lemon

Raw Sunflower Red Hummus

This one tastes great and is just too easy to not share with the world. With just a little preparation, you can whip up some great tasting raw humus that will fill you up for lunch yet not make you feel like a nap is in order in just a few minutes. I like to call this my Sunflower Red Hummus.

The other day, I was pressed for time yet wanted this hummus. I’d already soaked the sunflower seeds and let them sprout overnight so they were ready. I looked at the clock and saw that I had fifteen minutes to prepare and cleanup before I had to run. Well, the total time was twenty minutes (including the quick cleanup) so I had to run really fast to make up that time!

Recipe:

  • 2 cups sprouted raw living sunflower seeds
  • 1 sweet red, yellow or orange bell pepper
  • 1 medium tomato
  • 1 carrot (or a few small garden carrots that you just dug and cleaned up!)
  • ½ a Myers lemon
  • ½ clove raw garlic
  • 2 tablespoons raw cold pressed olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (or a little less)
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon cyan pepper!

All the wet ingredients go in first. And, well, you probably already know this from the picture below, but you’re going to blend this in a high powered blender until it’s creamy and smooth. So, if you put the wet ingredients o the bottom, they bill break down quickly and create volume that will carry down the rest. You might need to help some of the seeds and be careful not to get the seasoning on your plunger (if you need to use one).

This is a pretty heavy mixture so you’ve got to have a heavy-duty blender in order to keep it from bogging down. But it will. It will also heat up pretty quickly so watch out for that. I usually start out just fast enough to get the fruit (veggies) to spin and then turn the blender up as high as it will go and still turn the contents of the blender. If you flip the machine all the way to high, it all just lifts up and, well, you’re no longer ‘blending’ at that point. 🙂

The little cup on the left is exactly 1 cup. I like to fill it ¾ the way and it’s just the right amount for lunch. The bigger container just happened to work with my time constraints for the other little containers needed washing!

Once prepared, it easily lasts for a few days in the fridge. You’ll see the top darken (oxidize), but the rest should stay just made fresh.

This one is so easy that it’s hard to get wrong. My only real advice is to go light on the garlic. The picture shows a whole clove. I cut it in half before adding it. Too much raw garlic tends to overpower the other subtle flavors that really make this hummus shine.

…

It’s been a long winter and just a couple days ago I started to notice the spring air. It blew in and within about 24 hours all the plants that had been waiting to bloom sprung into early spring pinks, yellows and greens. We’re well past the equinox, so it feels a month late. Whether it’s early or late, it’s still warmly welcomed!

Kale Blueberry Orange Pear Smoothie

You’ll love it, or hate it. I’ll bet that you won’t find a middle ground with this one. It’s bold, heavy and filling – which can make this a meal rather than just a snack. But then, if you can’t tolerate it, the impact will simply be emotional and you’ll quickly look for something else that’s a lot more forgiving.

I love it. This is one of my favorite ways to eat kale. The lemon adds the sour, the blueberries add a bold flavor, the oranges add volume, the pear adds texture and the coconut milk adds a mild toner to bring it all together. A Meyer’s lemon is even better than a regular lemon, for it’s not as acidy and it’s a bit sweet.

But, this combination might not be for you. The mixture can separate and setup quickly making it a lumpy surprise – if you’re not on top of it. Some people just don’t like kale. And, well, this smoothie has a big bunch that might push you over the top!

Let’s get on with it. I’m finding myself buying more kale lately just so I can make this smoothie. The joy it brings to me adds to my excitement for sharing.

Recipe:

  • 1 Pear
  • 2 Oranges
  • The juice of ½ Meyer’s lemon
  • 1-2 cups frozen blueberries
  • 1 bunch kale
  • ½ cup flavored liquid probiotic
  • 1 cup coconut milk

Notice that it doesn’t have dates! Kale tastes better if it’s not mixed in a really sweet smoothie. Add all the fruit and give it a spin. Make sure you peal the oranges and remove seeds. With the pear, core it to remove the seeds.

After adding the greens, work them in slowly and then blend on high for about a minute. The frozen blueberries make it easy to run the mixture extra long, for it won’t heat up that quickly. When you’re done, you’ll have 7 cups of a brown sludge like liquid.

It tastes a lot better than it looks. Blueberries never really break down all the way so you’ll have specs of blue. You’ll also find bits of green (from the kale) and white (from the pear) that will keep you full for hours.

I can’t wait for the kale to start growing again in the garden. What I planted last spring is now about a foot tall waiting for the weather to warm just a little. Once it does, I’ll see the early spring leaves that should really make this smoothie pop!

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day.

Raw Cantaloupe Sorbet

What a great way to finish a scorching hot weekend – fresh raw ice cold sorbet! And, seeing that we’re rounding out the last really nice days of the summer, the melons are sweet and plentiful. Thus, tonight, I whipped up some fresh raw cantaloupe sorbet.

If you’re not a big cantaloupe fan, there’s nothing about this sorbet that will make it less … well, … cantaloupe tasting. But, if you are a fan, this will be a summer treat unlike any other sorbet. There’s nothing like light, fluffy, creamy, soft, cold sweet melon to top off the night with a smile.

