A classic example of one such architecture is the smoothie. Great tasting fruits, superfoods, and sometimes even a few sneaky veggies get blended together into delicious drinks that even kids give a thumbs up to. However, as the seasons take a turn for the colder, the idea of a frosty one can be a little hard to swallow. Luckily, there’s an excellent runner-up out there: the energy bar.

Of course, most stores are already absolutely overflowing with pre-made energy bars. But just because we buy them in little wrapped packages, doesn’t mean they have to come that way. Homemade energy bars are remarkably easy to create, and also allow full control over the ingredients (many “nutrition bars” contain unhealthy filler ingredients, refined sugars, and difficult-to-digest protein isolates). Additionally, the DIY route also produces a bar that is less expensive, cuts down on excess packaging, and (in my opinion) is much more delicious! If you can make a smoothie, you can make an energy bar: they’re that easy.

Needless to say, I often will make these guys to subdue my snack-monster tendencies. I look at energy bars with an opportunistic attitude: how much goodness can I pack into a great tasting treat? Make that energy bar live up to its name! To make a truly natural bar, I start out with a no-fail base of dried fruit and nuts, then blend in various superfoods to douse my snack with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and long-lasting energy. I even made a new version the other day using, of all things, a freeze-dried wheatgrass powder — which has become a instant hit as it’s so surprisingly good. The wheatgrass powder has almost no taste at all, so the bars contain all the benefits of highly-condensed vegetable nutrition, without the undesired influence of veg-flavor. Though energy bars in general are a phenomenally flexible recipe; here’s my simple wheatgrass-infused base recipe to get you started. In addition to the mega-vitamins from the wheatgrass, hemp seeds provide protein and healthy omega fats, cashews add an even further protein boost, dates bring minerals and natural sugars, and (optional) goji berries provide broad-spectrum nutrition and antioxidants. Here’s to snacking…

Green Energy Bars

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup cashews
1 cup medjool dates, pits removed (about eight)
2 tsp freeze-dried wheatgrass powder
1/4 cup hemp seeds
1/4 cup goji berries (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
Mix the cashews, dates and wheatgrass powder together in a food processor just until a rough dough has formed (allowing some cashews to remain coarsely chopped). Add the hemp seeds and pulse several times until combined.

Place a sheet of saran wrap on a cutting board and spill the dough out on top. Use your hands to press and form into a 1 inch thick rectangle, then cut into 8 pieces.

Wrap and keep in the freezer for long term storage. Makes 8 bars (double or triple the recipe if desired).
©2010 JulieMorris.net

I wish I had a brownie for every time I’ve been informed that eating naturally is simply too hard. While making fancy shmancy meals can be a fun project, uber delicious healthy food doesn’t have to be complicated. Some of my favorite “recipes” are not recipes at all. Take, for example, a fig. Bite into it and . . . whoa! All those little seeds and colors and textures are like whole universe of magnificent complexity tucked inside a shriveled-looking edible fruit package. Imagine if the fig didn’t exist, and some company “invented” the recipe for one: would the fig not be the most amazing “product?” So much of our food experience comes down to mindset.

There’s a style of Japanese brush painting called shodo – a form of calligraphy with an abstract offshoot that attempts to capture energy and kinetics through a few simple brush strokes. Whereas most styles of painting take days, months, even years to complete, shodo takes just a few calculated moments. A swish. A swash. Maybe one last accoutremental zing . . . and then, the decision to end. And within this philosophy of “less is more,” the biggest challenge becomes when to step away and recognize perfection in “just enough.” It’s an empowering judgment call – a kind of discipline in a way – embracing simplicity in this funny world of ours that is obsessed with faster, newer, hotter, and anything that begins with “now with more.”

Poor ol’ “less.”

In the realm of food — for the most part — modern cuisine teaches “just enough” is never enough. Our perfectly lovely foods are processed, packaged, mixed, mingled, extracted, added and bastardized until they’re pretty much unrecognizable. Then we process them again, add healthyish-looking colorings, artificial vitamins and preservatives, and reshape the result into forms that pass for food-like. I don’t think most people would be too impressed if I took a beautiful shodo painting, sprayed graffiti all over it until it turned grey, covered it in white-out to get to a white page again, and then drew a couple of lines mimicking the original painting in magic marker.

I find natural foods can take us back to a Tao-like state — appreciating beauty in simplicity. Take the humble parsnip: a wonderfully useful root vastly overshadowed by its more rotund cousin, the potato. While usually just reserved for an occasional hodgepodge-style stew or roasted medley of sorts, the parsnip offers a complex flavor functioning as a gorgeous balance between a potato, a carrot, and fennel . . . all rolled into one (aka a “recipe”). And it even contains more vitamins and minerals than many of its other root friends (especially potassium). What a guy.

Homemade parsnip fries utilize this idea of “ingredient economy.” Slow roasting them allows for a caramelization of their inherent sweetness, and a little coconut oil keeps them crisp on the outside and soft within. There are a billion ways to make this recipe fancier, but in pulling them out of the oven, I’m personally hard-pressed myself to add a thing. There’s simply no need. I find these parsnips perfect: Just. The way. They are.

