Almond-Date-Chocolate Chip Squares

This is a quick delicious treat full of healthy ingredients. Some of the ingredients you may not be familiar with such as maca and lucuma powder. Maca is a Peruvian superfood made from raw maca roots, which are gently dried and milled. Navitas Products says "mx into smoothies, baked goods, or cereal; may boost the libido, treat menopause symptoms, and promote hormonal balance for men and women." Lucuma has a sweet, maple flavor and is made from the lucuma fruit. It is an excellent source of carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, and contains especially high concentrations of beta carotene, niacin, and iron. Neither product is inexpensive but a bag of it will last a long time and is also delicious to use in smoothies and baked goods.

I got this recipe from LisasProjectVegan and quartered it. Here is the full size recipe; I am not sure how many it makes but my version made about 9 squares. What I really like about Lisa's recipes is the fact most are very quick to make. She cooks all but two meals per week and spends less than 30 minutes making each meal. If you'd like to learn more about how Lisa does it, here is a short video interview. (If you're on a mac you may need to watch it with Safari; it didn't want to work with my version of Firefox.)

You may be tempted to leave out the maca and lucuma since the recipe uses only a small amount of each but don't. Each powder adds a subtle taste profile that I personally found out of this world!

Almond-Date-Chocolate Chip Squares
1/2 cup raw almonds
4 pitted Medjool dates
1-1/2 tsp water
1/2 teaspoon maca powder
1/4 teaspoon lucuma powder
1/4 teaspoon vanilla powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 TB cup mini vegan chocolate chips

Directions
Pulse almonds in a mini prep until roughly chopped. Take out half and reserve in a mixing bowl. Chop the dates and add them into the processor along with the water, powders and salt. Process until completely together. Turn out into the mixing bowl with the chopped almonds and add the chocolate chips. Mix well and press into a small pan or container. Chill for an hour and then cut into squares.  Makes about 9 squares.

Recipe Variation
Leave out the 1/8 teaspoon salt and instead sprinkle some coarsely ground red Himalayan salt over the top.

Tamari Almonds

This is a quick, simple recipe to liven up raw almonds. A great little snack to keep around for when your tummy says, “Feed me!”

I like to bake the almonds on parchment paper and I warn you now, they’ll stick just a bit but it’s easy to break them loose and shake the pan.

Ingredients
1 cup raw almonds
1 TB low sodium tamari

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Put almonds and tamari in small bowl and toss to coat. Bake for about 20 minutes, stirring halfway through. I bake them until the almonds are no longer wet. Keep an eye on the almonds, making sure they don’t get overly brown. They will continue to crisp up after you take them out of the oven. Cool and store in air tight container.

Healthy & Easy Chocolate Covered Almonds

This is so easy it's like a no-brainer. Almonds are very good for you (see http://nutsforalmonds.com/nutrition.htm) and so is dark chocolate (http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20040601/dark-chocolate-day-keeps-doctor-away).

I used a very dark chocolate (72% cocao) and it was borderline bitter but still very, very edible. If you aren't up to the heavier chocolates, go for a lower percentage of cocao. Just remember that it's the darker chocolates with all the flavinoids. You can also make more or less of this recipe; just keep the ingredient amounts the same. I made the recipe with 3 oz. each of almonds and chocolate and it was plenty. Also be sure to buy raw almonds; it really does make a difference when you roast them yourself. The nuts will have a delightful crunch.

Ingredients
6 oz. premium organic chocolate, 60% cocao or more
6 oz. raw almonds

Directions
Roast almonds in 300 degree oven for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through. Let cool. Heat chocolate over double boiler, stirring until it melts. Pour almonds into chocolate, stir to coat all almonds. Spoon onto parchment paper in clusters or single almonds. Let cool overnight.