Meatless Monday: Frozen Tahini-Banana Bites

Every so often I stumble across a recipe that gets me really excited. The requirements for such excitement usually are:

• unusual prepartation or ingredients
• uses ingredients in a way I never thought of
• is not only delicious, but also healthy!  

And I get especially excited when it's an easy-to-make dessert that is sugar-free and I just so happen to have all the ingredients readily available! 

I came across the recipe for Frozen Yogurt Tahini Banana Cups (what a mouthful!) via Simple Living with Diane Balch (currently my favorite food blog, I might add!) when Fox in the Kitchen linked it up onto the Foodie Friday blog hop. Fox in the Kitchen has a wealth of awesome recipes on her blog, so do check her out, and she based the recipe off of the vegan version from The Veggie Nook (lots of good stuff there, too!). And she got the recipe from Sketch-Free Eating, a blog that has many amazing raw-based recipes, and they got it from...somewhere. I couldn't find the original recipe on their blog, they have way too much amazingness on there that easily distracts me...

SO, with all that being said, you know this recipe has to be awesome if so many people felt the need to keep passing it on! I made a batch for a Sunday afternoon gathering, and I'm sorry to say they did not go over as well as I'd hoped, although I found them to be so yummy and delicious that I ate half the batch myself. They are lightly sweetened and just melt in your mouth! Not everyone is as enthusiatic about healthy-eating as I am. That's why I am so grateful for my blogging community that can appreciate recipes like these, at least I hope so...

I had the cute Disney cupcake liners left over from Lily's 2nd birthday party :)

Frozen Tahini-Banana Bites
(this is the exact recipe from Fox in the Kitchen, but I just think that title is less of a mouthful!)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of cold-pressed coconut oil
1/2 cup tahini
1-2 ripe banana
1/2 cup plain regular or Greek yogurt 
4 tbsp honey or agave (you can use less, but I thought this was the perfect amount)
1 tbsp raw sesame seeds
Pinch of sea salt
24 blueberries+ for topping (optional)
24 cupcake liners 

Note: the recipe from Fox in the Kitchen says this makes 2 dozen, but I was only able to make half of that with this amount. Perhaps I used too much batter per cupcake cup, or perhaps I just used larger-sized cupcake cups than she did, but if you want to make the full 24, I suggest not to be too generous with filling each cup with the mix.

What I used

Combine the coconut oil, salt, honey or agave, and tahini in a small bowl; it will work better if the tahini and coconut oil are softened or melted. Next, add the yogurt until well-combined. Slice the banana(s) into 24 slices. Spoon some of the mixture into each cupcake liner, then place a piece of sliced banana on top, sprinkled with some of the sesame seeds. Place cupcake cups on tray in freezer and freeze until batter is set, for about 5 or so minutes.

The batter

After first freezing phase

Take the tray out of the freezer then spoon the rest of the batter on top. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and then place tray back into freezer. Allow treats to freeze for at least one hour before serving.

Now, to "add a little something", I placed a single, fat blueberry on top of each treat to make it look a little more appealing. I think they came out cuter-looking that way, and you can of course get even more creative with whatever you choose.  

Another thing I did to make things more fun was to put blueberries in the middle of one of the treats for one of the kids to find. Whoever got the treat with the blueberries in the middle won a prize! (In this case, my friend's daughter found them and she won a word card game. She was very pleased with this:). 

After taking my first bite, I thought of so many other creative ways you can mix this recipe up. Here are some suggestions:

• use peanut or almond butter in place of tahini
• add raw carob or chocolate shavings as topping
• add extra fruit to the middle or top
• mix chocolate, vanilla, almond, etc. flavoring into batter
• put jelly in the middle

I am going to try and make them with peanut butter and chocolate next time! They may go over better with the pickier eaters in my life that way. Plus, how can such a flavor combination go wrong?

The general consensus of this recipe among my family and guests was:

Friend 1: "Good, but weird."
Friend 2: "Tastes like halvah; could use more banana."
Daughter of friend 1: "No thanks." (she's vegan)
Daughter of friend 2: "Yum." (she found the blueberries)
Lily: peeled off the banana and left the rest
Paul: "Yuck!"
Me: "Yum, yum, yum, I'll eat the rest!"

