The Sixth Day of Christmas My True Love Made For Me…

This is a great dip to serve with veggies such as celery, carrots, cucumbers and bell peppers or with your favorite flat bread or rice crackers.  Its packed with lots of antioxidants and has anti-inflammatory benefits.

Artichoke and Green Olive Tapenade

Ingredients

• 1 cup artichokes
• 3/4 cup green olives
• 1/2 cup parsley
• 1 clove garlic
• 8 raw almonds
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Directions

• Blend all ingredients in a food processor and enjoy with your favorite veggies, flatbread or crackers!

Asian Rice Noodles with Spicy Almond Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1 package rice noodles
• 1/2 head broccoli, tops cut into flowerets, stems peeled and sliced thinly
• 2 cups of snow peas, trimmed
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup unsalted almond butter
• 1/4 cup of reduced sodium soy sauce
• 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) chili-garlic sauce
• 1 scallion, green part only chopped finely
• 1 tsp coconut oil

Directions

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil
• Toast the almonds in a dry skillet over medum heat, stirring frequently, until they are golden, about 3 minutes. Remove from skillet into a bowl
• Cook the rice noodles according to the directions on the package.
• Heat coconut oil in skillet
• Add broccoli, snow peas and red pepper for 2 min ensuring they still remain crispy
• While the rice noodles are cooking, make the sauce.
• Place the almond butter, soy sauce, lime juice, chili-garlic sauce and 3 Tbsp of boiling water (from the rice noodle pot) into a large bowl and whisk until smooth
• Drain the noodles
• Add the sauce and rice noodles to the vegetables in the skillet and toss to coat
• Serve garnished with the toasted almonds and scallion greens

Serves 4-6

Almond Avocado Dip

Ingredients

• 2 scallions finely chopped
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 tsp red chili powder
• 1 avocado
• 1 medium tomato
• 2 tsp basil
• 1/3 cup almonds
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

• Soak almonds for 12-24 hours, discard water
• Pour 1 cup of boiled water over the almonds and let them soak for 30-60 seconds and then discard water
• Peel skin off almonds (they are now blanched)
• Put blanched almonds in food processor until finely chopped
• Add basil and scallions to food processor
•  Then add tomato, avocado, garlic, red chili powder and lemon juice
• Serve this dip with your favorite raw veggies or crackers (we use Crunchmaster’s or Mary’s Gone Crackers gluten free crackers available at Costco)

Recipe courtesy of The Quintessential Recipes for Vibrant Health with modifications made by me!

Homemade Almond Milk

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup almonds
• Enough water to cover and soak seeds overnight
• 3 additional cups filtered water
• Stevia to taste

Directions

• Soak almonds overnight
• Strain and discard the water used for soaking
• The skins of the nuts should peel off easily at this point (If they do not peel off, then place them in a small saucepan on the stovetop, add water to cover and simmer for about 5 minutes.  This will release the skins for you.)
• Place the almonds along with the 3 cups of water and desired amount of stevia in a blender and blend well
• You may drink it as is or strain it through a fine strainer or cheesecloth

Asian Salad

Ingredients

• 2 cups grated red cabbage
• 3 cups grated carrots
• 2 sprigs green onion chopped
• 1/4 cup sliced blanched almonds
• 2 tangerines peeled
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds

Directions

• Shred carrots and cabbage in food processor with grater blade and place in bowl
• Add green onion, tangerines, almonds and sesame seed
• Serve with our Miso Salad Dressing

Chickpea-herb Burgers

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup grated onion
• 2 cloves garlic pressed
• 3 cups shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup unblanched almonds
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 2 tbsp flax seeds
• 2 tbsp chopped parsely
• 2 tbsp basil leaves
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1 egg
• sea salt and black pepper to taste
• fresh lemon juice to taste
• red chili powder to taste

Directions

• In a food processor, puree, oil, chickpeas, onions, garlic, and carrots
• Add rolled oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, parsley, basil, thyme and egg
• Process until finely chopped and mixture holds together
• Season to taste with sea salt, black pepper, lemon juice and red chili powder
• Form mixture into approx 8-10 patties
• Arrange patties on baking sheet and bake in preheated oven at 370 F for 5-10 min on each side
• Alternatively you can shallow fry these in coconut oil in a skillet until slightly brown on each side

Orange Coconut Salad

Ingredients

• 4 tangerines or oranges peeled
• 2 bananas sliced
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut
• 2 tbsp sliced almonds

Directions

• Toss all ingredients together in a bowl

Recipe courtesy of whfoods.org

Chocolate-Walnut Superfood Smoothie

For all those chocolate smoothie lovers!  You are going to love this recipe.  It is easy to prepare and contains all of your favorite superfoods. Chocolate, walnuts, chia seeds and whey protein….you can’t ask for a better tasting smoothie to satisfy your hunger and fuel your body with healthy fats, anti-oxidants, fiber, lignans, protein and very little carbs!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup of raw walnuts (you may sub with raw pecans, cashews or almonds)
• 6 pieces of Endangered Species – Dark Chocolate
• 2 scoops of Whey Cool Protein Powder by Designs for Health
• 2 teaspoons of Chia seeds (you may sub with ground flax seeds)
• 1.5 cups of water
• 1/2 cup ice cubes

Directions

• Add all ingredients, except protein,  into your Blentec blender (you will need a powerful blender to chop up the nuts and chocolate)
• Once the ingredients are well mixed, add the protein in last and pulse the blender to mix the protein in
• Serve and Enjoy

Serves: 2

Prep Time: 5 mins or less

*** Note: overblending the protein at high speeds with cause a lot of foaming in the shake and disrupt the delicate structure of the protein

Artichoke and Green Olive Tapenade

Ingredients

• 1 cup artichokes
• 3/4 cup green olives
• 1/2 cup parsley
• 1 clove garlic
• 8 raw almonds
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Directions

• Blend all ingredients in a food processor and enjoy with your favorite veggies, flatbread or crackers!