Smoothie from My Garden

Okay, so the title of this post is a tad misleading. It's not 100% from my garden, but it is mostly stuff I grew. I grew the carrots, kale, and strawberries, but not the orange or banana. Sorry, but the harsh Michigan winters prohibit such fruits. That is your geography/science lesson for the day. This smoothie is seriously awesome. It tastes like magic. Or maybe it's just that I haven't made a smoothie in weeks. Whatever the case, it is still pretty damn yummy...and (gasp) good for you!

What you need:

• 1 banana
• 1 small seedless orange, peeled
• about 6 strawberries (average sized)
• about 6 smallish kale leaves with the thick stems removed
• 2 small carrots or 1 medium
• a few bits of ice

What you do:

1. Do I really need to tell you how to throw everything in the blender and blend the shit out of it? Nah. I didn't think so.

Fluorescent Green Smoothie!

I'm back on a smoothie kick lately. I can't stop. Whenever I look at produce, I start imagining them swirling around in my Vita-Mix. Alas, I was low on produce when I made this one. It's simple and delicious...and very green.

What's in it?

• 2 big handfuls of kale (just 1 if you have Hulk hands)
• 1 kiwi (peeled)
• 1 banana
• 1 orange
• a smidge of water and some ice

Look how easy that is! And, when you use ripe fruits, you don't need to add any sweeteners. Ripe fruit is sweeter fruit. 

KROB Smoothie

KROB smoothie. What the hell is a KROB? It's a healthy-ass, delicious vegan smoothie full of awesome!

K-ale (from my garden, and it was actually purple kale)

R-aspberry

O-range

B-anana

Now you get it. And now you should make it. It is supremely delicious.

• 1packed cup kale
• 1 big handful raspberries
• juice of 2 oranges
• 1 ripe banana
• ice (optional)

Want to know more about the health benefits of kale? Click here for more info. Want awesome "EAT MORE KALE" gear,like tees and bumperstickers? Then you definitely want to click here. I have the shirt and get so many questions about it.

Peanut Butter Banana Green Smoothie

Look carefully at the jar. POWDERED PEANUT BUTTER. I know you're thinking, "What the fuck, Chickpea?" And, dear readers, I was right there with you. My auntie brought this to me from her health food store and I was an instant skeptic, as I often tend to be. But, I decided to give it the ol' college try. I have to say, I'm quite impressed. Though, I have only tried it on a spoon (yummy and it cakes to your roof) and in this smoothie. I have to tell you, I am really quite impressed. I absolutely LOVE it in my smoothie. It gave the smoothie a bit of peanutty flavor without all the oil and fat of jarred peanut butter. Here's what the back of the PB2 jar says:

So, here's how I made my smoothie of excellentness:

• 1 carrot
• 1 ripe banana
• 1 big handful of red grapes
• 1 big handful of baby kale
• 1 big handful of baby spinach
• 3 TB orange juice
• 2 TB powdered peanut butter (PB2 is the kind I used)
• some ice

Blend that shit up and drink it down.You can thank me later.

Another ugly smoothie...

When you mix a lot of colors, you end up with brown. And that's exactly what happened with today's smoothie. It turned a sickly brownish-green. I had odds and ends in my fridge that needed to be used, so I threw them all together. It still tasted terrific, though, so I'm not complaining. If you can get past the color, you'll dig the flavors.

This recipe makes 2 large smoohies.

• 1 huge handful of kale
• 1 carrot
• 1/2 honeycrisp apple
• 1/2 ripe banana (if you like a really banana-y smoothie, use a whole one)
• half a handful of blueberries
• handful of raspberries
• 1/4 cup POM pomegranate-cranberry juice
• 2-3 TB orange juice
• ice

Blend, duh.

French Lentil Soup

I have heard nothing but good things about French Lentils, so I was mega stoked when I found some at a local health food store. Then, they sat on my counter for 3 weeks before I finally felt motivated to use them. Yes, I am a fickle chickpea. It's what I do. I make all sorts of plans to cook things, then I change my mind. I'm sure you understand. No? Bugger. Well, whatever. The lentils are quite delectable and they seem to cook quickly. I do recommend giving them a shot. If you don't have them, just use the basic lentil you find at the grocery store. They're kind of greenish-brownish. They'll work just fine, I'm sure.

I decided to make this stew with the random things I found in my fridge because I had zero desire to head out in the cold and buy more food. In addition to being fickle, I am also sometimes rather lazy. And I am okay with that. Anyway, the soup turned out way better than I had imagined. The use of smoked paprika adds a warmth that I found quite tasty. I seem to be slightly addicted to adding it to my dishes lately. Enough talk. Let's get cookin!

This recipe makes about 6-8 bowls of soup.

What I used:

• 14oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 3-4 cups veggie broth (I'd start with 3 1/2 cups and add more if necessary later on)
• 1 1/4 cups dried French Lentils, picked through and rinsed
• 2 large carrots cut into 1/4 inch thick coins
• 1 large russett potato, diced small I peeled mine but you don't have to
• About 2 cups of kale, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2-3 TB olive oil
• 1 TB sugar to help take the tinny taste from the canned crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp all-purpose seasoning (I use Simply Organics brand)
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp onion powder/granulated onion
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• a small pinch of cumin
• lots of pepper
• 1/8 - 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• salt

What I did:

1. Heat a large soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the oil. Once hot, add the onion, carrots, potato and the garlic. Stir occasionally to keep anything from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
2. Once the onion is translucent, add in all the other ingredients and stir very well. I increased the heat to bring the soup to a boil for a few minutes, then put the lid on the pot and then turned the heat back down to medium-low. I stirred it every 10-15 minutes, for about 40 minutes.
3. Then, I removed the lid and let the liquid cook down a little bit further to make it more like a stew. I think that took about 10-15 minutes. But, you can leave it more liquidy...whatever floats your veggie boat. 

