Chocolate Chip Energy Bites

This is an older recipe from Foraged Dish that I wanted to spruce up with new photos and a video. These energy bites are so darn delicious — they’ve been in my snack draw at work and I SO look forward to snack time each day! 

Last week I went on a hike in the Front Range with nothing in my bag but my camera, my phone, and a ziplock stocked with these Chocolate Chip Energy Bites. I thought I had my car key too, until 30 minutes in when — oh no! - I noticed the pocket where I keep my key was open. Open and empty. 

I immediately turned on my heels and spent the whole hike downhill with my head turned down, eyes constantly scanning the trail. I tried to soothe my inner chatter box, which, by the time I made it back down to the trailhead with no sign of my keys in sight, was freaking out.  In the end, I had to call for a ride to go get a spare key (thanks, Dad!). 

But I digress. Casualties of hiking alone are not what this post is about!

These energy bites call for only six ingredients and they just go into your food processor and you roll them up. That’s it!  Why macadamias and cashews? Macadamia nuts are extra buttery, which lends very well to this recipe, which taste a lot like a healthy version of cookie dough! At the same time, cashews are a bit starchier than most nuts, and their sweet flavor also gives these bites a bit of a “cookie dough” flavor. 

Mini chocolate chips are best in this recipe because they distribute into each energy bite well. Each bite has a bit of chocolate and a bit of nut mixture, which sticks everything together. 

Happy hiking! Take these with you — and don’t lose track of those keys!! 

Chocolate Chip Energy Bites

Published January 15, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

Yield: 12   |    Active Time: 20 minutes

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Ingredients:

1/3 cup dates, pitted

1/2 cup macadamia nuts

1/2 cup cashew pieces

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon honey

3 tablespoons mini chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Add dates, macadamia nuts, cashews, salt, and honey to bowl of food processor. Secure lid on food processor and run until the nuts are ground into a corse meal that begins to clump.
2. Add mini chocolate chips to food processor and pulse, 2-3 times, just until chocolate is evenly distributed.
3. Scoop a heaping tablespoonful of the mixture into your hands and roll into a ball. Repeat until all of the mixture is used.
4. Enjoy immediately or store in an air-tight container in the fridge.

Chickpea Antipasto Salad

In the kitchen, there is the sound of a ticking clock. From the open sliding door on my right, the leaves rustling in the breeze. The high today is seventy-one degrees. The last time I could say that was probably early April, and it feels like a treat. 

We had no idea what to expect when we arrived in McCall. Boise is surrounded by golden dry hills, the city itself an sprawl of big box department stores. But the further north you go the more trees you find, and the grasses begin to turn green. As you coast down the road into McCall's center you spot Lake Payette, like a gem in the rough. 

Here, I'm going to be soaking up the cooler weather -- currently drinking orange cinnamon tea - but back home, I'm still defaulting to no-cook, no-bake, minimal effort meals, like this Chickpea Antipasto Salad. 

This dish is a bit like pasta salad, minus the pasta, and all you do is mix. That's right: skip the oven, skip the stove, and even skip dishes -- it's a one-bowl wonder. 

Antipasto pasta salad is a picnic classic, with olives, artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, and cheese. But I wanted to make a version that didn’t use pasta. Something gluten-free with more nutrients per bite. Chickpeas are the perfect option here — they have a starchy quality that makes them a good filler, though they are also filling, more so than pasta, and in a good way. So there you have it, a way to fill those pasta salad cravings when you don’t want to fill your stomach with pasta.

You can make this salad ahead of time and chill it. Served over a few fresh lettuce leaves, it makes for a great make-ahead lunch in the middle of summer! Or, put everything in a large serving dish and tote your chickpea antipasto salad along to a potluck.

Chickpea Antipasto Salad

Published August 23, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 4-6   |    Active Time: 10 minutes

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Ingredients:

2 sixteen-ounce cans chickpeas, drained

1/4 cup red onion, minced

1 cup artichoke hearts, quartered and drained

1/2 cup sliced sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained

1/2 cup sliced kalamata olives, pitted and drained

1/3 cup pesto

1/4 cup fresh basil, minced

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/2 cup feta crumbles

Optional: serve over a bed of butterhead lettuce

Directions:

1. In a medium size mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and stir to combine.
2. Serve immediately, or make a day ahead of time, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
3. Optionally, serve over a bed of butterhead lettuce leaves.

Raspberry Pistachio Fool (Sweetened with honey!)

A simple dessert such as this one hardly needs a full blog post to go with it — soft folds of whipped cream, fresh raspberries accentuated with just a touch of honey and lemon, bits of slightly salty pistachio. That ingredients list alone will do. 🤤

A “fool” is a British dessert where puréed fruit is layered with custard or whipped cream. This version used whipped cream, which is lighter and pairs well with fresh raspberry, which are sweet and delicate at their peak.

The raspberry bush I planted last year is producing it’s first round of berries right now (a miracle really, because the backyard is basically a jungle of weeds). There are only a few berries and they’re not quite ripe yet, so I used store bought for this recipe. In a pinch, frozen berries would work — just thaw the berries before macerating.

And — I’m all for dessert-for-breakfast, so if you're looking for something you could eat in the morning, you could swamp the whipped cream in this recipe for your favorite Greek yogurt and make a parfait.

Pistachios add a nice crunch to this fool, which is otherwise all fluff and fruit. You could really use any type of nut, but I like the flavor of pistachio with raspberry and whipped cream, and also love the way the color pops!

And now, onwards, because there’s really nothing better than tasting this one for yourself. 

Raspberry Pistachio Fool (Sweetened with honey!)

Published July 3, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 3   |    Active Time: 20 minutes

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Ingredients:

10 ounces fresh raspberries

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2-3 teaspoons honey, divided

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup crushed pistachios

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine 8 ounces of raspberries with lemon juice and 1 teaspoon honey. Set remaining raspberries aside. Using a fork, mash the 8 ounces of raspberries with the lemon and honey. The mixture should resemble a jam or compote. Set aside.
2. In a second mixing bowl, whip cream to soft peaks using an electric mixer. Add in vanilla and 1-2 teaspoons of honey, depending on your tastes, and continue to whip cream for another minute to incorporate.
3. In three serving glasses or bowls make alternating layers of whipped cream and the raspberry mixture. Place reserved fresh raspberries on top, and sprinkle with crusted pistachios. Serve immediately.