Green Smoothie with Goat's Yoghurt

Yes, I have a day off work... And I've only left the warm comfort of my bed (despite it already being 3:15 in the afternoon) in order to grab something to eat... Which I thought was worth mentioning...

My absolute favorite way to start the day is with a green smoothie.

And seeing as I recently made a batch of goat's yoghurt (which has a slightly stronger and more earthy taste than regular cow's yoghurt) I've been adding that to my morning smoothie, and it's great!

Here is the breakfast I've been feasting on every morning for the last few days:

Smoothies are great because you can basically use anything you have left in the fridge or fruitbowl.

(within reason obviously)

In terms of greens, I personally love spinach so I always have a big bag of that handy. But any leafy green is fine in a smoothie: Lettuce, chard, beet greens etc. Some are a bit more spicy or tangy than others.

With fruit: Anything goes. I personally tend to veer away from melons in smoothies, I'm not quite sure why... Maybe because they're just so delicious by themselves.


Green Smoothie with Goat's Yoghurt

1 large serving

Ingredients:

1 ripe banana

1 large handful of spinach

A few spoons of yoghurt (any kind will do, but goat's yoghurt gives it a little something extra)

A bit of fruit juice, maybe half a glass, depending on how sweet and/or runny you want the smoothie to be (I usually use water, but there happened to be a carton of mango juice in the fridge)

I also added a small spoon of hemp protein


Put all of the ingredients in a blender, and blend on high for 1 or 2 minutes, until the texture is smooth and silky and there are no green lumps left!



Side note: The more liquid (juice/water) you add, the lighter and thinner it will become. If I want a really substantial, filling smoothie, I tend to use less liquid.

First post: Sweet Potato and Carrot Puree with Spiced Caramelized Cauliflower

Right, I'm going to get straight down to business...

Food blogs have become the part-time focus of my somewhat "aimless" state of being at the present time. I have spent many an hour looking at mouth watering photos of D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S food, and reading some delightfully well written (and sometimes quirky) anecdotes on food and life in general.

And, of course, I have spent a decent amount of time in the kitchen myself, whipping up some seriously yummy recipes which I sourced from my hours of rummaging around the world wide food network.
(I think I'm subscribed to about 20 or 30 blogs at the moment, and the list is growing... So I now also get "bites" of inspiration delivered to my inbox on a daily basis!)

To cut to the chase: I thought it might be fun to start my own blog! Having looked at some truly beautiful blogs, I came to realize that they combine three of the things I've always enjoyed: food, writing and photography.

Why not give it a whirl and start one myself, right??

So a few nights ago, having done my grocery shopping for the week (with my new budget of 30 euros per week) I came home with a cart full of fresh fruit and veg plus a few other goodies...

I was SO excited about the stuff I'd bought (shopping on a tight budget forces you to get quite creative if you want to be able to buy enough food to really last the whole week) and immediately rolled my sleeves up and got busy in the kitchen.

My latest food "phase" at the moment has been partially influenced by the "paleo" diet that Ties is trying out.

For those of you who don't know what the Paleo diet is, very briefly: The belief that grains and harvested crops including beans and corn are not particularly good for you (as well as the obvious sugary, fatty, high processed foods, but that's a no-brainer) for various reasons.

While I am not eating a strictly grain free diet, I am trying to cut down on my wheat and sugar consumption, and eat a lot more vegetables in general. Also... I've started eating meat again! Not a whole lot, and I make sure that it's organic and free range.

So that has definitely influenced the current contents of my fridge and the fact I am doing a lot more cooking in general (I'm not taking sandwiches to work)!

I set about making a sweet potato and carrot puree, accompanied by roasted caramelized cauliflower florets, with a green salad and half a smoked herring.

It was YUM.



Sweet Potato and Carrot Puree:

Enough for 2-3 servings

Ingredients:

2 medium sized carrots
2 small sweet potatoes
a knob of butter         

Peel and chop the carrots and sweet potatoes and put them in a pan. Cover them with water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until soft.

Drain, then add the butter (and a wee bit of salt and pepper) and puree with a stick blender. 

The sprig of rosemary added a lovely fragrance to the puree.... Maybe next time I'll boil the rosemary with the vegetables (taking it out before mashing), and maybe add a clove of garlic too...? Hmmm....

Spicy Caramelized Cauliflower

I found this recipe here: http://www.thedinnerfiles.com/2010/02/12/spiced-caramelized-cauliflower/

But modified it a bit because I didn't have all of the spices listed in the original recipe. Plus I only used half a head of cauliflower.

Ingredients:

1/2 a head of cauliflower
2 generous teaspoons of butter (melted)
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon sugar (I used dark brown sugar)
a pinch of salt and pepper


Preheat the oven to 230 degrees.

Chop the cauliflower into smallish florets.

Mix the spices and sugar into the melted butter.

Put the cauliflower into a bowl and toss with the melted butter mixture until everything is well coated.

Pop the cauliflower onto a baking tray and into the oven.
I left it in there for about 20 minutes, until the sticky-outy bits were dark golden brown and crispy.

One word: Yum.

The green salad was very simple: Just chop up a spring onion, some spinach and a tomato and toss them all together. I served the salad with a drizzle of (homemade) goat's yoghurt and fresh thyme.

So that was my dinner on tuesday night!

And it fed me for three meals: It was yesterday's lunch AND dinner.

Okay... And now....

*Drumroll*

I'm going to publish my very FIRST blog post!

The first of many, I hope...