Quinoa with Vegetables and Black Sesame

I don't think anybody needs a recipe for that… It’s just quinoa with vegetables. You can create your own version with your favorite vegetables or any leftovers. 

Quinoa is a great substitute for rice. I always have it at home, especially because I've been drastically reducing my rice intake. Due to studies that suggest greater amount of arsenic in rice -- especially in brown rice -- I'm limiting intake to twice a week. You can check this FDA link and read the report by yourself if you have any interest and then google for more info. 

I JUST LOVED THE COLORS AND HAD TO TAKE A PICTURE

Raw Layered Banana Ice Cream Cake

Now… that’s long because I wanted to make a full review on this, and I admit I'm proud of myself I didn't mess this all up.

I love cakes, ice-cream, and bananas. This looked like a good deal! But I feel the need to tell you exactly how it was/is.

I’ll start describing the layers. Actually I totally ignored the crust and maple drizzle, so that’s all I have anyway!

I have very little patience for details; I never EVER considered making those thin cute layers you see in the original recipe, I am super lazy and far from a pastry chef. So I just made the layers individually and poured each of them at once in my small 17 cm spring form pan.

PRETTY CAKE FOR SURE

Black layer: Tastes like banana ice-cream… creamy and with a chocolate twist. If you like banana, you'll find it tasty, I liked it.
White layer: It’s nutty. Couldn’t exactly describe… It was a nice vanilly-creamy mix.

Pink layer: My husband said it tasted like raspberries; and he is right, if I didn’t know there were beets there, I would say it was some fruit sorbet. Tasty.

Green layer: Tastes like frozen mint; the avocado doesn’t seem to play any role in the flavor. Nothing special, I would skip it next time, or maybe it works better when thinly layered as per original recipe.

And now my general opinion about it:

Negative side:

- It takes a hell of a time to freeze layers, than making the next one, then freeze…zzzzzzzzzzzz Don’t get me wrong: it’s easy, but laborious.

- Good luck in cutting a frozen cake, we used a big sharp warm knife, running the blade under very hot water; and it took some minutes. We also had to be careful: the bottom part of the cake slides and it can FLY AWAY ;) then… NO CAKE FOR YOU!

STOP TAKING PICTURES AND EAT, 
THE CAKE IS MELTING!

Positive side:

- It’s nutritious and one small slice is enough to make you happy.

- It’s frozen, so it can be stored for a longer period.

- It’s sweet, will kill your cravings for sure.

- You can have it for breakfast during the whole week – c’mon, it’s basically fruits.

- You can make your kids eat beets and nuts and they won’t even notice because… it’s ice-cream (but I would skip green layer and turn it into Napolitan ice).

WITH COCONUT OIL CHOCOLATE ICING

Results: Thumbs up for the taste, thumbs down for the long process.

All in all, it was so pretty I couldn’t resist trying it, it just needs a little bit more effort!

From One Green Planet
Recipe: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/recipe-raw-layered-banana-ice-cream-cake/

Healthy Brigadeiros

FULECO, THE ARMADILLO
OFFICIAL MASCOT 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP

World Cup 2014 in Brazil is almost over, it’s time to celebrate with Brigadeiros, a typical Brazilian treat!

ABOUT BRIGADEIROS: Brigadeiro is the most known sweet in Brazil; a typical treat at birthday
parties. Of course they are made with sweetened condensed milk, lots of sugar, butter, need to be heated blablabla but this kind of thing doesn’t belong to this blog hehe So I made my own version with the help of a recipe I found online.

My substitutions compared to original recipe on the link below:

Instant coffee -> Nothing. I didn’t have any and wouldn’t buy some just for one recipe…

Whole-rolled oats -> Multi grain porridge mix (fine flour) -- not gluten-free, but you can change this.

TIPS:

- Since I didn’t use whole-rolled oats, I was able to skip the processing part and had it all hand made. I just put all ingredients in a bowl and mixed them until optimal consistency.

- I used less than a cup of porridge mix, otherwise it would have been too dry, start with ¾ cup. You can make it gluten-free using a g-free mix/oat.

- Remember to grease your hands before rolling the balls, otherwise they will stick to your fingers and the sprinkles will not hold to them (oh, don’t forget to remove your rings or wear disposable gloves!).

From Avery Cooks
Recipe: http://www.averiecooks.com/2013/09/chocolate-peanut-butter-mocha-powerballs.html

Quinoa Buns with Flaxseeds

I found red quinoa for the first time and wanted to try it -- then needed to find recipes to make use of it, that's how it usually works with me :P

So I started checking at my friend Veganana… and was super curious to make these buns, they looked so appetizing!

NOTE: When I use flours I usually mix lots of them (specially gluten-free ones) because this means more nutrients; and that’s what’s more important to me. I can hardly imagine ever using conventional white flour again for this reason.

What I used in my version (check the complete list of ingredients on the link provided below):

Gluten-free flours -> 6 TBS Tapioca flour + 6 TBS Sweet lupin flour

Quinoa flakes -> Red quinoa (I had some cooked leftovers, so I used them)

I added 2 TBS Nutritional Yeast because I looooove cheesy stuff!

SPREAD SOME GHEE IF YOU WANT (THEN NO LONGER VEGAN)
AND ENJOY!

Based on a recipe from Veganana, my favorite Brazilian vegan blog!!! Click the link and scroll down for English version. Veganana is now gradually updating her blog with recipes in English, you’ll soon be able to enjoy everything she has to offer!

BRASIL: A Veganana é o máximo para quem gosta de receitas vegetarianas/veganas! Aliás, ela vende Nutritional Yeast para quem quiser, basta encomendar.

From Veganana
Recipe: http://blog.veganana.com.br/2013/05/pao-de-quinoa-e-semente-de-linhaca.html

Polenta with Giant Mushrooms

No big deal. I was thinking about polenta for quite some time and I didn’t know it was so ridiculously easy to make… I think the last time I had them I was 10 years old!

A VERY SIMPLE DINNER

Super versatile. Directions are always in the packaging of the polenta of your choice, but all it takes is water and salt J Serve with some salad for a more nutritious meal.

My personal tips:

Marinate the mushrooms in some balsamic, olive oil, garlic and herbs for 1 hour, then roast them with some coconut sugar for a “meaty” flavor.

Add Nutritional Yeast to the polentas if you’re crazy about cheese like me!!!

Coconut Sagu with Goji

Lazy breakfast on the weekend (but still healthy, isn't it!?).

Sagu made with organic/natural coconut milk sprinkled with gojis. Left sagu soaking in coconut milk for 15 minutes, then cooked the sagu mix with sweetner over low heat until it reached desired consistency.

500 ml natural/organic coconut milk
1/2 cup Sagu
Sweetner of choice  (I used coconut sugar)
Gojis

Gluten-free Grain-free Vegetarian Cuban Sandwich

Since I saw this recipe on one of my favorite food bloogers I got a little bit obsessed about making this sandwich. On the other hand, I made it vegetarian, with some big mushrooms and then with tempeh.

Version 1: WITH MUSHROOM

CARAMELIZING MUSHROOMS

I had the crazy idea of frying the mushrooms over coconut oil with some coconut sugar to make them resemble meat -- they were a little bit caramelized and incredible... that was the best idea I've ever had!

Version 2: WITH TEMPEH - MY FAVORITE!

From Purely Twins
Recipe: http://purelytwins.com/2014/05/07/paleo-grain-free-gluten-free-healthy-cuban-sandwich/