I very highly recommend serving this with some garlic bread. Not sure why, but it tasted amazing together. And, really, I eat garlic bread every chance I get.

The Ugly Smoothie

I was really craving a smoothie this morning, as I do most mornings. So, I got adventurous and just threw a bunch of stuff in my VitaMix. It turned out quite ugly (brown-ish green), but it did taste pretty good. Just don't look at it when you drink it. Hey, remember those old Cocoa Wheats commercials where the kids wore blindfolds and bags on their heads because the food was so ugly? No? Perhaps this will refresh your memory:



Yeah. So. There you go. 1989. Awkward and strange.

Ugly smoothie ingredients:

• 1 medium carrot
• 1 cup kale
• 1/2 large red apple
• 2 small blood oranges
• 1 small banana
• 1-2 TB ground flax
• 1/4 cup cranberry juice
• a few pieces of ice

I assume you know how to put this in a blender and blend the shit out of it. It's easy. Enjoy. Or not. Whatever you do, don't look at it.

KACK Smoothie

Yup, that's one thick smoothie.

On my quest to conquer kale, I have cut another notch in my belt. The KACK smoothie. Yeah, so, KACK sounds like the noise a cat makes when yacking up a hairball...not so appealing. I understand. However, KACK is all green smoothie goodness.

Kale
Apple
Carrot
Kiwi

See? It's all good in the KACK smoothie hood.

Here are the measures:

• 1 cup kale
• 1 small apple (I used an ida red)
• 1 carrot, medium size
• 2 kiwi (I cut the ends and leave the skin on)
• 1/4 cup almond milk

Directions....really? You just blend the hell outta this and then drink it. With a straw. It's thick. Notice in the top photo how my glass straw is standing up on its own...it's that thick.

Two-Bean Tacos

If you're a somewhat regular visitor here, you might realize that tacos are a food group to me. Tacos are my specialty. Here are some of my many taco recipe incarnations:

• Spicy Lentil Tacos
• Vegan Chicken Tacos
• Vegan Steak Tacos
• Fab TVP Tacos
• Tempeh Tacos
• Black Bean Tacos
• Spicy Chickpea Tacos

Okay, now that we've covered the fact that I'm a taco ninja, lets move on to these awesome Two-Bean Tacos. I have been craving tacos for a few days, so I decided I definitely needed to gorge myself on eat some. Yesterday, I used my super-mega-rad electric pressure cooker to cook some chickpeas that I had soaked overnight. If you like cooking your own dried beans, you should consider a pressure cooker. Instead of the 90-120 minutes of cooking chickpeas, it took me about 15 minutes from start to finish. I could have cooked them about 1-2 minutes longer, but it's new to me and I haven't figured out exact times yet. Still, it saved me a ridiculous amount of time! I dig it. Big time.

Alrighty, so, I had some chickpeas just chilling in my fridge - begging to be eaten. Out of curiosity, I wanted to add another kind of bean to the tacos, so I added a can of pinto beans I had in the cupboard. I wasn't sure how they would taste together, but it turned out spectacularly. And, in my attempt to overcome my kale aversion, I substituted lettuce for chopped raw kale on my tacos. It was fucking awesome. I'm slowly embracing kale...and it's pretty fun.

This makes a lot of tacos. We ate 6 and still have enough left for 2-3 more tomorrow. 

What I used:

• 2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 can drained and rinsed)
• 1 can whole pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup diced red onion
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 4 cremini or white mushrooms, chopped small
• 1-2 tsp coconut oil
• 1/2-3/4 cup salsa of your choice
• about 1 1/2 TB taco seasoning mix (I make my own: here)
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (optional)

What I did:

1. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the onions and cook about 4 minutes. Then add the garlic and mushrooms. Cook another 3 minutes. 
2. While the onions are cooking, pop the beans into a food processor and whir a few times. You don't want the beans pureed, but you don't want them whole (or they'll fall off the taco shells). 
3. Once the veg is done cooking, add the chopped beans to the skillet and mix everything up. Now, add the seasonings and salsa. Mix well and cook until heated through, about 5-8 minutes. Taste and add more spices or salsa as needed. The salsa should mostly be absorbed and it helps keep the beans from drying out while cooking. 

How easy was that?! 

Kickass Kale Kiwi Smoothie

 

I have to say that I have never been a kale lover. I keep trying it and I never seem to like how it turns out. Anyway, I bought some a couple days ago to give it another shot. I was going to try mixing it into some of my super tasty OMG Hashbrowns recipe, but inspiration struck and I added them to my smoothie instead! I was shocked at how awesome it turned out.

I usually add fruit juice to my smoothies, but I have been using almond milk lately. To my surprise, I stumbled on this super awesome new milk at the grocery store. It's a coconut milk and almond milk blend and it rocks my socks so hardcore!!

Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about! I'm in serious love with it. Anywhoooo, give it a shot if you see it. It's comes in sweetened and unsweetened varieties, but I prefer the sweetened for my smoothies. Yum! Now, on to the smoothie.

What I used:

• 1 cup kale
• 1 small banana
• 2 kiwi, ends cut off (I always leave the skin on, but you don't have to)
• 1 medium carrot
• 1/2 cup almond-coconut milk
• handful of ice

What I did:

1. Threw it into my VitaMix and blended it. Duh. 

It makes 2 smallish smoothies or 1 very large one.