Get ready for summer days out with these homemade, plant-based and mind-boosting snacks from entrepreneur and founder of London’s very own Plant Academy, Lauren Lovatt. Whether you’re heading to a festival, picnic or for a day out at the beach, these savoury and sweet snack recipes are perfect for snacking on the go!
Sweet Snacks
Cherry & Chilli Truffles Recipe
This is the perfect time of year for cherries. Their rich fruity flavour goes so well with chocolate and the chilli creeps in for a nice surprise.
Ingredients:
75g almond butter
80g fresh British cherries, pitted
30g dried cherries
20g cacao powder + extra for dusting
40g cacao butter melted
30g water
Pinch salt
Pinch chilli powder (to taste)
Method:
- Place all the ingredients, apart from the cacao butter, in a magimix or high powered blender. Blend all the ingredients until smooth. Check they are to your taste for salt and chilli.
- Then stream in the melted cacao butter.
- Put into a bowl and cover with a plate. Put in the fridge for an hour or two until set.
- Once set, roll into balls of about 20g then roll in cacao powder – or carob is even better if you have it
- Keep in a sealed container in the fridge and enjoy! (They can keep for up to 5 days in the fridge….if they weren’t devoured immediately).
CBD Strawberries Recipe
These strawberries are fantastic on a sunny afternoon with creamy coconutty dip that tastes almost like white chocolate.
Totally chilled out snacking.
Ingredients:
One punnet British strawberries, washed
50g hemp seeds
100ml water
60g coconut butter (bliss/manna), melted
10g honey
5 drops CBD
1⁄4 tsp vanilla powder/extract
Pinch salt
Method:
- Firstly place your strawberries in the fridge once they are washed. Keep the tops in tact. Now to make your white chocolate
- Blend the hemp, water, salt, honey and vanilla in a high speed blender or nutri bullet to make a hemp cream.
- Once smooth add the melted coconut butter and CBD and blend again until silky. Pour into a small bowl ready for dipping.
- Now line a plate with baking parchment. Get the strawberries out of the fridge.
- Dip each strawberry, one by one, into the ‘white chocolate’ and tap of any excess. Place onto the baking parchment and continue until all the strawberries are dipped.
- You can dip them in additional hemp seeds or desiccated coconut if you are looking for extra texture.
- Place back in the fridge to set. Enjoy in the sunshine.
Savoury Snacks
British Bean Farinata Recipe
This savoury summer snack was inspired by Italian food author David Bez. I love to put a British spin on this dish using locally grown flowers by Hodmedods. This is the perfect picnic snack and a great gluten-free alternative to bread. Served with a cool raita, fermented hot sauce, hummus or tahini.
Ingredients:
250g Hodmedods fava bean flour, or chickpea flour if you can’t find this
400ml water
100g wild leaves – spinach, dandelion and kale all work well
100ml sesame oil
10g nutritional yeast
10g cumin seeds, toasted
3g salt
Method:
- Blend the water and flour until smooth (this should be the consistency of pancake mixture) and leave in a glass bowl covered with a cloth overnight.
- This enables the mixture to naturally ferment – making the farinata more tasty, spongey and more digestible. Make sure the temperature is ambient and not too hot or the fermentation process will happen too quickly.
- The next day, preheat your oven to 180°C.
- Line a 30 x 15cm baking tray with baking parchment to cover. Make sure the tin you choose is at least 2cm deep.
- The mixture should be lightly bubbly at this point. It might have separated slightly but this is OK as we will blend it again. Pour back into your blender and blend with the oil, nutritional yeast, and salt until smooth.
- Pour into your tray and scatter over cumin seeds, leaves and a teeny bit of extra oil.
- Bake for 25 mins until lightly golden and cooked through.
- Allow to cool then cut into squares or triangles and store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Broccoli Crisps Recipe
Ingredients:
Two large heads of broccoli
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tbsp olive oil
1⁄2 tsp smoked paprika
Pinch salt
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 190°C and line a baking tray with baking paper
- This is the perfect way to use any broccoli stems you might otherwise throw away. So if you are enjoying steamed broccoli with your dinner think differently about that stalk. Cut off the florets and then finely slice the stalk all the way until about 1cm from the end, which can be a bit too woody.
- Place the broccoli pieces into a bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients. Scatter onto the baking tray and cook for 20 mins until crisp.
- Serve as a snack either alone or with a spicy dip.
Get more summer food inspiration, with our tips on throwing the perfect sustainable BBQ or low-waste picnic.
Read more about the relationship between food and mental health in our interview with Lauren Lovatt.
See the Eco-Age team‘s thrown-together summer recipe ideas.