Yes, it tastes as good as it looks, and no added sugar!
1/2 C melon, chopped (or apple, including peel)
1 dozen red grapes
1/2 stalk celery with leaves
1 small piece of lime or lemon
1/2 fresh beet
1/2 banana Continue reading “Beet Ginger Smoothie”
The 10 minutes is a bit misleading. It refers to the type of farro I used: Trader Joe’s 10 Minute Farro. The actual recipe takes about 30 minutes. It’s best if you let it sit for about an hour after you’ve made it just to let the flavors blend. You could chill it or leave it out at room temperature.
Ingredients:
1 bag Trader Joe’s 10 Minute Farro
1-1/2 C frozen corn
2 large carrots
1 beet
1 large sweet onion
2 stalks of celery with leaves
1 green pepper
1 jalapeño pepper
1/4 cup EVOO
6 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Coarse salt & fresh ground pepper
1 tsp Herbs de Provence (or other favorite herb blend)
Optional: crumbled feta, avocados, or sliced olives for garnish
Instructions:
Add the bag of farro and 2 cups of water to a pan and turn to high. When it boils turned down to simmer and cover. After 10 minutes remove from heat, add the corn on top, re-cover and let sit for five more minutes.
While farro is cooking, coarsely chop celery, carrot, onion, beet, jalapeno. Add celery and beet pieces to a large bowl. Set the rest aside.
When farro is done, drain and add to the bowl with the beets and celery.
In the same pan in which you cooked the farro, add 2 tablespoons of the oil and turn heat to medium. Sauté the pile of chopped vegetables for about five minutes, then add them to the bowl along with the rest of the oil and vinegar. Season with salt pepper and seasonings and mix well.
Chill in the fridge for about an hour or so and, if desired, top with crumbled feta and olives just prior to serving. Serve with grilled chicken sausages and a side salad. Or omit the sausage and add a can of drained black beans or chickpeas for a wonderful vegetarian meal.
This power smoothie is surprisingly good considering the amount of bitter greens. The recipe makes three big servings so definitely reduce the quantities if you’re only making it for yourself. It seems like a lot of ingredients because it is! Of course any of the smaller items (lime, ginger, chocolate, almonds, etc) are all optional. Just don’t remove large amounts of wet ingredients or you’ll be adding water to get it thin enough to blend properly (let alone drink!).
1/3 honey dew melon, seeded and rind removed
2 dozen (or so) red grapes
1 stalk celery with leaves
1 piece of lime or lemon
1 fresh beet
1 banana
2-3 C pre-chopped mixed greens (turnip, mustard, collard, etc.)
1″ piece of fresh ginger
1″ piece of 100% chocolate
1/2 C oats (preferably gluten-free and organic)
1/2 C acai or other juice
1/3 C chia seeds
handful of almonds
1 tray of ice cubes
The night before, soak the chia seeds and almonds in the juice. Peel and coarsely cut the beet and the ginger and toss all that in there as well. Stick it in the frig.
In the morning, you’ll want to process the watery items (melon, grapes, celery) first. You can choose to chop them in to smaller pieces if you like but you really don’t need to if you’re using a power blender, like Vita-Mix or Blend-Tec. So throw that watery stuff in there and blend it on low for 15-20 seconds to get it broken down.
The chia/juice mix will be kind of solid, so scrape that into the blender container next.
Then add everything else. The order doesn’t matter much but I usually put the dry stuff (oats) in last, and then the ice cubes on top.
Process on high (according to your blender’s instructions), tamping it down as needed to get it going. Blend for about 45 seconds or so and then pour and drink right away.
I’m sure a lot of people have never tried kale because they don’t know how to cook kale. I was one of those people too until just a few years ago. That was when I discovered that kale is a great tasting, highly nutritious leafy green vegetable, similar to spinach.
Kale is best when fresh, so cook it within a few days after you buy it at the grocery store. Make sure it’s a nice dark green with firm leaves and no brown spots or flimsy areas.
Kale is also very inexpensive, especially when you buy it in season. I can get a huge bunch of it in season (January-March) for about $1.29.
[Time saving tip: Make the whole bunch at once, even if you won’t eat it all that night. Store the rest in the frig for a few days. Then you can briefly microwave it and serve with another meal. That’ll save you a lot of time.] Continue reading “How to Prepare and Cook Kale”
