Guest Monica Meehan: Green Smoothies

Refreshing Beverage of the Week
It's spring! It's Saint Patrick's Day tomorrow! KSFR needs your cash money! What do all these things have in common? Why, the color green, of course.

Plus, you've slacked off on your "healthy eating" New Year's resolutions, haven't you? Don't lie. And don't fret! Because here are some variations on green smoothies that are delicious and nutritious! Well, more nutritious than that diet cola you're drinking.

All of these make 2 servings. The procedure is the same: throw everything in a blender (or use an immersion blender) and whiz until you like the consistency. And of course, feel free to experiment!

Green Smoothie

via Two Peas & Their Pod
Ingredients
1 large orange, peeled and segmented
half a large banana, cut into chunks
6 large strawberries
2 cups spinach
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1 cup cracked ice

Green Machine Smoothie

via Martha Stewart's Whole Living
Ingredients
6 romaine leaves, chopped
4 kale leaves, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley sprigs
1/2 cup chopped pineapple
1/2 cup chopped mango
1 inch chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 cups water

Pear and Arugula Smoothie With Ginger and Walnuts

via The New York Times
Ingredients
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2 cups arugula, tightly packed
2 tablespoons walnuts
1 ripe pear, cored and peeled
1 inch chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
4 to 8 tablespoons plain yogurt, to taste
6 ice cubes

Guest Lexie Shabel: Instant Mango Pickle

Excellent Ingredient of the Week
Who doesn't love a great use for a green mango, which is usually all you can get around here. This is classic Indian but you can adapt it to a variety of uses, like a condiment to go with grilled chicken.

Ingredients
1 green mango
salt to taste
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric
1 teaspoon asafoetida powder

Ingredients for "tempering"
2 tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons brown mustard seeds

Procedure
Peel and dice mango into 1/2 inch pieces. Place mango, salt, chili powder, tumeric, and asafoetida in a bowl. Heat the oil and temper the mustard seeds, when they start to sputter add to the mango mixture. Serve with rice and plain yogurt. This will keep a few days in the fridge.

The Absolut Mango Lassi

Refreshing Beverage of the Week
You say summer, I say mango. What passes for a ripe mango in this country is very different than what you get in Puerto Rico, Costa Rica (or any other country where they grow and properly ripen), but I still love them. In real life, a ripe mango is incredibly messy, aromatic, and juicy and needs to be eaten over the sink after which you need a shower to get all the sticky sweet pulp off your hands and mouth. This has never happened to me here. But I do enjoy a cold mango beverage and here is a recipe, which takes the traditional Indian beverage, a lassi and tarts it up a bit with vodka.
(This recipe makes 1 yummy drink.)

Ingredients
Ice
1 1/2 ounces Absolut Mango vodka
1 ounce whole-milk yogurt
1 ounce one-percent milk
1/2 ounce fresh mango pulp
1/2 ounce honey syrup (1 part honey dissolved in 1 part warm water)
2 dashes Bitters
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated cinnamon
Rose water

Procedure
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the Absolut Mango vodka, yogurt, milk, mango pulp, honey syrup, bitters and cinnamon. Shake vigorously and strain into a highball glass. Add 1 large ice cube and top with 1 drop of rose water

Brown Rice and Wild Rice Salad with Dried Fruit

Seasonal Recipe of the Week
Here is a very creative recipe for a healthy brown and wild rice salad which can work both summer and winter. This time of year, I use dried fruit but in the summer you can go all fresh. The wild rice cooking technique makes all the difference. This recipe serves 6-8 people.

Ingredients
3 cups water x2
1 1/2 tablespoons Tamari sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons unsulphured Molasses
3/4 cup wild rice, rinsed
3/4 cup brown rice, rinsed
1 cup dried sour cherries
1 cup dried mango diced
1 cup toasted pecan halves chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup chopped scallions
5 tablespoons good olive oil
5 tablespoons aged sherry vinegar
4 teaspoons orange zest
Salt and pepper to taste

Procedure
In a medium saucepan, combine the water, Tamari, and molasses, and bring to a boil. Add wild rice, partially cover and simmer till tender, about 45-50 minutes. Drain well and cool. Bring another medium pan of water to the boil and add the brown rice and a teaspoon of salt and cook till tender as well, about 40 minutes. Drain well and cool. In a large bowl combine the 2 rices with all the rest of the ingredients. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature.

Two Dried Fruit dessert options

The Altitude Adjustment Section
Who has time to bake when you're worrying about the bird? If baking is not your thing, this is where your guests come in. Have them bake at home, they have nothing else to do, you could even give them a good recipe, or check our website for some ideas. But here are a few things you could do at home if you wanted to make some end-of-meal sweets.

Good quality dried fruit — pear slices, dried peaches, dried pineapple, dried moist mango all taste even better dipped in dark chocolate. Strawberries are a classic dipping choice. How about fresh or dried figs, they dip very well and are so sexy! Dried fruit can also be used to make a fruit compote, which tastes great with some vanilla ice cream.

Dried Fruit Compote

Ingredients
mixed dried fruit
red wine, to taste
brandy, to taste
honey, to taste
lemon rind

Procedure
In a saucepan, combine all the ingredients with some water till almost covered. Then put on a low flame and cook till the liquid starts to boil. Turn off heat, cover, and let sit 30 minutes so the flavors can all mix together. Put into jars and refrigerate. Or put directly into your mouth.