Are you guys ready for one of my all time favorite desserts?

A few weeks ago, I had an overload of bananas in my house and I decided to get creative! 

Anyways, this is a super rich and decadent pie! I was so surprised at how similar it tasted to one my mom used to make! The bottom “cookie dough” tastes just like the real -graham cracker/butter- one, but obviously so much better! It has the same consistency and even the flavor/texture brought me back to my childhood. Once the fennel is added, well of course flavor changes a bit, but consistency was just as beautiful as before. 

Then, the filling is very simple, yet, I decided to make a “twist” to the recipe. A beautiful combination of fresh, organic fennel seed tea made the pie go to a whole other level. It wasn’t just the same old banana pie from my childhood, it was a new rich, decadent, unique flavor I honestly fell in love with.

Of course, you can simply omit the fennel and have the “Original” Banana Pie we all once loved. But if you want something different and very interesting, add them! There’s nothing more exciting than trying new things!

Gastrawnomica’s Raw Banana-Fennel (Frozen) Pie

1/2 cup almonds or brazil nuts

1 cup pitted dates

1 tsp ground fennel seeds

5 Tbsp coconut butter or creamed coconut, soft

1 Tbsp coconut flour

2 small (ripe) bananas

1 small banana, sliced

2 Tbsp fresh fennel tea, at room temperature 

Liquid sweetener to taste (bananas should be very sweet so you might not need much)

“Ban-illa” Pudding

1/2 small banana

3 Tbsp coconut flour (add more or less until thick and creamy)

1/2 vanilla bean seeds, I used Simply Organic’s Madagascar Vanilla Beans

Fennel Seeds (for serving, optional)

Prepare the base by blending dates, almonds and ground fennel (if using), until you get a nice sticky, crumbly consistency. Spread dough over a small round pie pan and top with banana slices. Leave in the fridge.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling by blending coconut butter/creamed coconut, bananas, fennel tea and liquid sweetener to taste. Blend until the mixture is creamy and smooth. Spread mixture over your refrigerated crust & banana slices and set in the freezer until firm.

I served this over a bed of “ban-illa”pudding, which is simply mashed banana with the flour and vanilla seeds (you can use extract too), until you get a kind of “mashed potatoes” consistency, add a little bit of water if needed.

Slice the pie, serve over pudding and top with fennel seeds for a nice presentation. The pictures show the pie a little bit frozen, so it was kind of a frozen pie, but you can leave outside before serving to have a softer pie. Trust me, frozen was delicious!! Hadn’t ate a frozen pie in ages, it was amazing! You can try both and choose the texture you like most!

Enjoy! Have a lovely week, and don’t forget to tell me what you think about this!

Talk to you soon!

Hello there!!

Hope everyone had an awesome week! I still can’t believe is Friday already! Love how time flies, specially because it means school will be over sooner than later!

I’ve been having such an amazing time here in Montreal, oh goodness, I feel so blessed I can’t shut up! Really, I feel so happy and grateful for my life, I just want to tell the world God ALWAYS has a plan for your life and everything is in His hands, no matter how ugly things might look, He’s always watching, if you know what I mean.

Anyways, today is Friday and I know many of us have plans for the weekend which is great because I wait for weekends so bad! Time to have fun people! And if by any chance you’re having people over for dinner, or some sort of meeting that involves food, well, these “fries” are gonna be crowd-pleasing. No kidding!

When I did these, I baked them, but like always, you have the chance to make the raw option too, by dehydrating for longer time. They are more into the sweet side and are super versatile! I mean, from party snack, to portable fries for picnics, work, school etc. And also, a great addition for salads or side dish! 

Orange & Pumpkin Pie Spice Sweet Potato “Fries”

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut “fries style”

1/2 small orange, juice

Zest from 1 orange

1/4  tsp fresh ginger, grated

1 tsp Simply Organic’s Pumpkin Pie Spice 

1 Tbsp soft coconut butter

Remove from oven/dehydrator. Serve with coconut butter! I love dipping my “fries” while they still are warm, it softens the butter and it tastes divine!

Enjoy and have a super fun weekend! Talk to you soon! 

Hello gorgeous people!

How was your weekend? Celebrated mother’s day? Everyday should be a day to celebrate moms! I mean, if it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t be here right? I love my mom!

Anyways, like you maybe saw on facebook a few weeks ago, I have tons of recipes to share, and I’ve been making many new things lately too, so my “recipe inventory” is getting way too big, and there’s not enough time to post!

So today I’m giving you 2 recipes in one, mostly because they are super similar, yet so different! Both are extremely easy to make, and I bet you’ve never seen nut, seed & nutritional yeast free kale chips!! These chips blowed my mind, I wasn’t sure if it was going to work but I was like, what the hell? Let’s do it!

They are delicious and flavorful, very asian style yet crunchy, crispy and simply, divine!

Gastrawnomica’s Asian Kale Chips (nut & seed free)

3 cups kale, chopped

1 recipe of Gastrawnomica’s Creamy Thai Dressing

1 cup dulse, can be soaked or not

Simply cover the kale leaves with the dressing, using you hands make sure it’s well covered. Add dulse seaweed, if you can chop it in smaller pieces better. Mix it again, making sure everything has enough dressing and dehydrate until crispy, overnight or a little bit more. You can also bake them at really low temperature if you want a faster method!

