I have been quite absent in the last weeks. I spent a day at a local film festival, I went to an art museum, cooked some indian food. Wrote a paper for university, worked and met friends and family.
Somehow, I just couldnt seem to think of something to write about here. Or rather, I had too much going on in my head but couldnt get anything out on paper or screen.
The last week or two I have been thinking about what and how I eat a lot. I reread Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food, and after I didnt' really have a great impact on my way of eating the first time, it somehow touched me now. Perhaps it has to do with all the people (mostly women) around me who talk about diets way too much. Who think just eating the right kind of food will just make the pounds drop in a heartbeat.
Maybe it's the way people in our society seem to think of food, mostly in shouldnts, linking it to self control (or lack thereof), guilt, slip ups, temptations.
Maybe it is the joy I found in making as much as possible by hand, to not rely on processed food anymore (Or less so).
One thing I want to change in my eating habits is my intake of refined flours. I grew up eating lots of bread and pasta, and while I really enjoy eating them, I dont feel great after too much of both. And I get hungry again soon after eating them. Way to soon. One way to avoid eating something baked as a snack, which I often do, is to bring something with me.
This is where these energy orbs come in. I saw a basic recipe for them on My New Roots, but added some things to spice them up. You could use whatever combination of nuts and dried fruit and add spices to your liking. I do like the kick of the ginger and the coconut they are rolled in. The almost look like buttery and sugary truffles, but they are not. Which is not a bad thing, really. At least that is what I think.
Coconutty Energy Orbs with a Kick
Ingredients:
1 cup nuts (I used equal parts almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts)
1 cup dried fruit (I used equal parts apricots, dates and raisins)
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 tsp dried ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
about 3 tbsp unsweetened chocolate powder
ground coconut for rolling
Process the nuts in a food processor until finely chopped. Throw them into a mixing bowl. Process the dried fruit unitl it forms a paste. Add it, together with the spices and the chocolate, to the mixing bowl. Knead everything together using your fingers, then take small pieces of the dough, roll them into balls, and roll these in the coconut. Place them in a container (keep layers seperate with a parchment paper) and store them in the fridge. Take them with you as needed (they do keep quite some time outside of the fridge, too, if you plan on taking them on vacations, like I do).
These look delicious and I love that you called them orbs :-)
ReplyDeleteThese sound rather intriguing, Lena. But I'm having trouble imagining what they taste like. I think I might give these a try when I restock on walnuts soon. I've been noticing that I sort of just eat snacks from the store mindlessly when I get hungry between meals, and it's expensive and not particularly good for me. Maybe these will keep me happy between meals?
ReplyDeleteI've only read the Omnivore's Dilemma. Have you?
The taste of the nuts and fruit mixes, so they don't taste like any of them in particular, but the taste of the coconut comes through when you first bite into them, and after that the taste of the ginger is most prominent.
DeleteI just got the Omnivore's Dilemma from the library yesterday. What did you think of it?
It's been a few years since I read it, but I really enjoyed it. Pollan does a really good job of exploring certain parts of the industrial "food chain" and bringing to light different ways in which we could relate to our food. Not all of the latter is practical or realistic for most people, e.g. hunting your own game, but I found it inspiring, anyway. Towards the end of the book, Pollan goes mushroom-foraging. I'd totally love to learn how to do that someday.
DeleteHow was In Defense of Food?