Zero Effort Italian: Eggplant & Mushrooms

I came home in complete starvation mode the other day.  You know the feeling when you're so hungry you can't even bare the wait time at a restaurant? This was me.

I was looking for a comforting Italian dish.  But unlike most Italian dishes, I wanted it to be healthy, low calorie, and yet also satisfying and filling. Kind of an impossible dish, but I like impossible.  Of course, for it to be FastBeets Approved it would also have to be super simple and fast.  So enter this dish: My Zero Effort Italian. 

What I love about this dish is that I use zero oil in cooking the eggplant.  The eggplant cooks softly in the tomato sauce. We only add the oil after it's cooked.  By doing it this way you won't damage the fragile Omega 6 in the olive oil.  

FastTip: if serving cold, feel free to swap the olive oil for flax seed oil. You'll get a good serving of healthy, Omega3!

Its so simple and easy and literally takes no effort.  Because when you're in starvation mode, every second counts. 

Ingredients:

• One Italian Eggplant, cut into pieces
• Mushrooms of choice, washed and chopped (or ripped up with fingers)
• One (organic, bpa-free) can of tomato sauce
• Organic garlic granules (can sub garlic powder)
• Organic dried basil
• Organic dried oregano
• Himalayan Salt
• Good quality Olive oil
• Bean pasta of choice (I used Tolerant brand)
• 1/2 cup of filtered water
• (Optional - Nutritional yeast)

Method:

1. In a small pot, boil your pasta.  The amount is entirely up to you.  Make   as much as you're hungry for.  The less you use the faster it boils.  Cook for as long as directed for the specific pasta you're using.  

2. While the pasta is boiling, cut the eggplant and the mushrooms into pieces. 

FastTip: I find that ripping the mushrooms with my hands is a great deal faster than using a knife and making exact cuts, but that's just me! You do you. 

3. In a large pan, heat the tomato sauce on medium high heat.  When the veggies are chopped thrown them into the pan and add in the garlic, oregano, and basil.  I tend to go very heavy handed with the garlic. Feel free to use as much as you'd like. You really can't use too much or too little seasonings. 

“Save your leftovers: This tastes even better the day after on top of toast. ”

4. Add the 1/2 cup of filtered water to the pan and let cook until the veggies are tender and fully cooked.  Should take 10 minutes.  

5. Remove from heat, mix with pasta and top with olive oil and himalayan salt. If using nutritional yeast, feel free to sprinkle some on top. 

Tart Raspberry Granola Cake with Almond Honey Drizzle

The Low Down

A couple things you need to know about this alleged "cake": (can you call something cake when it is this good for you?)

1. The Taste Test: I force fed this to my family.  They love me so they have no choice but to taste test what I make.  Good news tho!  They loved it so you will too. I even caught a couple of them taking some home for breakfast the next day. So basicially, its a real winner.  

2. Health Status: This "cake" falls under the category of better for you than last night's dinner and probably tomorrow's breakfast. Removing all associated guilt with the term - cake.  It's chock full of really good for you fats from the almonds, protein from the oats & almonds, and tons of fiber from all of the ingredients. It's aimed at keeping your waistline slim, your heart healthy, and your inflammation a thing of the past.  It travels well and makes for a wonderful breakfast bar. 

3. You Decide: Its one of the easiest things you can make.  I even broke down 3 different ways to make it (below), so that you decide just how easy making this cake will be. 

4. Frozen for Convenience: I use frozen raspberries, because I always have them in my freezer.  If you wanna use fresh, go for it.  It won't make a big difference. 

5.  Have Fun: This recipe (like all the FastBeets recipes) requires you to have fun making it.  You don't need to fuss about having exactly the right amount of any of the ingredients.  In fact, I'm pretty sure if you skip one of the ingredients things will still be OK.  It is designed to be fool-proof.  So you can't really mess it up.  Its not chemistry or rocket science and you don't need a degree in pastry baking to be able to do it.  As long as you can turn a spatula in a bowl, you've got this. 

You can do this recipes in 3 different ways:  

1. Throw everything except the raspberries into a blender blend it till you get a smooth batter, then add the raspberries, pop into a cake pan and throw it into the oven.
2. Use pre-made almond flour and pre-made date paste instead of blending the almonds and dates.  Throw all the ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Then transfer to cake plate and throw into the oven. Although making your own almond flour will make it taste slightly better, this is by far the fastest way. 
3. Blend just the almonds into an almond flour, and blend the dates for a quick and fresh date paste. Then transfer to a bowl, mix everything together and pop into the oven. 

This 3rd method will provide you with the best results and my favorite consistency.  The 1st method is the easiest, and will yield a much different consistency, that being a very moist almost gooey like center.  The 2nd one has the best consistency, and is super easy since you won't need a blender, but using fresh almonds and dates in my opinion is always best when you can.

