Almonds Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Coconut and Berries

Raspberry Almond Smoothie

Firstly, welcome to the new Coconut and Berries! Hope you like the new look! A huge thank you to Tiffany from Beautiful Dawn Designs for making this all happen.

As well as the blog looking a bit different I’ve moved across from wordpress.com to a self-hosted site too which allows for a few features to make things easier for you and me-You can now print, share and pin my recipes with just one click and my recipe index is hopefully easier to navigate too.

As I’m sure you can imagine there are still a fair few issues to resolve so please bear with me while I iron out the creases…

A pretty smoothie to go with my pretty new site!

If you’ve been following Coconut and Berries you’ll have read that I’ve been following an anti-candida diet which doesn’t allow for any fruit. But, I’ve been feeling so much better that I’ve started to gradually add some things back into my diet including the occasional berries and apples (low-sugar fruit).

Bananas are supposedly the worst culprit for candida as they’re high in sugar so I’m still avoiding those for the time-being. Unfortunately, most of the smoothies I typically make use bananas so I’ve had to rethink things.

I’ve been mad about almonds for as long as I can remember. I adore making fresh almond milk and the smell of almond extract is like perfume to me. When I had a holiday job in a coffee shop I loved making coffees using the almond syrup just for the smell and now I use Dr Bronner’s soap in almond scent so I get to enjoy the delicious fragrance whenever I shower.

This smoothie incorporates homemade almond milk and a dash of almond extract to bring out the flavour. Raspberries work so wonderfully here but I haven’t added too many so as to keep the smoothie creamy and sweet.

This is more of a snack-size smoothie so for breakfast why not have it alongside one of my homemade muffins.

Raspberry Almond Smoothie

2014-01-24 12:44:00

Serves 1

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Prep Time

5 min

Prep Time

5 min

Ingredients

1C Almond milk (I recommend homemade for extra creaminess)
1T Chia seeds
1/4C Frozen raspberries
1/2t Vanilla extract
1/2t Almond extract
1T Liquid Sweetener (e.g. agave nectar, maple syrup, etc. ) OR 5-10 drops liquid stevia
Optional: 1/2 Scoop Vanilla protein powder OR 1/2 a Frozen banana

Instructions

Blend all the ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth. Check for sweetness and adjust to your liking.

Coconut and Berries http://www.coconutandberries.com/

One of my very first recipes was also a smoothie- Apricot and Almond with a hint of Cardamom. I’m a little embarrassed about the pictures but it’s a really tasty recipe so do check it out…just ignore the photos.

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Simple Celeriac Soup

Hello again folks! The holidays are over and I’m back in my little flat in Bath awaiting exams and the start of the next semester. Between a bit of revision I’ve been keeping busy in the kitchen as usual…

Keeping it simple today with an easy-peasy soup to warm you up from head to toe. What is it about soup that is just so wonderful? It’s a miraculous thing how a few unexciting vegetables thrown together in a pot can produce something so tasty and nourishing! This soup is definitely more than the sum of its parts.

This is celeriac. Hmmm, not so attractive is it? You might have seen it whilst doing your food shopping and ignored it, or else just stopped and stared at it, marvelling at its ugliness. Either way, I bet it’s not made its way into many of your baskets.

Well I’m here to change that!

It may be lumpy and bumpy but it’s got a great flavour, both delicate and nutty, and works a treat as a base for soup. All it needs is some onion, carrot and garlic to add some sweetness, the essential salt and pepper, and that’s it. Throw it in a blender and you’ve got liquid velvet. Silky smooth and comforting.

I topped mine with a drizzle of almond cream, a smattering of toasted almonds and a sprig or two of fresh parsley but it doesn’t really need any adornment.

Simple Celeriac Soup

Yield: 3-4 Servings

Simple Celeriac Soup

Ingredients

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Small Carrot, diced
1 Medium Onion, diced
2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
Approx 500g/1lb Peeled and cubed celeriac
3-4 C Vegetable Broth
Salt and Pepper to taste
Parsley, Toasted Almonds and Almond Cream* to garnish (optional)

Instructions

* To make almond cream, blend together white almond butter OR blanched almonds with a little water and a splash of apple cider vinegar OR lemon juice.
In a large pot over medium heat sauté the onions and carrots in the oil for 5-10 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and continue to cook, stirring for another minute or two. Add the celeriac and vegetable broth. Bring to boil then reduce to a simmer and allow to cook, covered for approx 15 minutes, or until the celeriac is soft.
Allow to cool for a couple of minutes then, for best results, transfer to a high-powered blender and blend until very smooth. Alternatively, use an immersion blender.
Return to pot, add salt and pepper to taste and warm through again before serving.

http://www.coconutandberries.com/2014/01/08/simple-celeriac-soup/

What’s in your soup pot at the moment?

