No-Dye Green Cookies (Paleo and Nut-Free)

Say what? Another post? All in the same week? This must be a record.

Anyway, I HAD to share this recipe before St. Patty’s day. It’s too perfect not to!

Here we have a grain-free and nut-free paleo cookie. But wait for it… take a bite and the inside is COMPLETELY GREEN. And nope! No color dye or spinach was used to achieve this effect.

So what’s the secret? The combination of sunbutter and baking soda! It creates a chemical reaction that results in a green cookie. Just make sure to wait a few hours for the green to show up. I HIGHLY recommend waiting until the next day for the best results!

If you have little kids, I suggest making these the night before St. Patrick’s day and telling them that the leprechauns used their magic to jazz up the cookies. It works every time 😉 

No-Dye Green Cookies (Paleo and Nut-Free)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup organic sunbutter (I use the Once Again brand)

1 egg

2 tbsp honey

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

pinch of stevia

Optional: 2 tbsp cane sugar (for a sweeter cookie. I usually omit)

3 tbsp coconut flour

3 tbsp chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking pan with parchment paper.

In a bowl, combine the sunbutter, egg, honey, and vanilla. Mix in baking soda, salt, stevia, and sugar (if using). Add in coconut flour and chocolate chips.

Roll into 12 balls and place on baking sheet. Press down slightly. Bake in the oven for 13 minutes. Allow to cool completely. Eat now OR wait a few hours for the green color to appear. I HIGHLY recommend allowing the cookies to sit overnight. The next day, the cookies will be completely green on the inside!!!

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Curry Green Oatmeal

Thursday is my late dinner night. I come home from school and work and go right to the gym to lift weights (or attempt to, anyway) and take my spinning and pilates class. I don’t know if that’s considered too much gym time, but it takes my mind off everything that’s stressing me out. Plus, I can daydream for a few hours 🙂 And as sad as it may seem, I daydream about dinner when I get home. My breakfast dinner. At first, my family looked at me strange, but now they all know that Thursday night = oatmeal creations. I’ve tried so many combinations (some good, some not so good) and this is one of my favorites. It’s pretty quick to make (seeing that I’m eating this 10 at night) and it makes a decent portion.

I was going to call this “green curry” oatmeal, but I’m afraid someone will yell at me. Afterall, green curry is green curry and I would never want to falsely imitate it. However, this does contain curry and it is green colored. So, curry green oatmeal seemed fitting.

Curry Green Oatmeal

Ingredients:

1/2 cup oats, uncooked

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp curry powder

1/8 tsp pepper

2/3 cup chicken broth

1/2 tbsp minced garlic

1/2 tbsp minced ginger

1/4 large onion, chopped

1 and 1/2 cups fresh spinach or arugula

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp pine nuts

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1/4 cup frozen peas

Directions:

Place and mix oats, red pepper flakes, curry powder and pepper in a bowl. Set aside. In a small pot, bring chicken broth to a boil. Pour broth over oats, give a quick stir, and place a plate over the bowl. Let oatmeal sit, covered, for 5 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Afterward, transfer oatmeal into a food processor. Add in minced garlic, ginger, onion, spinach or arugula, soy sauce, and pin nuts. Puree all together until smooth and green. Mix in bell pepper and peas.

Smashed Peas

St. Patrick’s Day may be over, but who says the green has to stop?

I was so surprised with the color I got from these smashed peas- it gave off such a bright green! What can I say? I’m a sucker for pretty colors. I’ve made this several times now and I found that this works as a dip, side dish, or spread (as pictured on top of my Irish Soda Bread). Besides the color, I love the refreshing and cool temperature. It makes me crave summer. Pool-side snack, perhaps?

Smashed Peas 

Ingredients:

2 cups organic, frozen peas

2 garlic cloves

1/4 cup shredded goat cheese

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 tbsp chives

1/2 tbsp parsley

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp dill

salt and pepper, to taste

 Directions:

Place peas in a stainer and run under warm water until slightly soft. Put peas and the rest of the ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Either serve as a dip, spread, or side dish.

Natural-Colored Green Eggs (and Ham)

Tomorrow is Theodor Geisel’s (AKA Dr. Seuss’s) 109th birthday. How would a college student know this? Just the perks of working at a preschool, I guess. All this week, I’m been teaching lessons based around the Cat in the Hat, Marvin K. Mooney, Thing 1 and Thing 2, etc, etc.

I need to spend more time with people my own age.

Anyway, one of the things the kids made this week was green eggs. Eggs + green dye. Definitely not my thing. So, I made my own with natural food coloring- spinach. Simple and much better than digesting artificial coloring. I wish I could’ve shared this with the preschool, but I have a feeling they would have turned it down (unfortunately, kids can become very picky eaters at the sheer mention of spinach). If however, you have picky kids, but want to still make this for Dr. Seuss Day, I recommend pureeing the spinach and eggs together before said kids enter the room. The color green might distract them from asking questions. Of course, you can just make this for yourself instead 🙂

Natural-Colored Green Eggs (and Ham)

Ingredients:

2 free-range, organic eggs

fresh spinach, packed (2/3 cup will get you the color in the picture. I normally use 1 cup for a rich green color)

1/4 cup water

1/2 tbsp chives

salt and pepper, to taste

Optional: slices of organic ham

Directions:

In a food processor, puree all ingredients together until green throughout (this will make the eggs bubbly. Don’t worry, it’ll go down while cooking). Then, simply scramble the eggs as you normally would do. Serve with ham, if desired.

Who says green eggs are only for kids anyway?