Grapple Green Smoothie - Healthy Start

I've been trying to get more veggies and fruit in my diet, but having little luck, when I watched the documentary "Sick, Fat and Nearly Dead." In the movie, the director loses weight and gets healthy by juicing for 60 days. Since I don't have a juicer, I decided to try making green smoothies.

Now I know that green smoothies can look and sound unappetizing. The color brings to mind wheat grass and something that would not taste too great. But I was pleasantly surprised by my first try, using the Oh She Glows Back on Track Green Monster smoothie. With its apple, cucumber and kale combo, I didn't taste any of the kale, and loved the refreshing flavor of the apple and cucumber.

Since then, I have been making green smoothies every night before bed, so I can carry it to the office with me in my trusty thermos with two cubes of ice to keep cold, and get my daily serving of fruit in, along with an extra serving of veggies first thing in the morning. I also bring with me two hard boiled eggs, and it's easy to get both my protein and fiber in, and start the day right. I find myself having a lot more energy since I started making smoothies. I never thought that having that one serving of fruit a day would make such a difference.

For the smoothies to stay healthy and well balanced, I stick with the 1/1/2 ratio. 1 part liquid, 1 part fruit, and 2 parts veggie. It's a great way to use up wilting salad greens, and fruit that are past their prime. When I have fruit that are not as great for eating, I now toss them in the freezer, and I can use them to make smoothies anytime. The same goes for kale, which freezes well in ziplock bags. I simple retrieve each stalk out when I need them, and rinse them before tossing into the blender.

Here's for using up grapes that are a bit wizen. You'll need:

1 cup of water
1 cup of grapes
1/2 of an apple/ unpeeled
1/4 of an avocado or 1 tbsp coconut oil (or 2 tbsp flaxseed)
1 cup salad greens
2 stalks kale, chopped
2 cups cucumber (peeled)
1 nub (thumb tip size) of ginger, unpeeled
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Blend the water with grapes first to create a slurry. Then add the apple and avocado to blend until smooth. Add the salad green and blend. Then add the kale and blend. Add the lemon juice, cucumber and ginger and blend everything until smooth. Keep chilled until serving. *I usually stick the blender into the fridge after I rinse off the blender top so I don't end up with caked smooth fiber on the lid.

This creates 2 servings. It's great to split it with someone, or save the other half for the next day.

Calories per serving: 250
29 grams of sugar
27 grams of carbs
8 grams of protein
7 grams of fat
57 grams sodium

*Do not omit the avocado/coconut oil or flaxseed. You need a little bit of fat in the smoothie to help your body absorb all the vitamins. Enjoy!

Banh Mi - Home Made!

I am addicted to eating Banh mi, I confess. Every Saturday, before I head to the studio to paint, I stop by Nhu Lan Bakery to pick up a grilled pork sandwich (#4). I love the tang of the picked carrots and daikon over the sweet grilled lemongrass pork. At about $5 a sandwich, it's a pretty economical weekly treat.

This Saturday was so rainy, I didn't want to walk to the bakery or to visit the studio. I sat at home dreaming about the accustomed sandwich all day, when I suddenly thought, "why not make my own?" The ingredients are fairly simple - pork, bread and pickled veggies. All I have to do is to sautee the pork and make a quick pickle. So I set out to the local grocery to pick up ingredients.

I purchased the following:

3 Mexican bolillo roll - because they didn't have Vietnamese or French Baguettes
2 packs butterflyed pork chops
1- daikon radish
1 large carrot
1 bunch of cilantro
1 bottle of vinegar

At home I had the following:

3-5 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp sriracha sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp corn starch

I came home and sliced the pork into thin strips about 1/4" wide by 2 " long. I mixed the pork strips with honey, hoisin sauce, sriracha, soy sauce, honey, fish sauce, and corn starch. I let it marinate in the fridge for an hour. Then I sauteed the pork strips in some oil until they were lightly caramelized. *To get the authentic lemongrass flavor, I would recommend this recipe, which looks amazing.

While the pork was marinating, I followed the directions on this recipe to pickle the veggies. Basically peel and julienne cut the daikon and carrots into large strips. I cut mine into thick matchsticks. The restaurant makes them even thicker and longer. Add sugar, vinegar and salt to about 2-3 cuts of warm water to dissolve. I like my pickles kind of sour so I added more vinegar and sugar. Place the cut veggies in a class container and pour the brine liquid over the vegetables until they are submerged. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour.

