Prebiotic Rocky Road 

With the combination of melt-in-your-mouth chocolate, crunchy nuts, chewy fruit and fluffy popcorn, this gut-loving treat trumps your standard rocky road on flavour.

Makes 15 slices Prep 15 mins, plus setting time Cook 5 mins

Ingredients

• 300g dark chocolate (min. 70%)
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for popping corn
• 30g corn kernels, or natural popcorn
• 100g hazelnuts, chopped in half
• 50g brazil nuts, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp mixed seeds
• 50g goji berries
• 30g coconut flakes
• 90g dried mango, chopped
• 90g dried figs, chopped

Method

1. Toast the hazelnuts. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6 and place the nuts on a baking tray. Bake for 5 minutes, then remove and set aside to cool.
2. To pop the corn, heat a splash of virgin olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the corn kernels and shake gently to cover them in the oil. Put the lid on and the corn will start popping after a couple of minutes. Shake the saucepan occasionally to prevent burning. The corn should have finished popping after approx. 3-5 minutes.
3. Pour the popcorn into a large bowl and mix with all the ingredients apart from the chocolate, reserving a handful of the goji berries, mango, nuts and coconut flakes to decorate the top of the rocky road.
4. Break the chocolate into pieces and place in a heatproof mixing bowl.
5. Either place over a simmering pan of boiling water to melt or heat in the microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring in between. Stir in the 1 tbsp of olive oil, before pouring over the dry ingredients and mixing everything together well.
6. Line a 900g (2lb) loaf tin with non-stick baking paper, pour the mixture into the tin. Scatter the reserved dry ingredients on top and press down. Place in the fridge to set (approx. 4 hours).
7. Once set, pull the rocky road out of the tin using the baking paper, and with a sharp knife cut into 15 slices and store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Eat More, Live Well by Dr Megan Rossi

Northern Life Mar/Apr 2022