Tag: recipes

Halloumi & Cherry Tomato with Pomegranate Molasses

We’d like to wish you all a Happy New Year and share with you our first recipe of the year! 

Halloumi & Cherry Tomato with Pomegranate Molasses

Not only is it easier to make than expected, but it would make an impressive DIY gift in a cute jar with a label, and can be used for many applications beyond just a salad!  (makes enough for an appetizer for 4)

Ingredients for the salad

1 hour (including making the molasses)

  • One vine of cherry tomatoes (approx. 16 cherry tomatoes)
  • Eight slices of halloumi
  • One handful of basil leaves
  • Two tablespoons olive oil
  • Two tablespoons of zaatar
  • A pinch of salt

Ingredients for the pomegranate molasses

  • 1/12 – 2 cups of pomegranates from the Fruitful Day Box
  • ¼ cup of coconut sugar
  • 3 tbsp lemon juice

METHOD for the molasses

1. Put the pomegranate seeds through a juicer to extract the juice. Alternatively, (if you don’t have a juicer) you can blend the seeds and then pour through a strainer.

2. Place pomegranate juice, lemon juice and coconut sugar in a medium saucepan on medium heat. Bring to a simmer and then turn down to a very gentle simmer.

4. Let the juice simmer very slowly for up to an hour. It should reduce down by at least half. Once it begins to become more viscous, stop simmering. Bear in mind it will thicken once cooled, so don’t over reduce as it will be too sticky.

METHOD for the salad

1.Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

2. Slice the halloumi into 8 slices about ½ a cm thick and 8cm long. Marinate them in 1 tablespoon zaatar, one tablespoon olive oil and salt.

3. Place the tomatoes (still attached to the vines) on a baking tray. Mix one tablespoon olive oil, one tablespoon zaatar and salt and pour over the tomatoes. Bake for 10 – 15 minutes.

4. While tomatoes are baking, put a skillet on medium heat.

5. Place the halloumi slices on the skillet and cook for several minutes on each side.

6. Assemble the halloumi and tomatoes on the plate. Add the basil. If necessary sprinkle with more salt, zaatar and olive oil.

7. Using a spoon, garnish the whole dish with the syrupy pomegranate molasses.

8. Enjoy!

Granola & Apple Compote Jars

It’s been a while since we posted a recipe on our blog, but we’re back!  This time with a delicious home made granola recipe, which is much better than any store bought granola that often contains added sugar, palm oil and non-gluten free grains. Once the granola is pre-prepared, it is very quick breakfast you can put in a jar and take with you to work or as a post-workout snack.  In our jars, we’ve paired the homemade granola with apple compote and yoghurt, but you can get creative with just about any fruit! This time of year pears are some of our favorites, for instance.

We have some more exciting recipes coming up in the next weeks so keep checking back!

Granola & Apple Compote Jars 

1 hour

INGREDIENTS for the apple compote

  • 4 apples from the Fruitful Day Box
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil

INGREDIENTS for the granola 

  • ½ cup fresh shredded coconut OR dried desiccated
  • ½ cup oats
  • ½ cup walnuts from the Fruitful Day Box
  • ½ cup hazelnuts from the Fruitful Day Box
  • ½ cup peanuts from the Fruitful Day Box
  • ½ cup pumpkin seeds from the Fruitful Day Box  ½ cup sunflower seeds from the Fruitful Day Box
  • 4 tbsp honey OR maple syrup
  • 4 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp ginger powder
  • ½ cup cranberries from the Fruitful Day Box
  • ½ cup raisins from the Fruitful Day Box

METHOD for the apple compote

  1. Preheat over to 180 degrees C.
  2. Peel apples and chop into quarters.
  3. Place on a baking tray, sprinkle with cinnamon and coconut oil and mix around with your hands.
  4. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes until soft.
  5. Remove from the oven. You can either eat the apples as they are or put in a food processor for a more compote like consistency. Alternatively, you can cut them into smaller pieces at the beginning before roasting for a chunky compote.
  6. To serve, layer the granola, compote and yoghurt into a jar in any order.

Raw Brownies

We’re almost to the end of the 7 recipes in 7 days! If you’ve enjoyed these recipes, we’d love you to share them on social media and tag us at @fruitfuldayuae on Instagram and @fruitfulday on Facebook.

