'Green Smoothie' peppermint cheesecake

I wasn't planning to post a recipe today (well actually I was since yesterdays post was supposed to be today but my fingers got clumsy and hit 'publish' and not 'schedule'...oops!)

But that's ok cos I accidentally came up with a little gem of a recipe that relates to yesterday's recipe and is oh so green I had to share it in the final run up to St Patricks Day!

P.S...I apologies now for the overuse of the word 'exciting' and the number of !!!! and ... you'll see in this post.

This receipt is indulgent whist being ridiculously healthy... I mean totally ridiculously healthy- so much healthier than you'd imagine when tasting a bite! Even my mum was wide eyed at how good it was and she won't go near my green smoothies! :-)

Just quickly scroll down now and take a look at the ingredients list!

I have been playing around with coconut flour and yoghurt combos a lot these last few days....such a revelation of simplicity and so versatile. I was almost dancing around the kitchen when I took this cheesecake out of the freezer, allowed it to thaw out and dove in...the texture is amazing- so soft and creamy!!

I am so excited to have created a vegan cheesecake that doesn't rely on tofu or cashews! Whoop whoop!

I have a few more experiments along these lines to bring your way soon, all equally exciting (in my opinion) but this will have to keep you going for now. Just promise me this....next time you make a green smoothie, reserve a little bit to make this!! I made a mini cheesecake as I wasn't sure if it was going to be a success or disaster, but you could easily make 3 or 4 times the amount and make a regular sized cheesecake. It really is good enough for dessert I promise (although it might freak out your dinner guests!) You can also cheat and use extra sweetener if you need to.

Right...gotta go, so much to do and so little time. All the taste testing I've been talking about that has largely sabotaged my '6 pack challenge' these last few weeks is soon to be coming to an exciting conclusion! Phew- there really is only so many dried fruits and nuts a girl can consume, so it's a good thing I had this little beauty and a big glass of the Super Green smoothie to hand for my post-work out lunch today!

Recipe: 'Green Smoothie' peppermint cheesecake

Serves 2 (or one hungry person!)

Ingredients:

3 tbs leftover green smoothie (I used this recipe)
1 tbs fine coconut flour
3 tbs vegan yoghurt (I used soy) Note: for non vegans this does also work with regular plain yoghurt
1 tbs white chia seeds (plus more for topping if desired)
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
4 drops pure stevia (or to taste)

Cheesecake base: I used some leftover 'smoosh bar' style mix from one of my testing samples. Basically its a mixture of dates, almonds and raw cacao nibs. You can use any raw crust mixture.

Method:

Mix everything together very well to form a smooth thick paste with no lumps of flour.

Press the cheese cake base into the bottom of a large silicone muffin case or a mini pie dish with removal base/sides (approx 8cm wide). Note: it may be hard to remove the cheesecake otherwise.

Spoon the cheesecake mix on top of the crust and firmly smooth the top with the back of a wet spoon. add chia seeds (or other decoration) is desired- or you can add these at the time of serving.

Freeze the cheese cake for a minimum of one hour. To serve remove from the case whilst still solid (it should peel away easily). Allow to defrost on a serving plate at room temperature for at least 30 mins.

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Green smoothie...I found a recipe I like!

Good day to you all!

I'm a little overexcited as some of you may have seem a few 'oh my gosh' type of announcements over on my Facebook page in recent days....all due to the fact that I have actually finally concocted a Green Smoothie I actually quite enjoyed!

I did this 30 day experiment some time ago and whilst a few flavour combos kinda hit the spot- mainly the mango infused versions, I always felt it was a compromise with the proportion of fruit being too high. I'm not generally a smoothie girl as I prefer to eat my fruits whole in stead of drink them, but I was intrigued by the green smoothie 'revolution' that seemed to have taken the world by storm...I felt like I was missing out big time!

So, a week or so ago I tried a change of tactic. Instead of using fruits to try and 'hide' the greens I thought I would 'celebrate' the greens by addding just a little fruit simply to complement them. You know what...it worked! For me anyway, I totally appreciate that for many people the whole hiding the greens thing does work- my taste buds were simply not fooled, plus it was very easy to end up with a 'grey sludge' when using greens and red berries. Not the prettiest look.

I will warn you now, this smoothie is very refreshing and 'green' tasting, no bananary berryness to try and cover things up. The subtle hints of ginger and lemon work perfectly to give a refreshing tart kick whilst the apple gives a little touch of sweetness and the avocado offers the smooth undertones. You can omit the avocado if you prefer, I've had it like that to, it's just not so smooth. I use frozen pureed apple to thicken and chill the smoothie without the need for ice cubes- speeds things up that little bit more too!

