This recipe came straight from fig bars I saw on Instagram by Sophie Ella. I have changed up the ingredients and the balance of sweet & salty.

My goodness they are good (and super quick to make) and a fantastic protein snack to get you through the day.

PS this makes a serious amount of balls approx 60 so by all means half the recipe, use them to make up Christmas presents (or do as I did freeze them in an air tight container so you always have a protein snack on hand).

Fruit and Almond Protein Balls

Ingredients

600g Almond butter (I used my local The Almond Farmer)

9 tbspn Sticky Quince Syrup

Approx 200g of mixed dried fruit (I used 17 figs, 2 pears, 4 peaches, 5 apricots) that is roughly chopped or put through your blender. I did make my fruit quite minced, you can choose to make it chunky or minced.

3 pinches of salt

2 tbspn of monkfruit sweetener, salted caramel flavour (this is completely optional I just had a craving at the time)

8 tbspn almond meal

Approx 400g Melted dark chocolate to dip your balls into

Toppings - shredded coconut, salt flakes (optional)

Method 

In a saucepan, over low heat, mix together the almond butter, sticky quince syrup and salt until smooth.

Once mixed through turn the heat off and add your chopped/minced fruit, almond meal and monkfruit sweetener (if using). Mix thoroughly

Roll the mixture into bite size balls and put in the fridge while you melt your chocolate. 

Your chocolate can be melted in a small saucepan over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave on very low heat (and stirring every 30 secs) you don't want the chocolate to get too hot and burn before it actually gets to melt.

Use a fork to then dip each ball into your melted chocolate. Top with coconut or salt flakes before the chocolate completely sets (optional).

Keep stored in an air tight container (and in the fridge if the temp is getting hot or humid). This makes a very big batch which I portioned out and froze some so there was always some protein snacks on hand when we need them. Or you could package them up for Christmas presents.

You can make a nut free version of these simply by upping the amount of mixed dried fruit to approx 800g in total and not using any almond butter or meal.

Beef, Fig and Pecan Pie

1 x 445g pack, defrosted Sour Cream Shortcrust Pastry (I use Careme Pastry)

Olive oil for the pan frying (I used local olive oil from Toolunka Creek Olives)

500g beef mince

1 leek diced

2 cloves garlic sliced roughly

2 cm of fresh turmeric cut finely

1 bunch of silverbeet cut up roughly

1 handful of purslane leaves (optional)

½ cup of our All Natural Pecans

½ cup of our semi sun dried figs diced (I used a mix of Black Genoa's and White Smyrna's in this dish)

1 egg beaten for egg wash

 -----

Preheat oven to 200c fan-forced (220c non-fan).

Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place the pastry sheet on a baking tray and keep in fridge while you prepare the filling.

Preheat a large sauté pan, once hot add a glug of olive oil then the beef mince. Leave the mince to brown stirring occasionally, once browned (allow 5 to 10 minutes) remove from pan into a flat tray to allow to cool.

Add some more olive oil to the pan reduce heat to medium, and cook the leek for 5 minutes, then add garlic, turmeric, silverbeet, purslane (if using) stir occasionally and allow the vegetables to gently cook for 10 minutes.

Transfer the vegetables to a large plate or tray to allow to cool. Once both the meat and veggie fillings are cool mix them together.

Place the pastry on baking tray. Spoon the filling on top of the pastry, in a row down the middle, leaving enough border on each side so you can wrap the edges over.  Slowly enclose the filling with the pastry border on each side, pinching the sides as you go along (see the photo).

Brush the pie with eggwash.

Bake for 10 minutes at 200c fan-forced (220c non-fan), then reduce to 180c fan-forced (200c non-fan) and continue to bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with tomato and quince chutney, natural yogurt and a big bowl of greens.

 Serves 6

This is a super simple dish and with some very small ingredients swaps you can also make a Fig, Mushroom and Cheese Galette. I have done a very quick video on my instagram with the steps in the caption, see here.

I recently bought  'The How Not to Die' cookbook. As an owner of alot of cookbooks I have to say I pretty impressed with its simplicity. I have added a few ingredients to their chocolate banana smoothie to add in some more fibre (figs), collagen (I need all the support for my hair and nails right now) and to help with inflammation (turmeric). I have made this version almost daily in the last week, its filling and delicious.

Ingredients

1 very ripe banana

1/4 cup Black Genoa semi sun dried figs

1 white nectarine or other fruit such as 1/3 cup blueberries (I use what I have in our fridge at the time)

 2 tblspn cacao powder (or unsweetened cocoa powder)

1 tspn of faxseed oil or 1 tblspn of flaxseed/linseeds ground

1 tblspn of almond butter (I use locally made The Almond Farmer)

1 tspn of sweetener ( I use monkfruit or stevia) 

1 handful of kale

1 tspn of fermented turmeric or grated fresh turmeric

1 tspn of collagen (optional)

4 ice-cubes

Method

Combine all ingredients in a high speed blender and 1 cup of water. Blend until thick. You can add more or less water depending on how thick you would like your smoothie.

Makes approx 2 cups of smoothie

 Full credit to Food 52 for this fantastic recipe. I have rewritten it here with my changes. This is super charged and very lush.

Ingredients

2 cups grated zucchini

1 very ripe banana

1/4 cup Black Genoa sun dried figs

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I use Four Leaf Milling 85% light flour)

1/4 cup cacao powder

3/4 tspn baking soda

1/2 tspn baking powder

1 tspn sea salt

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

1 1/4 cups dark chocolate, chopped

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup natural yoghurt

1 large egg

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 tspn vanilla extract

Method

Preheat an oven to 175° C. Grease and line a loaf pan and set it aside.

Place the grated zucchini on a baking tray lined with a lint-free kitchen towel, then place another kitchen towel on top, patting it down gently to absorb any additional moisture. Set aside.

In a large bowl, use a fork to whisk together the flour, cacao, baking soda, baking powder and sea salt. Stir in the chopped pecans and 1 cup of the dark chocolate.

In a separate large bowl, whisk together the butter and yoghurt or use an electric mixer (this is what I did). Add in the egg, light brown sugar, and vanilla, then whisk the liquid ingredients until smooth and uniform. Gently fold in the zucchini, banana and figs.

Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, then sprinkle the top of the batter with the remaining 1/4 cup of chopped dark chocolate.

Bake, rotating at least once half way through baking, until a skewer inserted into the bread comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes.

Let cool in the loaf pan for 15 - 20 minutes before inverting out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling completely. When cool store in an air tight container.