Christina Najjar

10 Minute Coconut Date Balls (vegan, paleo)

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Snacks often seem to be a concern for people who switch to gluten free diets.  These coconut date balls come together fairly easily. They’re great for potlucks, or for hosting gifts when you just don’t want to bring a bottle of wine.

I know medjool dates are rather expensive. When I see recipes with medjool dates, I often wonder if I can just use regular cooking dates instead. If you’re going to make these, I recommend splurging. The medjool dates will be much easier to chop and will give you nicer results all around.

These coconut date balls take additions quite nicely. I sometimes add almond meal to give them a less date-y texture. You can also add some lemon zest and/or a bit of lavender to give these a bit of extra oomph.

Ten minute coconut date balls

10 Minute Coconut Date Balls (vegan, paleo)

Ingredients
1 cup medjool dates (about 12 dates)
Boiling water
1 tsp melted coconut oil
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
More shredded coconut for coating (optional)

Directions
Pit and chop the dates using a sharp knife. Transfer them over to a large bowl.

Boil water and pour over the dates, enough to cover them. Let sit for 30-60 seconds, and then drain. Add in the coconut oil and shredded coconut. If using, pour the extra shredded coconut (about 1/4 cup) in a small plate.

Mix the ingredients with your hands until everything is well combined. Form balls with your hands, and then roll them in the shredded coconut on the plate. Then, place the coconut date balls in a single layer in a container. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving to solidify.

Vegan Paleo Custard Strawberry Pie

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Today, I finally went to the farmer’s market for the first time since I moved into town, seven years ago. My partner was looking for a fun way to celebrate our anniversary. He suggested all sorts of activities along the lines of zip lining and other adrenaline producing activities. I’ve been feeling awfully nauseated lately, so I pointed out that I’d be much happier just walking around the farmer’s market. To his surprise, he ended up enjoying it quite a bit.

I made this pie last week when my partner came home from a difficult day at work. One of the many good things about using coconut shavings instead of pie crust is the amount of time saved. This is especially true of a lot of gluten free crusts that don’t roll out as well as the wheat flour alternative.

If you want to know the truth, my partner and I finished this pie in one sitting. Rather than cutting it into slices, we dug in with our forks. I wish I’d made more.

Vegan Paleo Custard Strawberry Pie

Ingredients

For the crust:
1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
6 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp maple syrup

For the custard:
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk (not the canned stuff)
2 tbsp arrowroot powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
Maple syrup to taste (I used about 3-4 tbsp)

Sliced strawberries to cover

Directions
Combine the coconut oil and shredded coconut in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Make sure the shavings gets evenly coated as the oil melts. Once it’s evenly coated, add the maple syrup. Toss it regularly to avoid burning it. When it’s nice and brown, remove it from the heat and transfer it to a bowl. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

Combine about 1/4 cup of the coconut milk with all of the arrowroot powder and mix until it’s a uniform paste. Pour in the rest of the custard ingredients and mix well. You can make the custard in the microwave or on the stove top.

Microwave: Pour the mixture into a microwave save dish with a lid (a pyrex type dish). Microwave for two minutes. Take it out and stir it. Put it in for another two minutes, and then stir it again. Microwave it for an additional minute and a half and mix it again. If at any point it looks like it’s going to boil over, pause the microwave time and resume it after about 30 seconds.

Stovetop: In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, keep stirring the mixture until it comes to a boil. Remove immediately from heat.

Take out the mixture for the crust from the fridge and pat it down evenly in a pie pan or a pie dish. Pour the custard on top. You’ll probably need to spread it a bit.

Refrigerate it while you wash and slice the strawberries. When that’s done, take it out again and place the strawberries on top. If you’re smarter than me, you’ll place the strawberries in a way that allows for easy cutting of pie slices.

Vegan Brownies

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Last summer, I made a few batches of brownies. At the time, I was still relatively new to gluten free baking. It also didn’t help that I had to make everything in small enough batches to fit in my toaster oven. All my brownies were turning out too fluffy and cake-like, so I eventually gave up on making brownies.

