(Vegan) Lemony Olive Oil Banana Bread

This is the time of the year when one of my least favourite word, “diet”, becomes all the rage once more. It’s the beginning of a New Year and and most of us are feeling inspired and motivated by the resolutions we have made in the last few weeks. When it comes to food, this usually means starting a new diet or eating plan.
All of a sudden we can’t get enough herbal teas, juice cleanses, hot water with lemon, and all the green stuff available (kale, broccoli, spinach, chard, etc.)
So I’m not sure this is the right time to post a recipe for a banana bread dotted with chocolate chunks, and covered in a delicious lemon glaze.
But you see, as soon as I perfected this recipe (last week) I couldn’t possibly wait to share it with you all.

4-Ingredient Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

As a kid, I loved Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. They were my favorite. They trumped all other candy bars. No Twix, Snickers, Butterfinger or 3 Musketeers could rival the deliciousness of Reese’s cups.
I always hoarded them, keeping ‘em in the fridge to enjoy the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter throughout the year.
I mean, it’s indisputable that peanut butter’s favorite partner in crime is chocolate. Smooth chocolate enrobing a thick peanut butter center. There’s nothing better.

The Best Maple Cinnamon Baked Apples

In my opinion baked apples are great treat on a cold evening or any other evening really and they make a healthier alternative to the usual dessert fare — a cookie, a brownie or a bit of chocolate.
My mom used to make them every so often during fall and winter when I was a child. I remember eating them hot from the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or some yogurt on top. Nothing fancy but so very delicious.

(Vegan) Easy 3-Minute Brownie In A Mug

I’m gonna start this post by admitting that I already have a recipe for a chocolate brownie in a mug on this blog .
Which begs the question: do we need another one?
The answer is: yes, we do.
Let me tell you why.
First off, there’s no such thing as too many brownies— we can all agree on this one, am I right?
Secondly, this recipe is drastically different from the other one: it’s eggless, dairy-free, nut-free, vegan and not really paleo. But it’s still so very delicious, simple, quick, and easy to make.
So why not?

Apple-Mint Iced Tea

It’s been scorchy hot these past few days, so I’ve been drinking a lot of refreshing drinks.
Together with my Mint and Ginger Iced Green Tea this Apple-Mint Iced Tea has been at the top of my list.
Green tea tartness goes really well with the pungent and refreshing mint aroma and is perfectly counterbalanced by the apple juice sweetness.
Super simple to make, all-natural, good-for-you, and oh-so-yummy.

Pepper Quesadillas

It’s about time you meet one of my fave go-to meal, Pepper Quesadillas.
When I’m feeling too lazy to make a proper meal but I still want something delicious, filling, and a tad on the healthy side too, I throw together these quesadillas in 15 minutes flat.

Double Chocolate Blender Brownies

If you ask me, banana and chocolate is a marriage made in heaven. Just like eggs and avocado, tomato and mozzarella, orange and thyme, and coffee and shortbread, just to name a few.
I know that not everyone is a fan though and that some may be dubious about a recipe for brownies that calls for bananas and chocolate.
To be honest, if three years ago you’d told me about a killer recipe for double chocolate brownies made with bananas, I wouldn’t have believed you. But since then, three things happened.

Chocolate Caprese Cake (Gluten-free)

I can give up many things in my life but never chocolate. There’s no way around it.
Call it an addiction, call it a craving. It’s my reality, I just can’t ignore the voice in my head screaming for chocolate.
Luckily, I have a solution. My mantra when it comes to chocolate is “just a little bit”.
Whenever I get the craving for chocolate, the only reasonable thing to do is to go ahead and have my chocolate fix, with moderation.

Caprese Lemon Cake (Gluten-Free)

I have this suspicion about myself that I love anything caprese.
As long as it’s labeled “caprese” I know I’m going to like it, a lot: Salad, chicken, cauliflower casserole, rice casserole, etc. you name it. The combination of tomato and mozzarella and anything else always wins, in my book.
I think it also has to do with the fact that when I first visited Capri (many moons ago) I fell in love with the place: the feel of the warm Mediterranean breeze, the turquoise water that crashes onto the rocky shores, the magnificent sights that greet you around every turn, and, of course, the taste of the delicious foods available at cafés and restaurants.

(Gluten-Free) Almond Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

Since it’s the holidays, I’m all about cookies. And today I’m going to share one of my very favorite cookie recipe: Almond Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies.
Insanely delicious, super easy to make, and great for holiday parties and cookie exchanges (if you’re into that). And you know what? They are also gluten-free and can be made vegan and/or paleo if you want.
Awesome, right?

(Easy) Spinach Ricotta Quiche

I am certain that for many of you — just like myself — the sole preoccupation right now is Thanksgiving menu and that you probably forget — just like myself — that in order to survive and make it to Thursday alive you still need to eat.
That’s why I have a little recipe for you today, a fantastic quiche that
(A) requires a few simple ingredients,
(B) is incredibly easy to make,
(C) is perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner, and
(D) last but not least, is super delicious and wholesome, while being healthy and nutritious.