I hope the mixed response does not deter you from trying this if you're curious and especially if you're passionate about raw food and healthy eating. This is super-easy and cheap to make and definitely a much better alternative to store-brought popsicles and ice cream. 

Tahini is an incredibly tasty and versatile ingredient that I don't think is used much at all in the western world. It is a very popular condiment and ingredient in parts of Africa and the Middle East, used as a sauce in many yummy dishes. Tahini is essentially sesame paste; when mixed with water and a little salt, if makes a salty, nutty sauce that can be used as a topping on things like tofu, chicken and vegetables, or as a great salad dressing. This is the first time I've seen it used in a dessert other than Halvah. If you don't know what Halvah is, it is like a Turkish candy bar (pictured below). 

Halvah can also refer to any sweet, dense sesame seed treat, but this is the most recognized and commercial version in the West

Sesame seeds contain an abundance of vitamins and minerals such as copper, manganese, calcium, iron and vitamin B1, plus much more! That's a lot for such a small seed. These nutrients can help heal and prevent ailments such as arthritis, colon cancer, and osteoperosis. They also help to lower cholesterol and support bone health.

Have a happy Meatless Monday and do let me know if you try this unique recipe, and also if you decide to pass it on as well :)

Meatless Monday: Tofu with Thai Basil Stir-fry

I was browsing through blogs a couple of weeks ago, and came across one that got me really excited. You may have heard of it- it's called Sea Salt with Food. Apparently it's quite popular, and Angie Tee does an amazing job not only with providing original and classic recipes, but also with the photography. Her shots make you just want to lick the screen.

Anyway, I found a bunch of recipes to try, and this is the first one I did, although I adapted it to what ingredients I had available, so it's different enough that I can say it's not really her recipe, but largely based off of it. Please see the original recipe to find out what I did differently. Mainly, I am not a huge fan of oyster or fish sauce, and I already had sesame oil available so I used that instead of peanut oil. I also could not find bird's eye chilies anywhere, so I used chile paste and that worked quite well. At any rate, this came out so good I ate the whole batch in one sitting. You read that right. And I was quite full and satisfied once I was through.

Tofu with Thai Basil Stir-fry
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 package 14 oz firm tofu
1/2 lb bok choy
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
Handful Thai basil
1/4 cup sesame oil + 2 tbsp
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp minced ginger
2 scallion stalks, diced
1 tsp red chile paste 
1/2 tsp corn flour
1 tsp sesame seeds
Salt and pepper to taste

Wrap the block of tofu in paper towels and press between to plates; place in fridge to drain overnight, or for at least 1 hour before preparation. Once the tofu is drained, slice into 3 pieces length-wise, then into 9 sections width-wise, so you have little squares like in the image below.

browned

Heat the 1/4 cup sesame oil in pan then add the tofu once hot. Fry the tofu on each side until golden brown. Set aside on paper towel to drain. Meanwhile, clear the pan (or use another pan) then heat the remainder of the oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and stir-fry until browned, then add the basil and bok choy, and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes. 

stir-frying in the sun

Next, add the ginger, chile paste, soy sauce and corn flour, plus a little extra sesame oil if most has been drained from pan. Cook, stirring for another 3 minutes or until the flour is dissolved, and then add the tofu. Turn off heat and stir together until all components well-coated with the sauce. Serve with the scallion and sesame seeds on top, plus salt and pepper to taste. 

So, I'm on Instagram now, you can follow me @jkpherson

As amazing and delicious as this dish is, I'm sorry to say it's not exactly family-friendly due to the spiciness and "weird" ingredients. Of course, if you have kids who like Asian or already eat a typical Asian diet, then this should be no issue. To alter it to your family's tastes, omit the chile paste or replace the tofu with chicken. Using chicken would (obviously) not make it Meatless Monday-appropriate though.

This is going to be a new comfort food dish for me, I just know it.

Here are some other of the recipes I've bookmarked from Sea Salt just because they look too amazing not to share:

Bittersweet Chocolate Chips with Dolce de Leche Matzos Crunch

Japanese Beef Rolls with Scallion, Asparagus, and Enoki Mushrooms

Sweet Potato Ice Cream

Baked Eggs with Spicy Tomato Sauce

Lily did not have any and was not even interested in trying it. She had some stir-fried bok choy and broccoli instead with hummus and pita chips on the side. She is not a fan of tofu unless it is breaded and fried and no longer tastes like tofu.

