Dark Chocolate 'Hot Dates' and Figs
Here is a great little snack to feed all of your sugar desires in a healthy way!
A portion (a small handful) of dried fruit is considered one of your five a day and it's a great way to get your daily fibre! These dried fruits contain both soluble and insoluble fibre, helping to improve bowel function, keeping blood sugars stable and blood cholesterol low; consequently lowering your risk to chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. In terms of those all important nutrients we want to be consuming, both figs and dates are great sources of calcium (who would'ave thought?!), iron and potassium. However it should be mentioned that they are quite calorie dense therefore should be eaten in moderation, but equally are great if you feel you need a healthy energy fix!
Need anymore persuasion to eat figs and dates? .... try adding some slightly spiced, rich dark chocolate on top!
Dark chocolate follows the very cringe expression of 'once you go black, you never go back'.. and in my experience, it most definitely is true: other chocolate bars may seem to taste more processed; like a sugar fix rather than a chocolate fix!
Dark chocolate has a much stronger 'chocolatey flavour', sometimes an almost an earthy- bitter flavour, mainly thanks to it's high cocoa content. Cocoa has recently been hailed for being a nutrient power house, containing many flavonoids which are useful in the body as anti-inflammatory, anti-cancerous and anti-allergic activities. It is also famous for improving your cardiovascular system, subsequently reducing heart disease and other cardiovascular-related diseases. Does this mean we can gobble up all the chocolate bars we like? As your mum always says, 'everything in moderation...' but generally speaking, chocolate higher in cocoa will be higher in those micro-nutrients and therefore more beneficial to eat...
A portion (a small handful) of dried fruit is considered one of your five a day and it's a great way to get your daily fibre! These dried fruits contain both soluble and insoluble fibre, helping to improve bowel function, keeping blood sugars stable and blood cholesterol low; consequently lowering your risk to chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. In terms of those all important nutrients we want to be consuming, both figs and dates are great sources of calcium (who would'ave thought?!), iron and potassium. However it should be mentioned that they are quite calorie dense therefore should be eaten in moderation, but equally are great if you feel you need a healthy energy fix!
Need anymore persuasion to eat figs and dates? .... try adding some slightly spiced, rich dark chocolate on top!
Dark chocolate follows the very cringe expression of 'once you go black, you never go back'.. and in my experience, it most definitely is true: other chocolate bars may seem to taste more processed; like a sugar fix rather than a chocolate fix!
Dark chocolate has a much stronger 'chocolatey flavour', sometimes an almost an earthy- bitter flavour, mainly thanks to it's high cocoa content. Cocoa has recently been hailed for being a nutrient power house, containing many flavonoids which are useful in the body as anti-inflammatory, anti-cancerous and anti-allergic activities. It is also famous for improving your cardiovascular system, subsequently reducing heart disease and other cardiovascular-related diseases. Does this mean we can gobble up all the chocolate bars we like? As your mum always says, 'everything in moderation...' but generally speaking, chocolate higher in cocoa will be higher in those micro-nutrients and therefore more beneficial to eat...
In my eyes.... the more cocoa the chocolate contains, the more nutrients you will be consuming, the more 'bitter' the flavour, and the better the chocolate tastes!
Ingredients
75g good quality dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa)
handful of dried figs and dates
chilli flakes
Optional Toppings:
Icing sugar
sea salt
linseeds
cocoa powder
fine ground chilli powder
Sprinkles
Directions:
In a small bowl, break your dark chocolate up into small pieces and melt.... You can either do this the 'old-fashioned' way and boil some water in a pan and sit your bowl of chocolate over the top. Or you could put it in the microwave for about 50 secs in a 800 W, take out a stir and put it back in for a few more seconds to melt the last few bits. However- be careful you dont burn the chocolate if you are doing it this way!! It's very easy to do!
Once melted, sprinkle in your chilli flakes. I haven't put any measurements because everyone's chilli tolerance is different. I reckon I went for about a tsp? Stir to make your very own 'chilli chocolate'!
You can leave them plain, or you can experiment with a few sprinklings!
I went for a few linseeds, finely powdered chilli powder and a little sprinkling of sea salt (note: sea salt is great to bring out the bitter deliciousness of dark chocolate but too much will ruin it! Less is more.... !)
Place in the fridge for about 15 minutes for them to harden.
They are fab on their own but I can also recommend them chopped up onto some natural yoghurt, or a bowl of cereal. Yum. Yum. Yum.
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