After discovering that almond meal and almond flour give baked goods a denser texture, I knew that that’s what brownies needed. In the end, I found a recipe that actually works. Usually, when I want to bake something I haven’t mastered, I find a recipe that works more or less, identify individual problems, and then try to fix these problems until I have an entirely different recipe. This recipe needed no adjustments. It’s quite perfect as is. So, while it’s not my own recipe, it’s too good not to share.

Vegan Brownies

Ingredients
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup almond meal – I used the coarse stuff
3/4 cup cocoa
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp corn free baking powder
3 tbsp chia meal (ground chia seeds)
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp water
1/2 cup agave nectar or maple syrup
3 tbsp margarine/vegan butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F and grease a baking pan. I used a 9×13 inch rectangle pan.

Combine all the wet ingredients and the chia seed meal in a small bowl and let it sit for five minutes. In the meantime, mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix in the wet ingredients. Pour the batter into the greased baking pan and spread it out so that it’s mostly smooth on top. Bake for 45-55 minutes.

Soft Vegan Banana Buckwheat Cookies

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Great breakfast idea: banana buckwheat cookies

The more I experiment with buckwheat flour, the more I realise it’s pretty fool-proof. Most recipes don’t call for buckwheat flour, so the bag I have just sits there and stares at me whenever I’m in my kitchen. If you’ve tried my banana buckwheat pancakes, you know that bananas and buckwheat flour go really well together. For that reason, I decided to combine the two in a cookie recipe.

The reason I say buckwheat flour is fool-proof is that, in addition to not requiring any gums, you can forget to add baking soda to your cookie recipe, and the cookies will still be just fine. It only occurred to me while I was spooning out the cookie dough that I’d forgotten to add baking soda. I decided I’d see how the first batch turned out before adding it. Omitting it gives the cookies a really soft texture, almost like bread in cookie format.

Soft Vegan Banana Buckwheat Cookies

Ingredients
1 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup oat flour – I use Only Oats flour
3 tbsp almond meal – the coarse stuff
1/2 cup sugar
3 bananas

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mash the bananas. Add in the dry ingredients and mix well. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spoon out the cookie dough. It won’t shift much during baking so you may have to smooth out the dough if you want perfect looking cookies.

Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Vegan Paleo Apple Crumble

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Vegan paleo apple crumble

I’m always up for expanding my cooking/baking horizons. I recently saw a recipe online that used tahini as a substitute for oil. It revolutionised my world. Not only does that cut down on hydrogenated fats, but it also increases the nutrient content in food.

Since discovering the secret to vegan gluten free pancakes, I’ve been making a lot of those. I wanted to make something different for an interesting Sunday brunch. I was thinking about something along the lines of a quinoa bake, but that just didn’t seem to fit my craving. I figured I’d use some of the apples I had in my fridge and put a nice topping on it.

This crumble isn’t your typical crumble with half a cup of brown sugar. It relies on the natural sweetness of the apples and the coconut, along with the flavour of the almond meal and the tahini. The minimal amount of maple syrup is plenty for this recipe. While I chose to serve this as a tasty breakfast, you could just as well serve it as a healthy dessert.

Vegan Paleo Apple Crumble

Ingredients
3 small apples (or 2 large)
3/4 cup almond meal
1/4 cup dessicated coconut
2 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp maple syrup
About 1/2 tsp of cinnamon (or to taste)
Another 1/2 tsp of cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 375F.

Peel and chop the apples. I like to place them in an aluminium pie pan. Sprinkle them with part of the cinnamon (you can really go on a to-taste basis here). Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Spread the crumble somewhat evenly over the apples.

Bake for about 15 minutes, keeping an eye on it. It’s ready when the crumble topping is pleasantly toasted.

3 Ingredient Vegan Sugar Free Strawberry Ice Cream

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There’s something really peaceful about doing nothing on a nice spring day. Next to me is an open door that leads to my partner’s backyard. I can hear the birds and the rustle of the new leaves. Something about it makes me want to cook anything just so I can go take food pictures outdoors. This is precisely what I did for the ice cream, except these pictures were taken in my own backyard (for a lack of better term). Oddly enough, it had never occurred to me before to go take pictures outdoors. The nicer weather has been around for a few weeks, and I’ve still been taking pictures indoors.

