For those of you who saw my video interview with Mustafa Koita, Entrepreneur and Founder of Koita foods (plant-based nut milks), you may have watched till the end when I made this pretty tasty smoothie that contains the Koita Oat Milk product and just a few other things. Here’s the recipe all laid out and a few notes on the substitutions at the end.
To a blender, add the banana and pour in the Koita Oat Milk. Add the tahini and mix well on high. Add the Medjool date and almonds and mix again on the highest setting to finely chop and blend both ingredients.
Pour into one tall glass or two small cups and garnish with chopped pistachios, if desired.
NOTES
Try to consume this drink soon after making it, as refrigerating it may not taste as good since the banana is quick to degrade.
If you require a little more sweetener to this drink, you can add about 1/2 teaspoon honey or grape molasses (will change the color slightly). (The honey would make this smoothie vegetarian instead of vegan).
For a different topping, you can garnish with any type of chopped nut or coconut flakes and it would be equally delish!
One of the very first recipes I ever created for Suhoor (early morning meal before a fasting day) was this Very Berry Smoothie. It incorporates such healthy ingredients, including berries which are full of antioxidants. The original recipe is in my first cookbook, Summer Ramadan Cooking, which is available on Amazon.
This video is sponsored by one of my favorite online shops to procure a lot of my organic spices, salts and other ingredients, Mountain Rose Herbs.
To top the smoothies, I love to use freshly chopped nuts like almonds or pistachios. You can get halal-certified pistachios in the ad below.
A very berry smoothie with blueberries and strawberries is chock full of antioxidants
Avocados fall into the category of my favorite foods on the planet. They’re so nutritious, full of good fats and now being called a super food. I’ve been eating them for their wonderful good fats all of my adult life. When I moved out to California recently, I couldn’t wait to get my hand on the local avocados, and in my mind I thought they would be a lot more economical than in the grocery stores of the Midwest. Much to my surprise, they’re not- and avocado toast at some local cafes can be upwards of $13 per sandwich! Not cool, California…
Well, avocado toast is the easiest thing on the planet to make yourself, if you like. My California twist involves a little red pepper, Himalayan salt and extra virgin olive oil.
Ingredients for California Avocado Toast: 2 pieces of bread, 1-2 large avocados (one per sandwich), extra virgin olive oil, sea salt or Himalayan pink salt, red pepper flakes
Simply toast or grill your bread of choice and brush a little extra virgin olive oil on each piece.
Remove the pit of one large, ripe avocado and mash the flesh in a bowl.
To the bread, add spring greens or arugula, then a handful of the mashed avocado on each piece of bread. Drizzle with olive oil.
Add a pinch of salt (Himalayan or sea salt) and a pinch of red pepper flakes on top, as well.
The suhoor meal is such an important one to have because it can really make or break the experience you have on the fasting day. If it’s a good suhoor, you’ll feel energized and ready to tackle the day; if not, it can leave you drained and exhausted, unable to do the things you need to do to keep your household running.
Spinach, Strawberry & Mango Smoothie. Sometimes you just want a thick and energizing drink instead of eating much food at suhoor. If that’s the case, this is one you don’t want to pass up any time soon, as the ingredients go surprisingly well together.
Chicken Sausages with Heirloom Tomatoes. Chicken is light enough to have at suhoor, if you’re in the mood for some serious protein. You can also do this with beef or lamb. Get the recipe here.
Chicken Sausages with Heirloom Tomatoes
Baked Phyllo Shells with Scrambled Eggs. I love this recipe because they’re fun and bite-size, which means you will mostly likely have a small portion of them and still feel satisfied. Get the recipe here.
Baked Phyllo Cups with Savory Scrambled Eggs
Homemade Chappati. I’m a huge fan of homemade breads. You know exactly what’s in them and when you get the hang of a certain recipe, it becomes something you can do with your eyes closed. Try this one, it’s delicious and really straightforward and you can make great wraps with them! Get the recipe here.
Breakfast Eggs with Sejouk. I love eggs any time of day, but I feel they give me quite the boost when I have them at suhoor, since they’re a great source of protein. To jazz them up a bit, sometimes I add that semi-spicy Sejouk, or Turkish sausage similar to what a Mexican chorizo is like. This recipe is for one, but so easy to double, triple, etc. Get the recipe here.
