Nut & Seed Cookies, Primal Style, Take 2

cookies and (coconut) milk

So I’ve been easing into this primal thing for almost a couple weeks now and the pounds have been melting away. It’s been pretty fun trying to concoct new recipes and trying foods that didn’t really appeal to me before. Avocado coconut milk smoothies anyone? 

I’ve been having a hell of a time trying to come up with a good cookie recipe that doesn’t involve dropping like $20 on almond or coconut flours. This one turned out pretty good finally. They’re a bit heavy but awesome with a glass of cold vanilla coconut milk.

Okay, let’s do this…

2 cups toasted almonds
(or 1½ cups almonds plus ½ cup almond butter)
1 ripe banana
¼ cup seeds of choice, i prefer sunflower or pumpkin
1 egg
¼ cup honey
1-2 tsp raw agave nectar (optional)
1 T water
Pinch of salt if your nuts are unsalted, giggity

Throw everything into a blender, starting with the banana, trying to layer the the solids and liquids a bit. Warning: if you have a piece of shit blender it will probably explode. Pulse, pulse, scrap, pulse until you have something roughly the consistence of chunky peanut butter.

Rub a cookie sheet down with your oil of choice (theme music optional) and lay out some teaspoon sized blobs. I have a mini cookie dough scooper, you should probably stop being so primitive and get one too.

10-12 minutes at 350° and allow to cool for 10 minutes. They will be rather mushy and loose until they have cooled off, this is pretty normal.

Knock yourself out.

Spicy Dill Refrigerator Pickles

pickles!

I promised myself that I’d take better advantage of the farmers markets and farm stands all around me this season. Gresczyk Farms up the road had some fantastic looking pickling cukes so it was the perfect opportunity to finally try this out.

I only wanted to make about three 16oz canning jars worth for starters since I’m experimenting. Plus these aren’t actually lacto-fermented or pasteurized so they have a rather limited shelf life (probably a week or so).

Did some quick math and 2 good size pickling cukes per jar seems to leave almost enough room for goodies. Expecting to need about 1 cup of pickling liquid per jar but making plenty extra. As for sweetener I’m trying a mixture of agave nectar and raw cane simply because it’s all I have on hand.

Ingredients:
1½ cup vinegar (apple cider or white)
1½ cup water
1 cup sugar (raw/table/agave sweetener)
½ small onion, sliced
⅓ cup salt
6-9 cloves of garlic (2-3 per jar)
1 Tbs mustard seed
1 Tbs celery seed
½ tsp cracked red pepper
Lots of fresh dill (at least 1 generous clump per jar)
1 small bay leaf per jar
Fresh peppercorns (optional, i didn’t have any)

El Spicier Version (added to base, all optional)
1 tsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 sliced habanero pepper (I’m using 2)
½ tsp dried ancho/chipotle pepper flake
few shots of hot sauce

And then…
Bring everything (minus the cukes) to a quick boil, make sure all salt & sugar has dissolved then allow to cool. Slice cukes in desired direction (slices vs spears) and arrange loosely in jars. Top off with cooled pickling goodness. Allow to chillax in fridge for 1-4 days and enjoy.

The spicy version is lookin mighty fine if i do say so myself. Can’t wait!

Edit: Four days later we popped these bad boys open, fannnntastic if I do say so myself. The spicy ones had a nice smokey buzz with nice heat. The regular ones were crisp, clean and delicious. Will definitely make again soon.