banana & pb2 smoothie

i eat a lot of  bananas.  i'm prone to a lot of foot cramps and bananas are one of the only things that help temper them.  luckily, the are one of my favouite fruits and make amazingly creamy smoothies.  i whipped this one up after a visit to the gym and got to use my new glass straw!  lauren over at ginger is the new pink features these a lot and i've wanted one for a while.  i finally picked one up at a festival a couple weeks ago.  it makes drinking so awesome and it's eco-friendly!

• 2 bananas
• 5 ice cubes
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 tablespoon of pb2

pb2 is a peanut butter powder with a lot of the fatty oils removed.  essentially you add water to create a peanut butter paste.  i like to use it in smoothies, cupcakes, icings, etc. to get the flavour without all the fat.

for this recipe, just toss everything in blender and blend until smoothie.  drink with a glass straw if you have one!

spicy cabbage mix in peanut sauce

today is st. patrick's day, a highly celebrated day in my house. i don't have a typical irish food recipe to share, but i felt i should at least post something green. i can eat cabbage in almost any fashion, and *love* adding it to my stir fry recipes. the best part of this dish is that the peanut sauce really complements the spiciness. happy st. patrick's day!


stir fry:

• 1 cup steamed broccoli
• 2 cups shredded cabbage and carrots
• 1/4 cup peanuts
  
• 2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce
  
• 1 tablespoon chili oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
  
• 2 tablespoons ginger, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon water
  

for the peanut sauce:

• 5 tablespoons pb2
  
• 4 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons low sodium soy
• 1-2 tablespoons sriracha
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar

whisk up the stir fry sauce ingredients, and pour over the steamed broccoli. allow the broccoli to marinade for a couple hours.

meanwhile, mix up the peanut sauce by first mixing pb2 powder with 4 tablespoons of water. pb2 is a peanut butter powder that has something like 85% less calories than regular peanut butter (and still tastes good!). if you don't have pb2, you could sub about 1/4 cup peanut butter, but i really suggest you try it. after the pb2 reaches a thin creamy consistency, whisk in the rest of the peanut sauce ingredients.

after broccoli has marinated, turn your wok on 400° and dump in the broccoli and marinade. stir fry for several minutes, and then toss in cabbage. continue cooking for about 3 minutes, toss in peanuts, and cook another 3 minutes. cover in peanut sauce and serve.

chocolate almond pb2 vegan biscotti

ok, this is the first real 'sweet' treat i've posted, and to be honest, most people won't find it that sugary sweet. although it's still yummy, i promise! i love coffee, and nothing sets off a nice cup of java like a biscotti cookie. for those of you unfamiliar with this crunchy twice-baked treat, give it shot. you won't regret it.


mix dry ingredients:

• 1 and 3/4 cup whole wheat graham flour (i use hodgson mill)
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened organic cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup pb2 (peanut butter powder - sub peanut butter if you wish)
  
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds (i use non-roasted and hand chop)

in a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
• 1/8 cup water
• 1/4 cup softened vegan butter (i use earth balance lite)
• 1/3 cup agave nectar
• 1/4 cup peanut oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

i slowly combine the wet into the dry, and mix with a spatula. after dough starts bind a little, i hand-knead until i have a 'batter'. it's much stiffer than cookie dough - but it should stick together, even if it still feels a little crumbly. you could always add a little more butter if it's falling apart too much. so once i have a dough, i break it in half and lay out two separate flat slabs on a greased baking sheet, about 1/2-3/4 inches thick. (see pic below) in this case, i didn't grease the sheet, but used foil instead.


traditionally, you are supposed to bake once before you make the first cut, but that's never worked for me (they fall apart). so i cut into biscotti strips about an inch wide, and bake at 350 f for about 25 minutes. pull out, and let cool for about 10-15 minutes. then turn the biscotti on their sides (see first pic), and bake for another 20 minutes.

once they have cooled, store in an air-tight container. to eat, dip in your favourite cup of coffee. they have just a hint of sweet almond cocoa peanut butter, but not too much of any one flavour. hope you enjoy them.

white bean and veggies in asian peanut sauce

i have been in love with PB2 - a healthier powdered peanut butter - for about the last 4 or 5 months. in the midwest, it can be found at most hy-vee stores with a nature section, but check out their website for other places to purchase it. it's about 53 calories per serving - compared to about 190 for regular peanut butter. it also has about 85% less fat. recently i came across a blog called megan's munchies where readers were challenged to come up with creative recipes using the powdery goodness.

thanks to megan who chose my recipe as one of the winners!

for the peanut sauce:

• 1/4 cup water
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons nama shoyu or braggs (less for braggs)
• 1/3 cup pb2
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon agave nectar
• 1-2 teaspoons siriacha sauce (based on heat preference)

for the base:

• cook 10 oz northern white beans (according to package)
• marinate northern white beans overnight in peanut sauce
• steam your favourite stir-fry medley (i used birds eye - asparagus stir fry mix)
• marinate veggies with beans at least 4 hours

after marinating, heat up the bean and veggie mix (i microwaved mine for about a minute on medium heat - you could also gently heat on the stove). then serve with rice or over a bed of zucchini pasta (see the pics above).