Bursting with Summer Sweetness

Shartner Farm, here in Exeter, RI has "Pick your own Blueberries" during the Summer months.  Aren't they just beautiful?!  And they taste utterly fantastic.  I see a pie in my future, or maybe a Blueberry Buckle Cake from Vegan Pie in the Sky!

For the moment, a breakfast smoothie will have to do...

Blueberry Peach Summer Fruit Smoothie

(For two)

2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

2 ripe peaches, sliced

2 bananas (1 of mine was frozen)

1-1/2 cups unsweetened soy or almond milk

1-2 kale leaves

1 tbsp chia seeds

Combine fruit, kale and milk in a blender and process until smooth and kale leaves are blended.

Add chia seeds and blend one more time.

Enjoy your Purple-y goodness!! ;)))

Blueberry Banana Green Smoothie (with a shot of Chia)

This week, organic blueberries were on sale, so I took full advantage and bought two pints. My plan to make blueberry buckwheat pancakes with some of them never came to pass, so I made up some luscious fruit smoothies for breakfast instead.

Here we have:

2 cups unsweetened almond milk

1 large banana, frozen

3/4 cup organic blueberries

1 1/2 cups baby spinach

1 package of chia shots*, from my Vida Vega Con swag bag!

*ice cubes, if you like it extra cold

*What's nice about chia seeds is that they pack all the omega 3s, fiber and protein of flax seeds, but they do NOT have to be fully ground in order to digest or reap the nutritional benefits. So these cute little packs are great for on the go to add into yogurt or salads, too.

Add ingredients to your blender and blend until smooth and creamy. This makes a fantastic breakfast on the go. And, considering the blueberries have now doubled in price, this was a nice treat while it lasted! ^_^

Pear Apple Ginger Juice

I had gotten these wonderful pears from the Farmer's Market, and in typical Becky fashion, I let then get a wee bit too ripe on the counter.  So before they completely disintegrated, I figured I would juice them.

Pear Apple Ginger Juice
3 pears
1 apple*
2 celery stalks
1" piece of fresh ginger
Juice of 1 lime
*Sweet Tango, if you have not tried these yet,  you owe it too yourself, they are AMAZING!

I must say, for being an "on the fly" juice combination, this was really good.  Clean and refreshing, and it made a TON.  I'd say almost 3 cups.

Some notes about juicing pears:

Soft pears will often clog your juicer as they can block the holes in the sieve of the juicing screen in masticating juicers, like the Omega 8006.  

Juicing screen is on the left

For this reason, I tried to alternate the pear segments with the hard fleshed ingredients such as the apple and celery to help the juice flow through the juicer. 

Pure, fresh pear juice can be a very thick for some peoples tastes, (especially my better-half), so you may to prefer to dilute it with other fruits and vegetables, or add some filtered water.  

I did both. Even though I alternated the pears with the harder fruits and veggies, I still poured some water into the juicer, which cleared out a bit of the pear pulp that was stuck in the screen.  But, even after all that, L still found it to be too thick, so I poured the remaining juice in a glass bottle and froze for a later day.

This actually worked out well, because it became the base of a smoothie which I had for breakfast this morning:

BONUS Breakfast Smoothie:
1 cup flax milk, vanilla flavored
1 tbsp flax seeds
1 frozen banana
1 cup of pear apple ginger smoothie, half frozen
1 tbsp hemp protein powder

Blend and drink to start you day off great ^_^

Watermelon Juice - Hydrate in Style

As the days of Summer draw to a close, I'd like to reflect back on one of the season's most popular fruits:  The Watermelon.  What backyard cookout would be complete without one?  As its name suggests, watermelons contain large amounts of water, which is fantastic for hydration.  The fresh juice can not only re-hydrate and cool you, but also provide vitamins and nutrients that promote health, and reduce the risk of disease.

