Trick AND Treat Brownies

by Liz Child

These deliciously dark, squidgy brownies are an absolute treat (and shhh! contain a few tricks too). Make these for the little monsters in your life and trick them into eating beetroot, sunflower seeds and black beans. Hahahahahaaaaaaa! *evil laugh*

This tricky treat is packed full of plant protein and fibre. It is gluten, nut, dairy and egg free, but most definitely not flavour free! So it’s perfect for everyone to enjoy at your Halloween party. These are seriously good, let us know if you make them. All the ingredients can be added to your next order. Did you know we have compostable bags of nuts, seeds, oats etc in the grocery section of our shop? We deliver to every address in Ireland. Happy Halloween!

Liz x

Ingredients

  • 100g sunflower or pumpkin seeds
  • 100g porridge oats (gluten free if needed)
  • 100g sugar (or your choice of sweetener)
  • 100ml oat milk (or any dairy free milk)
  • 1 tin of black beans (including the liquid)
  • 5 tbsp oil or butter
  • 6 tbsp cacao powder
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • a pinch of salt
  • 250g cooked beetroot
  • 250g melted dark chocolate

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 180C and line a baking dish (I used a 20x28cm one) with baking parchment.
  2. In a food processor, blend the sunflower seeds and oats into flour.
  3. Then add the rest of the ingredients except the melted chocolate. Blend until smooth.
  4. Mix in the melted chocolate then pour the batter into the dish. Even it out, getting into the corners, then bake for 40 minutes or until cracked on top and still a little wobbly.
  5. Allow the brownie to completely cool in the dish. Then remove onto a chopping board to decorate and slice as you like.

Super Seedy Crackers

by Liz Child

My super seedy crackers are easy to make and packed full of toasty, nutty flavour and incredible nutrients. They contain all these amazing ingredients which can be added to your next veg order. Did you know that our nuts and seeds come in compostable bags?

  • pumpkin seeds (protein, fibre, healthy fats, magnesium, zinc)
  • sunflower seeds (protein, healthy fats, selenium, vitamin E)
  • linseeds (fibre, healthy fats including omegas, protein)
  • chia seeds (fibre, protein, omega fatty acids, minerals and antioxidants)
  • oats (fibre, protein, manganese)
  • flour (you can use any flour you like, plain wheat flour or try our buckwheat or spelt flour)
  • salt (minerals)
  • olive oil (antioxidants and healthy fats).

So you can see why I love including these crackers in my diet and in my kids lunchboxes. They make a brilliant afternoon snack too! Scoop up hummus with them (find the recipe here), pop on a slice of cheese (we stock an amazing range or organic dairy and vegan cheeses here), or eat with soups.

Liz x

Ingredients (makes around 32 crackers)

  • 50g sunflower seeds
  • 50g pumpkin seeds
  • 50g porridge oats
  • 50g flour
  • 25g chia seeds
  • 25g linseeds
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 250ml water

Method

  1. Turn your oven on to 150C and find your largest baking sheet. You may need to use two depending on the size of your oven. I used one sheet approximately 38x46cm as a guide. You’ll also need to line your tray with a sheet of baking parchment and have another sheet of parchment ready. Find a mixing bowl and wooden spoon or spatular.
  2. Measure the seeds, oats, flour and salt into your mixing bowl. Stir well to evenly disperse the ingredients.
  3. Then add the olive oil and water and mix well until there are no dry clumps. Leave the bowl to stand for about 20 minutes to allow the chia seeds and linseeds to absorb the liquid.
  4. After 20 minutes your mixture should be thickened and spreadable. Scrape it out onto the lined baking tray and use the spoon/spatular to spread it as evenly as you can. A good tip is to avoid the edges, don’t worry about getting it perfect yet, the next step will ensure your crackers are thin and even.
  5. Place the second piece of baking parchment over the sticky cracker dough. Use your hands to spread the dough out into a thin, even layer. Make sure there are no thicker bits anywhere as these will take longer to cook. The layer should be about 3mm thick all over.
  6. Then carefully peel off the top layer of parchment and use a knife to score the cracker dough to the size and shape you prefer.
  7. Put the tray in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until toasty and dried out. Allow the crackers to cool completely before snapping them apart from each other and storing them in an airtight container. They should stay fresh at room temperature for 2 weeks, in the fridge for 1 month or frozen for 3 months.
Kale crisps, hummus, crackers and raw veggie sticks – a colourful and nutritious snack box.

Hummus Plates

by Liz Child

More a serving suggestion than a recipe. You have to try my new favourite way to eat hummus! Simply smear it artfully on a plate and top with a mix of roasted vegetables and steamed greens. It’s great warm or cold! Scatter over some toasted seeds and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and scoop it all up as it is or with some salad leaves and toasted pitta breads. Why not add some extra toppings to your plate like olives, ferments, pulses, pesto, chilli sauce…? It’s such an easy way to get a whole load of goodness into your day.

How would your dream hummus plate go?

Liz x

Find the ingredients over on our website. Here are some suggestions to add to your next order:

Soy Sauce Toasted Sunflower Seeds

by Liz Child

These simple seeds are so savoury, crunchy and moreish! The perfect salad or soup sprinkle. Here’s a quick video tutorial to show you the easy method. Otherwise read on below. You can buy organic seeds and soy sauce (or gluten free tamari) from our website along with the best organic fruit and veg. We deliver to every address in Ireland.

