Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies

Who doesn't love cookies, right? I know I love them but I often find it hard to bake up a gluten-free, dairy-free, batch that doesn't crumble in my hands. However, I just made a bold new discovery that I had to share. Baking with chickpeas. DUN DUN DUN. This exciting realization came to me after making my very first chickpea burger and realizing how well they held together without an egg. It was incredible. Then my mind starting wondering if this could work for a sweet treat too? Well my question has been answered, surprised and satisfied.

These delicious cookies are extra special for several reasons. First of all they are made with chickpeas so they are full of fiber, vitamins and minerals. Have you ever had a cookie made out of a legume?

Welcome to my world of nutrition trickery.

These magical bean/legume cookies are vegan (egg and dairy-free), nut-free and gluten-free. They also are lower in grains and lower in sugar then traditional chocolate chip cookies.

I know the ingredient list might sound strange... But seriously, these are so delicious so don't freak out about these adventurous edits I've made to traditional recipes. These are a perfect tricky treat for little ones or ANYONE whom you WISH ate healthier--Now they will and won't even know it. Sneak a few good ingredients in your loved ones snacks... why not right? And if you really want to smile just think about what you are not giving them: all-purpose flour (potential allergen-wheat, acts sugar that can make kids have bad tantrums), baking soda (just an extra ingredient you don't need), baking powder (could be corn), 1 stick of butter (saturated-fat), lots of sugar (brown and white can make people crazy moody and hyper), eggs (potential allergen).

Break the monotony and tradition. Do something BOLD and adventurous. Surprise yourself. Try these cookies and you really won't regret it. You will LOVE them. 

Ingredients:
1 can of garbanzo (chickpeas) 15 oz can, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup of maple syrup

2 tbsp. of olive oil (any baking-friendly oil will work)

1/3 cup of gluten-free oat flour (or any alternative gluten-free flour should work)

1/3 cup of gluten-free oats
¼ tsp. sea salt
Plus extra coarse sea salt, set aside to top the cookies with

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

1 cup of (gluten-free, dairy-free) chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life mini chips) Please note: if you don't care about keeping the recipe gluten-free, any chocolate chips will work

Directions:
(Preheat oven to 375)
1. Place drained and rinsed chickpeas in the blender with the maple syrup. Pulse until smooth.
2. Add the oil, cayenne pepper and salt. Pulse to combine.
3. Transfer chickpea mixture into a large bowl.

4. Add the oat flour and oats and stir to combine well.

5. Fold in 1 cup of (gluten-free, dairy-free and nut-free) chocolate chips. I use Enjoy Life brand found at Whole Foods. Fold in 1/3 cup at a time into the bowl. Stir until chocolate chips seem evenly distributed. If you don't like your cookies really chocolaty you can take 1/3 cup of chocolate chips out and maybe add 1/3 cup of raisins, dried fruit or even just nothing.

6. Scoop cookies out onto a greased pan.

7. Press down on the cookies to make them flat because they will not spread out like "normal" cookies.

7. Top the cookies with coarse sea salt.. it gives them a really nice salty-sweet bite so don't forget that key ingredient!
8. Bake on 375 for 15 minutes.

Please Enjoy!
xo Natalie

Monday Mantra

"Pay attention inward now."

-Iyanla Vansant

Delicious Honeymoon Highlights from Hawaii

Our honeymoon in Hawaii was delightful and so delicious. We had the pleasure to dive into a dream, spending five nights in Maui and four nights on the lush island of Kauai. It was our first BIG trip together as a married couple and it was the perfect combination of romance and adventure for my Sagittarius spirit and my Aquarian hubby's drive to do.

Hawaii has history for me. I've been traveling to and from Hawaii since I was 10, (my first trip was to Maui with my Dad and brothers) and there were many more rounds of Hawaiian vacations. Looking back I'm not quite sure how my Dad and Step-mom managed to shuttle 5 kids from the East Coast to Hawaii numerous time without ripping their hair out?? But needless to say, I'm so thankful to them for our amazing childhood travels.

Traveling to Maui and Kauai with Nick was so special. I found myself in a parallel universe where my past merged with my present grown-up self. There were moments of nostalgia when annoying kids were screaming and splashing honeymooners in the resort pool. I thought to myself, wow, that was SO me and my siblings. It made me smile and almost cry. There was a lot of letting go on the trip. I felt myself emotionally letting go of the childhood me and stepping into a grown woman. Something I thought I was before but had never truly accepted.  

