June 17, 2012
Breakfast
Strawberry Blue Concrete
serves 2 ~ $1.45 per serving
3 bananas, sliced and frozen ($.60)
1 1/2 cups strawberries, frozen ($1.69)
1/2 cup blueberries, frozen ($.60)
stevia and/or agave, to taste
A “concrete” is a very thick shake … thick enough to have to eat it
with a spoon. This is also a great way to use produce that was frozen
while in season and is great on a really warm morning.
In a food processor fitted with an “S” blade, process the frozen bananas
until creamy. Add water as needed until the mixture is a thick, soft
serve ice cream consistency. Add about half the frozen strawberries and
process again until smooth. Add a couple droppers of stevia and/or
agave, until you like the level of sweetness. You may not need any
sweetener at all if you use very ripe bananas.
Spoon out and set aside about half the mixture. Then, add more frozen
strawberries to what remains, and process again until smooth. Spoon out
and set aside about half of this mixture, as well. Finally, add the
frozen blueberries to what is left and process again until smooth.
Layer the different mixtures in a glass. And don’t forget a spoon!
Lunch
Melon Salad
serves 2 ~ $2.88 per serving
10 ounces arugula or mixed baby lettuces ($1.90)
1 cup watermelon, sliced into thin chunks ($1.00)
1 cup cantaloupe, sliced into thin chunks ($1.30)
1 medium onion, sliced thinly ($.25)
2 tablespoons olive oil ($.20)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar ($.20)
2 tablespoons agave ($.40)
about 1/4 cup chopped walnuts ($.50)
This is light and perfect on a hot summer day.
Toss the lettuce with the watermelon, cantaloupe, and onion. Whisk
together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and agave and dress both
salads. Top with chopped walnuts.
Hummus on Tomatoes
serves 2 ~ $3.10 per serving
4 small zucchini, peeled and sliced ($1.80)
2 tablespoons olive oil ($.20)
1/4 cup tahini ($.50)
juice from one lemon ($.50)
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 scant teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
2 tomatoes, sliced ($2.00)
1 small onion, sliced thinly ($.20)
chopped olives ($.1.00)
salt to taste
red pepper flakes
Hummus on tomatoes is one of my favorite meals, but I usually used
cooked chickpea hummus because I was never happy with the raw, zucchini
hummus. I found that sweating the zucchini can make all the difference
and make a thicker, creamier, more hummusy hummus.
Peel and slice the zucchini. Place the zucchini in a lidded container
and add two tablespoons lemon juice, two tablespoons olive oil, and
about a teaspoon of salt. The salt will help draw some of the water out
of the zucchini. Shake the container every so often, and let sit for
about an hour. Drain the liquid and rinse off excess salt.
In a food processor fitted with an “S” blade, process the zucchini and
lemon juice until smooth. Add the tahini, lemon juice, garlic, cumin,
and curry powder and process again until very smooth. Taste test and
adjust for salt and seasonings.
Slice a tomato into 4 or 5 slices. Layer the hummus in between the
tomato slices and top with sliced onions and chopped olives. Finish is
off with a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and a small drizzle of hot
pepper oil.
In a food processor fitted with an “S” blade, process all brownie
ingredients until it starts sticking together. This will take a few
minutes. Form into a square or rectangle. I used a small, rectangular
tart pan with a removable bottom and pressed the brownie dough in
firmly, then popped it out. Put the in the freezer for a few minutes if
you’d like a hard, chocolate shell over it.
all the ice cream ingredients to the food processor with an “S” blade.
Process until smooth and creamy. This will be like soft serve. If you’d
like it more firm, freeze until it’s as firm as you’d like.
sauce ingredients. Assemble the brownie by adding a scoop of ice cream
to the top and spoon on the chocolate sauce. Wait a minute or so until
the chocolate hardens. This is a hard, chocolatey shell. If you’d prefer
a sauce that doesn’t harden and is more like a syrup, simply replace
the coconut oil with olive oil.
is so simple and pretty. Add the lemon juice, agave, stevia, water and
half the blueberries to a blender and briefly puree. Pour over ice and
add the remaining whole blueberries. Adjust the agave and stevia to make
this as sweet or as tart as you’d like.
what a gorgeous shake! i love those layers! and dessert looks out-of-this-world too! thanks for sharing!
Oh yum…by far the most amazing menu yet. – can't wait to try!
This and almost all of the other recipes I've read on your blog are simply wonderful! Classy, practical and no doubt yummy, your blog has the elements that make a long-running winner. Thank you!