Nature’s Agave: 5 Recipes in 5 Seconds
Top Ten Uses for Agave
Sugar-free Cooking Made Easy
By Kelly E. Keough
New to sugar-free cooking? Start with agave nectar. Nature’s Agave is the best for taste and a glycemic index of 17.
Agave syrup is made from a succulent plant grown in Mexico. It is an all-natural fructose sweetener that substitutes for sugar in everyday recipes.
Imagine making sugar conscious desserts, sauces, and dishes without spiking your blood sugar levels or your kid’s too for that matter! Agave is a low glycemic food and has a low glycemic index of under 50.
Use these simple recipes with agave to replace high glycemic sweeteners like white sugar, brown sugar, molasses, honey, maple syrup, and high fructose corn syrup.
Ten Easy Uses for Agave in Recipes
1. Drinks
Use agave in your morning hot beverage and you’ll have found the first alternative sweetener that has no aftertaste. It tastes great, too.
Coffee and Tea with Agave
8 oz prepared coffee or black, green, or Rooibos herbal tea
1 teaspoon agave
1 – 2 tablespoons creamer
Pour prepared coffee, black, green, or Rooibos herbal tea into cup. Stir in agave. Add in your choice of non-dairy creamer or milk.
Yield: 1, 8 oz serving
2. Smoothies
A simple smoothie using ice instead of fruit can be used for a 10 o’clock or 3 o’clock snack. And with just 2 teaspoon of agave, it will make your life sweeter.
Sugar-free Smoothie with Agave
8 oz water or milk
1 scoop sugar-free chocolate or vanilla flavored protein powder
1/2 cup ice
2 teaspoons agave
To blender, add water or milk, protein powder, ice, and agave. Blend on low and increase speed to high for 30 seconds. Pour into 16 oz glass.
Yield: 1, 12 oz serving
3. Hot Cereal
Don’t dump maple syrup all over your breakfast. Try agave on hot oatmeal or quinoa. Your breakfast will last you all morning long without giving you sugar crashes.
Sugar-free Hot Quinoa Cereal with Agave
1 cup water
1/3 cup Ancient Harvest quinoa flakes
1 teaspoons agave
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
dollop of your choice of milk
1/2 cup fresh berries
In medium sauce pan, add water and Ancient Harvest quinoa flakes. Bring to a boil stirring constantly for 90 seconds until cooked. Transfer mixture to a small cereal bowl. Stir in agave and cinnamon. Top with milk and fresh berries.
Yield: 1, 1 1/2 cup serving
4. Yogurt
The best way to buy and eat yogurt is plain, nonfat. Then add your own flavorings like vanilla bean and use agave to sweeten without spiking your blood sugar levels.
Sugar-free Vanilla Yogurt with Agave
1 cup plain, fat-free yogurt
1 teaspoons agave
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract or bean
Place plain, fat-free yogurt in a small serving bowl. Stir in agave and vanilla extract until well blended.
Yield: 1, 1 cup serving
5. Salad Dressing
Make salad dressing in minutes with oil, vinegar, agave and spices. Enjoy green leafy vegetables without added cane juice and corn syrup.
Sugar-free Italian Salad Dressing with Agave
3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
2 cloves fresh crushed garlic, minced
2 tablespoons agave
1 teaspoon Italian spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
In medium bowl, whisk together oil with lemon juice or vinegar. Stir in garlic, agave, Italian spice and salt. Transfer dressing to a glass jar with lid. Shake well before using. Yield: 1 1/2 cups
6. Ketchup
Most ketchup brands add high fructose corn syrup. No wonder it’s the only food kids will eat. Make your own ketchup with agave. No one will know it doesn’t have sugar.
Sugar-free Ketchup with Agave
1 1/2 cups unsweetened ketchup
2 tablespoons agave
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
In small mixing bowl, whisk together unsweetened ketchup, agave, Worcestershire sauce, and salt. Transfer to an air-tight container and store in refrigerator.
Yield: 1 2/3 cups
7. Marinades
Make your own marinade with citrus juies, oil, agave, and spices. Add flavor and zest to chicken without the added corn syrup and cane juice.
Sugar-free Citrus Marinade with Agave for Chicken
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons agave
1 tablespoon low salt tamari
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup fresh minced cilantro
3 cloves crushed garlic, minced
In medium bowl, whisk together orange juice, lemon juice, olive oil, agave, tamari, and salt. Stir in cilantro and minced garlic. Add to marinade four, 4 oz washed, pounded and patted dry chicken breasts. Marinate chicken for 30 minutes. Cook chicken as desired.
Yield: 2 1/2 cups marinade
8. Baking
Baking sugar-free with agave adds the needed moisture to baked goods and makes an easy backed apple without the ill affects of brown sugar.
Sugar-free Baked Apples with Almonds and Agave
6 Fuji apples, washed and cored 1″ wide and 3/4 down to core
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons agave
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 tablespoons raw almonds, finely chopped
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray oil bottom of 9×13 inch Pyrex baking dish. Place apples in baking dish. In small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, agave, and cinnamon. Stir in almonds. Pour 2 teaspoons of lemon agave mixture into each apple core. Add 1/2 inch of boiling water to baking dish. Bake apples for 45 minutes. Cool before serving.
