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Superfood Dark Chocolate Bark

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Did you even know that superfood dark chocolate bark was a thing?  Well, we are here to share it with you and if you are someone who gets a sweet tooth like us, you are really going to thank us for this one.  Besides the fact that it’s unbelievably delicious, it’s actually loaded with all kinds of healthy stuff!  Does it get any better thank that? We think not!  First of all, in case you didn’t know, there are health benefits to dark chocolate alone.  Just to name a few, dark chocolate is a source of antioxidants, it can reduce inflammation in the body, it can lower blood pressure and if it’s 75-80 percent coco, it is a good source of magnesium, zinc and iron.  This is worth celebrating in our book!

Now we take this healthy chocolate recipe and make it even better by adding the rest of the delicious stuff.  You can have lots of fun when making any kind of bark by adding a variety of ingredients.  We decided to use goji berries, dried blueberries, walnuts, pepitas, shredded coconut and chia seeds. Yum!

You are going to be excited to see just how easy this bark is to make.  You literally just melt the dark chocolate and coconut oil until it’s nice and smooth.  Spread it out on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Sprinkle all of the remaining ingredients on top and gently press them into the chocolate.  Using the back of a spatula makes this part easy.  Once you’ve got the chocolate covered with the berries, nuts and seeds, you just pop the pan into the freezer to allow it to set up.

Remove from the freezer and break into pieces.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.  This will not last long because you are going to gobble it up!


Superfood Dark Chocolate Bark
 
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Ingredients
  • 11.5 oz (1 bag) good quality dark chocolate chips - we used Guittard extra dark chocolate chips
  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil
  • ¼ C dried goji berries
  • ¼ C dried blueberries
  • ¼ C chopped walnuts
  • ¼ C toasted and salted pepitas
  • ¼ C unsweetened coconut flakes
  • 1 Tbsp chia seeds
Instructions
  1. Line a rimless baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.
  2. Add chocolate chips and coconut oil to a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir contstantly until chocolate chips melt and the chocolate is smooth. About 2-3 minutes
  3. Use a rubber spatula to spread chocolate out evenly over parchment paper.
  4. Sprinkle the remaining ingredients evenly over the chocolate.
  5. Use a clean spatula to gently press the toppings into the chocolate.
  6. Transfer to the freezer for 5 minutes.
  7. Remove from freezer and break bark bark apart into pieces. Store in an airtight container in the freezer or fridge.

Grilled Avocado with Pickled Mini Sweet Bell Peppers & Jalapenos, Shaved Manchego and Toasted Pepitas

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When we were in Seattle last month we went to one of our favorite restaurants with some of our favorite friends and had one of my new favorite appetizers.  Oh, and we happened to take their boat there… and did I mention that we dropped our kids off to eat at the pizza place across the street so we enjoyed a kid free dinner?? Yeah, it was pretty much the perfect night.   So of course when we came back from our trip I was on a mission to re-create that favorite appetizer….I think this is a pretty close match to the real deal!

I fell in love with this appetizer before I even tasted it.  When I saw grilled avocado on the menu it was love at first sight! If you’ve never grilled an avocado before, now is  your opportunity.  Grilling an avocado and serving it warm adds a whole new dimension to one of my favorite foods ever.  It’s as simple as it looks, just drizzle a bit of avocado oil or olive oil over the fleshy part of an avocado and sear in a grill pan or bbq over medium-high heat until deep char marks appear.  That’s it!

The grilled avocado was served with these unbelievable pickled mini sweet bell peppers and jalapeños .  The combo of the smokey charred avocado and the pickled peppers and jalapeños is amazing and a combo I never would have come up with on my own. Pickling anything is super easy…you literally chop your veggies up, add them to a mason jar, boil equal parts white vinegar and water and bit of granulated sugar, pour it over the veggies and put the lid on the top.  After about 20 minutes you have successfully pickled your veggies.  Store them in the fridge for up to 2 months and they will continue to get even better.

This appetizer is served up somewhat deconstructed with the grilled avocado still in the skin, pickled peppers and jalapeños thrown all around the plate, a handful of roasted and salted pepitas and shaved manchego cheese.  You can drizzle a bit of chile oil, olive oil, chalula or crema over the top to finish things off or just leave it as is. That’s it, simple and delicious!!

 

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Grilled Avocado with Pickled Mini Sweet Bell Peppers & Jalapenos, Shaved Manchego and Toasted Pepitas
 
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Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1 avocado, halved
  • 1 tsp avocado oil - can use olive oil
  • ¼ C pickled peppers and jalapenos (see below)
  • 1 Tbsp shaved manchego cheese
  • 1 Tbsp toasted and salted pepitas
Optional - chile oil, chalula, crema - any of those would be great drizzled over the top
For the Pickled Mini Bell Peppers & Jalapenos:
  • 10 mini sweet bell peppers
  • 2 jalapeno peppers
  • 2 clove garlic, smashed
  • 1 C water
  • 1 C white vinegar
  • ¼ C granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp salt
Instructions
For the Pickled Mini Bell Peppers & Jalapenos:
  1. Cut stems off of bell peppers, cut in half down the middle and roughly cut into large segments. Rinse peppers pulling off membranes and seeds. Place peppers in a large mason jar or heat proof container with lid.
  2. Cut the tops off of jalapenos and slice thin. Rinse slices under cold water and remove seeds. Place jalapeno slices with the peppers in the mason jar. Add smashed garlic clove to the mason jar as well.
  3. In a medium saucepan add water, vinegar, sugar and salt. Bring to a simmer and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Immediately pour over peppers and cover with lid.
  4. Allow to sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 months.
For the Grilled Avocado:
  1. Heat a bbq or indoor grill pan over medium-high heat. Drizzle avocado oil over the fleshy side of the avocado. Grill avocado for approx 3 minutes until deep grill marks appear. Remove from heat.
  2. On a serving plate arrange avocados, place pickled peppers and jalapenos around avocados. Sprinkle with shaved manchego and pepitas. Drizzle with any optional add-ons.

