I wish I had a sexier name for this dish but when you start combining things into a dish that really doesnāt have a name like ātacoā or āgrain bowlā, a name with all the ingredients is the best I can do. However, it's delicious. We've eaten it as a side but I've also been known to call a dish like this lunch.
When spring produce enters into my life, I take it as a reminder that not everything requires roasting. Sure, roasted vegetables are amazing but sometimes other techniques are worthwhile. I feel like steaming gets a bad rap, most likely due to diet trends, but itās a valuable tool in your cooking arsenal.
Take for example these beets. Chioggia beets are beautiful. Their color, though, doesnāt hold once cooking. If you roast these beautiful beets, the color fades pretty drastically (unless you roast them whole but Iām not always willing to wait the hour it takes.) Enter: steaming.
Steaming these beets takes 10 minutes and while the color still fades slightly, itās there in all itās beautiful pink glory. Best of all, steaming the beets leaves room to make crispy garlic in ghee: a real treat for all.
Iām a big proponent that every dish should have a little crispiness to it. In this dish, the sunflower seeds are nice but my favorite crisp comes in the form of pan-fried garlic. The ghee crisps the garlic nicely all while adding that delicious ghee flavor.
If you want to keep this vegan, olive oil can get the job done as well. The flavor changes slightly but the garlic is still delicious (because itās still garlic!)
Finally, the bean puree. I love piling vegetable high atop a creamy puree. Thereās something so satisfying when you scoop everything together off the plate- it mixes into the perfect bite. I kept this bean puree simple and very spring forward with the help of dill. Of course, you could really use any herb. Try parsley, marjoram, and/or a bit of thyme. Also, if you don't have white beans go for chickpeas.
[tasty-recipe id="37991"]
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All things considered, I’d say I have a pretty moderate relationship with sugar. I love homemade dessert, and I bake with sugar, be it refined or natural. As a longtime nutrition student and RD-to-be, I’m mindful of how much I use and I keep in mind that treats are special. But I’ve never avoided sweetening.
This works well for me, but the most common question I get asked about my baked goods here on the blog is whether the sugar can be reduced, and how. I do my best to give good answers, keeping in mind that reducing sugar (or using a liquid sweetener in place of granulated sugar) can change the texture and taste of a finished product (less moisture, less rise, etc.).
Now that I’ve spent a few months working with diabetic patients, I’ve gotten savvier and more knowledgeable about lower sugar baked goods. In my last two rotations, my counseling was almost entirely dedicated to diabetes management. I saw firsthand how much vigilance goes into monitoring and carbohydrate intake and covering it with medication, if appropriate. We never advised our patients to avoid dessert, but we did encourage them to be mindful about how much and how often. And we spent plenty of time chatting about how to create pleasurable desserts at home with less sugar, or with alternative sweeteners.
I’ve never used alternative sweeteners because they haven’t been necessary for my own health needs. When I do reduce sweetness of baked goods, I generally just use less cane sugar or maple syrup. But my winter rotations made me remember being a student in medical nutrition therapy, when our professor taught us to take our own blood sugar in class. As we were pricking our fingers, she told us that the purpose of the exercise was to better understand what our future clientsāsome of whom would surely have Type I or II Diabetesāexperienced each day. Months later, she asked us to try liquid supplements, so that we’d know what patients who relied on them for nutrition support were tasting (there weren’t any vegan options, but it did get me thinking about how great a need there is for them).
I appreciated my professor’s perspective. There’s a big difference between abstract guidance and firsthand knowledge. Before telling any client to do something, I’d rather have a some lived experience of what I’m suggesting. And now that I’ve spent so much time with diabetes management, it’s important for me to understand the dietary changes that need to accompany a diagnosisāenjoyment of lower sugar sweets included.
Just as I was wrapping up my rotation at the Institute for Family Health, the folks at who produce the In The RawĀ® family of sweetener reached out to me about sampling their Monk Fruit In The RawĀ®. Monk fruit (also known as luo han guo) is a type of gourd that traditionally grows in China, and it’s been used medicinally for centuries. Monk Fruit In The Raw is a zero calorie sweetener thatās perfect for sweetening beverages and baking.Ā Plus, the bakers bag conveniently measures cup for cup, just like sugar.
