Food + Friendship = A Soulful Experience, Especially with Chocolate!

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As I sit at my computer, surrounded by boxes, bare walls, piles of clothes/objects to give away, and much, much more, my thoughts are not on the impending move and the stressful tasks of unpacking, settling into a new job and community, nor easing the adjustment of my daughter to a new school life.

Instead I am reflecting on the role friendship plays in my life.  In the past month, friends from all walks of my life – my neighbors, my work buddies, my old school mates – have all come together to assist me in easing the transition of this overwhelming life event that lies before me.  Three friends made short work of my kitchen, collectively joining forces and logging six hours packing up my kitchen.  Another friend came and gave support my listening to me and wrapping pictures – oh how I needed that!!

This past week my study group from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition hosted a goodbye dinner for me at a member’s house.  Pot luck dinners are a frequent event with this group. We meet at one member’s turn-of-the-century house (which is centrally located), each bring a food that we all know is made of healthy ingredients, and the evening takes care of itself with healthy sustenance and lively and thought-provoking conversation.  Naturally the conversation of this dinner turned to friendship!

Three hours later, the evening was punctuated with chocolate…and the evening couldn’t have culminated on a higher note.

This chocolate dessert evoked accolades from all, and everyone wanted the recipe!  Here it is…an unbelievable dessert made from just five ingredients that is soooo easy to cook!  (Note: its origin is from allrecipes.com, but was tweaked to include some more healthy ingredients.)

 Gluten Free Chocolate Cake (note that the cake was made at someone else’s home)

 Ingredients

1 ½ cups organic semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 can of drained and rinsed garbanzo beans (19 ounce size)
2 eggs + egg whites
1/3 cup of agave nectar ( I would like to try with honey)
½ teaspoon baking power

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9-inch round pan

2.   Melt the chocolate chips, stirring frequently.

3. Mix the garbanzo beans and eggs in the food processor until smooth.

4.  Mix in the agave, baking powder, and melted chocolate.

5. Pour the batter into the baking pan and bake for 40 minutes.  Cool before serving.

Optional:  You could dust it with powdered sugar, which we didn’t find necessary, but it would look pretty on a plate.  Of course, the hearty eaters in a crowd might want a small topping of whipped cream.

However you serve this dessert, I guarantee that it will become a mainstay in your recipe repertoire. You can never go wrong with chocolate…it is the perfect complement to friendship!

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