Guilty pleasure? Or bland sustenance? It needn’t be either or.
Much of the food that’s been foist upon us these last 50 years has been designed to hook our emotions and create unhealthy addictions - too much processing, too much sugar, too much salt. These are the three big ones but they partner with ‘too much’ because the processing and additives interfere with the body’s natural mechanisms which tell you when enough is enough. Hence the obesity crisis which isn’t slowing.
I’ve always favoured single ingredient foods that are still recognisable in their journeys from nature’s source.
This recipe is a collection of mostly ‘single ingredients’. Very easy to make, delicious, and no confessions necessary.
Ingredients:
400ml water
350g pitted dried dates
100g oats
75g goji berries
75g pumpkin seeds
75g sunflower seeds
75g linseeds
50g cocoa nibs
25g chia seeds
25g cornflakes (gluten free)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
Method:
Preheat oven to 160⁰C (fan), line and grease an 8x8 inch baking tray with parchment paper. Cut up the dates into small pieces and then place in a saucepan with the water and cinnamon. Bring to the boil and simmer for a further 10 mins.
In the mean time in a large bowl add the oats, cornflakes, goji berries, linseeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds and cocoa nibs, and mix together. Once the date mixture is ready, take off the heat and lightly beat to form a rough puree, then pour this into the bowl containing all the other ingredients.
Mix everything together until well combined and then pour into the prepared tray. Using the back of a large spoon press the mixture down into the tray. Place this in the oven and bake for appx 30 mins until it is firm to the touch and browned around the edges.
Enjoy.
Gaby Van Clarke
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