Here’s the basic recipe for parsnip fries.

But vintage naptime had one good thing going for it that even my 3 year old self could appreciate: the post-sleep graham cracker snack. This was a very exciting point in the day, where if our 30 minutes of rest was a success, we each received 2 crackers (which broke into a total of 8 rectangles) accompanied by a glass of juice. The world was a much better place when there were graham crackers around.

No extra motivation is needed for naps these days, but the graham cracker lure has far from ceased. I mean, just think about them: kinda like a cookie, kinda like a biscuit, it’s always a good time for a graham cracker – am I wrong? I like to make mine with buckwheat flour – one of my favorite flours to use for its generous flavor. This is definitely graham cracker version 2.0 (and also free of gluten and dairy), with a revamped ingredient set including ground flax for extra nutrition, sweet mesquite powder for extra flavor and protein, palm sugar for a brown sugary goodness that has less of a glycemic impact, and coconut oil because, well, coconut oil is just good in everything. These are really, really good – and even better with a smear of almond butter. You can also add in a bit of cinnamon for a spiced-up twist. Playtime.

Buckwheat Graham Crackers

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups buckwheat flour
¼ cup mesquite powder
¼ cup ground flax seeds
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
½ cup palm sugar (date sugar may be substituted, or sucanat)
1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
¼ cup maple syrup (grade b, if possible)
¼ cup coconut oil
2 Tbsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:
In a food processor,* pulse all the dry ingredients together, including the sugar, until combined. Add in the remaining wet ingredients, and process until a dough has formed. If dough is too dry, add additional almond milk, one tsp at a time. Dough will be firm and slightly sticky. Divide in half and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Place one chilled dough half on a large piece of floured parchment paper (use additional buckwheat flour or preferred kind). Place a second piece of parchment paper on top, and use a rolling pin to roll very flat – about 1/8 inch thick. Place on a baking sheet, and carefully remove top layer of parchment. Using a pizza cutter or ravioli roller (or simply a knife), cut the dough into squares. Use a fork to score the crackers with decorative dots. Repeat with second dough half and place on a second baking sheet. Bake crackers for 22-28 minutes or until dried out but not burned. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes, then place crackers on a wire rack to finish cooling and become crisper. Makes about 5 dozen 2” crackers, and will keep in an airtight container for about 2 weeks.

*You can mix all of this by hand, but it’s infinitely easier with a food processor

Sweet Seed Candies

Similar to the traditional Greek sesame candy “Pasteli,” which is made with honey and sesame seeds, these superfood candies take advantage of yacon syrup’s more complex flavor and healthy benefits. Crunchy and chewy at the same time, these all-natural candies are addictingly delicious. If you cannot find pre-roasted/toasted sesame seeds, use raw ones — just pop them in the oven for 5 minutes at 350 degrees ahead of time.

INGREDIENTS:
½ cup  yacon syrup
¼ cup hemp seeds
½ cup toasted sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS:
Oil a baking tray.

Over medium-low heat, warm the yacon syrup for a minute until it gets bubbly. Reduce the heat to low, add the seeds, and simmer for 3-4 minutes longer, stirring constantly.

Spread the mixture onto the pre-oiled tray into about a ¼ inch layer. Let cool completely (about 15-20 minutes). Use kitchen scissors to cut into squares or desired shape. Makes about 2 dozen candies.

healthy benefits: gluten-free, calcium, protein, essential fatty acids, low(er) sugar, prebiotics (healthy digestion)

© 2009 www.juliemorris.net

Apple Pear Energy Tartlets

As mentioned in my blog post, feel free to substitute like crazy in this quick recipe. Another great energy bar to use instead of the Vibrancy bars are Larabars (Apple Pie flavor), though you may have to use one additional bar for the recipe as they are smaller. The Vibrancy bars are my favorite from a nutritional standpoint, plus the gentle crunch from the sprouted buckwheat they contain is absolutely ideal for the base of a tart.

And of course, simply doubling the recipe and making one large tart works all day long.

INGREDIENTS:
1 medium sweet crunchy apples (aka Fuji or Gala)
1 medium soft pear (aka Barlett or bosc)
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice, or cinnamon
1 Tbsp yacon syrup (optional)
3 Vega Whole Food Vibrancy Bars, Original Flavor

DIRECTIONS:

Make the filling: chop the apples and the pear into a fine mince. Toss with pumpkin pie spice and yacon syrup until well combined. Set aside.

Assemble: Using a standard-sized muffin tin or tartlet molds,  tuck a layer of saran wrap into a cup to use as a mold. Break off half of an energy bar.  Press the bar firmly into the cup, coaxing the bar “dough” evenly along the bottom and up the sides about 1/2 inch with your fingers to form a tartlet base. Use the saran-wrap to remove the packed base from the muffin tin, then peel away plastic. Use the plastic again to form the remainder of the tartles. Liberally spoon in the apple-pear filling evenly inside of the each of the tartlet crusts and serve.

Makes 6 three inch tartlets

Healthy benefits: protein, antioxidants, high fiber, dairy-free, gluten-free

©2009 www.juliemorris.net