I’m always trying to think of ways to make food more healthy, but still get our girls to want to eat it. I came up with this idea a few days ago when I found some nice strawberries at the store on sale. No refined sugars are used to make these and you would never know it. These dips would be great to serve at a party. You could also cut the recipe in half or just make one flavor as each individual recipe makes about 2 3/4 cups of dip.
For the whipped cream:
Whip all ingredients together until stiff peaks form.
For the dips:
In a mixing bowl, mix together all of the ingredients (except for the whipped cream) on low speed until well blended, about 1 minute. Then mix high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes.
Fold in whipped cream by hand using a spatula.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
Serve with cut up apples, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, oranges, kiwi, etc.
Super simple and easy to make, this dressing is cool, tangy and refreshing. Great on salads and thick enough for a vegetable dip.
In a food processor or a blender (you can also use a stick blender), combine the avocado, coconut milk, lemon juice, garlic and salt. Puree until smooth. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while the processor is running until the mixture gets thick. Add in the basil and pulse until it’s broken up but not completely pureed. Store in the refrigerator and use within a few days.
Real peanut butter, as smooth or crunchy as you like, is easy and economical to make in 5 minutes or less using your food processor. There is no need to add additional oil. Unsalted or salted, with or without added flavorings, you will never want to go back to “store bought” again!
Pour your peanut halves into the bowl of a food processor.
Process, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally, until your butter is quite smooth.
If you prefer “chunky” peanut butter, just put in a handful of peanuts when the peanut butter is smooth and let the processor run just long enough to chop them up a bit.
You may, of course, add some good sea salt to taste, if you wish.
You can add sweetener or other flavorings, if you like.
If you will be storing your peanut butter for any length of time, it may be refrigerated or frozen. I leave a small amount out at room temperature and refrigerate the rest, as it is too stiff right out of cold storage.
One of my favorite snacks is raw yogurt cheese, flavored in a variety of ways. I made this one today, and it tastes like apple pie in a bowl! Chock full of probiotics and enzymes from the raw yogurt and raw honey, your body will love it as well as your taste buds! Serve with crackers for a classic apple pie flavor, or fruit for a grain-free option.
Saute peeled and chopped apple in butter until soft and fragrant, adding a splash or two of water if it gets too dry. Let cool to room temperature. Mix together yogurt cheese, honey, and spices, and then stir in apples. Serve with fruit or graham crackers, or eat with a spoon!
If you can, it is good to refrigerate this for several hours to let the flavors meld. This also makes a great packed lunch!
What’s better than Nutella? A homemade chocolate-hazelnut spread made of real food ingredients in your own kitchen, of course. This creamy chocolaty spread is perfect when paired with fresh berries, in raw desserts, or right off the spoon with a glass of raw milk. Absolutely delicious, and quite healthy too!
Soak the hazelnuts overnight. This step is pretty important to make the hazelnuts more digestible, and get rid of some of the phytic acid that can inhibit the absorption of other nutrients. Cover 2 cups of raw hazelnuts with warm water and a dash of salt. Leave to soak overnight, or for as long as 24 hours. Rinse well before use.
Toast the hazelnuts. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheed and roast for about 15 minutes, or until fragrant. Make sure to roll the nuts halfway so all sides can roast evenly.
Peel the hazelnuts. When hazelnuts have cooled, place in a bowl, add another bowl on top and shake vigorously between the two bowls so the skins can come off. You can also try rubbing the nuts between paper towels, but I have found the bowl method to be easier.
Blend hazelnuts to a nut butter consistency. Add the peeled hazelnuts to your food processor and blend on and off for about 3-4 minutes, scraping the sides of the processor container throughout, until the nuts have become completely smooth.
Add other ingredients and blend. Add sweetener (I prefer maple syrup), unsweetened raw cocao powder, coconut oil, heavy cream, whole milk, vanilla, and salt, and blend for 2-3 minutes on and off until all ingredients are very well integrated. Taste test the mixture, and adjust ingredients to your liking.
Refrigerate and enjoy. Add blended spread to a glass jar and refrigerate. It will keep for a couple of weeks (if it stays that long!)
*To make this vegan, use coconut manna instead of the heavy cream and homemade (unflavored) almond milk or coconut milk instead of the dairy milk. I will not lie - the one with dairy is much tastier than the vegan version (at least it is to me), but the vegan version is pretty good too.
**Adapted from Nutmeg Nanny with my own modifications.
This dip is a great way to incorporate an inexpensive type of seafood into your diet, and tastes especially good on sourdough crackers or celery.
In a bowl combine the cream cheese, sour cream, butter, parsley, onion, garlic and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Stir in the salmon and dill. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
The idea of making a vegan cheese was never on my radar, because I love the taste of grass-fed raw cheese! However, in an attempt to fast from animal products during Lent, and to provide a dairy-free alternative to cheese (that doesn’t have soy!) for those who can’t tolerate dairy, I whipped up a batch of this cheesy-tasting spread made of cashews and real food ingredients. And I swear - it tastes just like the garlicky boursin cheese!
Soak the raw cashews. Rinse the cashews and soak in warm filtered water (just enough to cover them) overnight with a dash of sea salt. Discard the retained water and rinse the cashews.
Add the cashews and other ingredients to a blender. Add vinegar, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, garlic, white wine (optional), salt, and pepper.
Blend. As usual, I used my bullet blender, which worked well … but you can use something more powerful if you’d like.