Breakfast Eggs with Sejouk
Savory Spinach Pie: I can’t express how much I love this, as I could eat it any time of day or night. My best friend who is from Turkey taught me her version and my cousin who is half Greek taught me her grandmother’s version. I combined the two ways and came up with this, which I just love so much and find it to be perfect for suhoor. Get the recipe here.
Savory Spinach Pie
Parmesan & Feta Quiche. More evidence of my love of eggs, this quiche is like a fluffy egg pie. I just used whatever I had leftover in the fridge, which was quite a bit of cheese, but you can add whatever you like. Choose light ingredients, however, as anything heavier will affect the cooking time. Fresh spinach, chives or something similar would be good substitutes. Get the recipe here.
Stuffed Figs with Yogurt Cheese, Honey & Almonds.On the lighter side of suhoor sits fruits, yogurt and honey and I love these. If you can find some really fresh figs, go for it completely; if not try dates or even other fruits like pears, peaches or apples. The combination is so very good. Get the recipe here.
Chicken Pot Pie in Phyllo Dough. This is what I call the leftover suhoor recipe. I would probably start out making it for Iftar and then have some for suhoor because it’s light enough and not spicy, oily or heavy in any way. The protein, however, really helps me get through the fasting day. Get the Whole Tied Chicken by Zabiha Halal, boil it or roast it and then pull it apart to use in this recipe. Get the recipe here.
Chicken Pot Pie in Phyllo Dough
Buttermilk Pancakes with Orange Zest. For the real breakfast experience, there must be pancakes of some sort, right? I love these so much because of the orange zest that gives it all that zing. These are spongy, not fluffy pancakes so if you like that style, this is yours to make. Get the recipe here.
Buttermilk Pancakes with Orange Zest
For more Sahoor recipes, get a copy of my Summer Ramadan Cooking Cookbook in either paperback or Kindle version.
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When I went to Sicily in 1993, it was the first time I really ever experienced fruit as the main ingredient- and sometimes the only ingredient- in a dessert. At first I was waiting around for the real dessert to please show up and perhaps this was just one of many courses at the end of the main lunch time meal? Alas, except for the occasional all-natural gelato that was acquired during a passiagata in the main square, no deep-dark chocolate cake or cheesecake or pound cake or ice cream cake of any sort was going to show up.
That changed the way I ate forever. It also began to change the way I thought about the notion of artificial sweetness, processed foods and how not to hide from real food.
That said, all these years later I’ve come to love to have fresh berries and stone fruits combined with all-natural honey and nuts as part of a more luxurious dessert.
Recently I was watching a travel show where the host visited North Africa – Morocco and Tunisia, in particular. I was so focused on the food that I honestly can’t remember now which host or name of the show it was, but I’ll try to look that up some time because it was a good one.
Anyway, in the show they featured a little humble restaurant that served what looked like the most amazing and beautiful and fresh seafood I’ve seen since I’ve been to Sicily. After the meal, they served this dish of pine nuts, honey and strawberries as a dessert.
It reminded me so much of the food in Sicily and the way I learned to enjoy dessert in a healthier, all-natural way when I was there that I immediately decided to try this combo myself. You don’t really need much of a ‘recipe’ other than having the best quality ingredients and putting them together, to taste. If you like it sweeter, add more honey; if not, add less.
I love this for suhoor, for iftar and/or for dessert any day of the year. If you prepare it and let it stand for about an hour at room temperature or a little longer in the refrigerator, you’ll notice the water come out of the strawberries and make the dish a little less thick, but it’s still quite enjoyable.
Alternate: you can make another version with almonds or walnut:
There’s no doubt that one of the hardest part of the fasting day might not even be going without food, but going without water. That’s why it’s super important to hydrate during the non-fasting hours, all throughout those hours. It’s easy to remember to do if you make a huge jar of a natural, hydrating drink and keep it on hand to fill up large cups to drink after eating the Iftar meal, take it on the go to the taraweeh prayers, and more.
I made this wonderful large jar of fruity coconut water earlier in the day, refrigerated it and took it out at Iftar time. I drink as much as I can throughout the night and before it’s time to stop eating and drinking once again. Use fresh fruits you have on hand, the best coconut water you can find (or just water) and fresh herbs from your garden to make it extra special and refreshing.
