One can never read too much or dream too much." If ever there was a quote written to describe my character it would be this. Reading makes me feel like my head is outside of my body, doing its own things, exploring new places and ideas. Dreaming is something I do quite often as well, whether it's about new trips I want to take or what it would feel like to have my own cafe or bakery shop. I know, I know. Dream on girl! And I would agree with you. In a world that is flooding with entrepreneurs, it's easy to think that "yeah, this could be me!". But in reality, only a limited amount of people actually "make it". The rest are simply struggling to survive without losing their initial dream.
Leaving the pessimism aside, it's almost end of March, I'm about to submit my research work for my Master Degree and about one month until my two best girlfriends visit me in Zurich after almost two years I've been living here. I'm so excited to have them here and show them around this beautiful city. Then, we can have brunch together served by me and talk about our lives so far.
In almost one week, we get to celebrate the Orthodox Easter with friends here. Normally we would do it in Greece the fun way, but good friends and food are never boring. Next week is a fasting week until Easter, which means almost eating a vegan diet that contains no animal product (expect honey). I've been testing some recipes without any dairy or eggs and recently I tested this amazing recipe for brownies using beans. Yes, beans! I was sceptic in the beginning as well, wondering how awful this would taste. But it turns out anything you mix with sugar and cacao never tastes bad.
What I love about this recipe is how intense is the chocolate flavour. With every bite I get a very strong and mouthful of chocolate that completely satisfies me. It's the perfect snack to go with your hot cup of coffee or milk. I also tried eating it in the morning as a breakfast. Since, I didn't use a lot of sugar it doesn't have a strong sweet taste so it's breakfast appropriate.
Azuki Bean Fudge brownies (recipe inspired by Minimalistic Baker)
ingredients (for 10 to 12 pieces)
2 tablespoons flaxseed meal (or grounded flaxseeds) + 4 tablespoons cold water
420gr cooked and drained azuki beans
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup of brown or coconut sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
70gr cacao unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
50gr dark chocolate with dried fruit (I chose orange)
how do I make it?
1. Put the flaxseed meal with the cold water in a small bowl, mix well and let it sit for 15 minutes.
2. Using a food processor mix together the beans, oil, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder, soaked flaxseed meal and vanilla essence. Mix very well until you get a thick mixture without lumps created from uncut beans.
3. Prepare a medium tin you use normally brownies and pour inside the mixture. Top the brownies with chopped dark chocolate pieces.
4. Bake the brownies for 20 to 25 minutes at 175C, until you get a dry top. Let them cool before trying to eat them, as they will be quite moist.
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