Nutella Triple-Swirl Ice Cream

Wow, I haven't posted for a long time! I guess I've just been so busy with school starting again. Maybe it's a bit late in the year for ice cream... nah, it's never to late for ice cream! Just before school started I had an ice cream party with all my friends. It was a lot of fun, plus I love showing off my new recipes! This is my first one, and it's the simplest (yes, really!). The other ones I made were "Sultan's Treasure" (tahini with dried fruit and other things) and another one that I don't have a name for. It's maple-bacon-pecan-brownie-sour apple-coconut swirl. If anyone has any suggestions on what to call it, I'd love to hear them!

I don't have a recipe for the nutella or hazelnut butter, since a quick google search will give you more recipes than you could ever need. I suggest making the hazelnut butter first, removing some of it and using the rest for the nutella. You can easily switch honey for the sugar and coconut milk for dairy milk in any recipe you find. This is not a quick recipe; none of them are, but this is the easiest of the three. (hey, sometimes great things require effort!)

So this is delicious and you should go make it now (seriously, it's like eating a bowl of cold, creamy nutella. How could that not be delicoius?).

Nutella Triple Swirl Ice Cream

Ingredients

4 cups coconut milk
1/2 cup cocoa powder
8 large egg yolks
1 1/4 cups sucanat
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups homemade nutella
1 cup salted, roasted hazelnut butter (optional: slightly sweetened)
Chocolate Swirl:
3 squares unsweetened bakers chocolate
2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 Tbsp honey

1. Melt all the chocolate swirl ingredients in a small pot on the stove top. While making the rest of the ice cream, let this mixture cool so it's still pourable but not hot enough to melt the ice cream.
2. Whisk  the cocoa powder with 1 cup of the coconut milk in a medium pot over medium heat to combine. Add the rest of the coconut milk and mix. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, then remove from the heat.
3. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks until the colour turns lighter. Slowly add the sugar while whisking.
4. Add the cocoa-coconut milk mixture into the eggs very gradually so they don't curdle. Add small amounts at a time.
5. Pour this mixture back into the pot and put over a low heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until it thickens and reaches 170-175 degrees F.
6. Pour the ice cream into a bowl and let it cool at room temperature for 1/2 hour. Stir in the vanilla extract. Put the ice cream in the fridge until it's cool enough not to form condensation on a lid, then cover with a lid. Chill for at least 4 hours, until it reaches 40 degrees F or less.
7. Pour into and ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's directions.
8. Pour the ice cream into a container, alternating layers with the nutella, hazelnut butter, and chocolate. Try to pour the chocolate in thin strips. Swirl everything together with a knife.
9. Freeze until hard. When you serve it, make sure to take it out at least 30 minutes before serving (it takes a while to soften).

Walnut Apricot Chip Ice Cream

I think I've found the perfect dairy-free ice cream base! I got the recipe from this website, and added my own extras. This ice cream is so rich and creamy! If you leave it out for a few minutes, it can even be scooped after being in the freezer! It's not like other dairy-free ice creams, which can be icy and watery, this is the full-on ice cream experience!

I first realized that walnuts, dried apricots and chocolate go well together when I was making chocolate chip oatmeal raisin cookies and realized that I didn't have any raisins or chocolate, so I used dried apricots and carob chips. Oh my, were they ever delicious! The flavours just work so well together! Needless to say, I ate way too much of that batch of cookies. :P

It was a little later that I thought to combine the walnuts and apricots with cocoa nibs instead of carob chips. And since I had ice cream on the brain, this ice cream recipe was born.

 For vegan ice cream, just substitute any liquid sweetener for the honey. If you can get turkish apricots, they are definitely worth the extra cost; they taste so much better! The walnuts can be raw, soaked and dehydrated, or toasted. Soaking nuts makes them healthier, so I soaked and lightly toasted mine. If you don't have/like cocoa nibs, carob chips would make a great substitution, just make sure they're homemade, the store bought ones are full of yucky hydrogenated oils and other icky stuff. One last note: the combination of the cashews and cocoa nibs are slightly reminiscent of mocha flavours. It's wierd that I enjoy that, since I hate coffee! But if you like mocha, that's just another plus to an already delicious ice cream!

Walnut Apricot Chip Ice Cream

1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 dried turkish apricots, chopped
1/2 cocoa nibs
2 cups coconut milk
1 1/2 cups raw cashews
1/4-1/2 cup honey (remember, freezing will make the ice cream less sweet, so use a little more than you think you need)
2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

1. Blend the cashews, coconut milk, honey, vanilla and salt in a blender. Soaking the cashews beforehand in the coconut milk, or blending them into a powder first helps to make this mixture even smoother.
2. Blend for a minute or two, until completely smooth.
3. Taste and add more honey if needed. It should be sweeter than you want the final product to be.
4. Chill the mixture in the fridge for a few hours, the longer the better.

