No Flour Dessert Crepe

A dessert that at least has some protein! Or a Sunday breakfast.
Unfortunately, it was too good to bother with clicking picks ;)

The Ingredients

1. 2 eggs
2. 2 squares of dark chocolate -- at least 70% cocoa. I used 85%
3. 3 handful berries -- fresh or frozen
4. 1 pod cardamom
5. some fresh squeezed orange juice
6. some lime juice
7. a pinch of salt

The Method

1. Break the eggs in a bowl and whisk them
2. Open the cardamom pod and grind out the stuff inside. Add it to the eggs.
3. Heat a flat pan, grease it with either butter or your choice of fat.
4. Pour the eggs in. 
5. Cook both sides until done and plate it.
6. Melt the square of dark chocolate until it liquefies. (If you are too lazy to do this, you can also just put the dark chocolate on the freshly made crepe and fold it so it melts in the heat)
7. Pour the melted chocolate onto one half of the crepe you just made.
8. In another pot add the orange juice, lime juice, salt and the berries and gently heat
9. Use only enough juices to make the berries "come together" but not so much that the mixture becomes runny
10. Spoon this mixture into the melted chocolate side of the crepe.
11. Fold over and enjoy!

Variations

1. If you want more sugar you could add stevia or sugar to the berry "reduction"
2. You can also use pectin to thicken
3. If you want compote consistency, you could use -- well, compotes!
4. Another way to make things sweeter is to add a ripe banana or dates
5. If you want chocolaty-er, just melt more chocolate!

References:

1. Compote recipes: 
• http://allrecipes.com/recipe/summer-berry-compote/
• http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/blueberry-compote-recipe/index.html
2. Crepe recipes:
• http://allrecipes.com/recipe/basic-crepes/

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Cottage Cheese Ice-Cream -- An ice cream that could actually be good for you

Summer, ice-cream. They kinda go hand in hand.
But if you are the health conscious types... hmmm well...
But, what if there was a healthy way to eat your ice-cream?

Here is the recipe:

1. 1 tub of cottage cheese -- low fat, no fat, full fat -- choice is yours
2. Add to this 3 or 4 tsp of unsweetened cocoa powder
3. Add stevia to taste -- go real easy on this, because it is very sweet.
4. Give it all a whir in your favorite food processor. Until the texture is mousse like
5. 
6. Use any freezer safe container. Pre-chill it in the freezer for 5 minutes or so, if you like. 
7. Fill the good stuff in it.
8. Freeze until done. If you are really finicky you can take it out of the freezer in 20 minutes an churn it again before returning it to the freezer.
9. 
10. You may have to thaw it in the fridge before serving.
11. Serve with berry coulis for add fun!

Closer look at the texture

Cooking the berry coulis

Enjoy!

Nutrition information:

If you don't add the berry coulis, it is pretty much what is in the cottage cheese you put in. Stevia does not really add anything.

Other flavors to try:

1. Mango ice cream -- add some ripe mangoes instead of the cocoa powder -- no additional sweetener necessary
2. Pina Colada ice-cream -- replace the cocoa powder with frozen pineapple + frozen coconut and maaaay be a hint of stevia.
3. Berry ice-cream -- your choice of frozen berries replaces the cocoa.
4. To boost protein content, add eggs or protein powder.

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Black Bean, Beetroot, Almond, Chocolate Brownie

This is my take two on black bean-beetroot brownies. Take one is here. This husband likes this version better than the previous.

Ingredients

1. 1.5 cups Cooked black beans, mushed up in a blender 
2. 2 cups Soaked and ground up almonds 
3. 1.5 cups Beetroot, cooked and ground up
4. 1 cup Dutch processed unsweetend chocolate powder
5. 4 Eggs
6. Stevia to taste
7. Oil for lining pan
8. A pinch of salt
9. Baking powder, a pinch
10. Baking soda, a pinch

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix 1 through 4 together
3. Break the four eggs into the mixture and incorporate
4. Add stevia and salt and taste to make sure they are in the right proportions
5. Line a 9"x9" pan with aluminum foil and dribble some oil on it
6. Bake for 45 minutes or until done.

