Superfood Fruit Parchments

Ever had fruit leathers? You know, the rolls of dried fruit that you can carry around with you, and tear strips off to chew on... Well, how about Superfood fruit leathers? What a great way to get your daily dose of superfoods! I came up with this idea when I was on a green diet, eating only natural green foods, but still had to travel and keep busy. Smoothies are great but we aren’t always in the right place to make one, and they are not the easiest things to travel with and keep fresh.  This was my solution...

So I present to you 2 flavours here, but this is just to introduce you to the concept. It's so easy, and adaptable. You can really add any fruit or superfood that you think would go together. Try to work with colours, that’s my only advice. Greens, oranges, yellows go together.  Reds, oranges, purples, go together.

So here I have 2 recipes for you:



Purple Parchment of Health

The name comes from the protective purple pigments found in the acai powder that I mentioned on Day 1 – Anthocyanins. They protect your cells from free radical damage. 
The cinnamon also helps to stabilize blood sugar levels, and adds a warming touch to this rich concoction.

You will need:

1 banana

2 red apples

12 red grapes

2 Tbsp Iswari Acai Powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Blend all until smooth.

2. Spread onto a Teflex sheet (not too thinly, about 1/3 of an inch high)

3. Dehydrate for 8 hrs or until topside is dry,

4. Flip over with the sheet still attached, and carefully peel of the sheet.

5. Dehydrate for another 4 hours or until dry. Do not over-dry, it should still be quite chewy.

 

Green Parchment of Wisdom

1 mango

1 apple

150ml orange juice

2 Tbsp Iswari Wheatgrass powder

2-4tsp Iswari Chlorella

As before, simply blend, spread on Teflex sheet and dehydrate 8 hrs, flip and keep going for another 4hrs. Roll into wisdom parchments and store until you need them the most.

The addition of Chlorella and Wheatgrass powder really turn this leather into one of the healthiest on-the-go snacks possible. They will dose you up on chlorophyll,  protein, iron, zinc, and other vits and mins, whilst cleansing your body, and giving your brain the natural fruit based carbohydrates it needs to stay focused and energised.  Be sure to drink water with these leathers, as you will need the liquid since they are dehydrated, and you want to stay hydrated.

Other ideas:

You can always double the recipes to make more parchments and substitute fruit or superfoods if you want/need to if you can’t get mango you use pineapple with Spirulina instead of Wheatgrass.  Pear and kiwi combination could be nice too.

I also had a bold idea and dehydrated the jams I made on the first day. They turned out amazing! So the next experiment will be to dehydrate fruity chia gel into parchment, and get that textured chia goodness. I leave that in your hands to discover more....

All our superfood powders, sweeteners, berries and mixes are available on www.iswari.net

Lucuma Custard Delight

This is a fantastic dessert, breakfast or mid afternoon spring/summertime snack. Its custard-vanilla tones will tickle your taste buds and delight your palate.  And its good for you...

Lucuma, a superfruit powder from Peru, provides complex slow burning carbohydrates, as well as Niacin which helps you to metabolise and produce energy. Bee pollen provides an excellent source of protein, and is an incredible immune system booster, rich in just about everything the body needs, and the fresh fruit gives a great Vitamin C hit...

A word about Iswari Bee Pollen: Our pollen comes from one of the most deserted areas of South Portugal, free from any roads factories or industrialisation. Although it is not certified Organic, this is because the local family farm that produce it have chosen not to go down that official route of certification. It is however naturally free from chemicals and pollutants.

Enjoy this on a summers day, and share it with your friends... this recipe makes 3 small or 2 big servings.

1/2 cup cashew soaked at least 20mins and drained

1 Mango, peeled and sliced

1 small banana (or ½ large)

100mls orange juice (fresh if possible)

2 Tbsp Iswari Lucuma powder

3/4 Tbsp Iswari Bee Pollen

1 teaspoon vanilla powder

1 teaspoon Pollen to garnish

Put all ingredients into your blender, blitz until smooth. If you don’t have a high powered blender, you may want to soak the cashews for up to 4 hours to increase softness.

Serve in small dessert bowls and garnish with pollen and coconut sugar if desired. 

These actually have three different names: the Cape Gooseberry, the Goldenberry and the Incan berry. They are larger than a raisin or Goji berry, yellow/orange in color, has a flavor like a sweet and sour lemon candy and are full of tiny healthy seeds. Cultivated in the Incan Empire, these Incan berries are packed with nutrition.

Incan berries are considered a good source of vitamin P (bioflavinoids) and are rich in pectin. Hundreds of studies on bioflavinoids have demonstrated they possess antiviral, anti-carcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, antihistamine, and antioxidant activities. They make a delicious, tart, and highly nutritious and exotic "raisin." They are high in phosphorous, vitamins A, C, B1, B2, B6, and B12. They are also extremely high in protein (16%) for a fruit.

Super Jam – Incan Orange Jam

You probably saw from the picture in yesterday’s post that we are doing a yellow Jam today. Today’s Super-Jam is Incan Berry and Orange.

Incan Berries are a real miracle berry. Like a large golden raisin but with a most unusual sharp and tart bitter/sweetness. Nutritionally they are rich in antioxidants, protein, vitamins especially A and C, and pectin which is great for jam making and the digestion alike. Here I combine it with Orange Juice and Bee Pollen for a truly sun-kissed flavour and nutritional hit...

Ingredients:

1/3 cup Incan Berries

250mls Orange juice (fresh is best but not essential)

4 Tsp Iswari Chia Seeds

2 Tbsp Iswari Coconut Sugar/Agave Syrup

1 ½ Tbsp Iswari Bee Pollen

Method:

1. Soak the Incan berries in Orange juice overnight, or for 8 hrs.
2. Add the Chia Seeds and allow to soak for 30mins.
3. Transfer to a food processor and add the Coconut Sugar and Pollen
4. Blend until Incans are mostly broken down.

Serve straight away or transfer to jar for later use.