Dessert - "Healthy Shamrock Shake"

~¼ cup mint leaves (not packed, loosely in cup)

3 granny smith apples

½ cucumber

~2 cups almond milk 

Ice

Here's the second drink for St. Patrick's Day where I use nothing but green produce. So this tastes nothing like a "Shamrock Shake" but it's definitely a lot healthier. You can use whatever mint you like. I used mint from my father's garden--I think it's lemon balm. Not really my preferred mint but that's all he had. My mint didn't quite make it over the crazy hot summer.

You can use any type of vegan milk for this. Vanilla almond would probably be the best. Or even add some vegan creamer or yogurt to make it more rich. You could also put it in the freezer for a bit after making so it firms up.

The ice is necessary to keep the foam to a minimum. Since this recipe doesn't have any frozen produce, it would be a foamy mess without the ice. I added 3 ice cubes to the blender.

I think I would have liked this better if the mint I had were "mintier". I will have to try making this again when I have a different mint.

Juice - "St. Patrick's Day Lucky Juice"

7 large leaves swiss chard

7 Bartlett pears

7 curly parsley sprigs (full length, including stems)

1 lime (not peeled)

Made just under 4 cups

I'm not a huge St. Patrick's Day person since I don't drink or stay out late (very often) but I thought this would be fun. My green beer alternative. A juice with only green produce was a new one for me (at least intentionally). I even picked only the white-stemmed chard from my garden. And I used the green dots glass straw from GlassDharma! 

Of course, you don't need to follow the 7-7-7 ingredients but this combination turned out amazing. If you like parsley a lot, I'd add more parsley. I think I will the next time I make this. The pear added the right amount of sweetness, the lime had great flavor, I could detect a hint of parsley, and the chard gave that signature "green" taste. 

I imagine that this juice would be great to drink to curb the effects of a hangover. Be careful, everyone! Don't drink and drive! (Alcohol of course...nothing wrong with drinking this juice and driving!)

Here's the "Healthy Shamrock Shake" recipe I promised!

Vote for TX Discovery Gardens

Hey all, I'd like to ask you to vote for Texas Discovery Gardens in the The Intelligent Use of Water Awards from Rain Bird -- the top three will receive a $10,000 grant! TDG is in 5th place right now. You don't need to register to vote, you just click the vote button. You can vote once per day.

Green Smoothie - "Weeds in the Garden"

3 bunches red dandelion greens
4 leaves rainbow chard
1 small juicing orange
~3 oz mango frozen
~3 oz peaches frozen
~2 oz strawberries frozen
Dulse
3 T ground chia seeds

I called this Weeds in the Garden because I got the chard from my garden and dandelion greens are considered a weed. A very nutritious weed. Kind of funny that I bought the weeds from the store. I'm going to look into growing dandelions. Easy of course, but I don't want them to take over my whole garden.

This was very green tasting so probably not for the uninitiated.

I found a conjoined twin chard in the garden!

Crazy Times

I've been so busy lately with doing my taxes, yard work--including some major vegetable gardening, beekeeping stuff, etc.

Here's a preview of one of the vegetable gardens, freshly installed:

Animated Short on Pollan Talk

Here's a short animated film of a clip from one of Michael Pollan's talks that's in the RSA Short Film Competition.



You can vote for it here.

Dessert - "Valentine Smoothie"

5 small (sweet) juicing oranges

~4 oz raspberries frozen

~2 cups almond milk unsweetened

A few raspberries for garnish

This is the perfect dessert smoothie for Valentine's Day--so pink and sweet (but not overly so)! These raspberries were a very deep red so it didn't take that many to turn this smoothie a bright pink. Great healthy alternative to V-day candies. 

The sweetness of the oranges is balanced by the tartness of the raspberries making this smoothie just sweet enough without going overboard. 

Green Smoothie - "Mixi"

3 leaves lacinato kale
Large handful baby spinach
1 cucumber
1 small ruby red grapefruit
1 small handful raspberries frozen
1 handful mango frozen
3 T ground flax seeds
Water

I love the way a bit of citrus can really liven up a smoothie. The acidity balances out the bitterness of the greens and the sweetness of the cucumber and mango. This was a great blend.

Deal Notice

Just thought I'd pass this on for those in the area. Groupon for $25 for $50 worth of groceries delivered from Greenling. I've never ordered from Greenling but thinking about trying them out now. It expires in 2 and a half days.

Juice - "The Joker"

1 head romaine
1/4 head red cabbage
1 tray wheatgrass
7 granny smith apples

Made 4+ cups

I call this The Joker because everything was purple and green. The juice turned out a deep reddish color...kind of like cherry coke. This was very green tasting but in a good way.

Green Smoothie - "OGP"

4 bunches dandelion greens
1/4 cantaloupe
~4 oz peaches frozen
Dulse

I couldn't figure out why I called this OGP. After an embarrassing amount of time, I realized it's Orange Green Purple!

I made this when I first started using dandelion greens. I made them the only greens in this smoothie because I wanted to get a good idea of their flavor (in a smoothie). They kind of taste like a mix between wheat grass and swiss chard.

