Watermelon Mango Kiwi Smoothie

This is a smoothie that is both tart and sweet. I juiced a bunch of things that were in my refrigerator yesterday, so today I was using up some of the juices. Here I used watermelon juice. The avocado and mangoes give it a nice, frothy lightness. The kiwi and goldenberry powder give it the tartness. And as I usually do, dates for a touch of sweet.

 Watermelon Mango Kiwi Smoothie:

1/2 c. watermelon juice (or some watermelon chunks if you don't have a juicer)
2 mangoes
1 avocado
2 kiwi
1/2 t. goldenberry powder or 1 T. goldenberry ( I use Navitas Naturals)
3 medjool dates

Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender. Garnish with goldenberries and goji berries. Serves 2.

Pesto Spinach Soup

I needed to make some quick, nutritious food for a day away, so I made this soup. It's a beautiful green. I know sometimes it freaks people out to drink green things, though I can't understand the fear. Nothing to fear here. Just a good, hearty, tasty cold soup for a hot day. After all, the best things come in green. Trees, grass, leafy vegetables, and this soup.

Pesto Spinach Soup:

4 c. spinach
2 roma tomatoes
1 handful parsley
1/4 c. basil pesto
1 slice of red onion, about 1/4 cup
2 stalks celery
1/4 c. cashews
3 T. olive oil
2 dried red hot chili peppers
1 garlic clove
1 T. Bragg's Amino Acids

Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender. Garish with parsley and red pepper. Serves 2-3.

Fresh Tomato Salad and Stuffed Figs

I was in the mood for a light dinner and was really craving tomatoes. I picked a few varieties from my little inner city garden along with some of the basil and made this tangy salad. Then for dessert I satisfied my insatiable craving for figs by topping them off with a little vanilla creme and a walnut piece. I wish I lived in a climate where I could grow figs, too. They are so luscious. They really don't need any help to be delicious, but I topped them off because I was recently at a party where figs were served with creme fraiche and walnuts.  I wanted something similar, though mine ended up sweeter and not cultured. The meal ended up having a Greek feel to it. Maybe I just think that because when I spent a month in Greece I ate a lot of tomatoes and picked figs everyday right off the trees. I've loved figs ever since. It was so amazing to me to have them available so plentifully and for free when they cost so much in the midwest. But I happily pay the price to recall that feeling of bounty. Indeed, figs make me feel abundant.

This meal is simple yet so beautiful. Food in its purest state is the most beautiful thing to me. A meal like this reminds me that we can't improve upon nature. It's already perfect and just waiting to be noticed and appreciated.  So here's my homage to Mother Nature. I hope it inspires you to notice the beauty in food grown in the earth and not manufactured in a factory.  And I hope it inspires you to live simply yet abundantly. Enjoy.

Fresh Tomato Salad:

Several tomatoes (I used a mix of large heirlooms, a few romas, and some cherry tomatoes)

Slice tomatoes into thin slices. Set side.

Dressing:

2 T. lemon juice
2 T. olive olive
2 T. of assorted olives
sea salt (optional)

Blend all ingredients together.

Garnish:
1/4 c. pinenuts
1 handful basil

Assembly: Pour dressing over tomato slices. Top with pinenuts and basil leaves. 

Stuffed Figs with Vanilla Creme and Walnuts:
1 pint organic figs
1/2 c. walnuts

Vanilla Creme:
1 cup soaked cashews
1/4 c coconut butter
1/4 c. shredded coconut
1/4 c. coconut water
3 T. coconut milk
1 T. vanilla extract or seeds of 1 vanilla bean
pinch of sea salt

Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender. 

Assembly:
Remove the stems off the figs and then cut the figs in half. Top each half with a bit of vanilla creme. Then top each half with a walnut piece.

Pineapple Upside Down Smoothie

Here's a summer smoothie that's a visual treat as well. It uses pineapples and cherries. Pineapple is known for its digestive properties, but it also can help with decreasing mucous, reducing congestion due to allergies, and breaking down excess protein build-up in the muscles. Cherries have been useful in treating inflammation and arthritis as well as being a healthy tonic for the liver. Enjoy this smoothie and feel good about treating your body well.

Pineapple Upside Down Smoothie: modified recipe from Meredith Baird

2 c. frozen pineapple chunks
1 c. frozen cherries
2/3 c. shredded coconut
1 1/2 c. unsweetened coconut milk
1 chunk ginger (size depending on your taste for ginger)
1 T. coconut butter
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. vanilla powder
pinch of sea salt

To make the swirled smoothie, place all ingredients except cherries in a high-speed blender. Blend well. Pour half the mixture into a jar. Blend the cherries with the other half remaining in the blender. Pour the two mixtures alternately into a glass and watch them swirl.