Cover and refrigerate overnight. Add to a glass container, cover, and keep in the fridge overnight for all the flavors to mingle. It should stay good for 5-6 days after that if refrigerated.
Eat. Enjoy with sprouted grain or gluten-free crackers and wine, as a dip accompanied by some raw veggies or right off the spoon. Your imagination’s the limit!
I began making almond meal at home so that I could soak the almonds before. Making almond butter was an afterthought, because there were leftover almond bits that were too big for almond meal, at least in my opinion. The price of the almond butter becomes cheaper than buying it at the store, plus you get the added benefit of the nuts being soaked.
Start with soaking your nuts, for every 4 cups of nuts with 1 tablespoon of sea salt and then cover with plenty of water. Let this soak overnight. They will plump up a bit while soaking so make sure there is water enough to account for that. The next morning, drain the water from the almonds and dehydrate them. There are two ways to dehydrate them, first, place then on a cookie sheet and place them in a warm (150 degree) oven for 12 – 24 hours, or alternatively you can do this in a dehydrator at the same temperature. You will know that they are done because they will be crispy/ crunchy like regular nuts again.
Pull out your food processor (you may even be able to use your blender but I’ve never done it this way. If you do let me know if it works or not.) Take about half of your almonds and place them in the food processor.
Pulse for about 10 seconds at a time, 3 or 4 times, until the nuts are pretty well chopped up. You don’t want to go to long or all you will get is almond butter and no almond meal.
Pour the chopped almonds into a sifter (I use a fine mesh strainer) that is over a large bowl and sift to get all the meal out.
Once all the meal is out, return the larger pieces to the food processor and repeat these steps again.
After you do it this time most of the left overs will be pretty small, and you will be able to feeling the oil on them. You can do it one more time if you would like but chances are you won’t get much more meal.
Place what is left in the strainer in a separate bowl and do the second batch of nuts the same way. When you are done making the meal you should have about 4 – 5 cups. When you have finished making your almond meal place it in the container of your choice, label, and keep in the refrigerator.
Now take all the leftovers and place them back in the food processor and turn it on high and let it go. It won’t take as long to turn into butter as it would from whole nuts because it is already half way there, but will still take a while.
Keep it going until it all starts to clump together. That is how you know you are almost there, you may be tempted to stop here, but don’t, it’s not done. After this it will spread out and cover the bottom. Now it is done, add some salt towards the end if you would like. Place this in a container of choice and store in the refrigerator. Pull out a few minutes before you would like to use to help it soften up a little and make it easier to spread.
Editor’s Note: Soaking nuts for several hours makes the nutrients in the nuts more available for your body to use and also helps to make digestion much easier.
Looking for a way to sneak in more veggies into your kids’ meals? Consider adding raw zucchini into your tahini dip, and then serve with other fresh vegetables like carrots and celery sticks. A super delicious excuse to eat a healthy snack!
Chop zucchini: Wash and chop zucchini.
Blend: Measure all the other ingredients, and blend in a food processor or blender. If too watery, add more tahini paste, and if too thick, add more water - until a good consistency is reached. Do a taste test to determine if you need to add a little bit extra of any spice or seasoning.
Serve: Place in fridge until ready to serve. Serve with other raw vegetables like organic carrots and celery sticks, or with some sprouted bread or homemade crackers.
Here is a variation of a favorite dip/spread/sauce of ours that we’ve been enjoying for a couple years now. Muhammara is a wonderful dip for veggies, sauce for meat, pizzas, and sandwiches, and spread for toasts. I’m surprised it hasn’t caught on as much as hummus has; it’s soverytasty and easy to make (not to mention incredibly nourishing).
Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth (little lumps are fine). Allowing it to chill for a couple hours helps bring the flavors out.
A dip or spread to be used as a condiment for meat, vegetables and on breads. Raw ingredients. Best eaten within a day, although it can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days. My 4 year old loves this, and it is the basis for many of my snacks.
Squeeze lemon juice into a small mixing bowl.
Pour techina into the mixing bowl
Add the salt.
Whisk with a fork/wire whisk (it will be thick and a bit lumpy)
Add water, 1TBS at a time, while whisking.
Keep adding water until the techina is a smooth, creamy consistency (or desired consistency).
Add chopped fresh parsley or coriander leaves.
We are quite partial to Middle Eastern cooking around here. Never heard of baba ghanoush? Consider this your lucky day. It’s basically eggplant hummus. Eggplants are full of vitamin K, Thiamin, B6, Folate, Potassium, Manganese, and fiber. I had three eggplants in this week’s produce box, so we made three batches (one to eat now, two for the freezer). This gluten-free dip is a great hummus replacement for those on the GAPS diet because there are no beans involved. Here is our super-de-duper quick recipe.
Disclaimer: it takes 3 minutes to make once you’ve roasted the eggplant. The three minutes does include peeling the eggplant, so I don’t think I’m steering ya wrong with the title.
To roast the eggplant, simply heat the oven to 400º, prick it with a fork in a few places, and bake for 30-40 minutes. Let the eggplant cool before peeling, which is a breeze. I just peeled the skin off with my fingers.
Peel eggplant and cut into 6 equal pieces. Put in blender (a high-speed one like a Vita-Mix will yield the smoothest results) and add remaining ingredients. turn blender to low, then gradually move to high and blend for about 15 seconds.
Put in serving bowl, sprinkle with fresh or dried parsley. Chill for at least 3 hours before serving to allow the flavors to blend. Serve with slices of fresh veggies, pita bread or naan, or use it as a spread in sandwiches.