Now, I have been trying to get a Meatless Monday recipe hop going, but have not had a whole lot of luck with that. So, I am not going to host a link-up today, BUT if you would like it if I did host one again, please let me know in the comments. This is not only because I am "giving up" for now, but also because I do not really have the time to promote it as well as I'd like to right now, but maybe I will in the future. I have seen other blogs have successful Meatless Monday link-ups, so I hope to one day too. I can wait though, and continue to focus more on the recipes, since that is what this blog is really all about.

Now, here is an adorable bonus picture of Lily from yesterday. She is clearly feeling much better :) 

Happy Monday! (if there is such a thing...)

Meatless Monday Product Review: Gardein Chipotle Lime Crispy Fingers

This will mark my third product review. I didn't expect to write one so soon, but I felt compelled to after taking a chance on a new "meat substitute" product, something I didn't think I'd do ever again. Plus, it's Meatless Monday afterall...

Judging by the package, Gardein's Chipotle Lime Crispy Fingers™ look pretty darn tasty. Anything Chipotle is bound to catch my eye, so I decided to give them a try. On the package they really look like chicken fingers too! 

Now, as some of my readers who've been following my blog since the beginning may recall, I used to be a committed vegetarian. While I was a vegetarian, I was never too into meat substitute products that were made to taste like meat. I just never understood the point- I was vegetarian because I didn't want to eat meat, and I was not interested in eating fake meat either. Sure, I liked veggie burgers because they tasted like what they were called, but that was about it. I did try some "Tofurkey"-type stuff (is that what it's called?) and even vegan cheese, but it just was never the same, and usually tasted like plastic.

Gardein's Crispy Fingers are not the exception. They may not taste like plastic, but they do not taste very good either. The seasoning was pretty good and they were nice and crispy, and the texture of the soy protein and gluten combination did somewhat resemble meat, but I didn't care about it resembling meat as I have already stated. I was expecting hoping it would look more like the texture of classic tofu, but it looked like it had been specifically molded to look like chicken strips. The smell of them baking even fooled my dog, and he sat right by my chair begging for a bite with his puppy eyes while I ate them in a wrap.

Besides soy protein and gluten, the ingredients of the strips include "ancient grain flour", which also intrigued me. The "ancient grain flour" contains kamut®, amaranth, millet and quinoa. This awesome combination of grains did not save this product, although I do wish I could obtain this "ancient grain flour" on it's own. I can make it if I really want to, I suppose. The strips also contain an array of seasonings such as cilantro, chipotle pepper and lemon peel. Nothing too fancy, but it all still sounded very promising.


Here is what I prepared:

Ingredients
(makes 1 serving) 

3 Gardein Chipotle Lime Crispy Fingers™
1 whole grain wrap
2 full leaves of romaine
1/2 cup of red and green bell pepper strips
2 tbsp tahini dressing (recipe below)
1 tbsp fresh cilantro
1 tsp lime juice

Tahini Dressing

1 tbsp sesame tahini paste
1 tbsp water
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt

Bake the strips in oven according to package instructions. While they're baking, mix the dressing ingredients together in a separate bowl, adding more water or sesame tahini paste as needed (I use Joyva brand sesame tahini). Optionally, you could also add some minced garlic to it. Have wrap ready to go by layering ingredients onto the wrap as desired. I put down the romaine, then the peppers, then the cilantro, then the lime and tahini dressing. When the crispy fingers are done, allow them to cool for a few minutes before placing onto wrap. I put extra tahini on it since I did not like the taste so much.

Now, you may be wondering- why bother providing a recipe if I gave this product a poor review? Well, I figure you may not want to take my word for it and try them for yourself. Let me know if you do and if you happen to come across a different flavor or product that you think is actually better.

Do you know a great product I should review, or a product you’re curious about but afraid to try? Let me know in the comments! Just please suggest a natural, organic, eco-friendly, or health or food-related product so it will at least coincide with my blog’s theme, thanks!

