Recipe of the months
*Hello Autumn – Energy Balls*
Are you with us that this season changed happened super fast this year?
We still remember being on the beach in October. Soaking up super warm sunshine. Boom. Now we have a weather mix and staying a little longer under that cosy duvet seams a great idea, right?
Autumn has finally arrived. It comes along with cravings. Cravings such as warm, sweet and nourishing food. Topped by hot cups of tea, coffee or chocolate.
Olivia of Olivia’s Localicious Kitchen supports us again with one of her recipes. This time a super easy one. Scroll down for a local ingredients, healthy and sweet but not too sweet yummy sensation.
Ingredients
- 200g toasted Almonds
- 200g dried (dark) figs
- 50g Goji berries (80-100g cranberries as an alternative or a sweeter version)
- 3 tablespoons of freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 pinch of sea salt
Instructions
1) Remove the hard stalks of the figs
2) Squeeze some Oranges
3) Put all mentioned ingredients for 20- 30 seconds in a blender
4) Blend until you have a mixed texture. Similar to coarse salt, so it is quite sticky.
5) Happy with the texture and the flavor? Form little balls with your hands
6) Let them sit in your fridge for 1 hour
7) Eat them all at once or keep them cool for further cravings
Its recommended to use a good blender (e.g. Thermomix, bimby, vitamix, nutribullet or anything that can cope with a dried nut and fruit mixture).
Please be aware! Goji berries are a superfood. With high in vitamin c, fiber, iron, vitamin A, zinc and antioxidants. It is using cranberries instead if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or take warfarin or a diabetic drug.
Hacks by Olivia
“I bought the toasted almonds, dried dark figs and orange at the Mercearia da Vila in Aljezur. It’s the season of figs and almonds and the oranges are starting so you’ll find these ingredients also on the weekly Saturday market, the monthly Market (every 3rd Monday) and other small independent shops.
The pumpkin spice mix will be available at Madame Granel or from Shairi (the Spice Life Shop) at the weekly Aljezur market.
Organic cinnamon is available at Bioverde and my salt is from Mercearia da Igreja Nova.
The goji berries!! I am really excited about them. They are Portuguese organic goji berries – no stuff from China. They are a little bit more bitter but that’s quite a nice flavour addition in this recipe. If you don’t like bitterness at all you can always replace them with cranberries.
This is a basic recipes so you can change things for your personal preference. Almonds can be replaced by sunflower seeds or other nuts. Figs can be replaced by dates and the goji berries (as mentioned above) can be replaced by cranberries. You can use less or more spices. Additionally, you could use chia seeds as well. The warmth of the nuts and spices, the sweetness of the figs and orange juice plus the hint of bitterness from the goji berries are amazing.
A little tip…
If you eat a lot of nuts, seeds (and grains) it’s always best to ‘activate’ them. Means soak them for at least 5-8 hours or over night. It’s easier on your digestion and generally a healthier way to consume these ‘dormant’ seeds.
If you decide to soak the almonds just buy some plain natural almonds, soak them and then dry roast them in a pan to get that warm flavour.
I hope you’ll enjoy these ‘sweet but not too sweet’ and nourishing ‘Hello Autumn’ energy balls’
Stay warm, safe and dry. ”
Olivia