Then there were moments of pure honeymoon bliss where Nick and I were alone together and on a great adventure driving into the rain forest or swimming side by side in the pool. We watched the sun sets, felt the sand beneath our feet and talked seriously about when we could come back to visit Hawaii again.

My love for Hawaii and it’s spectacular culture and beauty is boundless. I could really go on and on. But since Nick and I always have such big appetites for life and food I wanted to highlight a few of our culinary adventures from our vacation. It's a rare pleasure when we have some really amazing healthy, gluten-free, dairy-free food options and I doubted several times that I would be able to eat. But alas and thankfully I was dead wrong. The amazing healthy fare made it very easy for me to just sit back, relax and enjoy myself.

My top-five favorite meals in Hawaii:

When I saw this dish on the menu on the first night of our vacation my face lit up. This was the Macrobiotic Plate at our first resort in Maui, Fairmont Kea Lani. Thanks to their "allergy-program" all the restaurants on-site always had a running list of foods I can't eat. They also had a special diet menu which included this AMAZING Macrobiotic meal. Hello, this is so me! They served this speciality dish at the hotel's main restaurant Ko, inspired by Maui's Sugarcane Plantation era. Served in a bento box, this rocked my world.





Ahi-Fish Plate at the Kilauea Fish Market in Kauai. This plate was so easy to love. I'm a huge supporter of simple dishes. This was simple at it's best: brown rice, FRESH ahi-tuna and a crisp side salad. I also requested no sauce (although there was an Asian-sauce that came with it) so taking it to the next level of simple. :) 



The truly spectacular farm-to-table lunch at O'o Farm in the Maui's upcountry. Okay this meal came with a private chef and an awesome view. Plus we got the freedom to pick our own unique and fresh ingredients from an organic farm. It doesn't get much fresher!

Mama's Fish House in Maui. Haven't you heard you should never judge a book by it's cover? Well Mama's is no exception to that rule. This place is clearly a famous spot and you can tell it has been around forever by the cheesy floral decor. But the food is as good as it gets in Hawaii. The fish is fresh full of flavor and seasoned well. Nevermind it could have possibly been the best tasting fish I've ever had. ... what really blew me away was the service and the gluten-free options. Plus, every local we talked to said it was their favorite place to go for a celebration (birthday, anniversary, etc) and I think that says quite a bit about the food. And be sure to leave some time to walk around the town of Paia where this spot is located, it's the cutest hippie town ever!

Verde is dive food at its best! This was our first stop after arriving in Kauai. We were really craving some fresh guacamole and Mexican cuisine and this hit the spot. We loved the fun and colorful dishes. Everything there was fresh and seriously so SO good. It was a really lucky find.

Sweet Carrot Salsa

First off, I have to say that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE carrots in salsa. They really add another dimension, fullness to the flavor and crunch to the bite. This salsa is seriously so addicting and once you start adding carrots to your homemade salsa, you will wonder why you never thought of it before and you will never look back.

Now I know what your thinking... why would I waste my time making salsa if I can buy my favorite variety in the store for under $5.00? Well first of all remember, I'm a sorta food snob and I like making my own fresh versions of my favorite sauces, dips and condiments. So get used to it.

However, being a food snob is not the only reason to pull out the food processor or blender to make this delcious dip. I have to remind you that there are several gross risk factors when buying store bought varieties of salsas. Yes, it's clearly easier to throw a jar of salsa into your shopping cart and use it at your leisure. But there are risks involved, as well. I won't mention them here but if you're interesting in learning more about what is REALLY in our food supply, please read my note on the FDA and store-bought goods, coming to you soon. As consumers, we have to take responsibility for ourselves. If you truly want to eat well, create health and enjoy REAL food then you better betcha you will have to get cooking, blending and fermenting. 

So let's support local farmers and try to make healthier choices everyday. I'm doing my best to bring healthy, fresh and yummy recipes right to your computer screen.

Sweet Carrot Salsa

Makes about two cups of salsa
Ingredients:
3 roma tomatoes

2 whole carrots

¼ cup of cilantro

¼ cup of white onion

½  a jalapeno

Dash of sea salt (1 tsp.)

1 tbsp. of apple cider vinager

½ tbsp. of lemon juice

½ packet of stevia (for sugar-free) OR 1-2 tbsp. of 100% REAL maple syrup or raw honey

Directions:
1. Wash all fresh ingredients
2. Chop onions, carrots and jalapeno

3. Cut ends off tomatoes and cut in thirds

3. Add all ingredients to the blender or food processor
4. Pulse for a chunkier salsa and blend for a more smooth variety (I prefer a little chunky)
5. Serve with any mexican dish or tortilla chips

Please Enjoy!

xo Natalie

Oh Sweet Sunday, it's Vegan Carrot Cake.

