Deck the Halls with Green

This morning on the Today show, one of the guests  (don't ask me who -- I have no memory for celebrity names)  brought their "green drink" to show the viewing world. That's all it took to motivate me to make one for my breakfast.  I generally don't like cold drinks during the winter, but it looked so tasty that I quickly overcame my aversion to anything cold.  So I looked at what I had available in the fridge and put it into my Magic Bullet. Ah...just right for taste.  It was a small amount and fit perfectly in the glass that our son got at the All Pints North Brew Fest. I was just about to start taking the photos for this post,  when I spilled it on the table. So, I decked the halls and the table with green.  I quickly snapped the photos anyway so you could witness the start of my day.  Then I scraped it back into the glass and enjoyed every sip!!  Wow....I have missed my green juices and vow to have them regularly, cold weather or not. Besides, it is a glistening, relatively warm (25 degrees) Pzazz of a day here in Duluth. 

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh spinach
1 stalk celery, cut into 3 -4 pieces
1/2 Braeburn or Granny Smith Apple        
1 Tablespoon lemon juice (appoximate)
4 Tablespoons fresh parsley  (approximate)
enough water to make it puree in the Magic Bullet (about 1/4 cup)

Preparation:
Put all ingredients in a Magic Bullet or similar device and watch the Magic of healthy, delectable Green Juice appear!


Nutrition:
Servings per recipe: 1
Serving Size: 1 cup              
Calories: 67
Total Fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 63 mg
Total Carbs: 17 g
Dietary Fiber: 4 g
Protein: 2 g

Kale Coconut Water Drink

The kale in Tom's vegetable bins is exploding!  The pure taste of tender, fresh kale is undeniably one of my favorite pleasures.  With the abundance of kale, I have the opportunity to try many new ways of exploring it's full potential.  Kale is a cruciferous vegetable, rich in calcium and cancer-fighting compounds.   It contains sulforaphane, which is a well studied phytochemical that may inhibit cancer-causing substances, according to Rebecca Katz, author of one of my favorite cookbooks, One Bite at a Time. 

I have been sharing some of the kale with my friend, Tahirih, who made a juice of kale, grapes and coconut water.  I had never tried coconut water, but was convinced by her that it's slightly sweet flavor was a great compliment to the kale. So I purchased a small container  (11.2 oz) of VitaCoco coconut water and put it with fresh kale and an apple into my VitaMix.  If you have never made a kale drink, this would be an excellent one to introduce yourself to this nutrition packed green drink. I am unfamiliar with the nutritional merits of coconut water, but will explore that another day.  All I know for sure is that this beverage was true summer Pzazz as I sipped it on the deck yesterday in hot, sizzling summer weather! 

Kale in raised garden bin

Ingredients:
1 cup loosely packed chopped kale  (destem it first)
165 grams (just less than 3/4 cup) coconut water  (that's half of the small container I purchased)
1 small apple ( I used a braeburn apple)

Preparation:
Put it all in the VitaMix and watch it whirl.  Delicious and pure!

Nutrition:
Servings per recipe: 1

Serving Size: 1 1/4 cup                    
Calories: 126
Total Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 49 mg
Total Carbs: 30 g
Dietary Fiber: 4 g
Protein: 2 g

Kale Power Drink

Kale Power Drink

Tom's early optimism about gardening when he seeded nearly 1000 plants in March has yielded kale that is ready to harvest. He also built raised beds to extend our gardening space and make weeding easier.  They look a bit like 3 over sized caskets in our back yard, but they are definitely filled with life! In the bin with the kale, there are also seeded beets that have started to poke through the soil. Gardening Pzazz!  The type of kale I prefer most is lacinato kale, also known as Tuscan kale, or dinosaur kale. The deep blue-green color of the dimpled leaves is quite stunning. 

                                                                                   

Ingredients:
About 2 cups chopped fresh baby kale
2 stalks celery, cut into chunks
1 tart apple, cored and cut into chunks
1 cucumber, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 cup or more fresh parsley
1/2 cup water, if needed to start the VitaMix
1/2" slice of fresh ginger, peeled  (optional)

Preparation:
Throw it all in the VitaMix and watch it whirl!
Drink with gusto or sip with pleasure, knowing you are being filled with life-giving nutrients!

Lacinato Kale

Nutrition per serving:
Servings per recipe: 2

Parsley in the deck pot

Serving Size: 1 1/4 cup                                                
Calories: 104
Total Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol:  0 mg
Sodium:  76 mg
Total Carbs: 24 g
Dietary Fiber: 5 g
Protein: 4 g

Cheers Green Drink

Cheers indeed!  It is the first day that there is no snow on our vegetable garden, and the second day I enjoyed lunch on the deck this year.   And the first day I was in the mood for a cold greens drink made with the VitaMix.  So many reasons to declare Cheers!

