Cauliflower Hawaiian Balls (Paleo)

This week has been ridiculously cold. To the point where I have been rather unproductive; my survival instincts have taken over and I rather curl up in a ball under the covers than do homework. Unfortunately, my professors didn’t get the memo 😦

The only comfort I got was the space heater in my basement. My brother and I would come home from school, crank the heater on high and sit in front of it until our skin literally turned red. That is, until this week when it no longer turned on. Apparently my dad did get the memo (the bill) that we were using it and he shut off the heater 😦 😦

And so, to mentally escape the cold, I am posting a rather tropical recipe today. Hey, if I can’t live in Hawaii right now, I can pretend with food, right?

(The answer to that is a resounding “yes”).    

Cauliflower Hawaiian Balls (Paleo)

Ingredients:

1/2 head cauliflower, cut into florets

1 egg

1 cup pineapple, divided

2 tbsp cilantro

1/2 tbsp garlic powder 

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup bell pepper (any color), chopped into small pieces

2/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/3 cup precooked ham, chopped into small bits

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and oil a baking sheet.

In a food processor, process cauliflower until it resembles rice. Add in egg, a 1/2 cup of the pineapple, cilantro, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt and process until evenly mixed.

Transfer cauliflower mixture to a bowl and mix in bell pepper, the rest of the pineapple, shredded coconut, and ham.

Roll into small balls (I get anywhere from 35-40 balls) and place on baking pan.

Bake for 35 minutes. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from tray (NOTE: Use a spatula for removal- it gets until the Hawaiian balls and lifts them with leaving anything behind).

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“Raw-tella” (AKA Paleo Nutella/Hazelnut Spread)

Valentine’s Day, the “holiday” of “love” is almost upon us. So, going with the theme, I’m posting something I love. And- big surprise- that love involves chocolate. I mean, what’s stronger than a girl’s love of chocolate?

Hazelnut chocolate to be precise.

Awhile back, I tried making my own nutella/hazelnut spread. It tasted good, but not great and the pain of rubbing the skins off the hazelnuts prevented me from gushing about my creation. I put it in the back vault for later experimentation.

A few months later, I misread a recipe for date balls using raw almonds, resulting in a sticky mush. I really don’t know what made me leap to it, but then I started playing around with the idea of dates as the natural sweetener (as opposed to the maple syrup I was previously using) for a nut spread. Which lead to hazelnuts.

And then chocolate.

Thus, this raw-tella came into existence. Yes, raw, because I didn’t roast the hazelnuts beforehand. I just put them in the food processor right out of their package. Skins and all. And I have to say, using raw hazelnuts make my life so much easier.

So why do I love this raw-tella?

-It’s FILLING (dates and nuts do that to you)

-It makes a lot! (A good mason jar-full)

-It’s paleo

-Dates are the only sweetener

-Raw hazelnuts = no burnt hazelnuts + less time spent prepping them

-It’s not sickeningly sweet, like nutella

-It’s chocolate

-It tastes AMAZING

Any questions?

   

“Raw-tella” (AKA Paleo Nutella/Hazelnut Spread) 

Ingredients: 

2/3 cup raw hazelnuts (also sometimes labeled as filberts)

1 and 1/4 cup pitted dates, slightly packed (Make sure to soak in a bowl of water for at least 2 hours beforehand. You want them nice and soft!!!)

3 tbsp cacao powder

1/2 tbsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup water

Directions:

Place hazelnuts in food processor and blend for about 2 minutes (hazelnuts will begin sticking to the sides of the bowl-just scrape them down). Pulse in the dates, cacao powder, vanilla extract, and salt. Add the water and process until smooth. To store, place in the fridge.