Appetizer Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Coconut and Berries

Chunky Chickpea Dip with Roasted Lemon & Tomatoes

I didn’t think it could ever happen, but it did. I got sick of hummus.

I am still in full agreement with fellow blogger and cookbook author, Dreena Burton, that “hummus is a food group”. It just turns out that you can have too much of a good thing .

When this whole candida saga began I was a little clueless about how to replace my typically fruit-heavy breakfasts with savoury and preferably grain-free options. I found my saviour in hummus and ate it in abundance with veggie sticks and raw crackers every morning without fail. I’d then go on and eat the same for lunch.

It did briefly cross my mind that I might turn into a chickpea, or at least turn orange from all the carrots I was eating for dipping (!) but I burnt out on it before I noticed any change in my skin colour…

I found alternative meal options and hummus got the boot.

However, after several weeks apart, I eventually began to miss my old friend. This chunky chickpea dip is my way of easing back into hummus world.

Warm chickpeas are gently crushed with olive oil and tossed with baby tomatoes and whole lemon slices, roasted to mellow their sharpness and bring out their sweet flavour. A sprinkle of fresh parsley and toasted cumin seeds seal the Middle-Eastern deal.

Hummus-esque but not hummus.

I loved this piled onto raw crackers- these from Pura Vida are especially tasty. But this would be delicious on toasted bread as well or scooped up with crunchy lettuce leaves. Recipe Card

Chunky Chickpea Dip with Roasted Lemon & Tomatoes

2014-02-03 11:54:53

Serves 4

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Ingredients

1 1/2C Well-cooked chickpeas, freshly cooked (see note for canned chickpeas)
1C Baby plum or cherry tomatoes, halved
1t Olive oil
1/4t Fine salt
1/2 Lemon, sliced into half moons
1T Lemon juice
2T Olive oil
Handful of fresh parley, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
3/4t Cumin seeds

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F
Mix the tomatoes with the teaspoon of olive oil and the salt. Place on a lined baking tray, cut-side up. Roast for 10 minutes, add the lemon slices and cook for a further 20 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
Toast the cumin seeds in a small pan for 1 minute, until fragrant, then lightly crush in a pestle and mortar or the flat of a knife.
While the chickpeas are still warm, add to a bowl along with the olive oil and lemon juice and gently mash with a potato masher. You want to keep plenty of texture.
Stir through the roasted lemon slices and tomatoes, fresh parsley and cumin seeds. Season to taste.
Serve at room temperature or cold with crackers or crusty bread.

Notes

- If using canned chickpeas or chickpeas that have already been cooled, simmer in a pan of boiling water for 5 minutes or so until soft. Drain and then proceed to gently mash.

Adapted from Waitrose magazine

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

I’m submitting this recipe to the weekly link-ups, Wellness Weekends and Healthy Vegan Fridays

Have you got sick of any of your favourite foods from over-doing them?

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Chickpea Salad Stuffed Avocados

Gosh, two weeks into January already! How time flies. How is everyone doing on their goals for the New Year? Hopefully if you have made resolutions then they’re healthy and realistic .

I like to think I eat pretty well most of the time but finding what makes me feel best is definitely a journey. If you’ve been reading you’ll know that I’ve been eschewing sugar and sweeteners of any kind for some time now. I don’t think this will be a permanent change (at least I hope not!) but it has given me the opportunity to assess how much I was eating and realize that, even if the sugar was of the “healthy” kind and a lot of it from fruit, that amount wasn’t working for my body. Some people thrive on lots of fruit but I’ve been feeling better eating more savoury foods and a greater amount of fat and protein.

This was a light lunch I put together and exactly the kind of food I’m enjoying at the moment. I’ve been eating probably an avocado a day for the past week! I don’t know how I didn’t use to like them, they’re just so darn delicious. I’m sure you know they’re overflowing with nutrients too.

Along with chickpeas for a concentrated source of protein and several other flavour-boosting ingredients, this salad is tasty, nourishing and sustaining.

I thought the little “boats” looked cute stuffed with the salad but if you’re not concerned with presentation then you could just add a big scoop on top of your salad or eat it as a dip with your favourite crackers or corn chips.

Chickpea Salad Stuffed Avocados

Yield: 2 Servings

Chickpea Salad Stuffed Avocados

Ingredients

1 C Cooked chickpeas (well-cooked) (RAW option: Use sprouted chickpeas)
1 Small clove of garlic, minced (optional)
1/2 C Grated carrot
1 Green onion, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp Olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp Lime juice
1 tsp Tamari
Dash of cayenne pepper
Black pepper
1 Large OR 2 small avocados
1/4 C Fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Instructions

Roughly mash the chickpeas in a bowl using a strong fork. I like to leave about half whole.
Stir in garlic through to pepper.
Slice the avocado(s) in half, remove the pit and scoop out the flesh from each half with a spoon.
Dice the avocado flesh into small cubes. Mash half of the avocado into the chickpea mixture then gently fold in the rest along with the fresh coriander.
Spoon the mixture into the empty avocado skins and serve immediately.
Serves 2

http://www.coconutandberries.com/2014/01/13/chickpea-salad-stuffed-avocados/

I’m sharing this recipe at the “Clean Start” potluck party over at Pure Ella and the weekly link-up, Wellness Weekends.

