Blueberry Lime Detox Cooler

Three weeks of vacation - pure, wonderful, indulgent vacation - has left me in somewhat of a food coma and ready for fresh, revitalizing foods.  Which brings me directly to today's Blueberry Lime Cooler recipe.  

Light and refreshing, I've prepared this minty drink for the last three days and have found it an ideal "get me going" drink on sluggish jet lagged mornings.

Filled with antioxidant-rich blueberries, protein and vitamin rich spinach, digestion enhancing mint and a bright squeeze of lime, this cooler is easing by post vacation blues and helping me transition to the slightly chillier end of summer mornings.

Blueberry Lime Detox Cooler
A get you back on track nutritious drink that sets your morning off in the perfect direction.  Light and refreshing, it's a great way to start the day!

1 cup coconut water
1/2 cup ice
1/2 cup frozen organic blueberries
1 handful organic spinach
1 Tbs oatmeal
1 Tbs goji berries
2-5 leaves organic mint
juice of 1 lime (more if desired)

Place all items into your blender and blend until smooth.  The mint leaves usually bring quite a bit of flavor, so adjust to your taste by using more or less - we use between 3-5 leaves, I love a nice minty drink! 

Add more water if smoothie it too thick.

 

Avocado Mango Lime Quinoa Bowl with Sweet Potato Crisps

Spring is in the air!!  Well... at least it is here in San Diego.  Warm, bright days have me turning to simple bowls for lunch, and often for dinner as well.  But no matter the weather, quinoa reigns as one of my go-to ingredients.

A protein-filled seed hailing from the Andean regions of Peru, quinoa earns its title of an "ancient grain" (actually it's really a seed, but many use it as a grain) with its near 9,000 year history.  Once called "The Gold of the Inca's", quinoa isn't just "high" in protein, it's a complete protein - meaning it contains all 9 essential amino acids.  A wonderful protein source for vegans or vegetarians, quinoa also brings magnesium, folate, manganese and phosphorus, making it a nutritious ingredient which also happens to be incredibly versatile.

Unfortunately, quinoa also happens to be coated with a naturally occurring coating called "Saponin", a bitter tasting coating which protects the seeds from being eaten in the fields by birds and insects.  Many quinoa brands remove most of the saponins in processing, but a good rinse of your quinoa before cooking is always a good idea to remove the last of the residues, or to remove all of the residue if it hasn't been washed already.

But washing quinoa is quite possibly my least favorite thing to do.  Those tiny seeds slip through many colanders unless you have the finest of mesh, and then  pouring the rinsed (and now clumpy) seeds into your pot becomes nearly impossible often dumping as a whole clump only to splash you in the process.  And those tiny seeds... how often  have they lodged into the rim of that fine mesh strainer?  It's all enough to tempt one to leave that quinoa on the shelf.

But here's were one of my favorite companies once again comes to the rescue!  The people at OXO read my mind and created the perfect kitchen tool... the must-have Rice and Grains Washing Colander.  The description from their site says it all:

Wash rice, quinoa, buckwheat, barley and more small grains easily and thoroughly

Our Colander has holes designed to allow water to drain slowly to wash impurities and starch from rice, quinoa, buckwheat, barley and more. The water pools before draining to show when water is clear and grains are clean. The small, square holes help prevent tiny grains from falling through, and the extra drain holes in the pour spout remove excess water and keep grains contained. Soft, comfortable, non-slip handles are perfect for agitating grains, shaking out water, and pouring into pots or bowls.

OXO sent me this product along with a super cool Grape Tomato Cutter (cuts grapes and tomatoes into quarters with a simple push of the plunger!) and a beautifully sharp Hand-held Mandoline, and I have to say these products rank up there with the OXO Dusting Wand in my all time favorites category.

Bringing together some of my favorite quinoa combos, avocado and mango fit perfectly into the picture to create a nutritious quinoa bowl.  What goes with avocado?  How about adding even more protein with black beans, definitely some kick from red onion, and then seasoning it all with a healthy handful of cilantro?  Oh, and tomatoes.  A lovely basket of baby cherrys from the farmer's market were already on hand and I had to laugh when Liv actually brought girlfriends home for lunch simply so they could try out the tomato cutter.  Let's just say all of our tomatoes are now cut!