Our second to last recipe is for raw brownies, which essentially means they don’t need to be baked and thus are very quick and easy to make!

In an earlier blog post, we discussed the difference between cacao and cocoa. In case you missed it, check it out here in our mint cacao bliss balls recipe.  In short, if you can, choose cacao over cocoa because it is made by cold-pressing un-roasted beans meaning all the enzymes are left tact and we can enjoy all the health benefits.

Raw Brownies (makes one 20cm x 14cm brownie sheet – can be cut into any size) 

Raw Brownies

30 minutes

INGREDIENTS for the brownie

  • 1 ½ cups mixed nuts and seeds from the Fruitful Day box: sunflower seeds, cashews, pecans, pumpkin seeds
  • ¾ cup fresh grated coconut (or substitute for dry desiccated coconut)
  • ¾ cup cacao powder
  • 1 ½ cups dates from the Fruitful Day box
  • 1 tbsp peanut butter
  • 1 tbsp coconut butter
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil
  • ¼ tsp salt

INGREDIENTS for the ganache 

  • 200g dark chocolate
  • 200g coconut cream

Raw Brownies

METHOD for the brownie

  1. Add all dry ingredients to a food processor; nuts, seeds, cacao powder and salt and pulse until broken down into small pieces.
  2. Add wet ingredients; dates, grated coconut, peanut butter, coconut butter and coconut oil. Process until the ingredients come together as a dough.
  3. Line a rectangular baking tray with cling film.
  4. Press the brownie dough into the tray and flatten until it’s a brownie sheet about 2cm thick.

* Note – if you substitute fresh grated coconut with desiccated coconut, the dough may be quite dry. If this is the case, add more peanut butter, coconut butter or coconut oil. The dryness of both the coconut and the dates will determine whether to add more wet ingredients. The dough should come together and hold together easily.

METHOD for the ganache 

  1. Cut chocolate up into little pieces and place in a large bowl.
  2. Place coconut cream in a saucepan on medium heat and allow to reach a gentle simmer – do not boil.
  3. Pour coconut cream over the chocolate and let it sit for 5 minutes until all the chocolate is melted.
  4. With a whisk, stir the mixture until the chocolate and cream are combined. Allow to set in the fridge for 10 – 15 minutes or until it’s of a spreadable consistency.
  5. With a spatula, spread the ganache over the chocolate brownie and garnish with some sea salt or cacao nibs.

Apricot Muffin

If your kids are anything like ours, they’re always asking for muffins, but it’s not easy choosing a healthy recipe that they’ll still like.

Today’s apricot muffins are made with almond and coconut flour making them far more nutritious, but without compromising on taste. Win for mom and dad, win for the kids!

Instead of muffins, you could also bake this as a sweet loaf and enjoy with butter and jam in the morning.  Either way, we’re sure you’re going to love it!

Apricot Muffins  

(makes 9 small muffins)  

Apricot Muffin

45 minutes (including baking time)

INGREDIENTS for the muffins 

  • ½ cup ghee
  • 2 ¼ cups almond flour
  • ½ cup coconut sugar
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 2 large eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 4 apricots from the Fruitful Day box.

METHOD 

Apricot Muffin

  1. Preheat over to 180 degrees C.
  2. Melt ghee in a saucepan or in the microwave and set aside.
  3. Slice or chop apricots and set aside.
  4. In one bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients; almond flour, coconut sugar, baking soda and salt.
  5. In another bowl, mix wet ingredients; melted ghee, eggs and vanilla.
  6. Add the mixtures together along with the sliced apricot and combine until a dough forms.
  7. Grease or line your muffin tray.
  8. Bake for 22 – 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Gavurdagi Pomegranate Salad

Our recipe journey continues today with a salad you can easily take to work with you or enjoy in the evening with grilled meats! This salad is called Gavurdagi, which is a traditional Turkish salad similar to Tabbouleh, however, the pomegranate and walnuts add amazing new flavor to it.

We’re big fans of adding fruit to salads here at Fruitful Day (no surprise there!).  In case you missed it, we previously featured a mango chicken salad here and a pomegranate and quinoa salad here.

We hope you all have a fantastically fruitful week ahead. We have a few more recipes to share in our series of 7 so stay tuned and get ready to #rebootwithfruit!