Once your kale leaves are crispy enough, try them and yes, go to heaven! Perfect snack, addition to salads and super portable anywhere you go!

Gastrawnomica’s Creamy Vegetable Kelp Noodles

2 cups kelp noodles, washed

1 cup ripe tomatoes, chopped

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

3 Tbsp tahini (add a little bit more if it’s not creamy enough)

5 large sun-dried tomatoes, soaked 30 min

1 tsp of Simply Organic’s Turmeric Powder (or more if you love it like me)

Small piece of fresh ginger, peeled

**Sea salt to taste (I don’t consume salt, but feel free to add it)

1 cup green leaves of choice (I used baby kale leaves), chopped

Blend all the dressing ingredients in a high speed blender until you have a nice, smooth and creamy consistency. Add a little bit of water or more tahini until you find right texture. Cover the kelp noodles with the dressing and mix well. Let it sit for 30 min, to absorb flavors. Add greens and mix again. Serve!

Enjoy these nutritious, delicious and everything -icious recipes! Great for sharing with the family, friends and anyone who wants to add more living foods to their diet!

As you can see both have super healthy fats but still are considered “low-fat” recipes. I love adding these types of whole fats to my food. From avocados, to coconuts (in all presentations, I’m a total addict), tahini etc! I don’t like oils (eek) but I think that when you’re adding the whole foods to your meals, you get tons of nutrients that oils don’t have.

What do you prefer, whole fats or -not so heavenly- oils? Think about it!

Talk to you soon! Enjoy the recipes and don’t forget to follow me on instagram or like Gastrawnomica on facebook!

Bonjour, bonjour!

I hope you all are having a lovely week!

Here in Montreal we’ve been enjoying the most beautiful sunny & warm days, like ever! It’s a delight! I’m back in school and though algebra is definitely not my thing, and never will (total dislike), I love the feeling of being back in school! I’m super happy, moved to a beautiful apartment, which is super exciting, and I think that’s the reason why so many things are happening in my little kitchen! I’m a “cooking” machine! Enjoying every bite!

If you follow me on facebook, you probably saw this picture I posted with new recipes I have for the blog, but I gave everyone the chance to choose which one they wanted to see first.

Hello! Sorry for the late blog post! It was a crazy day but I’m finally writing this down!

If you follow me on instagram @gastrawnomica or you liked my Facebook page already, well probably you know about my latest news, and if you don’t, well you should totally go like it or follow me on Instagram or twitter because you’re missing a bunch of cool news.

I’ve been enjoying Montreal like never before, I never knew how much I liked it until I left last year, such a vibrant and beautiful city, great people to be with and so many places to be at. Bliss.

Anyways, as I promised my latest recipe is here!

During my last days back home, I did this amazing nut, seed and oil free pâté that was just too good to be true! I was eating fresh coconuts almost everyday, making tons of different things with the meat and water that I’ll have to get to that at one point, I just need to get organized! Gosh, so many recipes to share!

I love how coconuts are super versatile, from raw to dried, to desserts, pastas and even a pâté! Yes they are that awesome!

So one day, while I was experimenting in the kitchen, I had this idea of making some filled tomatoes but with what? So that’s when this unique “Coco-nutty Indian Spice Pâté” came to life!

It is super flavorful, I did not used any salt, and all the people who tried it thought it was super tasty!
It is very simple to prepare, and I’ve served it in many different ways, but to begin with, I’m gonna show you how to make these beautiful and unique filled tomatoes!

Gastrawnomica’s -Indian Spice- Coconut Pâté
Yields around 2 cups

Meat from 1/2 large fresh coconut
2 big round tomatoes, only the flesh
1 tsp dried Italian herbs mix (rosemary,basil,thyme,oregano)
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1 small piece of red onion
1 small handful fresh cilantro leaves
1 small handful fresh fennel leaves
1/2 – 1 tsp Simply Organic curry powder (add more or less depending on your taste)

Put all the ingredients in your high speed blender until smooth and chunky. Beautiful!

Now that you have your amazing pâté ready, you can spread over anything and everything! Yeah, that good! But if you want to keep reading about the filled tomatoes, stay with me!

Gastrawnomica’s Filled Tomatoes with Indian Spice Coconut Pâté
Serves 2 people

1 recipe of Gastrawnomica’s -Indian Spice- Coconut Pâté (above)
2 cups cubed jicama
2 tomatoes, left from the recipe above
1 extra large zucchini, peeled and spiralized
1 cup fresh spinach, divided

Mix the pâté with the jicama cubes until covered. Fill each tomato with the pâté mixture, you will have enough for 4 tomatoes.
In each plate serve the zucchini pasta mixed with the spinach and some of the leftover pâté. Serve the tomatoes on top and go to heaven in every single bite!

These amazing tomatoes are so vibrant in color and flavor that you will want to make them again! No doubt about that!

Share this super healthy and delicious recipe with your friends and family! They’ll love it too!

