Happy Birthday Blog Green Smoothie

The Healthy Girl's Kitchen blog officially turned one year old on January 23rd. Happy birthday to my blog! So why am I posting another recipe for a green smoothie? Because at this time of reflection for where I've been and where I'm going, this recipe seemed appropriate. I hope you can see by the ingredients that I'm upping the level of green intensity and LOVING it! Thanks to my friend and business partner Chris-Anna, who is new to the green smoothie revolution, but very adventurous, for inspiring this.

Super Green Smoothie

serves 1 hungry person

1 small cucumber, cut into chunks

1 fresh pear, cut off it's core OR large handful of seedless grapes

1 small frozen banana, broken into chunks

2 large stalks celery, cut into large chunks

1 large date, pit removed

1 handful fresh spinach

1 handful fresh or frozen kale

5 ice cubes

water--not too much

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smoothie reaches desired consistency.

Here's something very interesting:

Mark Bittman, right, with Chef Mario Batali, before becoming plant strong? I love Mario Batali, and I'm seriously worried about him.

Mark Bittman after becoming plant strong?

I received a blog birthday present from the universe. Debby from Happy Healthy Long Life clued me in about Mark Bittman's new ventures. If you don't know who he is, he is one of the most incredible New York Times food writers and cookbook authors. Seems like he's caught on to the healthy eating movement and he's making a big stink about it. Get the story here. He's leaving his old eating life behind and joining our ranks. Yeah Mark! Yeah universe! Can't wait to subscribe to his new blog.

Do you know who Mark Bittman is? Do you own any of his cookbooks?

What are your impressions of the public psyche when it comes to healthy eating? Do you believe we are on the cusp of major social change regarding eating habits? Or are all of the people around you seemingly unaffected?

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Vegan Sushi Salad

I'm getting more and more ambitious in the kitchen.  I just read The Skinny Girl Dish, Easy Recipes for Your Naturally Thin Life by Bethenny Frankel and actually, I have been really inspired by the author's style of cooking. And it is not a vegan cookbook. It's very focused around ingredient substitutions that make cooking in your home more practical and more economical. She's even got a chapter called "Channeling Your Inner Chef" and, well, I'm starting to do that.

You see, I didn't go to culinary school and I have never worked in a restaurant.  Everything that I know about food came from watching and helping my mom in the kitchen, a little bit of home ec in 7th grade, a shit ton of time in front of, yes, The Food Network (and now, my new cooking resource, The Cooking Channel) and my own trial and error. So you'll have to excuse me if I am slow on the output of original recipes. I just don't have that level of kitchen confidence . . . yet. 

But the absolute best thing for me about Bethenny Frankel's new book is a sub chapter entitled "Your Fix-It Guide." It explains very simply how to season food with the three basic flavors: salt, sugar and acid. I won't give away her tricks, but I will tell you that I have saved many recipes now with her guidance.

Last night was one of those ultra-busy nights where I had to prepare dinner, feed my family and race into the car to get to my oldest's play performance by 6:45. No sweat though, because I had a moment of culinary genius earlier in the day when I knew just what to do!

In my refrigerator sat a bunch of leftovers from the sushi that I had made a few days ago, including cooked short grain brown rice, spears of cucumber, carrot, and mango. I also had a ton of roasted beets and some avocado. It was a risk, but I threw it all together and dressed it with rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame seeds and agave syrup and BAM! a winner was born. My husband said it was one of the best things he has ever tasted.

Healthy Girl's Leftover Sushi Salad

All quantities are approximate and can be easily tailored to your tastes. Just throw in whatever veggies you want to use up.

6 cups of cooked brown rice

1 1/2 ripe avocados, diced

3/4 cup small diced carrots

3/4 cup small diced cucumber

1 cup diced mango

1 cup small diced roasted beets

1/4 cup raw sesame seeds

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1/8 cup soy sauce

1 tbsp agave syrup

Toss all ingredients together and enjoy!

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