Tag: nuts

A game changer…

Laura Nana5 Comments

Trust me, I’m not using that title lightly! I’ve just made something quite amazing from a ridiculously small number of ingredients leaving me in a state of shock!

So this week I’ve been researching the benefits of soaking nuts and grains etc to remove toxins and make proteins and other good nutrients more easily absorbable by the body. 

During the research I came across quite a few posts about ‘cream’ substitutes – especially when looking at vegan sites. 

I tried to make Cashew Cream today and I’ve pretty much polished it off standing in the kitchen cooking dinner!

  
 
It’s super smooth as a result of soaking the cashews and the maple syrup is a great partner in crime. I’m going to have this as ‘Strawberries and cream’, it could easily be a ‘buttercream’ on top of GF cupcakes and might even work with my morning granola/compote concoction. 

If you make anything from my blog, please make this.

Ingredients 

  • 1 cup plain cashews
  • 1/4 cup water 
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • Small pinch of sea salt

Soak the nuts covered in boiled water for 15 minutes. 

Drain and add to a blender with all other ingredients and blitz for 3-4 minutes. 

Add more water and blitz again if you want a thinner ‘cream’.

Done. Taste it. Smile at your genius. Eat. 

Apricot Granola out of the oven Laura of London Laura Nana

New Granola recipe

Laura NanaLeave a comment

Here’s another granola recipe that I made this morning, similar flavours but a couple of new additions, I wanted it to be more fruity and nutty et voila – dried apricots go amazingly chewy when they’re cooked and replacing flaked almonds with chopped mixed nuts gives a really nice crunch.

Apricot Granola out of the oven Laura of London Laura Nana
Hot out of the oven

To make the compote I regularly have with it, I use half a tub of frozen mixed berries and 1-2 tablespoons of Agave with 1-2 tablespoons of water – all in a saucepan simmered for 5 minutes or so. Taste for tartness and pop in a tupperware container to go in the fridge once its cooled, it’ll keep for a week or so. If it is a little too sharp, add more agave.

Apricot Granola with natural yoghurt and frozen berry compote Laura of London
Apricot Granola with natural yoghurt and frozen berry compote

Dry ingredients 
2.5 cups oats
¼ cup flax seeds – I used Linwoods
¼ cup mixed seeds
¼ cup dried apricots chopped up small
¼ cup seedless raisins
¼ cup ground almonds
½ cup shredded coconut

Apricot Granola Laura of London Laura Nana
Granola with Apricot, coconut, nuts and seeds

Wet ingredients
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp nut butter
3 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp agave
3 tbsp maple syrup

Granola 'Wet' Ingredients Laura of London
Granola ‘Wet’ Ingredients

Put all the dry ingredients in a big bowl and mix. Put the wet ingredients in a saucepan and heat until they all melt and mix together.

Melted down wet ingredients Laura of London Laura Nana
Melted down wet ingredients

Pour the wet onto the dry ingredients and mix really well. Put it all on a lined baking sheet and into the oven at 180 for 10 minutes. Remove and turn it all over with a fork so other parts get a chance to get brown. Put it back in the oven for another 10 minutes then remove, stir and leave to cool. Pop your amazing cereal in an airtight container ready to use in the morning.

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