The beautiful, red flesh of the watermelon contains high quantities of lycopene, an antioxidant that helps prevent the risk of strokes and other ailments like rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, colon cancer and asthma.  Another benefit is that watermelon is a great source of potassium, which helps to regulate blood pressure levels, keeping your heart healthy.  Watermelon juice, I read, also helps to lower risks of age-related macular degeneration that may lead to loss of vision in elders.  My granny suffers from macular degeneration, so I found this fact particularly valuable.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not just the red flesh that can be consumed or juiced.  Watermelon RIND is full of minerals and nutrients, and excellent for juicing.  Scientists have discovered that the white rind has high concentrations of citrulline, one of the next great phyto-nutrients now being studied.   Citrulline actually converts into the amino acid arginine which helps remove ammonia from the body.  It is also suspected by researchers that it relaxes blood vessels, therefore lowering blood pressure, which is always a good thing if yours tends to be high.

The juice pictured above actually came from six (6) watermelon slices that were given to me from Campus Dining, where I work.  I was walking back to my car, and they were just wrapping up an outdoor cookout that they catered for the students. There was quite a bit of leftover food, including veggie burgers, they they were wrapping up and giving away, So I scored two veggie burgers and the watermelon.  They were just as glad to give it away, and I was pleased to make good use out of it ^_^

Now before I run my watermelon through the juicer, I usually make sure to trim off the thin layer of dark-green, outer skin.  Or, you can wash and scrub the outer layer very well in order to remove any dirt or pesticide residue, before slicing, and adding to your juicer.  Organic watermelons are expensive here, so I usually end up peeling off the dark green.  

Recipe Testing: Tenacious Tart Tatin (French Caramelized Apple Tart)

What a beauty!!  I tested this recipe a while ago, but thought the picture was to pretty not to share!

Again, this photo is part of the series of recipes I am testing for Terry Hope Romero's new vegan cookbook, scheduled to be published this Fall!  I cannot tell you how excited I am to be a part of this, AND to see the final product!!

This tart was, for lack of a better word,  Fabulous... and unique, in that it used a shortbread crust made with partially frozen olive oil for the fat. Isa and Terry discuss this technique a bit in Vegan Pie in the Sky, but I haven't tried that particular recipe as of yet. I was a tiny bit skeptical at first, but let me tell you, this crust was amazing: flaky and rich, AND it was "mother and grandmother approved"!

I think this would be a great pie/tart for a beginning pie makers, as the crust is pressed into the tart shell instead of rolled out. 

I made my tart with Honey Crisp apples, which worked quite nicely ^_^

Smoothie To-Go!

Been cooking a lot of food lately... And I mean A LOT! This Vegan MOFO is kicking my but, and I have enough leftovers in my fridge and freezer to last me all Winter.

Some days, you just need to start off with some raw liquid sunshine!

Here we have:
1/2 of a Honey Crisp Apple (peeled & cored)
2/3 of a ripe frozen banana
1 cup frozen Mango  (Trader Joe's)
1/2 tsp cracked Flax Seeds
Fresh Orange Juice to cover

Blend until smooth!  Pour into jar (above we  have a clean, de-labeled Veganaise jar), screw on the lid and your are ready to hit the road. ^_^

Mango Fruit Salsa

Last month, I attended my friend Jess' Pampered Chef Party!  Usually, I am not one for "overly-specific" kitchen gadgets, but any party that involves food, and is centered all around cooking is fine by me!

(In all fairness, I do have quite a few Pampered Chef items, and I use them ALL the time; Some, almost every day). 

Almost can't live with out this!

I had so much fun at Jess' party, that I decided to have one of my own: VEGAN style!  My Pampered chef consultant was rather excited to do an all vegan version of her Pampered Chef demo, especially since she had never done anything like that before.  We decided on two recipes:  Mango Fruit Salsa, to highlight the new Manual Food Processor, and Mediterranean Hummus Flat bread Pizza - no cheese needed!

This salsa recipe is so simple to prepare,  and tastes wonderful. I even made this for two cookouts this Fourth of July, and it was a huge both times.

