by Sara Tercero
1. In a medium saucepan, combine the tomato sauce, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, molasses, salt, red pepper flakes, onion powder, garlic powder, tomato paste, and smoked paprika and bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring often, for 20 minutes. Let cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
Per serving (2 tablespoons): Calories: 32; Fat: 0g; Carbohydrates: 8g; Protein: 1g; Fiber: 1g; Sodium: 269mg
Strawberry Chia Jam
5 INGREDIENTS, GLUTEN-FREE, NUT-FREE, OIL-FREE, QUICK, SOY-FREE
PREP TIME: 2 minutes / COOK TIME: 10 minutes / MAKES 1½ CUPS
This homemade jam is so easy to make you will wonder why you ever spent your money on a store-bought version. It’s very much in demand at my house; my kids ask for it almost every week. I love that it’s refined-sugar-free and sweetened with only dates, which are high in fiber, antioxidants, and iron. We enjoy this jam spread on toast, added to Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jam Oatmeal, or in a yogurt bowl or smoothies.
3 cups frozen strawberries
4 dates, pitted and chopped small
¼ cup water
3 tablespoons chia seeds
1. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the strawberries, dates, and water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
2. Using a potato masher, mash the mixture until the jam is smooth but with some chunks remaining. Add the chia seeds and stir well. Transfer the mixture to a small jar, cover, and let cool. The jam will thicken as it cools. The jam can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Variation Tip: Vary the recipe by using your favorite fresh or frozen fruits, such as peaches, apricots, blueberries, or a combination.
Per serving (2 tablespoons): Calories: 43; Fat: 1g; Carbohydrates: 8g; Protein: 1g; Fiber: 3g; Sodium: 2mg
Raw Date Paste
5 INGREDIENTS, GLUTEN-FREE, NO COOK, NUT-FREE, OIL-FREE, QUICK, SOY-FREE
PREP TIME: 10 minutes / MAKES 2½ CUPS
Dates are a delicious natural sweetener, and this raw date paste works really well to sweeten things up. Go ahead and substitute it for maple syrup in any recipe in this book, like the Sugar-Free Ketchup or Peaches and Cream Overnight Oats. It will impart a darker hue to the recipes, since maple syrup is much lighter in color, and the sweetness will be subtler than maple syrup’s. It is ideal for people who do not like things very sweet.
1 cup Medjool dates, pitted and chopped
1½ cups water
In a blender, combine the dates and water and blend until smooth. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
Per serving (2 tablespoons): Calories: 21; Fat: 0g; Carbohydrates: 5g; Protein: 0g; Fiber: 1g; Sodium: 0mg
Crispy, Crunchy Granola
5 INGREDIENTS, QUICK, SOY-FREE
PREP TIME: 5 minutes / COOK TIME: 20 minutes / MAKES 4 CUPS
I love the ease and versatility of homemade granola. Many times, I bust out a batch before I have even decided what will go into my smoothie bowl. It’s tasty, crunchy, and it’ll save you tons of money—commercial granolas are pricy! Even better, this recipe also has less oil and sugar than store-bought versions. Use it in Strawberry, Banana, and Granola Yogurt Bowls or Blueberry and Peanut Butter Parfait Bowls.
3 cups rolled oats
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup maple syrup
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
½ cup chopped pecans
½ cup raisins
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl mix together the oats, olive oil, and maple syrup and stir well until the oats are slightly wet. Add the salt and pumpkin pie spice and stir well.
3. Spread out the mixture gently on the sheet pan. It’s okay if it’s clumpy (granola clusters are delicious!). Bake for 10 minutes. Stir gently, being careful not to break up the clusters. Sprinkle the pecans on top and bake for another 10 minutes, or until it is golden and smells amazing. Since oven temperatures vary, if the granola is not ready, continue to bake and check every 2 minutes so the granola does not burn.
4. Let the granola cool completely. Add the raisins and stir gently until combined. Store the granola in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
Variation Tip: For a super-nutty granola, add 3 tablespoons of peanut butter to the oat mixture in step 2. For a berry granola, omit the pumpkin pie spice and replace the raisins with dried berries. For a tropical take, omit the pumpkin pie spice, pecans, and raisins. Add ½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes to the oat mixture, and add ½ cup macadamia nut pieces halfway through the baking time. Then stir in ¼ cup of chopped dried mangoes after baking.
Per serving (¼ cup): Calories: 138; Fat: 7g; Carbohydrates: 18g; Protein: 3g; Fiber: 2g; Sodium: 74mg
References
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Zheng, Ju-Sheng, Stephen J. Sharp, Fumiaki Imamura, Rajiv Chowdhury et al. “Association of Plasma Biomarkers of Fruit and Vegetable Intake with Incident Type 2 Diabetes: EPIC-InterAct Case-Cohort Study in Eight European Countries.” BMJ 2020 (July 8, 2020): 370.
MEASUREMENT CONVERSIONS
Acknowledgments
I thank:
My husband, David Tercero-Lopez, for tirelessly entertaining our kids, being my cheerful sous chef, testing recipes without complaint, and for tolerating my incessant chatter about food. Thank you for all your help, support, patience, and for going vegan with me. Our children, Mia, Ezra, and Alexa, for inspiring me to seek better health and vitality. My mother, Kathy Morrissey, and late grandmother Patricia Stone, for praising my healthy appetite and teaching me to cook confidently. My sister, Lauren O’Brien, for believing in me. My late fathers, Dennis Morrissey and Jim Maggio, for sharing their love of food. My influences and friends—Marilyn, Butterfield Kitchen, Roomies from 1993 to 2005, my Mikes, Jens, Sarahs, and Jess. Eric, Janice, Heidi, the Rudy’s guys, and Bunmie. My editor, Gleni. My brother-in-law, Kevin O’Brien, for his technological know-how. My Instagram family, with extra gratitude to Kate Friedman of @herbivoreskitchen.
About the Author
Sara Tercero is the face behind the popular blog Better Food Guru. She has cooked professionally for two decades and uses that expertise to create and share easy, health-conscious, and tasty recipes that anyone can cook. Always a healthy eater, her family jokes about her preference for salad over sweets. Since fully taking the plant-based plunge in January 2019, it has been her mission to prove that plants are delicious by creating drool-worthy recipes that make people want to eat their vegetables. In her off time, she enjoys her three small children and laughs at her husband’s pranks.
