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Today I’m going to share a Cacao Fig Ball recipe that is both yummy and nutritious.
Recently I was talking to a Nutritionist about the importance of calcium in the diet as people age. I asked if there were other calcium rich foods that we could incorporate, apart from the more commonly known dairy foods and greens.
Some of the foods that she recommended were Dried Figs, Sesame seeds or Tahini and Kale.
I decided put together a ball recipe that would include the figs and seeds to make a calcium rich snack.
I’ve decided to call these Cacao Fig Balls.
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Ingredients
8 x dried figs (or 100 grms – depends on how juicy they are)
20 x dates (or 100 grms depends – on how juicy they are)
½ cup unsalted Pistachio nuts
2 tbsp Sesame seeds.
½ cup fine shredded coconut
4 tbsp raw Cacao powde
30g Cacao butter – melted
1 tbsp Coconut oil – melted
1 tsp Vanilla essence/paste
+ ¼ cup fine shredded coconut to roll balls in
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Method
First, put the pistachios into your food processor and quickly blitz to break them up, followed by the figs and dates, then pulse till crumbly and sticky.
Add coconut, cacao and Sesame seeds then pulse till combined.
I then added the vanilla, cacao butter and coconut oil and mix till combined.
Now the mix should look crumbly, however, if you scoop out a teaspoon full it should press together.
I used my tablespoon-measuring spoon to scoop out the mix and pressed the mix into shape.
This mix made 21 balls. Some of which I artfully displayed on my trusty board to photograph.
Now for some nutritional information,
It seems that figs’ are a member of the Mulberry family!
It turns out that apart from Calcium, dried figs are an excellent source of minerals, vitamins and antioxidants
Dried Figs are full of minerals like copper, potassium, manganese, iron, selenium and zinc. 100 g of dried figs contain 680 mg of potassium, 162 mg of calcium, and 2.03 mg of iron.
Furthermore, research studies suggest that figs help lower blood sugar levels and control blood glucose levels in type-II diabetes.
Now, about Sesame seeds.
It seems that the Sesame plant is a tall annual herb and the seeds are one of the first oil seeds known to humankind.
Sesame is among the seeds rich in quality vitamins, and minerals. They are an excellent source of B-complex vitamins such as niacin, folic acid, thiamin (vitamin B1), pyridoxine (vitamin B6), and riboflavin.
The seeds are incredibly rich sources of many essential minerals. Calcium, iron, manganese, zinc, magnesium, selenium, and copper especially concentrated in sesame seeds.
Sesame seeds are also valuable sources of dietary protein with fine quality amino acids that are essential for growth, especially in children. Just 100 g of seeds provide about 18 g of protein.
The dates also contribute health benefits to this recipe.
Dates contain antioxidants known as tannins. Tannins are known to possess anti-infective, anti-inflammatory, and anti-hemorrhagic (prevent easy bleeding tendencies) properties.
They are also an excellent source of iron, potassium and minerals like calcium, manganese, copper, and magnesium. (Facts source – http://www.nutrition-and-you.com)
I have previously written about the health benefits of raw cacao, so I won’t go there.
So, all these ingredients come together to create a great tasting snack that is very good for you.
Till the next post,
Live Clean n Prosper
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