Venturing Vegan: Jack-o-Lantern Nachos and Spooktacular Nice Cream

Happy Halloween friends! I hope that everyone is having fun dressing up and getting in the spooky spirit this year! I know I am! Since today is traditionally a day for sweets, I thought I'd offer two healthy yet festive and kid-friendly recipes which feature loads of fun and zero processed sugars. We tend to allow ourselves to indulge on holidays and this holiday is a doozy for genetically modified ingredients, processed sugars, and unhealthy food additives and colorings that can be found in our favorite and most classic candy bars. Don't fear! The spirits of Halloween will forgive you if you decide to forgo the chemical concoctions that filled our trick or treat bags of yesteryear. Even if you do decide to have a couple sweets, these recipes will help keep you full of nutrition so that you are better equipped to handle those sugar spikes and toxic overload. These recipes are dressed up for the holiday but are wonderful recipes for any time of the year! Let's get started!

Spooktacular Kale and Chocolate Blackberry Nice Cream Smoothie (Makes 1 serving)

Ingredients:

2 leaves of kale, de-stemmed, torn into pieces

2 frozen bananas

1 tsp. maca powder

2 cups frozen blackberries

2 heaping Tbsps. Coconut Cream

1 tsp. raw cacao

1 ripe banana, cut in half. One half sliced and one half for your ghost

1 raisin, cut into pieces for the eyes and mouth of your banana ghost

extra blackberries for decoration

1/2 tsp. hemp seeds for decoration

Method:

Kale Layer

To a food processor fitted with the "S-type" blade, add your kale and process until the kale is very well chopped. Add your frozen bananas and maca and process until the nice cream is smooth and the kale is well incorporated. You might need to stop a few times and scrape the sides. Take a bowl and pour the kale nice cream into it. Take your mason jar and add a kale layer. Place mason jar and bowl in the freezer while you make the blackberry layer. Rinse food processor.

Blackberry Layer

Add your frozen blackberries, coconut cream, and raw cacao to the food processor and process until smooth. Take your mason jar and bowl of kale nice cream from the freezer. Add a layer of blackberry. Then line the inside of the jar with sliced banana(pressed to the glass) and add more kale nice cream on top of the blackberry. Then add the rest of the blackberry piled high and place the mason jar back in the freezer while you make your banana ghost. Leave the left over kale nice cream on the counter to soften as this will be used to make the spider web on top.

Go ahead and affix the raisin pieces to your banana. Let your smoothie sit in the freezer for about ten minutes. Take a piping bag and add the kale smoothie to it. Take your mason jar from the freezer and use the kale nice cream to decorate the top. Add your banana ghost, a few frozen berries and some hempseed sprinkles and your smoothie is ready! Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Nachos (Serves 2)
2 large sweet potatoes, sliced to 1/8" (I used a mandolin but you can slice carefully with a knife)
1 cup black beans
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 avocado
1/4 red bell pepper, diced
1 tomato, diced
1/2 jalapeno, de-seeded, chopped
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2-3 leaves romaine, chiffonade or chopped (you can also use green cabbage)
cilantro to garnish
salt to taste*
1 Tbsp. Grapeseed oil

Spicy Pumpkin Nacho Cheese
2 cups pumpkin, steamed
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 jalapeno, de-seeded, chopped
2-3 Tbsp. water
1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
salt and pepper to taste*

*Pink Himalayan Salt or Sea Salt

Method:
Preheat oven to 400 °F. Take your sliced sweet potato and cut jack-o-lantern faces using a cookie cutter or a knife. I didn't have a cookie cutter so I stacked a few slices at a time and cut the faces into them. I reserved one small slice of sweet potato to go on top of the guacamole so I cut a scary face with fangs on that one. The rest are happy little jack-o-lanterns!

Take two cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Lightly oil each slice by tossing sweet potato in a bowl to coat. Place on the cooking sheet in one layer without overlap then dust with salt. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 °F then flip and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

To make the guacamole, take your avocado and slice down the middle. Use a spoon to remove the flesh and pit. Then use a fork to mash. Add about 1 tablespoon each of your chopped onion and tomato, the lemon juice, your 1/2 jalapeno then salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

To make the pumpkin nacho cheese. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Then add to a small pan and place over medium heat. Stir occasionally until the cheese is warm and ready for your nachos.

One the sweet potato chips are done, remove them from the baking sheet and allow to cool for about 2 minutes.

To serve: Take a plate and layer the romaine lettuce to create a bed for your nachos. Add a layer of sweet potato chips, then some beans, bell peppers, tomato, onion, some guacamole and some cheese. Then create another layer. Add a large dollop of guacamole to the top, garnish with cilantro, a dash of salt and pepper and the little sweet potato chip with fangs to garnish if you so desire. Eat right away and enjoy your boorific nachos!