Almond Meal Carrot Cake- Gluten and Sugar Free!

Im usually pretty go about going outside of my comfort zone when i'm cooking. I'll try just about any recipe, whether its Thai, Indian or French, bring it. But I think that's because i'm in the comfort of my own kitchen and the worst possible outcome is a tasteless Indian curry or burnt pastries. However when it comes to activities outside of the kitchen I often need a little push to help me get the motivation to venture out of my normal routine.

On Monday I took a step outside my little bubble and decided to cover a shift at Lululemon in Bondi (for everyone not living in Syndey thats a long way from home for me). There were a number of things that initially made me weary- new people, new store, conquering public transport there? Needless to say, I know you all guessed it. I rocked it, I arrived thirty minutes early for my shift and sent a text saying that I made public transport my B@t@%! Sorry for he language but it was necessary.

The shift was awesome, the people were beyond friendly and one of the other educators brought this carrot cake in for us to try. So not only did I have an awesome day, but I found a new recipe. What's more is that it's a flour-less (and sugarless) carrot cake using almond meal, which apparently is all the rage because of the added protein. You get the benefits and nutrition of almonds without all the fats. Yes i'm well aware that they are healthy oils and fats, but those fats pack a lot of calories... just something to think about.

Anyways this cake was the bomb. I mean freaking incredible. I found myself asking an almost total stranger if I could have seconds. I didn't want to sound greedy, but man I wanted more. The recipe she gave me called for stevia, but I opted to add a few extra dates and use agave instead. I think it worked out quite well. I'm stoked with what a simple, natural delicious recipe this is and hope you enjoy it half as much I did.

Lastly a shout out to the Saha Space, what a wonderful blog

Ingredients:
3 C. Almond Meal
12 Dates (chopped and soaked in boiling water)
1/2 C. Agave (depending on how sweet you would like your bread)
3 Large carrots
1 Tsp. Baking powder
1 Tsp. Nutmeg
1 1/2 Tbs. Cinnamon
3 Eggs
1/2 C. Chopped Walnuts (Optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 160 Celsius or 320 Fahrenheit

1. Chop the dates and soak them in 1/4 cup of boiling water.
2. Grate the carrots into a mixing bowl.

3. Add the baking soda, nutmeg cinnamon, eggs, and dates. Mix thoroughly.

4. Measure and add the almond meal. Mix thoroughly.

5. Grease a bread loaf pan, or muffin tin and spoon the thick batter into it.

6. Bake for approximately one hour or until a knife comes out clean.

Black Bean Brownies

The aftermath of a 'taste'

I don't even have a good picture of these brownies. Want to know why? Because I ate them ALL before I could even get a decent photo. I was telling my coworkers the other day about these incredible brownies, and I even admitted that I was going to bring some in for everyone to try. I honestly had every intention of doing that, I swear. But I had a 'little' taste to make sure they were good, I was so curious. I mean black bean brownies... I was skeptical. Well needless to say one little taste turned into a third of the brownies. About an hour later Stu came home, laughed at me for eating so much and took a little taste for himself. Twenty minutes later another third of the brownies were gone. Ill fast forward to the evening and make a long story short, we finished them all! There its all out in the open, we ate an entire batch of brownies in one evening.

Ingredients:

1 Can of Black Beans
3 Eggs ( 2 whole eggs, 1 egg white)
2 Tbs. Canola oil
1/4 C. Dark cocoa powder
2/3 C. agave or honey
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
1/4. Coffee (either brewed or 2 tsp instant coffee powder)
1/2 C. Dark baking chocolate (either chips or a chopped up block)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 180 Celsius.
2. Rinse the black beans in a strainer and pour them into a bowl.

3. Using a fork, mash the beans until they reach a smooth consistency, it will take a solid 5 minutes, but this is where the fudgey consistency comes from- so do it!
4. Add the 2 whole eggs, separate the egg and yolk of the third and add the egg white.

5. Add the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the dark chocolate chunks.

6. Mix thoroughly.
7. Add the dark chocolate chunks and fold them lightly into the batter.

8. Grease a small baking pan with pam, oil or butter.
9. Pour the brownie batter into the pan and bake for 30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

10. Wait for them to cool completely before 'tasting' them, be prepared to have seconds.

Enjoy!

Spiced Butternut Pumpkin Tagine

I wanna go. Where you ask, well Morroco of course! But I can't right now, so instead were taking a journey there in my one bedroom apartment. If you close your eyes and try really really hard you can almost imagine your in a busy street of Marrakech. Ok well not quite, but the aroma coming from my oven is as close as i've ever gotten and the complexity of the flavors of this tagine are unlike any thai or indian curry i've ever tasted. Somehow this savory dish dances on notes of cinnamon and honey, while the earthy tone of the toasted almonds and cous cous bring you back down to earth.

 Now I know not everyone has a tagine, but you should definitely try this dish anyways. I would recommend using a tall baking dish with lid. Enjoy!


Ingredients:
1/2 Butternut pumpkin
2 Tbs. Olive oil
1 Onion
3-4 Threads of Saffron
3 tsp. Cumin
1 tsp. Ginger
2 tsp. Paprika
2 tsp. Coriander seeds
2 Cans of tomatoes or 1 large tin
2 Red or Green chiles
1 Cinnamon stick or 2 tsp. Cinnamon
1 C. Water
Toasted almonds and coriander to garnish

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 Degrees Fahrenheit or 180 degrees Celsius

2. Chop the Pumpkin into one inch cubes.

3. Cut the chile length wise, deseed and chop finely.

4. Chop the onion.
5.  Add the olive oil to the pan and saute the onion, then add the dry spices.

7. Add the onion spice mixture to the tagine, then the pumpkin.
8. Open a large can of tomatoes and pour over the tagine.

9. Add the honey to the tagine.

10. Cover with the lid.

11. Cook for one hour for until the pumpkin is soft.
12. Garnish with toasted almonds and coriander.
13. Serve over cous cous or any other grain you prefer.