Gavurdagi Pomegranate Salad  

Gavurdagi Pomegranate Salad

(serves 4) 

15 minutes 

INGREDIENTS 

  • 2/3 tomatoes
  • 2/3 cucumbers
  • Small bunch of parsley
  • 4 spring onions
  • 100g walnuts
  • 100g fresh pomegranate seeds from the Fruitful Day Box
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 tbsp pomegranate molasses
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • Salt & pepper to taste

METHOD 

  1. Preheat oven to 160°C
  2. Place whole walnuts in the oven and roast for 8 minutes.
  3. In one large bowl add: washed and cubed tomatoes and cucumbers, thinly sliced spring onions, finely chopped parsley and pomegranate.
  4. Mix olive oil, pomegranate molasses, lemon, salt, pepper and sumac together.
  5. Once walnuts are cooled, chop into small pieces.
  6. Toss all salad ingredients together and lastly add dressing.

Nut Butter Cups

It’s the weekend so little indulgences are definitely allowed.  Afterall, life is about balance.

Today’s recipe is for homemade nut butter cups. Step aside Reese’s peanut butter cups, we have a healthier version for you! By making it yourself, it will leave you more satiated as you can add in healthy fats such as coconut oil and peanut butter.  Instead of 5 nut butter cups, you’ll only feel the need to grab 1 of these babies!

This recipe is quite easy to make and if you’e short on time you can even buy pre-bought nut butter to cut the time down to 15-20 minutes.

If you want to make it vegan, simple replace the honey with maple syrup.

We hope you’re enjoying our week of recipes. As always, we’re here to make a healthy lifestyle easier and more accessible to all.

Nut Butter Cups (makes 12 nut butter cups) 

Nut Butter Cups

1 hour (including setting time)  

INGREDIENTS for the nut butter 

  • 1 cup mixed nuts from the Fruitful Day Box.
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil

INGREDIENTS for the chocolate 

  • ½ cup coconut oil
  • 3 tbsp cacao butter
  • ¾ cup raw cacao powder
  • ¼ cup honey / maple syrup (or less if you prefer it to be less sweet)
  • ¼ tsp salt

Nut Butter Cups

METHOD for the nut butter

  1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees C.
  2. Place nuts on a baking tray and roast for 6 – 8 minutes or until browned.
  3. While still hot, place nuts in a high speed blender with the coconut oil and salt. Depending on how powerful your blender is, you may need to add coconut oil to help the blades spin.
  4. Place in the fridge to harden while you make the chocolate.

METHOD for the chocolate

  1. Place the coconut oil and cacao butter in a bain-maire (a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water) and stir until melted.
  2. Add honey/maple syrup and stir.
  3. Remove from the heat and add cacao powder and salt. Stir until combined.
  4. Line a cupcake or muffin tray with paper baking cups.
  5. Pour approximately 2 tbsp of chocolate mixture into the base of the paper baking cup and place in the fridge to set. This should take 10 – 15 minutes.
  6. Once set, spoon 1 – 2 tsp nut butter on the set chocolate base. If the nut butter is too runny it will run to the edges rather than sitting in the centre.
  7. Pour the melted chocolate mixture over the peanut butter until it’s totally covered.
  8. Return to the fridge to set. This should take 15 – 20 minutes. Once set, the paper should peel off very easily.

Raw Vegan Lime & Cherry Tart

We promised you 7 recipes in 7 days and we think you’ll love this 2nd one!  Desserts are a weak spot for many of us, but they don’t have to be a guilty indulgence. If you plan ahead, you can actually fill your desserts with whole foods that will enrich you in some way.

Our Raw Vegan Lime & Cherry Tart is inspired by LA’s well-known vegan Cafe Gratitude.  What makes it different than a typical vegan cheesecake is that the crust is made primarly with fresh grated coconut rather than nuts.  There are also NO filler ingredients like potato starch, thickeners like guar gum or alcohol sweeteners that are hard on your stomach.

In case you missed our first recipe in the series, click here to learn how to make apricot and orange granola bars.