You can also just blend it all together for the same taste if you don't want the swirls.


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Super Simple Sandwich

This sandwich doesn't appear to have many ingredients and looks deceptively simple, but it is full of nutrients and loaded with green food. The bread is leftover crust from the savory pizza and features sprouted buckwheat, green pepper, basil, and parsley. The pea hummus is a light twist on the old chickpea favorite. Add to that a fresh avocado and spinach and you have your daily dose of green foods full of chlorophyll. I threw in the first tomato from my garden to spike up the color.

See earlier post for recipe for savory pizza crust. For bread, just reshape the dough into rectangles.

Fresh Pea Hummus:

2 c. peas
3 T. tahini
1 T. olive oil
1 T. lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1 t. cumin
Himalayan sea salt to taste

Blend all ingredients in a food processor. Add a little water if necessary to make a smoother hummus.

For sandwich: Spread hummus on both pieces of buckwheat bread. On one side layer spinach, avocado, and tomato. Put the other hummus lined bread on top, hummus side down.

Serve with a side of fruit or fresh corn chips.

Asian Celeriac Salad

I bought a whole celeriac root with the celery growing out of the top. It was so beautiful I had to try it. Usually I buy the root and the celery stalks individually. This was the first time I've seen them together. I made this simple light dinner using all of the root and stalks. It has an Asian flavor similar to the last celeriac recipe, but this one is full of more vegetables and more color.

Asian Celeriac Salad:

1 celeriac root with celery top (alternately 1 celeriac root and 5 stalks celery)
1 c. peas
1/2 red bell pepper chopped
1/2 c. parsley chopped
1/4 c. pumpkin seeds
2 T. sesame oil
2 T. lemon juice

1 c. shitake mushrooms chopped
1 c. oyster mushrooms chopped
2 T Bragg's amino acids
2 T. extra virgin olive oil

Process celeriac root and celery,through a food processor using the slicing blade. Combine with the red bell pepper, parsley, pumpkin seeds. Toss with sesame oil and lemon juice.

Marinate mushrooms in Bragg's and olive oil. Let sit for at least ten minutes.

Put all ingredients in a large bowl and toss together. Garnish with a few more sprigs of parsley. 

Asian Carrot Noodle Pasta

It might be time for me to start cleaning it up again. Lots of desserts lately. No desserts while traveling except a really delicious blend of pineapple soaked with vanilla beans that I haven't been able to recreate yet. I tried, but my guess is the stuff I ate in France had sugar in it. I digress....all that to say I wanted dessert when I got home, now I've had it, so it's back to brightly colored vegetables. My body loves them just as much. It's really my head that craves the sweet. Of course, carrots are sweet, so who am I fooling?

This pasta dish is inspired by Meredith Baird and modified to my taste. It's full of color, nutrients and flavor. A lovely blend of carrots, cabbage and shitake mushrooms. Perfect for a summer day. It's so beautiful it almost looks like dessert.

Asian Carrot Noodle Pasta:

Pasta:
5 carrots spiralized through a spiral slicer
1/2 head of purple cabbage thinly sliced
3 T. black sesame seeds ground
Juice of 1 lemon
Sea salt with dulse chips in grinder

Marinated Shitakes:
3 c. thinly sliced shitakes
2 T. coconut aminos
Juice of 1 lemon

Marinate mushrooms in other ingredients for at least 15 minutes.

Pasta Sauce:
1/2 c. raw tahini
Juice of 1 lemon
1 T. white miso ( I use a garbanzo bean miso. Miso isn't raw, but it is a living food)
2 T. sesame oil
1 c. water
Himalayan sea salt to taste

Blend all ingredients except water in a blender. Add water as needed to thin the dressing to a pourable consistency. You may only need 1/2 c. of water, or maybe even less. Use your own judgment to create a consistency that you like.

Assembly:
Drain the shitakes from the marinade. Toss the noodle base mixture with the drained shitakes. Start slowly with the dressing. Begin with 1/4 cup. Toss noodles and see if this is enough dressing. If not, add more. You will have more dressing than necessary for the noodles, so go slowly. Use extra dressing for a  green salad tomorrow.

Garnish with cilantro and black sesames seeds.