Thursday, October 06, 2011

Ayurvedic Apple Madness!!

As promised, thus begins the fall apple recipe series. Our first contributor is the very talented Laura Olson, I love it when she cooks (or not, as she does a lot with raw foods). She is giving up some great on-the-go apple sweetness you don't want to miss.
Laura thinks of herself as a flexy foodie. An avid ashtangi and teacher, writer, foodie and passionate cook living in NYC and Woodstock, NY. Keep an eye out for her soon-to-be website and blog featuring real yoga, delectable-yet-healthy food and great wine, no guilt allowed! For more of hers: www.eatdrinkandbeyogi.squarespace.com



When I first heard about The Ayurvedic Apple, I thought Kate was asking me for ways to make New York City (the big apple) more ayurvedically friendly! Ha! You can, but it is a challenge. In any case, it’s funny, here in NYC it’s not really fall yet. Those cooling breezes and Vatta qualities just haven’t arrived. It’s still warm and very humid, and I still crave my morning smoothie.

On the other hand, our farmer’s markets are burgeoning with local apples, and who can resist what’s in season? This time of year I am also nostalgic about apples dipped in honey for the Jewish New Year and all kinds of fall activities, so I’m ready to dive into apple season, despite the lack of sweater weather!

The first thing I turn to is so easy it’s not really a recipe: apples and nut butter. As a kid, I remember getting apples sliced horizontally so I could see the star shape the core made, and slathering them with peanut butter. Green apples were both my Mom’s and my favorites! Today I am ever so slightly more grown up and I look for alternate nut butters (at least most of the time) in order to get the health benefits. And here’s a twist on the slices.

Mom’s Apple Cups
Cut an apple in half horizontally.
Scoop out the core, leaving an opening perfect for filling.
Fill to overflowing with your favorite nut or seed butter. Mine are almond, walnut and sunflower.

Sprinkle with your favorite toppings. How about raisins and Kate’s sweet spice mix? Or coconut and cacao nibs? A drizzle of maple syrup is SO decadent.
Eat with many napkins nearby!

And, for those cooler mornings…

Baked Apple Oatmeal!
If you’re like me and head out the door for practice early, then have to break-fast on the run, you’ll love these sweet little baked oatmeal “cakes”. I didn’t invent them, they’re all over the food-blog world. But they’re great for us busy working yogis who have to eat on the run, but want to nourish ourselves with home-cooked food! You can eat them warm or at room temperature, and if you topped them with cashew whipped cream, I wouldn’t tell!
makes 2 muffin sized cakes, 2 very dainty breakfasts or one hearty one!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup oats
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon—or more, I like a lot!
(or ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice, or use Kate’s Sweet Spice blend)
1 -2 T Maple Syrup or Agave (about 1 ½ is where I land)
3 T unsweetened applesauce
1-2 T grated apple
1/4 cup almond milk, coco creamer or your choice of liquid (water works too)

heaping 1/16th tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine raw oats, spices, applesauce, apple, and liquid.
Pour into a mini loaf pan or 1-cup ramekin (or, for the daintier among us, two ½ cup ramekins or muffin cups)
Cook for 15-20 minutes, or more until it’s firm.
Set your oven to broil and crisp the tops (optional) 2-3 minutes.
Top with nut butter, cashew cream, a drizzle of maple syrup and more spice, more warm cooked apples (like Kate’s “jam”) or even split in half and fill with any of these options for an oatmeal sandwich. Mmmm, how about coconut butter?

Yum!

Another breakfast on the run, and really one of my fave raw recipes, lent it self perfectly to apple madness. Again, I didn’t invent Vegan Overnight Oats, and these are inspired by Angela at Oh She Glows, by the way, but they are so easy, so malleable, and so portable. It’s not warm, but doesn’t have to be freezing cold. You can haul it to yoga then eat it at room temp to make it slightly more ayurveda friendly. Here’s my twist!

Gingerbread Apple Overnight Oats:

Ingredients:
About 1/3 cup apple, grated, with juices
1 heaping tablespoon chia seeds
Scant 1/3 cup oats (gf if you like)
1 cup almond milk
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tsp apple pie spice or your fave mix of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger
Splash vanilla extract
Stevia to taste

Directions:
Put all ingredients in a bpa-free covered container and shake, shake, shake. Do this intermittently for about five minutes, then place in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.
Eat.

You can top this with a sprinkle of walnuts, more chopped apple, some of Kate’s cooked apple “jam” or even some sliced bananas and more molasses.

I happen to like the spiciness of the molasses, but if it’s too much for you, reduce to 1 or 2 teaspoons and add some maple syrup to tone it down. This is also great with a scoop of cooked pumpkin puree, maybe half a cup, but the recipe is so forgiving you can do almost anything to it. In fact, I think my favorite way to eat this most of the time is with no oats at all. Wait, I guess that makes it…

Spicy Gingerbread Apple Chia Pudding
Ingredients:
2 heaping tablespoons chia seeds
¾ cup almond milk
grated apple to taste
2 teaspoons or so molasses
1 tsp spice blend of choice
stevia and vanilla to taste

Place all ingredients in a bpa-free container and shake away! Do this intermittently for five minutes or so then place in the fridge for at least half an hour. Devour!

I generally eat both the VOO and the Chia Pudding with a floater of almond milk and a few walnuts on top, maybe a teeny extra drizzle of molasses and a sprinkle of spice. But that’s me. I’m decadent.

And now I’m off to create some mostly raw apple recipes. Kate has given me the bug! Apple Pie Donut Holes anyone?

Happy fall!

Laura

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