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Carob – The Vegetarian Alternative to Chocolate

Chocolate has become the star of any Valentine’s celebration… it’s become a symbol of sweetness and love all around the world. But what would happen if one day you were not able to express your undying love for someone thru chocolate???

I am self-proclaimed chocoholic. And when I had to give up chocolate I thought my world would end… it was a long time ago and had nothing to do with being vegetarian. I had to steer away from chocolate because of its caffeine content. Many people consider chocolate a vegetarian food… which in essence it is. It comes from a nut. However, just like coffee, chocolate contains high levels of caffeine, a stimulant that affects your nervous system and irritates greatly the digestive system.

But then… Carob entered my life. Because a world without something chocolatey… would be like a day without sun. Wouldn’t it?? I will be honest with you, if it doesn’t taste similar or better than the real thing, I won’t eat it. There are good products out there:

Carob Bars

I get these bars every time we travel to NYC. You can get them in many health food stores. Their taste resembles bittersweet dark chocolate because of their slightly bitter aftertaste. They’re the perfect substitute to your favorite bar candy… my mom buys them by the dozen every time we find them.

Carob Chips

I use these carob chips from Chatfield’s in my regular chocolate chip cookie recipe and I can’t tell the difference. I also use them the same way you would use chocolate chips in recipes like my Brown Rice Krispies Treats.

Carob Powder

Carob, is also available in both bar and powder form, makes a very delicious caffeine-free alternative to hot chocolate. And because carob is a bit bitter it resembles the bitter bar chocolate used to make hot chocolate from scratch. I have also used it on cake and brownie recipes and it’s amazing.

Check out these recipes using carob in various forms:

Caffeine-Free Hot Carob

Brown Rice Krispies Treats

Cherry and Carob Cookies

Carob Granola

My point being… not need to deprive yourself totally of chocolate-like desserts when there’s carob around… even if you still dream of a piece of Hershey’s Kisses in your lips. I know the feeling…

Tags: carob, chocolate alternative, food, sweet, Valentine's, vegetarian

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Categories desserts, MY EDITORIAL

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Veggie Bites of Wisdom #28

12 Feb

Tags: food, heart, karma, vegetarian, wisdom

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Categories Veggie Bites of Wisdom

Organic Unrefined and Unbleached Sugar

11 Feb

I keep hearing on the Food Network that the brown sugar available in the US is indeed refined white sugar mixed in with molasses. That statement gave me the creeps. I keep urging you to use brown sugar instead of refined white sugar and the product I am recommending is not as good as I thought it is.

The brown sugar that sells in Puerto Rico comes mostly from the Dominican Republic where, according to my limited research, is indeed less refined sugar to which the molasses were never taken out to begin with. But that may not be the case with other regular commercial brown sugars available in the US.

This is why I have moved myself to buy sugars that are indeed less refined than the commercials brown sugars you find yet they are still available in your regular supermarket or health food store. For the last few years, I am buying at home mostly turbinado or muscovado or organic brown sugars. But my new love is Rapadura Unbleached and Unrefined Sugar.

I had bought this sugar a few years ago… I kept it in my fridge because it’s so dark that it kept darkening every smoothie or dish I used it in. I have not gotten used to its taste. It tastes more toasty and caramel –ly than your regular average brown sugar. At the end of last year I was in a mission to stop buying stuff I already have at home… and one of these things was sugar. I use it mostly to sweeten a bit my morning smoothies or my hot cereals; most rarely to make desserts.

I fell in love with this sugar the second time around… it’s certainly more expensive, but you use much less quantity than you would use regular white or even brown sugar. The bag lasted me for a couple of months at least using it almost daily in my breakfast smoothies.

My recommendation to you is to search in your supermarket and purchase the sugar product that is as natural and less refined as possible within your budget. It’s hard to understand why something that’s as natural and the least processed costs more in our neck of the woods, but remember, what we don’t spend in good food and nutrition on the front end… we’ll eventually need to find the funds to take care of illnesses in the future. I am putting my money on the front end and trying to eat as natural and healthily as my budget allow me to.

Tags: brown sugar, food, organic, products, rapadura, vegetarian

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Categories MY EDITORIAL

Apple Onion Relish Panini with Gorgonzola

8 Feb

I was given a challenge… A Sandwich a Day wanted us to showcase our favorite sandwiches.

I’ve told you before how I could live on sandwiches alone possibly and how one of my most addictive sandwiches is my Avocado Tomato Sandwich. Sometimes I fail to come up with new ideas for sandwiches because I am so enthralled with this one still. I even dream about eating it sometimes.

But recently I have come to learn to love another sandwich… maybe not as fresh-tasting as the one above, but certainly very seasonal. Mixing apples, onions, thyme, almonds and blue cheese in between 2 pieces of bread might not seem very appealing, but oh, oh boy, how delicious it is. This has nothing to do with my Latin roots, but everything that I have learned to appreciate from my travels in the Northeastern part of the US.

Inspired by these crostini from Giada Di Laurentiis, this panino hits the spot on a cold winter night. I might even argue it works great for a nice cozy date in front of the fire. I think your date would be greatly impressed.

APPLE ONION RELISH PANINI WITH GORGONZOLA

2 slices of 100% whole grain bread

Cream Cheese

Gorgonzola Cheese crumbles

Toasted Sliced Almonds

¼ cup of Apple Onion Relish

Butter – for the outside of the bread/sandwich

Pre-heat your Panini maker, or in my case, my George Foreman Grill.
Spread cream cheese on the inside of both bread slices. This will be part of the glue that makes the sandwich stay together.
On one slice, add the apple onion relish. Try to keep it as dry as possible so the moisture won’t seep out of the sandwich. Layer the toasted almonds and finish with the blue cheese crumbles.
Close the sandwich with the other slice of bread, cream cheese on top of the almonds/blue cheese.
Butter the outside of the slices with some softened butter.
Place on the Panini maker and press lightly without forcing it too much. The sandwich will flatten as it toasts in the Panini maker.
After a few minutes, the cheeses will be melted and the bread toasted on the outside. Carefully, remove the sandwich from the panini grill and allow it to cool slightly. This will allow you to cut into the sandwich without the breads sliding all over the place.