Chocolate and Veges

Chocolate and veges; I am a fan of both, so why not combine them? I've been motivated by reading that the longest lived woman ever, Jeanne Calment (122 and a half years old), ate about a kilogram of chocolate a week.  She also biked, danced and was very active to a late age. Perhaps this is the whole secret of longevity: exercise and eat chocolate. That seems doable.

You think chocolate and veges might not work together? Have a look at these little foodie assignments I've worked up between my university assignments.

Exhibit A: Kumara (sweet potato) pikelets with melted chocolate:

These were made from leftover baked kumara, which I threw into my mighty kenwood, along with two eggs and some cinnamon and salt. Then I cooked dollops of the batter in a mix of coconut oil and butter. This is the mix I find best for non-sticking in my steel frypan. They look a bit overcooked in the pic but they were perfect - just slightly crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. 

I chopped some 85% Green and Blacks chocolate and sprinkled between the layers as I put them on the plate. As I was doing this I starting thinking about people that say crazy things like 'I use dark chocolate because you are completely satisfied with just a little square of it'. Not me.  I could easily munch 100g a day, but obviously I don't, because I value fitting my skinny jeans. It's vanity, not 'oh, I just couldn't'.

Exhibit B is an avocado icecream:

I guess whether this counts as containing a vege depends on if you think an avo is fruit or veg. Technically it is a fruit, of course, but for today, it can be a vege. The contents of this ice are: frozen banana, about 1/3 of an avocado, tbsp WPC, a pinch of salt, tiny amount of stevia and squeeze of lemon juice all processed with a little water. I've discovered that to avoid an avocado-y taste, you must use the dark green avocado's that have a thick skin. The light green ones that are not very textured just don't work at all. 

If you have been looking for recipes that you can use stevia in without getting a gag-worthy aftertaste, this is one of those. Anything with a bit of citrus tends to counteract that nasty stevia afterglow. That's a bit of science that I learned when formulating various flavoured powders. Citric acid counteracts bitterness by confusing your tastebuds. I would never try to use stevia with anything like chocolate or vanilla. You would give yourself an aneurism trying to figure out how to make it taste ok, let alone awesome.

I made a chocolate sauce by melting chocolate and honey together in the mickeywave and drizzling it over the top.

Yes, that was lunch today.. I'm on my way to 123 years.

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Tonight I am off to an album launch for singer Amiria Grenell, which I suppose means I'd better get right back on that essay I'm attempting to finish today. There is nothing quite like having psychopaths or posttraumatic stress on the brain while trying to socialise. Also, it makes people shuffle away when I  accidentally drop into psychobabble. Best avoid by getting the draft finished. :D