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Friday, August 12, 2011

Top Marin Eating and The Best Brownies

As of 2011 there's now a 4th restaurant in Marin with a Michelin star, the Lark Creek Inn.
This is the Shaved Vegetable Salad I got. Celery-Dill Vinaigrette killing it and epic fennel and cleverly sliced zucchini and other root veggies.  They really take advantage of seasonal quality veggies which is awesome.
 I got to sample my other family member's choices as well!
Roasted Beet Salad
This was a standout compared to your average beet salad because it had 'cashew dust' sprinkled on and an epic kale chip on top.  And the beets were perfect of course.
Heirloom Tomato Salad
Heirloom tomatoes are on fire right now! and whatever the red and green vinaigrettes they did on this were awesome as well.
Marin Sun Farms Burger
I took advantage of the grass fed red meat on the menu, hold the bun, fries, and aioli (replaced with quality braised carrots/green beans).  I'm not experienced with meat enough to know how to describe how good it was, but trust me. You are what you eat, and animals are what they eat. Top notch.
Luckily I got to taste their veggie burger, which I was stoked on as well. The grilled mushroom/onion in the patty gave the best flavor, while the lentils/bulgur wheat offered texture and shape for veggie patty perfection! I will definitely be returning for everything above soon. Michelin star worthy fasho.

And the main show: Brownies don't even rank high on my list of desserts, but I wanted to try this recipe with some grain free modifications and boy am I stoked!
 These turned out to be good brownies, ESPECIALLY for how healthy they are. I didn't even remember to add chocolate chips. They will be substantially better, if that's even possible. They also made me feel awesome not because of the taste. Not too rich, they were easy to digest and I felt a boatload of energy.
No good brownie pan = glad because these came out as nice little brownie bites.
 Rich, chocolatey, a hint of banana, and a bit crispy on the outside like a muffin top and slighlty fudgy and pudding like on the inside. A few crunchy chocolate chip morsels and these will be through the roof.
Adapted from: Happy Herbivore
  • 1 150z Can Black Beans completely drained
  • 1 Banana (mine was mildly ripe, more ripe=more sweet)
  • 1T Allspice (out of cinnamon)
  • 1/4c+1T Agave Nectar
  • 2T Coconut flour (instead of oats)
  • 2T Garbanzo flour (instead of oats)
  • 1/4c Unsweetened Cocoa
  • 1t Vanilla
  • 2 egg whites (taking place of 2nd banana)
Mix all ingredients in a blender/food processor (I used my Smart Stick in a bowl) and bake 25 minutes at 350ยบ (could go a hair more) in your pan/muffin tin of choice. Makes 9. Congratulations! Dairy free-Grain Free Brownies (sub more egg white for banana for fruit free, and/or chia eggs for bananas for vegan!)

You could do a date puree to get rid of the banana flavor if your not a fan. And if they aren't sweet and delicious enough I would make any Avo-Fudge spread but haven't tried it yet (simple avo+cocoa powder+agave mix).

What seasonal produce do you look forward to most? What's your favorite healthy dessert recipe?

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