Clean & Delicious with Dani Spies

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Holiday Recipes

Dark Chocolate Coconut + Cranberry Bark

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Coconut Bark

Watch the step-by-step video HERE.

Still looking for a simple and delicious dessert to make for the holidays?  Well, look no more!  This Dark Chocolate Coconut + Cranberry Bark is about to become one of your favorite go-to holiday desserts.

It’s as easy as easy can be and insanely delicious.  Plus, you can get as creative as you’d like!

I’ve shared Peppermint Bark and Super Food Chocolate Bark in the past but this time around I decide to go with macadamia nuts, shredded coconut (looks like snow!) and dried cranberries.

But please, promise me you’ll just pick whatever flavors and ingredients light you up and excite your taste buds?!

Ok? Ok.

I’m trusting you with that.

Ok, Now go enjoy your holidays! xo – Dani

HELPFUL KITCHEN TOOLS:
4-cup Glass Storage Bowls
Rimmed Baking Sheet
Silpat Mat

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Clean Eating Eggnog

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Clean Eggnog - Clean & Delicious®
Clean Eggnog – Clean & Delicious®

Is anyone as excited as I am that tis’ the season of eggnog?!

I have a  feeling you guys are, because eggnog is one of the most requested recipes I get this time of the year.  Completely understandable, right?  I mean it’s so freaking delicious.

But it’s no secret that the real deal is quite an indulgent, rich, drink (especially if you like to add a bit of bourbon!) so I wanted to come up with a lighter version that I could enjoy several times throughout the holiday without feeling heavy and weighed down.

And because traditional eggnog is made with some combination of whole milk and/or heavy cream the easiest and most obvious way to lighten this up is to swap out the milk.  By using almond milk in place of full fat milk or cream, I was able to literally slash the calories in half.

In case you haven’t heard me rant about it in the past, store bought almond milk and fresh, homemade almond milk are like two different products.  I don’t like store bought almond milk (or at least I haven’t found one I like to date) but fresh, homemade is an entirely different story.

It’s light, it’s frothy, it’s creamy and it totally works in this recipe!

However, if you don’t want to deal with the whole almond milk thing, but you want to lighten your eggnog up, you can swap in any type of lighter milk you prefer (non-fat, low-fat, soy, coconut, etc.).  Pick whatever milk lights you up – make it work for you (because really, it’s all about you!).

I also swap out refined sugars for a little bit of honey and  -boom!- that’s all it takes to lighten up your eggnog without compromising its yum factor.

A couple of side notes:

  1. When you heat your milk, keep the temperature super low.  You do not want the eggnog to boil or the eggs will scramble (bleh!)
  2. The eggnog will thicken once heated and then it will thicken even more once it’s chilled.  So surprisingly, the lighter milk will still yield rich, creamy eggnog.

Ok – I think I’ve shared all my thoughts on eggnog.  Let me know what you think!  And if you have any thoughts, questions, tips, or ideas regarding eggnog (or life!) please share it all down in the comments below.

Happy Eggnoggin’!

 

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Brussels Sprouts + Grapes (video)

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Brussels Sprouts + Grapes

Scroll down to watch the video!

This recipe for roasted brussels sprouts and grapes was a request I received from one of my viewers on YouTube.  Before her request, I had never heard of this dish before.  Have you?

Basically you roast up your brussels sprouts and add some grapes into the mix.  The grapes get really sweet and pair perfectly with the nutty, earthy flavor of the brussels sprouts.  This duo reminds me a lot of cabbage and apples, it has the same sort of flavor combination.

I made a simple balsamic glaze to drizzle over the top.  The glaze adds another sweet, rich dimension to the dish which makes it feel very ‘holiday’.  Well, that and the red grapes.  Roasted red grapes are really quite beautiful and also make this dish feel very festive.

If you decide to add this one to your holiday menu, let me know.  I would love to hear what you think!

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Dark Chocolate Covered Pomegranate Drops (Video)

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Remember how I mentioned that I had joined a CSA a month or so back?  Well there was a while there when I would have 4-5 pomegranates on my counter at a time.  This is when I decided to master my ‘How-To Seed A Pomegranate‘ technique and would open and deseed a few poms at a time, leaving me with bowls of Pomegranate seeds in my fridge and plenty of thoughts on how to use them.  (Because it does take a little effort to get the seeds out a Pomegranate, pre-prepping them is definitely the way to go!).

Once you have these plump, juicy, sweet, and tart little gems ready to go you will find yourself tossing them into almost any dish your cooking (both sweet and savory!).  They love to be added to pancakes, oatmeal, muffins, yogurt, cottage cheese, chicken dishes, salads, beans, etc….  It is surprising how much you can do with them.

The one thing that I highly recommend NOT doing is putting them in a bowl for your 2 year old to snack on!!  I thought this was a good idea until Katie stuck one way up her nose and I had to use this technique that I found by googling ‘pomegranante seed up toddlers nose‘ to get it out.