Raw Vegan Lime & Cherry Tart (makes one small 12cm tart – you can double the recipe to make a large tart) 

30 minutes (not including chilling time)

Raw Vegan Lime & Cherry Tart

INGREDIENTS for the crust 

  • 3/4 cups of soaked cashews (soaked overnight or for at least 4 hours) from the Fruitful Day Box
  • ½ cup desiccated coconut
  • ¼ cup macadamia nuts
  • 28g dates from the Fruitful Day Box
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • Pinch of salt

INGREDIENTS for the filling 

  • 3/4 cups of soaked cashews (soaked overnight or for at least 4 hours) from the Fruitful Day
  • ¼ cup fresh shredded coconut
  • Juice of 3 limes from the Fruitful Day Box
  • ¼ cup of maple syrup
  • 1/8 tsp turmeric
  • 1/8 cup coconut milk
  • 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 7 tbsp melted coconut oil
  • 1 tbsp melted cacao butter
  • Two handfuls of cherries from the Fruitful Day Box

Raw Vegan Lime & Cherry Tart

METHOD for the crust 

  1. Process all ingredients except the dates in a food processor.
  2. Add dates and process until the mixture comes together to form a dough.
  3. Line your tart dish with cling film or grease with coconut oil.
  4. Press crust into the base of the dish until it forms an even curst that rises up the edges by about 2cm.
  5. Leave to set in the fridge.

Method for the filling

  1. Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender until they are smooth. You may need to add more coconut oil or cacao butter depending on how strong your blender is.
  2. Pour the filling into the pie crust.
  3. Remove stems from cherries, slice in half and pit.
  4. Use these cherries as a garnish on top of the tart.
  5. Set in the freezer for – 2 hours.

Dehydrated Apples with Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt

Football fever is everywhere and there’s definitely some competition in our office! How about yours?

As much fun as 3 football games a day are, it also inevitably means A LOT of snacking. That’s why we thought that for today’s recipe we would encourage you to stay on your top game with a great healthy snack alternative that is both sweet and savory.

Roll on dehydrated apples with dark chocolate and sea salt! They’re as easy to grab and snack on as chips, but without all the nasties added. Now back to football… we all know Germany is going to win, right?! Only comment if you agree… we’re kidding mostly! Continue reading Dehydrated Apples with Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt

Peach & Nectarine Cobbler

Just like that it’s almost the end of Ramadan already. Where has the time gone?! Despite the heat, we have very much enjoyed the Holy Month. It is always a beautiful time of year to meet friends and be introduced to new and inspiring people. As we head into the summer, we have some exciting plans as always.  Watch this space!

In the meantime our Eid gift to you is a delicious gluten and sugar free cobbler recipe. Don’t worry – it’s not difficult and it doesn’t matter if it’s not perfect when you make it. It’s an impressive dessert that is still light and simple. Bring it with you this weekend to wherever you are heading and gather around and enjoy the holidays!
Eid Mubarak from us at Fruitful Day. 

Peach & Nectarine Cobbler (makes one 25cm round dish cobbler)

(Serves 4)                                     

45 minutes

INGREDIENTS for the filling

  • 3 peaches from the Fruitful Day Box
  • 3 nectarines from the Fruitful Day Box
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg

INGREDIENTS for the crust

  • ½ cup of coconut flour
  • ½ cup of gluten free flour 
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 3 tbsp grass fed butter
  • 3 tbsp honey
  • 1 egg

METHOD

Peach & Nectarine Cobbler

METHOD for the filling

  1. Slice all the nectarines and peaches into 5mm slithers.
  2. In a large bowl, toss the sliced nectarines and peaches in the lemon juice and spices.
  3. Arrange the fruit in your baking dish – in a smaller dish, the slices may layer on top of one another.

METHOD for the crust

  1. Preheat the oven to 160 °C
  2. Melt butter and set aside.
  3. Mix together all dry ingredients: flours, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
  4. Whisk the egg in a bowl and set a small splash aside for the egg wash later.
  5. Add wet ingredients: butter, honey and the rest of the egg.
  6. Combine ingredients and bring together to form a dough.
  7. Lightly flour a clean, flat surface and roll the dough out to 3-4mm thickness.
  8. Using cookie cutters, cut out the desired shape. Place this cut out shape on top of the layered peaches and nectarines.
  9. Continue until all the dough is used – there may be some left over depending on the size of the dish.
  10. Using a brush or your finger, paint the dough cut outs with a layer of egg wash.
  11. Place in the oven and bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until dough is browned and the peaches are caramelised.
  12. Serve hot or cold with yoghurt or ice cream.