Straight from the ice cream maker

5. Pour into an ice cream maker and make ice cream according to your ice cream maker's instructions.
6. In the last 5 minutes or so, add the walnuts, apricots, and cocoa nibs, making sure the apricots pieces don't stick together.
7. Pour into a container and move to the freezer to freeze until solid (although it makes great soft-serve too!).
8. Take out of the freezer a few minutes before serving so it softens up a bit.
9. Scoop and enjoy!

As you can see, I garnished my ice cream with a sprig of tarragon. The flavour of tarragon works really well with this ice cream! If you want, I would highly recommend adding some fresh tarragon to the blender with the rest of the ice cream ingredients. Or make an ice cream sandwich with these cookies (or a healthier version of that idea). That would taste AMAZING!

Next I think I'll make either a nutella ice cream or a tahini one.

This post was shared at healthy vegan Fridays.

Magenta Dream Salad

A delicious kale salad, plus an orange segmenting tutorial!

This is one of my all-time favourite salads (although I love all salads with fruit, avocado and nuts). It's sweet, slightly creamy, fresh, crunchy, contains jicama, and is an absolutely gorgeous shade of pink!

This also contains kale, which we should all know by know is a powerhouse of vegetable nutrition, and also tastes great in salads after a good massage.

This is my first dinner in my month-long raw food experiment, and it was delicious! I did have to eat about half of it before I was full, but I didn't mind one bit! I know tahini isn't raw (unless you specifically buy raw tahini), but I'm going to allow myself a few small cheats, as long as they're only condiments and I don't have them too often, or too much of them at once.

First of all, if you don't know how to segment an orange, here's how:

first, slice off the top an bottom

then cut off the rind with a knife, cutting in a bit of a curve to
get all the pith

your orange should know look like this

cut the orange out from between the membrane

 I usually like to cut the orange segments in half so more bites have orange in them, but this is optional.

Magenta Dream Salad

Ingredients

2 bunches kale, thinly sliced
1 fennel bulb, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
2 medium-smallish beets, grated
1/2 small jicama, cut however you want (I can never figure out the best way to cut jicama for salad, so just do whatever you think is best. I cut it into flat squares)

use about this much ginger, or more

3 oranges, 1 zested
1 tsp grated ginger
1 avocado, thinly sliced, slices cut into quarters, the riper it is the creamier the salad will be
2 Tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
pinch of salt
pepper, to taste
1 tsp honey, optional
2 Tbsp tahini
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (toast them if you're not eating raw)

Directions

1. Whisk together the vinegar, olive oil, tahnini, salt, pepper, honey (if using), ginger, and orange zest.

2. Put the kale in a bowl or on a large cutting board. Pour the dressing over it.

3. Cut the segments out of the oranges over the kale, so the juice falls on it. Once all the segments are cut, squeeze the remaining pulpy stuff so the juice falls on the kale, then discard.

4. Using your hands, squeeze the kale and mix it up with dressing; "massage" it.

5. Toss the kale with the fennel, beets, jicama, orange segments, and walnuts.

6. Eat it right away, or allow to marinate for stronger flavours and softer kale. Kale salads keep well without turning limp and soggy like lettuce salads.

7. Enjoy!

before tossing

after tossing

This post has been shared with Healthy Vegan Fridays.

Guacamole Zucchini Noodles

The main reason I bought a mandoline was to make zucchini noodles. And I have to say, they are amazing! They taste great, and they have that noodle-y feel, and they're healthy! What's not to love? Spiralizers and julienne peelers also work, but I wanted a multi-purpose tool. Too bad it's extremely dull and can't cut much. Oh well. I guess that's what I get for buying the cheapest mandoline available. Makes great zoodles, though.

I wanted to keep these raw for the health benefits. I also thought a creamy sauce would taste much better than a tomato-based one, and wouldn't be as watery. I've eaten spaghetti squash with tomato sauce, and trust me, it isn't good. So I just tossed the noodles with some leftover guacamole and served it with tomatoes and leftover pork for a delicious and super-quick dinner. The creaminess of the guacamole, the fresh, sweet, and acidic flavour of the tomatoes, and the rich, crispy, salty meatiness of the pork went wonderfully together to create this delicious dish!

If you want to make this dish raw and/or vegan, just leave out the pork, it'll still be good!

