Papaya Kale Smoothie

Try this interesting smoothie recipe out! It has all the necessary food groups and it's a tasty treat for breakfast.

half a papaya
greek yogurt (or regular low fat yogurt)
1 cup kale
hemp seed
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup OJ (or milk)
ice

   

Give it a shot and let me know what you think!

Oatmeal Chocolate Smoothie

It's as simple and sweet as it sounds!

Ingredients:
Also ice. Can't forget the ice!

Throw all the ingredients in a blender and...

Voila!

Delicious. Hope you enjoy as much as I did.

Love Me Some Bellas

I love to cook with mushrooms, especially portabellas. They offer an interesting texture to any dish and are jam-packed with fiber and protein.

Here are pan-fried portabellas on a bed of tomatoes, onions, garlic, and shallots. Seasoned with oregano, parsley, salt and pepper. Fried in red wine vinegar and grapeseed oil. Yum!

What are some of your favorite mushroom recipes?

Beef Broth from Scratch

I'm ready to make some delicious, homemade beef broth using the bare essentials:


Not pictured: Beef bones, wine, lemon, garlic, fresh bunch of spices

Want to make your own broth? It's quite simple and truly rewarding. Roast the bones and vegetables for about 50 minutes at 450 degrees F. Fill a pot with ice and add the roasted bones and vegetables. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer.

Add wine and lemon and spices. Simmer covered for 6ish hours. Filter the broth, then put in freezer until fat coagulates and forms a layer on top of the broth. Remove and dispose of fat. You are left with a flavorful home-made and most definitely delicious beef broth!

Eggplant Curry

In my quest to eat vegetarian, I have aspired to cook excellent Indian style cuisine.

Eggplant curry

I like to make Eggplant Curry from scratch. This particular curry turned out a little sweet because the yogurt I used was flavored with banana.

Curry contents:

• onions, garlic, ginger (staples of curry)
• tomatoes
• eggplant
• cumin, coriander, black and red pepper, tumeric
• green cardamom and mustard seeds (both optional)
• olive oil, a cinnamon stick, dried coconut
• plain yogurt

...and that's it! In my opinion, the contents decrease the curry recipe intimidation factor by a power of 10 (on a 10 point scale).

Instructions:
Bake eggplant in 425 degree oven for 20 minutes or until eggplant becomes squishy (but not TOO squishy). Take out and let cool. Meanwhile, put olive oil, garlic, ginger in pan and fry on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add spices. Cook until onions have cooked down and are transparent. Add one large or two medium chopped tomatoes. Add around 1/8 cup of water to help cook the tomatoes. Cover pan and cook for 5-7 minutes. Skin and chop cooled eggplant. Add to pan and mash with tomatoes and onions to help blend the dish together. Cook covered for 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup yogurt (your choice of fat content). Cook uncovered on medium low for 5 minutes and, my friend, you have just made an excellent eggplant curry. Congrats! Discard cinnamon stick and cardamom (if used) and please enjoy!

There's nothing like a good tasting curry complete with some cucumber raita. I'll share that recipe in a later post. Stay tuned!