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Creamy Triple Almond Breakfast Smoothie

My friends at California Almonds hooked me up with a bundle of goodies recently, so I decided to experiment pushing the almond-lope, erm, envelope with some smoothie recipes. After a few rounds of tinkering, this nutrient-packed gem hits the right balance of sweet, creamy goodness with a layer of nutty earthiness.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup almond slivers
2 tablespoons unsalted almond butter
1 banana
1/4 cup mixed berries
1/4 cup kale
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 tablespoon flax seeds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 ice cubes

Blend until smooth. Happy gulping!

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5-ish Ingredient Vegan Pesto

Carbs + herbs + summer + wine, what could be better?
Ingredients
2 cups macadamia nuts
1 cup basil, tightly packed
4 tablespoons  extra virgin olive oil, plus more when blending
juice of half a lemon
1/4 cup Kalamata olives (you can also use white miso paste…or anchovies if you’re not vegan/inebriated)
Blend together until smooth. Add olive oil as needed to adjust thickness. Pour over desired pasta and toss. Add red chile pepper flakes and more basil to garnish, if desired. Also makes a great spread for toast.

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Purple Pecan Power Shake

So easy you can toss this one together without even trying. Guess I could also call this a basil-berry shake. Quoi-ever.

 

Ingredients:
  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (I use So Delicious)
  • 1/2 cup frozen unsweetened blackberries (I use Earthbound Farm Organic)
  • 1/4 cup chopped pecan pieces
  • 1 banana
  • Handful frozen kale
  • handful fresh mint
  • 1 tablespoon almond butter (okay, maybe 2)
  • 1 tablespoon chia seeds
  • shake or two of cinnamon
  • a few drops of pure vanilla extract
  • basil sprigs for garnish
  • 3 ice cubes
Blend to desired texture.

 

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The Easiest End of Summer Vegan Dinner Ever

Having recently read Mark Bittman’s “Zuke Alors!” piece in the New York Times Magazine, I was inspired to use this great veggie for a dinner. Hardly meriting a recipe, I simply used a vegetable peeler to make silky, slightly curly ribbons. I combined the zucchini with other veggies I had on hand (half an avocado, an orange bell pepper, cherry tomatoes) and gave the mixture a generous squeeze of several lemon wedges, a bit too heavy a drenching of extra virgin olive oil, some sea salt and black pepper and folded it all into Romaine lettuce leaves. Done! Sweet alors!

As for the not-so-pretty concoction on the side? Total snap too: Sauteed eggplant, mushrooms, some of those leftover tomatoes in some extra virgin olive oil and served it with sublimely crusty, fresh-from-the-oven (well, Whole Foods’ oven down the street from home…) sourdough. Sometimes the best Sunday night dinners are the no-effort ones.

P.S. A special thanks to my dear friend Lily who inspired this idea, by illuminating the simple beauty of a Romaine lettuce leaf as a vestibule for any matter of deliciousness.