Selama Ashal’anore!

Everyone’s favorite vengeful Blood Elf mage, Kael’thas Sunstrider made his way into the Nexus a few months back. I’ve had a chance to play him several times in ranked, but honestly, I’m not super comfortable with his play style.

I’m more of a Jaina kind of gal (awwwwkward). However, Kael’thas is still a super fun hero to play! I mean, c’mon, FREE living bombs?! YOU GET A LIVING BOMB. AND YOU GET A LIVING BOMB. EVERYONE GETS A LIVING BOMB!

And it’s all thanks to those magical Verdant Spheres. Those Verdant Spheres are his signature accessory. A powerful fashion statement only worn by most haute blood mages!

I’ve immortalized these iconic artifacts in food form: edamame falafels! These falafels are packed full of nutrients which will surely keep you fueled during your quest for vengeance.

UNIT COMPOSITION

1. salt
2. pepper
3. 1 cup of tahini sauce*
4. 1 tablespoon of cumin
5. 1 tablespoon of coriander
6. 3 tablespoons of olive oil
7. 5 – 7 cloves of garlic, diced
8. 1/4 cup of cilantro, roughly chopped
9. 1/2 cup of parsley, roughly chopped
10. 1 1/2 cups of edamame, shelled
11. 1 onion, roughly diced
12. 2 jalapeños, diced

*To make homemade tahini sauce, combine: tahini paste, garlic, lemon juice, water and salt.

BUILD ORDER

Prep time for this recipe is roughly 15 minutes. Cook time is about 35 minutes. This makes about 3 servings (about 3 falafels each).

OPENING

1. Put your onion, edamame, onion, cilantro, 1 jalapeño, and 1/4 cup of parsley in a food processor.
2. Add in your salt, pepper, cumin, and coriander.
3. Drizzle in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and pulse to combine.
4. Continue until it forms a smooth paste.
5. Remove and set aside.

MID GAME

1. Set your oven to 375° F.
2. Line a pan or baking dish with parchment paper.
3. Using a spoon, scoop out golf ball sized balls of the falafel dough. Roughly shape them into a sphere and drop them onto the parchment paper. Use a butter knife to smooth out the balls.
4. Bake for 35 minutes or crispy. In order to keep them green, I decided not to flip them.

LATE GAME

1. Place tahini sauce, jalapeño pepper, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and your remaining parsley in a food processor.
2. Process until it’s a smooth paste.
3. Dip a spoon in the sauce and place the back of the spoon against a plate. Drag the spoon up and lift carefully to create a smear affect (or the flame for the verdant spheres).
4. Place one of the falafels on top of the sauce.
5. OPTIONAL: Sprinkle parsley over the plate.
6. Eat!

GG WP!

Now you can embrace AND eat the power of Verdant Spheres! ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉ GLORY TO THE SIN’DOREI! ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉ

Have you ever wondered why Zerglings are in such great shape? I mean, they run marathons around Marines and Zealots without breaking a sweat.

I’m sure the creep spread throughout the terrain helps, but I’m convinced that these little Zerglings have an incredibly healthy diet. Their brood mothers probably make sure they eat all of their veggies before storming the enemy base.

I assume all the veggies are kept in the spawning pool… That’s why it’s green, right? It’s just pureed leafy greens!

Why else would Zerglings be so fast? Clearly, it’s diet and exercise! Perhaps they use Quest Protein in their creep spread?

UNIT COMPOSITION

1. 1 teaspoon of olive oil
2. 2 teaspoons of salt
3. 1 1/2 tablespoons of coconut oil
4. a handful of sliced almonds
5. 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
6. 2 scoops of Quest multi-purpose mix protein powder
7. 3 eggs
8. 1/4 cup of milk
9. 1/4 cup of water
10. 1/3 cup of fontina cheese, shredded
11. 1/3 of an onion, diced
12. 1/3 cup of spinach
13. 1/3 cup of swiss chard
14. 1/3 cup of kale
15. 3/4 cup of coconut flour (or almond flour)
16. OPTIONAL: 1 tablespoon of beet juice

You’ll also need 4 ramekins.

BUILD ORDER

Prep time for this recipe is about 30 minutes. Total cook time is roughly 25 minutes. This makes about 4 – 5 servings.

Each serving contains: 23g of Protein, 10g of Fat, 21g of Carbs (12g of Fiber)

OPENING

1. Combine your protein powder, 1 teaspoon of salt,  flour and 2 eggs in a bowl.
2. Add in your beet juice. The beet juice is just to add color — this step is optional.
3. Add in your 1/4 cup of water and melted coconut oil. and mix all the ingredients together until a dough forms.
4. Place your dough on a clean surface that has been dusted by coconut flour (or the flour of your choosing)
5. Knead the dough into a ball.
6. Divide the dough into four sections.
7. Place each of the four sections into the ramekins. Mash the dough to fit the form of the ramekin.
8. Place your almonds on the edges of the dough to make the “teeth” of the spawning pool.
9. 
10. Bake these ramekins in an oven set to 350°F for 10 minutes. This is just to get the dough to harden up before adding in the filling.