What fruit or vegetable are you loving right now?

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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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Sweet Potato, Red Lentil & Sesame Patties with Asian-style Cabbage Slaw

It’s seemed as if I haven’t had much time on my hands lately and it makes me sad that I haven’t been creating nice things to share with you all! This weekend, today was a dedicated work day, leaving yesterday free for me to spend as I pleased. Clearly I took the chance to indulge in a little kitchen play-time!

I didn’t have any clear-cut ideas of what I wanted to make other than that sweet potatoes were to be involved, but a little experimenting actually produced a rather yummy result. Another lesson learnt from cooking: sometimes it’s better to go with the flow, forget the plans and trust your instincts !

Fortunately, I’m also getting better at this cooking note-taking thing so I can actually pass this recipe on to you and remind myself of how to make this meal again too.

I had also picked up a couple of rather lovely looking cabbages at the market yesterday morning, again with no plans for them, so decided to crack into them straight away and made a simple Asian-style slaw. You can’t go wrong with a crunchy, flavourful salad, whatever the season or occasion. Not in my opinion anyway.

Asian-Style Cabbage Slaw

2014-10-14 07:49:27

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Asian Cabbage Slaw

1/2 Red cabbage, shredded
1/2 White cabbage, shredded (Approx 6-8 C shredded vegetables)
2 Spring onions, julienned
Pinch of chili flakes (optional)
Juice of 1 lime (Approx 2 Tbsp)
1” Fresh ginger, minced
3 Tbsp Brown rice vinegar
1 Tbsp tamari
1/2 tsp Coconut sugar (or other sweetener)
1 tsp Sesame oil
1 Tbsp Neutral oil
1/2 C Chopped toasted cashews (optional)

Instructions

Combine the shredded cabbage and green onions in a large bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients and mix well. This salad benefits from sitting at room temperature for a while to allow the flavours to mingle and the cabbage to slightly soften. I added some toasted cashews to the leftovers and would recommend it!

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

Back to the main kitchen experiment, or Sweet Potato, Red Lentil & Sesame Patties as I’m naming the result. These are very straightforward but a little fancier and prettier than your average baked sweet potato. Some extra protein and sturdiness comes in the form of red lentils and chickpea flour and a generous sprinkle of sesame seeds and green onions adds more flavour. Served alongside a little lime spiked non-dairy yogurt you’ve got a fun appetizer, or with the cabbage slaw too, a full meal.

Sweet Potato, Red Lentil & Sesame Patties with Asian-style Cabbage Slaw

Yield: 10-12

Ingredients

2 Medium Sweet potatoes, baked in their skins (to yield 1 1/2C Mashed)
1/2 C Red lentils
1/2 C Chickpea flour
2 Tbsp Sesame seeds, toasted
3-4 Green onions, chopped
Salt & pepper

Instructions

Rinse the red lentils well then add to a pan with 1 C water. Bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, or until water is all absorbed. Set aside to cool.
Remove sweet potatoes from their skins and mash well in a bowl with the red lentils. Add the chickpea flour, toasted sesame seeds, green onions and seasoning and stir well to combine.
Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up a little as the mixture will likely be very soft.
Preheat oven to 180C/350F, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a large cookie scoop or 1/4 C measuring cup, scoop spoonfuls of the mixture onto the baking sheet. Using moistened fingers, flatten into patties and smooth the tops if necessary.
Bake for approx 25 minutes until the surfaces are dry. Leave to cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheets as they are a little fragile straight out of the oven. They firm up further once cooled.
Serve with non-dairy yogurt with a squeeze of lime, or your favourite dip.

http://www.coconutandberries.com/2013/12/01/sweet-potato-red-lentil-sesame-patties-with-asian-style-cabbage-slaw/

Wishing you all a happy December!

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Review & Giveaway: Super Healthy Snacks and Treats

“More than 60 easy recipes for energizing, delicious snacks free from gluten, dairy, refined sugar and eggs”. Sounds pretty good doesn’t it?

Well it is! “Super Healthy Snacks and Treats”, published earlier this year by Ryland Peters & Small, was written by Jenna Zoe, the founder of Foods to Love, the nutrition and recipe blog and online healthy products store. I discovered Jenna and her book via Instagram and was really excited to get my hands on a copy. It’s especially fantastic to see a UK-authored book of this kind. It seems the plant-based, healthy living scene is finally catching on here!

Facing nutrition information overload, I’m sure something a lot of us can relate to, Jenna set out to find a simple way of eating which left her feeling good. Her criteria for the foods she was going to eat were that:

- They had to be natural, whole foods that were minimally processed
- She had to love how they tasted.
- They had to suit her system. She paid close attention to what made her feel best.

The result of the experiment is this book! Jenna hopes to inspire us to make our own healthy eating guidelines and feel empowered to take the best care of ourselves.

