GLOW

When I was in high school, my best friend and I both decided to eliminate soda from our diets. I wasn't particularly conscious about my diet at the time, but it seemed like a good idea given the scary stories I'd heard about all of the ingredients in Coke and Pepsi that  purportedly they don't legally have to  list. 11 years later, I still haven't really indulged in those drinks, but I still crave a fancy beverage now and then, especially since I can't buy the sugar or agave-sweetened drinks at local markets. Enter sparkling water. It's really easy to create homemade sodas, even without an expensive soda maker. I sweeten a bottle or cup with stevia (liquid or powdered), and usually just add fresh lemon juice.  Delicious! I've also made homemade Jamaica soda (pronounced huh-my-kuh, a common refreshment in Latin America) by simply adding dried hibiscus flowers to a bottle of sparkling water and allowing it to steep overnight in the fridge, straining it and adding stevia the next day. For a recent party, I also poured a bunch of bottles into a large mason jar, and put some fresh mint, raspberries & stevia in to steep. If I'm feeling particularly lazy, I'll just add a few drops of liquid vanilla stevia to a cup for a homemade vanilla soda. 

But if you really want to appease that part of you that gets supreme satisfaction by using obscure (yet easily accessible) ingredients and adding "infused" to the name of whatever is on the table, try this recipe. (Also, you know, it tastes really good.)

I MEDIUM JICAMA (usually found next to the plantains & yucca in the produce section)

1/2 OF A LIME OR 1 KEY LIME

3/4 CUP SPARKLING MINERAL WATER

1/2 TBS BASIL LEAVES

STEVIA TO TASTE

PEEL THE SKIN OFF OF THE JICAMA, AND USING A FINE GRATER, GRATE OVER CHEESECLOTH LAID OVER A BOWL. ONCE GRATED, RIGOROUSLY SQUEEZE THE JUICE OUT INTO A BOWL. ADD THE LIME JUICE TO THE JICAMA JUICE, AND THEN BARELY BRING JUICE TO A BOIL ON THE STOVETOP. PLACE BASIL LEAVES IN A HEAT-RESISTANT GLASS JAR, AND POUR THE HEATED LIQUID INTO THE JAR. CHILL IN THE REFRIGERATOR. ONCE CHILLED, STRAIN AND ADD SPARKLING WATER.

When Ricki & Kim said that they would make special mention of anyone who submitted a sweet recipe to this month's SOS Challenge, I guess I took it as a personal dare. This month's challenge ingredient is asparagus, and I figured that it must be possible, especially given that raw asparagus does have a subtle sweetness to it. I do admit that I'd hoped to come up with something a bit more decadent and challenging than a smoothie, and had thoughts of turning this into a sorbet, but honestly, I've been feeling like shite the past few weeks, and ambitious culinary pursuits just haven't been in the cards. Can I confess that making and drinking this recipe, which includes fruit that I don't tolerate, didn't really help my plight? Sometimes when I'm feeling crummy, I kind of pull this idiotic psychological trick of telling myself that, "Well, I feel like crap anyway, I might as well indulge myself." Somewhere in my brain there's a thought that it can't really get any worse, but of course, that's incredibly naive of me to assume.  It definitely got worse. However dear readers, this mistake is to your advantage, as not only did this experiment yield two recipes in one, it also prompted me to create a wonderfully soothing broth the next morning that helped my gut to heal, which I will also share with you within the next week.

Did you know that for many people, the adage "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," is a painful fallacy? For those with fructose malabsorption or fructose intolerance, apples are about the worst food they can consume. Fructose levels in apples in relation to their glucose levels are so high that it cripples their systems, causing anything from extreme gastrointestinal discomfort to violent mood swings and depression, and in the case of fructose malabsorption, it can be lethal. There are two types of tests for FM, a hydrogen breath test and a methane breath test. My insurance doesn't cover the doctors in Boston that offer the methane breath test, and I tested negative to the hydrogen test, but my elimination diet with a nutritionist found that I am nonetheless quite sensitive to fructose, so it has largely been eliminated in my diet. In addition to this smoothie being a light, sweet juice with incredible nutrition, with modifications it can serve as an applesauce alternative that would surely curb your or your child's cravings for a popular but forbidden snack. I will include the modifications after the lovely purple smoothie recipe. 

I'd never tried acai before, and picked up these frozen smoothie packs on sale at the store mainly because it was purple, and I wanted to showcase that color to compliment the sweeter purple asparagus that I zoned in on. I was surprised at how mild a flavor it had, expecting to to be a bit sour or tart like a cranberry for some reason. The apple cider vinegar and sauerkraut in the smoothie, paired with the lime juice help to boost that tart palate that I was looking for in addition to giving you some potent probiotics and B vitamins. For anyone who is apprehensive about the ingredients of the smoothie, I beseech you to trust me; your taste buds won't detect the more unexpected ones, and for most of you, your body will thank you.*  (Anyone with FM should exclude the asparagus and sauerkraut.)

1 MEDIUM JICAMA

4 LARGE PURPLE ASPARAGUS STALKS OR 6-8 THIN STALKS

1 SAMBAZON FROZEN UNSWEETENED ACAI SMOOTHIE PACK

JUICE OF 2-3 LIMES

1-2 TBS PACKED BASIL LEAVES

1 TBS SAUERKRAUT (ONE WITHOUT DILL, CARAWAY & GARLIC!)

2 TSP APPLE CIDER VINEGAR

1 TSP PURPLE DULSE FLAKES (OPTIONAL)

3/4 TSP LEMON OR LIME FLAVOR

1 1/2-2 CUPS WATER OR COCONUT WATER

LOTS 'O' STEVIA TO TASTE

PEEL THE SKIN OFF OF THE JICAMA AND CHOP, AND LOP THE DRY ENDS OFF OF THE ASPARAGUS STALKS. RUN THE SMOOTHIE PACK UNDER WARM WATER UNTIL IT BEGINS TO THAW, BUT IS STILL LARGELY FROZEN. COMBINE INGREDIENTS IN BLENDER AND BLEND UNTIL SMOOTH.