Guacamole Three Ways

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One word. Guacamole. Really, is there anything better? Guys….are you listening? Skip the fancy dinner and the romance and take your girl to get a cold margarita and a big ol’ bowl of guac and chips. You will win her heart for sure! Am I right ladies?

Making guacamole at home is super simple and there are so many ways to change it up to make it even better…yes, it is possible to make it even better. If you really want to impress the guacamole lovers in your life try making guacamole 3 ways! Using the same “base”, change it up by adding differing toppings.

We have 3 options for you, so take your pick or make all 3 and let us know which one you like best.   We have featured guac with fresh pomegranate and cotija cheese, we also have charred corn with pepitas and last but not least there is guac with mango and pickled jalapeños.  It’s best to have options and now you have them, now you have no excuse not to eat guac!!

guacamolepomegranate

Guacamole with Pomegranate and Cotija
 
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Serves: Approx 2 Cups
Ingredients
  • 3 large or 4 medium avocados
  • ½ jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • ⅓ C red onion, minced
  • ½ C loosely packed chopped cilantro
  • juice of 1 lime
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • 1-2 Tbsp pomegranate seeds
  • 1- 2 Tbsp crumbled cotija cheese
Instructions
  1. In a bowl mix first 7 ingredients with a fork, mashing the avocado to desired consistancy. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and crumbled cotija cheese.

guacamolecorn
Guacamole with Charred Corn and Pepitas
 
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Serves: Approx 2 Cups
Ingredients
  • 3 large or 4 medium avocados
  • ½ jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • ⅓ C red onion, minced
  • ½ C loosely packed chopped cilantro
  • juice of 1 lime
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • 1-2 Tbsp toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
  • 1 ear corn, shucked
  • 1 tsp olive oil
Instructions
  1. In a bowl mix first 7 ingredients with a fork, mashing the avocado to desired consistancy.
  2. Heat olive oil in grill pan over medium-high heat. Place corn in pan and turn as each side becomes golden brown (can also grill or roast in oven). Remove from pan and set aside to let cool. Remove kernels from cob. Garnish guacamole with toasted pepitas and charred corn. Use as much corn as desired.
Good Thyme Tip <img decoding=" src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/2/svg/1f33f.svg">- if you cannot find toasted pepitas you can toast them at home by heating a skillet to medium heat. Place pepitas in skillet and stir occasionally until toasted, about 3-5 minutes.

guacamolemango
Guacamole with Mango and Pickled Jalapeno
 
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Serves: Approx 2 Cups
Ingredients
  • 3 large or 4 medium avocados
  • ½ jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • ⅓ C red onion, minced
  • ½ C loosely packed chopped cilantro
  • juice of 1 lime
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • ½ mango, cut into ½ inch cubes
  • 1-2 Tbsp pickled jalapenos (can be found in the hispanic section of most grocery stores)
Instructions
  1. In a bowl mix first 7 ingredients with a fork, mashing the avocado to desired consistancy. Garnish with mango and pickled jalapenos.

Chopped Chicken Salad with Lemon Pesto Vinaigrette

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Our favorite classic chopped chicken salad…right here, right now. Loaded with all of the favorite things we love about a chopped salad and more.  This salad is so simple and impressive you will find yourself craving it constantly.  To add a different twist, you can serve it either deconstructed or all together in one big bowl.  We get requests from friends to bring this one as side dish to parties all the time.

chop1

Stephanie Heymann Photography

No need to make anything else for lunch or dinner when serving this salad.  It’s packed with tons of protein and vitamin rich veggies.  The Israeli couscous adds a nutty flavor that should not be skipped. The couscous can be made ahead of time so it’s ready to go when you construct this salad.  We love to throw the couscous in other meals throughout the week too, so it’s great to have it prepped and ready.

chop3

Stephanie Heymann Photography

Now you can have this salad too, but don’t come yelling at us when you find yourself craving it constantly like we do!

Chopped Chicken Salad with Lemon Pesto Vinaigrette
 
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Serves: 2 for full salad 4 for side salad
Ingredients
For the Salad:
  • 1 hardboiled egg, sliced
  • 1 roasted chicken breast, chopped into bite size pieces
  • ½ red bell pepper, chopped
  • ½ C cooked israeli couscous (can substitue quinoa or wheat berries or another grain)
  • ¾ C chopped cucumbers
  • 1 ear corn steamed and kernels removed
  • ¼ C pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
  • 4 C romain salad, chopped
For the Lemon Pesto Vinaigrette:
  • Juice of 1 extra large lemon or 2 medium lemons
  • 1 clove garlic chopped
  • 1 C loosely packed fresh basil leaves
  • ¼ C 0% plain greek yogurt
  • 1½ Tbsp honey
  • ¼ C good quality olive oil
  • S & P to taste
Instructions
For the Salad:
  1. Either in a large serving bowl or on individual plates, align ingredients into strips (pictured). Drizzle with lemon pesto vinaigrette.
For the Lemon Pesto Vinaigrette:
  1. Add all ingredients except for olive oil into a blender or use an immersion blender. Blend until basil is thoroughly mixed. Slowly drizzle olive oil in blender until combined. Add S & P to taste.