Having never tried the productāand especially since I was in the middle of diabetes counselingāI was excited to sample it. I had a much better experience with it than I’ve had with other alternative sweeteners, especially for baking! It has a pleasantly fruity taste, and the signature baking bag makes it easy to add to cookies, cakes, and more. In my experiments so far I’ve used a combination of the Monk Fruit In The Raw Bakers Bag and sugar to reduce sugar while retaining texture and rise. Folks with diabetes who prefer a truly sugar-free dessert could use all monk fruit instead; the brand recommends using about half the amount of monk fruit for the amount of sugar called for.
The baking recipe I’m sharing today takes even more inspiration from my internship, as it was inspired by something I made in my last rotation. I was working with kids, using hands-on cooking experiences to teach them about food and nutrition. My supervisor and I shared a chocolate beet cake, which was an easy and delicious treat for them to make and also a great opportunity to teach them about beets (watching their little faces light up as we cut the beets open and showed them the electrically colored interiors was so sweet).
An upside of using pureed beets in baking is that they add a lot of natural sweetness along with moisture, which means that it’s easy to cook with reduced sugar and fat. The beets add plenty of vitamins and minerals, and they sweeten while also contributing fiber, which helps to control the release of sugar into the bloodstream.
Today’s chocolate beet cake uses a combination of beets, monk fruit, and a small amount of granulated sugar to create something that tastes completely like dessert, but has a balanced ratio of sugar and fiber. It’s also relatively low in fat (only 1/4 cup of oil for the whole recipe), andāthanks to the beetsāpacked with fiber, folate, potassium, and vitamin C. I based it off of a Martha Stewart recipe, and I’ve made it repeatedly already, so that I could recommend it to patients and clients.
For diabetics and those who are being mindful of sugar intake for any reason, I like to use a 50/50 combination of monk fruit and coconut sugar here (6 tablespoons of each). This gives a nice rise with less sweetener. If you like, you could use all monk fruit, which would yield a denser and fudgier textureāthink cakey brownies š And of course, you could also choose to use all granulated sugar of choice, which will give you a very similar cake, but a little more fluffiness and rise.
No matter how you make it, this one is really a keeper. It’s plenty chocolatey, and the beets give it a wonderful moistness and rich flavor. It’s super fun to make with kids (they love the beet purĆ©e!) and nutritious enough to serve as a special snack/treat as well as a proper dessert. Here’s the recipe.
This lightly sweetened vegan chocolate beet cake has a moist texture and just the right amount of sweetness. Perfect for snacking!
First, make your beet purƩe! Preheat your oven to 400F. Wrap each beet in foil and roast for 45 minutes, or until the beets can be easily pierced with a fork. When the beets are cool enough to touch, run them under cold water while you slip off the skins. Roughly chop the beets, then add them to a food processor or blender. Blend or process the beets until they make a smooth purƩe (a couple minutes). Set the purƩe aside; you should have 1 1/2 cups or so.
Reduce the oven temperature to 350F. Lightly oil an 8 x 8 square baking dish (or an 8 or 9 inch round baking dish).
Whisk together the flour, baking powder and soda, salt, cocoa, sugar, and monk fruit in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the beet puree, oil, water, vanilla, and vinegar. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix the ingredients till you have an evenly mixed batter; a few little clumps is fine.
Transfer the batter to your baking dish. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the top is firm and set and a toothpick emerges clean (or nearly clean). Allow the cake to cool for 15-20 minutes before removing it from a pan and transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool to room temperature. Cut into pieces and enjoy.
*In place of roasting beets from scratch you can use one of the pre-cooked beet options on the market these days! You’ll need 4 beets, which is usually about 1 lb (12-16 ounces).
**Substitute 12 tablespoons sugar for the combination of sugar and alternative sweetener if you wish.
A word about the beets in this recipe: it’s nice to make the purĆ©e from scratch, but nowadays it’s not too hard to find pre-cooked beets that are ready to eat. My local grocer usually carries one or two options, and it makes adding beets to salads really easy. It also cuts the preparation time of this tasty cake considerably, so don’t hesitate to us the option (or canned, cooked beets) if that’s more convenient for you. You need about 1 1/2 cups beet purĆ©e, which for me has been about 1 lb cooked beets.
This cake is lovely with a cup of tea, a cup of coffee, or a glass of non-dairy milk. If you’d like to dress it up for a special occasion, you could easily add glaze or vegan frosting to it. As it is, it’s a perfect snack cake. A little sweet, a little nutrient-dense, and very satisfying. My work encourages me to learn and experiment all the time, and I’m so glad to have found an alternative sweetener that has a taste I like, a texture that works well for baking, and is low sugar enough to be appropriate for a lot of the folks I work with.