1 MEDIUM JICAMA

1 SAMBAZON UNSWEETENED ACAI SMOOTHIE PACK

JUICE OF 1-2 LIMES OR LEMONS

STEVIA TO TASTE

3/4-1 CUP WATER

PEEL SKIN OFF OF JICAMA AND CHOP, AND RUN THE SMOOTHIE PACK UNDER WARM WATER UNTIL IT BEGINS TO THAW A BIT. COMBINE INGREDIENTS IN BLENDER AND BLEND UNTIL SMOOTH.

Like many of you, one of my pursuits in the past few years has been to greatly reduce the amount of waste that our household produces. Sometimes this manifests itself in pretty neurotic ways, as evidenced by my overflowing pantry/storage room where you can find boxes of styrofoam and plastic mesh bags that I swear to myself I'll use in some sort of sculpture or craft project someday. Once you hear things like America's biggest export is trash, and that plastic takes thousands of years to biodegrade, it can be really difficult to toss these things away, particularly for anyone such as I with an over-developed guilt complex. In order to alleviate the anxiety I feel about throwing things away, I try to consider the packaging of an item before I purchase it. Where will it end up when I'm done using it? We re-use, we compost, we recycle, but some items don't easily fit into any of those categories. Sometimes, I'll toss these questionable items into the recycling bin anyway with a silent and naive hope that they'll know what to do with it. One of the dubious items I toss into the bin is the emptied aseptic container of hemp milk. Those containers are an interesting fusion of cardboard, plastic and foil, which, as far as I know, can't really be separated and processed by recycling plants. Some may argue that they are more environmentally friendly because they don't require the wasted resources of refrigerated trucks and shelving, but I'm not sure if that makes up for it. (These sorts of problems are constant loops in my brain...)

A couple of years ago, my husband and I were given a homemade soy milk maker, and I used it from time to time to make soy milks, and with less success, rice and nut milks. I haven't taken it out for a long while, as it is a bit of a pain to clean, but I've since read quite a few recipes for homemade milks that don't require such an appliance anyway. Kim has a few on her website, and this week I decided to give my conscience a rest by making my own milk based off of her rice milk recipe. My first attempt was a bit too porridge-like, but today I nailed it. This milk came out beautiful and creamy, and it is taking some discipline to keep myself from finishing it off tonight. You can easily adjust this by using different grains, I'm sure; I'd love to hear of any variations you try. 

For some reason, while I was tossing in bed this morning, batting away our cats' frisky advances, this smoothie started to formulate in my mind. I purchased a bag of this frozen Tinda, or Indian Baby Pumpkin, at one of our local Indian markets a few months ago, and wasn't really blown away by it on the first try. My groggy mind started to remember the sweet hints of cucumber and melon, though, and quickly, the other ingredients made themselves known, and I resolved to try it out when the sun and I rose. If you ignore the fact that it's still in the 40's outside, and that drinking a frozen treat when already shivering isn't usually the best idea, this smoothie is perfect. It ended up fooling my tongue into thinking that I was indulging in honeydew melon, which is a most lovely trick. I really can't wait to try this again on a hot summer day. Grab a bag of this gourd from your local Indian market and give it a try. (Only 99 cents!)

1 1/2 CUPS UNSWEETENED HEMPMILK (OR MILK PRODUCT OF YOUR CHOICE)

1 CUP FROZEN TINDA/INDIAN BABY PUMPKIN

1/2 OF AN AVOCADO

4 GREEN CABBAGE LEAVES (YOU WON'T TASTE IT, TRUST ME)

1/2 TSP CARDAMOM

1/2 TSP LEMON FLAVOR

STEVIA POWDER TO TASTE (I USED 4 MINI SCOOPS OR PINCHES OF THE TRADER JOE'S BRAND)

PINCH OF SEA SALT

COMBINE ALL INGREDIENTS IN A BLENDER, AND BLEND UNTIL SMOOTH.

I whipped this up the other day, and was so satisfied with it's frothy, sweet goodness. Bonus that it had a fair amount of protein in it, too, so it actually kept me energized and full for most of the afternoon, which is pretty rare for this little lady. Ricki & Kim's challenge this month is stevia, which is easy enough for me since it's the only sweetener my body seems to tolerate. With even fruit off of the list (sans avocado and lemon), I am quite dependent on this potent little herb for my sweet fixes. 

If you'd like more of a vanilla shake, exclude the carob or cocoa. If you want more of a chocolate flavor, up the carob and cocoa. I can only tolerate small amounts of carob, so I just put in a little bit. I've also found an incredible flavor variation between different brands of tahini, so that will modify the flavor as well. If you want more of a peanut butter flavor, get a darker roast of tahini. I recently purchased Sesame King tahini in a light roast, and have found it to be mild and creamy, which was the perfect flavor for the day. This is an extremely flexible recipe, so modify to your tastes and enjoy.

1 1/2 CUPS UNSWEETENED HEMPMILK

1/4 CUP LIGHT ROAST TAHINI

1/2 OF AN AVOCADO

1 1/2 TBS CAROB OR COCOA POWDER

1/2 TSP VANILLA POWDER

5 PINCHES STEVIA POWDER (TRADER JOE'S STEVIA COMES WITH A TEENY TINY SPOON INSIDE, 5 WEE SCOOPS OF THAT)

PINCH OF SEA SALT

PUT ALL INGREDIENTS IN A BLENDER AND PROCESS UNTIL SMOOTH.