Yield: 6, 1 cup servings
9. Stir-fry Sauce
Stir-fry is a healthy meal to make with left over vegetables. With agave on hand, you can whip up a sugar-free stir-fry sauce that tastes better than if you used a store bought sauce.
Vegetable Stir-Fry Sauce with Agave
2 1/2 cups low salt vegetable broth
1 tablespoon low salt tamari
1 teaspoon Umeboshi paste
1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice
2 tablespoons agave
1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
1 tablespoon fresh minced garlic
1 tablespoon fresh minced jalapeno
1 teaspoon salt
dash cayenne
2 teaspoons kuzu root or cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons cold water
In medium sauce pan over medium heat, add broth, tamari, Umeboshi paste, lime or lemon juice and agave. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Add ginger, garlic, jalapeno, salt and cayenne. Slowly stir in dissolved kuzu or cornstarch and stir constantly until thick about 3-4 minutes. Use sauce in your stir-fry recipe.
Yield: 3 cups sauce
10. Pizza Sauce
Pizza sauce usually contains cane juice or sugar. Sweeten your family’s favorite Friday night meal with agave to ensure everyone loves the slice and can still sleep soundly.
Sugar-free Pizza Sauce with Agave
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 sweet Hawaiian onion, finely chopped
1 15 oz car unsweetened tomato sauce
1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup agave
1 tablespoon Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
1 teaspoon sea salt
In large sauté pan over low heat, add oil and lightly sauté garlic for a few minutes. Add onion and sauté until translucent about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce, tomatoes, paste, agave, Bragg’s, and salt. Simmer to reduce liquid for 15-20 minutes stirring occasionally. Use pizza sauce on favorite pizza dough recipe.
Yield: 4 cups sauce
Nature’s Agave vs. Madhava Taste Test
At my raw vegan, sugar-free gluten-free cooking class last week, I surprised my class with a new agave product, Nature’s Agave. This is my new choice of agave because it is premium and has the lowest glycemic index of any agave I’ve tried. Coming in at only a 17 GI, it is far lower than most agave rating a 50 GI. A food is considered a low glycemic food if it rates at 50 or below. For me, 50 is high as I can feel it when I eat it. So for me, Nature’s Agave is the obvious health choice. I want to taste my food and be energized from it, not blown away by the sugar rushes and crashes. From a culinary pov, Nature’s Agave has a premium taste and quality unlike any other I’ve tried. It made our recipes sing.
In the taste test video, you will see a candid shot of my student, Susanne, tasting Nature’s Agave for the first time and comparing it to Madhava. While Nature’s Agave is a few more dollars, it is worth every penny when it tastes light, not sugary, and doesn’t spike my blood sugar at all.
Use these simple recipes with agave to replace high glycemic sweeteners like white sugar, brown sugar, molasses, honey, maple syrup, and high fructose corn syrup.
Easy Uses for Agave in Recipes
1. Drinks
Use agave in your morning hot beverage and you’ll have found the first alternative sweetener that has no aftertaste. It tastes great, too.
Coffee and Tea with Agave
8 oz prepared coffee or black, green, or rooibos herbal tea
1 teaspoon agave
1 – 2 tablespoons creamer
Pour prepared coffee, black, green, or rooibos herbal tea into cup. Stir in agave. Add in your choice of non-dairy creamer or milk.
Yield: 1, 8 oz serving
2. Smoothies
A simple smoothie using ice instead of fruit can be used for a 10 o’clock or 3 o’clock snack. And with a just a teaspoon of agave, it will make your life sweeter.
Sugar-free Smoothie with Agave
8 oz water or milk
1 scoop sugar-free chocolate or vanilla flavored protein powder
1/2 cup ice
1 teaspoon agave
To blender, add water or milk, protein powder, ice, and agave. Blend on low and increase speed to high for 30 seconds. Pour into 16 oz glass.
Yield: 1, 12 oz serving
3. Hot Cereal
Don’t dump maple syrup all over your breakfast. Try agave on hot oatmeal or quinoa. Your breakfast will last you all morning long without giving you sugar crashes.
Sugar-free Hot Quinoa Cereal with Agave
1 cup water
1/3 cup Ancient Harvest quinoa flakes
1 teaspoons agave
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
dollop of your choice of milk
1/2 cup fresh berries
In medium sauce pan, add water and Ancient Harvest quinoa flakes. Bring to a boil stirring constantly for 90 seconds until cooked. Transfer mixture to a small cereal bowl. Stir in agave and cinnamon. Top with milk and fresh berries.
Yield: 1, 1 1/2 cup serving
4. Yogurt
The best way to buy and eat yogurt is plain, nonfat. Then add your own flavorings like vanilla bean and use agave to sweeten without spiking your blood sugar levels.
Sugar-free Vanilla Yogurt with Agave
1 cup plain, fat-free yogurt
1 teaspoons agave
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract or bean
Place plain, fat-free yogurt in a small serving bowl. Stir in agave and vanilla extract until well blended.
Yield: 1, 1 cup serving