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Rustic Beetroot Galette

With Christmas and New Year madness all finished, I found myself with a few days of calm before heading back to university. Perfect for me to get back in the kitchen, or so I thought. Then we were met with rain, rain and nothing but. The dark skies meant there was no daylight for photo-taking which now discourages me from making anything fun as I always want to share successes on the blog.

Checking the forecast every hour (I’m a typical weather-obsessed Brit), a little sunshine spelled hope and I waited eagerly to seize those few short hours to snap some pics before the sky clouded over again.

Boy am I glad I did! I would have been upset not to be able to share this one with you as it’s definitely one of my favourites of the recipes I’ve featured on Coconut and Berries.

After the success of my Beetroot & Sweet Potato Salad with Baked Cashew Cheese I’ve been dreaming of pairing beetroot with a similarly creamy component but in a different form. I’ve always loved tarts and pies but am not so experienced with making crusts- though it is something I’d like to practice. A free-form tart or galette, intended to look “rustic”, suits my skills much better, and so that is what this became.

I was thrilled with how delicious the crust turned out . I used nutty buckwheat flour, flecked with rosemary and combined with coconut oil, and baked up it was oh so buttery and…just yum! This is definitely going to see many more fillings in the future.

My beetroot was roasted to bring out its natural sweetness and rounds laid on top of a creamy and tangy almond-based layer to make the perfect pie.

Rustic Beetroot Galette

Yield: 4-6 Servings

Ingredients

Buckwheat Crust:

1-1/2 C Buckwheat flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 C/8T Cold coconut oil
3-5 Tbsp Cold Water

Almond Filling:

3/4 C Ground Almonds/Almond Flour
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Salt
Pepper
1/4 C Water
3-4 Medium Beetroot
1 tsp Olive Oil

Instructions

Roast the beetroot first. I use the tin-foil method- Scrub them clean, wrap loosely in tin foil and roast at 200C/400F for 45mins to 1 hour. Leave until cool enough to handle then peel away the skin using your fingers or a paper towel. The skin should peel away easily. Slice into rounds.
Blend all the ingredients for the almond filling until smooth. Set aside.
Make sure all your ingredients for the crust are cold. In a food processor combine buckwheat flour, salt and rosemary. Add the coconut oil in tablespoons and pulse to cut it in. Don’t over-process, a few larger pieces of coconut oil are fine. Add the water gradually and pulse until it comes together easily with your hands. Shape into a ball.
On a parchment lined baking sheet, roll out the dough into a large circle. Spread the almond filling over the crust, leaving a border of about 2 inches uncovered. Layer the beetroot rounds over the filling.
Gently fold in the edges of the crust. Don’t worry if it breaks a little, just patch up the cracks with your fingers- it is quite delicate. Drizzle a teaspoon of olive oil over the beetroot and bake the galette for 30-40 minutes until the crust is brown and crisp.
Leave to cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

http://www.coconutandberries.com/2014/01/05/rustic-beetroot-galette/

I hope some of you get to try this and love it as much as we did!

Do you have a favourite savoury tart/pie recipe?

Healthy, No-Bake Cranberry Jam Tarts

It’s only just occurred to me that many of you are probably not familiar with jam tarts. They’re very traditional in Britain and I have memories of them as a regular childhood treat, especially at birthday tea parties!

Usually a shortcrust pastry topped with a dab of jam and then baked, I always enjoyed them, especially when filled with my favourite- raspberry jam. You had to be patient and leave them to cool though as the jam would turn molten hot in the oven and you’d burn your tongue if you rushed to dig in!

Even if you’ve never tasted them I’m sure many of you have read Alice in Wonderland and might remember the scene with the Queen of Hearts and her jam tarts?

“The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts all on a summer’s day;

The Knave of Hearts he stole the tarts and took them clean away.

The King of Hearts called for the tarts and beat the Knave full sore

The Knave of Hearts brought back the tarts and vowed he’d steal no more! “

My version is a little different to the norm. I went for a variation on my usual nut and date no-bake tart crust instead of the pastry, adding in some oats to cut the richness a tad. With the crust already being sweet I didn’t want a super sweet filling so tangy cranberries were the perfect choice for my quick “jam”. Lightly sweetened with coconut sugar, maple syrup and orange juice it worked wonderfully in these.

