That Sauce: Finger Lickin’ Date Sauce

In Florida, we look forward to fall as it means, cooler, beautiful weather, unlike the 90 degree plus humidity temps we are used to all summer long. With that comes all those delicious fall festivals and good eats! I am a sucker for all things fall since I grew up in Atlanta, and just a short drive to Ellijay, GA where all the fabulous apple festivals are held.

It has become a tradition that our family will enjoy dinner in our little quaint downtown area in Winter Garden, FL and feast on great delicacies at Plant Street Market. Inside this great market is Press’d Juice Bar & Kitchen.  I had the wonderful opportunity to have one of their fall smoothies, the Pumpkin Spice Smoothie. To describe to you the burst of raw, vegan delicious flavor would be a travesty as it is one you must personally experience. However, the real surprise was the “caramel sauce” that was drizzled on top. Being Press’d Juice Bar is a vegan bar, I knew this was no ordinary sauce. When I asked what they were drizzling on top of the smoothie, the sweet gal responded that it was “date sauce.”

While I am an all thing organic, fresh, healthy, sometimes raw kind of gal, I have never heard of this!

After I slurped and practically licked my cup clean from that incredible smoothie, I raced home to experiment in making this date sauce. After a few moments surfing the net, I came up with what I feel is a very close recipe to what I experienced in the pumpkin smoothie from Press’d Juice Bar. 

My date sauce whipped up so nicely that it took on the form of a thick, gooey caramel sauce that is absolutely finger licking delicious! Of course the real test came when I offered a plate of sliced tart apples to my teenage boys with a bowl of “caramel sauce” for dipping.

Needless to say, this will be a new staple in our house and the possibilities are endless!

I am a scratch cook sometimes when it comes to experimenting in the kitchen, therefore my recipe has no measured ingredients.

Vegan Date Sauce

3 Handfuls of organic dried pitted Dates

Water

Organic Vanilla Bean (or Organic Vanilla Extract)

Soak dates in water that just covers them for 8-12 hours OR to speed up the process, boil water and pour over dates to just cover them until they get soft. Once they are good and soft, dump the date mixture, and add vanilla bean to the Vitamix. Pulse a few times, then slowly blend increasing intensity and adding water as needed. If you want a thicker sauce, stop when desired consistency is achieved. For a thinner sauce, add water. Blend til smooth and creamy. 

ENJOY!

Fall Recipes: Scottish Scones & White Chicken Chili

With fall in the air and cool afternoon breezes, it’s time for some fall food! Wait…..  I live in Florida!!!! It is never cool here, but it was a nice thought even if it was just for a moment!

There is something to be said for fall food, even if it is 80 degrees outside 11 months out of the year. Football and chili just seem to go hand in hand, and there’s always room for desert!

On that note, here are two of my favorite fall foods.

Scottish Scones & White Chicken Chili.

The scones are out of this world, and satisfy any sweet tooth. The White Chicken Chili is exploding with flavor and warms you from the inside out.  I prefer to use all Organic ingredients, but it’s not required.

The recipe for these amazing Scottish Scones comes from my friend Darby, who’s an incredible baker!

Scottish Scones 

Ingredients: 

2- 1/2 c. Flour (All Purpose)

5-1/3 T. Butter, cold & cut into chunks

4 tsp. Baking Powder

2 T. Sugar plus

1/4 tsp. Salt

2 Eggs, beaten

3/4 c. Heaving Cream

1/2 – 1 c. Chocolate Chips

For The Topping:

4 T. Sugar

Heavy Cream

(***You can sub out the chocolate chips for grated orange rind, and dried cranberries***)

Recipe:

Mix dry ingredients in bowl. Cut in butter, until crumbly. Add eggs, cream & chocolate chips.

Mix gently with fork, until mostly mixed.

Spoon mixture into a scone pan (sections) or an iron skillet with the “triangles” that has been sprayed with non stick spray. (I use coconut spray from Trader Joe’s)

With a basting brush, baste tops of scones with cream (lightly) then sprinkle with sugar.

Bake @ 400 degrees for 12-14 min or until golden on top.

Let cool for about 10 min before removing from the pan.

Serve warm. YUMMO!

Now that we have dessert taken care of, let’s move on to dinner! Doesn’t everyone have dessert BEFORE dinner? This is my personal recipe that I have tweaked many times. Oh and I tend to be one of those “scratch cooks” so bear with me!