Super sharp, easy to clean... what more could a girl want?  #newfavoritetool

And the mandoline... what should we slice?  But really the first question remained, how well would it slice?  Oh my heavens... nearly paper thin sweet potato slices sliced in meree seconds and crisped in no time.  Truly the a fabulous side or topping to our bowl.  (This mandoline hasn't made it into the cabinet yet - easy cleanup has me reaching for it multiple times a day!  Tomato slices for your sandwich?  Not a problem!)

So how about a bowl of your own?  Whether you need to rinse rice, barley, or my beloved quinoa, you won't hesitate now that you have a grain rinsing colander.  What's your favorite combo?

Easiest Black Bean Soup

Warm and earthy, perhaps a little salty... Black Bean Soup warms the soul.  Healthy as well as belly filling, a slice of crusty bread makes a meal.  Or if you are my daughter, Liv, a side of tortilla chips makes the dish a tasty dip.  Or, if you are my son, a tortilla wrap makes it a very messy burrito.

However you serve it, the beauty of this recipe is the ease of preparation.  Minimal ingredients find their way into a pot for maximum flavor.  After a 20 minutes simmer a quick spin with an immersion blender lets you decide silky or chunky.

And do I have an immersion blender for you!  Add this powerful beauty to any foodie gift giving list and you'll have a best friend for life.  May I introduce the OXO On Illuminating Digital Immersion Blender?

With an easy to use dial allowing adjustments through a range of speeds the choice of delicate blending or powerful pureeing is up to you.  Note powerful as a keyword here... using the blender for the first time in our Coconut Sweet Potato Soup, the ingredients transformed from chunky to silky in mere seconds.  Smooth like I've never seen before... pure puréed perfection.

Illuminating, you may ask?  Yes, illuminating, literally.  With a decently bright headlamp just at the top of the stick, the immersion blender brings better light into your pot on our dark winter nights (and poorly lit kitchens like mine).  A feature Liv though was so cool she took to blending water in the dark just to try it out.  If only I had taken video...

The nylon head covering the powerful blade makes the blender safe for even your most delicate pans, but it's the ease of cleanup that made me smile.  The stick easily pops off after use, and while it's not meant for the dishwasher a quick rinse directly after use makes clean up a breeze with no worry of damaging the electric parts or keeping the plug out of the water.

But one of my favorite reasons to use an immersion blender is the ability to see and control how smooth you want your final product.  For soups such as this Black Bean version, I like a chunkier texture that on past occasions became over processed when using a counter blender.  And besides, how many times have you poured hot soup into a blender only to have the steam splatter your face after lifting the lid?

Have I sold you on the OXO On yet?  Good.  Now let me sell you on this soup.

Aromatic onions and garlic sautee with oregano and cumin before adding canned beans.  Simmering in broth and water until soft, all that's remaining are seasonings and my favorite part - the garnish.

Ripe avocado, chopped cilantro and a drizzle of sublime Coconut Lime Cashew Crema bring irresistible flavors, textures and colors to the bowl.  Be it soup, dip or burrito filling, your family will be returning for seconds and once again you're a superhero.

Coconut Sweet Potato Soup plus Abound Sweet Potato Treats for your Pup!

Chock-full of disease-fighting, cancer-preventing and immune-boosting properties, one may understand that sweet potatoes are healthy, perhaps even super healthy, but most may not think of them as life saving.  With massive amounts of beta carotene and twice the fiber of regular potatoes, sweet potatoes are rich in vitamins C and E, contain iron and magnesium, and rate low on the glycemic scale providing a slower sugar release with less effect on blood glucose levels.

But it's the ease of digestibility that helped save my dog's life.  Many of you will remember our two Maltese pups, Kona and Tavo.  It's been a tough year for these little guys (Our sweet Tavo passed away in early October from a genetic issue), and a bout with canine pancreatitis almost did Kona in.

