HEART HEALTHY DARK CHOCOLATE QUINOA BITES

Heart Healthy Dark Chocolate Quinoa Bites Ingredients:

¼ cup uncooked tricolor quinoa {or color of choice}

1½ cups dark chocolate chunks {vegan if needed}

½ tbsp coconut oil

6 tbsp goji berry trail mix

¼ cup walnuts chopped

2 tbsp cacao nibs

Instructions:

Cover a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside.
Thoroughly rinse the quinoa to remove the saponin (bitter taste) by adding uncooked quinoa to bowl, fill with clean water and soak for a few minutes. Use a wire whisk to move the quinoa around in the water, then strain the quinoa in a fine mesh sieve and rinse with fresh water.
Add wet quinoa to sauté pan and cook on stove top over medium low heat, using a whisk or spatula to stir in pan.
Once the quinoa is hot, the water will absorb and the quinoa will begin to pop. The quinoa will begin to brown and have a nutty flavor when it’s ready. This took about 5-6 minutes for me, stir continuously to ensure it does not burn.
Once quinoa is toasted, remove from heat and set aside.
While toasted quinoa cools, melt chocolate chips and coconut oil in double boiler if you have one, or melt in a small pot on low stirring continuously and watching to make sure chocolate does not burn.
Once chocolate has fully melted, remove from heat and stir in toasted quinoa until well mixed.
Pour chocolate mixture onto prepared wax covered pan and spread into thin layer.
Add goji berry trail mix {goji berries, dried cranberries, almonds, cashews and sunflower seeds}, chopped walnuts and cacao nibs, press down lightly to mix toppings into chocolate, then put in freezer for 15-20 minutes or until chocolate has hardened.
Take heart shape cookie cutters and press down firmly to make little heart-shaped bites. I used three different sizes {1 – 2 1/2″} and got 30-32 heart pieces.
Store in refrigerator.

HEALTH BENEFITS:

Walnuts contain the amino acid l-arginine, which offers multiple vascular benefits to people with heart disease, or those who have increased risk for heart disease
Goji berries are an excellent source of antioxidants and contain all 8 essential amino acids. They also have the highest concentration of protein of any fruit and are loaded with vitamin C while containing more carotenoids than any other food
Quinoa is gluten-free, high in protein and one of the few plant foods that contain all nine essential amino acids. It is also high in fiber, magnesium, B-vitamins, iron, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin E and various beneficial antioxidants
Dark chocolate contains flavonoids called polyphenols, which can help blood pressure, clotting, and inflammation
Almonds contain good-for-your-heart fiber. They also contain vitamin E, which helps lower bad cholesterol

For original recipe, click here

For another delicious recipe click here