The taste of a fresh green drink was astounding today!  This particular one is from Dr. Oz, or at least some version of it.  It is kind of a mix between a smoothie and a juice, so I labeled it as both on this blog.  What I love most about a green drink is how fresh and invigorating it is! And it consistently dissuades me from indulging in lousy food choices.  Processed food suddenly tastes incredibly artificial and unappealing in contrast.  So I took the VitaMix out of the closet and put it on my counter top, making it readily accessible for daily use.

This delightful glass is from the wedding of the daughter of my good friend, Julie.  Julie has developed an extraordinary site, Jules of Nature. Each day she pairs a quote with her exquisite photography. It is my morning ritual to look at that site for reflection and inspiration.  I encourage you to do the same.  Cheers!

Ingredients:
1 cup baby spinach
3 medium stalks celery, cut into chunks
1/2 cup diced, seeded cucumber                                      

1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 small Braeburn apple, cored
1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon lime zest 

Preparation:  
Put the celery, cucumber, apple, and lemon and lime juices first into a VitaMix. (Putting the ingredients that have the most water content in the bottom will get the mixing stated easier.)  Put the other ingredients on top.  Start on low speed, but then quickly move it up to high speed.  Pour into a fun glass and sip or gulp.  Whatever way you do it, savor it with Pzazz!


Nutrition per servings:                                           
Servings per recipe: 1
Serving Size: 3 cups
Calories: 110
Total Fat: 0 g
Cholesterol:  0 mg
Sodium: 138 mg
Total Carbs: 27 g
Dietary Fiber: 7 g
Protein: 3 g

Garden In a Glass

I juiced a variety of greens and other vegetables for my birthday meal with my family.  My 23 year old son, Caleb, sampled the juice and expressed his delight with its taste when he declared "It tastes like garden in a glass!"  I loved his description and decided I would adopt his name for it. 

Ingredients:

2 large cucumbers                                                                        
5 stalks celery
1 Granny Smith apple
3 slices ginger root (1" slices)
6 - 7 kale leaves (about 3 cups roughly chopped)
6 - 7 Tyfon greens leaves  (about 3 cups roughly chopped)
1 cup loosely packed parsley

Preparation:
Put it all through the juicer to extract the fiber.  Sip with delight and taste that garden!

Nutrition:
Servings per recipe: 6
Serving Size: 1 cup
Calories: 74
Total Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 84 mg
Total Carbs: 16 g
Dietary Fiber: 0   Sugars:  6 g
Protein: 4 g

Tyfon Greens Juice

Holland greens (also called Tyfon greens) are a member of the brassica rapa family of greens.  It is a cross of the Chinese cabbage and stubble turnips.  Its membership in the brassica rapa family is what prompted me to order the seeds. The phytochemicals in the brassica rapa foods are touted to work in a number of ways to prevent or suppress cancer.   As soon as the seeds arrived from Pinetree Garden Seed and the soil was warm enough, my husband, Tom, planted them.  They quickly germinated and brilliant green leaves appeared soon after.   So, I began to wonder how I would use them.  The seed catalog had described them as milder tasting than most other brassica greens since they don't have any mustard oil in them.  I thought this made them ideally suited for juicing.  This coupled with temperatures warm enough for me to be excited about juicing my vegetables rather than making soups inspired my creation.  I rinsed them thoroughly and put them through the juicer with my other favorite juicing ingredients and was wowed by the refreshing, pure flavor!  I will definitely plant Tyfon greens again next year.  

I talked with the dietician at my medical center about how to calculate nutritional information for juice that is created with a juicer.   She advised me to enter all items as I normally would and simply delete the fiber, since that is what is extracted with a juicer. 

Ingredients:                                                                            

2 cups Holland Tyfon greens (roughly chopped)     

5 -6 kale leaves

1 large cucumber

3 stalks celery

1 cup parsley
1" slice fresh ginger root
1 granny smith apple

Preparation:

Thoroughly wash all ingredients.  Put them through a juicer and sip with delight.   (My juicer is simply a Jack LaLane Juicer, so I usually peel the cucumber and apple before putting it into the juicer.  I also strip the heavy stems from the kale leaves.  This makes it much easier for my juicer to extract the juice from the fiber.)

Nutrition:

Servings per recipe: 4

Serving Size: Approx 1 cup

Calories: 66

Total Fat: 1 g

Cholesterol: 0 mg

Sodium: 62 mg

Total Carbs: 15 g

Dietary Fiber:  0

Protein:  3 g