MID GAME

1. Set a small pan on high heat. Once the pan comes up to temperature, add in your olive oil.
2. Sweat your garlic and onions. The onions will become translucent when they’re ready.
3. Add in your leafy green vegetables and cook for about 1 minute, or until they’re wilted.
4. Place the cooked vegetables in a blender. Add in your milk and blend.
5. Add in your egg and blend.
6. Add in your cheese.

LATE GAME

1. Remove the empty spawning pools from the oven.
2. Pour your vegetable puree into each of the spawning pools.
   
3. Bake them in the oven set to 350°F for 15 minutes
4. Let cool for about 5 minutes.
5. Eat!

GG WP!

Now you’ve got a tasty little treat fit for the swarm!

Enjoy these healthy snacks while watching the finals of the WCS!

Or maybe the GSL Code S finals?

It’ll be an eSports packed weekend for StarCraft II. But don’t worry, you’ll be prepared with these Spawning Pool Quiches. FOR THE SWARM!

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This recipe was created with support from Quest Gaming. Follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to learn more about how other gamers eat healthy and #CheatClean.

OH HEY GUYS WHATCHA DOIN??

The Arena team I run with is comprised of a Hunter (that’s me!), a Paladin and a Warlock. Before each match, our Warlock slaps down a Soulwell so we can create Healthstones. Of course, I always saw it as tasty tasty food.

I CAN’T SEE ANYTHING

So, I decided to recreate my own real life Healthstones so I can eat Healthstones while I eat Healthstones. Yo dawg.

I keep a lot of protein powder at home because my boyfriend and I are trying really hard to achieve sick gains. I have been religiously following the YouTube channel, Buff Dudes, for inspiration on healthy cooking and workout routines. Some of their recipes turn not-so-healthy things, such as brownies, into handheld protein-fueled snacks. My goal with Healthstones is to sneakily hide protein and nutrition into bite-sized portable snacks. A quick snack to enjoy before your next arena match!

UNIT COMPOSITION

1. 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
2. 2 teaspoons of raw agave nectar
3. 1 tablespoon of shredded coconut (optional)
4. 1 tablespoon of unsweetened matcha green tea powder
5. 1/4 cup of raw pistachios, roughly chopped
6. 1/2 cup of peanut butter or almond butter

BUILD ORDER

Prep time for this is about 15 minutes (add 10 minutes of blanching the pistachios) This makes 6 servings (~6 individual Healthstones). Idle time is about 30 minutes. 

OPTIONAL: If you want squeaky clean pistachios without the skins, I recommend blanching them. To blanch them, take your shelled pistachios and toss them into boiling water for about 30 seconds.

Then remove the pistachios from the hot water and place them in a bath of ice water. Once they are cool to the touch, gently rub off the skins from the pistachios. Let them dry on a towel for a few minutes.

1. Combine your protein powder, agave, and peanut butter in a large bowl.
2. Add in your matcha green tea powder.
3. Using a spoon, stir the ingredients together, adding coconut occasionally to thicken the mixture.
   
4. Stir in half of your chopped pistachios. Leave larger pieces for later in order to decorate the stones.
5. Begin shaping them into golf-ball sized mounds. Place large pieces of pistachio on the mounds for decoration.
6. Sprinkle a little protein powder onto a plate (this is to prevent the Healthstones from sticking to the plate while cooling). Place your newly shaped Healthstones on the plate and cover with saran warp. Let cool in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
7. Eat!

GG WP!

Next time you queue up for arena or LFR, make sure you have some tasty Healthstones in your bag to curb your hunger. Thankfully, these Healthstones don’t have a cool down.

Yaarrr, matey! Are ye after some edible treasures? Well, you’re just in luck because THAR BE TREASURE ON YOUR PLATE. Hahaha!

So you might have been wondering what has happened to little ol’ me for the past few months… I basically needed a hiatus. But don’t worry, I’m back with new tools (including a brand spankin’ new cutting board YES) and new recipes! This time, I’m writing a recipe about a newish, but unreleased game: Heroes of the Storm.

I was fortune enough to gain access to the Technical Alpha, so I messed around trying out various heroes. Considering my history with Blizzard games, it should be no surprise that Valla is typically my hero of choice. I even scored her master skin before the wipe! Vengeance! 

Towards the end of the Technical Alpha, I attempted to level up Nova so that I could flaunt the fancy new master skin… Unfortunately, I fell a little short of that goal! But, playing those games on Blackheart’s Bay inspired me to create my latest dish…

BLACKHEART’S DOUBLOONS!