Juice - "Red Pear"

5 leaves red kale

2 packham pears

made ~2 cups

I just love the way red kale looks. Purple veins in dark green leaves and a stem that's purple on the outside and light green on the inside. Red kale is less bitter than other kales making it a great choice for juicing.  You don't have to use as much fruit with this. If you aren't used to green juice though, I'd recommend adding an extra pear.

That's Dax--she didn't atually drink any--I knew she wouldn't though. Our cats were fed kibble (AKA crapple) for the first year of their lives (before we had them) so they don't know what real food is. It's very hard to get them to try food that's not in kibble form.(Thankfully we've got them to eat canned, pouch, and rehydrated raw food.)

Dessert - "Kale 'n Fruit Ice Cream"

6 leaves lacinato kale

1/2 cucumber

16 oz frozen pineapple

Handful black seedless grapes

4 T ground flax seed

1 c soy creamer

1 c unsweetened almond milk

It was the middle of summer and I was really hungry and hot. I knew a green smoothie wouldn't fill me up so I decided to make ice cream from greens and fruit. The main difference between this mix and a green smoothie is I used soy and almond liquids instead of water and it had a higher fruit ratio. I added 1 more tablespoon than I usually use of ground flax seeds so it would be thicker than usual.

If you are eating raw, you could make your own nut milk and use that instead of the soy creamer and almond milk.

I was so excited about it I had forgotten to take a picture of the ingredients so I took one when I remembered. Once blended, I added to my ice cream maker. I have and earlier version of this one and I really like it.

I thought it tasted great--filling and cooled me off but my husband didn't like it at all. I'm not sure why. Maybe because he expects ice cream to have a certain flavor? 

This made a lot! It completely filled up the ice cream maker. I tried freezing what was leftover but it got rock hard and didn't thaw evenly. It was inedible after that. If you make this, make sure you have enough people to eat it just after it's made. 

Juice - "3 Kale and Apple"

4 leaves lacinato kale

3 leaves curly kale

3 leaves red kale

2 pink lady apples

1 granny smith apple

Made 3+ servings.

Not exactly the most creative name but any kind of kale + apples makes a great juice. If you add more apples (or less kale), this would even be a good starter juice for most people--even the vegephobic. (I probably wouldn't tell them it's kale until after they drank it.)

This was the first time I tried red kale. It's supposed to be sweeter than the other kale varieties. I would say it's slightly less bitter than the others.

I'm almost done uploading all my old juice recipes! I have a bit to go for the green smoothies still.

Green Smoothie - "Swamp Thing"

3 leaves lacinato kale
Large handful baby spinach
Large handful frozen blueberries
1 small orange
Small handful frozen mango
Dulse
3T ground flax seeds
Water

This sure was ugly but nutritious!

I put a few pieces of dried dulse in water before I start chopping the produce. Then I add it to the blender along with the water it soaked in. This ensures that no minerals are lost.

I grind the flax seeds in this coffee grinder and add the powder in at the very end of blending.

Juice - "Violet Brock"

1/4 head red cabbage

2 heads broccoli

1 tray wheatgrass

7 pears

Made 4 cups

Whenever I juice broccoli I get a lot of foam. Juice foam doesn't bother me nearly as much as smoothie foam because it's lighter and mixes in relatively easy.

It's kind of surprising that the little bit of red cabbage made the juice a purplish color. This was a thick juice but very tasty.

Green Smoothie - "Romaine Rooibos"

2 handfuls baby red & green romaine
3 romaine hearts
1/2 cucumber
1 small handful blackberries frozen
1 large handful pineapple frozen

Dulse
~8 oz rooibos Earl Grey tea
Ice

I found some Rooibos Earl Grey tea at Whole Foods right before I made this so I was excited to try it out. I'm a huge fan of Earl Grey but I don't drink caffeine. It was good but not very Earl Grey tasting (to be expected). I had a serving of it leftover and noticed it when I was making my smoothie and thought, "hey, why not use that instead of water?" It turned out well! This was the first time I had used tea in a smoothie. It gave it a different flavor--slightly sweet and astringent (in a good way).

Juice - "Bloody Grass"

1 small beet
1 tray wheatgrass
1 bunch red kale
5 fuji apples
1 granny smith apple

Made 4 cups

I'm not personally a huge fan of beets but my husband loves them so I make sure I add them to my juice recipes from time to time. If you're not careful, they can add an overwhelming earthy taste. For some reason, my husband doesn't notice the earthy taste (or likes it) but just the sweetness that is inherent with root vegetables. I do love the intense red/pink color of the juice though. They will turn almost any juice red, even if you have a lot of greens in it.

This juice wasn't too earthy for my taste because the sweetness of the apples and red kale, and the green flavor of the red kale and wheatgrass helped cover it up. So both my husband and I were happy with this concoction.

