My Life in a Pyramid

A Vegan Dessert for Breakfast? (Hint: It’s Chocolaty)

March 25, 2011 in Breakfast, Oatmeal

After yesterday’s post of the sour-zesty Earth and Sea smoothie, I thought I’d share something a little tamer today. How about some chocolate oatmeal? Yes, sir, that works for me! I can say that I’m officially a chocoholic if there ever was one. If you have access to dark chocolate, I’ll be your best friend … (Actually, make that fair trade dark chocolate)

So this morning, naturally, I was craving chocolate. My favorite chocolate quick fix – which is really simple to make – is chocolate oatmeal. The best thing about oatmeal in general is that it is highly customizable: you’re in the mood for sweet banana nut flavor, you can whip it up in an oatmeal … if you’d like that spicy sweet taste of ginger, you can create a bowl of delectable ginger spice oatmeal. Inspired by another blogger, Kath, who is uber creative with her oatmeal recipes, we even adapted one of her salty recipes for oatmeal – before the fast, we used to eat oatmeal with 2 eggs – sunny side up, of course

So where were we? Oh yea, we were talking about chocolate! Good news for those joining me in this vegan fast – this recipe is 100% vegan, and super delicious. I’ve made it before countless times with milk, and thought I’d notice the difference in flavor with almond milk as the substitute, but I didn’t even notice!

Here’s what you’ll need to feed two:

1/2 cup of organic rolled oats, soaked overnight
1 cup of filtered water
1/2 cup of organic almond milk, preferably homemade
1 fair-trade banana
3-4 organic strawberries (this is one of those foods that you should definitely try to buy organic … the conventional ones are known to soak up a ton of pesticides)
2-3 tablespoons of organic unsweetened baking cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of 100% unsweetened dark chocolate bar, broken into pieces
1 tablespoon of raw, organic cacao nibs (more details on this ingredient below!)
1 tablespoon unsweetened unsulphured shredded coconut
1 tablespoon unfiltered flaxseed oil
1 and 1/2 tablespoons of 100% pure maple syrup
handful of walnuts, broken into pieces
1 heaping tablespoon of organic currants (or raisins)
1 teaspoon of dried goji berries
1 teaspoon organic chia seeds
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt

And the step-by-step … easy as 1-2-3 … umm … 4-5!

First, cook the oats. If they’re rolled oats that have been soaked overnight, they won’t take more than 5-7 mins to cook. If they’re the steel cut kind, they can take anywhere from 30-40 minutes to cook. Of course steel cut is healthier because it retains more nutrients … but who has 40 minutes to spare in the morning?! Hah. So to cook: Add 1 cup water to a pot with 1/2 cup of oats. Bring to a boil. Add a pinch of salt, lower heat to medium-low, add 1/2 cup of almond milk. Keep pot covered and stir occasionally for 3-5 minutes, then turn off stove.
Chocolatize it: When making chocolate oatmeal, you have to add all the chocolate-inducing ingredients first, so that there are no clumps and everything melts evenly. Add the bits broken up from the dark chocolate bar and the cacao nibs first. Stir in to melt. The nibs may not melt all the way – that’s ok. Then, add the baking cocoa powder and stir well so that all the chocolate is evenly distributed.
Now the chopping. Chop a banana and rinse and chop 3-4 strawberries.
That’s it with the cooking. Now the mixing: Add in all the other ingredients, in no particular order: fruits, chia seeds, walnuts, goji berries, currants, flaxseed oil, maple syrup, shredded coconut, cinnamon.
Eat! Once everything’s mixed in, take a minute to inhale the appetizing chocolate smell and then pour in a bowl and devour the entire thing.

Today I was literally savoring each bite of chocolate heaven. I can’t go through explaining the health benefits of each of these ingredients right now, but as promised, I wanted to focus in each post on at least one healthy ingredient that is not widely popular.

Since this post is focused on all-things-cholocate, why don’t I share a bit about the cacao nibs? I think I will …

This is what they look like, up close and personal:

What are they?

They’re basically the purest form of the cacao bean. A thin shell covers each cacao bean, which is removed before eating. After the shell is removed, the bean breaks into tiny pieces called nibs.

Why are they so great?

