Haute Cuisine: Truffles that are actually good for you

Alex Forsythe, a freelance chef who has worked on business jets and yachts for more than 15 years, believes that healthy cuisine can tickle the taste buds just as effectively as dishes that cause the arteries to shut down. Recently, he launched a company called Streamlined Cuisine, which spawned a lecture series called Streamlined Cooking, and he’s working on a cookbook tentatively titled Streamlined Cooking: Good Meals in 30 Minutes.
As proof of his culinary philosophy, Forsythe offers a recipe for Streamlined Modern Truffles. Imagine: truffles that dance across your tongue on little chocolate feet but with ingredients that are actually good for you.
Those ingredients include pitted dates; Nutiva coconut oil, chiva seeds and hemp seeds; Mana toasted coconut flakes; almond butter; organic coconut sugar; Dogoba cocoa; hot water; and cinnamon. Everything but the hemp seeds goes into a blender or food processor set on pulse; then the resulting blend is chilled on wax paper for at least 20 minutes until firmed. Finally, it’s rolled into quarter-inch spheres and served with fresh fruit.
It’s energy dense and low glycemic, says Forsythe, and the fact that it tastes like a little piece of truffle heaven doesn’t hurt. 

Alex Forsythe’s Streamlined Modern Truffles
(yields about six cups, served as spheres)

5                    pitted dates

3 tsp              Nutiva coconut oil at room temperature

1/2 cup          Mana toasted coconut flakes

3 tbsp             almond butter

6 tsp               Nutiva chia seeds

4 oz                hemp seeds

1/4 cup           organic coconut sugar

1/2 cup           Nutiva hemp seeds

1/4 cup           Dagoba cocoa

2 tsp                hot water

2 tsp                cinnamon

1.    Combine all ingredients except hemp seeds and pulse in blender or food processor.

2     Chill on wax paper for at least 20 minutes until firm.

3.    Roll into quarter-inch spheres and then roll in hemp seeds to lightly coat.

4.    Serve with decorative fresh fruit.