Zucchini Noodles with Guacamole

makes 1 serving

Ingredients

3 very small zucchini, cut into noodles

1/2 avocado

lime juice, to taste

salt, to taste

1 tomato, cut into thin wedges

cooked pork meat, preferably fatty and crispy, chopped and heated

Directions

1. Mash the avocado with a fork or puree in a food processor, for a creamier sauce.

2. Add lime juice and salt to taste. Mix it all together.

3. Toss the zucchini noodles with the guacamole.

4. Garnish with the tomato and top with the pork.

5. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Cream

I have and obsession with peanut butter. I know it's not very healthy (peanuts contain toxic substances), but I just can't stop myself. It's sooooooo good! And peanut butter and jelly is a match made in Heaven. So peanut butter and jelly ice cream was obviously something that I came up with right away when thinking about what ice cream flavours I should try, and just had to make it. I'm glad I did, because it was utterly amazing! Besides, my peanut butter's organic, so it's not that bad. ;) This is for all the peanut butter addicts out there: eat it in moderation, but when you do eat it, be sure to savor every last sweet, creamy, toasty, fruity, peanut buttery bite!

Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Berry Jelly Swirl

Jelly

2 cups mixed berries, fresh or frozen

1 Tbsp honey

2 tsp arrowroot powder

water

1. Put the berries, honey and a splash of water in a saucepan and simmer until the berries start to break apart and the liquid reduces. Keep cooking until the mixture starts to thicken. This may take a while.

2. Puree either with a stick mixer or in a blender. You can strain this if you want, to remove the seeds, or just leave them in. Put this mixture back in the pot over low heat.

3. Mix the arrowroot powder with warm water in a small bowl (similar to a cornstarch slurry). Pour this into the berries slowly, stirring constantly. If you notice the mixture becoming thick, you can stop pouring in the arrowroot. If the mixture is still too thin, make more slurry and add it. Remember that it will thicken as it cools.

 4. Allow mixture to cool.

Ice Cream

3 cups organic full fat coconut milk, chilled

3/4 cup raw honey

3/4 cup smooth organic peanut butter (no sugar added)

1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt (or more, I usually use twice this much because I like salty peanut butter)

1. Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth and well blended.

2. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturers directions.

Peanut Butter Chunks

3 tablespoons coconut oil

6 tablespoons creamy peanut butter (I use lightly salted)

4 tablespoons Honey (don’t sub sugar here, you want soft chunks)

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

pinch of salt

1.In a small saucepan over a low heat, stir and combine all ingredients.

2. Cook until melted. Keep it slightly warm, because it's harder to add to the ice cream when cold and thick.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Cream

peanut butter ice cream, straight from the ice cream maker

jelly

peanut butter chunks, warm

1. Put about one third of the ice cream in a container.

2. Add half of the jelly, or less if you want a higher peanut butter-to-jelly ratio.

3. Pour another third of the ice cream over the jelly.

4. Add the rest of the jelly.

5. Pour the rest of the ice cream over the jelly.

6. Pour the peanut butter chunk mixture over the ice cream. Try to spread it in as thin a layer as possible.

7. Close the lid and freeze the ice cream for about 30 minutes, or until the peanut butter chunk mixture has hardened.

8. Break up the peanut butter chunk mixture into chunks with a knife (I actually find this easier to do with my hands, but it's really messy that way. You can make smaller chunks, though).

9. Swirl everything together with a knife, making sure to reach the bottom to spread some jelly there too. Just be careful not to swirl too much, or the colour will be muddled and it won't freeze as nicely.

I over-swirled this a bit, but it was still delicious!

Spinach, "Rice", and Egg Soup

This is a very simple, yummy soup. The inspiration comes from a recipe in the De Luca's cookbook. Enjoy!

Spinach, "Rice", and Egg Soup

Ingredients

9 cups stock (chicken is best)

1 cauliflower, riced (chopped in a food processor until it's the texture of rice)

1 Tbsp olive oil

4 cups spinach, coarsely chopped

4 eggs

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

fresh grated nutmeg, to taste

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Bring the stock to a boil in a large soup pot.

2. Add the cauliflower and simmer until tender.

3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan and cook the spinach until wilted. Set aside to cool.

4. Whisk the eggs with the nutritional yeast, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

5. Mix in the spinach.

6. Stir the egg mixture into the stock. Let the soup heat up for a few minutes.

7. Taste and adjust seasonings. 

8. Serve with a sprinkle of extra nutritional yeast, if desired.

Chinese Beansprout Salad

There are often times, usually a few days before the next grocery shopping trip is planned, were I start running out of fresh vegetables. At these times, beansprouts can be a lifesaver. I sprout my own, so the bag of dried beans is always sitting ready for me in my cupboard. It takes a bit of pre-planning, but beansprouts really help to stretch the last bits of fresh produce in my fridge until more can be bought. Did I mention that beansprouts are really healthy? Yeah, they contain protein, they're low in calories, and they've got tons of enzymes. Raw foodists love them because they're the most "live" food you can eat. (Unless you eat a live bug, but I don't think anyone really wants to do that on a regular basis.)

This is one way I enjoy beansprouts. They're also really good with some leftover roasted winter squash and peas.

