Original RECIPE: Sugarless, Flourless Chocolate Walnut Pie

My sugarless, flourless version of Chocolate Walnut pie won the dessert category at the multi-event local potluck. Here's the recipe:

Filling:
1 1/2 cups agave syrup

Not much left! Picture by DNS

3 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
3 tbs butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups walnut pieces
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder

Crust: 
1 1/3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup oat bran
4 tbs melted butter
2 tbs canola oil
1 egg

Melt chocolate and butter in a saucepan and let cool for a few minutes. Mix all other filling ingredients in a big mixing bowl, then add the chocolate mixture and stir in vigorously. Mix all the crust ingredients together, then press the crust mixture into a crust shape around the inside of a pie tin until the whole inside is covered. Add the filling mixture. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes, with a convection setting. Without convection, bake at a slightly higher temperature for a little longer--test it to see if done. Let cool, once baked.

PRODUCT of the WEEK: Indian Fare's Shelf-Stable Madras Lentil

This is a great, simply, affordable dish; Trader Joe's sells it for $1.99 (may vary by area), and I've seen it offered for more at Ralph's, a southern California chain. All natural ingredients--no chemicals, no sugar, no flour. Just tomatoes, onions, lentils, kidney beans, cream, salt, butter, cumin, sunflower oil and red chilies.

It's a little spicy, and you have to like Indian food--but even if you don't, it's great warmed up in the microwave. Delectable!

TIPS Tuesday: Butter, Margarine or Oil?

I tend to use these interchangeably because I'm Not Eating Refined Carbs--so I worry less about the fats side. Still, you want to know what's best--really everything has drawbacks. Moderation is key. For a handy guide to fats, click this American Heart Association primer. The U.S. National Institutes of Health basically chooses limited oils intake over butter or margarine, and tallies up saturated fats in this PDF. And, the feds offer this helpful research-based summary.