Don’t forget to like Gastrawnomica on facebook! Leave me a comment if you try these! I will love to hear what you thought!

Oh my goodness!

I’ve been so excited for the last couple of days because I’m dying to share this recipe! You might had seen on facebook or instagram the picture I uploaded on Saturday, and if not, what are you waiting for to follow me? (Just kidding, or maybe not). 

-FYI- did you read my last recipe? Beautiful Hannah sent me a picture of her Tamarind Pad Thai from Gastrawnomica and she loved it! Two thumps up for everyone who tried it!

Anyways, so Saturday I wanted to make something different for lunch. The day before, I shared this photo on facebook about my lunch, I knew it was good but something was missing, so I decided to change some things here and there and oh boy, I could not believe what I had done.

OHMYGOSH, if it was for me, I would have ate it the next day, today and tomorrow. This dressing is so delicious and versatile you can put it to pretty much anything and use it for so many things! 

So here it is, the best dressing/dip/sauce I’ve ever done! The way I served definitely enhanced the flavors, the jicama goes lovely with it!

Gastrawnomica’s Creamy Thai Dressing

Yields around 1 1/2 cups

1/2 large avocado, or 1 small

3/4 of a large globe tomato

Small slice of red onion

Small slice of jalapeño pepper

2 small carrots, peeled

1 small lime, juiced

1-2 small handfuls of cilantro 

Small piece of fresh ginger

Blend in your high speed blender until super creamy. Season to your taste if you’re not used to eat salt free.

This amazing dressing can be also used as a dip for snacking or to serve whenever you have guests! Just serve it with your favorite veggies or crackers! 

Now, for the final recipe you simply need some of the dressing above, and more veggies to have a -very – thai inspired meal!

Gastrawnomica’s Thai Pasta 

1/2 recipe of Gastrawnomica’s Thai Dressing 

2 cups cubed jicama 

1 extra large zucchini, peeled lengthwise

3 cups fresh lettuce, shredded

2 small carrots, peeled and finely chopped

1/4 of the globe tomato (leftover from the dressing), chopped in medium chunks

3-4 cilantro leaves, in small pieces 

Now you simply need to mix the cubed jicama, carrot and tomato with some of the dressing. In your favorite serving plate, put a bed of lettuce, then the zucchini “fettucini” and top with the jicama mixture. Finally, add the cilantro leaves and serve!

I have zero doubts you all are gonna love this recipe as much as we did! It is perfect for family and friends gatherings, super tasty, colorful and super healthy!Also, you probably noticed how easy it is, I mean, you just blend the ingredients and put it over anything you like!

Don’t forget to follow me on instagram, twitter or like my facebook page where I’m super active! I’ll talk to you soon, maybe from Montreal! Have an amazing week and don’t forget to let me know what you thought once you try it!

Hello, hello!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Mine was pretty nice until yesterday, that my sister and my nephew had a little accident. Thanks God they are fine now and resting a lot! Nothing too serious but a few stitches had to be done. I got so scared, but all my family spent the day around us, and we end up having a super nice family Sunday (like always).

Now into more fun topics! I finally did a video! Last week I finally decided it was time for a new video, I had been postponing it since I came back from Costa Rica, and I’m leaving so soon I knew I had to do it ASAP.

So I had a couple of ideas in mind, and I still do for my next recipe videos. But the first one I knew I wanted to do was a Pad Thai! I saw this amazing tamarind pulp the other day at the local market that I knew I had to buy! I obviously thought about my super delish tamarind sauce I made last year and it was time for Round 2! That how I thought it was time for Pad Thai!

The recipe is extremely easy, you wont need many ingredients and you can make tons of things with the leftovers! Both Pad Thai and Tamarind Sauce can be used for many different things! I love versatility, don’t you?

Anyways, you just need to follow the instructions from the video and you’ll see how this is going to take you less than 10 min once you have your sauce ready.

Gastrawnomica’s Tamarind Pad Thai

1 – 1/2 cups Tamarind Sauce***

Zucchini & Jicama Pasta (can be all zucchini)

Julienned Veggies

2-3 Tbsp dried coconut flakes, unsweetened

2 Tbsp finely chopped Red Onion

1 tsp jalapeño, finely chopped

2 Tbsp cilantro, finely chopped

1/4  of 1 nori sheet, in thin strips

Follow video instructions.

*** For this recipe there was a small variation in the sauce, instead of using fresh apple juice I used the same water from the soaked dates and added a small piece of ginger.

Well I hope you guys make this one! And like always, let me know if you liked it! Feel free to season to your taste if your not used to eat salt free, but the tamarind sauce is so tasty it will make your Pad Thai take you right up to Heaven!

And also, with the leftovers, make amazing wraps to take with you anywhere! Either work, school, trips, picnics, whatever, they are super portable! Simple wrap them in a nori sheet and then in collard greens, add more tamarind sauce and you’re ready to go!

I’ll try to post again soon, days are kind of crazy around here. Don’t forget to like my facebook page or follow @gastrawnomica on instagram or twitter for daily updates, fun pictures, food porn and a little bit more about my life!

Talk to you soon! Have a lovely week!