What You Should Know About ChocolateA Healthy Treat For Your Valentine

Raw chocolate treats have maximum benefits.

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Our Love Affair with Chocolate
Chocolate is practically synonymous with Valentines Day. About 58 million pounds of chocolate candy are purchased in the U.S. during the week of Valentines Day, racking up sales of more than $345 million.  And though sales of candy have declined because of growing concerns over obesity and sugar consumption, the sale of chocolate in the U.S. grew 33%, from $14.2 billion in 2007 to $18.9 billion in 2017.

The good news is that this delicious treat can be good for us, but not all chocolate candy has benefits. Before we discuss it's benefits, here's what you need to know about selecting chocolate.

The Anatomy of Chocolate
Chocolate comes from the cacao beans of the tropical tree Theobroma cacao. Theobroma means "Food of the Gods". After the beans are harvested, they are fermented and dried. 
They are then processed to create the three components of chocolate:

(1) Ground up, whole cacao beans are called Cacao Liquor, Cacao Paste, or Cocoa Mass. This liquor is then pressed into:
(2) Cacao Butter or Cocoa Butter, or the "fat" of the cacao bean and:
(3) Cocao or Cocoa, the solid parts of the pressed liquor that are ground into a powder.

The Good Stuff
I know you've already heard that the healthiest chocolate is "dark" chocolate. That's because it is made from 70% to 99% pure cacao fat (cocoa butter) and cacao solids. My taste threshold is around 72% so that's what I usually buy. But 80%+ plus is even better for you if you enjoy it. 

White chocolate shouldn't even be called "chocolate" because it doesn't contain any cacao powder. It's basically a blend of cocoa butter, milk solids, milk fat, sugar, and lecithin. There are no health benefits to eating white chocolate - it's basically candy.

Milk chocolate can also be considered candy, depending on what you buy. The FDA minimum percentage of real cacao is only 10% to be labeled "chocolate." For example, a Hershey's milk chocolate bar only contains about 11% cacao. This low level has few, if any, health benefits, especially because these bars are generally high in sugar. In addition to having very little cacao content, the milk protein in milk chocolate can reduce the ability to absorb the antioxidants from the cacao because they bind to the flavonoids.

Bottom line, if you want health benefits, always select dark chocolate. Don't grab a Twix bar and think you are doing something good for yourself.

Nutrition
There is a surprising amount of vitamins and minerals in an ounce of dark chocolate. One ounce of chocolate provides:

168 calories

12 g fat, 6.9 g saturated fat

9.5 mg omega-3 and 341 mg omega-6

12.8 g carbohydrates, 6.7 g sugar

2.2 g protein

3.1 g dietary fiber

27% DV (daily value) manganese

25% DV copper

19% DV iron

16% DV magnesium

9% DV phosphorus

6% DV potassium

6% DV zinc

3% DV selenium

3% DV vitamin K

2% DV calcium

Now, the Benefits
Chocolate contains healthful polyphenols, which are powerful antioxidants. Antioxidants can protect our cells from free radicals. Free radicals can damage DNA inside our cells. This damage can lead to Alzheimer's disease, cancer, heart disease, and more. Flavonoids are one of the most studied of the polyphenols and are found in chocolate, as well as many fruits and vegetables.

Here's the list of good things chocolate can do for you:
* Protects from free radical damage with potential to prevent cancer and other diseases caused by free radicals

* Makes blood platelets less sticky and able to clot, reducing the risk of blood clots and stroke

* Lowers the risk of heart disease 

* Reduces hypertension

* Improves blood flow to the brain and may improve cognitive function and potentially slow cognitive decline

 * Improves cholesterol profile, lowering "bad" LDL cholesterol

* Helps hard-to-shake coughs. The theobromine in chocolate can reduce vagus nerve activity which triggers those lingering coughs.

* Improves your mood (that one's obvious!)

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Here are a few healthy chocolate recipes to make for Valentine's Day:

2-Ingredient Flourless Chocolate Cake 
Make sure you make this with at least 70% dark chocolate bars or chocolate chips.

Raw Vegan Tropical Chocolate Truffles

These delicious raw truffles have no added sugar and are sweetened by dates and dried mango. They also contain omega-3 rich walnuts.

Vegan Mexican Chocolate Cake

This yummy cake has 1/4 cup of pure cocoa. Great with non-dairy ice cream and fresh berries.

Happy Valentines Day!!

Instant Pot Helps Make Perfect Breakfast Fried Potatoes With Less Oil

Use your Instant Pot for perfect breakfast potatoes.
Make a healthier breakfast for your Valentine!

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Breakfast Potatoes
I must have been Irish in another lifetime because I adore potatoes. Baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes, and especially fried breakfast potatoes. Fried breakfast potatoes, however, can take a lot of oil with added calories. They also take a long time to cook, and who has that kind of time in the morning? But the Instant Pot comes to the rescue to help with both of these problems. 

So if your want to make your Valentine some healthy fried breakfast potatoes to go with a tofu scramble or his favorite egg dish, here's a quick recipe for the potatoes. You can always jazz this recipe up by frying some onions or peppers before you add the potatoes, but I like my potatoes as they are.

To save even more time in the morning, you can make the Instant Pot potatoes the night before, refrigerate them, and fry them the next morning.