Chinese Beansprout Salad

1 cup mung beansprouts

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1 carrot, grated

1/2 cup sugar snap peas, chopped

1 tsp rice wine vinegar

1 tsp organic tamari, nama shoyu, or coconut aminos

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger (or less, to taste)

pinch of red pepper flakes

optional: a few grinds of pepper (I like to put pepper in everything)

1. Whisk together the tamari, vinegar, oil, ginger, red pepper flakes, and optional pepper.

2. Combine the beansprouts, carrot, bell pepper, and sugar snap peas.

3. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine.

Coconut Lime Ice Cream

I wanted to call this lime sherbet, but it's not extremely sour, it's not lime green (ironic, I know), and it's creamier than most sherbets. This is why I decided to call it ice cream. This is just another one of coconut milk's incredible advantages; it doesn't curdle!

Since it's getting warmer and I haven't used my ice cream maker nearly as much as I've wanted to, I'm planning on trying out a lot of different ice cream flavours this summer. I'll try to post an ice cream recipe every 1-2 weeks.

Coconut Lime Ice Cream

3 cups full-fat coconut milk

2 egg yolks

zest and juice of 3 limes

1/2 avocado

pinch of salt

1/3 cup maple syrup (or more, this doesn't make a super-sweet ice cream)

1. Throw everything in a blender.

2. Blend.

3. Follow the instructions for your ice cream maker to freeze the ice cream.

4. Put the ice cream into the freezer for a few hours to harden it up.

5. Devour your healthy, delicious ice cream!

St. Patrick's Day Very Green Veggie Saute

It's not St. Patrick's Day anymore, but I'll share the recipe anyway! It's not even much of a recipe really; the great thing about sautes is that you can throw just about anything in them and it'll taste great! Vegetable sautes are quick, healthy, yummy, versatile and very flexible. Any kind of green vegetable will work, but these are the ones I used:

Green Veggie Saute

Ingredients

1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 stalk of celery, sliced
1 small head of broccoli, chopped
1 bunch kale, sliced
herbs, fresh and dried, to taste (I used green onions, parsley, and dried sage, thyme and marjoram)
salt and pepper, to taste
fat to saute in

Directions

1. Heat the fat in a saute pan to medium heat.

2. Add the onions. Saute until just light brown.

3. Add the garlic and celery, cook for a few minutes.

4. Add the zucchini and broccoli. Cover and cook until almost tender. Add some water or broth if the vegetables are in danger of burning.

5. Add the kale, herbs, salt and pepper. Stir everything until the kale is wilted and the rest of the vegetables are tender.

6. Serve, either as a light main course (probably for lunch), a side dish, or as a more filling main course topped with meat of fish.

Who needs neon green cupcakes when you can have something so delicious and healthy for St. Patrick's Day? Load up on the greens, any day of the year!

Butternut Squash Puree

This is so simple and easy, and it's super delicious! I'm definitely going to make this again; it was so good! Maybe I'll try some variations, roasted red pepper and thyme instead of the ginger? It's a pretty basic recipe, so if inspiration hits, feel free to add any additions that sound good to you. Save the seeds from the butternut squash, they're great toasted and used as a garnish.

Coconut Ginger Butternut Squash Puree 

Ingredients

1/2 butternut squash, cut into small squares (the bottom half)
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2-inch knob of ginger, chopped; or 1/2 Tbls dried ginger
1 cup coconut milk
salt pepper, to taste
coconut oil, melted

Directions

Not all of my squash fit into my mini
food processor, so I just mashed
it up and added it in at the end.

1. Set you oven to 450*F.

2. Toss the butternut squash cubes with salt, pepper, and coconut oil to coat. Roast in the oven for about an hour, or until tender. (Mine were all piled on top of each other in a small dish, so they might not take so long if spread out on a cookie sheet)

3. Meanwhile, saute the onion over medium heat in some more coconut oil.

4. When the onion is lightly browned, add the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute or two. (If using dried, just add the ginger to the food processor with the rest of the ingredients)

5. Put the onion mixture into a food processor along with the coconut milk. Puree for a few seconds. 

6. Add the roasted squash and puree until smooth. Taste, and add more salt, pepper, garlic, or powdered ginger if needed.  

Done! I also added some lacto-fermented carrots, as I'm always
trying to fit more into my diet, but I don't really like the taste.

Delicious and filling when served over broccoli and garnished
with the toasted squash seeds.

  I served this over broccoli, but I bet it would be good on top of any cooked vegetable, fish or chicken, cooled and served as a dip, as a dressing for kale salad (okay, that sounds delicious. I'm going to have to try it!), with some curry powder as a curry sauce, or even thinned with some broth and served as soup. Or a sauce for casserole. Hmm, that would be interesting. Strange, but could be good. Anyway, it's versatile, so innovate! Enjoy!