Oklahoma chef shares no-bake peach cobbler recipe, discusses healthy living tips

There are several ways to approach a healthy lifestyle, and one of those ways is by ensuring proper nutrition and food intake.

News 9 spoke to Oklahoma chef and health and wellness coach Ahki Taylor to learn more about ways to cut unhealthy food from your diet and find healthier alternatives.

One food Chef Ahki recommended is a no-bake peach cobbler that cuts unnecessary fat and sugar but keeps its excellent taste.

You’re from Oklahoma City. How important is health and wellness to your community?

A: I haven’t done enough to give back to this community in this way. Right now. Oklahoma is leading the nation, 12th in the nation for obesity. 42% of our people here are obese, so we’ve got to find a way to deal with this, and I’ve come up with some great recipes to help us.

So what do we need to do to make this peach cobbler happen?

A: We’re gonna jump right in, guys. You’re gonna be my helper today. I’m gonna have you take dates and nuts. This is going to be our crust. You’re gonna throw that right in your food processor. Now you are gonna add in some agave nectar, that’s our sugar, to our peaches. This could be fresh or frozen, and then I’m gonna start spicing up. Throw a little bit of sea salt in there and then pass it to me. Throw a little cinnamon in there, and we gotta have a little sea salt because we want that kind of fake buttery feel. We’re going to do some vanilla extract. We gotta have nutmeg cause there’s no peach cobbler without nutmeg. We’re going to add that in [the food processor], then you can pop that lid on.

We’re just going to blend, give it a good stir. Now you know that it’s done when you start to get a little sticky texture on the edge of your food processor here. If you don’t have a food processor, please get one because it makes veggies so quick, and that’s why people don’t like to do veggies all the time because it’s much chopping. We don’t have to worry about that now, you can let this marinate, and we’ve got some marinated peaches already here.

Now, once you get your crust done, you’re going to start layering it, and you’ve got to have something creamy, right? So we’ve got some almond yogurt as well as some coconut yogurt here. This is going to be our cream. So what I’ll do is I’ll have you put the almond one in this bowl and add a little agave nectar. We’re gonna separate, I’m gonna put the coconut one in this bowl, cause not everybody does coconut, and we’ll give it a good stir. 

Can you walk us through what your approach or philosophy is when it comes to eating well? 

A: Great question. So my philosophy is to get rid of the “Dirty 5” items: Flour, sugar, saturated oils, excessive dairy and keep it low in the lean meats. If you can go into mostly plants, please do that as well. You have got to up your fruits, up your veggies, that’s my philosophy. You don’t have to go totally vegan. I’ve been vegan for over 15 years. You don’t have to go there, but at least keep it to a minimum. More fruits. More veggies.

What comes next for the no-bake peach cobbler?

A: This is our crust, and I hope we did a good job mixing all that together. We could have waited a little bit longer so we can get it good and sticky, that’s how I like it, but add some peaches to that. These are already marinated. You can let them sit for maybe an hour or more again, frozen or fresh, and throw a little bit of the cream on there. Either way you like. You might want coconut, somebody might want the almond, and then we’ll throw a few more peaches. Always more peaches. Load that back up, and we’ll just keep layering it.

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Chef Ahki will be hosting an upcoming class for healthier living, featuring food that is both nutritious and more natural.

The class, hosted at Wheeze the Juice in Oklahoma City’s Deep Duece, will run from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.