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Breakfast Fried Potatoes
Vegan, Gluten Free
[makes 3 to 4 servings]

Requirements
Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker with steamer basket and rack
Large Non-stick Fry Pan

Ingredients
3 cups (1/2" -3/4" inch diced) Yukon Gold potatoes with skin (~ 1 pound)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Place the steamer rack and 1 inch of water in the Instant Pot.

Spread the diced potatoes evenly in the Instant Pot's steamer basket. Place on the rack.

Secure the lid, making sure the top vent is closed. Press the "Manual" button and set for 4 minutes at high pressure. When done, do a quick release, carefully open the lid, and immediately remove the potatoes from the Instant Pot. The potatoes should be almost cooked, but a little al dente. They will continue to cook in the fry pan.

Heat the oil in a large, non-stick (I like enamel coated), fry pan on medium heat. Add the potatoes and spread evenly in the pan. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the potatoes. Cook until the potatoes are fork tender but crispy and brown on both sides, flipping over occasionally, about 10 minutes. 

Serve warm.

Nutrition
Per serving (3): 155 calories, 5 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 49 mg omega-3 and 487 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 3 g protein, 28 g carbohydrates, and 3 g dietary fiber. 

Per serving (4): 116 calories, 3 g total fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 37 mg omega-3 and 366 mg omega-6 fatty acids, 2 g protein, 21 g carbohydrates, and 2 g dietary fiber. 

Dark Chocolate Flourless Crinkle CookiesVegan, Gluten Free And Made With Aquafaba

Make these dark chocolate crinkle cookies for your Valentine!

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Do you have a Gluten Free Valentine?
Are you looking for a special Valentine's day treat that is vegan and gluten free? Well, here's a popular chocolate crinkle cookie with a special twist. Besides being flourless, it's made with meringue produced from aquafaba instead of egg whites!

What's Aquafaba?
Aquafaba has been all the rage in the vegan community. It's basically bean juice. You know, the stuff that you usually throw out when you open a can of beans. It's a great egg white replacer and whips up to make a beautiful, white and fluffy meringue. The first time you make it, it will blow your mind!

When you drain a can of beans, save the juice! 

I have just started experimenting with this so you will be seeing more recipes as I continue my experimentation. But for today, I want to share this decadent cookie recipe in time for Valentine's day. Not my healthiest recipe, but it's a special treat for those of you who love chocolate, fudge-like cookies but avoid dairy, eggs, and gluten. 

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Dark Chocolate Flourless Crinkle Cookies
Vegan, Gluten Free, Dairy Free
[makes 2 dozen cookies]

Ingredients
Oil for greasing cookie sheets if not using silicon baking mats
1 1/2 cups dark vegan chocolate chips, divided
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon of garbanzo bean juice
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar 
2 cups powdered sugar, divided
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
Lightly grease 2 large cookie sheets. Not necessary if using Silpat non-stick silicon baking mats.

Place 1 cup of chocolate chips in a small microwavable bowl (DO NOT ADD WATER). Microwave on the lowest setting for about 30 seconds. Stir and continue to microwave in increments of 10 to 15 seconds until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.

You can also melt the chocolate in a double boiler which is a lot more trouble but it's a good alternative for those of you without microwave ovens. Make sure the chocolate does not come in contact with water or steam. 

After the chocolate has melted, set it aside to cool for about 12 to 15 minutes. If it's too hot when you stir it into your cookie mixture later on, it will melt the rest of the chocolate chips that you will be adding to the cookie dough.

Drain a 15 ounce can of garbanzo beans, reserving the juice (you should get enough to make this recipe) - measure out 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon. Add the garbanzo bean juice to a medium glass or metal bowl along with the cream of tartar. Beat on high speed until it forms peaks. Slowly beat in 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar until you have pretty firm peaks. 

Can you believe this is bean juice?

In a separate bowl, whisk together 1 cup of powdered sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt. Using the electric beater on low speed, beat this mixture into the meringue. Once combined, beat in the lukewarm chocolate and then the chocolate chips. 

Once combined, the cookie dough should be stiff. If not, place it in the refrigerator for a bit.

The cookie dough should be stiff.

Place the remaining 1/2 cup of powdered sugar in a cup or small bowl. Drop 1 tablespoon of  dough into the powdered sugar and roll it around until it forms a ball. Repeat until all the dough is used up. It should make about 24 balls.

Place each ball on your prepared cookie sheet. The cookies will spread so place them 2 1/2 inches apart.

I eventually put a dozen on each large baking sheet.

Bake until the cookies flatten and the tops crack, about 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for 10 to 15 minutes. 

Using a spatula, carefully transfer the cookies to a cooling rack until completely cooled. 

Once cooled, enjoy them lovingly with your Valentine! 

They store well in an air-sealed container in the refrigerator.

Because of the fudge-like texture of the cookie, it's hard to judge when they are cooked. If you find that they are too soft after they have cooled, you can just pop them back in the oven for another 5 minutes. 

Nutritional Information
Per cookie: 79 calories, 2 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g protein, 16 g carbohydrates, 1 g dietary fiber, and 29 mg sodium.

Learn more about aquafaba on the Aquafaba Website!