Crock Pot Cinnamon Applesauce (No Added Sugar)

I love applesauce. I know that makes me sound like I’m three years old, but I will freely admit it with no shame whatsoever.
However, I am also very picky about my applesauce — this also makes me sound like I’m three years old. I do not like overly sweet applesauce, and I abhor those applesauce flavors you can buy at the store, like tropical or mixed berry.
The only fruit sauce combination I accept is apple+apple+apple.
And needless to say, it I prefer homemade applesauce to store-bought.
Straight-up apples that have been cooked down into a thick pulp, with lemon juice and a bit of cinnamon. So simple, so incredibly delicious.

Avocado BLT Sandwich

What is your all time favorite sandwich? The one you think is the ultimate sammie?
For me it’s the BLT. Sorry, let me rephrase that, it's the avocado BLT.
It’s my feel-good sandwich and my guilty pleasure, especially after a very hectic work deadline or a grueling workout.
Bacon, lettuce, tomato, and avocado on toasted bread with a bit of mayo.
So simple, so very delicious.

Maple Peach Blueberry Crumble (Vegan and Gluten-Free)

This awesome Maple Peach Blueberry Crumble lived a full life of about 10 minutes before being devoured by me, sister, nephew, and niece, while sipping Blackberry Mint Iced Tea.
A perfect pairing if you ask me.
And you know what? Two kids unknowingly devouring a homemade gluten-free fruit crumble and loving it is mysteriously satisfying.
I honestly wasn’t trying to trick anyone but I found myself giggling from the kitchen and intentionally withholding the knowledge that this was healthish.

Simple Maple Vanilla Roasted Plums

Okay people, this is barely a recipe.
It’s more a suggestion of how to best celebrate the incredibly sweet plums.
Since I was a kid I loved plums. Red plums, black plums, yellow plums, and even green plums.
When ripe, plums are wonderfully sweet with a rich, complex flavor. They are a convincing argument that fruit is the best candy there is.
So sweet, so juicy, so tender.

Blackberry Mint Iced Green Tea

At this point you are well aware that I love making my own iced teas and adding different combinations of fruit and fresh herbs.
So far I’ve made Rosemary-Peach, Raspberry Mint, Ginger Mint, and even a Lemon Sparkling Iced Tea.
And today I present you with some awesome, super refreshing Blackberry Mint Iced Green Tea.
Because the heat wave we’re currently experiencing in my neck of the woods is a double-whammy (with high heat and high humidity) and one of the most effective ways to cool off is to sit in the cool shade and drink a tall glass of iced tea.
Or at least that’s what I like to do!

Fudgy No-Bake Brownies

So far, the summer has been cruel: Hot, humid, and sticky just about every single day, and more often than not a combination of all three.
So you should take me seriously when I say that the heat is getting to me and that I have zero desire to cook anything that involves turning on the oven for more than 5 minutes.
Besides, why would you even need to cook for longer than 5 minutes in the dead heat of the summer? The farmers’ markets are overflowing with produce that require minimal (or zero) heat to make it tasty: Tomatoes, zucchini, and glorious stone fruit.

(Gluten-Free) Blender Chocolate Banana Bread

I love this recipe for so many reasons.
Let me count the ways!
1) So simple. Throw everything in the blender, pour it in a baking pan, and bake. It seriously doesn't get any simpler than this.
2) Flourless. There's no flour or flour substitute. No almond flour. No coconut flour. None of that. In fact, there's no “specialty” ingredients at all.
3) Only 6 ingredients. I can’t believe I haven’t started with this one. How good is that, though? Only 6 ingredients!
4) The flavor. Oh, how do I describe it? Before baking, the mixture is like a delicious thick banana chocolate smoothie. And though one is tempted to drink it all, I recommend you bake it.
Because after baking it becomes uh-mazing. A fudgy, thick, moist, delectable banana bread that tastes almost like a brownie.

Green Tea Lemonade

For reasons I can’t fully understand, if you show up at a 4th of July barbecue with pitchers of freshly-squeezed lemonade, you’ll be greeted and revered; but if you show up with the same pitchers of freshly-made green tea lemonade, people will actually flip out.
Why is green tea lemonade far more exciting than regular lemonade? It is a mystery to me as well.
But that’s what happened the day before yesterday at a friend’s Fourth of July party.
Along with other food items I was asked to bring lemonade.
I thought about bringing Cherry Lemonade, Peach Mint Lemonade, Blueberry Lemonade or just regular yellow pale lemonade. But then I thought about this Green Tea Lemonade — I make all the time — and how delicious and simple to make it is.
I gave it a shot.
And you know what?

People raved about it and many asked for the recipe. 

So here it is.

(Paleo & Vegan) Chocolate Pecan Bars

It is true.
We’re on the edge of something uh-mazing here.
I can tell.
Can you?
But I think I say that every time I share something with pecans. Something sweet with those crunchy little suckers that make the world seems a better place.
Admittedly my view is bias, yours will be too the moment you’ll taste these Chocolate Pecan Bars.