Chocolate Almond BarkWe’d like to share a raw food recipe designed especially for chocolate lovers this Valentine’s Day. Chocolate Almond Bark is made with raw vegan ingredients just perfect for our favorite love-filled occasion.

February is the month to celebrate with hearts, flowers, and romance, and it just happens to be the wedding anniversary of two of our favorite raw vegan celebrities, Living Light Directors Dan Ladermann and Cherie Soria. We know that love can transform our hearts, our bodies, our lives, and our world—and so can chocolate! What could be better than a delicious raw vegan chocolate confection in honor of this month’s celebration of LOVE? We hope that this Valentine’s Day will inspire each one of us to honor the power of love in our lives.

Of course, the best way to show love and appreciation for our bodies is to choose a vibrant, energizing raw food diet. Eating plenty of organic raw fruits and vegetables just naturally makes us feel more joyful and loving. Yet, there are times when we choose to eat something that is particularly emotionally satisfying (as chocolate is for many people). We indulge in a delightful chocolate dessert, which makes us feel extremely happy, especially when we share it with someone special. Science has proved that feeling happy is good for bodies, our hearts, and our health.DanCherie with vegi basket_3322

This delicious, simple to make raw food recipe contains several ingredients known since ancient times to stimulate the libido and affect the neurotransmitters in the brain, as well as provide nourishment, pleasure and happiness: the sweetly scented almond, raw cacao (Aztecs termed cacao the “nourishment of the Gods”), and the vanilla bean, fragrant pod of a plant related to orchids.

The alkalizing almond is a nutritional powerhouse, shown to have a positive effect on cholesterol levels, provide healthy fats to aid in weight loss, calcium to build strong bones, protein to help maintain insulin balance, and valuable nutrients that help boost brain activity and nourish the nervous system.

Raw cacao contains fiber, iron and vitamin C as well as plentiful antioxidant flavonoids—more than red wine, blueberries, or green tea! Used for medicinal purposes by ancient civilizations of the Mayans and Aztecs, raw cacao contains valuable essential fatty acids that help with cholesterol balance and antioxidants that help prevent free radical damage.

Mayans used the vanilla bean to flavor their famous chocolate beverages more than 2,000 years ago. High in fiber, vanilla beans contain valuable minerals like calcium, magnesium, potassium, manganese, iron and zinc, and small amounts of the B vitamins riboflavin, thiamine, niacin, pantothenic acid, and B-6 for regulating metabolism and supporting the nervous system.

Enjoy the recipe and the video! For a printable pdf of the recipe, click here. If you’d like to know more about how to make delicious desserts like this, we’ve got a special Sweetheart Deal right now for both our Gourmet and Platinum packages. Click here or call 707-964-2420. Our enrollment advisors have all of the sweet details!