If you’ve seen this map played, you’ll know that there are two treasure chests which spawn doubloons. These chests, especially the midlane chest, are always points of contention between the teams.

I have seen games won solely because one team completely controlled the the chests throughout the match.

When you collect enough doubloons from raiding chests or killing mercenaries, you can pay good ol’ Blackheart to bombard your opponent’s base.

However, my favorite part about this entire map is how goofy the coins are compared to the actual characters in the game. Have you seen the size of those things? They’re ridiculous!

I wanted to recreate these massive coins into something more edible and savory, which is why I chose the pasta route… I even picked up a pasta machine just for this recipe! Yep, we’re going all in on this one!

UNIT COMPOSITION

1. salt
2. pepper
3. 1 tablespoon of thyme
4. 1 tablespoon of olive oil
5. 3 sprigs of fresh sage
6. 3 tablespoons of butter
7. 2 shallots, diced
8. 4 cloves of garlic, diced
9. 1/2 cup of grated asiago cheese
10. 1/2 cup of cream
11. 1/2 cup of oyster mushrooms, diced
12. 3 eggs
13. 3 cups of flour
14. 1 cup of water
15. 1 butternut squash, cut into halves (mine was about ~2lbs)
16. OPTIONAL: parsley

As I mentioned earlier, I purchased a pasta making machine. You can get by without it by just using a rolling pin, but it will take longer to get the pasta rolled out evenly.

BUILD ORDER

Total prep time for this dish is about 1 hour. Cook time is 1.5 hours. This recipe will make roughly 6-8 servings (each serving is about 3 ravioli). You may end up with left over stuffing!

OPENING GAME

1. Pre-heat your oven to 375° F.
2. Remove the seeds* and guts from the squash.
3. Sprinkle the two butternut squash halves with salt and thyme.
4. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the halves.
5. Roast the butternut squash for 50 minutes or until soft. Allow the butternut squash to cool for about 15 minutes.
6. While the butternut squash is roasting, prepare the pasta sheets and the rest of the filling.

*once washed and dried, the seeds can be roasted at 375 for ~10minutes with olive oil and finished with sea salt!

MID GAME

The next few parts are extremely messy, so be prepared to clean your kitchen. You will want to have extra flour on hand in order to prevent the dough from sticking to your working area.

1. Pour your flour into a mound on a clean surface.
2. Using a measuring cup, create a impression on the top of the mound. This will the bowl for mixing the eggs.
3. Crack your 3 eggs and place them in the impression:
4. Using a fork, mix the eggs. Once the eggs have been mixed, add in the water and begin slowly incorporating the flour into the liquid to create the dough. As I mentioned earlier, this process is incredibly messy!
5. Once the dough begins to take its shape, use your hands to fold the dough in on itself. You may want to occasionally dust your surface with additional flour in order to keep the dough from sticking.
6. Cover the dough with a towel or cling wrap and allow it to rest for about 30 minutes.

LATE GAME

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a small pan.
2. Sautee your mushrooms, shallots and garlic. Remove once the vegetables have become caramelized. Set aside.
3. Once your butternut squash has cooled, scoop the meat out with spoon and place it into a bowl.
4. Mash the butternut squash until smooth. Add in your sauted vegetables, half of the cheese, and the cream. Stir until combined thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. To prepare your pasta sheets, break your dough into four sections. Using a rolling pin (dusted with flour), roll your dough sections into sheets small enough to fit through your pasta machine. Dust your pasta machine with flour.
6. You will want your pasta rolled out on the 2nd thinest setting on the machine. Roll out your pasta onto a floured surface.
7. Once your pasta has rolled out, cut out circles (I used a 3″ cookie cutter, but you could also use a pint glass) in the dough. Place a tablespoon of filling onto the circle cut outs.
8. Cut out another circle and place it on top of filled piece and seal each ravioli shut by pressing down on the dough. At this point, you may want to nudge the filling to help reinforce the doubloon shape.
9. Using left over dough, cut out skull shapes to place on the ravioli. Once cut out, gently dampen each skull with water and adhere them to the ravioli. (I only made a few of the skulls because they’re a lot of work!)
10. Set a pot of water to boil and season the water with salt. Once the water boils, drop the ravioli in one at a time. The ravioli should take about 2 minutes to cook. Remove them immediately.
11. In a small pan, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Add in your sprig of sage. While the butter is cooking, remove the milk solids (the white foamy stuff) by skimming the top of the surface with a spoon. This will create clarified butter.
12. Plate your ravioli doubloons and drizzle the sage butter sauce over them. Garnish with grated cheese, pepper, and fresh parsley.

GG WP, hero!

However, if you don’t want to serve your mateys doubloons, the ravioli looks fine without the skulls.

Since Heroes of the Storm is offline for a few days, you now have a chance to recreate these tasty treasures in your own kitchen. Hopefully I’ll see you in the Nexus once Heroes is back online!

Happy cooking!