the slightest shimmer of warmer temps will send it melting back down into a muddled puddle, but nevertheless, this is definitely a day to stray outdoors as little as possible.

I do, however, have a recipe that keeps Spring at the front of your mind. You’ve already seen pictures of it here and here, but now I am finally sharing the recipe.  It’s a twist on guacamole with a spin of pesto, I suppose, but it uses a large quantity of herbs to create an intense green paste that is perfect for dipping crunchy crackers into, serving alongside vegetable or meat or quinoa patties, or just tiding over your hunger with by just indulging in a few spoonfuls.

Easy to put together and quick to disappear – you may want to double this batch!

Cilantro-Parsely-Avocado Dip

1 large bunch cilantro, roughly chopped, including stems
leaves from one large bunch of parsely, chopped (discard stems)
1 large avocado, peeled, pitted, and roughly chopped
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon pine nuts
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt, to your taste

Place all ingredients into a blender or into the bowl of a food processor.  Process until completely smooth.  Scrape out into a bowl and serve.

Makes a scant 1 cup.