Date balls with nuts, fruits and chocolate

This is something that I have been wanting to make and share for a few months now. These date balls have everything that I love:

Chocolate. Who doesn't like chocolate?

Roasted Nuts. Nuts about Nuts.

And

Dried fruits. My favorite- Cranberries. Sweet and tart. Perfect balance with the sweet dates.

The best thing about this is that this can be made differently every time.

You may use : White chocolate instead of semi-sweet chocolate.

Any combination of nuts or one kind only.

Any dried fruits- craisins, raisins, prunes.

Also, you may add seeds such as sunflower seeds or chia seeds

And, you may coat them with:

Powdered sugar, cocoa powder, almond meal, roasted coconut flakes.

These are the many reasons I love these date balls.

Oh, another thing, I eat these with my morning breakfast, after lunch as something sweet, as afternoon snacks and anytime in between.

 

So, for the no-recipe date balls (about 18 1inch balls), you need:

1 cup of pitted dates (tightly packed, about 16-18 dates)

¼ cup honey or maple syrup or agave syrup

⅓ cup roasted pistachios

⅓ cup roasted walnuts

⅓ cup craisins

¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks

pinch of salt

For coating, I used powdered sugar, an equal mix of powdered sugar and cocoa powder, roasted coconut flakes.

This is how I did it:

Add the dates, honey or maple syrup, salt in the food processor and make a chunky paste of the dates. Add all the other ingredients and pulse just a few times to incorporate the nuts, the fruits and the chocolate chunks evenly in the date paste. This will be very sticky. Put this mixture in the refrigerator for a 2-3 hours. Put a little bit of oil in your palms before you role the mixture into balls. The oil will prevent it from sticking to your hands and will also help in the rolling process. Roll the date balls in your choice of coating and enjoy.

Cilantro Almond Pesto

A few month's ago, we travelled to Philadelphia to celebrate my sister's 6 month old's Annaprashana (First Rice Eating Ceremony). Honestly speaking, a 6 month old doesn't care at all. He was quite happy with his boring feeds every few hours. It's the adults that need to celebrate. My mom and my sister had cooked about 12-15 different things starting with few kinds of stir fries, few vegetable curries, two kinds of fish, two kinds of meat and finishing with sweets, pudding and cake. Oh yes, it was very elaborate. You can probably guess who enjoyed all that in the name of the little baby boy!

One of these many delicacies was a salmon baked with pesto. It was absolutely heavenly! I had to get the recipe and make it myself. And so I did.

I am a big fan of cilantro. And cilantro pesto with a hint of basil and nuts - I am hooked!

This pesto is so easy to make and I can think of a hundred ways (well, many) ways to use it. I keep it in an airtight jar in the freezer for longer shelf life. When I plan to make something with it, I just thaw it overnight in the refrigerator.

You need (to make about 2 cups):

2 cups cilantro (just remove the thick stems)
7 cloves of garlic
⅓ cup of raw almonds
¼ cup of raw walnuts
1 cup basil (about 20-25 big leaves)
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
1½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

How:

Put every thing in your food processor and grind it to a smooth texture. Store in an air tight jar and store in your refrigerator or your freezer for longer shelf life.

Spinach Salad with Chili-Lime-Maple-Cilantro Dressing

It was just one of those days when all you want is a simple salad. I am not a big fan of salads unless I like the dressing. Oh yes, the dressing is very important for me. In fact, I have salads just for the dressing.

Now, I like cilantro, no wait, I LOVE cilantro. So if I want to enjoy a salad, I had to make a cilantro dressing. Got to be a little sweet, little tangy, little heat with a cilantro background. Made chili-lime-maple-cilantro dressing and enjoyed it with a refreshing spinach salad with mandarins and walnuts. Loved it. Loved the dressing!

I put the rest of the dressing to good use later: marinated some chicken with this and some garlic, onions and carrots and baked them (Will post later!). Wonderful dinner served with such ease. This dressing is so easy to put together, that you can make this any day, any time.

You need:

For dressing:

1 cup cilantro (Do not need to pick the leaves, only remove the hard stem).

Juice and zest of 1 lime

1 green chili (Use none or less or more depending on how much heat you like. I personally recommend a little heat, nicely balances the lime and the sweet taste of maple)

2 tablespoon maple syrup

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

pinch of salt

⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil

For salad:

A handful of fresh baby spinach leaves

1 mandarin, peeled and cut into small pieces

¼ cup toasted chopped walnuts

Few slices of red onion 

How:

Put all the ingredients of the dressing in a blender. Blend it to smooth consistency. Taste for salt and lime. Add more if you like. Drizzle over the spinach with mandarin and walnuts. Enjoy!

If you like cilantro as much as I do, you may also like:

Pico de Gallo and Guacamole

Roasted cornish hens with sweet and savory brown rice