Food Fight: Homemade Chocolate

After grossing everybody out with tales of chicken feet last week (and gettings a fair amount of messages from people who, say, grilled it in the Phillipines or ate it in aspics in Israel or wanted to point me to the wikipedia page), I’ve decided to try to redeem myself to the naysayers by sweetening the pot.

I know very few people who aren’t in love with chocolate, and luckily if you get a bar with a high percentage of cocoa (85% or more), it’s actually somewhat healthy… especially when compared to things like Snickers bars.

But even healthier is making your own chocolate out of the best available ingredients. I like combining about a half cup of raw cacao powder (I buy the nibs and grind them myself for a teeny bit of crunch), a quarter cup of extra virgin coconut oil and maybe three tablespoons of raw honey. You can, of course, add lucama powder, maca powder, nuts and seeds or even berries. Maca is grounding and helps temper the caffeine buzz, and lucama acts as a natural sweetener. Chili powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, cherries–whatever you like in your chocolate, just mix it right in, adding more oil as needed. Be creative! (Using powders also helps you save your cacao powder, which isn’t always cheap.) Then use as a sauce, or refrigerate it and cut it into squares.

Why is this a healthy choice? Well, chocolate has a lot of calories so is of course not something you want to binge on, and probably something to avoid if you’re trying to lose weight. But if you’re going to eat some anyway, a nutrient-rich alternative is much better–and you may even find yourself satisfied with far less of it.

About the ingredients.

Raw cacao powder or nibs: Because these are not cooked, they have almost four times as many antioxidants than cocoa powder. This in addition to the magnesium, fiber and serotonin-inducing chemicals found in chocolate.

Coconut oil: I use cold-pressed, organic extra virgin coconut oil. It does get hard at room temperature. It is not hydrogenated, and contains essential fatty acids, lauric acid and other goodies. Plus, a recent study indicated that women who ate coconut oil actually lost inches. It is good stuff. Having said that, if you’ve never eaten it, it does take a little while to get used to at first so start slowly–just three or so tablespoons a day.

Raw honey: This has the most nutritional value of other forms of honey, because it has not been heated or pasteurized or processed. And you’ll use less of it than you will sugar because it is sweeter.

Bon Appétit!

P.S. If you are cutting weight and hate me right now, check out Amazing Grass’ chocolate-flavored green drink. It is yum!