I hope everyone here is having a great weekend! It is nice to enjoy the sunshine and have some fantastic food in your stomach, and being day 9 of the Minimalist Baker 21 day challenge, I am doing just that!
Two reviews for you today, if you have been creeping my Instagram, you probably will be able to guess! First, I am going to review one of the BEST desserts I’ve had in a while (okay, sorry I sound like a broken record after my cheesecake post, but dang this was good). I am going to review the Coconut Sugar Caramelized Plantains. I’m not sure if I have ever eaten plantains before, so I was really excited to try this out, and I love coconut sugar, or well anything coconut. These take roughly five minutes to make, have five ingredients and are perfect after a long day (especially with 227 calories a serving!)
Ingredients, Preparation and Cost – Ingredients are pretty easy to find in this one, however a bit expensive, as plantains are more of a specialty item, as is coconut sugar. However I think you could get similar results with brown sugar, and bananas. Preparation is super quick and requires little clean-up
Time – The time it took to make this recipe was crazy quick, it was made and cleaned up in under 10 minutes!
Appearance, Taste & Texture, Satiety Level – Oh man, high score for this category, there was a beautiful appearance to these plantains, the photos couldn’t do it justice! Taste was amazing, crunchy outside with a 
soft interior, the coconut sugar caramelized very nicely and coconut milk whip cream was a nice balance, that melted softly as the plantains warmed the bowl. Do I need to say anymore? So satisfying and filling…
Longevity – I’m sure you can make these in advance, and they would probably last, but why bother! I think they are best made fresh and warm out of the frying pan.
All in all, this recipe got a score of 36 out of 40
Next, I am going to review the Quinoa Spring Rolls with Cashew Dipping Sauce, a great meal for on the go! It makes about 10 servings, and lasts quite some time in the fridge, so a great meal to make on sunday to prepare for the week ahead! It is gluten free and vegan to boot!
Ingredients, Preparation and Cost – The ingredients in this recipe are nice, because they can be modified to whatever you fancy (or whatever is in your fridge in my case!). I put green pepper, radishes, red quinoa, basil, chives, mint and avocado in mine. Yum! Preparation takes some trial and error, make sure to practice with a few wraps as they tend to stick together, crumble sometimes. Cost is so low, the wraps are super in expensive, and you can use seasonal produce to fill the wraps. The only cost really is the quinoa, and I probably would make 3/4 of what the recipe asks, as I tended to have an abundance of it!
Time – This is a bit of a labour intensive recipe to cut the veggies, and then wrap in the rice wraps. But like I said, it makes at least 10, so the work is worth the result!
Appearance, Taste & Texture, Satiety Level – Great overall taste, again very varied on what you tend to put in the wrap. I like a lot of fresh herbs, and the cashew dip is a must! I liked the crunchy/earthiness to the red quinoa, and it adds a better appearance than white quinoa. These wraps are small but are quite filling, and great for a lighter lunch when you are spending the day on the go.
Longevity – I have eaten these wraps in the past couple days, and they work great! I think probably 3-4 days max, but you can wrap up and sit in the fridge.
I gave this recipe 33 points out of 40, a great summer meal!
So here is the review for today! I hope you have a great day and are excited for the week ahead!
xoxo Hannah