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.