At my current apartment, the backyard is also a shared parking for the tenants, with tons of student balconies overlooking it. I do feel kind of shy going outdoors to take pictures because there’s almost always someone around (usually drinking). My partner and I will be moving to a new apartment in July with our own backyard. I’m excited to see what kinds of new photography possibilities it will allow. Or I could just sit outside, eating homemade ice cream. 
This ice cream is so easy to make. Lots of recipes call for an ice cream maker, which can be rather disappointing when you don’t have one. Or, in my case, you have the bowl for the ice cream maker to add to a stand mixer that you don’t actually own. Because my current freezer isn’t the best, I can put the bowl of ice cream in the freezer and come back to it at any point without having to worry about thawing it a little bit first, though I’m not sure how what will be needed with other freezers. If you try out the recipe, let me know how it works out for you.
3 Ingredient Vegan Sugar Free Strawberry Ice Cream
Ingredients
3 very ripe bananas
1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries
1/4 cup full fat coconut milk
Directions
Blend all ingredients together. I used my immersion blender to blend the ingredients I’d placed in a bowl. You can also use a blender or a food processor. Freeze for at least an hour before eating.

Raspberry Cream Popsicles (vegan, paleo)

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I always keep organic raspberries in my freezer. They are so much more cost efficient than “fresh” berries which have lost their nutrients by the time they find their way to my belly. I keep them on hand so that I can make smoothies, or throw them in tasty treats, like these raspberry cream popsicles.

Homemade raspberry cream popsicles

I know it’s not quite yet summer up here, but I’m starting to feel antsy. I’m practically making it be summer. Now, I know you’re sitting there and thinking, “Who does she think she is, ‘making it be summer’?” so let me clarify. I’ve stopped wearing my boots and opted for my little flats, I wear my sunglasses whenever I can, and, most importantly, I’ve been making summer treats. It’s all about the state of mind, right? Right.

Making popsicles is practically effortless, provided that you have a functioning freezer. I’ve noticed that my freezer is moody, and I need to check its temperature before I start making popsicles. Last time I tried making popsicles, all I ended up making was really cold pudding. Don’t get me wrong, it was really good, it just wasn’t what I was hoping for.

These raspberry cream popsicles are quite easy. You don’t even need to respect exact proportions to make these. Taste the mix before putting it in your popsicle molds, and you’re good to go.

Raspberry Cream Popsicles

Ingredients
1 to 1 1/3 cup frozen or fresh raspberries*
1/2 to 2/3 cup full fat coconut milk
3-4 tbsp maple syrup

*My raspberries have been crushed by the contents of my overstuffed freezer so I used the minimum amount, but if yours still have their shape, you may need to increase the amount.

Directions
Blend all the ingredients together. Taste and adjust to your liking. Pour into popsicle moulds and freeze for several hours. To remove them easily from the moulds, run them under hot water for a few seconds.

“Special” Chocolate Fondue (vegan)

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While it’s important to eat healthy, you should also allow yourself the occasional treat. Treats don’t have to be as bad as a double cheeseburger with fries and a large milkshake. You can make modified versions of treats you like without having to compromise on taste. That’s what I did with this chocolate fondue.

The beauty of using dark chocolate in this chocolate fondue recipe is that it doesn’t need any dairy. Check the ingredients on your dark chocolate to make sure, though. The higher the cocoa content of your chocolate, the better. This means that it will contain less sugar.

Cocoa has great antioxidant properties. Some studies even suggest that cocoa may reduce blood pressure in individuals with high blood pressure. It is also a mood enhancer and helps support memory, which makes it ideal for exam time. While I don’t recommend eating a Mars bar before exams, a square of dark chocolate just may be beneficial.

I chose to add a bit of amaretto in this chocolate fondue to give it some extra flavour. If avoiding alcohol, almond extract will do just fine.

