Meatless Monday: Vegan Chocolate Mousse

For the past few Meatless Monday posts I have been floating the idea of working towards making Meatless Monday a dairy and egg -free day. For those who missed the original post, the idea stemmed from a desire to become a more ethical eater.

I proposed starting with small steps. The first week I baked a vegan cake. The next week I made Avocado Mayonnaise. The third week I made a complete one-pot vegan pasta dish. 

This Meatless Monday I want to share a recipe for a vegan dessert — Avocado Chocolate Mousse.

I can’t recall where I saw the recipe, but it was so simple and sounded so intriguing that I scribbled it down, vowing to try it the next time I had a ripe avocado and didn’t feel like making guacamole.

It calls for just five ingredients:

• One ripe avocado
• 1/4 cup of cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup of raw agave nectar
• 1/4 cup of almond milk
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

It takes about a minute to prepare.

• Halve the avocado and scoop the flesh into a blender or food processor. [Or use a large beaker and a hand-held mixing wand.]
• Add the other ingredients.
• Puree until smooth.
• Divide into two serving dishes.
• Chill thoroughly.

This mousse is deliciously thick and creamy. And I bet an unsuspecting taster would find it impossible to guess the “mystery main ingredient.” 

One word of caution. Agave’s reputation as a healthy substitute for sugar has become somewhat tarnished. Dr. Oz, who once recommended  agave because of its low-glycemic index, now calls for eliminating agave from your diet and using raw honey whenever you need a sweetener. You can read the reasons why in this article. 

I’ll try that next time, or perhaps maple syrup, the usual sweetener in many paleo recipes. I will let you know how it goes.

Avocado Chocolate Mousse should probably be a “sometime treat” rather than a dietary staple, but everyone needs a dessert now and then. Enjoy.

Happy Meatless Monday!  Have a great week.

On Mondays I often blog on food, food issues, or gardening in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”