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!

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. 

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!

Green Smoothie - "Tart Thanksgiving"

1/2 cucumber
2 handfuls baby spinach
2 leaves lacinato kale
1 handful frozen cranberries
1 thin slice watermelon
1 small handful raw pumpkin seeds
Water

I call this Tart Thanksgiving because of the ingredients--cranberries and pumpkin (seeds) not because I made it for Thanksgiving. I kind of figured I'd have to add more than just the cranberries for the fruit part but wanted to see how it tasted alone. As expected, it was way too tart so I added the watermelon (more than you can see in the picture--it had already sunk down). The smoothie was very tart (but in a good way) after that.

Cranberries add flavor, tartness, but not sweetness. If you use cranberries, you will need to have another fruit that is sweet enough to balance out the bitterness of the greens.

I added the pumpkin seeds at the very end so that there would be something to chew on. Something to change things up.