Nothing better than trying a new recipe

Sorry folks, for two days of no posts. But yesterday was my holiday from work (no work, yahoo!) so I decided to take a blog holiday, as well. I do hope you understand.

Better late than never, though.

I hope that everyone had a great weekend and Valentine's Day, spending it with someone(s) you love. I did! My boyfriend and I took a trip to my parents' house to spend the long weekend. Even though we didn't really celebrate V-Day, per se, the boyfriend and I made a huge dinner for my parents and extended family on Sunday night. I absolutely love making food for others (and impressing) with healthy foods. It's great to see others enjoy meals that are not bathed in butter or sugar or flour. Having family members ask, "Now, how did you make this again? It's great! But there's not dairy in it??" is exciting.

So the menu lineup went something like this...

Unpictured appetizers of steamed lemon artichokes and a vegan (and super easy) rosemary white bean dip (no regular mayo here!)

 Not mine, but it looked pretty close

(source)

Dinner was the boyfriend's famous Pork Baby Back Ribs (honestly, the only meat I crave), roasted garlic sweet potato mash, and a balsamic vinegar and oil dressing green salad.

 

 

Dessert was a recipe right out of Ani Phyo's book, Ani's Raw Food Desserts: Raspberry Ganache Fudge Cake, recipe here, and in her book, of course. Honestly, she is a genius.

*On a side note, she has a new book out on April 1st of this year!  Ani's Raw Food Essentials. You can even pre-order now. 

Back to the ganache fudge cake... Mine did not look pretty. In fact, it looked extremely ugly. But it tasted SO GOOD. Fun to make too! Everyone really enjoyed the cake, and were impressed with the frosting, since it is made from avocados.

 My beautiful piece with Vanilla Coconut Bliss Ice Cream

Yes, I was in my own little dessert heaven. And no, I did not want to leave.

And for making it all the way to the end of this post, I am rewarding you with some recipes!

Vegan Rosemary White Bean Dip
Adapted from this recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked white beans, like cannelini, drained but moist
• 1 to 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Grated rind of 2 lemons

Put the beans in your food processor with 1 clove of garlic, rosemary, half of the lemon juice, and a healthy pinch of salt. Turn the machine on, and add the 1/4 cup olive oil in a steady stream through the feed tube; process until the mixture is smooth. Taste, and add more garlic and lemon if you like; then, puree the mixture again.

Roasted Garlic Sweet Potatoes Mash
Ingredients:

• 4 large sweet potatoes or yams
• 1 head garlic
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup almond milk
• salt and pepper to taste

Individually wrap each potato in aluminum foil and place in 425 degree oven until tender, about 1 hour. At half way done, start the roasting the garlic. Chop the top of the garlic clove off, revealing most of the cloves. Cover in aluminum foil, drizzling garlic with olive oil. Bake the covered garlic with the potatoes for the remaining 30 minutes, or until the garlic is soft.
Remove the potatoes and garlic from the oven and unwrap to cool slightly. Slice the potatoes into smaller pieces and place in a large bowl. Remove the garlic from its outter skin by squishing from the bottom. Into the bowl of potatoes goes the garlic, almond milk, salt and pepper. Mash all with a potato masher. Taste, adjust, and eat.

And if anyone out there wants my boyfriends amazing rib rub recipe, let me know and I'll post it. It's amazing. Seriously.

Have a wonderful Tuesday (feels like Monday)! You'll get to see my battle wounds from Mixed Martial Arts Kickboxing either tonight or tomorrow. Aren't you excited???