Lethargic and sicker than I've seen any dog, the vet provided IV fluids and strict instructions to use a low-fat prescription dog food diet after a 24 hours fast.  We got him through the first 24 hours and he woke feeling much better.  We started the prescription food and within an hour he was sick again.  This happened twice more over the next week with multiple rushed visits to the vet for more fluids.  Taking to the internet to research foods and pancreatitis I found sources recommending rice and sweet potato time and again.

Discarding the vet food, I began making my own beginning with the highly digestible rice and sweet potato combo for 48 hours.  Slowly we began adding more and more foods, but the sweet potato remained constant, and the dog once again began to thrive.

With 6 small meals a day (including one in the middle of the night...), making dog food in addition to feeding my family got old fairly quickly.  We've since found a very low fat canned food with the special ingredients his finicky stomach can tolerate supplemented with homemade ingredients (and reduced feedings to 3 times a day... none at night!), but had not found a suitable treat until an offer from Abound Natural Pet Food arrived by email.

Offering to send us a few sample bags of their grain-free superfood treats, the words "sweet potato" as a main ingredient brought my answer to definite "yes, please!".  Receiving a box with treats and a few toys, Abound also suggested a challenge should we be pleased with the products.  Since our pup would be enjoying the super food ingredients, would we create a human dish with one of the ingredients as well?

Well... you know me and a food challenge!  But, would Kona take to the treats?  He's possibly the finickiest dog in existence, and I'll admit I had worry he would turn up his nose.  Trying the Sweet Potato Sticks with Blueberries (Ingredients:  Sweet Potato, Citrus Fiber and Blueberries - Crude Fat .5%) first I got a little lick, then a no go.  Ok, a new food, I get it.  But let's try the Free Fish Sweet Potato Sticks (Ingredients:  Sweet Potato, Salmon, Whitefish, Citrus Fiber and Cranberry - Crude Fat: 12.2%).  Again a little lick and a turn of the head...  But then just as quickly a turn of the head right back and he took the treat out of my hand!  For him, unprecedented as new foods almost always take 10-15 tries to get past.

Since our first try the Fish Sweet Potato version is still a favorite, but now he never turns down a Sweet Potato Blueberry stick either.  We've been putting them into his chew toys where he has to work to get to the treat and he works tirelessly to get those little treats out.  I think he loves the crunch of these sticks as many other treats are soft and not as appealing to my picky little guy.

And I love the ingredients - actually real food.  I love that they are grain-free, low in fat, free of fillers and do not contain soy, animal by-product meal or anything artificial.  And I love that I don't have to cook them myself.  Abound... yes, he loves the treats, and I'm up for the challenge!

Human food with sweet potato?  Not a problem!  How about a little Sweet Potato Soup with Coconut and a squeeze of lime?

Silky in texture, this plant-based soup fills your bowl with all sorts of healthy ingredients and like the treats, no artificial fillers.  Sweet potatoes we already know enter the superfood category, and turmeric and ginger only serve increase the soup's healthy ingredient potential.  Onions, garlic, coconut and lime?  Well they all bring their own health benefits, but they also lend a touch of the tropics to our cooling temperatures - don't laugh... our high yesterday was only 65º.  Positively freezing for us here in San Diego and yes Kona is sitting in his heated bed.

So whether you are looking for a healthy dish in the midst of your holiday festivities or a meal to warm you to your toes on these chilly days, this soup's for you.  Just don't forget to pass an Abound Superfood Treat to your little buddy while you're eating.

Grilled Corn California Mexican Quinoa

Homework... I thought it was a thing of the past.  But faced with an end of semester Spanish ll project including "creating a recipe with origins in a Spanish speaking country, photographing it and researching the ingredients" I volunteered to help when Liv needed to finish an ACT practice test.  (This has been the summer of extra "get-ahead" work for this girl...)  Recipes, photos and ingredient research, all kind of right up my alley.

Living in San Diego just 52 miles from the Mexican Border where Mexican food is akin to life itself, Mexico became our Spanish speaking country of choice.

