Homemade Lara Bars and Thai Quinoa Salad

Homemade Lara Bars
Ingredients 

• 2½ cups medjool dates, pitted
• ¾ cup almonds, toasted
• ¾ cups hazelnuts, toasted
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• ¼ bar dark chocolate, finely chopped (optional)
• 1 tsp cinnamon (optional) 

Directions:
First, I toasted the nuts on the stove with a tbsp of butter until they were fully warm and had a golden look to them. Next, in a food processor, I blended the nuts into a coarse powder. I then put the nut mixture into a bowl set aside. Then I blended the pitted dates in the food processor into a thick paste. I added that to the bowl, along with the tbsp of cocoa powder, dark chocolate, and cinnamon. I choose to use an organic dark chocolate from Trader Joe's that had nuts and rasins in it already for some added flavor. You can use whatever kind of dark chocolate you would like. You can also add dried cherries to the date mixture to add some flavor variety. I then mixed all the ingredients together with my hands (it was much easier than the spoon and I was able to really mix the ingredients evenly). After the mixture is combined well, place some parchment or wax paper in a dish and spread out the mixture. Refrigerate, cut,  and serve. These are a hearty snack for hiking, or just a filling and  healthy chocolaty treat. 

Thai Quinoa Salad

Ingrediants

• 1 cup quinoa, cooked
• 1 lrg red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup red cabbage, shredded
• 2 carrots, shredded
• 1/2 cup shelled edamame
• 1/2 cup green onions, diced
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 2 heaping tbsp Peanut Butter 
• 1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar (or a light white wine vinegar)
• 1 tsp fresh grated ginger (optional)
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
• Juice from 1 lime

Directions: First, make the quinoa. Quinoa is very easy to make: for every cup of quinoa, use 2 cups of water. Bring it to a boil, then bring it down to a simmer. Cover and let simmer for 10-15 or until the quinoa has soaked up all the water. Then set aside to cool completely. While the quinoa is cooling, prepare your veggies and sauce. Put all the veggies into a bowl. I used kitchen scissors to make cutting the green onion and cilantro into the bowl easier. I also did not measure out my veggies, I just sort of guesstimated how much I should use. For the edamame, I bought a steam fresh frozen package, cooked it in the microwave and then shelled it into the bowl after it had cooled. If you don't have a carrot shredder, I think you can buy them pre-shredded at the store, or just finely chop them. I used pre-shredded red cabbage from the store as well. For the sauce, I combined the peanut butter, soy sauce, oil, vinegar, honey, lime and some garlic salt (I forgot to buy garlic and also did not add the ginger). Then I whisked it into a thick sauce. (It does not taste very good on it's own). Once the quinoa was cooled, I added that to my veggie mixture and then scooped most of the sauce into the bowl and mixed it together. Voilà! Yummy, hearty, healthy, Thai inspired, quinoa salad :) It is great with some grilled chicken added as well if you wish!