I’m having a lazy, but productive Saturday while still recovering from chasing very active toddlers loaded with sugar and pizza and cramming myself into kiddie rides last night. Also spending time in the kitchen today to try new recipes. I got in a little shopping Costco, but found the Vita-Mix demonstration and special is over – oh well, that keeps me out of trouble. I’d love to get one now, but I will continue to torture-test the KitchenAid blender until I can justify the purchase more. Besides, I really need to get a new food processor first. I also stopped by WinCo for routine grocery shopping and while I was loading up in the produce department, a women looked in my cart, gave me a strange look as says, “well, sooooomeone eats healthy!” with a bit of an attitude. I just laughed and said thanks, then walked away. I was not really sure how to respond to that, I’m pretty sure looking into her cart and saying, “Well, I see someone does not eat healthy!” would not be appropriate. One thing I am noticing since pretty much outing dairy products a few weeks ago is that I have more energy and feel less bloated. I really don’t miss cheeses and milk and do not find myself craving them, the avocado and nut based recipes seem very rich and creamy.
The first recipe I tried is Jennifer Cornbleet’s Mock Sour Cream and Chive Dip, a simple dip consisting of soaked cashew nuts, lemon juice, green onions, dill and spices. I used it as a dipping sauce for my salad and was impressed at how much it tasted like sour cream, though my husband did not think so at first sample, but agreed after a few more bites. It was very simple to toss together, but not as simple to get to a smooth consistency in my blender. Because it was a smaller serving size, it threw larger chunks towards the top where they stuck and did not get re-blended, I had to stop and scrap it down a few times and the texture still seemed a bit gritty. This probably would be less of a problem with larger batches and/or in a Vita-Mix.
This can keep in the refrigerator for 5 days after making and makes a great snack/meal dip for fresh veggies and great for party vegetable platters, something I’ll do next time I get stuck bringing hors d’oeuvres to a family party. Jennifer’s book has many great nut-based dips, I plan to try the walnut pate next.
For dinner I tried Jennifer’s Spinach Apple Soup, a simple, but filling and delicious soup containing fresh spinach, apple, avocado and fresh lemon juice. Even in my non-Vita-Mix blender, the texture came out very smooth, rich and creamy. Also, it seemed more satisfying than other soups I’ve tried, my husband really liked it as well. Plus, it was a beautiful, bright green.
In the recipe she calls for a peeled apple and I left the skin on because I read that’s where a majority of the nutrients are found and it did not seem to affect the soup at all. I notice that most of the “healthy” apple slices you can get with kids fast food meals, such as at McDonald’s and Subway, have the skin removed and have wondered why. Is skin a choking hazard for kids or are they just appealing to the mass crowds by facilitating the cut-off-the-bread-crusts crowds? Anyway, my cheap blender had no problems with the skins, so there seems to be no reason to peel the apple.