Deseeding Pomegranates

Deseeding pomegranates is a task to which most people have an aversion. It can be laborious and messy. That being said, I've come up with a series of steps that will help any individual deseed this wonderful and delicious fruit.

1) Start with one pomegranate.

2) Cut off the top of the pomegranate, to the point where the seeds start appearing.

3) You will observe that there are five distinct areas where the fruit seeds are accumulated at the top. Make five shallow cuts along the lines that run between these seed pockets.

4) Using both hands, pry apart each section. The multiple seed pockets should dislodge easily.

5) Place the open pomegranate in a bowl and fill it with water.

6) Dislodge the pomegranate seeds, using your thumbs, while the fruit is under water. Doing this will prevent pomegranate juice from splashing on you.

7) You'll find that the seeds will sink to the bottom and the pith will float to the top. Remove the pith from the water.

9) Drain the water from the bowl.

10) Your pomegranate seeds are now ready to eat.

Baked Oatmeal

Baked oatmeal is turning into one of my favourite, go-to quick meals. It's a variation on regular oatmeal, but with a fluffier texture and a protein punch.

Begin with one half cup of dry quick oats.

Cook the oats by adding boiling water and letting it sit for approximately 3-5 minutes or until all of the water has been absorbed by the oats.

Add one over-ripened banana and one large egg.

Other non-essential ingredients can also be added at this time (e.g. vanilla, raisins, cinnamon, nuts, chocolate chips, carob chips, chopped dates, peanut butter, cinnamon, protein powder, etc.). I decided to use a teaspoon of vanilla and a handful of sweet raisins this time.

A touch of honey or maple syrup can also be added at this point, to impart additional sweetness, if desired.

Combine the ingredients thoroughly, until the mixture resembles a muffin batter-like consistency.

Spread the batter on a foil-lined baking sheet, so that it is approximately 1/4 - 1/2" thick.

Bake the mixture until it is golden brown. To achieve this, I normally use a toaster oven, set at 250°F for 10 minutes.

Spoon the baked oatmeal into a bowl, while it's still hot, and enjoy.

Pizza Rolls

These pizza rolls are actually easier to make than they look. The prep time is approximately 7 minutes and the method is really easy...stupid easy, actually.

Begin with an amount of pre-prepared dough. You can buy fresh dough a number of places including grocery stores, bakeries or even your local pizza shop.

On a clean surface, dusted lightly with flour, roll out the dough into a semi--rectangular shape. There is no need to flip or turn the dough. Just roll it out on one side. You may need to lightly dust your rolling pin with a bit of flour in order to do this.

Once rolled out, smear on a layer of tomato paste with the back of a spoon.

Sprinkle on some dried oregano.

Fold the dough along the long end of the semi-rectangle.

Continue rolling the dough over to the other end.

Using a knife, cut the rolled dough into sections that are approximately 2 inches in length.

The sections will resemble cinnamon buns.

Arrange the sections on a cake pan greased with olive oil. Once in the pan, spray the segments liberally with olive oil.

Sprinkle some sea salt on top and bake at 350°F for 30 min.

Delicious and easy. Try adding other ingredients, in with the tomato paste, to create your own pizza roll flavours.

Chocolate: Ready-Made

Finding dairy-free chocolate, suitable for a "no-refined sugar" diet can be somewhat difficult...especially if one is looking for chocolate that is made without artificial sweeteners. However, I've come across a few ready-made chocolate products that can help with those chocolate cravings.

Unsweetened Chocolate:

Firstly, unsweetened Baker's chocolate. This chocolate is relatively inexpensive and can be found in most grocery stores. It contains no sugar at all. It's great for use as an ingredient in desserts, cooking and baking (naturally).

Next comes chocolate made with unrefined cane sugar. Chocolate made with this type of sugar takes on a more complex flavour. Unrefined cane sugar provides some flavour details that are lost when sugar is refined. The earthy flavours of sugarcane mixed with dark chocolate work together beautifully.

Dark Chocolate:

One of my favorite dark chocolates, made with raw cane sugar, is by a company called Vivani. The packaging is horrible, but the chocolate is divine.

Note: You can find this product, as well as the other chocolates featured on this blog entry, in health food stores across Toronto.

This product by Giddy YoYo is made with simple ingredients and has a good, smooth flavour.

Alter Eco makes this product called "Blackout". The chocolate includes vanilla beans in its ingredient list. The chocolate is rich, but lacks the smoothness of the above two products. However, I'll still take it paired with a black coffee.

Flavoured Chocolate:

Alter Eco also makes an amazing product with rice crisps and puffed quinoa in it. It taste like a better version of Nestlé Crunch.

High End:

If you can find this product by Leone, its definitely worth its high price. This particular version is made with hazelnuts. Delicious.

Banana Oatmeal "Everything-Free" Cookies

This all natural cookie recipe will meet mostly everyone's dietary needs. It gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free and contains no refined sugars. Even if you don't have dietary restrictions, you'll probably like these healthy treats.

They are also ridiculously easy to make.

Ingredients:
3 ripened bananas (mashed)
2 tbsp natural peanut butter
2 tsp honey
1 container (110 mL) crushed apples
2 cups quick oats
Optional: unsweetened carob chips (my preference), chocolate chips, chopped dates, or raisins.

Combine all of the ingredients together in a mixing bowl and spoon onto a lightly greased baking sheet (greased with olive oil).

Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes. Allow for the cookies to cool before removing them from the baking tray.

It's that simple.

Energy Balls

All-natural energy balls seem to be all the rage these days. I've also noticed that they can be quite expensive to buy at health food stores. Making them is actually quite easy and relatively inexpensive.

You'll need to find yourself some date paste. Date paste is comprised of dates, that have had their pits removed, and packed firmly together. 

Softening the date paste, so that it is in a more usable format, is easy. Simply chop the date paste, using a knife, into small cubes. The more you chop, the more the date paste will soften.

Once the paste is softened, anything can be added to it. Here are two examples:

1) Coconut Maca Energy Balls

In a mixing bowl, combine 1/2 kg of softened dates, 4 tablespoons of blanched almond meal, 4 tablespoons of desiccated unsweetened coconut, and 2 teaspoons of maca powder. Kneed together until the ingredients are mixed well. Form into 1"-1.5" balls.

2) Chocolate Peanut Butter Energy Balls 

In a mixing bowl, combine soften 1/2 kg of date paste, 2 tablespoons of blanched almond meal, 4-5 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder, 4-5 tablespoons of natural peanut butter (or any other nut butter). Kneed and form into 1"-1.5" balls.

You can keep your homemade energy balls in a sealed container, in the fridge, for up to 2 weeks (if they last that long). Experiment with some ingredients and see what you come up with.