Made 25,  2"x2" brownie. Texture was almost crisp rather than moist.
Total Macro Nutrients:
Protein: 118 gms
Carbs: 119 gms
Fat: 167.9 gms

Macro Nutrients per piece:
Protein: 4.3 gms
Carbs: 4.76 gms
Fat: 6.716 gms

For a dessert, I suppose this is not too bad. Top with berries or berry compote for added flavor/style/fun

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Black Bean Beetroot Chocolate Brownie -- Dracula's Wedding Cake

Guess what? Blogspot's decided to allow me to post pics again! Whoo-hoo!
So the blogiverse has been abuzz with black bean-beetroot brownies. This is my version of it.

It has such an interesting color, I might even call it Dracula's wedding cake and serve it for Halloween!

The Ingredients:

• 3 cups cooked black beans
• 2 cups roasted beets (peeled)
• 8.3 oz (slightly less than this, actually) dark chocolate bar (I used 72% pound plus from Trader Joes and nearly used half a bar) melted.
• 3 eggs
• 2 Tbsp cacao nibs
• 4 Tbsp stevia powder
• Handful of chocolate chips (optional)

The Method:

• I already had roasted beets in the freezer. If you are going to roast them afresh for this recipe, just heat the oven to about 350F, take a pan with a little water in it and add your beets in them. Plop it in the oven for about an hour. The beets are done when the skin looks all wrinkled and a fork will go through it easily
• Remove from oven, let cool and peel it. 
• Pre-heat the oven to 350F
• Take 3 cups of black beans (pre cooked-- preferably in a pressure cooker until soft) put in a blender and blend until it looks like smooth hummus
• Remove it from blender and blend the beets the same way (without water) with the cacao nibs.
• Transfer both pulps to a bowl and break three eggs into it. Mix well.
• Add stevia and mix well.
• Melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave -- I just used my microwave setting for melting chocolate and it came out fine.
• Dribble the molten chocolate into the "batter" and mix well again.
• Taste and see if you need more sweetness. If you do, add more stevia. 
• Line a square baking tray with wax paper or grease it.
• Transfer the batter into the tray and bake for 40 mins.
• Remove the brownie and let cool.

Notes:

• The above method left the brownie a little dry. I might add some butter (about 1/2 cup may be) in future.

References:

• http://www.neverhomemaker.com/2013/02/red-velvet-black-bean-brownies.html

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Coconut Milk, Chia Seeds Vegan "Paal Paayasam"

If you are trying to do away with dairy and reducing your grain consumption; but you still want a paal paayasam (Southern Indian milk-rice pudding) fix, this is a recipe for you.

Stuff you need:

3/4 of a can Coconut milk, rich creamy (not the stuff you get in cartons).
1/4 cup chia seeds
1 cardamom pod
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (the real stuff not fake)
Stevia to taste (remember stevia is pretty sweet, so taste as you add).

What to do:

Take a clean glass bottle with a lid
Pour the coconut milk into the bottle
Add the chia seeds a little at a time and stir around. (They tend to clump easily. If this happens, you can fish the clumps out and break them up with a spoon).
Break the cardamom pod and crush the cardamom "seeds"
Add the teaspoon of vanilla extract to the mixture.
Add this to the bottle.
Add stevia to taste
Close the lid and shake well. Really well.
Check to see if you have chia seed clumps.
Put it in the fridge for about two hours.
Enjoy your "paal payasam"!
Garnish with cashews, almonds, coconut flakes or saffron.

So next festival that calls for paal paayasam, you have a healthy option!
No pictures, sorry. Apparently I have exceeded Google's quota on pictures. So unless I figure out how to link pictures from a Flickr account, there will be no pictures in this blog!


Notes:

• Inspired by chia seed pudding recipe: http://www.thecurvycarrot.com/2013/01/22/coconut-almond-chia-seed-pudding/
• Native Forest's organic coconut milk (http://www.edwardandsons.com/native_shop_coconut.itml) comes in BPA free cans and is awesome!
• Chia seeds have Omega-3 fatty acids (ALA). Here is more on Chia seeds and its nutritional benefits.

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