I recommend making a double batch of jam as it’s fabulous with plenty of other things: the perfect accompaniment to your Christmas meal, a lovely topper for pancakes or ice cream, swirled into non-dairy yogurt, and I recently discovered that cranberry and hummus are rather a delicious duo too.

Healthy, No-Bake Cranberry Jam Tarts:

1C Almonds
1/2C Rolled Oats (not quick-cooking)
3/4C Soft Dates
Pinch of Salt

Quick Cranberry Jam:

1 1/2C Fresh OR Frozen Cranberries
2T Maple Syrup
2T Coconut Sugar
1/4C Orange Juice
1/2C (approx) Water
Zest of half an orange
1/2t Vanilla Extract

Using a food processor, blitz the almonds and oats together to form a fairly fine flour. Add the salt and the dates and process until you have a thick mixture which holds together when pinched between finger and thumb. You may need to add a couple of extra dates if it’s too crumbly.

Divide mixture between the 12 holes of a shallow cake/tartlet tin and press firmly in the base and up the sides to form 12 neat tart shells.

Refrigerate or freeze until ready to fill.

For the jam, place all ingredients except vanilla in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer gently for 10-15 minutes, stirring, until the cranberries have all popped and the jam has thickened up. Pour into a jar and refrigerate until cool. (I left mine chunky but blend with an immersion blender if you prefer yours smooth)

Runn a knife around the edges of the tart shells to loosen them and pop them out of the tin. Fill each with a couple of teaspoons of the jam.

Serve at room temperature

Makes 12

I’m submitting this recipe to the weekly link-up, Wellness Weekends.

Anything red and sparkly speaks Christmas to me at the moment so I think these pretty little tarts would be a nice bite-size dessert passed round with Christmas drinks or to accompany your cup of tea on those relaxed afternoons over Christmas.

So tell me, have you had a jam tart before?!

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Apple & Raisin Oaty Breakfast Cookies

I’m back, as promised, with a recipe!

I don’t talk much about breakfast around these parts. A little odd considering I’m a breakfast devotee. I understand that people are busy in the mornings and don’t have a lot of time to put something on the table, let alone eat, but for me breakfast is like lunch and dinner in that I don’t like to have the same thing day in, day out, even if it is easier to do so.

All the same, it tends to be variations on a theme- porridge, smoothies, muffins…pancakes, etc.

These “breakfast cookies” were borne out of my need for variety. They’re made from typical breakfast ingredients- all wholesome, sustaining, good-for-you things, just in a different form to the norm. I mean, who wouldn’t want to eat cookies for breakfast?!

I’ve seen quite a few recipes for breakfast cookies around but none of them were what I was looking for- either filled with sugar and definitely not something I’d want to start my day with, or just a bit too virtuous with no added sweetness or fat. My requirements were that they had to be healthy, satisfying AND tasty.

And so I set out on my mission…The batter looked and tasted good and fortunately the end result didn’t disappoint. After a 30-minute stint in the oven I was greeted with a tray of thick, chewy cookies, just sweet enough and with plenty of goodness to see me through a morning. These are ideal for days when my good intentions fall through and I find myself trying to choke down something whilst getting dressed and packing my bag…I can just grab a couple and run for the bus!

Apple & Raisin Oaty Breakfast Cookies

Yield: 12 Cookies

Apple & Raisin Oaty Breakfast Cookies

Ingredients

Apple & Raisin Oaty Breakfast Cookies:
1 C Unsweetened Apple Purée
1/3 C Almond Butter
3 Tbsp Maple Syrup
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 C Rolled Oats (+ more to decorate)
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
Large pinch of salt (Omit if your almond butter is salted)
1/2 C Almond Meal (Scant 1C almonds ground in a food processor or spice grinder until a fine meal)
2/3 C Raisins (OR substitute other dried fruit/nuts)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, stir apple purée, almond butter, maple syrup and vanilla extract until smooth. In a large bowl, combine oats, cinnamon, salt, almond meal and raisins.
Add wet to dry and stir well so everything is coated.
Using a cookie scoop or 1/4 C measuring cup, scoop batter onto prepared baking sheet. Flatten slightly with moistened fingers and sprinkle with dry oats to decorate.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until lightly browned. Allow to cool before removing from baking sheet

http://www.coconutandberries.com/2013/12/04/apple-raisin-oaty-breakfast-cookies/

Are you a breakfast person? If so, are you happy to eat the same thing every day?

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