Oh, before the pictures, I can’t believe how hard it is to find a raw cantaloupe sorbet recipe on the web. I guess people really don’t like this stuff – or – at least the raw folks haven’t really figured this one out yet. I’ll post it and hopefully the world of folks reading here can conspire to enhance this recipe so as to really make this melon flavor pop!

Recipe:

  • ½ ripe cantaloupe melon
  • 1 Mire’s lemon
  • ¼ cup pure raw agave syrup

As you can see, the ingredient list is really simple. Make sure that you don’t use a large melon, but simply a great ripe medium size one. Cut it in half, remove the seeds and proceed to slice the melon into small cubes for you’re going to place it in the freezer for 1 hour. If you space them out well, they will cool faster.

Once lightly frozen, squeeze the juice of the lemon and add the agave syrup to your high powered blender (a cheap blender won’t have the muscle to liquefy this fruit when it’s frozen). Using the tamper, quickly grind the melon chunks into your sorbet. It’s going to be thick, so you’ll have to work hard and fast.

One trick is to quickly get it mixed up and turn the blender off. At this point, there will still be really small chunks, but you can taste it to see if it’s got the right amount of sweetener. If the fruit is really ripe, you’ll want to use less syrup. Once it tastes right, you’ll want to get back to blending; but this time on high so it can be really fluffed up. This shouldn’t take more than about 20 seconds. If you blend too long, you’ll melt it into juice – so be quick!

In the end, you’ll get a great soft-serve that will slowly melt in a room temperature bowl.

I have to admit that this recipe doesn’t knock your socks off, but if you like melon (like I do) you’ll get a great cold melon surprise that will satisfy any late night craving!

Enjoy…

Oh, and like I said above, if you give this one a try and find something to add that would complement the cantaloupe, please feel free to share! Next time I might add a couple strawberries or maybe a spoon full of powdered cacao. I’ll update this posting if (when) I do.

Kale Blueberry Mango Watermelon Smoothie

There are two ways that I most enjoy eating kale 1) with blueberries and 2) with even MORE blueberries mixed with watermelon! Watermelon, all around, makes for a great addition to smoothies, but in this case it thins out (and cools) what is normally thick (and warmer). If you love the Kale Blueberry smoothie post I’ve made before, you’ll really love this one!

Oh, and I have to say that I’m totally excited to see the kale coming on in the garden. It’s still a bit cold for it, but I’m able to get the first smaller leaves. I can’t tell any taste difference between the larger leaves and these smaller ones, but it just takes more. After a harvest, I feel that I’ve left the plants naked and exposed! Yet, when I revisit in a few days they look back to normal.

Recipe:

  • 1 cup rejuvelac
  • 1 cup blueberries (wet measure as you poor them into the blender
  • 1 ripe mango
  • Couple medjool dates
  • 2-4 cups watermelon
  • Juice of ½ lemon

Start off by blending all the fruit to liquefy.

Now we’re going to add our bowl full of kale.

As with most greens, they don’t consume much volume.

After packing the leaves in, blend for 60 seconds or more but don’t let the mixture heat up. You can easily monitor the temperature by holding your hand against the side of the blender. If it’s feeling warm, you spun it for too long! Just run it long enough to break everything down. You don’t want to have to chew chunks of kale.

In the end, you’ll have around 7 cups to enjoy and share with a friend. If you’re the only one, you’ll probably get a breakfast and lunch out of this recipe. It’s worth it, really…

Sometimes I wish I had some voting software that I could include with these smoothie recipes. It would be cool to get the votes of others are they try them out too. I could envision a five start system. Five being the best, I’d put this one on that five star list!

Kale Mango Strawberry Melon Smoothie

This recipe is a slight variation of the Kale Mango Blueberry Melon Smoothie that I also just posted. I loved that blueberry version so I figured I’d make a slight change and substitute strawberries for blueberries. Well, once again the melon carries the day and shines through to make a gently complex smoothie that is easy to drink – for it is kale!

I’m looking forward to raspberry season so I can say that I’ve tried all the local berries that I love. Blueberries have a strong flavor and a little bit of grit form the tiny seeds, whereas strawberries add a fresh tartness yet the seeds are softer. Raspberries, I’m sure, will add a grit and a wonderful flavor for they are probably as strong as blueberries.

In any case, the strawberries are subtle and the melon stands out a bit more in this smoothie.

Recipe:

  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • 1 large mango
  • 2+ cups watermelon
  • 3 large medjool dates
  • 2+ cups strawberries
  • 1 cup rejuvelac
  • 1 large bowl fresh garden kale

Stack it all in the blender and liquefy.

Once liquefied, press the kale in and blend for 60 (or more) seconds until everything is ground up thoroughly.

As you can see, I had a bit of fun with this one. Every morning I shot for about 7 cups smoothie. This morning I added just a bit too much melon so I poured it off to make a bit more room for the greens. It made for a festive glass of predominately fruit smoothie. I shot for ½ lb of greens every day and in the process get the fruit. The fruit is just there to mask the strong flavors of the greens. Every once in a while it’s nice to ‘go conventional’ and not turn all the smoothie green!

Read about raising your pH and balance out your intake. You’ll feel better and be able to focus your energies on what you like to do without thinking about your body not being able to make it.

  • You are what you eat.
  • You are how you feel.
  • You are what you think.
  • You are what you do.
  • No one stops you but yourself.