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

4 Organic Chicken Breasts

1 small Onion, chopped

1/4 c. Flour

3-4 cloves Garlic, minced

4-5 T. Butter

1/2 c Milk

4 cans White Navy Beans, drained

2 cans Green Chilies

12 c. Chicken Broth (3 cartons)

* Ground Cumin, to taste

* Chili Powder, to taste

* Paprika, to taste

* Sea Salt, to taste

* Pepper, to taste

1/2 – 1 c. Half & Half

Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded

Fresh Cilantro, chopped

Recipe: 

Boil chicken breasts about 20-30 min or until tender and no longer pink on the inside. Drain and shred or chop chicken. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a  large stock pot, saute on low/med heat chopped onion & minced garlic in butter. As the butter is melting, add flour and stir well. As you are stirring slowly, pour in milk. Keep stirring until mixture is thick & creamy. Add Navy Beans, green chilies and chicken broth. Add shredded chicken and **spices. Add half & half & cook over low/medium heat, stirring occasionally.

** This is where the “to taste” comes into play. I have followed different recipes for White Chicken Chili, and they almost always come out bland UNTIL I started just adding more spices to taste. To add the spices to your heart’s content. I use a lot of cumin, with a tad less chili powder. 

Serve hot and top with Monterey Jack Cheese and cilantro.

Enjoy!

(Homemade corn bread pairs nicely with the White Chicken Chili)

Raw Chic Donut Dreams

Society makes it so difficult to eat healthy. Yes, it’s a lifestyle change, but everywhere you turn there always seems to be something like donuts staring at you in the face! And they are not just the plain jane cake kind of donuts…. it’s the ooey gooey luscious chocolate frosting with sprinkles kind. The kind that scream EAT ME ! This ever happen to you? Good, glad to know I’m  not the only one .

If you have been following this blog long enough you might start to see a bit of a pattern. It’s no secret that I love food and that goes pretty much for any kind of food too. I do have an obsession with eating healthy, but like most people, sugar is my downfall. *sigh*

I have spoken before about RAW eating and how I try to incorporate it in my meal planning each week. RAW eating still is a bit foreign to me, but when you give it some thought, it’s really NOT thinking out of the box. It’s rather simple, and takes less work. Coming up with recipes, and food selections takes a lot more effort. With RAW, you pretty much just wash and go. Easy Peasy.

Here’s one of my secret weapons. Okay not really a weapon, but one of my absolute favorite kitchen gadgets. I have a fetish for all things kitchen.

May I present to you The Vegetable Spiralizer….

Pretty nifty huh? As you can see, this beauty can take an ordinary zucchini and make RAW vegetable noodles with a simple turn of the crank. When I say this is easy, I mean a three year old can do this! Of course I wouldn’t let small child handle this contraption due to the sharp pieces, but it’s quite simple and takes not time at all to assemble.

The ideas of what you can do are endless, but my very favorite thing to do is make RAW Pad Thai. My entire family loves Chicken Pad Thai, so when I stumbled upon a recipe for an all RAW Vegetable Pad Thai I was intrigued. Here’s my creation:

TA DA! Looking yummy huh? Here’s the break down.

RAW Pad Thai

~ Spiralized Zucchini

~ Spiralized Onion

~ Shredded Purple Cabbage

~ Shredded Carrots

~ Red Pepper Strips

~ Bean Sprouts

~ Sesame Seeds

Peanut Sauce

~ Peanut Butter or Almond Butter

~ Braggs Amino’s

~ Olive Oil

~ Crushed Red Pepper

~ Thai Sauce

Toss all veggies in a large bowl, drizzle with sauce, top with sesame seeds and dinner is served! How easy and delicious is that? Crunchy but bursting with flavor!

If you’re wondering where to purchase a good spiralizer, just click on this link:  Amazon.  

Bon Appetit!

Summer Kale Salad Recipe

Ahhhh…….. Fresh Kale Salad. Nothing quite like it and it’s so versatile! When most people think of Kale, they associate it with the pretty green “leaf” on their plate when they’ve ordered an entree from a restaurant. That’s now in the past. Kale has come a long way from just entree decor, and is now seen on many plates as salad, or Kale Chips. Here’s the scoop on Kale: It’s loaded full of antioxidants, vitamins, and very high in vitamin K, vitamin C, and rich in Beta Carotene as well as Calcium. Kale has been linked to helping inflammation and has cancer preventive benefits, as well as provide cardiovascular support and has a high level of detox-activating isothiocyanates. Sound good? Let’s get down to the best part…. The Salad!

3-4 Bunches of Organic Kale OR 1 Bag Organic Chopped Kale

1-2 Fresh Organic Lemons

 Organic Olive Oil

Organic Red, Yellow, Orange Peppers, chopped

Organic Onion, chopped

Greek or Black Olives, chopped

Sunflower Seeds

Garlic

Take your chopped Kale ***Stems removed*** and place in a large bowl. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the Kale and “massage” the leaves for about 5-6 min or until dark green in color and “wilted”. Drizzle with a very small amount of olive oil, and I mean VERY small amount as you don’t want your salad to be soupy. Add chopped peppers, onions, olives, sunflower seeds & garlic. Mix well and refrigerate for several hours. It is BEST when it has sat overnight, but chill at least a few hours before serving. 

Voila! Bon Appetit!