True story.  But I digress…

I’ve always been a fan of chocolate bark.  It’s beautiful, it’s delicious, and it’s deceptively easy to make.  I was initially going to make Pomegranate Chocolate Bark but could not resist the temptation to simply dump all the seeds right into my pot of melted chocolate (yum scrum)!  I did however top each drop with a few extra seeds just for the pretty factor (do these not just scream holiday?!).

The key to making this ‘recipe’ a success is being sure that your pomegranate seeds are dry, dry, dry!  If there is to much moisture on the seeds your chocolate will seize, and your drops will be  a flop!  I left my seeds out on the counter between two dish towels for a few hours before I made this to be sure thy were nice and dry.

Biting into these little Chocolate Covered Pomegranate drops is pure heaven.  The Pom seeds burst in your mouth and the rich, dark chocolate melts all around them… simply divine!

They would make the perfect pair to a glass of champagne… lots of bubbles popping all around… a little party in your mouth!

So here’s to YOU (and bubbles)!

Enjoy the rest of the year!

Enjoy the holidays!

Enjoy your friends and family (even when they are driving you crazy)!

And most of all, enjoy yourself (you deserve it after all)!!

Happy holidays and lots of love! xo

Print Recipe

Chocolate Covered Pomegranate Drops

Yield: 16 drops

Prep Time: 30 minutes + 2 hours to chill

Total Time: 2 1/2 hours

Ingredients:

  • 6 oz dark Chocolate (at least 70% cocoa)
  • 1 cup pomegranate seeds

Directions:

Line a rimmed baking sheet with a silpat mat or some parchment paper.

Make sure that your pomegranate seeds are bone dry!  Too much moisture will cause your chocolate to seize, so don’t skip this step.

Create a double boiler and melt your chocolate (to see this technique demonstrated click here).

Once the chocolate has melted toss in your pomegranate seeds and gently toss until all the seeds are coated with the chocolate.

Scoop about a tablespoon of your oooey gooey chocolate coated seeds into little puddles on the silpat mat.  Repeat until finished.

Pop tray into the fridge for about one hour or until set.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Makes about 16 drops.

1/16th of the recipe: Calories: 67; Total Fat: 4.8g; Saturated Fat: 2.6g; Cholesterol: 0mg; Carbohydrate: 7.5g; Dietary Fiber: 1.2g; Sugars: 5.3g; Protein: 1g

Roasted Pepper And Goat Cheese Crostini (Video)

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It’s funny.  When I first planned the recipe for this weeks video I was brainstorming what types of recipes I thought people would be searching for this time of the year.

My thought process went something like this:

Parties, drinks, social events, holiday parties, etc.  And so naturally I concluded some type of hand-held, easy to make, quick to prepare, and relatively healthy appetizer would make a great choice.

But as I prepare this weeks post, I just have to giggle, simply because I realize that the scenarios that I  think of around the holidays are SO not aligned with the reality of what my holiday season actually looks like.

I am not swamped with holiday parties.

Not meeting tons of friends for holiday cocktails.

Not invited to any parties.

And certainly not bouncing around from event to event.

What I am doing is:

Making lots of cookies with my daughter.

Letting my son put the sprinkles on (even though more land on the floor than on the cookie).

Filling out Christmas cards.

Perusing the internet in an attempt to buy gifts on line.

And trying to tie up loose ends before heading back east for the next couple of weeks.

Truth be told, I have NO reason to make this crostini other than to share a delicious idea with you!

So I hope you enjoy it or at the very least enjoy looking at the photo and watching the video!  And if you have a reason to make and enjoy this dish, I’d love to her all about it down in the comments below!!

Print Recipe

Roasted Pepper & Goat Cheese Crostini

Yield: 10 crostinis

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 mini loaf sourdough bread (4 oz.)
  • 2 cloves of garlic (one left whole, one minced)
  • 4oz. goat cheese
  • 12oz. jar of roasted peppers, cut into strips
  • 1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tbsp. fresh chopped parsley
  • 2 tbsp. walnuts, chopped up
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 450.

Slice bread into thin slices (I usually get 10 slices not including the rounded ends).  Place them on a rimmed baking sheet and pop in the oven for 5 minutes or until slightly browned and toasty on the edges.

Rub each slice of hot bread with one of the garlic cloves.  The garlic will melt into the bread infusing its flavor and adding moisture to the crostini’s.  Set aside.

For the topping, drain and slice the peppers into thin strips.  In a small bowl, combine peppers, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, parsley, and walnuts.  Mix everything together and season with salt and pepper.

Put a light shmear of goat cheese over each crostini and top with a dollop of the roasted pepper mixture.  Enjoy!

Makes 10 crostini’s (Serving size = 2 crostini’s)

Calories: 195; Total Fat: 9.9g; Saturated Fat: 3.9g; Cholesterol: 10mg; Carbohydrate: 18g; Dietary Fiber: 1.6g; Sugars: 3.1g; Protein: 8.1g