My family are fairly traditional meat-and-three-veg type eaters. I try to introduce new foods, tastes and textures every so often but I’m not always successful in doing this. One such new flavour was quinoa, which I enjoyed but was not popular with the three males in the household, so the packet was relegated to the back of the cupboard (except for the few times I added it to soup).
Fast forward a few years, and quinoa is something I’ve been eating a bit of while I follow The Eczema Diet (see previous post for more on this). The fact it’s a popular Tasmanian crop makes me want to eat it even more because I love supporting local producers. I am almost four weeks into this elimination diet so my ingredient options are mainly alkaline and still quite limited. But I’ve still found many ways to keep my taste buds interested and not feel deprived (that bit surprises me as I usually resent diets like this. However, I have to admit there is still the odd moment where I’d happily scoff some chocolate).
I’ve found breakfast and snacks to be easier than lunch and dinner, but the hardest habit to break has been sitting down with Harvey after the kids have gone to bed and drinking tea with something sweet. It’s been almost a month since I had dessert (or a cup of tea for that matter) so I decided to make something I could have if I felt so inclined. These Cashew Quinoa Bars have a lovely texture and are just the right size for a little sweet treat.
Cashew Quinoa Bars
Ingredients
1/4 cup organic butter, softened
3/4 cup natural cashews
2 eggs
1/2 cup maple syrup (or rice malt syrup)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup quinoa flakes
1/4 cup rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line loaf tin with baking paper.
Blitz cashews in food processor until the nuts form a coarse meal. Put butter into a mixing bowl and pour the cashew meal on top, then mix with a wooden spoon. Add eggs, syrup and vanilla and mix together. Now add quinoa flakes, rice flour and baking powder and mix until combined.
Pour mix into tin and bake for 25 minutes. Leave to cool before cutting into bars (I cut mine into 12 pieces). Enjoy!
* I prefer this recipe on the not-too-sweet side, but if you want a bit more of a sugar kick add a little more syrup.