Now for ingredients... corn?  Historians believe that people living in what we now call Central Mexico developed corn over 7,000 years ago.  Known as Maize, the corn didn't look, exactly as it does today, but the cobs with small kernels farther apart became a crop the Indians of South as well as North America heavily depended upon for much of their food.

As important as corn was to the indiginous Mexicans, so were beans, and you will find much of Mexican food based on these two ingredients.  Apparently neither food on it's own provides a full complement of amino acids needed for protein synthesis, however put the the two together they do.

More recently, cilantro and lime have become known a quintessential Mexican ingredients.  While they may not have thousands of years of history in the country, it's said that the conquistadors brought coriander seeds, cilantro, to Mexico in the 1500's.  And as for limes, Mexico has been the largest exporter of the fruit since at least the 1950's.

Next we have my beloved avocado.  Said to be a native of Mexico, the fruit is believed to have originated in the state of Puebla, Mexico where the oldest avocado artifacts have been found - dating back to 10,000 BC.  Today though, California produces over 90% of the cultivated avocado crop.

Jalapeño... it's name taken from the Jalapa, the capital city of Veracruz Mexico, the jalapeño is the most widely grown chili in the country and has a history dating back to the Aztecs who smoked the chiles to preserve them.

And lastly quinoa.  While not exactly from Mexico, quinoa originates from the mountains of Peru and Bolivia - which are both Spanish speaking countries and therefore fit our homework bill.

And there we have it.  A dish filled with modern and historical Mexican ingredients which are also popular in California and considered quintessential Mexican Cuisine.  Mix them all together and we simply have what I call "dinner".  The leftovers??  We call them "lunch".  My homework here is done.

Coconut Lime Cashew Cream (Crema)

What's a taco without crema??  That luscious, creaminess that brings all the flavors together and also kills the heat when spice gets a little out of hand.

Crema became one of the most missed things when my son turned lactose intolerant, and for years we've just gone without.  But home for the summer, he asked if we could try to recreate one of his favorite recipes,  Grilled Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa, with some sort of dairy-free alternative.

My son's all time favorite dish... Grilled Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa

We've tried before, and while the tacos are always a treat, they just aren't the same without the crema.  I've stressed over the fact that I just haven't been able to come up with a satisfying dairy-free version, but turning to some of my favorite vegan books the time had come to give cashew cream a try.

Not one to always plan ahead I found a few recipes that didn't require soaking the cashews (so long as you have a handy dandy high powered blender - we have a Blendtec ).  

Following recipes including almond milk and cashews, the crema was okay.  Satisfactory in that it did the trick, brought that creaminess to the taco, but didn't add much else.

And then we tried coconut milk.  Oh my heavens!!  Beyond satisfactory, Coconut Lime Cashew Cream totally rocks!  A little tropical in flavor, but not overly coconutty, the coconut added a dimension that brought the whole taco together and had us spooning on just a little extra on, well, on everything.

Just a few ingredients and a blender and you're set... dairy-free lime crema that will leave your dairy eating friends totally jealous.

Lentils with Butternut, Pearl Onions and lots of Lime

This time of year things get busy.  Really busy.  Hence, I'm all over a quick meal based on what I have on hand and with ingredients that allow me moving fast.

Enter Melissa's Produce and the San Diego Food Blogger's Fall Challenge.  With Melissa's bringing ingredients right to my doorstep, some of my favorite San Diego Food Bloggers and I are putting together recipes "Chopped" style based on what's in our Melissa's Produce Box.

Including butternut squash, pearl onions, shallots, dried cranberries, pine nuts, baby Dutch yellow potatoes, steamed potatoes, and packages of steamed (ready to eat!) fava beans, black eyed peas and garbanzo beans, our directions to use three or four of the ingredients had me immediately eying the squash and pearl onions.  The rest would follow.

My experience with pearl onions dates back more years than I care to share.  As a little girl I remember adults at parties garnishing cocktails (I think they were martinis) with pearl onions, and I recall vividly thinking those little globes would never be a part of my life.

My next experience came in the form of a winter stew, filled with way too many pearl onions that had been cooked for far too long.  Again... I made the vow to avoid those pearls.

