Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather

Fruit leather has been on my "to make" list since I got a dehydrator a few years ago. Admittedly, at first, I wasn't sure what the weird flat trays were for that came with the dehydrator. I ended up tossing them in the dark hole that was the back of the pantry and when we moved, I found them cracked and just threw them away. That was that. Until now.

When Todd and I go backpacking, we always buy fruit leather. It's nice to have something sweet, healthy, and satisfying but apples and berries definitely don't travel well. That's where the fruit leather comes in! The store-bought stuff is expensive and when you make it yourself it's really reassuring to actually see exactly what's in it. 

Making the leather couldn't be easier (as long as you've got some time to kill) and it's a great way to use up those apples that were shoved in the back of the fridge and essentially forsaken. Yes, I did cut many brown spots off of the organic honeycrisp apples that I payed for with my left arm. I wasn't about to waste those puppies!

Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.”
— St. Francis de Sales

When making these scrumptious fruit leathers...you can't be in a hurry. They're so undemanding, yet utterly swish, and definitely worth the wait. Aren't they delightful all wrapped up?

Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
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Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather
by September-4-2014
Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too! Notes: Feel free to use whatever dried berries or raisins you like.
Ingredients
  • 4 medium very ripe apples, cored and chopped
  • 2 cups sliced rhubarb (about 4-6 stems)
  • ½ cup dried blueberries
  • 1 Tbsp. molasses
  • 1 tsp. alma powder (optional)
  • 1 tsp. lime or lemon juice
Instructions
Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until very smooth. If you don't have a vitamix with a tamper tool, then you may have to pause it several times to push down the fruit.Coat two fruit leather/liquid trays of the dehydrator with a nonstick cooking spray. Pour about 2 cups (half the mixture) onto one of the trays and smooth over. Repeat with the second tray.Place the liquid trays at the highest slots and dehydrate at about 140 F for about 6-10 hours.The center should be slightly soft but definitely dry. The leather should be pliable and not crack too much. Store in an airtight container with parchment in between the leather strips. For long storage, put in the freezer.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 16
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!
Produce On Parade - Apple Rhu-Berry Fruit Leather - Sweet and tart, these homemade fruit leathers are chewy and nutritious with juicy apples, rhubarb, and blueberries. No refined sugar too!

Bob is ridiculously dapper, don't you think?

German Word of The Day

Fruit leather --> Obstleder (oobst-laydeh) - Okay, so I kind of made that one up. Any German speakers around? Did I make a real word!? What do you call fruit leather? Obst = fruit/Leder = leather

Good Deed of The Day

Are you near Santa Monica? If so, you must go to the first ever vegan Oktoberfest in my place since I won't be able to attend. Maybe email me with names of all the awesome vegan beers you loved? Check out the deets, here, so I can live vicariously through you and your vegan privileges. 

Vegan Mushroom Soup

Hey dears! 

On Sunday I did a guest post for my blogging BFF, Lisa, over at Je Suis Alimentageuse. I made my finest vegan mushroom soup and you definitely don't want to miss it! So head on over and scope it out.

Be sure to say hi to Lisa too! She has such a wonderful site.

Produce On Parade - Vegan Mushroom Soup
Produce On Parade - Vegan Mushroom Soup

And you thought there wouldn't be a Bob photo in this post.

Produce On Parade - Vegan Mushroom Soup

And in case you missed it, Todd and my weekend was awesome. To follow us on social media, you'll see the buttons below my mug at the top right of your screen.

New!! Vegan buttered gnocchi with baby bella mushrooms, lemon thyme, parsley, and vegan parmesan. This is super easy and quick; done in less than 20 minutes top to bottom! #vegan #whatveganeats #gnocchi
New!! Vegan buttered gnocchi with baby bella mushrooms, lemon thyme, parsley, and vegan parmesan. This is super easy and quick; done in less than 20 minutes top to bottom! #vegan #whatveganeats #gnocchi

Sweet Potato & Blueberry Forest Bowl

I can hear my father-in-law laughing right now. Fanciful titles aren't his thing. Dishes should have one word really (spaghetti), two if need be (jelly sandwiches), and only in extreme cases do they ever need three (chicken noodle soup). But definitely not five.

However, I like descriptive recipe titles. 

Whimsical descriptives inject wonder into dishes. I could have titled this dish, Sweet Potato, Blueberry & Kale Bowl...erm...not as fun (and still long). There's greens, nuts, seeds, berries...sounds like a forest forage to me! And so it is. The playful titles stay.

Produce On Parade - Sweet Potato & Blueberry Forest Bowl - An easy and incredibly healthy dinner. Nuts, seeds, and dried berries adorn sweet potato, quinoa, and kale that's drizzled with a homemade blueberry vinaigrette.
“A man’s mind stretched by a new idea can never go back to its original dimensions.”
— Oliver Wendell Holmes
Produce On Parade - Sweet Potato & Blueberry Forest Bowl - An easy and incredibly healthy dinner. Nuts, seeds, and dried berries adorn sweet potato, quinoa, and kale that's drizzled with a homemade blueberry vinaigrette.

