To be honest I have never been to a Whole Foods Market. Can you believe it? I’ve been in a couple different “healthy food” grocery stores and they were all pretty small, so I assumed Whole Foods was too. Well last week I jumped at the chance for a “Sneak Peak” at their holiday foods and gift ideas in Glastonbury and I’m so happy I did because Whole Foods is not a regular old, small, “healthy food” grocery store.
At the “Sneak Peak” event we were able to sample a lot of different holiday foods like Butternut Squash Bisque, which had kale in it! I never would have known if they hadn’t shared the recipe with us. We also tried some No-Bake Thumbprint Cookies, they have a similar recipe on their site. They sell the most amazing Red Velvet Cake too.
I mustn’t forget about their Strawberry Cheesecake with no dairy, wheat or refined sugar. No one could have convinced me that a cheesecake without dairy would even be worth trying, but Whole Foods didn’t just tell me…they showed me. And they proved it!
Recipe courtesy of Whole Foods
- 2 Cups pecans or walnuts (or one cup of each)
- 1 cup pitted dates, soaked in water 5 minutes and drained
- 1/4 cup ground hemp seeds
- 1/2 t sea salt
- 1/2 t vanilla extract
Directions:
- Place pecans in a food processor and process or pulse until finely chopped
- Add the dates, hemp seeds, salt, vanilla and process until mixture forms a ball
- Turn out into an 9-inch springform pan and press the mixture into a crust.
Filling
Ingredients:
- 3 cups cashews, soaked in water for at least 1 hour+drained
- 1 cup soaked dates
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 cup raw coconut manna
- 1 t vanilla extract
- 1/ t sea salt
Directions:
- Drain the dates and mash into a paste and place it with the cashews, lemon juice, coconut manna, vanilla and sea salt into a food processor
- Process until completely sooth adding one teaspoon dof almond milk or date water at at ime, if necessary, to thin the mixture to obtain the desired consistency
- Pour into crust and tap the pan to remove any air bubbles
Topping
Ingredients:
- 2 cups frozen strawberries
- 1 cup pitted dates, soaked in water for 10 minutes+drained
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
Directions:
- Place strawberries, dates and almond milk in food processor and process until very smooth
- Pour over the filling
- Freeze the cheesecake for several hours until firm
- To serve remove cheesecake from springform pan while still frozen