Going even more Green

Soooooo, it's fun lying to kids, isn't it? I'm joking! sort of. My future children can blame MY mom for lying to me as I was growing up, and OFTEN. My mom was notorious for sneaking things into seemingly innocent desserts like brownies and would taunt us AFTER we had sampled them with, "GUESS WHAT'S IN THEM." She'd usually answer me and my brother's bafflement with "zucchini!" or "carrots!" I used to have generally unpleasant feelings from these sneaky vegetable revelations. However I know now why she did it. It is immensely satisfying to trick children into eating things that are good for them. Mwha ha ha haahahha.

Williams-Sonoma has a new catalog and a spread with smoothies that piqued my interest. Especially that attractive looking GREEN thing front and center. I went in search of green smoothies and found several variations. The beautiful thing about smoothies is, they're so versatile. You can almost throw anything in a blender and it'll come out good. But I was on a mission so I followed the one I found on All Recipes, and the highly rated adaptation, relatively close. (Next will be kale!)

Now, the kid in question is my 13 year old nephew who is like most kids his age: he usually recoils at the sight of real vegetables. Sure, he can have some iceberg lettuce or starchy potatoes but get into leafy greens and he gets a ~look on his face. Like he'd rather eat dirt. So I gave him an enticing "We're going to try a GREEN DRINK!" preview. He's generally agreeable but eventually he asked, "What makes it green?" And I said, with a straight face, "Oh, I color it." >)

I sneaked the baby spinach leaves into the blender and kept it hidden behind me as I tossed in the yogurt, ground flax seed, frozen banana chunks and apple and voila! Beautiful green drink!

Now, the adapted comment on All Recipes used plain yogurt and agave syrup for sweetness. I used vanilla yogurt AND agave because, c'mon, I'm selling it to a kid. But only a teaspoon of syrup, so I didn't go crazy.

But you know who did go crazy? The nephew. He loved it. And I only kept it to myself long enough to enjoy the fact that he liked something that was sweet, yeah, but also protein-rich and good for him. He was even pleasantly surprised when I told him it was spinach and wanted to make more when he got home. :)

I can't wait to make this drink for a morning pick-me-up!

GROOVY GREEN SMOOTHIE
Adapted from All Recipes, mamaiscookin

1 frozen banana, cut in chunks
8 ounces vanilla yogurt
1 apple, cored and chopped
1 1/2 cups fresh spinach leaves
1 Tbsp ground flax seed
1 Tbsp agave syrup (optional)


Place the banana, yogurt, apple, spinach and flax into a blender. Cover, and blend until smooth, stopping frequently to push down anything stuck to the sides. Pour into glasses and serve.


Servings: 2

Green Eating (Mostly)

I'd like to explain that I've had a slight culinary 180 in the last few months but I'm not sure I can explain it fully myself. I had a crisis of conscience and, simply put, I won't be cooking meat anymore. Or eating it.

Now, this has actually produced a surge in my cooking since I won't run by a McDonald's for dinner anymore. My new eating habits require planning and forethought, which is one of my favorite things about cooking! The finding new recipes and making plans!

I have baked but only a little - the bran muffins I made last year, some with banana and walnut and some with pumpkin (instead of applesauce). They've been my go-to breakfast for the past couple weeks.

Mostly, though, I've been cooking. I made a spinach and mushroom veggie lasagna that combined two recipes - one vegan and one by Gia De Laurentis - that did neither justice, I'm afraid. It was a lot of ingredients and work and in the end, it came out bland. With some salt, it was decent, though.

I've been experimenting with roasting veggies and using my new rice cooker and trying to figure out tofu. It's a learning process and nothing memorable enough to blog about.

Until this, I suppose. I was looking for spinach recipes because I kind of looooooove spinach. I found this pasta from Ina Garten and it has good fats (olive oil) and veggies (spinach/peas) and I used ~fortified pasta for extra fiber/vitamins. I'm not completely sold on "fortified" products when everything says whole wheat (rice/pasta/flour) is best so just go with that. But it just tasted so yummy and was on sale. I think next time I'll just go with whole wheat but this fortified business was worth a try.

This would be a great potluck dish too!


PASTA, PESTO AND PEAS
Source: Ina Garten

3/4 pound fusilli pasta
3/4 pound bow tie pasta (I used rotini because I just love the shape)
1/4 cup good olive oil
1 1/2 cups pesto, packaged
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/4 cups good mayonnaise
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, defrosted
1/3 cup pignolis (pine nuts)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


Cook the fusilli and bow ties separately in a large pot of boiling salted water for 10 to 12 minutes until each pasta is al dente. Drain and toss into a bowl with the olive oil. Cool to room temperature.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, puree the pesto, spinach, and lemon juice. Add the mayonnaise and puree. Add the pesto mixture to the cooled pasta and then add the Parmesan, peas, pignolis, salt, and pepper. Mix well, season to taste, and serve at room temperature.