There is a one week window every month where my love of savory and salty foods is over-powered by an intense sweet tooth. So to this I say... let's make cake.

Nut-free. Gluten-free. Egg-free. Dairy-free. Refined-Sugar-free. But yes, it still tastes like cake. :)

The cake recipe has been adapted by me from The Candle Cafe Cookbook. I make a few substitutions here and there depending on what I have on hand. I also always substitute regular wheat and pastry flours with gluten-free flours. To make this recipe gluten-free I used a blend of quinoa and oatmeal flour. I used an additional 1/2 cup of the gluten-free flour to assure it was thick enough. I also substituted olive oil for safflower oil, apples instead of pineapple, unsweetened rice milk for soy milk. It turned out to be a less sweet version of their carrot cake recipe .. but it was delish. The key is to stick the cake in the fridge after its been iced so it can get really cool before eating.

The other change I made to the original cake recipe was to the icing. The cookbook icing recipe is a sweet version of a vegan cream cheese icing. However, if you are cool with a healthy and mildly sweet icing you will love my icing recipe instead! Plus this recipe keeps the cake completely free of refined-sugar. What could be sweeter? The recipe is below.

Also note: the only high allergen included in this dish is soy, tofu (soy) is used in the icing. I easily switched out soy for rice milk in the cake with no problem. But if you are allergic to soy ditch the icing and serve the cake with some cold-pressed oil (grass-fed butter if you can do dairy) and honey or maple syrup. It will still be really yummy!

Let me also say a few things about the original carrot cake recipe. In addition to its place in the cookbook it's also served at one of my FAV vegetarian cafes EVER, located in New York City, The Candle Cafe. At Candle Cafe they serve the cake cold, which is why I say stick the cake in the fridge for a few hours. In addition to this amazing cake, the cafe has a bunch of excellent dishes and alternative desserts so I highly recommend dining there for a casual meal if you are ever in NYC.

Also worth mentioning, Candle Cafe recently started a line of frozen food entrees and desserts that are available at select Whole Foods. And guess what? The list of SKUs available includes a frozen Carrot Cake Muffin and a Ginger Miso Stir-fry.

Easy Vegan Vanilla Icing
1 1/4 cup of drained firm tofu
4-5 tbsp of maple syrup (use grade B for more mineral content)
2 tbsp of lemon juice
1/2-1 tsp of vanilla extract

Blend together all ingredients and then refrigerate.

Eat up and enjoy!

xoxoNatalie

Hiking Mt. Rainier.

Nick is sitting beside me reading his newest science fiction fantasy. I've decided to a take a few moments to reflect on our spectacular weekend adventure. Nick's parents came for a visit and we finally made the trip to Mt. Rainier.

We rode up 5,400 feet to the Paradise area, famous for its amazing views and wildflower meadows (which were still snow covered during our visit). The views from the top were some of the most picturesque and breathtaking that I've ever seen. Perhaps the fact that there is still about a foot of snow on the ground only adds to the drama and the unexpected nature of a trip to Mt. Rainier. How often to we see pine cones in August? I'm considering it a rare privilage.

The hike through the snow was a challange. But so worth it. On the trail we munched on Enjoy Life not nuts! Mountain Mambo
trail mix, bananas and bags of carrot sticks. A few easy healthy gluten-free and nut-free trail snacks.












I'm looking forward to our next hike through paradise. :)

xoxoNatalie

Wonderful Weekend beneath a sun in Leo.

We had a productive and adventurous weekend. Finished gathering apartment décor items--a few pictures of our place to come. I finally tried the amazing yoga studio in our neighborhood on Saturday morning. Nick and I enjoyed a decadent dinner and date night out in Capitol Hill. And we also had the pleasure of Sunday brunch at our favorite breakfast place in Seattle, Portage Bay Cafe--Nick piled his french toast high with real whip cream (reminiscent of his mom's homemade version) and I enjoyed my HUGE gluten-free buckwheat flapjacks/pancakes with real maple syrup from their pancake toppings bar--YUMMM (gluten and nut free)!

We finished the weekend off at Amazon's company picnic at Mountain Meadows Farm in North Bend, Washington where I discovered a pretty white picket fence! I just couldn't resist the photo op. :)
Just another August weekend in Seattle!

xoxoNatalie

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