However, being an onion lover, my interest piqued with the bag of perfectly formed little onions in my Melissa's Box.  Could I incorporate them and be pleased with the dish??  In a word... Yes!

Short on time and patience after a day of driving (I had spent over 3 hours behind the wheel and never left an 8 mile radius), I've never been so thankful that someone had done the shopping for me.

Grabbing the squash, I quickly had it peeled and seeded, then chopped into cubes, and the pearl onions also peeled quickly after a few minutes in boiling water.

Drizzling them both with a splash of oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper, I tossed the pan into the oven and grabbed a package of prepared lentils (Love this Melissa product... they just weren't in our box), a box of broth and Melissa's steamed and peeled garbanzos.

Placing the lentils, broth and garbanzos into a pot I added a small scoop of red curry paste and stirred until heated through.  Some 20 minutes later the vegetables were roasted to perfection and I simply added them to the lentils.  Upon tasting though, the flavor was a bit flat.  A dash of salt helped, but what really had this dish dancing was a squeeze of lime.  Actually, a few squeezes of lime and a handful of chopped cilantro.

I toyed with the idea of garnishing with the pine nuts, and I know they would have been fabulous here, but the freshly roasted butternut squash seeds were simply irresistible.

Bright and flavorful in about 30 minutes, this dish pleased the whole family and brought a bowl of healthy ingredients to the table.

My thanks to Melissa's for providing me with the challenge box, I think this one ranks up there as my favorite to date.  How can you go wrong with roasted butternut?  And those pearl onions...???  They won't be a stranger in our house any more.  Melissa's made a stressful day just that much easier.  Thank you!

Roasted or Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Cilantro and Lime

Are you a Thanksgiving Sweet Potato fan??  I never was... until I grew up.  I don't remember my mom making them all that often, but when we went to other's houses I do remember those super sweet orange pureed "potatoes" from a can topped with browned ooey gooey marshmallows, and for me, that was a no-thanks.

It wasn't until I tried the ruby red tuber baked and with only a little salt, pepper and butter at a girlfriend's house some 15 years ago that my love began to soar.  Learning the health benefits of the vitamin-rich potato (anti-inflammatory properties along with antioxidants and high doses of vitamins A and C) inspired me to grow my recipe repertoire minus the marshmallows, and has made these beauties a family favorite.

And so it's fitting that today, as I introduce to you the new C.L.U.E (Cook, Learn, Undertake, Eat) Society, made up of some of my all time favorite food bloggers, we choose sweet potatoes for our post.

The C.L.U.E Society will be posting once per month with a themed assignment.  Each month we receive a fellow blogger and a theme - we don't tell the blogger we are perusing their posts - and then on the assigned posting day (2nd Wednesday of the month) we all reveal our assignments and the recipe we've chosen to recreate.

This month's assignment was to find "food you'd love to see on your Thanksgiving table" and my assigned blog is Lea Ann, from Cooking on the Ranch.

Based in Highland's Ranch, south of Denver, Colorado, Lea Ann brings recipes reflecting the west, but what inspired me the most is her love of the grill.

A grilling girl myself, my backyard San Diego grill fires up several times a week for everything from veggies and pizza to occasional chicken and kabobs.  I've even been known to bake a treat or two out there when my oven was on the fritz with a good amount of success.

Perusing Lea Ann's blog these sweet potatoes jumped out.  We've served Southwest Thanksgivings in the past, and these Southwest inspired potatoes include ingredients on my all time favorite list.  Lime, cilantro and sweet potatoes all in one place??  Yes please!

However, mentioning the post to another friend, her comment of "Oh, that sounds fabulous!  If only we had a grill... I wish I could do them in the oven.", motivated me to move these guys into the house, and with buckets of snow currently being dropped across the country (even though it's still 70º here...), the oven seemed a good choice for today.

Perfect as a Thanksgiving side dish or even as a plater on your appetizer table, Lea Ann has a hit here that you'll be loving all year round.  So happy to meet you Lea Ann, thanks for this keeper of a recipe!

Now won't you join me as we travel around the country with the rest Inaugural Members of the 

C.L.U.E Society!