Well, besides the fact that they’re chocolate, they’re also supremely healthy. Check out the stats: “Cacao nibs provide more antioxidants than blueberries, red wine and green tea. Cacao nibs also increase the release of ‘feel-good’ neurotransmitters in our brains. It acts as a natural anti-depressant, helps reduce PMS, and provides a sense of well-being. Cacao beans are rich in a number of essential minerals, including magnesium, sulphur, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, potassium and manganese” (Glo Bakery).

And if that’s not enough: “…what’s healthy is the cacao bean, which is minimally processed. This amazing, hedonistic bean is one of the world’s longest-revered foods (think ‘time of the Aztecs’ old) and has in recent years been shown to be a veritable powerhouse of cognitive enhancement, mood and bliss-enhancement (thanks in part to the theobromine in cacao), antioxidants, flavonoids, catechins and many other brain & body-enhancing elements.” (BrainReady).

How to eat them?

Put them in oatmeal, make a chocolate drink out of them, use them for baking, add them to fruit salads. The possibilities are countless if you’re imaginative in the kitchen!

Where can you find them?

I bought my first bag of raw, organic cacao nibs from Whole Foods. Of course, it was pricey, but I was trying it out so I didn’t want to buy online. But you can also find them at other health food stores or online. I’m currently trying to do a bit of research about the most affordable (but trustworthy) place to buy them … I’ll keep you posted!

…

So besides my consumption of chocolate today, I also made vegan banana bread for the first time (thanks to my friend Iriny who gave me a great recipe) … I’ll be sharing it tomorrow!

Anyway, time to relax and take the rest of the night off … maybe we’ll watch a movie! Feels like it’s been eons since the last one … that’s another thing I’m a big fan of … movies!

I’ll leave you with this:

(And no, I never watch made-for-TV movies, lol)

Tags: banana, cacao nibs, chia seeds, chocolate, currants, fair trade baking cocoa powder, flaxseed oil, goji berries, maple syrup, oatmeal, strawberries, walnuts
3 Comments »

Oatmeal is the New Cereal: Banana Nut (with Strawberries!)

June 14, 2010 in Breakfast, Oatmeal

Over the past few decades, Americans have adopted cereal company giants like General Mills and Kellogg’s into their homes and have invited them to their breakfast tables every morning (and every evening too, for some malnourished college kids!). Breakfast has been transformed from being a refreshing and nutritious meal that fuels a person throughout the day to a measly bowl of prepackaged corn byproducts with extra doses of sugar, that end up spiking the blood sugar level and leaving a person unsatisfied within a couple of hours. With a few exceptions, most cereals are unhealthy – and a waste of money!

A better option for breakfast, though still quite carb-heavy, is oatmeal. Now, I am not referring to the instant 2-minute oatmeal because that too has a lot of added sugar and flavorings (even some of the organic ones!). A better alternative is organic rolled oats. Alternatively, steel cut oats are not rolled flat, but each oat is cut in half to speed cooking time. These too are healthy, but take longer to cook since they aren’t rolled flat and aren’t steamed. Steel cut oats are less “processed” in the sense that they haven’t been tampered with (not steamed and not rolled), so some people argue that they’re healthier. I would likely agree with that, but for now, since I’m also concerned with the time it takes to prepare breakfast in the morning, I’ve decided that the best option is the rolled oats!

I can hear you say: “But Heba, oatmeal by itself has no interesting flavor… it’s so boring.” My comeback: “Give it some flavor!” The most flavorful and healthy foods that can be added to oatmeal are fruits! Bananas and berries are my favorites. For this recipe, I added bananas (which go into most of my oatmeal recipes) and some ripe organic strawberries. Strawberries are some of those fruits that you should buy organic: over a dozen pesticides are absorbed into the porous skin of this delicious fruit, and genetic engineering of the conventionally-grown strawberries decreases their nutritional benefits, which are numerous:

The anthocyanins in strawberry not only provide its flush red color, they also serve as potent antioxidants that have repeatedly been shown to help protect cell structures in the body and to prevent oxygen damage in all of the body’s organ systems. Strawberries’ unique phenol content makes them a heart-protective fruit, an anti-cancer fruit, and an anti-inflammatory fruit, all rolled into one (WH Foods).

I also added a generous sprinkle of chia seeds, for that extra antioxidant kick!

This recipe I’m sharing with you today is absolutely delicious – it tastes like a cross between a banana nut muffin and a strawberry shortcake in terms of the flavor, except of course that this oatmeal version is much healthier!