Special chocolate fondue

“Special” Chocolate Fondue (vegan)

Ingredients
100g 70% dark chocolate (typically one full bar)
3 tbsp non-dairy milk of choice (I like coconut milk)
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp amaretto (or almond extract)
Splash of vanilla extract

Directions
Fondue set: combine all the ingredients, mixing frequently, making sure not to let the chocolate burn at the bottom.

Microwave: In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate in 30 second increments, mixing it in between. Once it’s melted, add the other ingredients and mix well. If using this method, the chocolate may begin to solidify as the mixture cools down.

Serve with fresh fruit. Suggested fruit includes bananas, apples, cantaloupe, strawberries, peaches or nectarines, and/or pears. This recipe is deal for 3-4 people.

3 Ingredient Chocolate Ice Cream (vegan)

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I know some people consider ice cream to be a comfort food, but I never really have. I do enjoy it, but ice cream cravings are so rare for me. The cravings that led to this chocolate ice cream weren’t a common occurrence.

3 ingredient vegan chocolate ice cream

A few weeks ago, on a Saturday night, I went for drinks with a friend. We were both pretty tired and started yawning uncontrollably around 9pm. When we left the pub, I decided I NEEDED chocolate ice cream. That night, I ate dairy (something I never do).  I also bought ingredients to make a dairy-free ice cream that wouldn’t cost me $7 for a tiny tub for the next time a craving hit.

This isn’t a recipe to make at 1am (unless you go to bed at 4) so plan ahead. I like to keep a can of coconut milk in the fridge at all times, just in case.

3 Ingredient Chocolate Ice Cream (vegan)

Ingredients
140g of 70% dark chocolate (check the ingredients for milk)
1 can full fat coconut milk
1/3 cup maple syrup or honey

Directions
Refrigerate the coconut milk at least 2 hours ahead of time.

Break the chocolate into pieces and put it in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time until it’s just melted, stirring every time. Make sure not to burn it. Mix the honey or maple syrup into the melted chocolate.

Open the can of coconut milk. Scoop up all the solid stuff out of the can. You can drink the water at the bottom, add it to smoothies, or brush it into your hair not long before showering to make it shine (though it’s not as potent as the thick milk part). I used a new bowl for the coconut milk because the chocolate bowl was pretty hot from the microwave. Mix all the ingredients together until it’s all blended. Place in freezer and remove every 45 minutes to give it a good stir. It should be done after about 2 hours, depending on your freezer.

Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies (Vegan)

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I always buy bananas that I can’t seem to use fast enough. They turn brown on me and then I feel like I can’t eat them. I really hate throwing food away, especially when it feels like I’m throwing nutrients away! Read Well-Being Secret’s post on the health benefits of bananas here. My baking inspiration this time gave me these oatmeal cookies.

If you’re sensitive to oats, I’m terribly sorry. Next time I post some goodies, they’ll be oat free. The good thing about this recipe is that you can add something like cranberries or whatever your favourite cookie garnish is, or you can omit the chocolate chips altogether, and it’ll still be delightful.

WARNING: These cookies are addictive, so once they’ve cooled down, put a few cookies on a plate, and lock the rest away and protect them with an obstacle course.

Delicious banana chocolate chip oatmeal cookies

Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients
1 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup tapioca starch
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 1/2 cups brown sugar (or vegan sugar alternative)
2 1/4 cups oats (I use Only Oats brand because it’s gluten free)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup oil
2 ripe bananas
1 tbsp water
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
Chocolate chips of your choice to taste (I think I used 1/2 or 3/4 cups)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix. In a separate bowl, mash the bananas and add the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix well. Because bananas vary in size, you may need to add a bit of oil to properly blend the ingredients. Add the chocolate chips.

Drop dough by tablespoonfuls (or more) on a greased cookie sheet. If you use stoneware, you don’t need to grease it. Flatten the dough a bit with the back of the spoon.. Make sure to leave a bit of space between the cookies. They’ll expand a bit, but not as much as regular cookies. Bake for about 14 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown.

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Christina Najjar - Natural Nutrition

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