Here’s to nutrition work that gives me firsthand experience and makes me more able to meet people where they are, day by day. Wishing you a good rest of the week; hopefully it’ll include something sweet š
xo
This post is sponsored by Monk Fruit In The RawĀ®. All opinions are my own, and I love this natural alternative to sugar. Thanks for your support!
The post Lightly Sweetened Vegan Chocolate Beet Cake appeared first on The Full Helping.
It is a lot of recipes. It sounded manageable in theory; write four recipes each week for Sprouted Kitchen Cooking Club, keep up loosely here on the blog, my private chef job, occasional freelance...
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and WE SAW MICHAEL BUBLĆ.
(Iām not even going to hide my creeper status. And donāt worry, my mouth didnāt actually touch the poster.)
Hi friends! Howās the morning going? Iām just getting back from a whirlwind trip to Phoenix for the Beautycounter LEAD conferenceā¦ and to see Michael BublĆ©, my favorite ever.
I got into Phoenix on Thursday morning, and met up with Arsy and Tina at the adorable Airbnb where weād be staying. It was my first Airbnb experience and I was beyond impressed with the whole thing.
Check out the cuteness!
It was in a neighborhood filled with unique older houses, and they completely gutted and redid the interior. The wood floors and tiling in the bathroom were gorgeous, along with exposed brick, modern art, and unique touches (like the book selection in each bedroom).
Arsy surprised us with little goodie bags on each of our beds, with Hu chocolates, travel Cote nail polishes, Beeās wrap, the best hair ties, a Beautycounter pen, and a sweet card. She also stocked the fridge with some healthy essentials, cold brews, and waters.
Iāve been working with Arsy for almost 3 years and it was my first time meeting her in person. Of course, she was just as kind and lovely as I expected, and I had such a great time hanging out with her and Tina all weekend.
Thursday night, we had our team dinner at True Food, and then Friday morning, it was straight into the official festivities. We had quite a few sessions on Friday, and each one left me feeling more inspired, motivated, and grateful that Iāve had the opportunity to work for such a respected and innovative company. (Beautycounter is the #1 Googled beauty brand of 2018 and the top clean skincare brand in the world.) They generally care for the health of all living beings on this planet, and are constantly working to impart change in the beauty industry, which is severely unregulated. The last federal safety law for cosmetics was passed in 1938!! Weāre actively working to get this changed and make clean products accessible to everyone. This means no matter what store you go to and what brand you purchase, you should be able to have have the confidence that they were manufactured without endocrine disrupters, known carcinogens, and harmful preservatives.
My very favorite quote from the weekend:
– The greatest gift you can give anyone who loves you is your own wellbeing
While there was a lot of motivational talk, they also addressed burnout and importance of paying attention to what truly matters: your family, your health, and your relationships. I love how much they emphasized balance and taking the time to share your life with those you love and make yourself a priority.
We also had the opportunity to hear Gregg Renfrew speak. Sheās our CEO and the Founder of Beautycounter and she’s so.darn.real. The entire room of 1700 was captivated the entire time she was talking. She was so encouraging, humble, and generously shared her knowledge and inspiration with us all.
They also had some pretty solid snack breaks and lunch in between the presentations.
Friday afternoon, the Pilot picked us up from the conference and we headed to the house to get ready for the evening. The girls went to another team dinner at a downtown hotel, while the Pilot and I enjoyed a sushi date at Moira Sushi before Michael Buble.
(Shoes are here // dress is here ā got it from Rent the Runway and was so pumped it actually fit. I feel like itās so hard to tell what will work from the sizing but the S was just right)
We arrived at the arena, ordered wine in a can for me + beer for him, walked to our awesome seats (!) and I buckled up for the best concert experience of my life. Iām a HUGE Michael BublĆ© fan – I sporadically listen to his music all year and just switch to his Christmas album for November and December – so I was expecting a lot, but it was beyond anything I could have imagined. His perfect voice, the set design, the orchestra, his backup singers, everything. Just.SO.freaking.good.
(He started off with āFeelinā Goodā and I screamed like a teenager at a BTO concert.)
