Snacks

Snacks

Raw, Recipes, Snacks, Vegan, Vegetarian

Tropical Dole Banana Salsa

I am so excited to work with Dole Bananas again for their summer Peel the Love tour!
The Peel the Love Summer Banana Cabana is touring the nation and holding events that’ll let you peel like a kid again, including yummy samples, free recipe cards, giveaways, coupons and more! Checkout the tour schedule and catch a Banana Cabana event in your area up until Labor Day!

When Dole contacted me to make an original banana recipe, I knew it needed to be something different and out of the box. I use bananas daily in recipes from green smoothies and banana nicecream to banana roll-up snacks and banana bread breakfast quinoa, but this time I wanted to create something more savory and less expected. What’s better than a savory and sweet salsa for all of your summer parties and barbecues?! I’m so excited with how great the flavors and textures combined with my perfectly ripe Dole Banana! I hope you and your summer party guests enjoy this as much as I did!

Dole Bananas Peel The Love

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Tropical Dole Banana Salsa
Serves 1

1 Dole banana
1/4 cup pineapple, chopped
1/4 cup mango, chopped
1/4 cup tomato, diced
1/4 cup corn
2 Tbsp jalapeño, diced
1 Tbsp cilantro

Chop banana into small pieces and chop and dice other ingredients. Gently fold all ingredients together until well combined. Serve with whole grain chips. Refrigerate leftovers for up to 3 days.

Dole Banana Peel The Love Tour Dates 1

JULY DOLE BANANA CABANA TOUR DATES
July 12-14 – Columbia, SC
July 14-18 – Phoenix
July 19-25 – Jacksonville
July 23-26 – San Diego
July 28-August 2 – Alabama
July 31-August 3 – Los Angeles

AUGUST DOLE BANANA CABANA TOUR DATES
Continued until August 2 – Alabama
Continued until August 3 – Los Angeles
August 7-8 – Mississippi
August 7-10 – San Francisco
August 11-15 – Sacramento
August 14-16 – St. Louis
August 17-18 – Reno, NV
August 21-24 –Des Moines
August 22-25 – Portland
August 29-Sept 1 – Minneapolis
August 29-Sept 1 – Seattle

The Dole Banana Cabana will also be at:
FPFC Foodshow
7/14/2014 – 7/15/2014
Anaheim, CA – Disneyland Hotel
3pm – 6pm

Show Dole Bananas some Love!
Website // dole.com/peelthelove
Facebook // Facebook.com/DOLEbananas
Twitter // @DOLEbananas
Pinterest // Pinterest.com/DOLEBananas

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Desserts, Recipes, Snacks, Vegan, Vegetarian

Red, White, & Blueberry Popsicles

Happy 4th of July!
Celebrate with an ultra hydrating, super healthy snack to cool you down after a fun day in the sun!

These super simple popsicles are made with hydrating coconut water and antioxidant filled berries. The best part? There is minimal prep in making these adorable little patriotic pops and only 3 easy to find ingredients!

Oh wait, even better… they’re vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and fat free! Go on, eat a few!

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Red, White, & Blueberry Popsicles
Serves 4

2 cups coconut water
1/2 cup blueberries
4 strawberries

Rince berries. Slice strawberries. Start by placing 4-6 blueberries in the bottom of each popsicle mold. Pour coconut water to the top of each mold. Add slices strawberries and cover with popsicles ends. Freeze overnight and and enjoy on 4th of July!

Have a fun and safe 4th of July!
xo catherine

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Desserts, Raw, Recipes, Snacks, Vegan, Vegetarian

Crunchy Chia Energy Bites

Congratulations to the winner of my Butter London Giveaway, Margaret! I cannot wait for you to get your Butter Box 🙂

I am off to one of my sister’s bazillion bridal showers this morning and after that I’m flying straight to San Francisco for 24 hours, and then leaving for Florida for a conference on Tuesday morning! The next month leading up to my sister’s wedding (July 19th) is going to be a serious whirlwind.

I picked up the new EMRF neon summer tanks, but I won’t be able to list them in my store until I get back from all of my crazy travels next week. Most of you already know, that this blog and store is run by me, myself, and I, so I didn’t want to post the new shirts and be unable to ship them for a week. I hope you guys understand! New shirts will be available soon though!

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Today’s recipe is for Crunchy Chia Energy Bites! I took double back-to-back classes at Full Psycle the other day and wanted to share my secret pre and in-between workout snack. When you do a really intense cardio session like cycling/spinning, you don’t want to eat something heavy before because you will feel absolutely terribly during class, and you don’t want to go starving because you will be terribly weak. It can be really hard to find a snack suitable for you and your chosen workout, but this is what I love!

These energy bites are filled with natural sugars and carbohydrates from Medjool dates, a little dose of protein and healthy fats from cashews, and omega 3 fatty acid from chia seeds. They’re light enough that you can have one or two a half hour before class and one in-between grueling workouts! They also make a great afternoon snack for adults and kiddos!

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Crunchy Chia Energy Bites
Makes about 8

1/2 cup cashews
1 cup medjool dates, pitted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2+ Tbsps chia seeds

In a food processor, pulse the cashews and salt until they are broken into tiny pieces (do not pulse for too long, as it will turn into powder). Pit the dates and add them along with vanilla extract to the food processor. Blend the dates and cashews together until dough is formed. The mixture should stick together and be pliable. Remove the mixture and form into 1 Tablespoon sized balls. Roll each ball in a bowl of chia seeds. Store in refrigerator for snacking!

