Raw Carrot Cake Balls with Pineapple Cashew Cream

Happy Easter everyone!! I love Easter! I love celebrating and thanking God for the sacrificial gift of His son on the cross in payment for the sins of all man, mine included. I love that the sun is shining and spring is in the air, and I love being with my family.

We have some serious allergies in this family, plus a vegan (that's me)! Allergies include eggs, dairy, wheat, corn, yeast, citrus, soy, peanuts, and about 35 other things! I wanted to make something sweet, Easter-y and allergy friendly. I give you: Raw Carrot Cake Balls with Pineapple Cashew Cream.

Raw Carrot Cake Balls 

Ingredients:
2 Cups dried dates - pitted
3 Tbl coconut oil (softened - I just put it in a glass cup and set it on the hot oven for 3-4 mins)
2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (look for this in the bulk section)

Process:
 Throw dates and coconut oil in the food processor. Blend until fairly smooth. Put in a medium bowl and add shredded carrots and cinnamon. Take around 2 tsp of mixture and roll into a ball. Gently roll the ball in shredded coconut to coat. Refrigerate.

Pineapple Cashew Cream

Ingredients:
1 cup raw cashews (soaked in water for 1 hr or more- if more, refrigerate)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup pineapple chunks
2 Tbl pineapple juice

Process:
Put all ingredients in the blender. Blend until smooth and creamy. If it is hard to blend, add a little bit (1 tsp) of pineapple juice at a time until it blends. refrigerate for at least one hour before serving to help become more solid.

Serve cake balls with cashew cream on the side.

Enjoy!

 ♥ E

Hummus Pizza

Hummus Pizza 

BASE SOCCA:
1 1/2 cups garbanzo (chickpea) bean flour
1 1/2 cups water
1 T olive oil
1/2  tsp salt

HUMMUS:

1 cup cooked garbanzo beans or 1 can (rinsed and drained) 

2 Tbl olive oil 

1 tsp (1 clove) minced garlic

2 Tbl lemon juice

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 Tbl Italian seasoning 

2 tsp paprika

Toppings:
1 Tomato (diced)

1/3 cup Kalamata olives (halved)

1/2 cup chopped spinach 

1/2 cucumber  (sliced and halved)
1/4 cup fresh basil (chopped)

Process: Mix all socca ingredients in a container that can be covered or has a lid. Let the mixture sit for one hour to overnight (if sitting over night put in fridge). Heat the oven to 500 degrees. Drop a tsp of coconut oil in a 9x13 inch glass baking dish and put the dish in the oven while it heats. When the oven is all warmed up to 500 degrees, pull out the dish and move it around so that the oil gets all over the bottom. Pour socca batter into the dish. It should sizzle. Bake for 6-8 minutes. The top of the socca should start to crack. If not golden and cracked, bake for up to more 4 minutes.  Remove. While the socca is baking, place all hummus ingredients into a food processor or blender, I use my Magic Bullett. Blend until smooth. Spread over socca crust and top with the fresh toppings!

Serves 2-4 people

Socca crust can be made ahead and stored without toppings and toppings can be added just before serving. Makes a FANTASTIC easy lunch! :)

TIP: Get the perfect beans every time. Take one bag of dry beans. This works for any dry beans- garbanzo, black, pinto, kidney, you name it. Rinse the beans well. Place in the bottom of a medium-large pot. Cover with water about and inch and a half above the beans. Bring water to a boil. Let boil for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and cover the beans. Let the beans sit for an hour. After the hour, dump the water and rinse the beans. Put the beans back in the pot and add water to cover with an inch and a half more water on top again. Bring water to a boil. Simmer on medium-low for 3 hours. Dump water and rinse beans. These beans will be soft and ready to eat! DO NOT.... I repeat DO NOT salt the beans at any time during this process. It will cause a chemical reaction that will not allow them to soften. Once  the beans are fully cooked you can salt away! :)

 ♥ E

Sun-dried Tomato and Artichoke Risotto with Mushrooms and Truffle

Risotto is a fragrant, creamy rice dish that is usually cooked on the stove in a sauce pan. However, risotto can be really tedious because you have to stir it constantly the whole time it is cooking.. Ain't no body got time for that.

My risotto is done in a rice maker, which you can get for as little at $20 at Target or Walmart. If you don't have a rice maker and don't want to get one (seriously get one you can use if for all kinds of things), you can do this on the stove, but you'll just have to watch it and make sure that it is stirred constantly so the bottom doesn't burn!

Ingredients:
1 cup wild grain or brown rice
1 yellow onion (chopped)
8 oz mushrooms (sliced) ... I used baby bella
1/2 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped artichoke hearts
1 clove garlic minced or 1 tsp minced garlic
2 TBL dried Italian spices
salt and pepper to taste
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup water
1 TBL olive oil
5 drops white truffle oil -- use sparingly.... it is very powerful (optional - a bottle is pretty expensive but will last FOREVER)


Process:
Place all ingredients in rice maker. Push "white rice" button and guess what? You're done! I pop in the kitchen and stir it every once in a while - maybe 2-3 times during the 45 minute cooking cycle.
Once the rice maker is done, fluff the rice and put it over fresh spinach or kale. The greens will wilt because the rice is so hot, YUM!

NOTE: If you are using sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil or artichoke hearts packed in oil, don't add another TBL of oil. Also, be really careful with the truffle oil. If you can smell it, thats enough. You can ALWAYS add more to the dish at the end.

 ♥ E