This is such a refreshing and wholesome meal. I had whipped up a blueberry vinaigrette in a frenzy several days ago for a surprise dinner and I knew I needed to make something to use it up. Our fridge is practically empty, no greens to speak of except for a few stalks of kale so a green salad was out to the question. That's when my idea for this forest bowl popped into my mind! Perfect!

Produce On Parade - Sweet Potato & Blueberry Forest Bowl - An easy and incredibly healthy dinner. Nuts, seeds, and dried berries adorn sweet potato, quinoa, and kale that's drizzled with a homemade blueberry vinaigrette.
Produce On Parade - Sweet Potato & Blueberry Forest Bowl - An easy and incredibly healthy dinner. Nuts, seeds, and dried berries adorn sweet potato, quinoa, and kale that's drizzled with a homemade blueberry vinaigrette.
Produce On Parade - Sweet Potato & Blueberry Forest Bowl - An easy and incredibly healthy dinner. Nuts, seeds, and dried berries adorn sweet potato, quinoa, and kale that's drizzled with a homemade blueberry vinaigrette.
Produce On Parade - Sweet Potato & Blueberry Forest Bowl - An easy and incredibly healthy dinner. Nuts, seeds, and dried berries adorn sweet potato, quinoa, and kale that's drizzled with a homemade blueberry vinaigrette.
Produce On Parade - Sweet Potato & Blueberry Forest Bowl - An easy and incredibly healthy dinner. Nuts, seeds, and dried berries adorn sweet potato, quinoa, and kale that's drizzled with a homemade blueberry vinaigrette.
Produce On Parade - Sweet Potato & Blueberry Forest Bowl - An easy and incredibly healthy dinner. Nuts, seeds, and dried berries adorn sweet potato, quinoa, and kale that's drizzled with a homemade blueberry vinaigrette.
Produce On Parade - Sweet Potato & Blueberry Forest Bowl - An easy and incredibly healthy dinner. Nuts, seeds, and dried berries adorn sweet potato, quinoa, and kale that's drizzled with a homemade blueberry vinaigrette.
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Sweet Potato & Blueberry Forest Bowl
by August-29-2014
An easy and incredibly healthy dinner. Nuts, seeds, and dried berries adorn sweet potato, quinoa, and kale that's drizzled with a homemade blueberry vinaigrette. NOTES: Feel free to use your favorite greens, nuts, and berries for this. If you don't feel like making the dressing, any fruity vinaigrette will do.
Ingredients
  • 1 cup quinoa, dry
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 large sweet potatoes, diced
  • 4 large kale leaves, de-stemmed and torn
  • ¼ cup dried blueberries
  • 2 Tbsp. hazelnuts, chopped
  • 2 Tbsp. pumpkin seeds
  • drizzle of homemade (recipe below) or store-bought blueberry vinaigrette
  • dash of kosher salt
  • dash of ground black pepper
Instructions
In a medium saucepan, bring the quinoa and water to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15-20 minutes. Drain any excess water with the lid and continue to heat over low until all the water has been absorbed. Meanwhile, steam the diced sweet potatoes for about 15 minutes, until fork tender.In a microwave safe bowl, microwave the torn kale for about 1-3 minutes. It should be wilted, but develop a bright green color and still have a bit of chew to it. To serve, divide the warm ingredients evenly into four bowls. Start with a serving of quinoa into a shallow bowl and add a side of a sweet potatoes and kale. Sprinkle with 1 Tbsp. dried blueberries, and 1/2 Tbsp. hazelnuts and pumpkin seeds. Drizzle with the vinaigrette and sprinkle with a dash of salt and pepper.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 4
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Wild Blueberry Vinaigrette
by August-29-2014
A sweet and tart wild blueberry vinaigrette, the perfect compliment to a big green salad.
Ingredients
  • ½ cup fresh or frozen wild blueberries
  • ½ lemon, juiced
  • ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp. agave nectar or maple syrup
  • pinch of kosher salt
Instructions
Combine everything in a blender and blend on high for several minutes. Serve over green salad and store in fridge
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: about 3/4 cup
Produce On Parade - Sweet Potato & Blueberry Forest Bowl - An easy and incredibly healthy dinner. Nuts, seeds, and dried berries adorn sweet potato, quinoa, and kale that's drizzled with a homemade blueberry vinaigrette.
Produce On Parade - Sweet Potato & Blueberry Forest Bowl - An easy and incredibly healthy dinner. Nuts, seeds, and dried berries adorn sweet potato, quinoa, and kale that's drizzled with a homemade blueberry vinaigrette.
Produce On Parade - Sweet Potato & Blueberry Forest Bowl - An easy and incredibly healthy dinner. Nuts, seeds, and dried berries adorn sweet potato, quinoa, and kale that's drizzled with a homemade blueberry vinaigrette.

German Word of The Day

Forest --> Wald (vald)

Good Deed of The Day

Read this article from The Huffington Post, Grilling For Labor Day? Don't Burn The Planet.