Don't worry if you don't have the Pampered Chef manual food processor. I find that I can dice the fruit with my knife just fine, and it even comes out a little neater looking; The manual food processor just saves time. Please feel free to use lemon OR lime, for juice and zest. I've used both, and they both work well. Depending on the sweetness of the fruit, I add agave nectar to taste, no more than 1 tbsp usually. Serve with Stacey's Cinnamon Sugar pita chips, or your own home made pita chips. This is also amazing served over ice cream! I believe 1/2 cup salsa = 2 Weight Watchers Points

RECIPE:

1 cup strawberry, hulled and diced
1 kiwi, peeled and diced
1 mango, ripe
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 tablespoon lime juice
agave nectar, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. If not using the Pampered Chef Manual Food Processor, try and chop your fruit into uniform 1/4 - 1/2" cubes.
2. For the mango, I usually peel the skin off first with my vegetable peeler, and chop a small slice off the top and bottom. That way it stays flat on my board as I slice around the pit.
3. The pit of the mango is large and flat. When you slice off a bit of the top and bottom, you can see its shape. I usually cut down the two wide sides of the mango first, and then carefully slice down the thinner sides to make sure I get all of the beautiful yellow mango off the pit.
4. Ripe mango is very slippery, so carefully slice fruit and dice into cubes.
5. Add all fruit to a large bowl.
6. Add lime (or lemon) zest and juice.
7. Taste, and add agave nectar, up to 1 tablespoons.
8. Serve with cinnamon pita chips.



My gift for hosting a show was this awesome Cool 'N Serve Tray, that has two green panels that you can put in the freezer. When you take your yummy salsa to a cookout in the sun, your fruits and veggies stay nice and cool ^_^

Pineapple Banana-Oat Smoothie

A delicious glass of tropical sunshine! Pineapple and banana are one of my favorite smoothie combinations.  And in this recipe, the oats and flax seed add a nice thickness as well as added nutrition. Oats have a higher level of soluble fiber than other grains. Some other benefits of adding oats to your smoothie is the fact that they lower cholesterol, and are soothing to the digestive process. I like to blend the oats and flax in my liquid first, just to make sure they are pureed well. Then add your fruit...

INGREDIENTS:
1 banana, ripe
1/2 cup pineapple chunk, frozen 
1/2 cup almond milk, unsweetened
1/4 cup old fashioned oats
2 teaspoons flax seeds 
2 teaspoons agave nectar

DIRECTIONS:                        Prep Time: 5 mins           Total Time: 5 mins
1.  Blend oats, flax seeds, almond milk and agave for a two to three minutes on high, just to really blend the oats and the seeds.
2.  Add fruit and blend until smooth.

 

Guide to the Perfect Smoothie

Think you need a recipe to make a smoothie? Think again!

Follow these basic tips to make deliciously fun, fruity smoothies everytime ^_^



Most of the smoothies I make are simply a combination of my favorite fruit, milk or juice.  I have listed a basic smoothie recipe below, and then below that, are some specific options for different ingredients:

1 cup fruit (fresh or frozen)
1/2 - 1 cup frozen banana
1 - 2 cups of liquid
1 - 2 tsp natural sweetener or nut butter
1tsp - 2tbsp supplement (optional)

FRUIT:
Frozen: bananas, pineapples, strawberries, blueberries, mangoes, peaches, cherries, or a mix of any!
Fresh: honeydew, cantaloupe, mango, peaches, oranges, blueberries, strawberries

Liquid Options (or the blender's not gonna blend)
Non-Dairy Milk (I love almond milk, but soy, rice or hemp work well too)
Non-Dairy yogurt or silken tofu
100% citrus fruit juice (orange, pineapple, mango) apple juice
Water (if you're doing RAW)

Nut Butters/Natural Sweetners:
Almond butter, all natural peanut butter, cashew butter, tahini, pure maple syrup, evaporated cane juice

Supplement:
Vegan protein powder, ground flax seed, fresh ginger

Helpful Hints: 

• Instead of making banana bread with those over-ripe brown bananas, try peeling, slicing, and keeping them a ziplock bag in the freezer.  Frozen bananas for smoothies anytime!
• Trader Joe's has amazing, resonably priced bags of frozen organic fruit like strawberries, blueberries, mangoes, pineapple, and a tropical mix that's really yummy!  I have these in my freezer at all times for whenever I'm out of fresh fruit
• Be creative! There are really no "bad" mixes of fresh or frozen fruit: strawberry/banana, strawberry/banana/blueberry (pictured above), Pinapple/banana/OJ, rasberry/peach,
• 1 TBSP ground flax seed is a great way to add thickness to a smoothie, and boost your Omega 3s.

HAPPY BLENDING!