Cacao & Orange Balls

Last week when I was at work I was after a snack so headed to the supermarket conveniently located next door & spotted the Emma & Tom's Life Bars.  I have never seen these before but was intrigued so bought the cacao & orange flavour.  This was so good, like a healthy chocolate bar!  It also doesn't have any scary ingredients either, they are - dates, raw cashews, raisins, cacao powder & cold pressed orange oil.

But they are a bit on the pricey side at $2.60 each so I decided to try making my own version to take to work for snacks this week.  I used figs rather than raisins because that is what I bought at the supermarket & used a tiny bit of orange rind because I only had a quarter of an orange.  The orange flavour is not very strong at all but obviously if you use more rind it would be better.  I also decided to make balls rather than bars.  These turned out well, they are just slightly chocolately & I think they will be perfect afternoon snacks at work.

Ingredients(makes 8 balls)

• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 7 pitted dates
• 4 figs
• 1 1/2 tsp cacao powder
• orange rind to taste

Method

1. Throw everything into the food processor & wizz until finely chopped
2. Roll into balls & refigerate

Vegan MoFo - Pistachio Crusted Tofu

I wanted to make something with pistachios for P because I love them & I came up with the idea of pistachio crusted tofu.  I marinated the tofu in a mix of cranberry sauce, apple cider vinegar & olive oil & then topped it with finely chopped pistachios mixed with panko breadcrumbs & then baked it for about 15 minutes.  I really liked the flavour of this, but the topping did not stay on very well.  I served this with the most delicious salad of tomato, roasted red capsicum, avocado & edamame.