Note: I was not paid or asked to write this review, I did it by my own accord.

Have a happy Meatless Monday!




 

Sesame-Orange Chicken or Tofu/be-lated Meatless monday post

So I missed my Meatless Monday post this week…can I blame it on too much Mother’s Day fun and excitement?

It’s kind of the truth, honestly. I had a very busy and tiring weekend, then on Monday I was still recuperating since Lily woke up twice Sunday night then got up at 7:30 am (an hour earlier than usual) when Mommy wasn’t quite ready to greet the sun yet. I basically took it easy yesterday and dealt with her teething crankiness (hence the waking up at night) as it came, but luckily I got a better-than-good night’s sleep last night.

And, I made this really tasty, low-fat Asian-inspired dish last night that could be easily made with or without meat. It contains vitamin-infused sesame, a variety of yummy vegetables, and a tangy sauce loaded with vitamins and nutrients such as vitamin C, manganese, amino acids and raw soybeans which I explained the benefits of in my last post. So, read on and try it out!

Orange-Sesame Chicken or Tofu

(adapted from Prevention magazine)

Ingredients:

¾ cup OJ

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp soy sauce (reduced-sodium suggested)

1 tbsp honey or brown sugar or 1/2 tbsp agave syrup

2 tsp cornstarch

2 tbsp sesame oil

1 lb thinly sliced boneless and skinless chicken breast or 1 14 oz pack of tofu, drained and cut into strips or triangles (or cubes if you prefer)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp minced fresh ginger or 1 ½ tbsp powdered ginger

1 tsp red pepper flake

3-4 ribs celery thinly sliced

3-4 carrots thinly sliced

1 cup peas or soybeans

1 cup sugar snap peas

Approximately 2 tbsp sesame seeds, preferably toasted

Whisk the OJ, cider vinegar, soy sauce, honey (or sugar or agave) and cornstarch together in a bowl until smooth, then set aside. Heat 1 tbsp of the sesame oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat then add the chicken or tofu, garlic, ginger and pepper flake until chicken is slightly browned. Once chicken is browned, add peas (or soybeans) and snap peas to the pan.

Meanwhile, cook the carrots and celery in about 1 inch of water on medium-low heat in a separate pan until they are tender but still crisp, about 5 minutes. Once they’re ready, drain and add to the pan with chicken plus remaining sesame oil. Cook for about 1 minute, stirring a little, then add the sauce and cook for about 2-3 minutes more, stirring every so often to keep the sauce from settling. Serve with sesame seed sprinkled on top.

I had it the other night with a fresh green salad with mesculin from my garden (!), but it would also be really good over brown rice or noodles.

For baby:

2-3 tbsp pureed carrots or peas

For tots:

¼-½ cup steamed peas, carrots and/or soybeans

¼ cup brown rice or chopped noodles

Sauce to top with, if desired:

1 tbsp OJ

¼ tsp cider vineger

¼ tsp sesame oil

¼ tsp honey

Warm in microwave for about 15 seconds then allow to cool for a minute before serving over the veggies and rice or noodles. 

If your tot is a picky eater, they may not like this sweet sauce with a tangy edge, but if they have more developed taste buds that they got from Mommy’s eclectic diet while they were in the womb, then this sauce should give their normally bland veggies a sweet and tangy kick.

Also, I must admit, this sauce did not get Lily to eat her broccoli. It worked for the carrots and peas, but not the broccoli. The only way she’ll eat that vitamin-packed superfood is if it’s covered in cheese! So, if your child is still a picky eater after trying a few different variations of this sauce, don’t fret, and remember to keep in mind that their taste buds are still developing as well as changing all the time, so if they throw it on the floor one day, they might be more willing to try it next week or in a few weeks.

 I’m no baby-diet expert, but Lily is a very good eater and actually prefers things with a stronger flavor opposed to bland, but she still manages to surprise me with what she will and won’t eat.

I will blog about my Mother’s Day adventures in my other blog, Garden of Jessica  soon, so check there if you want to know what kept me so blahhhh post-M Day.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you are enjoying all the recipes I post! I promise to stay on top of things next week and post a Meatless Monday recipe before Monday, but remember, Monday doesn’t have to be the only day you go meat-free!