This is YOUR cake though, so you do YOU.  Do whatever is easier for you and that you have time for.  You can't go wrong with any of the methods. 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup almonds (or almond flour)
• 1.5 cups oat bran
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 1/4 cup coconut butter
• 1/4 cup tart cherry butter
• 1/2 bag of frozen raspberries
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 6 medjool dates (pits removed) or more if you need it sweeter
• 2 cups of plant-based milk (or water)

Method

1. Preheat over to 350 (or 450 if you're in a rush)
2. In a high speed blender, blend the almonds until you get a flour like consistency. 
3. Place the almond flour, baking powder, & oat bran in a bowl and mix well. 
4. In high speed blender, blend dates with 1 cup of almond milk until smooth.
5. Add the date liquid, the other cup of almond milk, the cherry butter, the coconut butter and the lemon juice to bowl and mix well. 
6. Add in the frozen raspberries.  Fold them in gently.  Note, they will fall apart a bit in the batter due to the different temperatures.  This is okay and makes the batter taste more raspberry like. 
7. Add parchment paper to a baking tray and pour ingredients in.  You may split the batter in two trays for a thinner cake and a faster cooking time. 
8. Cook in oven for 30 minutes at 350 or 20 minutes at 450 if the batter is split. 

Almond Honey Drizzle

For Almond Honey Drizzle, place equal parts raw honey and equal parts almond butter in a small bowl.  About two tablespoons each. Mix well. Drizzle to top of cake. 

Best Ever Detox Soup

Actual Labor Time: 5 Minutes
Heat Time: 10 minutes

This quick, easy soup, is the perfect detox.  It's chock full of cilantro, which happens to be the world's Best Natural Detoxifier.  Cilantro is a known anti-microbial, lowers blood sugar, and lowers bad cholesterol (LDL) levels.  

Cilantro is also a potent anti-bacterial.  Did you know it can actually kill salmonella (according to the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry)? So it's pretty powerful stuff. 

When you're looking to detox, cilantro is your numero uno BFF.  It is a powerful natural cleansing agent thats got properties for effectively clearing toxic metals out of your body.  Ya see, the properties in cilantro go up to the toxic metals and literally remove them from the tissues in your body they like to hide in.  How cool is that?  

Mercury is probably the most problematic of all the toxic metals, so if you've had your fair share of spicy tuna rolls this spring, grab your blender and make this detox soup.  

Literally, it takes five minutes and its so hassle free, you can make this in the tiniest of kitchens.  So ready, set, blend, detox!

xx, SS

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup cilantro
• 4 zuchinni
• 4 cloves of garlic or 4 teaspoons chopped garlic
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 cups water or plant milk
• Himalayan salt or sea salt to taste
• Pepper of choice to taste
• Toppings: Sesame seeds. 

Method

Put all ingredients into a high speed blender.  (Depending on strength of blender you may need to blend a few ingredients at a time.)  Blend until you reach a desired smooth consistency.  Place contents of blender into a bot on your stove and heat until warm. Garnish with sesame seeds. 

Super Powered Coconut Fudge Brownies (That Conquers PMS)

Time: 10 minutes to prepare + 20 minutes in the oven

Its coconut flavored fudge, but its so healthy you can legit use it a pre-workout snack.  Its allergy friendly, and everything free (dairy-free, grain-free, gluten-free, egg-free, nut-free, soy-free, and refined sugar-free) 

It also happens to be paleo-friendly, passover-friendly, vegan-friendly and solves PMS woes. 

Fast Tips:

The big secret in all of this are the black beans.  But they're not just any black bean brownie.  I've been scouring the internet for a black bean brownie recipe that was just as healthy as it was yummy.  Some that i've made have seriously disappointed, while others called for sugar or maple syrup.  In other news, I've broken 5, yes 5, Blendtec Blenders trying to make previous versions of black bean brownies from other sources.  (You can blend an iPhone in a Blendtec, but apparently black bean brownies are unblendable?!) These were easy peasy and the Blendtec offices did not have to be called in a for a replacement blender jar.  

What makes these brownies super-powered is their delicious ability to conquer the toughest PMS (even on passover)! The combination of beans + dates + chocolate solves nearly every PMS issue.  The chocolate part is pretty obvious.  The dates and the beans provide the much needed iron you need in the midst of your PMS. So goodbye fatigue, hello chocolate fudge.....:)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of plant based milk
• 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed (<---secret weapon that you won't taste)
• 1/3 cup of cocoa (use the best quality you have
• 8 dates (my dates weren't that sweet so I used 8 of them.  Adjust according to your sweetness preference 
• 1/2 of a banana
• 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon psylium husk (or 1.5 if you like it marshmellow-like)
• Optional Toppings: Coconut Shreds, chopped nuts, chocolate chips

Method

1. Pre-heat convection oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Put beans and milk in a high speed blender and blend till smooth. (will be liquidy)
3. Add all other ingredients except psylium husk. (optional: add only half of the dates to test for sweetness, blend and taste batter then adjust accordingly)
4. Add psylium husk and blend again until smooth. 
5. Place batter in an 8 inch brownie pan lined with parchment paper. Add toppings of choice.
6. Bake in oven at 350 for 20 minutes. When done the inside will be gooey and marshmellow like. (Its vegan, so gooey is OK!)
7. Enjoy!

Thanks for making this! I would love it see how it turns out. Snap a pic and tag me on Instagram so I can see! Any questions on it? Message me on Snapchat.  

Xx, SS