The Carob Raisin Balls

My friend Shilpa has started a blog called Nuts4Health and she was raving about this recipe inspired by Ani Phyo’s Walnut Carob Cookies. Shilpa’s recipe is pretty simple yet I did have to tweak it for my own purposes.

Following the original recipe my dough was black and oily (maybe I used less nuts and I did use almonds instead of walnut so maybe that affected the colour and consistency). Needless to say it didn’t look very attractive and didn’t resemble the picture on Nuts4Health at all. Anyway rolling around the balls in ground almonds worked really well!

Vegan Carob Fruit Balls Recipe

1 cup raisins with 10% dried cranberries (I used the flame variety of raisins)

1/2 cup almonds and macadamia nuts

1/4 cup carob powder

1 tsp ground brown sugar

1 tbsp finely ground almonds

1/8 tsp Himalayan rock salt

Basically all you do is process all the ingredients in a food processor (apart from a tablespoon of finely ground almonds).

Then roll balls to your desired size and then get rid of any oiliness but rolling the balls in ground almonds.

Variations on the recipe

You can use fine desiccated coconut instead of ground almonds.

Try using half a cup of dates, dried apricots, dried papaya or dried banana along with half a cup of raisins for a different flavour

If you have a sweet tooth you can add some crystallised fruit to the raisins.
Healthier choices are sun-dried fruit without preservatives such as sulphur or refined sugar.

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Ingredients

¼ large courgette (chopped into 1 inch squares)
½ cup chickpea lentils (chana dal)
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp turmeric
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp red chilli powder
¾ tsp coriander powder

Method

This requires a little planning as the ½ cup of chickpea lentils need to be soaked in water overnight.

1. Heat oil in a saucepan on medium heat and crackle the cumin seeds.

2. Add the courgette, drained lentils and spices. Mix well and cover the pan slightly lowering the heat.

3. After five minutes stir again and cover.

4. Check again in three minutes and the curry is ready once the courgette is soft. Take out a spoonful to check the lentils are cooked.

5. Serve immediately with hot chapatis.

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Ingredients


4 tbsp oil
 500g tofu
3 cups fresh spinach (washed and chopped)
1 cup chopped tomatoes
½ cup fresh coriander
Fresh ginger root

1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground cloves

¼ tsp turmeric powder

¼ tsp Sea salt

Method
1. Chop tofu into ½ inch cubes. Heat half the oil in a saucepan and add the tofu frying until golden brown in colour.
2. Steam the spinach and coriander for five minutes in a steamer and drain well.
3. Heat the remaining oil and add the cumin seeds, once they pop add the spices with the tomatoes and sauté for five minutes.
4. Add the spinach mixture and a cup of water.
5. Bring to boil mixing well and add fried tofu.
6. Lower heat and simmer for ten minutes.
7. Serve hot with naan bread, chapattis or white rice.

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Ingredients

5 plum tomatoes

Seven pitted green olives (chopped)

Baguette (sliced into ½ inch rounds)

3 tbsp almond butter

½ tsp each of oregano, rosemary, red pepper and basil

¼ tsp sea salt

Extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 5.
2. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and sauté the tomatoes adding the spices.
3. Brush the bread with oil and toast in oven for seven or eight minutes.
4. Meanwhile process the cooked tomatoes in a food processor with the almond butter.
5. Add olives to mixture and spread puree over the toast and serve on a platter.

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Ingredients

1 red pepper (deseeded and chopped)
1 small fresh green chilli (de-stalked and chopped)
2 cups spinach
1 avocado
Pinch sea salt
1/2 teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
3 cups hot water
Pepper and a handful of sesame seeds to season

Method

1. Blend all ingredients apart from the lime juice and oil for a couple of minutes until of smooth consistency.
2. Season with freshly ground black pepper, sesame seeds and a squeeze of fresh lime juice before serving in a heated bowl (means the soup is warm and still raw).

 

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Ingredients
1 large seeded ciabatta
1 large orange bell pepper (sliced)
Half cup sugar snap peas (just the peas)
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1 tbsp olive oil
Dried Nori flakes and black pepper to season

Method

1. Boil the peas, spices and pepper on a low heat for fifteen to twenty minutes. I find about 3/4 cup of water is more than sufficient to begin with.
2. Slice ciabatta bread into small slices and toast in oven for a few minutes.
3. Coat each slice with a little olive oil
4. Remove the vegetables from pan and drain any excess water. Squash the peas with a large spoon.
5. Put a tablespoon of mixture onto each ciabatta slice.
6. Season with a sprinkle of nori and black pepper.
7. Serve immediately.

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Ingredients

10-12 organic British strawberries (washed and destalked)
20 raw almonds (soak for ten minutes)
10 Brazil nuts
3 pitted dates
1 heaped tablespoon dessicatted coconut
1/2 tsp lemon juice
Big pinch of sea salt
Grated Marzipan to garnish – optional (not sure if it’s strictly raw)

Method

Blend the nuts, dates and sea salt in a food processor. This will require regularly scraping away at the sides but shouldn’t take very long.
Create a crust shape with the nut dough, this is pretty easy as the dates make it easy to set.
Put the strawberries in a bowl with the lemon juice and squash with a spoon while adding the desicatted coconut.
Arrange onto the crust and scatter marzipan if using.
This can be chilled in the refrigerator or eaten immediately.

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Ingredients

2 sweet potatoes
3/4 cup cous cous (cooked with a tsp of mixed dried herbs)
1/4 cup cooked chickpeas
Tbsp of sesame seeds
2 tsp of extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
Nori flakes to taste

Method

Preheat oven to Gas mark 6.
Pierce the sweet potatoes a few times with a fork to ensure they cook thoroughly.
Bake potatoes in oven for thirty minutes.
Meanwhile blend the chickpeas, lemon juice and sesame seeds.
Mix with the cous cous.
Cut the baked sweet potatoes through the middle and add a spoon of olive oil in each.
Spoon the cold cous cous into the cooked sweet potatoes.
Sprinkle with some nori flakes and enjoy!

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Ingredients

2 sweet potatoes (washed in boiled water,chopped)
1 potato (washed and chopped)
1 red bell pepper (sliced)
1 green bell pepper (sliced)
1/2 teaspoon each of dried oregano, basil, red pepper, marjoram and thyme
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
3-4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground sea salt to taste

Method

Preheat oven to Gas mark 6.
Mix together the chopped potato, sweet potato oil and dried spices.
Bake vegetables in an ovenproof dish for twenty minutes, and add the sliced green pepper.
Bake for an additional ten minutes and check if vegetables are cooked by pricking with a fork. Leave for an additional 5-10 minutes if still hard.
Once cooked toss the sliced raw red pepper with the roasted vegetables.
Season with a little freshly ground sea salt and add the fresh parsley.

Serves one very hungry person!

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Ingredients (serves one)

One organic apple (cored and chopped)

¼ cup blueberries

¼ cup raspberries

3 tbsp granulated brown sugar

100g wholemeal flour

40g Pure vegan spread

1 tbsp brown sugar

20g piece of vegan marzipan

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4.

Put the apple chunks and sugar into a heated bowl and mix carefully- leave for 5-10 minutes then stir in the berries.

To make the crumble, rub the spread and marzipan into the sugar and flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Sprinkle the crumble topping over the fruit mixture and bake for 15 mins. I don’t like my fruit to be too mushy therefore I don’t cook it before baking in the oven. Serve hot with Oatly cream.

 
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