Green Smoothie - "Frozen Blue"

3 leaves rainbow chard

2 large handfuls baby spinach

1/2 cucumber (not pictured)

1 small handful mango frozen

1 small handful pineapple frozen

1 small handful peaches frozen

1 large handful blueberries frozen

Handful raw pumpkin seeds

Ice 

Water

When I made this (a long time ago--I can tell by the plastic straw and the poor picture quality), I had a lot of partially used bags of frozen fruit. I decided to use it all up and not let the fruit get that frosty again. Because a lot of the ingredients were frozen, the blender had a hard time mixing it up. I didn't want it to be too watered down so I added the cucumber. Cucumbers and watermelon are great ways to add liquid to a smoothie without that weird watered-down taste.

Juicing Fail - Watermelon Radish

It was one watermelon radish but I don't remember how many apples and pears I used now. It doesn't matter because I won't be remaking this. I got really excited about the watermelon radishes I saw at the store so decided to get some. I read online that they are sweet enough to eat raw. So I thought it'd be OK to use a whole one in a juice.

And I was wrong.

This turned out so spicy it made my chest hurt. I could only drink a few sips. Oh well, at least it was pretty.  If I used watermelon radish again, I'd probably only use a 1/4 or even less. I didn't follow my own advice and taste the produce before I juice/blend it.

Wasted Food

The Whole Foods Blog has a great posting today about cutting down on wasted food. I know I am guilty of this from time to time but I really think that juicing and blending has helped me with this. For blending, you just need to have some fruit and then you can add in whatever veg/greens you need to use up. I try to stock up on frozen fruit for this reason. And juicing is even more flexible--you don't have to use fruit. Just today, I realized that I had some romaine that was on the edge of going bad so I used all of it in a juice. I had originally planned to use it for a salad but never got around to it and knew I couldn't tonight. Recipe coming soon. I called it The Joker.

Quick Tip - Cleaning Your Juicer

Mine has grass in it b/c it's the
bowl I used to hold the ingredients

It's a good idea to run around 4 cups of water or so through your juicer after you finish juicing. This flushes out some particles and you have less work to do when you clean it. If you have a vertical single auger juicer like I do, then this water flush will allow you to juice a different kind of juice next without the flavors mixing. In that case, I'd run water through it until it's clear.

But wait--don't pour that "dirty" water down the drain! There are many ways to use that (extremely) watered down juice!

• Drink after exercising for a healthier alternative to sugary sports drinks.
• Pour on your compost pile.
• Water you outdoor plants.
• Use when cooking rice or other grains instead of plain water.
• Use when reconstituting dehydrated food/bouillon.

And if you freeze it in ice cube trays there are even more things you can do with it!

• Give to your dogs as a cool treat.
• Use as ice for iced tea or other drinks.
• Use as the ice in your smoothies.
• Lightly massage on puffy eyes.

Of course, the type of juice you make will depend on how you use it. You obviously wouldn't use the water from say a pear-apple juice for your savory rice dish but it would be great for boiling oats for a pleasantly sweet breakfast. Make sure you don't ever feed your dogs grapes or onions. (ASPCA Poison Control for details)

I'm sure there are many other uses for this "dirty" water--please share if you have any!

Green Smoothie - "Cherry Rainbow"

Large bunch of rainbow chard (I had about 4 leaves of each color--pink, red, orange, green)
~8 oz cherries frozen
~8 oz chilled vanilla almond rooibos tea (no flavorings, just vanilla bean, almonds, and rooibos)
3 T ground flax seeds
A few shakes of Ceylon cinnamon
Ice

I actually made this today so this recipe is jumping way ahead but I just felt like writing about it now.

I stopped juicing and blending for a while because I got really busy with other things and then I started to get headaches almost every day. Maybe because I stopped? My skin is also not too great since stopping. I was determined to make a green smoothie today but didn't have much in the way of produce (or any groceries for that matter) so I went out to the garden and harvested some rainbow chard. Thankfully, I had some frozen cherries left. I was a bit worried that this would turn out bitter but the tea and the cinnamon really helped balance things out and it had a bit of a kick. This was a very watery smoothie--more like a juice but that is completely fine with me.

Happy New Year! I'm back!

Did you get your 366 black-eyed peas for luck and greens for money on new year's day? I had been so busy that I had forgotten all about it til a few days before. Unfortunately, the store was out of dried and fresh black-eyed peas so I had to go with canned. I ended up making a sage bep dish.

And then I forgot about the greens! How could I forget those?! I went outside around 8 (in my robe with a flashlight!) and harvested some rainbow chard, purple mustard greens, and purple pak choi. I usually eat/drink greens raw but I wanted to do the traditional NYD thing so I sauteed them in safflower oil and added garlic, onion, and chili powder, pepper, salt, and vinegar. It's crazy how that much raw cooks down into two small servings. I left the rib in the leafy parts but cut it off below the leaf. I take the leftover stems and freeze them for my dogs to eat as a treat. It was pretty good (a little too salty) and I hope it brings me green for 2012!☺

I also hope all of you have a green, healthy 2012! The new year brings a perfect chance to challenge yourself to make healthier food and drink choices!