Here’s what you’ll need to make Banana Nut Oatmeal (with Strawberries!) (serves 2):

1 cup old fashioned organic rolled oats, soaked overnight in filtered water and a tablespoon of liquid whey

1 cup water

3/4 to 1 cup organic whole milk (preferably raw), or unsweetened coconut milk

pinch of unrefined mineral salt, like Himalayan

1 small fair-trade bananas, chopped

6 medium or large organic strawberries, chopped

1 and 1/2 tablespoons flaxseed oil

1 tablespoon 100% pure Grade B maple syrup

1/3 cup of pecans, broken up in pieces

1 tablespoon organic chia seeds

Directions:

Soak oats overnight in filtered water and a tablespoon of liquid whey. This is an important step – in order to make the oats more digestible.
Add 1 cup water and 3/4 to 1 cup whole milk to a pot with 1 cup of oats.
Bring to a boil. Add a pinch of salt, and lower heat to medium-low.
Keep pot covered and stir occasionally for 5 minutes.
Add 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of flaxseed oil, and stir.
Remove from heat and chop two small bananas and add to the oatmeal. Mix well.
Add 1 tablespoon of 100% pure maple syrup and 1 tablespoon of chia seeds, and stir.
Break pecans into smaller pieces into oatmeal, and stir well.
Chop strawberries and add on top. Enjoy!

This is the second oatmeal recipe I’ve posted. The first one I posted was Ginger Oatmeal, another delicious favorite! I’ll be sharing other variations for oatmeal recipes in the future, but until then, do try this one and let me know what you think.

Tags: banana, Breakfast, chia seeds, maple syrup, nuts, oatmeal, pecans, strawberries
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Sherif’s Homemade Banana Bread Pudding

May 13, 2010 in Dessert

For the past couple of days, I’ve been posting recipes for the menu that Sherif and I put together last week when we had a one of our close newly married friends over for dinner. Since I’ve posted the recipes for the main dishes, it’s time to tell you about dessert.

I have to admit: I have a big sweet tooth! When I started paying attention to what I ate, I thought I’d have to forget about my love for dessert forever. Fortunately, when I transformed my diet, my cravings also underwent a transformation. First of all, they became much less frequent, and while I still yearn for something sweet from time to time, I always look for something that’s homemade, natural, and with no traces of artificial ingredients, colorants, or preservatives. Actually, the idea of eating prepackaged ice cream cake (made by well-known brands like Carvel, for example) with its fair share of trans fats, sugar, preservatives, and colorants makes me very queasy. On the other hand, my mouth waters when I think of a serving of my grandma’s delectable rice pudding, homemade chocolate, fresh mango sorbet, or warm banana bread pudding topped with a scoop of homemade ice cream made with whole cream from grass-fed cows! Somehow, the sweetness is more enjoyable when each little bite is savored, as opposed to rapidly gulping down large chunks of dessert! Wouldn’t you agree?

While I was busy preparing dinner last Wednesday, Sherif volunteered to make Banana Bread Pudding from scratch!

Here are the ingredients he used:

4 slices of organic whole wheat bread
2 cups of organic whole milk from grass-fed cows, preferably raw
2 organic, pastured eggs
3 ripe fair-trade bananas
6-7 tablespoons of 100% pure Grade B maple syrup (much better alternative than sugar!)
1/4 cup of organic, grass-fed butter, melted
1 tablespoon of organic cinnamon
1/4 cup of walnuts
1/4 cup of organic raisins
1-2 tablespoons of unsulphured coconut shavings
pinch of salt
homemade rum raisin or vanilla ice cream

Directions:

Use a nub of melted butter to grease the bottom and sides of the pan you will be using. (You’ll need a relatively deep pan – we used a Pyrex™)
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Cut each slice of bread into medium-sized squares.
Place bread squares in the pan, pour 2 cups of milk over them, and let bread soak in milk for an hour.
Melt 1/4 cup of butter.
While bread is soaking, make the mixture: blend bananas, eggs, maple syrup, melted butter, cinnamon, coconut shavings, and pinch of salt.
Before pouring the mixture over the bread, add a layer of walnuts and raisins.
Then, pour the mixture on top, making sure all areas are covered.
Cover pan with foil and put in oven for 45 minutes to an hour.
Mix remaining coconut, walnuts and raisins with a drizzle of maple syrup to make the garnish.
Cut finished banana bread pudding into squares.
Serve warm with a scoop of rum raisin or vanilla ice cream and the coconut garnish on top.