Liz x

Ingredients

  • seeds of your choice (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame or a mix)
  • soy sauce (or tarmari if you are avoiding gluten)

Method

Measure out your seeds into the jar you’d like to store them in. Make sure you leave some space in the jar though as they will expand as they are toasted.

Tip the seeds into a dry frying pan on a high heat. Keep them moving with a wooden spoon and toast them until they are taking on some colour, starting to crackle and pop and smell incredible!

Once they are toasted well, add a splash of soy sauce and quickly stir to coat all the seeds in the salty seasoning.

Take the pan off the heat and let the seeds completely cool down before returning them to the jar and securing the lid.

They should stay fresh for at least a month in the jar. Sprinkle them on salads and soups or eat them as a snack. Enjoy!

Salad Bag Pesto

by Liz Child

One of the most common ingredients that get wasted are salad leaves. The mixed bags of salad leaves really don’t stay fresh long, really they should be eaten within 3 days. So if you don’t get around to eating a salad, perhaps the weather changed and you were more in the mood for a hot meal, there are a few ways you can use them up in a different way. Whatever you do, don’t throw that bag of slightly sad looking leaves away! Salad leaves can be blended into a soup in place of spinach or watercress or make this very flexible salad bag pesto! If you have any fresh herbs around the place, chuck some of those in too.

Read more about food waste in my blog post on the subject here. Liz x

Ingredients

  • mixed salad leaves (and odds an ends of fresh herbs if available)
  • sunflower and pumpkin seeds (or any nuts or seeds you like)
  • lemons
  • garlic
  • olive oil
  • salt
  • nutritional yeast (or odds and ends of cheese)

Method

I’ve deliberated not given amounts as pesto is a very fluid recipe. You can taste and adjust it as you go. You should aim to have around half the volume of the mixture as nuts or seeds. So if you have about a mug full of salad leaves that need using, toast about half a mug of nuts or seeds.

Toast the nuts or seeds in a dry frying pan to bring out their flavour. Allow them to cool.

The put them in a food processor. I used a blender because my food processor is broken – it works ok but I prefer a food processor for pesto because I don’t want the mixture to be too smooth in the end.

Add a crushed or grated glove of garlic, a shake of nutritional yeast, a big pinch of salt and all the salad leaves.

Then add lemon juice (you can add the zest of the lemon too if you like, or save it in the freezer for something else). Start with a small amount of lemon juice, you can always add more later.

Add a very generous amount of olive oil. A quality extra virgin olive oil is best for pesto.

Pulse the mixture, scrape down the sides and pulse again until you reach a loose, rough paste. Add more olive oil as you go if needed.

Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt of lemon juice as you like. Then store in a clean jar in the fridge. To make it last longer, cover it with a thin layer of olive oil to protect it from the air. Use it up within a week.

Pesto is not just for pasta! Use it for a dip, stir it into hummus or mayo, spread it into wraps or sandwiches, toss it through roasted veg or steamed greens, dollop it on your grainy salads…

Flourless Black Bean Chocolate Cake

by Liz Child
A page from the Sweet chapter of my book, available to add to your veg order here.

Flourless chocolate cakes are not just great for the coeliacs in your life, they are simply lovely cakes – somewhere between a brownie and a chocolate truffle – and incredibly delicious! The lack of flour means they are naturally rich and fudgy. The bitterness of the dark chocolate makes what would otherwise be quite a sweet and heavy cake, something quite sophisticated and moreish. Perfect served with some whipped coconut cream and a mug of coffee! I wrote this recipe with nut and gluten allergy sufferers in mind, but you can substitute the sunflower seeds with ground almonds if you wish. The recipe illustration above is from my book which is available to add to your veg box order on our website. The recipe video can be found on our Instagram @greenearthorganics1 or at the end of this blog on our YouTube channel. Liz x

Ingredients

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180C and line a loose bottomed cake tin with a circle of baking parchment.

Pulse the sunflower seeds in a food processor or large blender until they come into a course flour. Careful not to process for too long as that will turn the seeds into butter!

Add the tin of black beans to the blender – including all the aquafaba (that’s the viscous liquid that the beans were cooked and sitting in) from the tin. Blend again until smooth.

Add the sugar (or a sweetener of your choice eg maple syrup), baking powder, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla, olive oil and melted dark chocolate and blend again to combine. To keep it dairy free, check the ingredients in the chocolate – most dark chocolate is dairy free but it’s always worth checking the label. I usually just melt the chocolate in the microwave in little 10 second bursts, checking and stirring between each. You can put the chocolate in a bowl over a small pot of simmering water to melt it gently that way too.

Then scrape the mixture into the lined cake tin, smooth it out with a spatular and bake it in the centre of the oven for 30 minutes or until cracked on top and with minimal wobble.

Allow it to completely cool in the tin before carefully removing it onto a plate and dusting the cake with a tsp of cocoa powder.

Serve slices of the cake with whipped coconut cream from a tin (we sell these in the grocery section of our shop) – it’s also delicious with fresh, tangy raspberries in the summer, to cut through the richness of the cake.

Enjoy! Don’t forget to tag us @greenearthorganics1 on instagram if you make this recipe and join our friendly facebook group to share recipes and tips.