Thanksgiving Guide: Honey Roasted Brussels Sprout, Blackberry, Walnut and Feta Salad with a Lemon Vinaigrette

Sometimes I am the worst food blogger ever! I want to be one of those bloggers that is prepared for every holiday and knows that its national grilled cheese day but I am so last minute and usually make food on a whim based on what looks good at the store or whats in the house.

This year I promised myself that I would post my Thanksgiving guide BEFORE Thanksgiving in case anyone out there needed some inspiration and once again, I am late! I actually just decided what I was going to make yesterday and yes it looks beautiful and tastes delicious but I feel like I have let you all down! I also hate to waste food and can't imagine making my dish 4 times before the big day, so here is my recipe for Thanksgiving. 

I do have to deem this recipe a success for all members of my family enjoyed it, even the younger crew who had never had brussels sprouts before. These brussels sprouts where so sweet and literally picked on Tuesday at Royal Acres Farm and CSA, John is so good to me and gave me one last harvest of delicious items even though the CSA ended 2 weeks ago. Thankfully, I have spinach, squash, and broccoli to keep me fed for the next week or so. 

Back to the brussels sprouts, as I kid I hated brussels sprouts! They were so bitter and bland and looked like little cabbage but now I adore them, especially roasted. This recipe combines a number of flavors; bitterness of the sprouts, sweetness of the honey, juicy nuggets of blackberry and tangy touches from the feta cheese. The lemon vinaigrette brightens the dish while a touch of cayenne rounds it out. I hope that you enjoy and that your Thanksgiving was well spent. Happy Holidays and Healthy Eating!

Honey Roasted Brussels Sprout, Blackberry, Walnut, and Feta Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

4-5 cups of Brussels Sprouts (mine were small so I didn't bother to halve them)

2 tbs Olive Oil

1 tbs Pink Himalayan Sea Salt

1 tbs Honey

1/2 tsb Cayenne Pepper

1 cup Walnuts, Toasted

1 cup Feta Cheese

2 cups Blackberries (halved if large) 

Lemon Vinaigrette

2 tbs Olive Oil

Juice from 1 Lemon

1 tbs Oregano

1 pinch of Cayenne Pepper

1/2 tsp Paprika

1 tbs Honey

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place your brussels sprouts in a large bowl, halve if they are large. Toss with the olive oil, salt and cayenne. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes. Drizzle with honey, stirring to combine and roast for another 10 to 15 minutes or until browned and slightly crispy. 

Meanwhile, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, paprika, and honey in a small container. 

Transfer the brussels sprouts to a large bowl, add the feta, walnuts, and blackberries, tossing to combine. Pour the lemon vinaigrette over top and serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!

Vegan Blackberry, Almond and Quinoa Cookies 2 Ways: Traditional & No-Bake Protein Balls

In my last post about cookies I spoke about my adoration of the delicious treat. This love for a scrumptious hand held delight has led me on a quest to continue to develop 'healthy' cookies that do not have sugar, flour, fats, dairy or eggs. To most this sounds horrible, a cookie without any of the cookie parts! However, these cookies are satisfying and actually quite delicious. Not as sweet as traditional cookies but as you cut out sugar from your diet you will begin to find that traditional sweets are in fact excruciatingly overly sweet and that you really don't like then after all. 

Sugar is probably the number one evil when it comes to our healthy, our waistlines, and our desires. Sugar is addictive and it unfortunately it feeds everything that is bad within our bodies. Bad bacteria, yeast, viral infections, disease - all of these things feed off of sugar and cannot live without it. One thing that tends to happen is that we replace all of our white sugar with natural sugar, that is a step in the right direction, however we still do need to be careful to not only eat sweet foods such as fruit but to incorporate a wide variety of vegetables into our diets as well. 

Blackberry, Almond, and Quinoa No-Bake Protein Balls

Back to cookies... Since I have learned a few substitution secrets for vegan and healthy baking I have been amped to get back into that scene. I was an avid baker prior to my dietary changes and missed the peace that creaming butter and sugar together gave me. I always found the process of baking calming although the aftermath of eating too many sweets was not pleasant. As I continue to experiment with different recipes and different flours I have made some great discoveries!

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These two types of cookies, hold the same base ingredients; Blackberries, Almonds, and Quinoa but are utilized in a different way. Personally, I love the ease of throwing together no-bake protein balls. They literally take 5 minutes or less and taste amazing! These are fresh with blackberry flavor and hold tons of protein from the quinoa. I did cook the quinoa first so I can not call them raw balls but in the future I may leave it uncooked to get more of a crunch. 

Blackberry, Almond, and Quinoa Cookies

The traditional cookies are made with  bananas, applesauce, almond butter, flax, and quinoa flour. These cookies are for those of you who like a soft chewy one. They do not crisp on the outside like cookies made with butter but instead say soft and delicious. 

I hope that you test out both recipes and let me know of any changes that you make! Enjoy!

Vegan Blackberry, Almond, and Quinoa Cookies: 2 Ways

Blackberry, Almond, and Quinoa Cookies

3 Bananas

1/2 cup Unsweetened Applesauce

1/4 cup Almond Butter

1 tbs Flax Meal + 3 tbs Water

1 tbs Vanilla Extract

1 cup Quinoa Flour

1/4 cup Coconut Flour

1 tbs Ground Cinnamon

1 tsp Ground Nutmeg

1 tbs Baking Soda

1 tsp Pink Himalayan Sea Salt

1 cup Oats

1/2 cup chopped Blackberries

1/2 cup chopped Almonds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the flax and water to create a flax egg. In a small bowl combine the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, set aside. 

Using a mixer, combine the bananas, applesauce, and almond butter until smooth. Add the flax egg and vanilla extract, blending. Slowly add the flour mixture until a dough begins to form. Add the oats. Once combined stir in the blackberries and almonds. 

Drop spoonfuls onto a baking sheet, spread the dough out into the size of the cookie that you would like (the dough will not spread). Sprinkle with sliced almonds. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the cookies are browned on the bottom and cooked through. Let sit on the cookie sheet for 1 minute before moving to a cooling rack. 

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Blackberry, Almond, and Quinoa No-Bake Protein Balls

1 cup Raw Almonds

1 cup Quinoa, cooked (although I may try this uncooked shortly)

1/2 cup Unsweetened Coconut

1 tbs Flax Seeds

1 tbs Chia Seeds

1 tbs Ground Cinnamon

1 tsp Pink Himalayan Sea Salt

1 tbs Coconut Oil

8 Dates

1/2 cup blackberries, divided

In a food processor add the almonds and pulse a few times to break them down a little. Add the quinoa, coconut, flax, chia, cinnamon, salt and coconut oil. Process until combined. With the machine running add the dates one at a time until the mixture begins to come together. Add half of the blackberries, pulsing to combine. Loosely chop the remaining blackberries and stir into the mixture. 

Roll the dough into 1 in. balls and place in the freezer for an hour before eating. These can be kept, covered in the freezer for later consumption. 

Enjoy and healthy snacking!

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