• Arugula Salad With Baked Goat Cheese And Rosemary Honey by Aly from Cooking in Stilettos 
• Black Walnut Cake by Christy from Culinary Diva 
• Cauliflower with Garlic and Sage by Lea Ann from Cooking on the Ranch 
• Chicken Curry by Christiane from Taking On Magazines
• Crispy Tandoori Smashed Potatoes by Janet from From Cupcakes to Caviar 
• Honey Glazed Carrots with Cherries by Kelli from Kelli’s Kitchen 
• Lemony Cheese Risotto by Debra from Eliots Eats 
• Lisa’s Brussels Sprouts by Kate from Kate’s Kitchen
• Onion Biscuits by Lisa from Authentic Suburban Gourmet 
• Orange Fluff Jello Salad by Ramona from Curry and Comfort 
• Pumpkin Scones with Spiced Glaze by Stacy from Food Lust People Love
• Pumpkin Spice Cake by Azmina from Lawyer Loves Lunch
• Pumpkin Spice Spiked Latte by Kathy from Bakeaway With Me 
• Roasted or Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Cilantro and Lime by Kim from Liv Life 
• Spicy Cheesy Bacon Ranch Muffins by Anna from Anna Dishes 
• Spinach Soufflé by Susan from Create Amazing Meals
• Susu’s Grand Marnier Orange Cranberry Sauce by Alice from A Mama Baby and Shar-pei in the Kitchen 
• Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls by Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake

Many thanks to Liz, Kate and Christiane for the time you've put into this event to make it run so smoothly for the rest of us!


 

Coconut Lime Detox Drink and a Caterpillar Invasion

From my morning Coconut Lime Detox drink to the brilliant green and orange caterpillars who have single handedly demolished my year old parsley plant, life here in San Diego has been all shades of green the last few days.

Parsley is an herb I use infrequently, hence I have (had) a gorgeous plant that has been left to grow somewhat untamed over the last year or so.  Needing a sprig or two the other day I sent Liv out to pick and moments later heard a not so happy yelp followed by, "Mom!!  Your parsley plant!!  It's been invaded!!!".

I have to preface this with the fact that Liv also has claimed tarantulas were crawling in her room one night, however what I found was a pencil eraser-sized, teeny tiny, spider on her screen... outside.  As such, I didn't really rush to her rescue regarding the invasion of my parsley plant.

In this case though, she was right.  An army of various sized green caterpillars, brilliantly marked with brilliant orange dots, has indeed invaded my parsley plant.   An internet search informed us that these beauties will become even more beautiful as they transform into Black Swallowtail Butterflies sometime in the near future.

I have no idea how long the caterpillars have been there, but we've been watching them closely over the last few days, and I'm positively amazed at the amount of parsley they are able eat.  Apparently they enjoy host plants in the carrot family, including carrots, dill, parsley, fennel and a few others.

Eggs laid by an adult female hatch into the caterpillars who take a few forms before entering the chrysalis stage, and my first hand experience tells me that they can eat an incredible amount of parsley as they grow.

Today one of our caterpillars seems to be entering that chrysalis stage, and we are eager to watch what happens!  I only hope we get so see one of the butterflies before they all fly away.  We'll keep the photos coming over the next few days/weeks.  

In the meantime, how about a lovely green detox drink?  Featuring some of my favorite flavors, lime and coconut, I'm joining Eat. Drink. Be Skinny's 30-Day Juice Challenge.  Teresa, a local San Diego Girl like me,  suggests substituting a nutritious juice or smoothie for one meal a day, which I can see valuably increasing the veggies and fruits that I'm sorely in need of.  Want to join me in the challenge?  Check out her Facebook page for more info.

Perusing the counter my fruit stock proved fairly low this morning, but a bowl of limes called to me.  Working with our Lemon and Kale Ice as a guide, coconut water became our base enhanced with freshly squeezed lime juice and a squeeze of lemon.  Spinach added the rich green color and a dash of pure maple syrup brought a delightful sweetness to balance the sour.

So, joining our hungry caterpillars, here's to a green start to the day... Enjoy!