To make the bread flaky like a Vietnamese baguette, I sliced the bolillo bread and place them cut side down in a caste iron pan over low heat for about 3-4 minutes. The surface will crisp up and turn golden. Flip them back on to the crust side, and turn off the heat. The outside will toast nicely.

Assembling the sandwich is the best part. I cram as much meat as I can onto one of the bread slices. Then I top it with cilantro and the pickled carrots and daikon. I liberally drizzle everything with Sriracha, and top it with the other half of the bread. The toasted bolillos are super crusty and really resembles the Vietnamese baguette. This took about an hour to make, but I have enough pickles to make sandwiches again next week (they keep for about 2 weeks in the fridge). Yum!

Spinach Pancetta Asiago Quiche with Carmelized Onions and Mushrooms

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ok so the day is officially over but I'm still posting this recipe that I made for my special someone.

Before... after!

I had some left over spinach in my fridge and an entire carton of eggs, so it was quiche time. You know why I like making quiche? Because I can walk away from the oven and do things like work out for half an hour, and then be rewarded with several meals of deliciousness (and then work out more because pie crust has a freaking unbelievable amount of calories...).

So here is the recipe. You will need:

1 pie crust (I bought mine premade rolled up, you can also make your own or buy it in a tin)
1 pie pan (9-12 inches depending on your mood)
1 pack of pancetta (substitute bacon if you don't have any, or omit for vegetarian version)
1 tbsp (pat) of butter
1 pack of brown (or white) button mushrooms - chopped into quarter or smaller pieces
1 medium sized onion - diced
1 bunch of fresh spinach (or bagged baby spinach or even 1 block frozen spinach) - rinsed/drained
3-4 eggs
1-2 cups of half/half (or milk plus heavy whipping cream, or even just milk)
1 piece of Asiago cheese (enough to grate into half cup)
1 piece of Swiss cheese (optional - if using both cheese enough for quarter cup of both grated)
Salt
Pepper
Nutmeg (optional)

To make:

Preheat the oven to 425.

Whisk 3 eggs with 1 cup of half & half until well mixed. If any egg solids cling to the whisk, just discard them (you want to make sure the egg mixture is nice and smooth). Put the egg mixture in the fridge to chill while you cook the other ingredients. The 4th egg and remaining half & half are for in case the egg mixture above isn't enough to cover all the ingredients. For the 10 inch pan I used, I ended up adding one more egg plus half & half. *You can add a pinch of nutmeg to the egg mixture when whisking. It's pretty traditional but it's also optional.

Heat up a pan and sautee the pancetta (it's basically Italian bacon) until it is crisp. Drain most of the oil. Add a pat of butter to the pan and melt in the residual bacon fat. Add the chopped onions and mushrooms. Sautee until caramelized. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat. Add the fresh spinach to the pan and wilt. Remove when soft and no longer wet (this helps prevent the quiche from being soggy). If you're using frozen spinach just pop it into the microwave and cook according to instruction. Drain the water when done.

I used a food processor to grate all the cheese. Since I happened to have left over Swiss cheese, I did half Asiago and half Swiss. You can also use parmesan if you don't have either Asiago or Swiss. Just make sure you use a slightly salty cheese for the recipe. If you use just Swiss, make sure you add a teaspoon of salt to the egg mixture. Otherwise, the cheeses will basically salt the quiche pretty well.

Unfurl the pie crust and press into the pie pan. I used a glass dish. You can use ceramic or even metal. I didn't bother pre-baking the pie crust this time.It still came out well. If you choose to pre-bake the crust, just make sure you use some pie weights to keep the crust from warping. Add the cooked pancetta, onions and mushrooms and spinach to the pie and mix to combine. Sprinkle half of the grated cheese on top. Pour in the egg mixture. Sprinkle rest of the cheese on top. *If there isn't enough egg mixture to cover the ingredients, mix the last egg with a cup of half & half and add to the quiche.

Reduce the oven temp to 350F and bake the quiche for 35-45 minutes. You should smell deliciousness around 35-40 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting removing the quiche and inserting a knife in the center. If it comes out clean, then you can cool the quiche for about 10 minutes and then cut to enjoy. Perfect with a little mixed green side salad plus vinaigrette dressing.

Enjoy!