So here is my Super Green Smoothie. The greenest of the green...just check out these ingredients!

It's perfectly timed for St Paddy's Day too. I'll toast with a big glass on Sunday and I hope you do too, whatever your favourite greens combo is.  Let me know your favourite flavours in the comments- you never know there may well be another amazing smoothie combo I just haven't tried yet.

Recipe: 'Super Green' Smoothie

Serves 1

Ingredients

1 cup water (or more to reach desired thickness)

1 cup packed spinach (or other greens)

1/3 cup cucumber

½ cm fresh ginger

2 tsp lime juice (or lemon)

1/3 cup frozen pureed apple or pear

Approx. 1/4 cup sized chunk of avocado

Optional extras:

1/2 tsp greens powder

A couple of fresh mint leaves

A few drops of stevia or sweetener of choice

Chia seeds to garnish

Method

Blend everything together until as smooth as possible. I find it easiest to add half the water first, blend well and then add the remainder and re-blend to get the smoothest consistency.

Note: I partially defrosted the apple/pear puree ‘blocks’ before adding to the processor. Serve immediately.

P.S just a few more green recipes from the archives to continue St. Paddy's Day style.

Mint choc brownie

Pea and bean dip

Peppermint chocolate slice

Pea, courgette and mint soup

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Irish potato farls

Ooo look I’m just in time…for St Patricks Day that is! 

I also had one other recipe I wanted to make, this time along the green theme but alas I didn’t quite get organised enough. Oh well I may as well just get that up tomorrow anyway on the actual day itself, I know it will be short notice but I am pretty certain it will a recipe for St. Paddy’s and far beyond!

So…. I wrote down and crossed off so many options for so many reasons:

…irish cream

….soda bread

…green smoothie

…. anything green!

Problem was I’d seen plenty of amazing looking recipes along these themes already. At some point I do want to attempt a soda bread though, but having never baked a GF loaf before I figured it might be best to wait for another time when I have time on my side to make a few mistakes and few attempts if necessary.

For today I wanted a fool proof recipe with a short ingredient list, but still decidedly Irish. I also wanted a savoury recipe (to compliment tomorrow’s sweet recipe!)

So, here we have Irish potato farls (with a little twist of my own that I couldn’t resist).  The traditional Irish recipe simply calls for regular potatoes and does not include any seasonings other than salt. The ‘cakes’ are meant to be plain as an accompaniment to a dish. However I wanted to add some sweet potato into the mix also adding a hint of seasoning whilst not being overpowering. I also substituted GF flours for the regular plain flour that would be more typically used. Feel free to mix things up as you wish.

One thing I would note is that the potatoes should ideally be ‘dry’ before they are mashed.  When I made them I didn’t let my potato dry very well after draining and had to add more flour to compensate, the flour is an approximation so add as much as it takes. It’s not a huge problem if you add a lot more, but better to let the potato take centre stage and not risk adding copious amounts of flour to the mix to alter the flavours.

I served my farls with a light salad as a brunch, I left the rest of the dough in the fridge to cook up at another time. The dry frying in flour is what really makes the farls, giving them a lovely crisp exterior and leaving a creamy soft interior.

Recipe: Irish potato farls

Makes 4-6 farls

Ingredients

2 medium potatoes, peeled and halved

2 medium (or one large) sweet potato

½ tsp salt

Approx.1/3 cup GF flour mix (I used tapioca and buckwheat)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tsp mix of garlic and onion powder- optional

Method

Boil the potatoes for approx. 20 minutes until cooked. Drain the potatoes and let sit for a few minutes to let dry out properly.

Add potatoes to a bowl and mash well, once mashed add  all the other ingredients and mix through until a soft dough begins to come together. The dough should be sticky but if it is too sticky to handle add a little more flour until it becomes workable (note- allowing the potato to dry should help combat this).

On a well floured surface bring the dough together into a ball and flatten into a circle approx. 1cm thick- cut into 4 or 6 wedges using a floured knife.

Heat a frying pan and sprinkle a little more flour over the base, cook the farls fry in the flour for approx. 3 minutes in each side until browned.

Sprinkle with salt to serve.

This post is also in memory of my Grandma Marion, who's birthday it would have been today...had she been born one day later she would have been named Patricia! 

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.