Green Goodness Smoothie

Drinkable green goodness. It's is my new favorite breakfast. This yummy smoothie (or juice?) is extremely filling and gives me a solid portion of my required daily dose of fruits and veggies, and it's fresh, cold, and delicious! I can already hear the mental "eww", but try it before passing judgement  :)

Green Goodness Smoothie

You will need:
1 granny smith or golden delicious apple, cored (but not peeled)
2 cups fresh spinach leaves
1/3 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon honey
2 or 3 ice cubes
optional - 3-4 mint leaves (adds cool refreshing flavor!)

Blend all ingredients. Pour into glass. Enjoy!

Blueberries and Cornbread. Who knew?

I needed to come up with some sort of salad to contribute to a Barbeque with friends last week. As it so happened, I had plenty of fresh blueberries on hand so a blueberry salad wasn't far from my thoughts.  Actually, I was thinking more of a blueberry and cornbread type of dish. I've had perfectly good blueberry cornbread muffins before, so...why the heck not?!?  So, I experimented with it, a whole thirty to forty-five minutes before our dinner (which, of course, left plenty of room to run and grab a bag of chips should this epic experimental dish have completely failed.)

But, I put it together and found it to be scrumptious.  It is much less of a salad, and in fact, practically dessert.  Don't cringe at the list of ingredients. Trust me, it truly is a delicious combination of things. The group agreed...as there was hardly any evidence to bring home. So, here you go!

Blueberry Cornbread Salad

You will need:

One 8x8" pan's worth of cornbread, cubed (crumbled is fine too)
1 pint of blueberries
2/3 cup whole roasted cashews (or hazelnuts, if you prefer)
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Mix all together - yes, trust me. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Summer Strawberry Salad

Summer.  Strawberries.  Happiness!

Summer Strawberry Salad

Toss it all together:   4 cups baby spinach, 1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries, 3 tablespoons crumbled goat cheese, 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar. Enjoy!

Roasted Pears

Those who know me well know that I will find any excuse to take something naturally sweet and make it savory. Pears, toasty walnuts, and flavorful blue cheese. (Is it "blue" or "bleu"? I always forget what is appropriate when it comes to the word in food not French.) A really simple side dish, and an excellent way to incorporate some fruit into your dinner. Don't you think?

We had this for dinner a few nights ago, with cous cous, and, not only was it ridiculously easy to put together, it also turned out to be quite tasty. As a bonus, I was successfully able to use up the two remaining pears from the fruit bowl before they went bad. Definitely a plus. Anyway, here is the utterly simple recipe, do try it:

Roasted Pears, with Blue Cheese and Walnuts

You will need:

2 pears, halved

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary

2 tablespoons chopped walnuts

2 tablespoons blue cheese 

Preheat oven to 375 F. Coat a baking dish with cooking spray, and arrange the pear halves cut side up in it. Brush olive oil over pear halves, and sprinkle on the salt, pepper and rosemary. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Then, put a little bit of the blue cheese and walnuts over each pear half and bake for another 15 minutes, until pears are tender. Enjoy!