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Breakfast, Lunch, Smoothies, Snacks, Vegan, Vegetarian

Soy & Flax Green Smoothie

Soooo once again, I’ve discovered a new favorite green smoothie. I’m pretty sure this has turned into a weekly thing. Each week, I start throwing in new ingredients to my green smoothies, and somehow I end up with a masterpiece!

I always try to keep my smoothie recipes under or around 6 ingredients. I find that the less ingredients you need, the less intimidating and more likely you will be to try new things! Have you ever looked at photos for a recipe, started drooling, and then saw the list of 15+ ingredients that you definitely don’t have in your kitchen? Ya… I’ve been there too! My goal is to make healthy eating as simple and fun as possible!

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I know a lot of you bunnies are allergic to bananas, because I often get asked for swaps in my recipes. This smoothie is banana free! Other notable differences in this green smoothie recipe versus my others? Protein rich soy milk!

This smoothie is also loaded with flaxseed which is an excellent source of:

  • Omega-3 essential fatty acids: “good” fats that have been shown to have heart-healthy effects. Each tablespoon of ground flaxseed contains about 1.8 grams of plant omega-3s.
  • Lignans: which have both plant estrogen and antioxidant qualities. Flaxseed contains 75 to 800 times more lignans than other plant foods.
  • Fiber: Flaxseed contains both the soluble and insoluble types.

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Soy & Flax Green Smoothie
Serves 1

1 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 large handful of spinach
1 cup frozen mango
1 cup frozen pineapple
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed

Blend blend blend!

Note: I love my smoothies extra thick, and I usually have to use the “plunger” on my Vitamix to get all of the ingredients to blend together, but if you don’t have a high powered blender, simply add more soy milk as you blend!

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Recipes, Snacks, Vegetarian

Bright Eyed & Bushy Kaled Bites

You guys are seriously too cute. I loved reading all of your comments about why I should keep writing personal posts! My favorite is when a couple of you said “If I only wanted to see recipes, I would just buy a cook book!” That totally stuck with me : )

Soooo ever since I started working with DOLE Salads, I’ve been BEGGING them for kale! At every event I would raise my hand and say “WHERE’S THE KALE?!” Seriously, this bunny can’t get enough kale!

Through the past year I’ve been pleasantly surprised seeing kale pop up in DOLE’s Chopped Salads, buttttt the moment has finally come for an entire package of kale! Drumroll please…

DOLE POWER UP GREENS!!!
DOLE Power Up Greens come in 3 different varieties:

Dole-Power-Up-Greens-Kale-Bites-3 Baby Kale: Just baby kale
Baby Kale and Greens: Baby spinach, baby kale, baby green chard, baby red chard
Spring Mix and Greens: Arugula, baby green oak, baby green romaine, baby red oak, red baby romaine, green chard, green tango, lola rosa, mizuna, red chard, tat-soi, spinach, baby kale, curly endive, green leaf, red tango, mache. <<< The perfect mix for the ULTIMATE green smoothie!

DOLE has been challenging me to think outside of the bowl by using salads in different ways, and for their new Power Up Greens, they’ve asked me to create a super power snack that is pop-able and bite-sized! My friend Beth has been telling me to use the name “Bright Eyed & Bushy Kaled” for months now, and I finally found the perfect time to use it! These adorable little Kale Bites resemble “cotton tails!” They may be cute but they’re tasty too!

These little morsels are baked not fried, and loaded with antioxidants and vitamins A, C, and K from the DOLE Power Up Greens! They’re an easy super power snack to serve to your friends and family that’s healthy and delish.

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Bright Eyed & Bushy Kaled Bites
Yields about 15 kale bites

1/2 cup yellow onion, chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 packages (4 cups packed) DOLE Power Up Greens – Baby Kale
1 large scallion
1 egg
2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a pan over medium high heat, sauté yellow onion in olive oil until softened and translucent. Add kale to frying pan, sautéing until the kale wilts, about 1 to 2 minutes. Place cooked kale and onion into a food processor along with the chopped scallion, and pulse for several seconds. Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl and stir in the egg, breadcrumbs, and parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste and mix with a spoon until well combined. Using a one Tablespoon measuring spoon, scoop the kale mixture into 1 Tbsp sized balls. Place kale balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes.

Tip: After 15 minutes, turn your oven to broil and let the tops of the kale balls brown for about 1 minute.

DOLE has definitely been thinking outside of the bowl, and they’ve created some super power recipes for you to try!

It’s a chip, its healthy, it’s Kale Chips!
These oven-baked chips are the crunchy, satisfying snack you’ve been craving. And, because they’re made from DOLE® Power Up Greens™ Baby Kale, they have the calcium and manganese your body needs. Try them as an accompaniment to a sandwich, a topping on a pasta dish, or enjoy a big bowl of them while you veg out!

Lentils “Meatballs” with Kale Pesto
Meatballs are a hit at nearly every mealtime and occasion. But what about a meatball without the meat? Round, flavorful morsels, our “meatballs” turn lentils and greens into small pleasures that even the most ardent meat lover will enjoy. A great way to get your protein, and topped with a robust kale pesto, it is easy to see why these little goodies are a favorite among vegetarians.

Interested in DOLE Power Up Greens?
Use their Store Locator to find greens near you!

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