#1) He is HILARIOUS. He was cracking a ton of jokes in between songs, many of which were gloriously inappropriate, and the Pilot and I were laughing our faces off. I had to keep myself from breaking into the full-on dinosaur cry during Home and one of his newer songs, Forever Now. If you want to get a glimpse of what I was feeling, listen to the song, and then picture in your mind a childās bedroom and how it changes from when theyāre born (a nursery with sweet printed wallpaper, a crib, and a rocker) until they MOVE out (a large bed and a room strewn with moving boxes, to completely empty room). Thatās what they flashed on the arched screen above the stage and I think they pretty much wanted to pull my heart out of my body. Of course, all of his lighthearted jokes and the fact that he doesnāt take himself too seriously kept me from crying too hard.
2) He is so grateful to all of his supporters. Multiple times he thanked us for spending our money and our time to be at his concert. He said that his supporters lifted their family while they went through something absolutely heartbreaking, and was so heartfelt and genuine in thanking the audience. You can just tell heās a really good guy.
3) I tried to meet him but I failed. So hereās the thing, in college and my early 20s, I got backstage after concerts if I wanted to meet the band or singer. Itās not because Iām cool or had a VIP pass, but Iād just casually go to the side of the stage and ask security if I could just go back and get a photo with whomever. Youād think it would be a fail but it worked every time! I would just be chill about it and I think they saw a young non-threteaning kid and were like, āGo. Live your dream.” I didnāt know if I would work for Michael BublĆ© because, I donāt know, Iām like 15 years older now, BUT I figured this was my only chance and went for it. Unfortunately, they did all of the meet and greets before the show, not after. So when I went to ask if I could pleeeeeease go back and take a pic, security told me they did all of that stuff earlier. Itās NBD, but I did try. #shameless #dontcurr
The Pilot and I stayed at Westin, which was lovely, and then Saturday morning, we grabbed a quick breakfast at Coronado (a cute vegetarian cafe!) before he hit the road back to Tucson and I headed back to the conference.
I got there just in time to learn about the new products from our Product Development team, and get excited! Thereās so much good stuff on the way, including a face cream that supposed to feel luxurious and gorgeous like La Mer, but with clean ingredients. So pumped about this! Iāll definitely share more info when itās on the way, but our new line was modeled after Asian skincare rituals (yas yas yassss) and is going through clinical and client trials now. Iāll also have the chance to try it out before itās released and will absolutely share my experience.
Beautycounter is also transitioning to more glass, less plastic, and are going to include refill options.
We attended sessions on social media and coaching, and then had a delicious lunch.
When I left the conference, I felt energized and excited to implement various action plans in my team and with my business. As you guys know, Iām very particular about brand alignments. For everyone I say, āYesā to, there are at least 20-30 āNo, thank youā. When I first joined Beautycounter, I knew I liked the products and I loved their mission to get safer products into the hands of everyone. I didnāt know that it was so much more than that, and that it would have such a huge positive impact on my life and business.
(Jumpsuit is here // shoes are here. Jumpsuit is also from Rent the Runway and I wish I could have kept it!)
Behind this mission, there are thousands of women working hard to change the beauty industry, sharing the products with those they love, and taking their success into their own hands.
I was so thankful to FINALLY meet Teri, who feels like my BFF after all of these years and I still hadnāt met in person! I also got to chat with Lexi, Juli, Cassy, and so many lovely women on our team.
Having this blog has been one of the biggest blessings in my life because itās enabled me to connect with a motivating, incredible community of women (and dudes!). One of the best parts: I can do it anywhere! As a military wife, this was critical since we were moving every 2 years or so, which this makes it very hard to get and keep a traditional job. Beautycounter gives that same flexibility to those who want to work on their own schedule, wherever they want, and carve their own path. It has been one of the best things Iāve added to my business, and itās fun, easy, and I get to meet with connect with new people. The money potential is bananas – if you want to talk about it, please email me – and itās cool to be able to make an income while supporting a company thatās championing for change. If youād like to make a transition to safer skincare products, or a tiny voice is telling you that consulting may be for you, please email me: gina@fitnessista.com
Well, Iām off to unpack my suitcase, only to RE-pack it for a short trip to Portland for a brand meeting. I hope you have a happy Monday!
xo
Gina
Tell me, friends: first concert experience? If you could see anyone live, who would it be?! My first concert was Boyz II Men in 5th grade. “Motown Philly back againā¦.ā Also, has anyone met Michael Buble?! Please tell me everything.
The post Beautycounter LEAD Conference Recap appeared first on The Fitnessista.
