More Ideas To Use Fruit In...

We had some great recipes submitted last month.  It just take a little "thinking outside of the box" to come up with all kinds of ideas to incorporate more fruit into our diets.  Here are some more fruit recipes:

1.  Fruit & Nut Bars

10 dried dates
1 cup raw almonds
1/4 a cup raisins
A food processor
Plastic Wrap

MIx all of your ingredients into the food processor and you mix it until it has the consistency of "cookie dough". (More like wet sand, but sure...)

 Take some plastic cling wrap and place it on a cutting board or flat surface.

Place mixture in the middle of your cling wrap, and pull the wrap up on either side and press it to form one large bar; keep a layer of plastic between your hands and the "dough". Squeeze the mixture firmly to ensure that it will not fall apart when you eat it! You should wind up with a block of dough that is about 3.5 inches x 7.5 inches and about 1/4 inch thick.

Wrap the whole bar in cling wrap tightly. Put it in your freezer for about an hour.

After an hour the bars can be cut!

Store in an airtight container, and if you are not planning to eat them all within the week, put them in the fridge!

Also: if you find that you are feeling extra adventurous, substitute different things in your bars. For example: Throw in some chia seeds! Dried apricots, prunes, papaya or craisins in the place of raisins, or sunflower seeds along with the almonds; half a cup of almonds and half of sunflower seeds. Or I substitute almonds all together for something like walnuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts or something along those lines.

 

2.  Grilled Halloumi

 Cheese and Watermelon

 

For a recipe, this is going to sound a bit odd but it's Watermelon, Halloumi Cheese and fresh Mint. That's it!

 

Halloumi cheese can be found at grocery stores with international sections or upscale cheese sections. It has a super high melting point so you can actually cook with it instead of having it melt and run all over. For this recipe, cube both the watermelon and the cheese - easier to cube the cheese after grilling.

 

Grill the cheese until it has a nice brown exterior. Put cubes in a bowl and toss with snipped mint leaves.

3.  Strawberries and Balsamic Vinegar

 

Cut up a bunch of strawberries into a small bowl. Sprinkle with a tablespoon or two of sugar and a couple of tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Stir. Let sit at room temperature for an hour or two. Sprinkle a bit of fresh ground pepper on top and serve.

 

4. Strawberry & Mango Salsa

Ingredients
3/4 cup diced strawberries
3/4 cup diced mango
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
2 tablespoons diced red onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 teaspoons honey, or more to taste
Juice of 1 lime

Instructions
In a large bowl, combine strawberries, mango, jalapeño, onion, cilantro, honey and lime juice.
Serve immediately.

 

5. Avocado Faux-Hummus

 

 

Cooking Instructions:
1. Add the following to your food processor:
-1 can of white beans, drained and rinsed
-1 avocado, cubed
-juice from 1/2 of a lime
-1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of olive oil (a lower fat option: substitute oil for juice from the beans)
-1/2 teaspoon sea salt
-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2. Blend until smooth.... EASY AS THAT!

Great to eat with veggies, crackers, pretzel crisps, etc. I want to try it with a little bit of ranch seasoning to use as a sandwich spread.