Chef AJ: Life is Short – Eat Dessert First

How to make super fast Sundried Tomato Quinoa, 1 minute Salsa & Chocolate Chip Peanut Bites… Our speed demon in the kitchen is the amazing Chef AJ! The recipes are from her fabulous book: “Unprocessed: How to Achieve Vibrant Health and Your Ideal Weight” available on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/2x6F5Sh. Chef AJ is the creator of the Ultimate Weight Loss Program, Teleclasses ad Webinars at: eatunprocessed.com. Thanks to BLVD Kitchen for hosting #LunchBreakLIVE today for #JaneUnChained

RECIPE:

Chocolate Chip Peanut Bites

INGREDIENTS

• 2 c roasted peanuts, unsalted or other raw nut
• 2 c pitted dates
• 1 Tbsp vanilla , alcohol-free

DIRECTIONS

1. Place into a food processor fitted with the “S” blade and process the nuts until they are like a flour-like consistency. Do not over process or you will have a nut butter.
2. Add dates, a few at a time, until the mixture clumps together.
3. Stop the machine and if you can easily roll a ball from the mixture and it sticks together, you don’t need to add any more dates.
4. Roll into balls or place into a non stick, silicon mold and then place into the freezer for 10 minutes
5. You can also roll the balls in coconut, crushed nuts, or raw carob or cacao powder

Chef’s Note: It’s delicious when you mix in some raw cacao nibs.  If you have a dehydrator, you can roll the batter into a ball, press it flat into circle and then dehydrate.  It tastes just like a peanut butter cookie!

Pico de Gallo (Raw salsa)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 can* organic, diced, no salt added, fire roasted tomatoes (Muir Glen)
• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded if you prefer it less hot
• 1 shallot, peeled
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 lime, juiced
• chopped cilantro, to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut tomatoes in half, squeezing out extra juice and seeds and then dice.
2. Place in a bowl and add the lime juice.
3. Dice the shallots, garlic and jalapeño
4. Add to the tomatoes
5. Add the cilantro and mix together

Chef’s Note: To make preparation easier, you can place all of the whole ingredients for this salsa into a non electric, hand-driven food processor (such as Tupperware’s Power Chef Pro**) and process until the desired consistency is achieved.

Sun Dried Tomato Quinoa (made in the 3 quart Instant Pot)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 c water
• 3 c quinoa
• 1 bag Sun Dried Tomatoes (Trader Joe’s)

DIRECTIONS

1. Set Instant Pot pressure cooker to 1 min and release the pressure at that time.
2. Open and gently mix
3. Enjoy

Note: It may take up to 10 min to reach high pressure, until the 1 minute cooking time begins to count down.
*Tupperware can-opener: Doesn’t leave a sharp edge so no one, including animals perusing trash cans gets hurt!
**Power Chef Pro from Tupperware
Use promo code: “AJ” to receive a $10 discount on an Instant Pot <<<—– Click here
Chef AJ’s FB LIVE Tupperware Party on her FB Page  Sept 24 at 2 pm 
Chef AJ’s Cooking Class: Hands-on Instant Pot Pressure Cooking Class Tues Sept 26 sign up at: the blvdkitchen.com

Jane Velez-Mitchell filming Chef AJ for #LunchBreakLIVE at Blvd Kitchen in Sherman Oaks

Chef AJ’s Sun Dried Tomato Quinoa with Fresh Pico de Gallo (salsa)

Chef AJ’s (her book “Unprocessed: How to Achieve Vibrant Health and Your Ideal Weight”) Chocolate Chip Peanut Bites with her famous German Chocolate Cake (for Jane Velez-Mitchell’s upcoming birthday!)

Blvd Kitchen is a beautiful commercial kitchen in Sherman Oaks, CA and is the place for cooking classes, events and can be rented for events.