All the dishes in the book are packed with nutrition, not to mention taste, colour and fun!

Most of the recipes are very easy to make with a few longer ones which look a little extra fancy, ideal for special occasions. I was familiar with almost all the ingredients and don’t think any listed are particularly uncommon, especially if you already avoid dairy and refined sugars and flours and are used to alternatives.

As well as the recipes there’s lots of useful information in here: a guide to essential ingredients and substitutions, tips and tricks, a how to use the book feature and Jenna’s “principles of healthy snacking”.

The recipe chapters are divided into Breakfasts, Power Snacks, Party Snacks, Dips & Dippers, Sweet Bites & Cookies & Bakes so there’s something for any time of the day.

Each recipe is accompanied by a little intro, where you’ll find more nuggets of useful info, and beautiful pictures which will make you want to get in the kitchen pronto!

This here is one of the insanely delicious Raw Mint Chocolate Tartlets. I don’t need to tell you again of my love for raw desserts but this one is honestly one of the best I’ve had. Even better is that they take less than 10 minutes to put together and only need 15 minutes to set. They are very rich so I’d recommend sharing one!

The publishers have generously allowed me to reprint this recipe here for you all to try immediately:

Raw Mint Chocolate Tartlets:

(Makes 4)

145g/1C Almonds
135g/3/4C Dates, stoned
2T Unsweetened Desiccated Coconut, OR more almonds
a pinch of salt
2t Coconut Oil

Mint Chocolate Filling

(to fill 2 tarts) *Note, the book also lists a key lime filling to fill the other 2 tart shells. Either double the filling for 4 tarts or halve the crust mixture for 2)

1 Large Banana
60ml/1/4C Coconut Oil
60ml/1/4C Pure Maple Syrup
40g/1/3C Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
6 Fresh Mint Leaves OR 1/2t Mint Extract

Put the almonds in a food processor and blitz until crumbly. Add the dates, desiccated coconut, salt and coconut oil and pulse until a smooth mixture forms. Remove the dough from the processor and divide it into 4. Press each portion into a tartlet mould so that it neatly lines the base and sides of the mould. Ideally you want the tartlet cases to be about 1cm/1/2inch thick all the way around, with plenty of room for the filling. Don’t worry if you have a little extra dough- you can roll this into bite-size energy balls and save for a healthy snack later on.

For the filling, make sure the coconut oil is liquid. If it isn’t put it in a saucepan over low heat and allow to melt. Allow to cool completely, otherwise the hot oil will start to cook the other ingredients in the filling,

Place the filling ingredients in the food processor, one set at a time, and blitz until smooth. Divide each filling between 2 tartlet cases and freeze for at least 15 minutes to set.

Raw tarts will keep, in the freezer, for up to 2 weeks, so they’re a great make-ahead option for tea and dinner parties.

Next up, Protein Pancakes. If there is a pancake recipe in any new cookbook I get then that will most likely be the first I try! These are made from gluten-free flour and a dose of vegan protein powder and were light and fluffy but very filling too. I’ll be making these regularly.

I like to cover a range of sections when reviewing a cookbook so thought I’d make something savoury to complement my sweet choices. A batch of some kind of dip in the fridge is always useful and there are several in the book to choose from. I opted for the Zucchini Hummus which is rich and satisfying, despite not having chickpeas in. It’s also a good alternative for those who have trouble digesting beans.

Along with the hummus I served some veggies and another one from the book, the Almond-Flax Crackers. These are so so scrumptious and put conventional cardboard-like crackers to shame. They’re completely grain-free so very nutrient-dense and with lots of flavour so I’d happily eat them on their own instead of crisps. I would definitely recommend doubling the batch as there’s no way this recipe serves the 8 specified!

There isn’t one recipe in the book that doesn’t appeal but I’ve somehow shortlisted a few for my “must try very soon” list! The Breakfast Salad, Creole Cauliflower, Sticky Carrot Bites and Baby Gem Lettuce Wraps with Homemade Sweet Chilli Sauce.

I hope you’re as excited about this book as I am and I’m thrilled to have one copy to GIVEAWAY to a very lucky reader. To enter, do any one or all of the following things and leave a comment for each letting me know that you have done so. The more you do the more chances to win you have! I am sending the book personally so this giveaway is open WORLDWIDE!

**GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED**

1. Leave a comment on this post
2. “Like” Coconut and Berries on Facebook
3. Subscribe to Coconut and Berries by email
4. “Follow” me on Twitter
5. “Follow” @FoodstoLove on Twitter
6. “Follow” @RylandPeters on Twitter
7. Tweet about the giveaway and post the url in the comments.

Giveaway ends Thursday 4th December 12am GMT. Winner will be picked randomly and contacted by email within 48 hours of the closing time.

“Super Healthy Snacks and Treats” is available from Amazon.com and Amazon.uk as well as through Jenna’s site “Foods to Love”

Disclaimer: I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes, but, as always, all opinions are my own.

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P.S. Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends for tomorrow!