Chickpea Salad and Peanut butter mousse cups

HERE is that other food post I was talking about.

I have had a lot to do today, (now yesterday) much of it involves this post.  I have to say, it would take a lot less time to cook if I wasn't constantly stopping to take pictures, which involves a goodly amount of food styling.  I mean, the things that I have done to keep the quinoa neat, the peanut butter mousse wiped up and the chocolate graham cracker crumbs from spreading like a fungus over the whole kitchen!!!  Jeez!  But it is a labor of love.

Speaking of labor of love- wow that has a couple connotations- a. I have a granddaughter that is going to be born in a month or so, and there was that baby shower last weekend.  I do have a few photos to post!  And 2. I have (speaking of photos) a bunch of awesome, sock rawking, kick-ass photos to show you. If I don't do it tonight, that will be tomorrow mornings project, as I will be having my days altered as of next Monday morning- but that is a subject of yet another blog post later in the week.

SO enough babbling about non-food related items- on with the show here.

I made 2 lovely and delightful things today- one a chickpea salad that was super easy to make and one a dessert that was easy, but took some time!

 Chickpea and Kale Salad

The ingredients are very simple!  You can of course chop your own kale and cook your own chickpeas....  It is important for the  best flavor tho to use the freshest, yummiest ingredients for the dressing. 

Rins and drain the chickpeas to remove a little salt

Add the chopped kale- I eventually also added halved cherry tomatoes- it only took one taste for me to conclude it could use one more element- a little hit of sweetness.

Make the dressing with oil, lemon and fresh garlic 

Grate some good parmesan after the salad is dressed.

YUM!!!  Very light yet the chickpeas somehow make this filling!  I got 3 servings out of this recipe for about 250 calories.  Healthy fat, high protein chickpeas and kale is just plain good for you!!  Enjoy!

Chickpea Salad

This is a simple and fresh salad that is basically a few ingredients with a type of vinaigrette dressing. Lots of room to adjust and add-

original recipe found on The Greatist.com

3 servings

What You’ll Need:

1 can of chickpeas (rinsed and drained)


1 cup of chopped kale


2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 clove fresh garlic, minced

2 tablespoons of lemon juice


1 tablespoon of parmesan cheese, grated


Sea salt and black pepper

cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, ???

What to Do:

Drain and rinse the chickpeas.

In a bowl, combine chickpeas, chopped kale.

In small bowl combine olive oil,  garlic, and fresh squeezed lemon juice.  Toss with vegetables.

Add grated cheese and a dash of sea salt and black pepper. Stir all the ingredients together until well mixed. Eat immediately or chill!

This has lots of potential for additions- Olives, onions, croutons, what have you!!

Peanut Butter Mousse Cups

THIS decadent dessert is NOT low calorie, but ohmygosh is it yummy!!!

It is actually vegan, not that I am vegan, BUT as I was making it, I was thinking the Mad-seester would totally be able to eat this as it is milk free!  That is if she chooses her dark chocolate carefully for the topping, which of course she would!!  Cuz she's pretty awesome and stuff!  xoxox  Luv you baby seester!!!

I doubled this recipe, as I knew I had people who wanted to try it out!  Both vegetarian and nonvegetarian friends. I managed not to tear into this until AFTER my 7 mile walk yesterday.  It was worth the wait! 

FIRST of all, people, do not fear the coconut oil!  It has healthy fats in it and life should not be fat-free. For heavens sakes, we need to get over this obsession and eat healthy and in moderation.  Fat-free is not natural!  

The use of these adorable little mason jars just makes life good. The are so cute!!!  AND they can double as jelly jars to give to ones daughter-in-law who  makes fantastic jelly and maybe one will get some back with jelly if the weather this year cooperates and produces berries!  Isn't that right SarahJane??  :)

The crust is very straight-forward with a little coconut oil, cocoa, maple syrup and graham cracker crumbs

The food processor makes short work of this crust!!  

Chocolate graham cracker crust!

2 Tablespoons or so of crust go into each jar- I came up with the idea of using the little insert in the food processor to smoosh down the crust into the jars.  It worked perfectly!!

I forgot to take a before I destroyed the box and jar pic!  Lol- so the filling has silken tofu, natural peanut butter, brown sugar and almond milk in it- very smooth and silky!  AND yummy!

Just a few Tablespoons of chocolate chips and a teaspoon of coconut oil to make the topping- (the bowl is small, the look here is deceiving) 

After the mousse is in the bowls, you are supposed to place in freezer, but I, in my usual mad way, did not!  This is kind of like how I eye balled many of the amounts of the ingredients- I blithely ignore measuring spoons and things like that.  Don't judge me!  :) This is how I roll!  It is not like it is baking or something--

Place a teaspoon or so of chocolate on top and spread/smooth/roll until it looks cute on top!

NOW it is going to kill you to put this in the freezer for a while- but trust me it is worth it.  Go for a 2 hour walk and just let it be!!  (each cup is about 300 calories, but has over 9 grams of protein!)

And it is just adorable!!

The synthesis of the 3 layers in amazing!!!  The recipe makes 5 little cups....  You can make this in tiny ramekins or custard cups or even little plastic "Glad" containers....

Mini Peanut Butter Cups in a Jar

 Original recipe from Oh She Glows at http://www.ohsheglows.com

Ingredients (5 mini mason jars)

For the crust

heaping 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp graham cracker crumbs (10 squares) 

1.5 tbsp pure maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener)

1 tbsp coconut oil 

2.5 tsp cocoa powder

For the filling

200 grams soft/silken organic tofu, roughly chopped (I used firm silken, as that is what I had)

1/4 cup natural peanut butter

1/2 cup  brown sugar

1 tbsp almond milk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

 dash of salt

For the chocolate shell

2.5 tbsp dark chocolate chips

1.5 tsp coconut oil 

Instructions

1. Grab 5 mini (125ml) mason jars. In a food processor, process the crust ingredients until crumbs are a bit damp. Add 2 tablespoons of the crust into each jar. Spread out evenly and flatten with fingers. or use the little thingy from the food processor!!

2.  Wipe out the processor bowl. Now add the filling ingredients and process until silky smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary.

3. Add approx. 3 tablespoons of filling into each jar and smooth. Place jars into freezer, uncovered, for about 30 minutes to firm up a bit. (HAHAHA- or don't)

4. Remove jars from freezer and melt the chocolate on the stove-top or microwave. Spoon 1 teaspoon of melted chocolate on top of the filling. Quickly, twist the jar around to coat all sides. Repeat for the rest. chill in the fridge or freezer to firm up the chocolate or just dig in as is!

Yeah, this really did make my day joyful!!

Until next time, be a joy giver, and a peanut butter cup in a mason jar giver!