I struggle sometimes with getting my daily serving of cruciferous in. I don’t always feel like munching on raw cabbage, kale, cauliflower, broccoli or radishes. Sure, I can cook them, but then I have to chop and let stand for 40 minutes to benefit from the anti-cancer, free radical reduction, brain protecting and vision promoting compound sulforaphane.
Well a friend of mine suggested a daily kale and lime smoothie which I tried and didn’t think was bad but I ran out of limes. Too lazy to go to the store, I had some pears on hand and thought it was worth a try. That was the start of my infatuation with kale and pear smoothies and the daily love affair continues three weeks later. Hail to kale!!!
Ingredients:
4 oz. water
1 pear cored (any type)
2 cups kale
1 cup ice cubes
Directions:
Add the ingredients in the order listed to a Vitamix or high speed blender on low for 10 seconds then high for 35 seconds until desired consistency is reached. For a “fancy drink” add a spritz of lime juice.
Ain’t she gorgeous! Not only a good looker but delicious too! Earthy and with a subtle hint of sweetness.Cheers to my new love affair!
The seed for zucchini noodles (zoodles) was planted in my brain a few year ago by my sister Joyce. Never heard of such a thing. It took until now for that seed to finally germinate and grow!
Unlike pasta noodles, zucchini noodles are low in carbohydrates (a perk for anyone having issues with blood sugar), low in calories, low in fat and high in fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and hydration. One cup of pasta = 240 calories and 4 grams carbohydrate. One cup of zucchini noodles = 33 calories and 6 grams carbohydrate. Do the math. Zucchini noodles (zoodles) is a no brainer!
There are lots of cool gadgets out there to make zucchini noodles (electric or hand held vegetable spirilizer machine, spiral strip slicer, vegetable peeler, julienne peeler and mandoline and knife). I have to admit I had my heart set on the spirilizer machine I saw at Target but when I saw the $65.00 price tag I opted for the more economical mandoline slicer ($12.98) and knife method. A little more time consuming but I already had the mondoline and cutting them into angel hair pasta strips was really not a big deal at all.
Mandoline sliced thin then cut in lenthwise strips using a sharp knifeVegetable spirilizer
But … after slicing the tip of my index finger off with the mandoline blade, the next time around I used a much safer hand held spirilizer.
Creamy Avocado Sauce
This sauce is so creamy and lick the plate clean yummy
Two very ripe avocados
Cilantro
Juice of one lime
Plant based milk (unsweetened)
Puree the avocado, lime juice and a little bit of plant based milk. Adjust the thickness to your liking by adding more or less milk. Stir in the cilantro. That’s it – easy peesy!
The zoodles came out pretty nice! Do you eat them cold or warm??? I say, whatever floats your boat! If you want them heated just put a little water in a pan and cook, stirring frequently for about 1 minute (or until the zoodles are warm). DO NOT OVERCOOK or the zoodles will become watery and mushy. I added a little fresh black pepper and red pepper flakes.And yes … do twirl them around with your soup spoon and fork!!!
